“Let’s try this again,” Airenne commanded in a flat, composed voice, as if the thug she’d just ordered to bind my hands wasn’t lying dead at her feet. “And let me remind you, I only need the oath and blood of a Shelby female to release our dark lord from his earthly tomb. The oath bound female will be bred to Baal and transformed into the very essence of evil, so I’m sure you’d prefer that we not use your daughter.”
“You’ll release Jessie totally unharmed if I cooperate?” I couldn’t believe I was seriously contemplating letting her do God knows what to me, not to mention releasing this Baal guy—I’m thinking anyone nasty enough to get themselves locked away in an earthly tomb probably should stay there—but given the alternative what choice did I have? While I was fairly confident I could take out Airenne, there were far more powerful demons outside this room, and I had no idea what realm we’d been sucked into or how to get back. Nor did I have any clue where Jessie was being held.
“If you complete the ritual, I give you my solemn oath that your daughter will be released into your care unharmed.”
Her words tore the fight from me like I’d been run through with a sword. When her ashen hand pressed down on my bare shoulder I collapsed to me knees, lowering my head in defeat.
“Much better,” she purred, fisting her hand in my calf length golden hair. She pulled up slightly and began to hack it away. Tears streamed down my cheeks as my never-trimmed locks—the source of our family’s magic—gathered in deep piles around my knees. After a couple of minutes there was nothing left for her to cut. My head was lathered in a warm, red cream then shaved completely bald with a straight razor, suppressing what little power I had left. There was no turning back—I wouldn’t be able to stand against Airenne now even if I decided to fight. Struggling would only get my precious Angel turned into a monster and a slave. If one of us had to face that fate—which looked all but certain—it sure as hell wasn’t going to be her.
“Rise and remove your clothing.”
I did as she instructed, shedding the black sheath dress and stiletto heels they’d forced me to change into earlier along with my panties. The tears were coming so fast now that they blurred my vision. My little Jessie Lynn was going to lose her mother just when she was starting to come into her powers and needed me most.
I felt my body being guided over to a gargoyle shaped stone alter. I moved as if under a deep trance, barely conscious of my feet touching the floor. After lowering me onto what I guessed was the seat my hands were slid into holes on either side of the gargoyle’s mouth, locking my arms into place.
Airenne unsheathed a rune-covered black dagger from her waist and walked behind the stone statue to where my arms were held. A fiery pain tore through me as she carved several deep slits in my wrists.
“Do you, Anabelle Eirene Shelby, renounce your Goddess Astraea and accept Baal as your lord and master?”
Astraea wasn’t just some abstract Goddess of innocence and purity—she was also the mother of our entire family line. She’d devotedly held my hand while I gave birth. “Y- yes,” I mumbled through my sobs.
“Do you freely relinquish your soul and pledge to use all of your immense power to serve Lucifer for eternity?”
“Yes!” I cried out, knowing I had no other choice.
She lifted a blood covered finger to my forehead and drew some kind of symbol. As soon as it was complete it started to burn. “With your sworn oath and blood I damn your soul. You are now Satan’s child, and will be known by your demon name Lamashtu.”
Airenne opened my mouth wide and leaned my head forward until the beak of the stone beast was inside of it. A blood-red glimmer slowly appeared in its eyes, glowing brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. Brutal images of death, war, torture and unimaginable cruelty streamed into my mind. I tried to pull away, only to find that my body was frozen in place. I wasn’t even able to blink or avert my gaze from the searing light. Things only got worse as a viscous, acidic fluid began to stream into my mouth, forcing me to repeatedly swallow in order to keep from choking.
After what felt like hours of unrelenting mental barrage and gut wrenching swallows I lost the will to pull away. The scenes of death and destruction no longer horrified me. In fact, they were—fascinating. How could I have been so blind and misguided before? The only value humans had was as pawns in our battle against an all too arrogant God. They deserved to be manipulated and slaughtered like the mindless sheep that they were. I only hoped that Baal found me worthy of being his mate. Oh, what powerful Demons I would spawn for him—half Goddess-enhanced witch and half demon, inheriting the magical abilities of both.
“It is done!” Airenne called out in wild celebration as she danced around the statue. “I can feel our dark lord rising! Come, Lamashtu, you must sacrifice Jessie and take your fill of her blood before he arrives!”
“But what of your oath to me?” If Airenne broke the promise she’d made to obtain my soul our pact would be severed. She’d be banished to the realms of hell and I’d be returned to my human state.
Her entire face lit up in a wicked, victorious grin. “I swore that your daughter would be released into your care unharmed. Should you choose to kill her—that is entirely up to you.”
An animalistic roar of approving laughter bellowed out of my lungs. How very clever. I grabbed hold of the blood covered dagger she offered and raced after her, pausing briefly to glance at myself in the full length mirror at the end of the hall.
Glowing red orbs resided where my eyes once had been. My skin was covered in shiny burgundy scales, and I had broad, ink-colored horns protruding from my temples. My lower legs now ended in cloven hoofs and were covered in a wiry black fur. The black pentagram tattoo on the center of my forehead still felt warm to the touch, and my nails had thickened and extended into lethal four inch talons. But the most astonishing thing of all was the two rows of razor sharp teeth that filled my lipless mouth. My barbed tail wagged almost doglike above my right shoulder. I was magnificent! The thought of feasting on my daughter’s pure, innocent blood while I ended her short life made me groan in anticipation.
