Deny Me

 

Chapter Three - A Change Of Plan

 

"Run! Aurora Run!"

​His screams echoed fresh in her mind. Begging her to flee. He tried to fight them off, but they were too strong. He didn't stand a chance. 

"Go! Run!"

Blood dripped down her face as she stumbled forward, numb to everything but her brothers screams. They had appeared from nowhere, strangers with fierce red eyes. Ripping apart her home, her friends, her brother. Everything was on fire, everyone was screaming. 

"Aurora!"

​Her bare feet sunk into the scorching sand beneath her, her body battered and bruised but she felt nothing. She didn't know where she was going, she had no where to go, no one to go to. She could feel her life trickling away from her, her aching limbs running on empty as she staggered on toward the horizon. She didn't know how long it had been, it didn't matter. She knew she was going to die. 

"Run!"

His last scream had torn her heart in two, shattering everything she had to live for. He was gone. Everyone was gone. She was alone, broken and had nothing left to give. She let her body hit the burning ground, surrendering herself to the sand. If she lay there long enough, the desert would swallow her whole and she would be with him again. Her body had had enough and she slipped away into unconsciousness, laying in the sand with no one around to see her suffer. 

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Alexis was getting close, the spicy-cool siren song of the girls blood was getting stronger with each step. There was only so far she could have gotten, and the sand storm that began to rage would make it harder for her to continue. The Demon scaled another sand dune, stopping at its peak to scan the foreseeable desert but the storm made it difficult, she'd have to rely on the scent to find her now. She loved and hated it, anticipated and dreaded it. It flaunted itself in front of her, dancing around her head until it consumed her and she followed it willingly. Always so close but just out of reach. Not much further, the smell was nearly unbearable now. The closer she got the harder she had to fight to keep herself focused. 

​'not long and this whole ridiculous obsession will be over, Raam will take what he wants from her and I'll be free from this'

A growl left her throat without her realising when she spotted the Angel laying half dead and covered in sand a few dozen yards away. She was stood over her in a heartbeat, looking down at the broken creature at her feet. She was still alive, the dull thud of her pulse was no trouble for Alexis' ears to pinpoint in the strong winds of the sand storm. The cut on her forehead had supplied the blood that was now dry upon her face, the pull of it so strong she could feel her eyes turning their tell-tale black. For the briefest of moments she let her instincts replace her rational sense, and she considered what she'd wanted to do for so many years. 

​'Raam would be none the wiser, I'd tell him I found another feeding from her.....'

She hadn't been this close to her for sixteen years and it had been even longer since she felt so close to losing her control. She hated that such an insignificant creature had so much sway over her. How could a fragile nineteen year old how such a pull over her senses? Before she could stop herself she found that she was visually inspecting the girl, checking how severe her wounds were. Her short loose curls that fell around her closed eyes were so much like her brothers, such beauty in such a broken little thing. With a pang of something that faintly resembled guilt she remembered Andrew's blank eyes staring up at the sky from where he lay dead on the ground. 

Infuriating! Why did she care? She wanted to get it done now, to kneel over her and put the half dead Angel out of her misery. But she knew should wouldn't be the one to do it, she couldn't be. Raam would have her head. Something else told her that was not the only reason she couldn't end the girls life, but the Raam excuse was far more convenient.

Alexis reached down and ripped a piece of her jacket off and secured it over her mouth and nose in an attempt to keep the scent from driving her insane with thirst. She effortlessly lifted the girl up, the sand that had begun to bury her fell from her like an hour glass. Looking down at the unconscious Angel in her arms and allowed a low growl to tumble through her lips, swearing that after today she would never allow herself to be subjugated to such emotions as guilt again. 

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The Angel had not moved or made a sound the entire way back to the city. She was still breathing, Alexis had been listening to her heartbeat on and off for hours as she carried the girl closer to her death. She had not suffered for so long for her to let the Angel die before she got her to Raam. As promised, Raam's guards were waiting at the city limits and they escorted Alexis back to the Manor. More than once she caught the guard to her right eyeing the girl in her arms with such a look of hunger she thought she may have a problem on her hands. Then again, if he killed her she would at least be free of any blame. Once inside the grounds of the Manor Alexis could feel her freedom once again returning to her. In a matter of minutes she would be rid of any and all emotions the Angel had unwittingly forced upon her. She eagerly thought of when she would next feed, flushing out sixteen years worth of pent up temptation. 

The doors to the entrance hall were pulled open for her and she walked straight through them, not stopping in her haste to get to Raam with his prize. The big double doors that led to the stone circular room on the other side of the entrance hall were pushed aside and she marched through them, ready to be shot of the Angel in her grasp. She barely noticed her footsteps bouncing off the walls, or even Jackson, who was stood near Raam. Alexis was focused on two things, her freedom and her thirst. 

"Alexis, I was starting to get worried." Raam said from his makeshift throne. 

"No need, everything worked out" She assured him, but he wasn't listening. He had risen and come toward her in a blur of muscle, his hands moving as if to touch the Angel, but never making contact with her, moving over the air above her tattered clothes and flesh. 

"Magnificent" He breathed, his eyes alight with hunger "truly breathtaking..."

Alexis did not wish to stand there idly while he marveled at the girls beauty. She wanted to be half way across the city by now, more than ready to indulge her burning thirst. 

"If I may, I'd like to rest" Alexis stated a little too bluntly, Raam's eyes snapped from his Angel to Alexis. He studied her for a moment, then stepped away from them both.

"Soon," he began and if Alexis had been less concerned with her hunger she may have picked up the dangerous tone of his voice.

'take it easy Alex, he isn't pleased about the other one dying' ​Jackson warned her silently, making no physical move or word toward her. 

"Leave us" Raam commanded of everyone in the room "not you Alexis. And you," he bellowed at one of his guards "take the Angel to Alexis chambers."

She had used a lot of control to stop herself throwing the girl across the room in her haste to leave, so it took a moment for her to register what he had said after his order for her to stay. 

'Take the Angel to Alexis' chamb....?' What?

She stood absolutely still as everyone left, leaving her alone with Raam. He seemed calm as he circled around her, considering one of his most loyal warriors. He stopped in front of her, his bright red eyes never leaving hers.

"Do you think you can hide yourself from me Alexis, after all these years?" 

Her eyebrow rose of it's own accord as she fought to stay calm in her urgent need to feed "I don't understand, I'm not hiding anything from you"

"But you are" he said, his words slow and deliberate "do you really think I have not noticed the affect the Angel's have had on you over these past years?" 

"They only affect they've had on me is an excruciating thirst" She retorted, forgetting herself. But Raam merely chuckled, the sound of it like heavy rain on a metal roof. 

"Why do you think I sent you to them, and not one of your comrades?" 

She had never thought about this, when Raam gave you an order you followed it or you died. She never felt the need to question why he had picked her. He guessed what she was thinking and answered for her.

"You have the most.....self control." He stated, sounding disgusted by his own words. Demons should not have to control themselves as far as he was concerned. "I needed someone I could rely on to watch over them without killing them, and you fulfilled that requirement."

"It was not without effort" 

"Ah, I know. Angel's blood is quite the commodity these days for that exact reason. It proves far too tempting for even the strongest willed of Demons. Even me."

She shot him an unbelieving look "You've tasted Angel blood?" She asked before she could stop herself. 

He smirked, looking at her as a teacher might gaze upon a pupil. "Yes, and I can assure you, it was exquisite." 

"Then why have you chosen to send the girl to my chambers instead of drin - "

"Because I have other plans for her" His voice was heavier now, the authority unquestionable.

"What plans?" She couldn't help herself, she needed answers, she needed to know why her freedom was being to cruelly snatched away from her. 

He didn't answer straight away, choosing instead to circle around her again as if he were making sure he'd picked the right candidate for what he wanted from her. He came to a halt behind her, and leaned in close to her neck as he whispered the words that would haunt her. 

"I want you to turn her." 

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Well hello my lovelies. I hope it all makes sense so far and that you're all enjoying it. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Keep reading. And I'll love you forever if you leave me some feedback. I'm not even joking, they'll be flowers and wine and everything.