While Luna slept peaceably, Sean lie beside her, gently stoking her hair, her face, the bare, soft skin of her arm. An arm he was certain would look far more attractive with shades of purple coloring the skin. The prints of his hand marking her delicate flesh. She was beautiful now, just the way she was, but Sean was certain she would soon be beyond beautiful, once she wore his scars.
His insides leapt happily with that thought. There was nothing that could enhance Luna's beauty more than a few subtle reminders marking her flesh, reminding her as to whom she belonged and whom she must obey. Sean was confident that Luna would need lots of reminders. She was unruly and feisty. But this was ok. Sean was more than excited about teaching her the error of her ways. And her unruly, feisty nature would certainly add interesting dimensions to their relationship.
Sean smiled.
He had been lying beside her all night. He had been there from the time he had closed and locked the door. Only, she hadn't recognized him. And of course she wouldn't. Not unless he allowed her to.
As difficult as it was not to ravish her, leaving a beautiful, young virgin alone in a dwelling full of blood-hungry warlocks was a bad idea. He could not be certain that a Son of Hallow wouldn't be so enthralled by Luna that he would be willing to suffer his high priest's wrath for touching her. More than likely, no one would dare cross the high priest or displease him in any shape or form, but Sean was not going to take any chances. As far as he was concerned, Luna was not safe. Not even from him self.
Luna had a way of moving people in ways that were uncommon to the female species. He had witnessed it. Throughout her entire life, Luna has enchanted those who've come in contact with her. Luna had always been able to unknowingly cast her spell over any man. Sean believed in the possibility that any one of his warlocks would be willing to suffer their high priest's wrath for simply just one touch, one feel of this magnificent creature that was now sprawled out upon his bed. It was no wonder his brother was so infatuated with her and that his other brothers were envious.
"I will be watching you, My Little One," Sean whispered, feathering his finger over her cheek, down the ridge of her jaw, to the place at her neck where he had drawn from her. He could feel her blood coursing through the vein he had punctured so terribly long ago. He closed his eyes, inwardly trembling with weakness.
Oh, how I long to hurt you!
Sean could barely contain himself. His lust for her fear for him burned like a raging fire in his blood. He could not wait to drink from her fear. He had waited so long. And last night, with that tainting, bitter drug coursing through her body, combined with the absence of pain and fear-infused plasma lipids, simply was not satisfying. Not in the least.
He could not wait to taste the sweet flavor of her terror to its fullest extent.
In his mind's eye, a picture flashed of her and Dammon holding hands, and hot, wild rancor lashed through him.
Dammon will die a long and painful death, if he does not heed my warning! Sean assured himself. His finger trailed slowly down Luna's soft neck. And then, I will lay you down in bloody grass, and I will take from you what you hold most sacred and dear. Your snow-melt. I will consummate our binding in the blood of my vengeance!
"If I can wait that long, that is, to have my way with you," Sean whispered through clenched teeth. "My brother lusts for you as I do, Little One. But he can not have you. He will never have you. You are mine, not his! Mine since birth!"
Sean pushed away from her and went to the tall mirror in the corner of his bedchamber. His image reflected back at him. "Brother, I summon you," he ordered, squaring his shoulders and straightening his spine. He could not look weak. Not in front of his brother. Not that it mattered. All of his brothers had access to his thoughts. He could not hide what they have already glimpsed. They already knew that Luna was his greatest weakness. There would be no hiding that now, even if he did cloak his thoughts where his brothers could not hear them.
It did not take long for the black cloud to begin to swirl in the mirror. It was his brother's Darkness. It slithered like a bloated, wild snake over Sean's image. It spiraled around Sean's body, before finally taking its true form. Black wings appeared first, stretching out from the black cloud and taking shape in the mirror. At first the image appeared to look as though the wings belonged to Sean. But then the body took shape. A body much larger than Sean's. Blue-black obsidian eyes glared hatefully at him from the mirror.
"You will pay for this, Rune!" The voice of his brother boomed, rattling the glass in the frame of the mirror, reminding Sean that Bane, the first born son of Lucifer, was mightier than the demon, Rune, the second-born son of Lucifer, who possessed Sean.
Sean smiled, spitefully. There was not much separation, if any at times, between Rune and him self. What pleased rune, pleased Sean, and it pleased him to anger Bane this way. Although, it was not difficult to bring Bane to anger. The Prince of The Prince of the Power of Air was quite irascible.
"I do not fear you, Brother. And we will never meet. Father and The Messiah of the Witches has already decided your fate, now haven't they? Aradia has seen to it that you will, for eternity, serve her daughter, Devine and her coven-to-be. You will never leave Sleepy Hallow, Bane. Only through possession, will there be an escape for you. Aradia knows the two of us should be separated. Our paths will never cross." In mock pity, Sean shook his head.
"You do not love her! You know that I have loved her long and true, Brother. Why do you do this? Why?" Bane's wings twitched. The darkness around him moved to the rhythm of his anger. The things he could do. The power his Darkness possessed made Sean green with envy.
"You are correct, dear brother. I do not love the little one. How angry would our father be if not one but two of his sons disgrace Him by breaking his cardinal rule? You should know I would never betray our father. Only do I desire to play. And believe me, I will play, Bane. And there isn't anything you can do to stop me."
"You have already betrayed our father! Was it not spelled out so perfectly clearly that the summoned sons of Lucifer where not to harm a Coven of Hallows' priestess or high priest? You have betray him! You have harmed the Hylander. You have possessed him for far too long and you know that will destroy him. Do not try to convince me that our father's desires are any concern to you. You love her! Whether you admit to it or not!"
"Has our father not betrayed us? Has he not forsaken us? What kind of father allows his sons to be slaves to a coven of mortals? Do not think, not even for a moment, that our father could not release us from The Coven this very instant. It is his magic that makes their wards impenetrable to us. They are nothing compared to him. Nothing! And do not think that Aradia's territorial spells could possibly keep us imprisoned if Father would wish for us to be free!" Then, in a much more calmer voice, he added, "But he doesn't, does he Bane? If he does not have a care in his being about his sons then why in the hell should we have a care for him? And, here's a side note to think about: If we were to be free from The Coven of Hallows, where, then, dear brother, would we be? Ruling at our father's side in Hades Realm, in our father's kingdom? " Sean paused, giving Bane a moment to respond. But he didn't. He didn't because he knew Sean was right. "Is not imprisoned by a coven of mortals not much more entertaining than our father's presence? Are we not freer here?" Sean knew Bane knew he was right. But, of course, the brute was not about to admit it.
"Release the body of the Hylander in which you reside, Rune. Your time in him has long since expired. You know the rules."
Sean laughed. "Rules? As a matter of fact, I believe I do. The rule is that there are no rules. Except one; know no love. I know no love. I break no rules."
"You will destroy the Hylander!"
"You could care less about the Hylander. You may have gone soft on Luna Lanchester, but you are still a son of Lucifer. You possess the torrid lust for pain and fear even more than I do. Your desire for pain and fear will never leave you, Bane. It is a gift from our father. One we can not return. You can think you
love your Lady Moon all you like. But it will never change who you are. It will never change what you would be to her, if you were ever to be given the chance to be anything other than the Dark Angel of her dreams. A demon. You are a demon, Bane. One far greater than I could ever be. And if you were in my stead, I am confident that you would not resist the inbreed desire to hurt her. No matter the love. And besides, it is too late for the Hylander, and you know this. The Hylander and I have merged long ago. Without my possession, he will waist away and go back to the dust from whence he came. He needs me now."
"You can not take her from me!"
"And yet, I already have, Bane. Not only have I taken her from you, I have bound her to me as well. Oh yes! She will ache for me in my absence. How will that make you feel, Brother? Your Lady Moon aching for another man?" Sean laughed. But his laughter was cut short by more words. "Face it. Accept it. You will never be more to her than a ghost in her dreams, a figment of her imagination. She will never know you are real."
"I am the oldest. I am far more powerful than you. Do not fool yourself, Rune. I can destroy you, and you know this. And I can unbind you."
"Most certainly, you can. But you wont. Unfortunately for you, our paths will never cross. Luna and I must be within your grasp in order for you to be able to unbind us. Luna will never be yours, Bane. Now go on, find your own little toy and forget about her. And stay out of her dreams, or I will see to it that Luna's punishments will be quite theatrical. And you would not like that, would you, Bane? Watching her suffer, watching me take my fill, while all you can do is watch."
"Curse you!" Bane's voice rattled the mirror, frame and all. It nearly tipped backward from the force of his anger. Hair-line fractures splintered out around the image of Bane's face, crackling and spider-webbing through the glass, from one side of the frame to the other. "There are others capable of giving you this, Rune. Others capable of feeding you!"
"Yes, our lust for fear. And we must not forget about the pain, dear Brother. How we need induce the pain, us sadists. Tell me that you do not desire feeding from her, Bane. Tell me that you would not indulge in your primal, most base instincts to do all you can to feed your hungry soul! You can't. How would you expect me to be any different, Brother? Especially since I am no where near as strong as you. Besides, have you never noticed her titillating scent? Never had I ever, in my long immortal life, smelled anything more delectable than Luna's blood. It is the smell of her fight. She has quite the fight in her, Brother. And I am here to tell you, there is nothing like her in any realm. I can also tell you that the fight in her will only grow stronger, and in turn, I will only lust for her more. "
"Do not harm her!"
Sean's smile of gratification reflected in the image of one of Bane's wings. "Oh, but I will. Just as you would if you were in my stead."
"No, I would never harm her!"
Sean laughed. "Only for a spell, perhaps. But you could not deny yourself for very long, the things of which are the core of our existence. Born from that evil we were. Part of that evil we are. Slaves to that evil we shall always be. Terror and pain are only but a few of the many evils we can not live without. We hunger painfully for their presence. Does not that need burn in our veins like hell fire? No matter how well we are fed, never will it be enough. Never will we be satisfied. For eternity we will suffer with this uncontrollable craving. As powerful as you may be, Bane, even you can not go against our true design. Now, go away with you, Brother. I am feeling rather famished." Sean turned his back to the mirror, causing the image to swirl away against Bane's will.
"Voracious, would be more precise a word for it," Sean said to himself, as his gaze took in the impeccable beauty in his bed.
Always so voracious!
****
Chapter Eleven
Luna