Chapter Forty-Three (Lazarus)

I paced outside Amaya’s door; I wanted to talk to her, but I didn’t want to push her if she was angry with me.

“Would you knock already?”

I jumped and saw Abigail watching me from her door.

“How long have you been there?” I asked, embarrassed.

“Your pacing is hard to miss.” She replied.

“I don’t know if I should bother her.” I mumbled.

“Well, you can either ruin the floor with your pacing or knock on the door and just talk to her. Either way, can you choose? I am tired, and my hearing is a lot better than others give me credit for.”

“Very well.” I sighed. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door and waited for a few minutes.

When the door opened, Sin looked at me with a smile. “Evening brother.”

“What are you doing here?” I snapped, irritated that he was in her room. Instantly jealous of him.

“Sleeping. What do you want?” he asked, leaning on the door frame.

“I want to speak with Amaya.”

“She is asleep.”

“Is she?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at my brother.

“Doesn’t this go against our deal?” I pointed out, annoyed.

“No, if I recall you two made a deal to each spend time with her, you did not specify what that time entailed.” Abagail put in with a laugh.

“Why are you watching us?” I retorted.

“You are entertaining, and I am curious who will become my son-in-law, if either of you.” She paused. “For two grown men to fight over her, it is quite juvenile.”

“What’s going on?” Amaya asked as she walked to the door rubbing her eyes, before looking at the three of us in her doorway. “Lazarus? Abigail? Did something happen?”

“No, but apparently something happened to you.” I noted seeing her in her pajamas.

“What do you mean?” She frowned. “All we did was sleep.”

Sin slapped Lazarus on the back and laughed, “Nice way to make you look like an ass. Jealousy is not becoming of you, brother.”

“Fuck you.” I frowned, embarrassed that I had made myself look bad in front of her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine,” she cut me off with a smile before turning away from the door.

“I was actually wanting to talk to you.”

“What about?” she asked, looking at me with sleepy blue eyes and her rad hair was a mess around her head, she looked sexy in her tank top and boxer shorts.

I looked at Sin and Abigail, then back at her.

She looked at them as well, “Abigail, you should be in bed.” Amaya scolded.

“I can take a hint, she winked. Night.” Abigail chuckled before going back to her room.

“I think we need to change the deal.” I offered.

“Why’s that? I never agreed to the first one.” Amaya pointed out.

“Because he’s jealous that I was sleeping in here.” Sin shared.

“So, what if I am, I care about her too and I want a fair chance?” I put in.

“And I told you I am not some object or toy you can fight over.” Amaya snapped, looking between the two of us. “You are two grown men and if you can’t behave like it, I have no interest in either of you. What I do with the time I spend with the other is none of your business and I shouldn’t be made to feel guilty because of some stupid deal you agreed to.”

“I am sorry, we have been behaving childishly. It won’t happen again.” I told her.

“Agreed.” Sin nodded.

“Good, now I am tired. You two should go to bed.” Amaya stated as she turned and went to her bed. Sin went to follow.

“No, you can both leave. I am tired and want no more drama.”

“Very well, Little Flame. Summon me if you need. Get some rest.” Sin kissed her and went to leave and turned and added, “You are safe here. I will make sure of it.” Before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Amaya turned to look at me. “I just wanted to apologize for everything that has happened. I would’ve stopped the pastor if I could.”

“I know Lazarus, just please give me time to process everything. A lot has happened in a small amount of time and some of it is not easy to cope with.”

She reached up and touched her neck with a faraway expression on her face, “Amaya?”

She seemed to snap out of it, “Oh, sorry.” She smiled. “I’m just ... very tired.” She replied as she looked away from me.

I walked over to her and looked at her face, tears were falling down her face. I wiped the tears away and pulled her into a hug.

“You don’t have to hide your feelings from me. You have been through a lot and the last thing you should be doing is bottling everything up.”

She sobbed into my shirt as I held her smoothing her hair; I felt horrible for everything she had experienced in Salem, and I would make sure Hellebore paid for it one way or another.

“Sorry.” She mumbled.

“It’s fine, I want you to be able to come to me when you are hurting.”

She looked at me and smiled, “You two are so frustrating, but I really do care about both of you.” She shook her head, "You guys make things difficult."

“How so?”

“You made this deal so I could get to know the both of you and choose one at the end of the year.”

“Yeah, so we would get an equal chance.”

“You never took into consideration my feelings and the fact that I might care for you both and be unable to choose one of you.”

I frowned; she had a point what would happen if she couldn’t choose or wouldn’t. Would she leave us both?

“You make a valid point. What do you think you would do?” I asked, curious.

“Honestly, I do not know.” She sat on the end of her bed, looking discouraged. "Besides, I don't think you have thought about the one that I don't choose. What happens to them? You two have put a lot on my shoulders."

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. It’s something I will have to figure out.” She looked around the space before adding, "As well as figuring out how to get home."

“What do you mean? You don’t want to stay here?”

“Well, after your deal is done, I had thought I would go back to my time and my life before all of this happened.”

“Could you be convinced to stay?” I asked as I sat down beside her.

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I still haven’t completely forgiven you or Sin. I never thought I’d end up in hell,” she laughed. “Who knows what the future holds, maybe I should just go with the flow see what happens.”

“I don’t tag you as a go with the flow type of person.”

“No, I usually have a plan, but that has been thrown out since Sin dropped me in the past.” She yawned.

“I should let you sleep.”

She nodded, leaning her head on my shoulder, “yeah, I didn’t sleep well when I was in Salem and my bed is calling me.”

Without warning, she stood and leaned down and kissed my lips, sending tingles throughout my body. “Good night.” She murmured.

Without thinking, I pulled her into my lap and kissed her back as her arms wrapped around my neck, my hands rested on her waist, her mouth opened, letting me in as she bit my bottom lip playfully. My hands slipped under her shirt and slid upward towards her breasts. I cupped one, and she froze, pulling away from me.

“Stop.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

She shook her head, “It’s not your fault… it’s just the, uh, pastor.” She paused. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, it’s fine, I shouldn’t have done that knowing what had happened.”

“It could have been much worse. You saved me from him.” She paused, "I'm sorry." 

She looked at her hands in guilt.

“You just need time, little dove. It’s ok really.” I kissed her forehead.

Giving me a small smile in return, “thank you.”

“I will let you sleep. I will see you tomorrow.”

She nodded, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I got up and left her room feeling like a huge asshole for trying to do something with her when she had been assaulted a few days ago. Bad move. How could I be so insensitive?

Cursing myself, I headed to my quarters, taking a cold shower. Walking out of the bathroom with a towel around my waist, I headed to my dresser to find clothes.

“What are you doing?” Hellebore scolded me.

“How did you get in here?” I snapped. “I am doing what I want for once.”

“You were supposed to kill Abigail.”

“I told you that would not happen. I am done helping you.” Like I could kill the mother of my fated mate. I may be a demon, but I am not a monster.

“We will see about that, you ungrateful little shit.” She snapped.

“Get out or I will have you removed.” I ordered.

“You don’t want to make me your enemy, son.”

“Then don’t force me to.”

Glaring at me, she snapped, "We are not done!"

“Oh yes, we are.”

I grabbed her arm and pushed her out my door.

“You will regret this!” she yelled as I closed the door in her face.