Sex, Drugs, and Oblivion

20/21

Lucifer batted at the hand shaking his shoulder. He wanted to sleep. Needed to sleep.

"Lucifer. The winds will die down soon. You need to eat before Lania gets here."

He pried his eyes open, and saw a blurry image of Maze above him. He reached for her hand and missed. His muscles ached and his head hurt, so he squeezed his eyes closed and wrapped around her.

"Lucifer. Wake up. Eat."

He knew his thoughts were slow, but the important things fell into place. Lania. The Den. Catching the dame. He sighed, dragged himself upright.

Maze gripped his chin and tilted his face up to her. He stared into her eyes, trying to bring them into focus.

A face popped up over Maze's shoulder, catching Lucifer's attention. Bright blue scales, fading out across the cheeks and forehead, surrounded the even brighter blue, slit-pupiled eyes. Derd, one of the males they'd taken from Lania.

Lania. Her scales were blue, too. Lucifer loved them and the way they shimmered in the firelight...

"He looks like Wen," Derd said.

Maze released Lucifer and bellowed, "Fraq!"

Fraq was busy tending to the armor she had to wear as Mazikeen's stand-in for wall duty and growled at Bof. "Bof! Get Derd away from Mazikeen. You know better!"

"Yes, Fraq." Bof scuttled away from the fire, and wrapped an arm around Derd's shoulders. Bof was the smallest of the five whelps living in Maze's dome, but by far the most reliable of the males. The tip of the spikes protruding from the top of his head barely reached Derd's ears, but Lucifer had seen enough Lilim to know size didn't equal maturity.

Maze sighed and turned her attention back to Lucifer. "Steady your eyes on me. Can you focus?"

He tried, but a jar fell from the shelf beside the hearth and broke, and Fraq yelled at Skoot and Grog to get away from the fire.

Maze's voice became worried. "Do you feel dizzy?"

Dizzy was a bad sign. The lethe, even the reduced dose Maze allowed, took its toll. The room felt uneven, as though it were moving and Maze let him lie back down again without making him answer.

He couldn't focus. These were simple tests, focus on her eyes, maintain eye contact without drifting.

"You need time to rest."

"I'll rest after," he mumbled.

Maze placed her hand on his arm. "Are you cold?"

Was he? It was always cold, did she mean more than usual?

"You were chilled last wind-rise when I gave you the sleeping draught."

"I don't remember." He shifted and the blanket dragged across the raised scratch marks a female had left on his back last ashfall.

"Lucifer. You need to eat."

He sat up again. Skoot and Grog rolled around the far side of the dome, snapping and snarling. It was play, but with undercurrents of something more. The way they grappled and held on an extra moment, their bites lingering…

Maze placed the bowl in his hands and he pulled his attention away from the whelps.

"What makes them not whelps anymore?"

"Training." She sat beside him, her shoulder pressed to his.

Lucifer took a few bites. "Wen can't train. Does he stay a whelp?"

"A gatherer will take him on, or Dromos, maybe, if he thinks Wen can help in the nest. A place will be found for him."

"And Derd?" Bof was showing the whelp how to grind dried mushrooms for the third time since Lucifer's gaze had been drawn to them.

"He's not as addled, and will improve more."

He swallowed. "And me?"

"You're not Lilim." She tipped his chin up to look at her. "I like you the way you are."

The winds still hadn't calmed, so Lucifer leaned back against the wall of the dome. Grog and Skoot had shed their tunics and their wrestling was now interspersed with soft licks and caresses. Fraq paced near the door flap. She took her part in this farce so serious that it was clear to see she was well on her way to becoming a warrior.

Maneuvering to get ready in a small space with so many bodies was a feat unto itself, but soon, Maze was dressed in her armor, and Lucifer had on his chiton and leggings. He couldn't hide the grimace as he reached for the laces of his sandals. He needed his morning dose of lethe. Maze brushed his fingers aside and tied them herself. "Lucifer. This has to stop. I won't help kill you."

"Just a little while longer, Maze. Couldn't you feel it?"

"Feel what? My rage as I watch them—"

"Power. I felt it late in the ashfall. Outside the Den. She was near, I know it."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"When did I have a chance between the lethe and your sleep draught? I felt it. If she doesn't come for me this ashfall, it will be soon."

Maze looked sour. "Very well. Up you get." She grabbed his wrist and helped him stand. It took a moment for the room to stop spinning, but she didn't let go until he was steady. "Losing your appetite for sex?" she asked.

He scoffed. "Hardly."

It was time to go. Lania's voice called from outside the door flap. "Send him out."

Maze untied the door flap and pushed it aside. "I'll see you soon."

Lucifer nodded and ducked out the door where Lania waited, scowling. How many times did he have to listen to the former dame rant about how escorting a thrall was beneath her dignity. He kept his head down. He wasn't beneath her dignity when she wanted what he could provide, was he? That brought a smile to his lips. He knew what she desired. That was the key. There was more than just coin she got out of her arrangement with Maze.

"More trouble than you're worth," Lania mumbled. "You better prove your usefulness soon, or even she is going to get tired of you."

But Lucifer knew it was all hot air. It wasn't about usefulness to each other for him and Maze, they were partners.

…

Mazikeen saw it all, and hated every moment of it.

With her glamour hiding her features, she entered the Lethe den and took her usual place in the far corner. No one noticed her there. Mostly because they weren't supposed to. The power could be manipulated to repel attention just as easily as attract it.

Lucifer came in just behind Lania, his cloak and his clothing were removed and placed aside. He joined several Lilim lounging on a pile of furs and stretched out. Lania dipped her finger in the Lethe bowl, Lucifer took her hand and licked it off. Sucking obscenely to get every last bit.

It had been the same routine each ashfall. Lilim arrived, and he enthusiastically joined them in whatever pleasures they had in mind. Most of the encounters took place in the common area. How anyone preferred the experience of coupling while dulled by drugs, Mazikeen didn't understand. Their movements and technique were sloppy and uncoordinated. Lucifer deserved more attentive and refined partners to match his skill.

It bothered her more when he followed his partners into the back rooms where she couldn't keep watch over him.

He often didn't emerge from those encounters on his own. Lania or one of her lackeys retrieved him and returned him to the hearth. They provided food and drink after those encounters, and soon Lucifer would rejoin the other thralls lounging on the furs as though everything was fine despite the way his hands trembled and the bruised circles under his eyes depened. He kept telling her it was fine.

It wasn't. Mazikeen's anger burned hotter each time. If she never had to hear the word thrall again, it would be too soon.

Lucifer offered a slight smile to the newest Lilim paying him attention. A female, hooded eyes, forked tongue and fangs, she leaned down and bit Lucifer's shoulder, leaving marks. His breath caught, a mixed expression of pain and hunger. The long tongue flicked out and licked at the reddened skin where her teeth had left their mark, and Lucifer released a sigh.

Mazikeen was on her feet before she was fully aware of what she was doing, grabbed the offending female's arm, and shoved her out of the way. "My turn."

The female apparently wasn't interested enough to fight for her right to first dibs and bowed out. Thankfully the glamour held. Mazikeen threw coin down on the floor and Lania's helpers scrambled to get at it.

Lucifer stared at her, but didn't argue when she pointed at the private room. He grinned and led the way. Mazikeen slammed the door shut behind them. A solid door. A door that was difficult to hear through when it was closed.

"I've had enough."

Lucifer blinked at her. "Oh?"

He didn't flinch when she strode up and grabbed his arm. "You're tired of watching? You want a turn?"

She grabbed his wrist. "I'm tired of this game. I'm going to put an end to this and take you home."

"We agreed this was the best way."

"You did." She lisped, the fangs getting in the way of forming her words properly. Frustration took over and she let go of the glamour, her own face slipping back into place. "It's getting late. Wind-rise will come soon. The ruse didn't work, Anilith isn't coming back."

"We can't stop yet."

"No more lethe. I forbid it."

He pulled away. "Forbid it, do you?"

She glared. "You're deteriorating. How much have they been giving you? Is it more than what I agreed?"

"More than my allotted dose? No. But if you're offering."

She wanted to scream and hit and bite.

Lucifer smirked. "Are you sure it's the lethe you're upset about and not something else?"

"Like what?"

The corner of his mouth turned up. "You've been watching me couple with how many Lilim over the past hands of ashfalls, and you haven't touched me once back at your dome."

"Our dome."

"You don't like when I'm with other Lilim, do you?" he teased.

Mazikeen growled. "Why should I care?"

"Because you don't have control. You like being in control, don't you Maze?" He paused, a far away look came over his face a moment before grabbing her hand. "Maze, your glamour, now!"

There was just enough time to reestablish her glamour, before Lucifer stepped up to her, and licked at her neck. "I sense her, Anilith is near," he whispered. "You know what happens in here. You have to—"

Mazikeen snarled and shoved him to the floor. He yelped, but grinned as she straddled him and dragged her claws along the outlines of his ribs. He shuddered and arched his back.

"Yes."

"You like that?" She leaned forward, letting the fangs scrape his throat.

Lucifer groaned. "Mmhmm. You have all kinds of talents I haven't experienced yet, don't you?"

Mazikeen brought her hand up under his back, pulling him closer—

And the door opened.

A wave of power swept through the small room, overwhelming Mazikeen's awareness. Lucifer's expression turned pained.

"BEGONE." The word twisted and drilled its way into Mazikeen's mind. It took all the focus she had to fend off the intrusion. Lucifer, compromised by lethe as he was, didn't stand a chance to resist. Mazikeen scuttled away from Lucifer, playing the final act of her part in this. Lucifer's hand spasmed against her arm and his gaze found hers, eyes pleading. She turned her head away.

Mazikeen stumbled into the hall, but made sure to leave the door open. They couldn't risk being overwhelmed by numbers after all this. The patrons were going about their normal business as if they heard nothing. There was no sign of extra warriors or attendants. Of course, Anilith wouldn't want witnesses to her escapades. No guards were needed; with the kind of power Anilith exerted, the whole place could catch fire and no one would be the wiser.

Satisfied for the moment, Mazikeen raced back to the room. Anilith, wrapped in shadow as she was, had lost all interest in Mazikeen after the order. All the force of her power to command was brought to bear on Lucifer alone.

As Mazikeen snuck back into the room she realised Aniliths own ego would be responsible for her downfall.

"Show me who you are on the inside," the voice shrouded by shadow demanded.

Lucifer thrashed side to side, a scream ripped from his throat like Mazikeen hadn't heard since the fiery lake. His wings unfurled and flames consumed his flesh, burning away his glamour. Mazikeen froze in horror at the scene until Lucifer stopped screaming, drawing in ragged, fast breaths.

"You know how to ease your pain," the voice purred. Anilith placed a flask on the floor beside where Lucifer lay. He started to reach, fingers grasping at the container.

It jolted Mazikeen out of her horrified staring. "ENOUGH!" She poured her own power into the command, and it made the shadow's hand pause. Mazikeen followed it with a punch carried from her hip all the way through, aiming for a space on the other side of the shadow's head. The glamour fell away from Anilith as she hit the floor, dazed.

Mazikeen's stomach jumped and her mouth ran dry. The Soverain on the floor, one leg draped across Lucifer's waist, her head pillowed on his wing. He rolled to his side, knocking her entirely to the floor as he curled in on himself, shaking and breathing hard.

"Lucifer?"

He bolted up, stopping short when he saw his own skin, his burned appearance. And then he saw the flask. The flask he'd told her before certainly contained enough lethe tainted water to destroy his mind completely.

She wasn't fast enough. He reached out and grabbed it, lifted the cap, and brought it to his mouth. After one swallow he stopped, and looked down at the Soverain laying beside him. Mazikeen bridged the distance and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Give me the flask."

He refused, ignoring Mazikeen completely. Anilith groaned, and Lucifer shuddered, his glamour settling back over his features. His expression was hard and his eyes flamed.

"You." His wings extended and he crouched above Anilith as she lay dazed. Light filled the room as the divinity in his feathers grew bright.

Mazikeen shielded her eyes with her hand, but refused to back away.

Anilith squinted up at him, but her expression was ugly, filled with contempt.

"Why?" Lucifer asked, the sound a multitude of tones as power laced his voice.

"You dare speak to me?" Anilith resisted.

He laughed. "Speak? Oh, we've done so much more." The light from Lucifer's wings intensified.

Mazikeen squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear so much light.

"Wings." Anilith answered breathlessly, "If I birthed a sprog with wings, we'd never need an angel again. I'd have my own divinity to harvest as needed."

"Lucifer's not Lilim." Mazikeen kept her face turned away, she didn't need to see the Soverain to hear the pain in her voice. "You would break Mother's decree for wings? You know the penalty for diluting Lilim blood with that of beasts. What would you have done had you produced such a creature?"

The entire room was consumed in light and flame. Anilith answered, her voice oddly flat. "No one would know. Another secret for the dungeon."

"You would do that to your own creation?" Lucifer asked, "An offspring made to your choosing, and you would punish it for being what you designed?"

"Yes," Anilith answered, the truth the only option she had.

If Mazikeen told Lucifer to stop, would he? She kept silent.

The Soverain began to scream and continued until she ran out of breath. The room grew silent. The light faded, and Mazikeen dared to open her eyes again.

Anilith lay with her mouth open in silent horror.

Lucifer lay on the floor beside the Soverain, the flask still gripped in his hand. Mazikeen rushed to his side, feeling for a pulse. Don't let him be dead. But no, he still breathed.

The flask was empty. He drank it? Knowing what it would do to him? She'd have to send for Squee. Dromos had helped him recover once, he would do it again.

But Anilith groaned. Mazikeen glanced over, weary of the threat the Soverain still posed, and that was when she saw it. Yellow eyes.

Lucifer hadn't drank the lethe in the flask. He'd given it to Anilith.

The Soverain lay shivering, weak and pathetic in her nakedness.

Mazikeen turned to the Soverain. "You'll be exiled. Limbs broken, left helpless in the sulfur fields for the wargs to devour when our collective hears of your crime."

"You blinded me, took my sight." Anilith rolled onto her side, sobbing, arm raised protectively over her face. "No, Mazikeen, mercy."

Was that all Anilith thought they'd taken from her? Mazikeen laughed. "Release me of my vow. Give me full rights to the angel. He's mine."

"Anything. Yes. Help me, sister," Anilith reached out.

Mazikeen took a comb from Anilith's hair. It was intricately designed, the handle in the shape of Anilith's personal symbol—a snake with a female head and arms like pincers. She turned back to Lucifer, who was already beginning to sit up. When he looked again at Anilith, his wings snapped open, light once more bursting forth. Maze placed her hand on his arm. "It's done."

Lucifer sagged back to the floor. "What now?"

"We leave her here. She got herself here, she can get herself back."

"No-ooo," Anilith wailed.

He raised his head. "You're letting her live?"

"We own her now. She's released me from the vow, and I've taken the trophy to prove it." She held up the comb. She considered and searched Anilith's clothes for anything better.

Lucifer let his head fall back down. "Can we go home?'