A/N: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES! :) And most importantly of all, the patience… O.O The plot is not finished… But I'm getting there. ;)

Keep in mind this is a first draft; that's not necessarily implying there will be a second draft, but it's mentioned to make sure everyone knows I'M SORTA PANTSING THIS. AND I OFTEN LOOSE MY PANTS. So, there is likely to be some disruptions to our 'regularly scheduled' programming. Asand I've got more writing obligations I have to worry about - music, another story on here, so on. So sorry, a few months between chapters will probably be the norm.

Buuuut I would like to AGAIN SAY THANK YOU YOU BOOTY-FUL BABY CAKES AND STUDMUFFINS YOU. You are all so perfect.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here that isn't mine yada yada I should just put a big disclaimer on my bio...

WARNINGS: Hmmm... Sexual tension, anyone? :] Oh, and some slavery.

Sebastian woke to a reassurance: slow breaths feathering over his chest. She was still there, curled up beside him, deep in sleep. Sometime in the night, he had removed his shirt, and her shoulder-length hair now tickled him. He reached up slowly so as not to disturb her, grasping a few strands between his fingers and feeling their coarse, but soft texture. Perhaps he could cut the shaggy mane sometime today.

He watched her for a few minutes, using the time to observe what was his. She could be very beautiful, he noted. He had always been scornful of those who catered and fetched on every whim of their mates, droning on and on about their undying devotion towards one another. But now he understood it all looking at her sleeping face. He knew that it was all practically instinctual - it was rather difficult for a demon to not be near their counterpart, and impossible to not guard them from alternative suitors. Males could be especially viscous, jealous and territorial as their species was. Soulmates were not love at first sight, but rather ownership at first sight. Just the thought of that other demon in the cult's layer trying to take the small woman before him had his eyes smoldering and a smoky shadow befalling the room - and how satisfying it was to know that the men that had defiled her had died by his hands.

But, there was much to do, and his schedule left little time to contemplate over his new acquisition. He untangled from her and sat up, shirking the sheets off as he stood from the bed.

Returning from the bathroom a while later in new clothes, he stopped at the door and looked back at his still sleeping mate for a while longer. He tucked the blankets tighter around her when he noticed her shiver, and she let out a breathy sigh as she leaned into his hands. His brows rose, then furrowed, mouth a thin line. Suddenly, he felt so hesitant to leave - there was quite a bit of trouble she could find if she wandered from the bed. Letting out a controlled breath, he turned and walked towards the door. He would only be gone for a while, and she was safe here, he assured himself.

But as the tumbler in the door clicked quietly, she whimpered, clutching onto the sheets.

Somewhere in the steamy, heady air of hell's layers, a lone shadow stood under the cover of a mountain, all but a dark outline in it's great girth. It was still, unseen by the uncontrolled and tortured, as if waiting.

And waiting it was, for their first movement in many hours was witness by another demon approaching. The first's head flicked to the newcomer when he came close, he rising from the ground as if molting a skin. Neither moved or spoke until the second figure had settled next to the first.

It was quiet for a while after that. Both looked around from underneath the shelf's shadow, relaxing as the minutes ticked by. Then, the first figure turned back to his companion. "What happened?" The voice was toneless, flat, utterly disinterested. He spoke as if to conserve energy, his movements slow and precise.

The other was silent, and the quiet held an edge to it. It kept either from speaking for even a while longer, until the second fidgeted and made a strange growling sound. "It was… Seneca. It was his." The first seemed surprised at this, his lethargic movements fractionally faster as he turned to look at him again. The second held his hand up as to stop the other from making any comment, and then continued. "It was his mate. I didn't get to complete the contract. And the leader is dead."

The first thought over the words carefully, then made a near silent grumble. "It's always something, then, isn't it." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement. The second seemed to shrink but recovered soon after, turning towards the first.

"How is mother and father?" Silence followed, and the second prodded once more: "Have they… mentioned me at all?"

The first suddenly whipped around towards the second, a ominous grumble emanating from deep within his chest. The second flinched, but otherwise froze, waiting for the other to move. The first eventually calmed enough to move away from the other. He sat back on his heels once again, his shoulders hunched and his teeth glinting in the shadows as he spoke. "The answer will always be the same until you change something. Don't ask again, or I will rip your throat out."

It was quiet for a few moments until the first shook his head, again working himself up into a wroth. "I shouldn't even be talking to you. You obviously don't realize how important this is, how crucial. You've never seemed to take this seriously, and I'm wondering if you ever plan to."

"B-but I'm working on it." The other spoke up hurriedly, shuffling forward slightly. "I had the contract. I was this close-" - he held up his fingers, showing a margin - "before he stopped me. What was I supposed to do? Fight him? He would've-"

"And it would have been a blessing from God himself, the first given to demons in centuries." The first spat, tiredness in his voice as he stood from his crouch. "I don't care how you do it, but you have to if you want any of us to speak to you again, myself included."

And suddenly the first vanished, leaving the second alone. And after a few moments of uncertainty, he was gone too, leaving the tortured's cries of agony to fill the empty space.

The lights in the room beckoned her, and she rose from a strange sleep. It had been the most peaceful she'd had in a long time, but towards the end, a restlessness had overcome her. Something was missing, something that was there when she fell into her death-like slumber. And when she looked to find him, she realized he was what was missing.

Illogical panic gripped her, and she dove back into the bed. Her eyes wide and alarmed, she stilled her breaths as her mind raced. He couldn't have left to be gone for long - perhaps he went to find her a meal, or maybe his intentions weren't so kind. Her soul no longer ached, but she still felt the phantom pains in the strange pane of existence. Her reason moaned and called out to her that she was not safe. She sucked in a quick breath and pulled the sheets tighter around her, her hands suddenly moist with sweat.

Her next conclusion was sudden: she couldn't stay here. She had to find the will to move from the bed to the door. After that, she knew instinct would take her to wherever here wasn't.

She paused all her movement, eyes shifting to the lazy glow around the room. It was absolutely quiet here, only the dull embers of the extinguished fire occasionally crackling. Knowing it would be easier all at once, she sat up, discarded the covers, and took to her feet.

Once her bare callouses found the stone floor, she wasn't scared. Old training was all that crossed her mind, emergency plans and explicit instructions were she to ever loose contact with her controller or somehow become estranged. Her breaths evened out, a contrast with her shaking hands.

She marched towards the door with a quick, silent gait, shuffling to the handle and testing it briefly. And when it didn't move beyond jiggling, she suddenly panicked. Kneeling and looking inside, the lock was nothing like anything she had ever seen before. She was not trained to deal with something like this since most of her infantry was through pipes and with stolen ID cards. Rarely did she have to actually break in to the enemy's compounds.

She was trapped, and the realization almost choked her. What would he do when he came back? She fiddled with the doorknob more, testing and tugging incessantly. As her fever picked up, she began hyperventilating, beating on the door. He's going to eat me. He's going to kill me.

And as she sucked in a breath to scream, the doorknob turned.

The door swung forwards, almost hitting her. Sebastian's amber eyes locked onto her flushed face. A rucksack was against his shoulder, the smell of earth and open air hanging onto his jeans and work shirt. Her mouth hung open in surprise, and she took a step back.

He entered the room, eyes locked onto her as he set down his belongings. "Are you alright?" He asked, sounding concerned. "I heard noises, it sounded like someone was trying to get in. Did anyone hurt you?"

The door was still wide opened but she didn't dare eye it. She didn't know what to say; his sudden appearance had her whole body relaxing despite her reason telling her to be more alert than ever. A sudden desire to be held and comforted by him flooded all of her awareness, and she had to root herself to the spot she stood to not rush towards him. It's as if they were magnetized, the pull was so strong. A deep, hidden instinct was nagging at her, pointing a sly finger at the demon and whispering perverse commands.

As she continued to remain silent, he walked towards her and gripped her shoulders, thumbing the soft nightgown's threads. "Or were you trying to get out, little one? Hmm?" He chuckled, leaning in towards her face as he brushed some of the short hair from here eyes. "My, my, you're eager, if you intended to escape in your sleepwear."

And when he reached up to touch her cheek and flicked some wetness away, her face was suddenly hot. A little hiccup escaped her, and he shushed her in response. "There's no need for that, little one." He sighed. "I shouldn't have expected any less."

He lifted her from the floor and took her back to the bed, setting her down on the edge. She was stifling tears until she remembered something, something he had said.

"W-why did you think that someone was trying to get in?" She mumbled, using her sleeve to swipe at her nose. He grabbed her wrist and set it down, pulling a handkerchief from his breast pocket. Smiling, he wiped her nose a bit before settling it around her nostrils and letting her blow her nose.

"Why, dear, there are many unsavory characters that would be interested in stealing away my mate. I will have to be careful in the future, on that thought."

His words wound a knot in her stomach, an unsettling feeling suddenly hanging in the air. Her Adam's apple bobbed silently, and then: "Where are we?"

He smiled, looking away as if shy. "Don't tell me you don't know, dear. Where do demons live?"

He turned and began fussing over the supplies he had brought back. By this, he did not see her face begin to pale. "Wh-where?" When he did not respond, she ventured a guess in a deceptively calm voice, her eyes brimming again. "Are we in Hell?"

He chuckled, standing. "Of course. It was a bit too dangerous to keep you on the surface - I was still worried about those cultists following our-"

The door slammed shut, and he turned, finding a room with no human.

The heady air flowed past her in strange silence as she hurtled down the stone tunnels. Bare feet slapping against the smooth floor, she ran until her lungs ached and then farther. When the torch-lit ambiance began to brighten underneath a menacing sky she stopped.

At the mouth of the cave, the land spread out from the mountaintop she was situated on - horrific darkness dusted with fires and crevasses, going down and down like a ridged funnel. She couldn't see far; the smog was too thick, but in this plane the hills rolled with far off screams, cracks breaking open the earth and weeping ooze.

Craning her head back so far it hurt, she could see nothing but a twilight pane above. Stalactites peeked through the thick clouds. With the roof tinged purple-red and with no celestial body to see, she realized she was truly, surely in the Underworld.

Hanging her head, she thought about what to do. Sebastian would be following close behind. She didn't have much time to decide whether to run or hide. In fact, a demon should have had no trouble finding her by-

"Scout!"

Her head whipped over her shoulder and she looked into the dark cavern. She heard his feet carry him closer, his figure loping out of the darkness. "Scout! Wait!"

The pesky attraction suddenly arose again, the strange need for closeness again abating. She felt so confused, alone, and scared, that she made another dash for the open plains before he latched onto her arm and wouldn't let go.

"Stop." He commanded as she struggled, and when more words wouldn't work, she was suddenly pulled against his chest in a bear hug. Her breaths evened, her eyes closed, and her hands stopped shaking against his warmth. He let out a breath, and she listened intently, feeling his deep exhale. She sighed, a strange tightness in her chest having her gripping his shirt and her eyes squeezing against more fluids. She didn't understand this feeling, but could only place it as guilt.

"Shh," he hushed, guiding her back inside with a glance behind them. She looked up to see his eyes: bright, smoldering with a threat as he looked to the expanse. She remembered his words solemnly - what if she had ventured out there, a place where her kind were tortured? He said that many people would enjoy snatching his mate away - she couldn't help but wonder why, but didn't question the warning.

The walk back to the bedroom was silent and short, and he shut the door perhaps a bit more firmly than necessary. She stood at the edge of the bed and looked up at his face as he approached. His gait almost floated him across the room until he stood inches from her, staring down with an impassive face.

"You're going to make things difficult, aren't you?" He asked bluntly, but his velveteen voice made the cut against her heart shallow and quick. She shuffled her feet, looking down, but he brought her face back up with a finger underneath her chin.

"I'm not playing a game, little one. No one here in hell is, and that is why we must take extra precautions. Do you understand?"

She held his gaze like a scolded child afraid of the rod, but nodded nonetheless. He smiled, leaning down to nuzzle her, the space between them just enough of a stretch to make it incredibly suggestive. He drank in a long inhale of her, murmuring against her neck. "I couldn't have just anyone touching you, now could I?"

She shivered, frozen against him as he hoisted her against his front and carried her to a chair. Sitting her down in his lap, she watched him as he pulled up a small rucksack and placed it between them. Opening it up, he pulled out a perfectly formed apple, holding it up in the dim light.

"Pretty, isn't it?" He murmured, letting her hold it in her hands. She thumbed over the perfect curve from the stem to the tapered end. She could almost see her reflection in the gleaming red. "I have never understood your kind's appetites, but I can appreciate the beauty of some of your foods."

She carefully bit into the fruit, a small spray of juice landing around her mouth and on her lips. She felt a bit nervous under his watchful gaze, but smiled nonetheless at the delicious taste. He petted her hair as she ate until satisfied.

He picked her up and set her in the chair by herself, moving into the bathroom. He came back in a few moments with a small wooden case, and when he opened it, she saw gold-plated brushes, engraved with flowers and leaves, a mirror, comb, and scissors to make a matching set. He set a large cushion on the floor in front of the chair, having her sit.

She spent the next half-hour at the mercy of his tastes, her hair falling to the floor unceremoniously. She had a feeling he could work faster, but his hands were slow and purposeful; brushing over her scalp lightly as he grasped her hair gently, the snip of the scissors methodical. He seemed to be enjoying giving her attention just as much as she enjoyed receiving it, whether she would admit to her pleasure or not.

When he finished, they were both covered in hair and needed to change. She distinctly felt the atmosphere change as he handed her clothes and turned to change into his new set. His sudden nudeness behind her was distracting, but he was much swifter than her, and when she peeked a look behind her she was startled by his captive gaze. She pulled her shirt over her head quickly, her bare chest still unbound by wrappings or a brazier. A deep scarlet colored her pale cheeks.

He crossed the distance between them and held her by her arms, appraising her. "What a beauty," he admired more than praised, pulling her into step with him. As they crossed the threshold into the long corridors of his layer she looked up to him, regaining her bearings.

"Where are we going?" She asked, unsure of their sudden embarkment. He smiled down at her, eyes slit in a strangely forced countenance.

"Why, my dear, there is much to show you," he turned his gaze back ahead, and the subtle shift in the air he seemed to propagate on command waved over them again. She was unsure how he kept doing that, but he seemed incredibly adept at aural communication. This time, the mood was dark, but his voice was almost gleeful.

"And there is much to show others, as well."

They didn't walk but a few feet from the mouth of the cave when Sebastian stopped them. She struggled for good footing on the craggy hillside, while trying to take in the unusual landscape and what her captor would do next.

Sebastian let go of her hand to bring his hands to his mouth and cup them, and suddenly a shrill whistle shot out at the plain. He let it echo into near silence, only moments passing before something new rose up. A figure emerging from the smog grew clearer and clearer until she could see the purposeful charge of a horse.

It bolted for Sebastian, another following close behind. The creature was unearthly; standing almost twenty hands, it bared unnatural fangs in a grim smile for it's master. Even once standing, it's feet still shuffled and thudded against the rocks, unable to stand still. It's coat was a red so deep it bordered black and it's iris's were a fire.

The second horse to approach was minutely smaller, black as night, mane and tail cascading waves across it's coat. It stuttered to a halt next to the first horse, sniffing around as Sebastian busied with the sorrel. The black turned to Scout, and as it approached the long mane parted long enough for her to see the divide of white across it's chest. It seemed almost as if someone split the animal open to see absolute nothingness.

Sebastian watched calmly as Scout stiffened at the creature's warm breath, the muzzle coming close to her face. She didn't have experience with horses, and especially not hell's version. When the beast opened it's maw to smack and the putrid smell of a fresh corpse rolled over her, she squeaked and back tracked. The beast just followed her and Sebastian chuckled at her dismay.

"He won't hurt you," her host promised. "He likes you."

Scout merely frowned, terrified as the midnight equine began to nuzzle her freshly-groomed hair, it's powerful lip making strange circles. "Why is he doing that?" She raised a hand to bat him away but hesitated.

"He's a bit obsessed with hair." Sebastian smiled. "I would be careful to not let him eat it."

She openly squealed, darting to Sebastian for cover. The two horses supplicated the demon for attention while she watched him slip them pieces of dried meat.

"Is that really what they eat?" She seemed almost accusatory, dismay clear in her voice.

Sebastian stroked the sorrel's neck. "Absolutely. There's no grass to eat in hell, so another of my kind enchanted a line of horses to adapt to the environment."

They both watched the horses for a bit longer before Scout's eyes widened. "Did you… Are we riding them?"

When he gave her the affirmative, it took a long time to convince her to actually mount one of the animals. The calmer horse, Boreas, was assigned to her, and he seemed to enjoy it once she was astride him. The sorrel was a mare - which Sebastian had named Deinos after one of Diomedes' flesh-eating mares. But something about the flash in her eyes warned Scout that she may have just been the Deinos.

They walked slowly, but it only took them around half an hour to reach their destination - a small trading post nestled in the shadow of mountains that cascaded hot lava. She saw little of the countryside through the red-hued haze that dominated the Underworld, but the smog did not impede her hearing. The sounds of the damned echoed far and wide across the landscape, carrying howls she first mistook for wolves reaching her ears and making her start.

She had turned to Sebastian, who rode up ahead. He hadn't appeared concerned that Boreas would wander off in her inexperienced hands. "S-Sebastian, is that-"

He looked over his shoulder. "Well, this is Hell, my dear. Would you expect any less?"

She sat quiet from that point on, listening to the far-off moans as they rode on.

When they reached the town, however, her attention diverted to the activity within. Winding stone paths took them in between buildings, towering objects made of strange metals and rubble from the surrounding terrain. As she passed through, the demons in the street stopped their activity to stare, occasionally a window or door opening to admit more eyes. Sebastian paid no attention to the spectacle they made - and soon enough, the wake they left become nonexistent, and no one bothered her again. She didn't understand how it happened, but it almost seemed as if he again changed the air; how he did it, she might never know.

Sebastian led their horses into the heart of the small town and secured them there. A square about 200 feet across was filled to the brim in the center, a small stage surrounded by a commotion. Scout saw small pens around the edges, but what was in them was unclear. Sebastian led her past the excitement, as they moved on, so she soon got a closer look.

Humans of all ages and sizes stood in a line on the stage. It was hard for her to tell exactly what was happening: a broad-voiced announcer stood on a podium, larger in hand, gesturing to the human standing next to him. She listened to the numbers being shouted out for a few minutes before turning to Sebastian, wide-eyed.

"Are they…?" She let it hang, and while she waited for him to speak she realized she had at some point latched onto the hem of his shirt. A blush bloomed across her face, and she pulled away.

Sebastian didn't seem to notice. "Around half of damned humans are sent to work in hell - laboring in manual work underneath even the lowest demon classes. The other half are sent across the Underworld to auctions in populated areas where demons gather to bid on their souls."

He paused, and she thought he was finished, until he looked down at her with a wolffish smile. "For consumption or… otherwise."

She didn't respond to his innuendo besides turning a bit pale, and then they were going down an empty alleyway. This time she caught the urge to attach herself to him before her body rebelled. She kept her hands fiddling in front of her, her palms warm and moist.

She stayed just a step behind him as she followed him through a few turns until they were on the backside of the small village. Standing before a door, he knocked twice, and waited. She felt him move marginally closer to her as the door opened.

The opened passage was dark, and two purple eyes emerged from the darkness. "Ah, Seneca, you brought your new toy."