Simone kept Lewis close. “I did miss you today while you were at work.” Her face lit up as she remembered something. “Hold on,” she ran back to their room and found the blanket with his gift. She kept it bundled and held it before they went down into the basement. “It turned out quite well I think. Kali is quite the craftsman when she wants to be.”

She waited until Felix was tied in the chair to slap the shit out of him. “Wake up Felix.”

“What?” Felix realized that the fey lord had been fake and everything he had yelled was about to be used against him. He panicked and started to scream.

“SHUT UP,” Simone yelled in such a commanding voice that Felix actually shrunk down in the chair. “Thank you,” Simone’s meek voice returned as she held out the blanket to Lewis. “Before we get more information out of him. I wanted to tell you how much I love you and how wonderful our first year of marriage has been.” She blushed lightly.

“Here, I ordered these for you as a symbol of our first year of marriage.” They were two crimson colored sheaths and hilts of daggers. They had a slight curve and the metal had a gold tint to it. The craftsmanship was remarkable and when Lewis would see the blades phoenixes were etched down them.


“Be careful, the blades are actually hot from magic. Watch.” There was no steam coming up from them. “They can cauterize wounds like I can… so even when I’m not with you… You can think of me~”

Lewis’ eyes got wide at the new weapons that were being presented to him. It almost made him feel guilty that he hadn’t gotten anything for Simone. Work had usually kept him busy, but now that he had these, he was already planning to be on the lookout for something she would like.

“They’re beautiful…just like you,” Lewis said as he grasped the hilt of one of the daggers. “May I…” He glanced to Felix.

Simone smiled, “Of course!”

Lewis took the dagger and slowly dragged the edge against the top of Felix’s hand. The flesh sizzled as it glided across, making the man cry out in pain and squirm. The assassin, though, was smiling like a child in a toy shop. “No blood either…it sealed the wound immediately…” An evil grin spread across his face.

“Simone…can I use this on you as well?” he asked, excited to try it out. “And…can you use it on me? We can try right now!” He was absolutely enthralled by the new possibilities. This, indeed, was to be a long and eventful night…

Simone blushed a bit, “Thank you…” He could still make her heart beat rapidly.

Felix screaming was bringing back a whole new mood with her. “You can always use whatever you want on me and I’ll do it back~ Always.” She took his face and kissed him gently. “I’m going to go get changed~ I don’t need to ruin another one of my good dresses… Now do I?”

They always ripped her dresses off. She came back down with her long hair clinging to her hips. She had on a silk nightgown that she had gotten for their honeymoon in Jayou and a silk robe that was closed for the moment.

“This fits this much better doesn’t it?” She could tell by how excited Lewis was where this was going.

“You two are so fucked up,” Felix was still trying to get over the burn on his hand. “How the fuck can you get off with hurting each other?”

“I don’t know how can you get off watching the fey lord violate me?” Simone snapped back.

“Now, now,” Lewis said as he grabbed Simone by the waist and pulled her close, kissing her. “Let’s not let the pathetic man ruin the mood…no more talk of the fae lord…” He nuzzled Simone’s nose with his own, and closed his eyes, taking in her scent. “Let’s just let his screams fill the air, all right?” He opened his eyes. “You light up so much when you hear screams. You practically glow…”

The assassin let his wife loose, and turned to Felix. His eyes focused on the wound on his hand, and he cocked his head to the side, a curious question coming to mind. “I wonder…how long you can scream. Will your lungs burst, or will your body force you to take a breath?” He produced the new daggers, taking one to the end of Felix’s other hand. He slowly dragged it up the hand, and up the arm, taking his sweet, precious time to move it all the way up his arm. The blade cut through the arms of the shirt Felix was wearing, melding the fibers with his flesh when it cauterized over. Pulling those out would be an extra treat later.

“Scream for me, Felix…I need to know if this room is soundproof.” Lewis was absolutely living for this as the man begged and screamed for him to stop. But of course, the assassin didn’t care. “Simone? Would you take the other dagger to him? I want to see how he reacts…and then, if he’s good and ready…we can take a quick break…”

Simone gave him a toned down smile as she melted to Lewis. Rubbing her nose to his she gave a sweet smile now as she calmed down all the way. “Do I? I guess I’ve never seen myself through your eyes before.” She was sure it was a fantastic sight.

Her smile grew as she heard Lewis torturing Felix. There was a slow hum from her as she picked up the other dagger and unsheathed it. She was studying it, “Felix?” Her cousin snapped his eyes to her.

“Can you tell me something before I begin? I want you to know that just by telling me what I want to hear it won’t stop me. I’m sure you’ve realized that… So don’t lie to me because I can tell.” She was becoming very good at telling when someone was lying. “Did you betray me because my father told you he wouldn’t cancel my marriage to Jerome?”

Felix grew upset for a moment and sighed, “Yes, I wanted you to myself because to me you were my queen. I would have worshiped you every day.” There was no lie. “But your father couldn’t see the advantage of me being your husband. I knew he had to go bu–”

Simone started to run it up his arm, “Shhh, you told me all I needed to know for the time being. You see I have someone who treats me like a queen~ Who loves me and protects me.” She looked at Lewis and smiled. “Who killed me to set me free and brought me back because he missed me. You have done none of those things Felix… You just want to own me like I’m an object.”

They finished with Felix’s first round fairly quickly, and as promised, Lewis and Simone took a ‘break’ from the torture. The two had no shame in their ruthless and gratuitous sex. The fact that Felix was, in his own right, horrified and disgusted by their heinous acts only heightened the whole situation. Last time, their audience was delicious from the torture…this time, they had just started.

As Lewis and Simone finished up, they turned their attention back to their captive. “What…jealous?” Lewis asked as he ran his finger across the half burn, half scar that was healing across his chest. “The sex is good…but there’s something quite special about the pain…”

“You sick fucks…” Felix replied, shaking his head as he stared at Lewis will hollow eyes.

“Oh please…I can show you sick…” He threw the phoenix dagger into Felix’s arm, letting the blade sizzle in his skin and boil his blood. The man let out a howl of pain, fighting against his restraints. Lewis took his sweet time pulling the blade out, and when he did, Felix finally stopped his squealing, shuddering from the shock of pain.

“Now…I want you to compare that to something,” Lewis said as he pulled out his bone dagger. “You see…when ice gets cold enough, it starts to have the same sensation…” He slit his hand open, letting his blood pour over the blade. As usual, the blade frosted over. “Now…tell me how this feels…” He slammed the dagger into the other shoulder. Just like before, Felix spasmed against the drawn out pain.

“Now…Simone,” Lewis said as he glanced back to his beautiful wife. “Would you like to experiment with any of this? I’m sure Felix here has quite the stamina that your bloodline provides. He can probably take quite the abuse…now would be a good time to review some techniques…”

Simone rubbed Lewis’s shoulders after they finished as she sat on the torture table. Felix’s response made her laugh a bit. “The regular sex is just as good as our fucked up sex… as you put it. We can go for hours~”

Felix’s eyes were wide before Lewis started the slow torture. Simone hopped off the table and let her feet feel the cool floor.

Simone came over with wide eyes as she thought about what she wanted to practice on Felix. “Simone, please. You were always so gentle. You don’t want to do this.” Simone was quick to jack one of the daggers off Lewis and slam it into Felix’s thigh.

“No, Felix… I stopped being gentle a long time ago for certain people. You are now one of them.” She was still mulling around. “OH! That thing you showed me how to do the other day. I want to cut the tendons in his hand!”

Felix screamed as she pulled the daggers out and started to experiment on him. “Am I getting any better at this? I’m not as nimble as you are?” She gave Lewis a cute little pout.

“Wait,” Felix was huffing a bit, “I have names. Please,” he was begging and Simone turned her head to look at him. “There are six of us who condemned Auclair and sold Simone. She was nothing more than an object,” he looked at his wrists now and he couldn’t feel them. “It was me, my father, your personal bodyguard, the spymaster, and last but not least the most important person… The one who caused ultimately the most damage… It was Jerome who told the fey lord about the hidden escape passages. The ones specifically in Simone’s room.”

Simone dropped her dagger and her face had an incredible amount of pain on it. She had loved Jerome and while she thought of him as a coward she never thought. Never – The flames started at her feet and it was threatening to spread as her emotions got out of control. She was hyperventilating at the thought. “I trusted all of you. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU,” she screamed as the flames fanned and threatened to burn down their own house as she began to lose control.

Lewis was quick to react, as the brand on his shoulder started to burn with all of Simone’s rage. He quickly moved behind her, and grabbed her from behind, holding her tight. “Shhh….Simone…” He slowly pulled her back out of the room, and to the stairs, where he slowly started to stroke her long, elegant hair. “Shhh…” It took some time for her flames to die down, but they finally did.

“It’s ok…” Lewis said. He could still feel her unimaginable rage, but at least she wasn’t going to burn the castle down. “We can deal with him tomorrow.” He kissed Simone gently on her forehead, still petting her. “I promise. I’ve got a whole plan laid out for what we’ll do when we get up. Let’s…” He whispered into her ear. Simone seemed satisfied with the answer, and he lifted her in a bridal carry, cradling her as he ascended the stairs, leaving the half broken Felix alone.

The man finally let out the breath he was holding. He had done it, though. He had won! He had pissed Simone off and survived the night! And that was his goal! Now for a chance to escape! He looked around, and what luck! There was a dagger implanted in the wall to his left. The chair wasn’t bolted down, so all it would take is a few scoots to the side to get it! That idiot and Simone had left him with one functioning hand too!

It took him more time than he would have liked, but he managed to free himself. It wasn’t long before he was making his way out the front door. “Blast! It’s a whole fucking island!” Still, he lucked out. There was a boat at the pier, and according to the lake maps at the docks, Benin was close! He had a contact in Benin that could get him to a safe house. He had to tell the others that Simone was alive! He just had to! Then, they could come up with a plan to get rid of that nutcase of an assassin, and finally, Simone could be his! Sure, he might have to share her, but…well, it was a price he was willing to pay.

“So long, suckers…:” he said as he took the rowboat, barely managing with his one working arm. “You’ll pay for this…:”

Simone wasn’t one for crying but her heart was broken. This was a devastating blow but one that she had thought she was prepared for as anything was possible. However, her human feelings were proving too much as she let out sobs and gasps of air as Lewis held her. Was it that she was sad or was it that she was so angry she could do nothing but cry? Simone couldn’t figure it out as Lewis shushed her down.

The flames died down with enough tender care from Lewis. The sobbing was silent but at least she wasn’t about to burn anything on accident. Her emotions unchecked were like a wildfire and it was no wonder why she took such care of them. She had lost control and now she was more ashamed of that than anything. It didn’t appear like Lewis cared though as he stroked her hair and held her.

When he kissed her forehead she leaned into him and listened to everything he had to say. She nodded and gave a small smile before he picked her up and took her up the stairs. Simone was a complicated creature but she still responded like most women did. Sometimes her feelings were on her sleeve and at other points, she choked them down deep to put on an act. Right now they were on her sleeve more than she had ever thought possible.

Lewis took good care of her until she finally fell asleep. Her mind was a muddled mess of confusion and anger but with his help, she had calmed down to a reasonable level. That was good enough to her. This magic she had was dangerous and she was sure she was overwhelming Lewis as well, that just led to more guilt but still his plan… She knew it would work.

–

Felix hit the road running as soon as he could. Getting to Vilpamolan from Benin was easy enough with his contact. He refused to answer about his appearance and just told the man to hurry up. It was an urgent request and that he would be paid in full at a later date.

There was a manor in Vilpamolan in the eastern section. It was run down just a bit but functional. For all of their luck, this was the one place that hadn’t given them any trouble. Felix had always assumed that it was because of karma that they were dealt this hand. He was still shaken by what he had gone through. He got through the door and kicked it shut.

“HEY, I need everyone down in the parlor,” Felix said the best he could but his voice was strained.

The men started to file in but their faces drained when they saw the condition Felix was in. “What the fuck happened to you,” his father Sigmund asked as he came over and took a look at his face.

“It’s a long fucking story but the short of it is I found Simone,” Felix watched as Jerome’s eyes lit up a bit. “NOT FOR YOU DICKHEAD,” he shouted at Simone’s once fiancee.

“Oh please, like you could stop me even if you wanted to in that condition,” Jerome snerked a bit at the fallen Auclair boy. “So, what did she do? Torture you?” He said it with a laugh.

“The girl wouldn’t have that in her,” Sigmund replied. The other two men sat silently at the table.

“I wouldn’t be so fucking sure about that,” Felix took a seat. “I need a healer though before I tell you just how far she’s gone.” It wasn’t long before a local healer was brought and she worked what magic she could on him. Feeling much better than he had before he looked at his father and associates, “Turns out our Little Simone has been alive this whole time. I’m not sure what he did but she’s not exactly meek anymore. Judging from who she was with I can only assume the Fey Lord is dead. Let me tell you that husband of hers is a fucking nightmare.”

Jerome tilted her head, “She’s married?”

“From what I can tell they’ve only been married a year but he’s a lunatic and she’s not much better. They fucked in front of me to get to me after they tortured me. She is the one who cut the tendons in my hand. She chased me through their castle with a fucking axe of all things.”

“How the hell did you manage to even get in her castle?” The bodyguard Edward spoke up finally.

“I was following a lead about a woman who fit Simone’s description. There was a bounty on her head, remember? Did I tell you? A woman named Simone was the last one who was taken or so the rumor said. I couldn’t get anything more than that out of the blacksmith. The next thing I know she is behind me and she caught on far too quickly that I betrayed her. So she clubbed me. Next thing I know I’m in her room tied up to a chair and she is threatening and berating me.” Felix cringed. “It’s most definitely her… but she’s got magic now and it’s the most unsettling thing I’ve ever seen. Black flames.”

The spymaster shuddered a bit, “You are sure black flames? What else?” Felix told him as much detail as possible. “You are sure she said that?” Felix nodded. “There were tales back when Auclair was still around of a legendary bird that was a harbinger of death. Their flames were black and they were treated as a bad omen. Rare, incredibly so. The changes of her being one are slim but… The chances of her being alive were also slim. She’s no longer human if that’s the case.”

Felix nodded, “She said he brought her back. That he set her free and brought her back. So she did die but of her own wants.” He grimaced and Jerome was pacing.

“You didn’t tell her that we were involved did you?” Jerome stared at him. “Because you might have lost me any chance to pick things back up with her.”

“Yeah, go fuck yourself. I told her about all of you. She almost destroyed all of us with how angry she got. The kid took her upstairs and I managed to getaway. If I can’t have her just by convincing her neither can you.” The men were about to start a fight when Sigmund pushed them both down.

“We have a bigger problem on our hands gentlemen. Simone will want us all dead, now how should we proceed?”

The night was spent deliberating on their next move.

–

Simone was snuggled into Lewis’s naked form. Pulling the covers closer to them she nuzzled her head against his neck before laying soft kisses on his skin. Her head felt like she had a massive hangover from all the crying and emotions she had run through. Lewis pulled his arm around her a bit tighter as she snuggled in.

He wasn’t about to let her walk about the house by herself right now. Not after her blow up, not after being that unstable. Her bubbling rage was still at the surface and that caused some concern. In his arms she was calm. He protected her and in turn, that protected what they had built. Simone was dangerous right now and she understood that so she didn’t move.

He had a plan and she had to trust it. “What now?” It came out of her mouth and she hadn’t even thought to stop it. She wanted her revenge. She thought she had been done with it but… The news that had been given to her was almost too much.