Page 90 of A Deal in Darkness
NEVER SURRENDER
ADRIANA
The sunset over London is stunning and I stare out the loft’s window, wishing I could be out in the evening air. It's cold because the sky is clear, and the pinks and ambers that bleed into each other before turning into midnight blue are breathtaking.
It’s been a week since we went to the nightclub, and Enzo’s been different. Gentler. More considerate. It’s as if he understands I need time to process what happened. He’s kept a close eye on me but it hasn’t been overbearing and he’s even been patient, explaining what happened repeatedly, leaving no question unanswered.
I could ask him if we could go for a walk, but I don't want to. I'm reluctant to ask on principle, refusing to cross this bridge. Instead, I've sat in silence or listened to whatever music Enzo puts on, passing the time until he decides he wants something else.
Enzo's eyes brim with starlight, and I'm sure he knows what's running through my mind. This is the game we play and he invariably wins.
Part of me wants to concede defeat and part refuses to accept this is what my life is now.
The man tilts his head and he won’t help me. Not this time. On other occasions he's stepped in, but tonight Enzo's decided that I either take this step or suffer the consequences.
I sigh, turn away, and mourn the loss of my freedom.
“It's beautiful.”
I hear him stride across the room and feel his presence as he stands behind me. He presses a kiss on the back of my neck and I don't know what to make of it.
“It is, baby. I've seen thousands of sunsets but none compare to you. Forgive me for ignoring the evening’s colors while I stare at the most dazzling thing I've seen in millennia instead.”
Enzo passes me a glass of champagne and I wonder where he got it.
“Come with me, Adi.”
I traipse behind him, leaving the pink haze that casts an ethereal glow over London as we walk through a corridor I haven’t discovered yet. Enzo lifts his hand and plumes of colored light shimmer towards a plain doorway, and the radiant spectrum contrasts with the dullness of everything around us.
The door creaks open and Enzo walks through it, holding it open. I step through the doorframe and the world changes before my eyes, blurring before a tropical garden conjures itself into existence. The flowers are the same hues as the sunset we just left behind and a well-kept path leads through dense foliage.
Birds sing an evening song that’s as magical as the garden, and the sound of gently running water heralds a fountain or a small waterfall. The bewitching noises are as captivating as the smells, and it’s almost as if this garden was filled with things I would like.
It can’t have been made for me.
But then, it can’t be here either.
Not in London—and certainly not in Enzo’s house.
“I believe there may be more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, sweet girl. It’s as real as you or I, or the stars above and the fires of Hell beneath us.”
“How did you…” My voice trails off as a hummingbird flies across the path, flapping its wings so fast its iridescent blues leave a trail in their wake.
Enzo stares down, and for a moment he looks boyish. The severeness of his devilishly handsome face disappears, revealing a softer and almost kind appearance. The dark eyes glimmer with stardust and his skin glows, catching the rainbow colors of the flowers. For a few seconds, Enzo is beautiful, ethereal, and entirely different from the demon I know.
And then the darkness descends again and the harshness returns, obliterating the silkier, mellower version of him I just saw.
“I am one of the Lords of Hell, Adi. I think it’s within my powers to discern what you want and need and distinguishbetween the two.” He gestures and we walk, strolling like lovers walking through paradise. “I allow men to indulge their most primal urges, to find release from the constraint of morality. I make no distinction based on gender.”
The path opens to a clearing and we reach the promised fountain. Water cascades down tiers made of gold as birds bathe in the pools and butterflies dance through the rainbow-colored mist.
“You have quite the imagination, baby.”
“What is this, Lorenzo?”
He tilts his head and the starlight returns to his irises. “This is whatever you want it to be, Adriana. It’s all your hopes and wishes, your dreams, and your fears if you so choose. Whatever you want will appear here, and it is as real as anything in any mortal or immortal realm.” He drops his lips onto mine and his kiss contains the heat of a thousand sunrises. “This is what I offer you, and all I require is your obedience. Stop fighting me and this is yours.”
I pant into his mouth and collapse against his chest.
