Steam filled the bathroom and swirled around her body. She still couldn't figure out how there was even running water in this weird realm of darkness. Did it matter? She could shower and brush her teeth... she found her hairbrush among the items Cyrille had brought from her apartment and worked through the rat's nest as best she could with only one arm.

Kate looked down at the stump. She'd been down here for weeks. Long enough that her head was clear for the first time in years. That should have been long enough for her arm to grow back. Which meant she had no magic left.

That would explain the hunger. It would also explain the unbearably intense fantasies. It wasn't like last time, where she was so desperate, she would have fucked anyone or anything that moved. Instead, they were focused entirely on Cyrille now. Only Cyrille. At least this time, she was able to stop herself from calling his fucking name.

Fucking demon deals. It had to be because of that. He didn't have her name, but all he needed to do was ask. She wouldn't be able to resist. She had no one to blame but herself. This was all because she couldn't keep her mouth shut about Danika.

Throwing the hairbrush into the sink, she stormed back out to the bedroom, half-destroyed from her rages. Her eyes went for the backpack on the chair, and she stopped in her tracks. Cyrille or Celeste must have gone back to her apartment. There was no way... it was too easy...

"Katalin," His voice made her jump, and she looked wildly around. Cyrille stood at the door looking perfect as he always did, a look of pure relief on his face. "You're awake."

"Joy of joys," she scowled and backed up to stand in the bathroom door again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic."

His eyes hardened, looking more like himself. "The hostility is not necessary," he growled, walking towards her. "How are you feeling?"

Her heart thumped hard, and she clenched her jaw shut tight as his power over the bond urged her to answer him. "You got what you wanted," she said slowly, fighting against his command. "I'm clean."

"You are sober," he corrected, closing the distance between them and taking her wrist. He held her tight and ran his thumb across the line of scars at the inside of her arm. "You are far from clean."

Kate chewed the inside of her cheek and glared at his hands. The moment he made contact with her, the tension in her body coiled. She ached and burned for more. For his arms to be around her waist and his lips on hers. His hips thrusting into hers. She was so damn hungry, and he... he could fix it. He could make it better.

Swallowing hard, she tugged at her arm. His grip only tightened, holding her still. "So," she asked, chewing on her bottom lip. "What happens now?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he continued to look at her arm, considering how to respond. He had so many questions. There were so many things he needed her to tell him. But he wasn't sure if she even remembered her hallucinations, especially the last one. Besides, that anger was back. If there was one thing he had learned about her, it was not to push when she was already pissed.

"Let's start with getting you dressed. As much as I enjoy you wearing my clothes... or not wearing clothes at all," he winked, plucking at the t-shirt that she was still wearing, and heat flooded her face. "I want to show you something."

The hairs on the back of her neck rose. "What is it?" she asked warily.

He raised a hand to her cheek and hesitated when she flinched. "Relax," he whispered power through the bond. Her eyes fluttered again, and a low hiss came from her throat. He chuckled. "You were so eager to give yourself to me. Why are you fighting me now?"

"I wasn't eager. I was desperate."

"Katalin," his voice lowered to a warning. "A deal is a deal. I am upholding my end. Will you honor yours?"

Her eyes flared angrily, and her chest rose with a breath. "Fine," she ripped her wrist out of his grip and stormed to her backpack of clothes. "Could you at least leave while I change?"

"Why? I've already seen you naked, and what if you need help with your bra?"

"That's the best part of being a b-cup. I don't need one."

He snorted and turned for the door. "B-cup, my ass," he muttered and barely managed to dodge the chunk of debris she threw across the room at him.

She came out ten minutes later wearing a little black summer dress that looked like she'd worn a thousand times. Loose and flowy, so different from the tight party dress he met her in, but no less flattering. She was fussing with the right strap, struggling to keep it on her shoulder. Frustration played on her face as she held out an elastic band to him. "Could you...?"

She lifted her right shoulder, and the strap fell again, giving him a tantalizing view of her milky-white skin and the ruby-colored bra. Slowly, Cyrille stepped toward her, closer than what was necessary. He took the elastic and twirled his finger, silently telling her to turn. As her cheeks turned red, he smirked.

She had to be starving. She had to be losing her mind being this close and resisting the call to feed. Reaching around to hook the straps in his thumbs, he deliberately brushed the pads of his fingers across her flushing skin. Under his touch, she shivered, and a tiny whimper escaped her. Even without her magic affecting him, it was damn hard to resist touching more of her. To feel her body against his, hear her moan as he pleasured her...

He finished binding the straps and stepped away before he acted on his urges. "Come on."

Kate followed him silently down the black halls. Black halls led to a black door, a black set of stairs, and the black realm beyond. Nothing but black. What could he possibly show her in a world made of darkness?

At the bottom of the steps, she froze and looked down. It felt like she was standing in cool, fresh grass. But nothing but a thick black fog gathered around her ankles. Kicking her feet around didn't affect the mist. She looked back up to find him watching her. "Where are we?" she asked quietly.

His mouth stretched into a smile. "There is a whole world under Paris, Katalin. This is what the legion calls home." He held out his hand for her to take. "Let me show you my world."

Hesitantly, she took his hand. He led her forward, or what she could only interpret as forward. In the never-ending darkness, she had no concept of direction or time. She could see Cyrille perfectly, a beacon of demonic perfection against the black, but the buildings quickly vanished. A few times, she stumbled, unable to see where her feet were going, and each time he caught her before she fell. Each time he touched her, her heart skipped a beat, and her skin turned hot.

They walked for what felt like hours. Long enough that the weeks she spent in that bed started taking effect. Her feet began to ache, and her legs shook. She was just about to call it quits when she heard it. The texture of the ground changed suddenly from grass to rock, and she stumbled forward into shallow water. Like everything else, the water was black and barely distinguishable from anything else, but she could feel the current over her feet.

She couldn't hold back her delighted squeal as she eagerly took a few steps deeper. The water was cold and refreshing. Everything around her smelled clean and wild. Tiny, inch-long fish with a stripe of bioluminescent light on either side swam around her feet. They were the first source of natural light she'd seen in ages. Dipping her hand into the water, the fish immediately swam up to her fingers and nibbled at them.

"Do you like the water?" Cyrille asked behind her.

"Yeah," she straightened and looked over her shoulder. He stood at the edge of the river, watching her. A smile played on his lips and a soft look in his eyes. "Danika and I used to go every Friday during the school year. In the summer, her mom would take us out to the mountains whenever she thought we could get away with it."

"You must love the beaches of France. It is a beautiful country."

She shook her head, wading through the water back to him. "The cargo container I was hiding in got loaded onto a ship in Montreal, unloaded in Le Havre onto a truck, then taken straight to Paris," she sighed wistfully. "I've never actually seen the ocean."

"I'll take you," his arm snaked around her waist and lifted her easily out of the water into a small boat. "Normandy, Royan, Corsica... Just tell me when and where you want to go. I'll make it happen."

She blinked and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?" she asked coolly. "What do you get out of it?"

"So suspicious," he chuckled and followed her into the boat. It immediately started moving without him needing to express any magic. "Is it really so hard to believe that I would want to take you with no expectation of payment?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

She turned away, looking in the direction they were moving and into the abyssal blackness. "People don't do things out of the kindness of their own hearts for strangers. Not humans, not ancients, and especially not demons. You have everything I can offer you. There's no point in pretending you care anymore."

You are so wrong, Katalin, he wanted to say. There is so much you can offer. So many things even the strongest of bonds cannot take. Things I have no right to ask from you.

"Is that why you never looked for a legion when you came here? You feared they would not accept you?"

She shifted in her seat, uncomfortably aware that there was no escaping this conversation. She had no idea how deep the river was or in what direction the shore was. While he wasn't pushing his will on her, she could feel the presence of his power mixed into her essence. "I did try at first. I didn't know where to look. You can't exactly look up available legions in the Yellow Pages. I found Darius first. He took me in, gave me a job, introduced me to the packs, and showed me how to survive Paris as a night-stalker. Besides, the only other demons I've known were my parents," she sighed quietly. "I don't know what it even means to be a part of a legion."

"What happened to your parents?"

"My father is in the veil," her voice shook with emotion. "My mother is gone. I haven't seen them since I was five."

Anger bubbled in his core. How did any of this happen to her? "Your mother abandoned you?" he snapped a little too quickly.

"Don't you dare!" Kate rounded on him, her own rage and hurt flaring in her eyes. "You don't know anything! My mother would never abandon me. I was taken from her! We didn't have a choice!"

"Taken? By the Order?"

Her lip curled, but the emotion otherwise faded from her. "Yeah," she hissed sarcastically. "Because it's always the Templars with you, isn't it? As if there couldn't possibly be anything worse."

"Katalin-"

"Where are we going?" She looked down at the water again, her face an empty mask, effectively ending the conversation.

Silence stretched between them while he struggled to keep his composure. He was getting severe whiplash from this girl. She was capable of being so soft, tender, and sweet, filled with enough passion to have him on his knees. But as fast as striking a match, her temper flared red hot and ripped through any available kindling. Ever since she let slip that she was a mix of two demon breeds, he was sure that her mother had to be one of Wrath's.

Finally, he jerked his head behind her. They were quickly approaching the barrier. "I'm taking you to the city," he said. "I'm going to show you want I've built for our people."

As she turned in her seat, they crossed the invisible line where the cloaking magic fell away. Her jaw dropped. The darkness faded away. The world above her was illuminated by a thousand blue star-like lights high above her. The gentle light revealed the cliff walls over the river, showing that it was at least fifty meters across with a perfectly smooth, glassy surface.

There was enough light to see that the canyon rounded another bend, cutting off her view. "That's," she breathed. "Impossible. I thought we were underground."

She looked back at Cyrille and felt the blood rush to her face. The stars cast a soft blue glow to his skin, and a broad smile played on his lips. His eyes glistened with what could only be excitement and affection. He'd been so angry with her, she thought she'd lost all hope of ever having his respect. Yet, he was still able to smile at her like that. "We are," his voice was a low, soothing tenor. "The only explanation for it is magic."

"But," she looked up again. "There has to be something up there. Eventually, you have to reach the surface, right?"

"Isn't magic enough of a reason?" he chuckled, following her gaze to the stars. "I have climbed the highest mountains in this realm, higher than what should be possible. I don't know what makes the lights."

"How far down are we?"

"A deep scan from the surface picks up the magical signature a kilometer underground. But the biggest and most accessible entrance is through the eastern catacombs, which are barely ten meters down. I spent a century exploring this place before I built the city. It may stretch on forever. Time doesn't work the same here either. You have been down here for nearly six weeks, but up there, it's only been a few days." A wistful, content sigh passed his lips as he gazed up at the stars. "I like to believe that when the veil collided with the mortal realm and spat us out to a world that would learn to fear and hate us, that it left this behind for us to find sanctuary."

"Is... this what the veil looks like?" she couldn't look away from the sky. She'd never seen anything so beautifully tranquil.

"No... the veil is a cruel and unforgiving place. It was a dying world even before it connected with this one. Physical forms are linked to the soul there. We didn't need to feed there, but we hunted the fae because even a tiny shred of a soul would give us a body for a short time."

He looked back at her again, but she was too enamored to notice. Her hair reflected the galaxy of stars above them, and her golden eyes sparkled with wonder. She was absolutely stunning.

"With a body, we could experience the world around us. We could smell and eat, even if food and wine did not offer us sustenance. We could see the sky. We could touch..."

His hand moved on its own. He pulled her hair back from her face and combed his fingers through the shiny black lengths. She turned her head to finally meet his eyes again. She still looked at him with doubt and suspicion, but it had lessened somewhat. Taking her hand in his, he brought it up to kiss her palm. Her fingers grazed the ridge of his throat, and it sent shivers down his spine.

"The mortal realm does not have such restrictions on life. Many of us were graced with physical bodies. Our lack of souls gives us a unique form of magic, which allows us to contort our shapes in ways that should not be physically possible, even for shifters. The downside is now we entirely rely on souls to thrive. Any soul will do, but human souls do have a certain... je ne sais quoi."

Kate giggled, and it brought unbridled joy to his heart to hear it and see her smile.

"My hope when I built this place was to give demons a place where they could live out their lives until their essence naturally fades. So they never have to go back to the veil. So they never have to face that hell alone."

"I don't understand..."

He kept his gaze on her hand, still resting palm up in his. He lightly traced the crease of her thumb and almost laughed when her pulse quickened. "Like here, time works differently in the veil. A blink of an eye here stretches on for days over there. So we spend thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of years searching for a way back. We search and search for a break between the realms or for someone strong enough to open a portal or be spat out like the first time.

"The fae have left the veil completely. There are no more souls to hunt. We spend those years in a dying world without a body. Unable to truly see... unable to communicate... unable to touch... Souled creatures know nothing of hell. They know nothing of true torture. Many demons have spent so long looking for a way back, they have lost their minds. They have nothing left but the endless torture of the veil. And when they come back... sometimes they are less than a shadow of who they were before."

Cyrille suddenly sat up, breaking the contact between them and looking away. He cleared his throat of the building emotions. "The Templar's method of exorcism cannot kill us. But any demon who has experienced one would rather be killed outright. Because they're human, the magic isn't stable, so it rips our essence apart when they use it. It sends us back in pieces. It's hard enough wandering the veil with no guarantee of getting back. It's quite another to not even know who you are, where you are, or what to do until you, by chance, run into another piece of yourself. Many demons exorcised during the Crusades have never made it back."

Kate looked down at her hand. It still tingled from his touch, but the pleasurable sensation was soured by their conversation. She had no idea. Her parents never told her. They rarely spoke of the veil at all. Most breeds spoke of it like it were a forgotten realm. Like it wasn't even there. For demons, though... it was an ever-present threat.

Her father was in the veil. Her mother had been so adamant that they would return and find them both. She always believed they would but... after everything he said... even if they did make their way back, would they even remember her?

"Katalin," he smiled again, looking over her shoulder at what lay beyond. "We're here."

She twisted in her seat again to get her first view of the city. Whatever she had been expecting... it wasn't that.

The black canyon opened, and a sea of stars stretched out before her. Like the milky way over the surface, they were gathered in a relatively straight line that cut the sky in half as far as the eye could see. Beneath them, the water widened into a lake, and she could see other, larger boats listing peacefully in currents. And then finally... the city.

Immense, elaborate spiral structures rose towards the stars. They were made of some pale stone that caught the light of the stars, reflecting every surface to illuminate the city in a wash of shades of blues and violets.

Ordinarily, the reveal of his city still took Cyrille's breath away. He liked to say he built it, but in reality, he had just put down the foundation. It was the legion that made all this. And every time he came back, it looked bigger, brighter, grander than the last. But not tonight. Tonight... it paled in comparison to her.

His heart hammered against his chest, driving the last nail into the coffin. He couldn't deny it any longer. He was falling in love with her.

~

And there you have it! I hate to leave you guys on this little cliffhanger, but it is what it is!

For my new followers, I always take the month of December off, it's not anything new or sudden. There's just always so much going on around the holidays. Since I've been working on Blood Lust nonstop since the summer I also want to avoid burnout. I'll be online, just not not as much, so if I don't respond to messages, don't panic, I'm still alive!

Have an awesome and safe December. Happy holidays and happy New Year!

I will be back on January 1, 2022. I don't know if I'm going to continue the twice a week updates, because I need to see where things go, but I'll let you guys know when I'm back.

Stay happy! Stay healthy! See you in four weeks!

~