Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

45

It had dawned on me a while ago what was happening. I'd just been in denial. The thing I'd been afraid of, the gamble I'd leveraged my willpower against...

Lust was gaining dominance over the contract.

Over me.

When did it start happening, exactly? When we were underground. Must have been. Until then, I'd been able to keep him on a leash, even if it had been admittedly tenuous, but that had all changed when we found Mammon trapped in the stone chamber under the temple. Specifically, when my Commands failed and Lust took me in front of him, challenging him and baiting him until the very moment Mammon broke out of the prison seal.

But I'd clawed my way back up, after. Didn't that count for something? Even after shit hit the fan (harder) and Sarina captured me, I kept my head on my shoulders and took charge. I'd done a damn good job of saving my skin. Really, I'd outdone myself. What kind of crazy idiot stuck her hand down a wolf monster's throat? But because of my craziness, we'd escaped the trap with not a second to spare.

I was still coherent. I was still me. Lust hadn't managed to turn me into his thrall yet, and I was holding out so fucking well. Strong incubi could break down their victims in literal seconds, and he was a whole Prince, firmly one of the strongest in the entire Infernal realm, yet I was still here! I was strong enough to keep his corruption at bay. That had to mean I possessed something special, something better than magic — an iron will and enough keen smarts to outmaneuver a demon, Prince or not.

So why was I crumbling so fast?

Had it been inevitable after all?

The contract — I'd thought it would buy me more time, not just a measly couple of days. I'd thought...

Wasn't there anything I could do? To stop this?

My head hurt. So bad. My eyes throbbed so hard and hot I had to drop my head and press my forearm against them to relieve the pressure. They felt like they were going to fall out any second, just burst out with a blast of steaming pressure from inside my skull. The damn birds were making it worse, even louder than before.

... A thrall.

That was what I was becoming. The need to be with the master at all times, codependency turned up to eleven, taking no pleasure in anything unless the master was present and commanded them to. A thrall of an incubus became an empty shell, losing all humanity, practically all sentience, just a fawning and worshipful body to fuck that also happened to know how to walk and talk, but only upon specific command.

Under witch law, thralls couldn't even be classified as animals. They didn't meet the qualifications. They became objects, nothing more. It made perfect sense. Thralls eventually forgot to eat, drink, and sleep, unless the master fed and watered them. Like plants. The lack of sleep was what usually killed in the end. After all, even if their master commanded them to rest, an incubus' signature time to feed was when their victim dreamed. It didn't matter even if the demon was already physically present by then, having tracked down their thrall to feed from them in person. They still indulged in the victim's dreams just the same, working them to death both in the waking world and the sleeping one.

That was the fate of a thrall. I knew that even as a kid, even if I hadn't understood the explicit intricacies until I was older. And once someone was corrupted, set on the path straight into an incubus' arms, they never stepped off of it themselves. They couldn't. Incubus magic changed hearts, made them need it, and rehabilitation for that was always cruel... if it was even possible.

Or so I heard, but I'd never know. Even if there was anyone left in the world who would help me now, it would already be too late. Soon enough, I wouldn't even want their help anymore.

How much longer did I have? Was there even any point in trying?

I raised my head, turned my face in the direction of the water lapping against the bank. Couldn't see it... but I could hear it. The lake was probably deepest near the center. And Lust had said it was a smaller one, but it must still be tiring to try to swim across it, especially for someone who couldn't see where they were going...

There were lots of accidents in deep water. People accidentally exhausted themselves swimming all the time, or dove too deep and held their breaths too long, and by the time they realized they needed to rush to the surface for air, it was too late.

Yeah. I'd heard about those. Lots of accidents like that.

Lots of deliberate incidents, too.

If...

If there was no alternative.

If the only thing ahead of me was becoming a pathetic, unliving thing that used to be human... If the only thing waiting for me was the inevitability of losing my mind, and not even caring because my only purpose in life was now to be someone's cock sleeve and to dream and drool all day and night of being their pleasure toy and nothing more.

If that was what surrounded me on all sides if I waited too long, if I had no way out, nowhere to run, and no more time...

People always said the Solaria were prideful. Egotistical. That it was always their downfall, killing more of us than old age, sickness, or simple bad fortune ever would. It was true. I could name more than a dozen relatives and ancestors who died recklessly, for no good reason except that they overestimated themselves. Pride had always been at the root of the Solaria creed.

But this was different.

Didn't I have the right?

Wasn't it a human right to cling to that humanity, until death? Wasn't it a living right to not wait until I was dissolved down to sugar water contained inside a mindless vessel, to decide how the end happened on my own terms...?

It had to be.

It wasn't fair otherwise.

My mom didn't die for this. My grandma didn't sacrifice herself for me so I could go out as a thrall, slobbering over a demon's cock.

This...

I couldn't accept. Never.

Water lapped at my thighs. The robe's hem floated on the surface, gliding this way and that with the current and my slow advance.

Cold... and deepening fast. At my chest now, and the slope was still steep under my feet. How much deeper would it go? Most lakes were thirty feet, just about.

If I dove to the bottom, stayed there, held my breath for as long as I could... I was still weak, tired, in pain. If I held on long enough, if I...

"Sable, what are you doing?"

Arms enclosed me, and a wall of heat pressed to my back. Swift pressure wrapped around my arms and picked me up effortlessly before pulling me backward into the shallows.

My bare feet drifted in the water helplessly as I was towed away.

Again.

Every time. It was always him, wasn't it?

"My love," Lust purred in my ear, still wrapped around me bodily, a living prison. His fingers ran down the curve of my jaw in a fond caress.

"You'll get hurt if you aren't careful."