Page 9 of Azure Mania

Her eyes hold mine, she’s not trying to wiggle out of my grip. She remains there, my hand tightly wrapped around her throat, staring at me, daring me to test the theory. I know it in my bones that she’s bluffing.

But what if she isn’t?

That means I’ll die before I get my revenge on her and I can’t have that.

Chapter 5

Yvonne

A thick, suffocating silence stretches between us. His blood-red eyes are trying to search mine, to see anything that might tell him if I’m bluffing. It’s not something he’ll ever figure out because no matter what, I’ll be the one who survives this mess.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Lucifer’s hand drops from my neck. He’s breathing heavily, trying to swallow down all the anger, that he’s feeling toward me. I don’t blame him for being upset with me, or for hating me. After all, the feeling is very mutual.

“So, how deeply does this connection go?” Lucifer asks, taking a step back.

I breathe out, only now realizing how much his proximity was suffocating me. With a small sigh, I take a seat; as far as possible from him, my body still trembling slightly. I genuinely thought for a moment, that he saw through my bluff and that my head was about to be rolling on the floor.

“Well, if you’re injured, so am I. But since you heal quickly, so do I.”

“How, in the world, did this exactly happen? Is there a way to reverse it?”

“I’m not sure. As I told you, I improvised on the curse and since it’s the first and only curse I ever casted, I’m not sure how to reverse it. Octavia is looking into it as we speak.”

Lucifer closes his eyes for a moment, taking a breath, his jaw clenching. He pinches the bridge of his nose and begins to pace the room, I remain silent. His long, silver hair cascades down his neck, and the beautiful shade makes it impossible for me to look away.

His lashes, his brows and hair are all the exact same shade of silver. It’s weird that he has such a peculiar color. Mine came from the rage and the magic that I inherited all at once. My natural hair color was vibrant ginger. But his? Is better than any bleach and tone session could ever give him.

There aren’t any records on the Sacred Seven, before they turned into vampires. I’m not sure of their origins, their place of birth, what happened to their parents, or what they looked like before their transformation. All I know is that only one of the seven, isn’t related by blood. Poor thing was in the wrong place, at the wrong time and ended up being a cursed monster like them. She’s the only one I’d consider sparing and, well, Ophelia.

But that’s just because Faith is a dear friend of mine. Otherwise, that obnoxious, stuck up, arrogant and ill-mannered vampire, would be the first one to go. Ophelia’s face on its own, pisses me off beyond belief.

“Then,” Lucifer’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts, my eyes falling onto him. A low, wicked smirk tugs on the corners of his lips and my breath hitches. It’s taunting, and the bastard has figured it out. “If I can’t kill you because I’ll die, too. That doesn’t mean I can’t have my fun with you, does it?”

Before I can ask what the hell he’s referring to, he grabs his own shoulder, and yanks it. A loud scream pierces through my lungs, as tears swell in my eyes, the sharp pain tearing through my body.

I

I feel the bone dislocate from my shoulder, my entire body trembles in pain. It doesn’t stop, but I don’t beg for him to put it back. Instead, I bite down on my lip, drawing blood. It’s supposed to help me shift my focus, but just as I allow the drops of blood to trickle down my chin, Lucifer pops his shoulder back into place, my own following suit.

The pain lessens, but the ache remains and I’m able to breathe again.

“You rotten bastard,” I hiss, standing up. My footing is sloppy, and I sway a little, gripping my forearm, my nails digging into my flesh. “Is this what you’re going to do, until I figure out a way to break this godforsaken connection between us?”

“Pretty much,” Lucifer chuckles, and I sink down to my knees.

This whole situation is starting to shake me terribly. It’s not that he’s here, no, it’s far worse than just his mere presence. It’s the fact that something has gone wrong, and I don’t know how to fix it. I have to depend on Octavia to find a solution, and that’s a big maybe.

My eyes flick upward as Lucifer approaches me. He bends a little, some of his silvery strands covering his eyes. From this angle, the man looks like an angel. Especially since he’s not sneering, or glaring right now. The expression he has is almost soft, but I know better than to fall for such false acts.

Gently, he brushes a strand of my hair behind my ear, and I find myself unable to breathe.

The moment his fingers brush against my cheek, my heart begins to stutter. My breath hitches, and a sweet scent nestles in my nose. It’s a mix between vanilla, and deep forest after a storm. My heart starts beating furiously against my ribcage, like a spell’s been cast on me.

Lucifer freezes, his fingers still threaded gently through my hair. His eyes widen a fraction, a look of pure shock on his face. Neither of us says a word, but the silence speaks volumes.

I’m not a moron — I know that these goosebumps, the hitch of my breath and the uncontrollable beating of my heart, are the side effects of the curse. It’s only now that I realize that the more we do things to ourselves, in hopes of hurting the other, the stronger the bond becomes.

It’s not like Faith and Ophelia. Their bond is natural and they have always been destined to meet, to belong to each other. This is entirely different — this bond is a mistake, something that occurred due to my negligence, and unlike the destined one, this comes at a price.