Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) (22 page)

“Yes.”

“But does he know we’re here?”

“He can’t see us, but he has the power to
feel us.”

Succubus approached Samael and stood in
front of him, her gleaming eyes piercing his. Samael regarded her
with a playfulness in his green eyes. He did nothing when she
closed in on him, to better lean against his chest.

“The next room is empty. Waiting for us,”
she hissed into his face before biting her lip. Samael stood
immobile, thinking, deciding whether to take her invitation or
reject it.

“What the…?” Lily cried out angrily and took
a step to knock Succubus away, but Raphael grabbed her.

“We aren’t here, do you remember?” he told
her roughly. “You have to stay inconspicuous or else I won’t be
able to protect you if they find out Samael isn’t alone.”

“But she–” Lily pointed ahead, “look at
her.”

“Control your feelings,” Raphael
insisted.

Holding the torch with one hand, Succubus
traced her fingers over Samael’s face, then wove her fingers
through his hair.

“Do you remember us?” she asked him in a
hushed voice.

No doubt Samael and Succubus were very
familiar with each other, but how close were they? She was inviting
Samael into one of the inhuman sex rooms, obviously not to engage
in civil conversation.

“It was a long time ago, Succubus,” Samael
replied at last.

“It’s not a long time for such immortal
creatures as we are,” she retorted. “What is time to us? Centuries
pass by like seconds.” Succubus exhaled, filling his nose with her
hot breath. “I'm not asking you to come back to me like before. Do
you remember the days we shared together?” Her eyes gleamed
greedily. “The sex we had can’t be forgotten. I’ll risk everything
and ask you to have me one more time.” She stepped back and
unbuttoned her cassock. It slid down over her body to the floor.
The torch illuminated her white skin, and her golden hair was now
completely free to stretch down to her waist. Her breasts were
tight, her nipples were hard, and Samael’s eyes fell upon them
involuntarily. Even Lily couldn’t tear her eyes away from her bare
spine and shapely ass, she had the kind of long and slender legs
other girls could only dream of. Who had created such a beautiful
creation as Succubus and left her in a prison?

“Take me into that room and fuck me hard,
Samael,” she ordered, taking his face into her hands. “I’ve missed
you, my mustang.” Her hand slid down between his legs and grasped
his erection. “I need you inside me. Satisfy me, Samael.” She stood
up on her toes, her mouth reaching up to his chin, and then she
licked his neck. She took his hand and put it on her naked rear.
“What are you waiting for?” Succubus kissed his lips. “Don’t you
want to taste me once again? You can’t visit me every day like
before, Samael.”

Succubus tossed the torch to the ground and
ripped Samael’s shirt open, freeing his muscular and irresistible
chest. She looked at his skin with hungry eyes, then her mouth
attacked him fiercely.

Lily thought that Samael would succumb to
temptation. He tilted his head back, letting her lick his neck and
enjoy the taste of his skin that Lily liked the most, but then he
gathered himself and resisted her advances. His green eyes darkened
and became stoic when he looked back at her again. He took her by
her shoulders and rudely pushed her away.

“Put your clothes on and lead me in,” he
said severely. “I’m on business here.”

For some seconds Succubus stood stunned. Now
Lily recognized Samael again. Succubus had the same expression as
Samael had had in the car the day they first met, when Lily had
managed to refuse him. That expression meant Succubus had never
been rejected before, Samael was the first to push her flawless
body away.

Succubus laughed loudly. Her voice filled in
the corridor and got lost in the infinity of it.

“You know that I can leave you here, and
you’ll roam in search of the exit forever,” she said jovially, but
her voice was colored with a new kind of anger. “Do you think
Raphael will come to save you, keeper of Eden?” She took a step
closer to him and put her fingers on his chest. “I like your raging
eyes,” she hissed. “Do you remember how many souls you’ve destroyed
for me? How many arms have been raised against you because of my
charm?”

“Your charm has no power on me anymore,
Succubus,” Samael said tonelessly. He took her hands off his chest.
“I won’t touch you, even if you leave me in these corridors
forevermore. You’d better get dressed and lead me ahead.”

Succubus withdrew backward, astonished at
first, then she gave a wave. Her cassock lying on the floor
dissolved in the air. Like smoke, it soared and gathered around her
body. Within a second the same cassock materialized over her naked
body. The hood came over her head itself and hid her face.

“As you wish,” she teased, and turned her
back to him.

“Succubus,” Samael cried after her at the
moment she was about to leave. His voice rang in the corridor and
vibrated the walls. “You have orders to take me in,” he reminded
her as she peered back.

“You know my price.” She pointed the room.
Samael kept his silence.

Lily looked at Raphael, hoping the archangel
would help Samael. Raphael stood still. He was going to watch the
performance in silence. Meanwhile, Succubus came up to Samael
again. With one gesture she lifted the torch, and it hung in
mid-air soaring above their heads.

“I offered you a pleasant deal. Me,” she
indicated her body, “for your business.”

Samael raised his head. At first, Lily
didn’t recognize him, because the eyes she could see now didn’t
belong to the creature who had loved her several hours ago. These
eyes shone like green flames. His eyebrows arched, his hands balled
into fists. If those wings weren’t gray, she would definitely
believe that a devil stood there in place of Samael.

Samael’s wings opened wide, reaching from
one wall to the other. She saw the throes of anger that momentarily
twisted the ninth archangel. Before Succubus could understand their
meaning, she was struck by Samael’s invisible power. Like a waving
wind, charged with inhuman power, Samael’s wrath released itself
from his body and enveloped Succubus. He hadn’t even touched her,
but Succubus was tossed backward, before she crashed to the ground.
Lily looked from her to Samael in puzzlement.

“Raphael, do something,” she begged.

“All is well” he said, unfazed. “My
brother’s wings need some freedom. Let’s allow him that much, shall
we?” He winked.

Samael looked in their direction as though
he had heard Raphael, although the archangel had told Lily that
they were invisible and inaudible.

Succubus jumped to her feet, the hood slid
down off her head. She shrieked loudly, and the floor and the
ceiling shuddered in unison. Lily pressed her hands to her ears.
Sand rained onto her head.

She glanced at Samael. Samael stood his
ground, wearing the same malicious look.

The people from the nearest rooms wandered
out, naked and with curiosity in their eyes. As soon as they saw
Samael, a muttering gasp went through them, some put their heads
into their hands, some bowed to him and withdrew back. Lily watched
them retreat back into the rooms, flabbergasted.

“Bow your head, Succubus,” Samael’s devilish
voice pierced through the corridor. Lily glanced at him instantly –
his mouth was shut. He spoke telepathically, just as he had to
Beelzebub before, when he had come to rescue Lily.

A sharp wind came from the end of the
corridor. It passed Samael and Lily, then reached Succubus. Her
hair and cassock were ruffled back. She closed her eyes.

“This is one of the archangels of the Great
Nine.” His voice strangled the air in the corridor. “You will show
me the respect I am due.”

“Did you show me your respect when you left
me here, Samael?” she growled. “You’re a liar. The ninth archangel,
you left your love behind, you left me to be tortured.” All of a
sudden she set off at a run toward Samael, her right hand raised
above her head. Lily spotted a gleaming thing in her hand. It was a
sword, she was going to stab it into his chest. Samael darted
toward her. He was much faster than she was. He grasped her by neck
and remorselessly slammed her into the wall. A shriek tore itself
out of Lily’s mouth, she clapped her hands to her mouth in horror
and could swear that the wall itself rattled. Succubus's howl of
pain flooded the corridors.

Lily took a step closer to them to get a
good look. Samael was holding Succubus with one hand, her feet
kicking uselessly in the air. Succubus moaned, but his grasp
tightened around her neck, and she choked on her own voice. Lily
saw her bleeding. Samael’s right hand held his gray sword. It was
still stuck in her shoulder.

Lily looked at his face, expecting to see a
predator with long teeth, but Samael’s eyes had already calmed
down. He released her, pulling his sword back to let her roll over
the ground. Succubus struggled into a sitting position, clutching
at her shoulder. Her hands were covered in her own blood.
God
had gifted such creatures with blood too,
Lily thought.

“I always knew you were emotionless. You're
a dead man walking,” she wheezed, coughing blackened blood out of
her mouth. “But I always loved you, Samael. If you leave me here,
I’ll hold you here with me as well. I will see your handsome face
every day, but your eyes will be mournful, because you’ll be
trapped in here forever.”

Samael knelt down in front of her, narrowing
his eyes. Holding her chin, he lifted her head carefully. “Show me
the way, Succubus,” he snarled. “You don't want me to torture you
forever. Don’t play with me. I’ll send you to the Island of the
Dead.”

They glared into each other’s eyes
unblinking, Lily watching them, uncomprehending.

“What is the Island of the Dead?” she
asked.

“It’s the place where deceased unearthly
creatures live,” Raphael replied. “You can find nothing there
except for darkness, gloom, and emptiness. Believe me, it’s a fate
you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. There is no way back from
there.”

Succubus’s yell split the air in the
corridor again, making Lily tear her eyes from Raphael and peer at
Samael. He held Succubus by the wounded shoulder and hoisted her
onto her feet. She laughed out loud through her pain, as if she
enjoyed it. Samael bent forward, he smelled her face. He traced his
finger over her neck down to her breasts.

“Too beautiful, but still cold and unreal,”
he hissed unsympathetically. Lily had to strain her ear to catch
his voice. “You’ve got blood,” he touched her wound, “but it’s not
hot, it’s as cold as ice. Tell me, can you love at all,
Succubus?”

She moaned, but Lily didn’t hear her answer.
Holding her for some seconds, Samael finally let her go and spun
around.

“Lead the way,” he ordered dryly, his green
wicked eyes looking at Lily’s direction.

“I thought you said that he can't see us?”
Lily stepped back to Raphael as though she was scared of Samael
now.

“I’m cheating,” the monk grinned. “I created
this place, after all. This is my world, and I can do to it what I
like.”

Succubus flinched. Her head was covered with
the hood again. She picked up the torch slowly and started off.
Samael readjusted his shirt and followed her.

“If you’re the creator of this place, then
why do we need Succubus to find the way out of this maze?” Lily
responded as she and Raphael began following Samael.

“Dudael has been changed several times,”
Raphael replied mildly. “First, it was empty save only Azazel, then
Gabriel advised me to let the people who longed for immortality
into the prison forever. Some of Lucifer’s companions liked the
idea, and they came here and built the place you see now. Thus this
place is like Earth; God created it and gave it to mankind. Then
man changed it.”

“Does he have a hand in those changes?” Lily
looked at Samael, who was walking his hand thrust into his
trousers. “He was in this prison before, this isn’t his first
visit, is it?”

“He used to hang out here with Lucifer’s
other partners a long time ago,” Raphael affirmed.

“He was a prisoner?”

“The prison has two entrances. We came
through one, but the other was for Lucifer’s comrades. He sends his
people here every so often–”

“Can’t he just set Azazel free?” Lily cut
him off.

“No. He won’t run such a risk for Azazel,”
Raphael supposed. Lily saw Samael veer to the right at the end of
the way. Darkness fell in the corridor momentarily.

“Raphael!” As soon as she said his name, the
corridor was illuminated by a heavenly bright light coming from the
monk’s clothes.

“Come,” he ordered, and hurried ahead.

The next corridor was the same as the
previous. Lily can’t help stealing a look at the scene behind the
first doorway. Entirely naked, a red-haired woman sat on a chair,
legs sprawled out, head tossed back. Her eyes were closed. Between
her legs was a black-haired woman whose face Lily couldn’t see.
Hunched forward, she was kissing the red-haired woman’s belly
hungrily, then her lips moved down over the other woman's skin and
got lost between her partner’s legs. Lily shook her head in
disgust, then the image passed out of her view as she raced to
catch up with Raphael.

The distance between Samael and Lily had
widened, the slight light of the Succubus’s torch could hardly be
seen from so far a distance. Lily didn’t want to lose Raphael’s
heavenly light and find herself alone in the corridor among those
immortal humans.

“I always hoped that one day Samael would
feel, because living without feelings is the same as being dead,”
the monk confessed. “I know he told you he loved you, but I’d
advise you yet to keep some distance from him. You'll never unravel
his true intentions, trust me.”