Page 30 of Signed in Blood

I change the subject, though only slightly. “I’ve met Medusa—have you heard of her?”

“With the snakes for hair? Medusa, Medusa?” Her brow rises comically on her forehead.

“Yes. If you look at her, you turn to stone. She’s a murderer,” I tell her while wiping the evidence.

“She’s real?” she questions with shock.

“Very much so.”

“She’s here? In hell?”

“No. Medusa is in heaven. Why would she be condemned to hell?” I admit to her, although I keep some details out. I continue wiping up the bit of blood on her chest and I find myself lacking when no more remains.

“Her curse was a punishment. She loved too deeply and enjoyed many lovers in return. So they made it so no one could see her or else they’d die. Therefore no one could love her. And she could love no one either, not in the way she needed.”

Her expression pinches as if she doesn’t understand. “She was a monster, wasn’t she?”

“No. They told you she was a monster, but they’re the ones who made her. All she wanted to do was love,” I answer her firmly. “They bound a woman then told you she was a monster so you’d accept that whatever they did to her was justified.”

Lilith backs away from me slightly to look me in the eyes before asking, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Not everything you know is as it seems. And just because you were made to believe certain things are inherently wrong, it doesn’t mean they are.”

She’s quiet as she lies on the bed, and I toss the handkerchief down before lifting her chin up so she looks at me.

“You know who is in hell though?” I ask her.

“Who?”

“The man you just killed.”

Her eyes brighten and widen at that knowledge. “Can I see him?”

A smirk lifts my lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She’s never seen beyond our den. My pulse quickens as I wave my hand and create our exit. A large, curved door emerges of the same wood that planks the floor. The knob is a polished iron and I turn it to open and lead her down the hall.

She walks closely beside me and I hold her hand. I can practically hear her heart racing. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you,” I promise when she wonders if I would.

It’s a sharp sting of distrust hearing that thought, so I tune them out for now. Afterall, I have time to convince her that I truly wish for her to keep me company, to be at my side, maybe to be something more… After all, I know better than anyone that once revenge is had and the rage wanes, only a piece of you remains. A jagged piece, missing another half to make it whole.

We walk down to my dungeon of torture, all I have to do is imagine the cavern I wish to enter and it appears. We turn to the right, and her gaze instantly lands on the man on the spinning wheel with spikes that keep his body in place. Jake screams, utterly terrified with what’s happening to him. His body is weak, his cry dry, his throat raw.

For her pleasure, I give him strength so he can squirm at the sight of her. So he can get back to trying to escape what he never will.

I smirk at the view, he deserves everything I have planned for him. Men like him use my name as an excuse to cause brutality. May they suffer for eternity.

Now that he’s mine, I own his soul and can do what I want with him. Except this time, I want Lilith to see the purgatory that awaits him. Nothing but misery. He’ll burn in hell for all eternity.

But her expression is nothing like what I thought it would be. The smile is wiped from my face as her gaze drops.

Suddenly, Lilith looks down at her hands and says, “I remember his hands.” Hers lift to her throat, still feeling his imprint on her. “He choked me while he...”

Her mind goes to places it wishes, back to that night.

Quickly, I make her an offer. “Do you want to play with him?”

She looks at me. “What?”