The Labyrinth of the Dead

Author:Sara M. Harvey [Harvey, Sara M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Apex Publications
Published: 2010-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

—8—

PORTIA STOOD facing the demon queen. The herders cowered away from her, scuttling to the edges of the hall, but she could hear their telescopic eyes whirring and clicking softly and the echoing wheeze of their breath as they watched and waited.

"So, my dear Portia, what do you mean to do now?" Belial hooked one leg over the lavish arm of her throne, toying with the shadow-gold with her toes. One of her fleshy wings draped down across her shoulder and her lap; the delicate webbing clung to her every curve.

"What do I mean to do? It was you who brought me here, at a dear cost, I might add. Those clockwork men of yours must be expensive. And for what purpose? To toy with me for your own dreadful amusement?"

"You infiltrated my world. You dared to bring your beating heart into the land of the dead. And now you dare mock me. I do not take kindly to that. Any of it." The herders tick-tick-ticked and Belial rose like a cat waking from a slumber, stretching languidly as she strolled down the steps to where Portia still stood. Belial slunk to Portia’s side, pressing her body against her. "But I am sure we can find a way that you can make it up to me."

"Oh, really?"

"Perhaps, I should not have implied that I was unhappy at your presence here, my daughter-that-could-have-been. Because I think it could serve both of our purposes."

Portia froze. The demoness’s breath was warm on her neck and smelled like cinnamon. Belial crushed her breasts against Portia’s arm and back, grinding her hips against the worn cotton of Portia’s full trousers.

"Portia," Belial whispered, "you could be anything here. You have brought your power and your blood with you. You could be a queen. Would you like that? You could be my sister-sovereign, my heir-apparent. Your power would be limitless, my darling, and then you could have any ghost in this realm that you desired."

"I only want the one. And then I want to take her home."

"Your Imogen. Waiting for Portia the savior, Portia the beloved, Portia who is hope embodied."

Portia could feel by the change in her voice and the shift of her body that Belial had taken on her beloved’s image. She shut her eyes. "That’s been tried before, madame. And it didn’t work very well. I had much more cause to believe it then than I do now. So, do us both a favor and drop it."

Belial sighed, dramatically. "So like your father," she muttered. "He took joy in denying me my pleasures nearly as much as you do." She did not step away, but instead clung to Portia’s body, running her hands over the blood-soaked corset. Belial bent forward and ran her tongue up the length of the busk, trembling with a sigh. She smacked her lips. "There is nothing so sweet as raw human blood spiked with the vintage of angels." She kissed Portia’s collarbones insistently. "Portia, you are a better match for me, for my plans, than Nigel ever was.

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