#you were a good girl

[defensivelee]

Six Lives Won't Make You Happy: The Tenth Hot Spring (Part Two)

In which Anne microdoses on being a yandere while following the orders of James Stewart. On the other end of those orders is Ally Bentinck, who finds he doesn't know when free will ends and dogma begins. And a feisty pup returns for vengeance!

I clean forgot to do this in the last chapter, but the title is taken from MASA's Oyuya Juuban! Here is the AO3 link :)

CW: violence, murder, kidnapping, use of guns, heavy drug use, addiction, smoking, drinking, domestic violence/abuse, more dysfunctional family shenanigans, explicit sex scenes, like REALLY explicit, unhealthy BDSM dynamics, sex while intoxicated, sex as a bargaining tool, sexual assault, normalization of rape/sexual assault, implied/referenced child sexual abuse, implied/referenced grooming, implied/referenced non-consensual incest, implied/referenced pregnancy from rape, indoctrination, discussions of genocide.

“Enlighten me, Mary.” James took a puff from his cigarette, blowing the smoke out to the ceiling. Beside him, Maria shifted away, her nose wrinkling with displeasure. “Anne. You had three of our enemies right there and you didn’t kill any of them? How is that possible?”

“Oh, you know,” Mary said, laughing nervously. “It’s two Allies and an Overlifer.”

“That is no excuse, Mary,” James said. “You have killed Allies before. Both of you have, actually. Anne, I expected better from you.”

Anne bowed her head. “It was...a lot, sir.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” James stood, his lip curling back in a snarl. “Ronan at least should have been easy. It should have been nothing for you!”

“William was there, he did everything in his power to stop us!” Mary’s eyes widened. She was using the lie William had told her to give to her father, and it sounded believable enough to Anne, except that it only made James angrier.

“And you couldn’t have just killed him too?”

“I tried-”

“Shut up.” James began to walk around his desk, his lashing tail knocking papers off of it.

“Mary, get out of here,” Maria ordered, and her tone was enough to make Anne’s blood freeze in her veins. Mary turned and ran out of the room, and James followed her with a roar reminiscent of the devil lords Anne had seen acted out by Marly in the movies he starred in.

“Mary!” Anne cried, but before she could follow, she felt Maria tug her back.

“You can’t get hurt either,” Maria said. “It’s not worth it.”

“For Mary? It’s always worth it!”

“Anne, look, this is...family matters.” She winced as she said it. “I don’t like it, either, but it’s what James does. If you were to intervene, he’d view it as insolence, and the punishment for you would be even worse.”

“But I can’t just leave her—!”

Maria hesitated, then sighed and nodded. “Fine. But don’t you do a thing, I’ll stop him.”

They hurried after them into the hall, where James was tugging Mary closer, his hand gripping her wrist tightly.

“You know what your job is, Mary!” he snarled into her face. “You know what your purpose is and has been from birth! It is to serve me, and I have never before seen failures like this from you!”

“Look, it’s not that easy,” Mary said, trying to pull away. “William is powerful! He’s more powerful than we ever believed! What I trained for was to kill him before he became an Overlifer, not after.”

James bared his teeth. “We’re not talking about William. Ronan and Balcer were right there, and you only had to kill one! One of them, Mary, that’s all I was asking for—!” He pinned Mary’s hand to the wall behind her, and she grunted, glaring up at her father.

“Sir, please!” Anne rushed in front of James. “We’re sorry we messed up but this- this is not needed.” She took a deep breath. It was so easy to shrink away from those brilliant eyes that now looked at her with an eerie curiosity. But she had to say something, didn’t she? She couldn’t stay silent, not anymore.

“Oh, yes, it is,” James said, slowly dropping Mary’s hand. “Get out of the way.”

“I respectfully decline, sir,” Anne said, lifting her head defiantly.

“Really?” He cocked his head to the side.

“Yes, sir, I can’t just-”

“So now it isn’t just Churchill?” he whispered, his tail whipping threateningly behind him. “You would all defy me here?” He stepped back and barked out a laugh. “You’re lucky I don’t give enough of a fuck about you right now.”

Anne blinked, not trusting herself to say anything. Was the hatred in her eyes showing?

“I’ll take care of you later,” he said, pushing her to the side. “Mary, stay right there.”

“Get out of here,” Maria whispered as Anne backed away. “With luck, he’ll forget what happened.”

“But- but Mary-” Anne watched as James pulled Mary in by her hair, leaning in to whisper something into her ear. Anne strained to hear, seeing Mary’s eyes narrow in what looked like confusion.

“I will kill him,” she told him, and at that James drove his fist into her stomach. She tossed her head back with a strangled cry.

“That is what I want to hear from William,” James said. He struck at her again, and this time she stumbled, doubling over, and her father kicked her down scornfully. “Pathetic, I thought I taught you better than that. I know I taught you better than everything you have shown me since Charles’ death.”

Mary cried out as another kick landed in her side, clutching at her stomach and trying to get back on her feet. Anne watched in silent horror, half-tempted to turn around.

Do I go? No...don’t, stay. Watch, at least, do it for her.

But Mary would want her to leave.

As Mary lifted her head from the ground, her father brought his foot down on her neck, and she grunted sharply as her jaw knocked against the floor. She opened her mouth to gasp, and Anne saw a faint tinge of blood there.

“Her tongue,” Maria whispered beside Anne. Her eyes suddenly widened in outrage. “James! That’s enough!” She ran at him, shoving him off of Mary. “Get off of her! I told you it doesn’t teach her anything, it’s just cruel!”

“What do you know of this, Maria?” James spat.

“I know it’s not necessary to be as evil as you are!”

“What did you say?” He leaned in, his voice lowering.

“I said- I said that you’re-” She paused, taking a shaky breath and stepping back as if she had just realized what she said.

“No, Maria, go on, we have all day,” James said pleasantly. His tail flicked up to lift her chin. “Hm? Finish that sentence, dear.”

“James, look, I just- I didn’t mean it,” she said. She shuddered as he walked around her, his tail running down from her neck to her waist. “But Mary did nothing that deserves this kind of treatment.”

“And what do you call that treatment, Maria?” James stepped closer, and Maria bowed her head. Mary stood cautiously, making her way to Anne.

“I-” Maria’s voice broke. “I called it evil.”

“Evil,” James repeated. “Evil?! I’ll fucking show you evil, you ungrateful bitch!” He shoved Maria against the wall, taking her wrists and pinning them beside her head. “I am doing everything to bring about the sacred rule of the Overlifers, I am doing everything for the Disciples! More than anything you have done! And all this after my brother’s death! Do you fucking know what that’s like?!”

“N-No, James, I-” Maria gasped, trying to push him away. “Get off of me! I’m not talking to you like this!”

“Answer me! Do you know what that’s like?”

“You’re not the only man in the world who has suffered!” she yelled. “In a cause like this, your family’s bound to die, get the fuck over yourself!”

“Do not speak to me that way!” James slapped her hard enough for her head to hit the wall behind her. “You haven’t sacrificed what I have! None of you have! So you have no right to call me evil— everything I do is for all of you! And all I ask is Mary kill one man!”

Mary began to step forward, and Anne’s heart jumped. Was she seriously going to stop James?

A part of her knew they should, it was the noble thing to do, but...

Mary then turned resolutely away and fled down the corridor. James didn’t even bother to look at her, not as he slapped Maria again as he spoke. There was a furious cry from Maria as her husband slammed his heel down on the the tip of her tail.

“Your mercy is not forgotten, sir,” Anne said hastily, mostly to herself, and with a bow she turned to follow Mary.

She found her friend in her room, burying herself under her pillow with a groan. Anne sat beside her and took her hand. They could still hear James shouting, Maria’s weak protests underneath.

“Don’t feel bad that you ran,” Anne said. “He would have just done the same to you. Does your stomach feel alright?”

“I feel sick,” Mary mumbled.

“Figuratively or—?”

“In every possible way there is to be sick.” Mary rolled over and looked up at the ceiling, lifting her free hand to nip slightly at the nails. “We should have at least killed Ronan.”

“I wasn’t going to let you start a war,” Anne said firmly.

“Oh, just ‘cause your fucking Ally’s in the draft,” Mary sneered.

“It’s not just that!” Anne flushed. “I- I just think James is wrong. This whole idea was wrong to begin with. James should have died before Charles!” She shook her head helplessly. “Oh, why didn’t he just get married already?”

Mary shrugged and turned to light her pipe. “He just thought he’d have more time. James always said it never interested him, though.”

“But he needed to!” Anne covered her face. “If he had, none of this would have happened. I mean, nothing would have gotten better, but it wouldn’t have gotten worse, you know?” She looked up, scooting away from Mary as she blew smoke to the ceiling, much like her father.

“Do you think I would have met William eventually even if he hadn’t killed Charles?” she asked.

“You seriously believe he killed Charles?”

“You seriously believe Monmouth?”  Mary tilted her head to the side. “He was fucking crazy, okay? Driven mad by grief.”

“His ire would have been directed at William if he had reason to believe that it was William,” Anne said.  “And he saw everything that went on in this house. If he thinks James did it, don’t you think that he might have seen something?”

“He never liked James,” Mary said. “Of course he’d jump at the first opportunity to blame him for something as egregious as this.”

“I can’t believe you’d turn against him so soon,” Anne said, narrowing her eyes.

“It’s just stupid! It’s fucking dumb, Anne!” Mary cried. “Why does everyone think that?! Maria said he did it, now it’s Monmouth— has the whole world lost their mind? James never killed his brother! James could have never killed his brother, he loved him, he-” She cut off, and Anne realized she was starting to cry. “It wasn’t him, Anne, trust me, I know.”

“Oh, Mary.” Anne squeezed her hand. “I know it’s hard, but do you really think he wouldn’t do that? He’s a real beast. Just look at what he did to you! To Maria!”

“It’s just discipline,” Mary said. She ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes seemingly trying to focus on the ground but failing. “If we disobey...”

“You think Maria deserves it?”

“Well...he thinks she does...”

“That’s not an answer,” Anne insisted. But she could see how Mary wasn’t listening anymore, smoking from her pipe as she was, so she lay back instead and tried to ignore the fighting couple below them. “You still have pills left over?”

Mary looked up. “They’re my last ones, why?”

“I just...wanted to have some, I guess,” Anne said, shrugging to hide her disappointment. “But I don’t think your daddy will give you more at this rate, will he?”

“Not for a while.” Mary sighed. “I hope it’s not too long, though.” She looked through her nightstand and held out the pill bottle to Anne. “You can have the last ones. It’s just three, anyway, wouldn’t have done much for me.”

“A-Are you sure?” Anne took the bottle.

“You need it more than I do.”

Nobody needs this shit, Anne thought, but she took the pills anyway, leaning on Mary to see what she was doing on her phone now. She knew that she should have probably left by now, to avoid James’ wrath or whatever else he had planned for her, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand now. After a while she rolled over, Mary suddenly feeling too hot to lean against.

What’s it like being high in a Hoerenkast? Anne lifted a hand to her eyes to block the sunlight. It must be awful. Has anyone ever done that? I could ask Ally Bentinck.

Ally Bentinck— he’d been so worried about her yesterday. Telling her that she was always welcome with the Devils of Orange-Nassau. But she couldn’t believe it, especially not with William there. That man, she was sure, would have killed her if it were up to him, if Bentinck wasn’t so fond of her.

He’s why we’ll both die, Hans, you and me. Do you know what happens to Allies who serve Overlifers?

Do you know what the fate of every Ally is when the Overlifers at last rule?

He had to know. She knew he wasn’t stupid— but what could possess someone to serve a leader that would just kill you later?

Mary pulled her closer, and out of her thoughts as well. “Well, now I have you all to myself.”

“Aw, Mary—!”Anne laughed and scooted back. “What is it?”

“You’re always talkin’ treason,” Mary said. “You’re lucky you eat cunt like a devil lord or I would have told my daddy ages ago.”

“Pfft, you know that’s not the only reason you keep me around,” Anne said. She leaned in to rest against Mary’s neck, beginning to nip lightly there and slide her fingers in between her legs. Mary hummed thoughtfully, falling back on the bed.

“You know me so well,” she cooed. She brought Anne’s head down to kiss her, and then Anne was on her again, returning the kiss and starting to lift Mary’s shirt away. Not that were was much of it, anyway; it just barely covered her chest, especially where it was torn around the bottom.

“By all the remnants, I love these things,” Anne muttered as she pulled Mary’s bra off. “You could make lots of money with these tits.”

“I’m already an Overlifer princess, Anne,” Mary said. She lifted herself up a little. “I don’t need anything else.”

That was debatable, but Anne was in no mood to debate right now. She stripped everything else off of Mary, excepting her black stockings that stopped at her thighs. She always had to wear some form of thigh-highs, it seemed.

Anne shut her eyes for a moment, an involuntary shudder running through her. She really should have just taken two.

I’ll fuck this girl for you, Ally Bentinck. In your name. There is no human without vice, and without vice there are no devils.

With that she opened Mary’s legs and ran her tongue over her, laughing as she did so. Mary sighed and shifted slightly under Anne. It seemed like she was more bored than anything, which Anne wouldn’t have minded so much if she didn’t immediately go on her phone again.

“Mary,” Anne said, though she realized she wasn’t really annoyed. “C’mon, at least look at me.”

“Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t say to stop!” Mary looked up, pulling Anne closer by her hair. “Mm, very good, Anne.” She allowed herself a few moans, praise murmured through her heavy breaths, though nothing too loud, which was a relief, considering they were not at all alone in this house. But Anne knew very well that Mary could certainly get louder.

While she managed to keep quiet, Anne noticed that she was fidgeting all around, as if she were trying to get comfortable, even though she was still on her phone. The constant movement was fine at first, but as Anne went along she realized she was only getting warmer, sweating, and Mary was not making things better.

It’s fine. I can just make her cum and be done.

“Oh, Anne, do you wanna hear what I found?” Mary asked. She wiggled her hips to let Anne know she wasn’t done yet, and Anne dutifully continued, bringing her closer by her hips. “Good girl. So, I found an old interview with William from a few years back, which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise but I’d never seen it. Wanna hear?”

“Um, alright,” Anne said, her voice slightly muffled.

“They asked him if he wanted to elaborate if the rumors were true about his fucking ‘extremist views,’ and this son of a bitch went all off like there’s no such thing as extremism.” Mary burst out laughing. “Like, it’s alright, honey. You can say you’re a fascist. I am, too.”

“Uh huh.”

“And literally millions of others are, too.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “It’s like, might as well just admit it. They can’t arrest you for it until they know who you really are. As if his podcast doesn’t say what he really thinks out loud. He’s this close to admitting it. By the way, you should go listen to it, it’s actually really funny. Not on purpose, but Bentinck will try to make jokes and it’ll just go right over his head. It’s really cute. William’s so cute.”

“It’s Ally Bentinck for me.” Anne leaned back to spit down on Mary’s cunt and ran her tongue in deeper. She remembered what James always called Mary— an angel. She certainly felt like it down here.

Mary gasped sharply, her eyes shutting for a moment. “Fuck, Anne, you’ve really gotten better...”

“You know, anything for the princess,” Anne teased. She hesitated before pushing two fingers in, rewarded with Mary’s startled cry.

“Fuck, yeah, give me more of that shit,” she huffed, bucking her hips as Anne moved her fingers deeper in her. “Oh, devils below—”

Just when Anne thought she might be getting close, she heard the footsteps outside the door and abruptly pulled back. Mary glared over at her, but at that moment the bedroom door opened and James stood there, his tail twitching with annoyance.

“What are you girls doing?” James asked. He glowered at Mary. “I’ve walked in on you enough times for you to know that maybe you shouldn’t fuck when I’m here.”

Mary rolled her eyes as she put her bra back on. “And I’ve stayed up enough times hearing you fuck the Ally downstairs. At least I’m not doing borderline illegal shit with Anne.”

“You talk as if everything we do here isn’t illegal,” James spat.

Anne blinked, her gaze flitting from one Stewart to the next. She didn’t feel as if she was hearing a father and daughter speak to each other. She didn’t know what she was hearing, but she knew she didn’t like it.

“If you heard me,” Mary said, “then why did you walk in, anyway?”

Don’t make him mad! Anne tried to signal to her with her eyes, but Mary was staring right back at her father, almost smiling. She didn’t seem to be taking him seriously, the way she didn’t take anything seriously when she was high, and it made Anne nervous. James didn’t seem to ever make that distinction.

“Because I wasn’t done with you.” His tail was quite literally bristling, the fur at the tip of it standing straight on edge. “You ran away when you knew I was distracted with Maria’s insolence. Just because you’re high and fucking with your little friend here doesn’t mean I’ll leave you alone.

“For the record, I am sorry.”

“For what?”

“Not killing anybody.” Mary tilted her head to the side. “I guess I couldn’t have killed Balcer, though. Just to be clear. You know what that Ally had the audacity to tell me? He told me to warn you not to send me after him again. Even if you really didn’t this time.” She laughed, and Anne had the urge to laugh with her. “Can you believe it?”

But James wasn’t laughing. He glanced down, his eyes widening. “And...Balcer told you this.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mary said. “He, um...actually kind of caught us? Not really, though. But that’s what he told me. In complete privacy, yup. Nobody knew. Super weird!”

Anne wanted Mary to stop talking. She saw how James began to step back, muttering to himself in confusion. Anne thought she heard some Infernal in there, but there was no way it was that. Surely not now.

What she did know what that James was very scared. She looked up, and she figured it was the ecstasy that made her walk over to the Overlifer and pat his shoulder. She just wanted him to stop looking like that, by all the stars. It unnerved her.

“Don’t worry, sir,” she said. “When you do kill him, it’ll be no challenge for you. You won’t even have to send Mary.” Please don’t, she added silently. Beside her, Mary rolled her eyes.

“You have no idea,” James said. He shook Anne off, attempting to scowl at Mary. “He’s right. Don’t ever do that again.”

“But, sir, we’ll have to kill him anyway at one point,” Mary said. She was really smiling now, though Anne could tell it was mostly just out of confusion.

“Not now. Not now!” James turned away and slammed the door as he left. For a moment both Mary and Anne were silent, and then Mary laughed, falling back on the bed. Anne sat down beside her, pushing the hair out of her friend’s face.

“If I had known that would have made him leave us alone I would have told him ages ago,” Mary said. “I wonder what it is about Balcer, you know. Ooh, maybe they were secret lovers back in the day!”

“Pfft, as if.” Anne shook her head distastefully at the thought. There’d been something else there; it was fear. And he’d never feared anyone before, certainly not an Ally. It was unusual that it had to be Balcer, of all of them. She’d never seen them speak before, never even heard of it. 

“What does Master Balcer have within him,” Mary asked, “and how can we learn it?”

🝰🝰🝰

William rolled his eyes as Bentinck sat back down beside him. “Finally. Get here earlier next time.”

Bentinck stifled a laugh. He could, theoretically, find a problem with this, but didn’t want to— the fact that William had gotten himself into trouble and now wanted Bentinck here to talk him out of it. He knew it was what he was expected to do, but couldn’t William even manage a few minutes without him?

“Alright, alright, sorry,” he said. “I’m here now, there was some traffic. What’s the problem?”

“You know what the problem is already,” William said. He turned to all the Madams, people with that suspicious, but satisfied air about them because they knew they controlled a very necessary thing indeed within the sex trade, and for their ruler the Overlifer. And yet they too expected a payment that was not just a blessing from William, but real money, something he could not currently give them as he was now trying to pay off Lucky Balcer to keep his stupid Ally mouth shut.

“We came to an agreement while you were gone, Ally Bentinck,” one of the Western-looking ladies said, her eyebrows raised in amusement. “One that I am sure will make us forget about this small debt owed to us for at least another month.”

“We did not,” William said firmly, clearing his throat. “I mean, we did not, no. We were just talking about it. And again, I do apologize for not paying you this month, but you have to understand that by paying Balcer off, I protect you all. I believe that itself should be enough, shouldn’t it?”

“Maybe, but running a brothel ain’t an easy thing, my lord,” another man piped up. “I know it’s hard for you to imagine, since you’re so far removed from the whole scene—”

“If I wanted your prostitutes I would have visited your brothels already,” William cut in roughly. “That is a conscious choice on my part. And, as it is, can you blame me for trusting you all enough to run the brothels without my supervision? You do it well, and it’s all I’ve ever asked from you.”

They all murmured in skeptical agreement at the compliment. “Still,” Bentinck heard a voice from the back say, “what we ask for is payment. Most of it goes to you.”

“And some will return!” William stood from his seat, his tail twitching erratically at the tip. “You just have to give it a moment. Be patient. It will come next month, I promise.”

“We could keep everything the whores make this month.”

“That’s not a terrible idea...”

“But how is the boss meant to bounce back from the payments he makes to the Master?”

William waved his tail, and the room fell silent. “That is not happening,” he said, his eyes darkening. “It will go on as we always have done it. If you speak of anything else, that is the first step to resentment, and then treason.”

The Madams all looked at each other, and then the first woman that had spoken said, “Of course not, sir. So, you could always fulfill us the one thing we suggested before Ally Bentinck arrived...”

“What did they ask?” Bentinck narrowed his eyes, and William sighed.

“Oh, you know...” He shrugged. “The old sex trade tradition. Snake’s eye for an eye.”

“They want to fuck you?”

“Hell, yeah!” The Madams all hooted and tapped their hands against the table, and William sighed again, shaking his head.

“But it’s not happening,” he said. “My...body...is far too valuable to use it as a mere payment.”

“That’s exactly why,” a Northern Madam spoke up. “To touch it would be a blessing and a great honor. Especially for us— what we do is sell sex, rarer for us to receive it, much as we enjoy this sacred job. It would be like a gift to those who turn the world of New Amsterdam.”

“A promise of good luck and more clients!”

“Of safety and a long life, so that we may serve you for as long as we can.”

“And an orgasm gifted to us from an Overlifer? Divine...”

William drifted behind Bentinck. “I- I really think you are all selling yourselves too short...”

Bentinck tilted his head to the side. His friend had always hated the ancient traditions of sex being used for payment, for trading, really for everything when nobody wanted to involve their finances in it, as the devils had established so long ago. He could understand it, he supposed— it couldn’t be easy to see your body as something so simple when someone else had once taken advantage of that fact.

But it’s been around forever and it’s always worked. He looked up at William, still standing behind his chair. As an Overlifer, surely he knows he has to do it at some point. He saw the guarded fear in William’s eyes, though, and decided that there was no problem in delaying that moment for him.

“Look, a powerful Overlifer like him isn’t going to fuck you,” he said. “Get over yourselves and admit that you don’t deserve to even see him naked.”

“Oh, but let me guess, you do, Ally?” a man spat, his tail lashing dangerously. “You’re not even worth being in our presence.”

“Your whole kind should only exist to please better men,” another one joined in. “The devils may have chosen you, but all that power could never be enough to match that of William’s. It oughta be put to work to satisfy him and him only.”

“That’s all Allies are nowadays. Attention-seeking bitches when the only attention they should be given is from their Overlifer, at night and in bed. At least Ally Marly knows his place when he’s around his Overlifer. Why’s this one think he can speak for his master?”

“Because he just hasn’t had enough people to tell him what he should be doing. He dresses like he should be working for us instead of for our leader.”

Bentinck kept his gaze fixed on the table, his face flushed. He thought he could suddenly see what William was so afraid of.

But there’s nothing to be afraid of, he told himself. You know they’re telling the truth. How many times have I thought the same of other Allies?

He wasn’t special, he knew that. And yet, the way Anne looked at him when she visited him here in the Mycenae, or in the Hoerenkast...he could almost believe it. She made him believe it.

She might really think I’m something. He smiled to himself. And look where I’ve found myself.

“Aw, look at that, he’s smiling! He knows it’s true!”

“And I must say, he ain’t look too bad like that...”

“Right!” William slammed a hand against the table, once again silencing everyone. “He likes it, yes? So you can have him instead.”

“What- William!” Bentinck jolted in his seat. He had just gotten rid of that feeling he hated when someone came down his throat, like a sticky residue left behind that he felt every time he swallowed. “At least ask me first.”

“I’m not asking.” William raised an eyebrow. “It’s an order.” He brushed his tail along Bentinck’s shoulder. “Look at him, Madams. You cannot seriously think I would let any of you touch me. No, Hans here has more...experience in this sort of worship. He can take it, and he is the only divine being I offer you. However low Allies lie beneath me, you cannot deny there is power in their blood...and perhaps in other fluids, as well.”

Is he being serious right now? Bentinck watched the Madams whisper amongst themselves, their eyes raking over him and William both. William didn’t seem to notice, only sat back down, apparently pleased with himself, judging by his slight smile.

“I didn’t want to do this today,” Bentinck grumbled at him. “There’s twelve of them.”

“You have two holes and two hands,” William said. “You’ll be fine. Do you seriously want them angry at us?” He ran his tail under Bentinck’s chin, and Bentinck winced.

“No.”

“Exactly. Cheer up, you’re good at this.” William’s voice lowered. “Better than I am.”

Bentinck didn’t know whether or not to take that as a compliment. In his opinion, William was far better at this than he was. But he smiled when the Madams finally looked back at them, bowing low to their Overlifer.

“We accept your offer, my lord. Thank you for this opportunity.”

“Wonderful.” William waved his tail at Bentinck. “Alright, go on.”

“Wait, right now? You’re staying?” Bentinck stood hesitantly.

“Of course. I need to see how they treat my Ally.” William tilted his head to the side as if the answer was completely obvious, but Bentinck couldn’t understand it. He’d never wanted to watch before.

And what he saw was perhaps not the best introduction. These Devils came prepared, as if they had fully expected William to agree to their offer, and as if they knew he would be ready for it, as well. They bent him over a table, tied his arms behind him, and shoved the first cock into his mouth. He thought he was doing well, even with his hair being pulled forward constantly, until he felt wet, slick fingers move into him, and that was when he jolted and tried to turn his head.

That was only met with a sharp tug of his hair to the side. He bit back a cry, lifting his hips to better let the Madams see him. William wanted obedience; he could give him that.

Thankfully he wasn’t made to swallow the first time, instead had to open his mouth wide so that the hot liquid landed precisely on his tongue. He spit it out once they were done praising him, though he kept his mouth open, waiting for the next person. It wasn’t long before the next Madam came forward.

All the while he felt the fingers move deeper, he heard laughing behind him. He recognized the wet feeling as lube, but they seemed to be using far too much of it, as he felt it dripping down his legs by this point. But he realized why when he felt a Madam’s hand tease its way through first, then move fully in. He stifled a groan, wishing he could let his head fall so he could enjoy this and nothing else.

He was on the fourth cock when the second hand moved into him, same time as the other one. He shuddered, pulling back to let out a gasp. He felt as breathless as William sometimes looked.

“Oh, he likes that,” he heard one hiss.

“He’s loose as all hell, I wouldn’t say this is his first time being fisted. Is that right, Ally?”

Bentinck nodded. “Y-Yes, Madams.” He glanced back, relieved when he saw William still there. He was on his phone, only looking up when he realized Bentinck was looking at him.

But he didn’t look at him very long, as the hands in him pushed deeper yet. He tossed his head back, moaning through gritted teeth. He bucked his hips when he felt another hand begin to jack him off, the fingers sliding off and on again easily with the lube that had fallen there. It was then he opened his mouth at last, he didn’t care how desperate he sounded to them.

“Oh, he’s disgusting and I’m loving it.”

“See, this is what Allies were made for. They’re good at taking everything.”

“He’s so wet. I swear he’s got a cunt.”

“Mm- ah— yes, yes, yes, yes—!” Bentinck couldn’t help but laugh along with his moans. “Oh, shit—!”

William stood, and Bentinck looked up at him, half-expecting but mostly hoping that he would join in. But he looked more curious than anything.

“Keep going,” he said. “I’m just taking photos.”

What could he possibly want with those? Bentinck didn’t complain, though; part of him thought that maybe William wanted them for himself later, for his own, private purposes. And wasn’t that very flattering?

He jolted forward with a sound he’d never heard himself make before, long and high enough that it made him laugh again. His eyes rolled back, and he realized he was thrusting sloppily into the hand on him.

“M-May I cum, Madams?” He had learnt that everyone liked it when he asked.

“What do you think, guys, should we let him cum?” The woman letting him fuck her hand turned to her companions.

“Not until someone’s fucked him properly!”

“Not until he’s made all of us cum first, is what I say.”

“Anything,” Bentinck gasped. “I- I want to—!” Just as he thought he was there, the Madams pulled their hands away, and he cried out in frustration.

William raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word as his eyes flicked over Bentinck’s body. He only brought his phone up again and tapped the screen. Another photo for the ages.

“Let us finish up first and then you can have your turn,” the lady said. She pulled him up by his hair, forcing him on his knees. “Allies finish last.”

So he set to work as fast as he could, licking and sucking and doing everything demanded of him. He let them cum down his throat, let them verify that he had done so.  He spread his legs to let them grind their heels in between them, let them hear every cry of satisfied agony on his part.

“Fuck—!” he hissed out after a particularly hard kick landed there, trying not to show how much he really had not enjoyed that. But he had to be polite. “Thank you—!”

“He really loves it all, doesn’t he, sir?” a Madam sneered at William.

Tell them not to be so rough, that shit hurt! He glanced back at William, shaking his head with wide eyes.

But the Overlifer merely shrugged, even as he met Bentinck’s gaze. “I suppose.”

Finally, finally, he was allowed to sit back and ride one of the Madams, though with his arms still tied behind him and with fingers still shoved into his mouth. He sucked on them obediently, whining and pushing his hips forward into the fist held out before him. William was still watching.

He stopped abruptly, his legs shaking slightly as he came. He knew he was laughing, his chest heaving, but he had no idea what he was saying— probably thanking them for this, as he usually did. He breathed deeply once he was done and let his head fall.

None of you deserved to see this. He shut his eyes so William wouldn’t have to see the ire in them, so he wouldn’t rip the rope off his wrists with his teeth. There’s nothing to thank you for.

“All good?” William asked, to which the Madams responded that yes, everything was good now, sorry for the disrespect and thank you for the Ally. Meanwhile the Ally himself sat down, his head resting on his hand as everyone save for William left the room.

“What a mess,” William said. “Pity whoever has to clean this up.”

“The fuck you do,” Bentinck muttered. “Because it’s not going to be you. Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve fucked in this hotel.” He snorted. “Not the first time I’ve fucked in this room.”

“Hey, I got some good pictures,” William said. “I hope you at least enjoyed it a little.” He coughed, looking away as Bentinck stood to get dressed again. He would definitely have to shower when he got home.

“I came. What are you going to do with those pictures?”

“Oh, you know.” William shrugged. “Might need them for later.” Not at all a helpful reassurance. “Can you- can you stay with me again tonight?” he added quickly.

“Of course.” Bentinck bowed his head. He only hoped William wasn’t going to ask him to fuck again.

When they got to William’s house, it was much to Bentinck’s alarm that the first thing William did was pour some absinthe into a glass in his kitchen, not bothering to dilute it with the sugar and water he usually liked with it, instead drinking it all in a few hurried gulps. He made a face, his tail twitching distastefully, but he did it a second time.

“William?” Bentinck nudged him. “You alright?”

“I’m fine. Go shower.” William batted him away with his tail. “You definitely need it. I need some time alone. Maybe you do too.”

“William, I—” Bentinck inhaled sharply. “You didn’t have to watch, so don’t act like you had to stay there like I did. I got seven loads in my mouth and you just stood there taking photos of me. Without asking, if I might add. I don’t...really care but what if I did, William?”

“Then you would tell me and I would listen.” William shook his head. “I meant what I said, Hans, I stayed because I wanted to see how they treated you. I- I didn’t expect it to be so rough, I mean, I know it was BDSM, but they were so mean, and it was like- I thought- it just felt like the old legends. When they invoked snake’s eye for an eye for a defeated enemy.” His voice went quiet. “You know I always hated that.”

Bentinck hesitated. He wanted to tell William not to act like he cared, even if perhaps he did to some degree, but he’d had plenty of opportunities to stop them if he had truly wanted to. No, he’d let them go all the way, and now he was trying to act like he was the affected one! When all he’d done was watch!

No, think about this. Ultimately, Bentinck decided, he hadn’t had an awful time. Even if he still felt pain where they’d kicked him. But he was an Ally; he was made to survive and enjoy this, and William surely knew it.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Bentinck said at length. “I promise. So don’t worry about it. It was very kind of you to stay, but please don’t do it again if it makes you feel bad.”

“Okay.” William turned back to down another full glass, and Bentinck left him alone to it, though not without concern. William had liked to drink a lot more when he was younger, during his first life, taking to it when his father was still alive. He had seemed to shake off the habit that had bordered on addiction after his first death, but he still drank sometimes, if the day was bad enough. Those were the days that Bentinck worried, especially now that he’d been doing it slightly more often since Mary had killed him.

Is this going to be another addiction after all? He chased away the thought as soon as it came to him. No, it can’t be. He knows the risks for himself. Anyone would drink this much after they just died, of all things.

But he was right to worry tonight. When he came out of the shower, feeling much better about the day than he thought he could, William was on what must have been his sixth glass. His tail was lying still on the ground, and as he looked back at Bentinck, he lifted the glass to his lips and just barely made it. Even so, Bentinck could see that his shirt collar was already damp.

“Ugh, William.” He ran over to the Overlifer, taking the drink from him and setting it down on the kitchen island. “Doesn’t it taste bad?”

“What?” William looked up, blinking rapidly.

“Nevermind. Come on, that’s enough.” Bentinck began to lead him away, nearly tripping on William’s tail dragging on the floor. He sighed and lifted it, and William stumbled forward without any objection. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Hans...I’m literally going to piss myself.”

Bentinck had to stifle another sigh. “Okay.” He led William to the bathroom, waited for him to finish, and then went in to pull him out. William was muttering to himself and tugging insistently at his tie.

“Now will you tell me what’s up?” Bentinck asked when they got to William’s room. He wondered if he should leave William alone so he could sleep it off, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that. “You haven’t gone this hard in a long time.”

“Can’t stand this shit, Hans. It’s fuckin’ ruining me.” William fell back against the bed with a groan, covering his eyes with a hand. “Close the door.”

Bentinck obeyed and sat down beside him. “Well? Was it what you saw me do today? You’ve fucked me harder than that, it should’ve been nothing.”

Did you want a power trip? Was it this dark curiosity within you? What? What do you want from me? But he didn’t ask any of that, only watched William take deep, shaky breaths and wipe the sweat from his hair. He looked like he was on the verge of his tears.

“Yeah...nothing...nothing, nothing, nothing, it was never anything to us...not in New Amsterdam, not to the Overlifers.” He glared up at the ceiling and took Bentinck’s hand. “And not to him.” He pulled Bentinck forward suddenly, and Bentinck gasped, his face flushing as he stared into William’s eyes. He felt the legs spreading around his own, William laughing and caressing his friend’s cheek.

“William, you...” Bentinck wanted to step away, tell him to calm down. But he let his Overlifer guide his hands, so that he found himself pulling away William’s jacket, and then his tie. William sighed in relief.

“Feels so good to have it off, Hans,” he whispered. “Hm? Thank you. Clothes...fucking hate it.”

“Maybe you could try wearing less,” Bentinck said with an awkward cough.

“What do you think I’m tryna do, Hans?” William laughed again. “Get it all off, baby, I can’t stand it. I can’t stand it. It’s always worse when I drink...it’s always better.”

“What?” But Bentinck, once more, did as William said, all while William clumsily undid his belt and threw it to the side. Then he brought Bentinck in for a kiss like never before.

It wasn’t exactly what the Ally had in mind, especially after today. But once he touched the divine lips he gave in, sucking on William’s tongue and stroking his horns until they were both out of breath, though that never said much for William.

“Hans,” William said in between pants, “you are going to fuck me.”

“N-No, I...” Bentinck shook his head. “We tried once. You were so scared.”

“I need that damned fox and I need you,” William growled a little too quickly. “Is this not what you fuckin’ wanted? I want it. I’m not afraid ‘n I never was.”

“William, I’m not going to do this if you don’t really want it,” Bentinck said firmly. “You don’t have to do this for anyone but yourself. It wouldn’t be good for you.”

“I just said I wanted it!” William yelled, snapping his jaws near Bentinck’s face as if he had inherited his father’s sharp teeth. Bentinck jumped back, and William chuckled as he sat up.

“Look, Hans, I got over sucking my daddy’s cock by sucking yours,” he said, grinning wickedly. “What makes you think this won’t work, too?”

“I- I really don’t think you should phrase it like that.” Bentinck let out a nervous laugh as William pulled his pants down.

“Why not? Don’t like it when I call someone else daddy?” William climbed on top of him, and Bentinck couldn’t stop staring. “Wanna be the only one, is that right?”

“Please don’t call me that,” Bentinck said. He sighed, relenting at last when William began to unbutton his shirt. “So you think riding me would make it better for your first time? You’d be more in control.”

“He made me ride him, too. When I was sixteen.”

“Oh.” Bentinck looked away. He really didn’t know what to say to that. William was never this forward.

“I’ll be fine,” William said. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine, okay?” He shut his eyes, and Bentinck wondered if he was really talking to himself instead. He was tempted to tell him to stop this, he was just drunk and he had no idea what he wanted, but then William was on him and he was so beautiful and he didn’t seem afraid anymore when Bentinck was in him.

It was everything Bentinck thought it might have been. He could tell it hurt William at first, but he seemed to like it even then. He took hold of Bentinck’s wrists and bowed his head, his breaths short and matching his movements. Bentinck gripped his waist to help him out, letting out his own huffs through his clenched teeth. There was never, ever going to be anything that would feel better than this.

“Hans,” William gasped, “hit me.”

“W-Where?”

“Anywhere. Leave a mark.”

“Should we- should we not talk about this first?”

“Fucking hit me, Ally.”

So Bentinck slapped his thigh hard, and William tossed his head back with a vicious roar in between his moans. “Oh, Ferocity! Harder, harder, Hans!”

“Again?” Bentinck had to admit, he was pleased with the result of that.

“On my face...please.”

Bentinck slapped his face, tugged William around by his horns and tail, shoved his head back by a grip on his hair, all things William asked for and met with a howl Bentinck would have found hilarious if it really wasn’t so hot. When William lay back on the bed and ordered him to continue that way, he didn’t hesitate— he pinned his master’s arms beside his head and fucked him as an Overlifer was meant to be serviced. William arched his back, crying out and hissing like an animal.

“You’re so fucking hot, William, I hope you know that,” Bentinck leaned in to say.

“And you’re...you’re so big, oh, shit...” William was wheezing dangerously, but neither of them were done yet, and Bentinck only stopped if William told him to. “Blindfold me.”

Bentinck looked around, briefly stopping to reach out for his own tie he’d been wearing what felt like hours ago and tying it tightly around William’s head. William turned around, lying on his stomach, and Bentinck gladly picked up his pace again, holding William’s tail up just to look at himself inside of the Overlifer.

“Hold my arms back, don’t let me fucking move, pussy—!” William shouted, and Bentinck pinned his arms back, shoving into him as much as he could. William jolted forward with a snarl, his legs shaking. “Fuck, yes! Cum in me, Hans, I want your children!”

Bentinck burst out laughing, just as he came inside William, and then everything was meaningless from there. The only thing that mattered was William gasping, his tightness around Bentinck and his whines under his breath.

“Thank you, sir...thank you...thank you...”

Bentinck paused to catch his breath, then leaned forward to pull down the tie from William’s eyes. “You don’t have to say that to me,” he said with a smile. “I was doing it all for- for you. And I loved it.”

But William didn’t answer. His eyes were screwed shut, his breaths short, and Bentinck rubbed at his back. “William? You alright there?”

William opened his eyes. “It’s...just you.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank the- thank the dwaallichten.” He took Bentinck’s hand and didn’t let go for the rest of the night.

🝰🝰🝰

It was a little awkward when Anne saw James again, but there were no remarks on his part about what had happened when they had last seen each other, so she didn’t say anything, either. It was strange seeing him so calm again; she knew it’d been a few days, but she hadn’t expected Mary and Maria to warm back up to him so quickly. How could they forgive him?

Did they even really? Or did they just have to?

She supposed she could ask later. Right now, she had her sister at her side, a woman that met even the slightest bit of unhappiness under the Overlifers with deep suspicion. Which made no sense to Anne, as Elizabeth herself had never seemed completely happy under their rule. Anne had tried to ask about it before, but she was always dismissed with a lofty reminder that treason wasn’t easily forgiven here.

“It’s good to see you again, sir,” Elizabeth said, bowing her head as she sat down. She shot a curious glance at Mary, who was currently leaning against her father, her eyes lidded like she was exhausted. She very well might have been, Anne thought— she had streamed late into the night, trying to finish a game, and James had given her neither the ecstasy nor the crystals she loved so much.

“Elizabeth, dear,” James greeted her, acknowledging Anne with a slight nod. “How were things going in Mercia? I heard about some troubles with the law.”

“Nothing money couldn’t fix,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll get them off my tail there soon—” As she said this, her long white tail behind her gave a twitch. “—but it’s good that you called me here when you did.”

“Yes, that governorate’s never been known for its leniency,” James sighed. “I lived there for a while when Mary was younger, and it has not changed one bit.” He waved his tail. “Well, if there’s any more trouble, I’ll send some assassins with you. Even so, make sure you know who you’re dealing with. Just in case.”

Elizabeth nodded, and James looked back to the Disciples gathered here. Among them was Mary’s sister, at her side Sarah and Ally Marly. Neither of them looked thrilled to be here, and Maria was keeping a wary gaze on Marly in particular.

“I hope that I needn’t remind you all of Mary’s disastrous attempt on the life of Chloraloos Ronan,” James began. “Naturally, he fled back to Grand Cabaret, so he’s out of our reach now. If we followed him there, the assassination would be put to terrorists that were out of the control of Altos Diablos. And he’s not an Ally, so there would be no point in trying again. At least, not so soon.” He paused to light a cigarette, holding up the lighter so Maria could light her own as well. “There will be no war.

“So we must turn our attentions back to our domestic enemies,” he went on. “William is still out there and he wanted to stop us at the Hoerenkast. We will not make any progress if he is always there to oppose us.” His eyes glittered. “A long time ago, he made a promise to me and his mother. And I intend to make sure he keeps it.”

A promise?  It was hard to believe that William had ever promised James anything, even if his mother had been there. She couldn’t imagine him caring much for the first Mary, an Easterner as she was.

Mary, too, seemed confused, as she sat up and yawned. “What? I thought that was when you killed her.”

“I did not kill his mother!” James spat, and Mary sprung back in surprise. “She saved my life. There’s a difference.” He shook his head, taking a puff from his cigarette as if the thought disconcerted him. “And now her son tries to undo everything. William dishonors her memory. So to honor her, we must kill him.”

“We honor a mother’s wish by killing her son?” Mary’s sister barked out. She stood, her tail lashing behind her. “I...respect you, sir, but if that’s how you sound to the public, I can see why we don’t have more followers already.”

“Anne!” Maria scolded her, but James merely let out a lazy laugh.

“Mary would not have wanted to see her boy follow in the footsteps of her husband,” he said. “She confided in Charles and I, told me that that brat should have never been born. He was conceived by violence, not love. Do you think a creature like that deserves to live?” He shook his head sagely. “If she saw him now, she would not mind if we put a bullet to William’s skull, if we shot him like a useless calf of the abattoir.”

The whole room was uncomfortably silent. James had never been so open like this before, certainly not in front of Anne. Beside her, Elizabeth leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in cold interest.

“So I want to see his face as he dies, I want to be the one to rip his empty little heart out of his chest,” James said. He said it so casually that Anne was almost inclined to agree with him. “I believe that was what Mary’s failures to kill him told me— that she couldn’t be the one to kill him; it must be me. It was what destiny had always intended.”

“So- so it’s not my fault?” Mary blurted.

“No, Mary.”

“You forgive me?”

“Oh, my baby.” James laughed gently, turning to coil his tail around his daughter. “I always forgive you.”

No, he absolutely does not. Anne watched through narrowed eyes as Mary jumped into her father’s arms with a relieved laugh. James lifted his head, as if with pride, his eyes flashing as he looked around the room. Like he was daring any of them to speak. His gaze came to rest on Anne, and she hesitated before bowing her head in the deepest respect.

One day, she’d let him know just how much she hated him. But today was not that day.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Mary was saying, squeezing her father’s hand. “I- I promise I’ll kill anyone else you need me to. I’ll do anything, sir, this- this is all I’ve ever wanted from you.” She looked up at him with shining eyes, and Anne saw the others in the room glance at each other in either suspicion or disgust or both.

You’re all acting as if you’ve never sucked up to him before. She shot a glare at Sarah, who was staring the hardest. We do what we can to survive here, and she needs it more than any of you.

“I’ll have something for you to do very soon,” James told Mary. He cleared his throat. “Now, obviously, if I must kill William, then he must be here. Our chance was at the Celebration of the Six Lives, but naturally, we didn’t know then, and we can’t just host another one to invite him over. If we ask to negotiate, then he’ll just send his little Ally over...although I suppose if we were to kidnap and hold him here, that could serve as bait.” He paused thoughtfully. “And that means we might be able to kill the Ally, too...”

“We could just kidnap William!” Anne blurted. “I- I mean, why do we need the middleman of Ally Bentinck, right? He’s so much stronger than his master at this point, with William on what must only be his second or third life, so- so we could just take him instead. I mean, isn’t that why you brought my sister over? She’s great at kidnapping!” She was sure she sounded a little manic, but to her relief, all the stares on her were of interest and not confusion.

“I...suppose I did consider it,” James said, blowing smoke out from his lips. “Do you think you two could do it?”

“Why, of course, he’ll never be expecting it from us,” Elizabeth laughed. “As long as none of his Devils recognize me, we’re good. I can give him plenty of reasons to come with me. And there’s two of us, so it’ll be easy to knock him out when we get him alone.”

“And how will you manage that?”

“Same way we recruit more Disciples,” she said. “Convince them they cannot live without us. But instead of the Disciples, it’ll just be us. The Villiers sisters.”

Anne swallowed. She was sure that William could live very well without her.

“Good luck with that,” Mary said. “He’s not about that life.”

“Then I can change it.” Elizabeth sounded perfectly serene, but Anne wondered if she knew just how much of a challenge she had just accepted.

“Your success will come with a high reward,” James said. “But you are not my daughters. A failure will also come with a high price.” He yawned with a lazy swish of his tail. “I haven’t killed anyone for too long, and if you rob me of that chance, I’ll just spill your blood instead.”

Elizabeth nodded once. Anne didn’t know how she could keep smiling.

“Good girls,” James purred. “Now, all of you, out. Save for Maria.”

Anne was all too happy to leave the room, and she couldn’t wait to leave the house. But Mary had taken her hand, and as soon as Elizabeth had left, Anne turned to look at her.

“I don’t know how Elizabeth thinks we can do it!” she whispered frantically. “We’re never getting close to him!”

“Well, you already have an advantage through Ally Bentinck,” Mary said. She brought Anne closer. “You have to do this. You cannot die. Forget about everything I’ve ever said about William.”

“But- but Mary, I-” Anne searched her gaze. “I don’t know what it is, but I know you feel something about him. And if you ever hurt Ally Bentinck I know I would find it very hard to forgive you. I don’t think I could forgive myself if I ended up being the reason you lost a man you care so deeply about.”

Mary smiled sadly. “It’s not the first time I’ve lost someone to the cause of the Disciples, Anne. I’ll be okay.”

“Are you talking about Frances? Mary, you were not okay.” Anne shook her head. “I can’t do that to you. The Disciples aren’t worth losing everything for.”

“James has given everything to this cause,” Mary said, her voice hardening. “I’m not going to stop until our vision becomes reality. Maybe I can’t kill William and so I’ve failed my father and the Disciples. But what matters is that he forgives me. He knows I can be better. So, Anne, I don’t tell you this as your friend, but as the heir of the Disciples of Restoration: you will bring William to us. And you will follow James’ orders until the day you no longer serve us.” She shook her head, and Anne noticed with dismay the tears in her eyes. “Just do us that favor before you go.”

“Who said I’m going anywhere?”

“I know it’s only a matter of time before you leave the Disciples,” Mary said. She stepped back and looked away. “I’m not going to stop you. But we need William; I can’t have him alive anymore. He’s too much trouble and he threatens my destiny. It’s going to hurt, but you know I’ve been through worse.”

“You shouldn’t have been,” Anne said gently. “I’ll do it, but only if I know this is what you truly want. Is your love for your father greater than your love for William?”

Mary laughed, though Anne could tell it was forced. “Love. It was never that. It was just misguided hope.”

Anne couldn’t find the truth in that, but she couldn’t find a lie, either. So she bowed her head, lifting Mary’s hand to kiss it. “Then I swear I’ll do my best to bring him here.”

She didn’t know why she had spoken up then. She didn’t know what part of kidnapping Bentinck’s best friend was better than kidnapping Ally Bentinck himself. He would have surely found a way to fight back, right? He always knew how to get out of things, and he seemed to care much more for William than for his own safety. He’d brush it off in a few days.

Now, if someone were to capture his master, there was something he wouldn’t forgive.

She said nothing in the car with Elizabeth and tried to hide her expression by turning away and glaring out the window. She certainly couldn’t tell Bentinck; he would just fight harder, and then the plan would surely fail. And then the Villiers sisters would be executed in the most delightfully bloody ways James loved. She could already imagine it, how maybe Bentinck wouldn’t find it in himself to care after all; as long as his Overlifer was safe, what did it matter how many people died?

Would I just be another casualty to him?

“So, what’s the big deal with Ally Bentinck suddenly?” Elizabeth asked, prodding her in the shoulder with her tail. “You just made things harder for us, you know. He looks remarkably easier to kill than his master.”

“He’s...not,” Anne said. “Trust me, Mary’s fought him before. And so has Marly. He’s not easy at all, you know...he loves William very much.”

“Are they dating? I’ve heard people talk about it.”

“I, um...I doubt it.” She hadn’t even thought about that! But she thought Bentinck might have told her if they were. Besides, there was something about the way he looked at William that reminded her of the way Ally Marly looked at James, and that was something else entirely. “It wouldn’t make sense for such a rigidly conservative Overlifer to be dating an Ally. At most I imagine Bentinck only offers up his body.”

It was to be expected of an Ally, it’d been happening for centuries...and yet the idea of that beast using Bentinck’s body as he wished made her sick. Suddenly she felt like she could watch William die after all.

“If he’s anything like how Mary describes him, I don’t see him taking advantage of that,” Elizabeth said. “But I’ve never heard of an Overlifer like that. They’ve always had dozens of spirits and lovers to service them at all times. I thought it was part of the requirements: six lives, divine law, and all the bitches.”

Anne stifled a laugh. “Guess he’s different. Who knows? When he gets older, he might be like Charles. The man never settled.” She sighed and waved a hand in the air. “And now we have this...mess.”

“Hey, it’s not a mess,” Elizabeth said. “James is running things well. It’s Mary who’s the mess.”

“You’d have a rough time, too, if you were raised by him.”

“Look, Anne, our job is to serve him in whatever he asks of us,” she said, narrowing her eyes out on the street. “What he does with his family is none of our business. What we need to do is find a way to get closer to William.”

“I have no idea how we’re gonna do that,” Anne said. She had considered telling Elizabeth a few times about what she really thought of Bentinck— but she wasn’t entirely sure her sister could be trusted with that information. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell her now.

“So, when’s the last time you tortured someone?”

“What?” Anne turned abruptly towards her.

“We can get closer through Ally Bentinck,” Elizabeth said. “If William won’t listen to us on our own, he’ll surely listen to his precious Ally. I mean, if he’s anything like James. Maybe Bentinck will be a little more malleable, but if his loyalty is as firm as you said it was...well, no one’s loyalty stays the same once I’m done with them.”

“N-No,” Anne said, trying to sound like she had a better idea. “We’re not doing anything to Ally Bentinck. It’s too dangerous.”

“Ugh, you’re so boring!” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “What time are his meeting hours?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Fine, I’ll just search it up,” she huffed. She bowed her head to look at her phone, and Anne was tempted to knock it out of her hand and remind her she was driving in one of the most crowded cities of Altos Diablos. The Western Kingdom parades were still blocking many of the streets, so it felt extra choked lately.

“Perfect! We have time to get there early,” Elizabeth said.

“W-What? Me and you?” Anne shook her head. “I- I don’t think it’s best to clue him in on anything we’re doing just yet. Besides, aren’t you hungry? You could go get something to eat, or do anything else, I mean, New Amsterdam really is beautiful, right by the ocean, you know, and- and you’re not from here so you might like to explore—”

“By all the stars, Anne, calm down. I’m not visiting for fun.”

Anne was all out of arguments when they got there, but she still tried to talk Elizabeth out of it, even in the Hoerenkast. She prayed that maybe Bentinck was taking visitors in the Mycenae like he had the past few days, but judging by the amount of people starting to show up here, it looked like Bentinck would be here after all.

“Look, you really don’t want to talk to him,” Anne said. “And doing anything to him here, with so many people, it’s just-”

“I won’t do anything to him yet, Anne,” Elizabeth said, lifting her tail. “I’ll just be testing the waters. The way you’re acting, though, one would think you’re terrified of anyone hurting him.” She narrowed her eyes. “Want to have a kill all to yourself for once? Or is there something else going on I should know about?”

Anne swallowed. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard the jingling of jewels and looked up to see Bentinck pushing open the curtains of the room in front of them. The setting sun from the window lit up the rings on his fingers, and beside him, William ducked under his arm to stand outside.

“There he is,” Elizabeth murmured. “Oh, he’s really cute, look how small he is compared to his tail.”

Anne looked away, hoping Bentinck wasn’t looking at her as he greeted his followers, despite her being near the front of the line. They’d seen each other yesterday, right after she’d collected more money for James, which Bentinck had thought was hilarious for Anne to be doing.

I think you have more dignity than that.

Well, the Disciples pay well for it.

William would too.

She couldn’t deny what Mary had told her. She was growing more tempted with each passing day.

She thought she was going to be sick by the time it was her and Elizabeth’s turn to go in. William lifted his head when he saw her, his gaze snapping from her to her sister and then back to her. Elizabeth didn’t seem to notice, merely dropping a coin in the slot by the curtains with a friendly smile at the Overlifer.

Please don’t say anything, she begged internally, but as they went in, William followed them. Elizabeth turned around in alarm, her hand flying to her pocket, where Anne knew she kept all her spells.

“Anne!” Bentinck called, and Anne bit her tongue to stop herself from smiling at him. “Who have you brought with you today?” He leaned forward with interest.

“How is Mary?” William asked. “Did you see her today?”

Elizabeth couldn’t know they knew her! She shook her head, unsure of what to say to convince her sister that she had no idea what they were talking about. But Elizabeth was smart; surely she had pieced everything together in these few seconds.

She glanced warily over at her, but much to her surprise, Elizabeth was back to smiling. “My sister has told me much about you, my lords. She wanted me to meet you both. Under James’ rule, things really haven’t been the same. Needless to say, I am considering...other options.” She knelt before Bentinck, who let her kiss his hand.

She’s acting like she knew? Well, as long as she wasn’t angry, though Anne suspected she would be later. She cleared her throat and bowed her head at Bentinck.

“This is my sister, Elizabeth,” Anne said. “She just came in from the Mercia Governorate.”

“I had to come to meet you, you know, she talks so much about you, my lord,” Elizabeth said, standing up and leaning over the stream of water to fall against Bentinck’s throne. “I swear, if James found out, he’d have her executed for sure.” Her eyes flashed at Anne as she stepped back again.

“I need no reminders.” Bentinck’s gaze darkened. “You’ve been alright, Anne? Nothing new?”

“Nope.” Anne shook her head. She turned to look at William; she couldn’t bear to look at Bentinck with all she knew. “Mary’s better today. She...mentioned you a little.” No need to tell him why.

“And you must be the Devil of Orange-Nassau, am I right?” Elizabeth butted in. “I almost didn’t recognize you under the mask. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” She knelt before him as well to kiss his hand.

William merely narrowed his eyes. “Your name is Elizabeth? Elizabeth Villiers?”

“Yes, that’s me, hello, hello,” Elizabeth said. “You may have heard of me—”

“Because you’re the one who keeps intercepting the drug supply over there.” William pulled the mask down from his face so that he could grin at Elizabeth, a nasty smile with gold scattered here and there. “I’ve sent countless assassins after you.”

“None return.”

“No, indeed. I was on the verge of sending Bentinck after you, but it seems there was no need. You came to us.” He glared over at Anne. “There better not be trouble from either of you.”

“Hey, don’t threaten them,” Bentinck snapped. “They’re dealing enough with James already. They don’t need to hear the same shit from you.”

“Excuse me?” William’s eyes widened in shock.

“I- I’m just saying that you don’t-”

“I think it’s time for you to go.” William turned to Anne and Elizabeth, pushing his mask back up. “Hans is very busy, as you know. We can talk later.”

“Anne, can you wait for me after I’m done here?” Bentinck asked. “Please, I need to talk to you.”

“No problem!” Elizabeth answered for her. “Thank you, my lords.” She bowed low, then whisked out of the room without the traditional parting. Anne smiled nervously at both Bentinck and William.

“I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you, there’s just a lot going on- you’ve been so kind to me—” She began to step out. “There is no human without vice.”

“And without vice there are no devils.” Bentinck looked away, and William patted his hand reassuringly before following Anne out.

“You were really going to make him kill my sister?” Anne glared at him as soon as Bentinck was out of earshot.

“Absolutely. And I would make him kill you, too.”

It wasn’t possible, she knew it wasn’t— and yet, as she paced the halls of the Hoerenkast with Elizabeth at her side, she wondered if Bentinck would kill her if, indeed, William ever ordered it. She meant nowhere near as much to him as William did.

But look how he spoke up for me. Even if it angered his master. She stopped in front of one of the stained glass windows, this one in particular showing a furious devil lord roaring to the skies. The sun had mostly gone now, but rays still reached through the devil’s blue tongue. A blue tongue— it was the Earl of Portland, wasn’t it?

That’s his devil. She could almost see a resemblance in the fiery, golden mane and the expression.

“That’s him?” Elizabeth asked.

Anne nodded.

“You should have told me you were turning traitor,” Elizabeth went on. She scowled. “You really think I would have turned you in?”

Anne nodded again. “You- you were always so devoted.”

“Devoted I may be, but I’d rather watch you run away than get impaled by whatever James’ favorite weapon happens to be that day,” Elizabeth said. “How did it happen?”

“I...tried to believe in the Overlifers, I really did, but Ally Bentinck...I met him once out of curiosity and he was so beautiful. He treats every one of his followers with kindness and he pays attention to what they tell him.” Anne sighed. “Nothing like Marly and James. They believe worship means you don’t have to do anything to keep the love of your followers. But Bentinck cares so much. And I guess I wanted to keep visiting, so I did, and he began to remember my name, what I had told him last time, and he listened to everything and offered advice, and I thought it was nice to be heard for once.”

“And William?”

Anne shrugged. “We- we couldn’t follow through with the assassination plot, so I went to Bentinck and came clean about who I really was. And he wasn’t angry.” Her voice caught, and she shut her eyes to stop them from tearing up. “I spoke to William that day as well, and- and I guess I helped them. And Bentinck said if I ever wanted to leave, there was always a place for me among the Devils of Orange-Nassau.”

“Oh, I see,” Elizabeth said. “You’re betraying us because you’re in love.”

“No,” Anne said. “I’m in love because I betrayed you.” She shook her head helplessly. “So I can’t stand it. I don’t want to hurt his friend, as annoying as he may be...but I also know we can’t fail.”

“So?” Elizabeth leaned in, her tail twitching curiously at the tip. “You know, because of you, we have a great advantage James could never have foreseen.”

“I know.” She looked up again, trying to harden her gaze. “So what will we do about it?”

“You can bring William to us any time you like,” Elizabeth said. “Through Bentinck. And if my guess is correct, that Bentinck is interested in you—”

“I- I can’t imagine it,” Anne coughed out.

“No, of course not, because you’ve convinced yourself that an Ally couldn’t possibly love you,” her sister said. “But I say that the Allies are below us and absolutely can fall in love, just like anybody else. So, you will eliminate our little Ally pest problem just by your presence. And I will take care of William.” She tapped Anne’s nose with a finger. “How’s that sound?”

“Fine,” Anne said miserably. “I can do that.”

“Just don’t tell him or I’ll find I really don’t have any problems with telling James about what you’re doing after all,” Elizabeth said. “You tattle, I tattle. Fair?”

“Fair.”

“So, when he comes here to talk to you, you ask him out.”

“What?” Anne shook her head rapidly. “N-No, I don’t even know-”

“It’ll be nothing,” Elizabeth said. “And tell him it’ll be a double date! You’ll bring me along, and he can bring William with him.”

Oh, Ferocity, Mary will be furious when she finds out. But Anne couldn’t tell Elizabeth that.

“I doubt William will want to go,” she said; there, that was a valid excuse, wasn’t it? “Especially not with someone who’s been such a thorn in his side the past few years.”

“Tell Hansi I’m offering all my skills up to William,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sure William will have no trouble accepting that. Oh, look, here he comes now. Remember what I said.”

“Wait- Elizabeth!” Anne sighed bitterly as Elizabeth turned to leave.

“Anne.” That was Bentinck behind her. “Is everything alright?”

“Just fine,” Anne lied, shaking herself out. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing new over here, either,” Bentinck said. “William’s been drinking more lately, I guess, but James has been smoking for as long as I’ve known him, so it looks like they’re even now.” He tried to smile, but Anne could see how worried he was.

“Did he always like to drink?”

He nodded. “All sorts of things. Harder stuff, too. And- and I suppose you might have been able to call it alcoholism, but I don’t like...to think of that.” He hesitated and turned to look her in the eyes. “Mary didn’t take his first life.”

“No?”

“No. That friend I told you about, who overdosed, that was William. He lost his first life because of that. Heroin addiction.” He winced. “He was lucky because he had his six lives by then. I don’t think even he thought he would ever get them.”

“Why not?” Anne asked.

“Well, do you think James is going to die anytime soon?” Bentinck didn’t wait for her to answer. “His father lived too long. And he really shouldn’t have.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “By the remnants, I don’t think I should be telling you this.”

“I don’t mind,” she said. “I’ll listen.” She looked back up to the stained glass window. “Sounds like he’s had it rough. It’s good that he has you.”

“Well, it’s good that I have him, too,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do without him.”

“Yeah, um...” She wasn’t sure if she should ask the next question, but she decided she needed to know before she went through with Elizabeth’s plan. “You two are together, right?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Bentinck said hastily, laughing as if the idea was too absurd to even consider. “No. Maybe one day, I’ve thought about it...but it’s not- not anything- I mean-” He bowed his head. “I don’t know.”

“Good,” Anne said, harder than she intended. “Because I don’t think I like the massive fucking power imbalance between you two. There, I said it, Hans. He’s using you like James uses Marly.”

“Our friendship is far more than that!” Bentinck protested. “He’s meant everything to me since we were young. The fact that he’s an Overlifer doesn’t change a thing.”

“It changes everything, Hans,” Anne said. “Do you know what will happen to the Allies when either one of the Overlifer cults takes over?”

“Don’t call it a cult, it’s not—”

“It’s a cult,” she snapped. “And you won’t recognize it until you’re on your way out. But let me tell you, Hans, the purpose of James’ war was to kill as many Allies as possible. The Allies are meant to die when an Overlifer rules the world; that’s not in the fine print, that’s one of the main prerequisites.”

“Obviously the Disciples of Restoration would want me dead,” Bentinck said. “But William doesn’t.”

“Has he told you?”

“I don’t need confirmation that my friend isn’t going to kill me. He has no reason to.”

“He has to if he wants his rule to be recognized,” Anne said. “As long as there’s still an Ally left on this earth, people are always going to look to them for guidance because they were chosen first. When all the Allies are dead, they’ll be far more receptive to the idea of an Overlifer leading them because they have no one else to turn to. And that’s what William needs: desperation.”

“He’ll find a way, Anne, but there’s no way he would ever kill me,” Bentinck said firmly. “You have no idea what he went through to keep me alive. Years ago, on his first life-”

“Maybe he feels some affection for you after all,” Anne interrupted. “I can believe it. But I cannot believe that he looks at you as an equal when I’ve seen how he speaks to you. You are an Ally, and no matter who you are, you’re always going to be lower than a dwaallicht spirit to him.” She stepped forward and took his hands in her own, intertwining her fingers with his. “I thought you always knew it.”

“I know my place.” He didn’t pull away. “And that place is safe, and I’m happy there.”

“I want to save your life, Hans,” she pleaded. “You’re telling me to leave the Disciples, but I’m telling you to leave the Devils entirely. Come with me, I don’t want to live like this anymore. It’s so cruel.”

“It’s all going to be worth it.”

“How can you say that?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You care so much about your followers, and you’re okay with killing half of them?”

“It’s what William needs,” he said. He lifted her hand to his lips. “Maybe you just need to join us first. Come with me, Anne, there’s no fear under William’s rule.”

It’s what William needs— William, William, William! She tore her hand away and took a shaky breath. He did have to die! And then maybe Bentinck would realize what a mistake it was to stay, what a mistake it was to lead this life, and he could be happy instead, happy with her, someone who loved him and saw him as more than just another Ally.

I’ll get you your William, Elizabeth.

“You know I’ve been considering it,” she said. She turned back to look at him, realizing what she was about to say. Surely it wasn’t treason if it was helping James. The extra, messy feelings were just a side effect.

“Maybe I’d consider it more if you and I...went out some time?” she asked. “Preferably very soon. I mean, whenever you want, but at least soon enough—”

So that I don’t have to die.

“—so that I can come to a decision quicker. You don’t have to do anything as an Ally, of course, you could simply view it as...an offering?” She smiled. “Just a greater one than what I usually have to give you. And to make up for the fact that I didn’t have anything today.”

“Your offering is a date?” Bentinck smiled back. “I can accept that. I’ll make sure you take priority in my prayers to the devil lords for your consideration for me.” His face flushed briefly. “Even if you already do.”

“Oh...really?”

“You know I’m always thinking of you.” He pushed the hair from her face, but she could only look away. She felt as if there were thorns in her throat, choking her and trying to force the confession out of her.

“Bring William,” she said, a little rougher than she intended. “My sister would like to speak to him too. I know he’s got some weird...tensions with Mary, but Elizabeth’s a little interested, too. At the very least she’d like to speak to him about how much she could offer the Devils if she joined. She’s been thinking about it a lot more than I have,” she added, though it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I really doubt he would want to go,” Bentinck said, wincing. “But I’ll try to convince him. Just for you.”

“Oh, Hans...” She tried not to sound as miserable as she felt. “You’re too kind to me.” She took a tentative step forward and then flung herself into his arms, blinking away tears. “I don’t know what I would have done if we had started a war after all. I would have killed James myself.”

“No, no, no, don’t say that,” he said. “He could have killed you. And I don’t know what I would do then. I need you alive, Anne.” He lifted her head in his hand. “I don’t say this as your Ally, but as your—”

Anne cut him off with a kiss. It was perfectly natural, like she’d done it at the right time despite interrupting him, and it felt as if they’d done it before, all their lives. This was where he should have been, and she could tell he knew it when he stayed there, his eyes drifting shut.

“Well,” she said when she stepped back, “after that, I know I can’t die.”

“Because it’s good luck if you kiss me?” He smiled ruefully. “I’ve heard that one often.”

“It’s a nice bonus, I suppose.” She wanted to say more, but she felt breathless with what she had just done.

“Hans!” That was William’s voice, barking out from down the hall. “We have to go. I said this would be a waste of time.”

“Oh.” Bentinck glanced at him, then back at Anne. “I’m sorry, I- I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“I hope so,” she said. “Take care of yourself.”

Especially under him, she added to herself, the hope in her heart suddenly twisting into resentment. You won’t have to run like this anymore once James has him. I’ll free you.

She was doing it for him. All for him. The devils would be proud of her devotion.

🝰🝰🝰

“Alright, come here.” Bentinck pulled William closer, bringing his hand down on the Overlifer’s thigh. William groaned as Bentinck shifted one of his legs to the side and pushed himself through. His arms were tied behind his back, and he wore a real blindfold this time, so he couldn’t see Bentinck’s smile.

This was all William had been wanting these nights, since the first time Bentinck had fucked him. Perhaps he had realized Bentinck was right, after all; maybe Albemarle would show himself sooner this way. Or, what more likely had come first; he had liked it very much, and wanted more of it. The only thing that worried Bentinck was that he always got himself wasted before allowing himself to be tied down, before letting his Ally fuck him as hard as he had always dreamed. What was worse was that Bentinck liked to see him that way.

“Oh, Ferocity...” William wiggled his hips under Bentinck, trying to open his legs more, though it was a bit of a challenge as his calves and ankles had been tied down to his thighs. “Hans—”

“Yes, I’m right here, William,” Bentinck said, laughing. He bowed his head to kiss William’s neck and sped up his movements, making sure William’s whole body moved up each time. “You like that, hm? Like it rough?” he asked breathlessly.

William nodded, hardly able to get the words out through his moans. “O-Oh, fuck- shit, what do you think, Hans? Mm—!” He arched his back, and Bentinck grabbed onto his waist, bringing him closer still.

“You want me to cum in you?” he asked.

“Please,” William gasped.

“By the stars, you’re so fucking pathetic,” Bentinck sneered. He slapped William’s thigh again, slowly intensifying his kisses until they were bites all over William’s neck. William responded with a grunting roar, his body shuddering all over.

“Again, fucking again!”

“What? What should I do again? I know you can talk.” Bentinck slammed all the way into William suddenly, causing him to scream again. “Tell me, William.”

“Hit me—!”

This time Bentinck slapped his face, then lifted his head by the horn, pulling his blindfold down so that William could see Bentinck moving into him. William’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Bentinck with a messy smile.

“Can’t believe you got the whole thing in me,” he huffed out. “You- you know how big you are?”

“Of course I do. That’s why it’d be a waste if I didn’t fuck you with it.” Bentinck grinned down at him and then flipped him over on his stomach, continuing to fuck him that way. He pulled back on the blindfold, forcing William to bite into it. “Ugh, fuck, you’re so loose when you’re drunk. You look so fucking nasty from back here.”

William’s eyes rolled back, and he met Bentinck’s thrusts with his own sloppy attempts at moving his hips off the bed. Saliva dripped out from behind the blindfold as he moaned and whimpered into it, his tail wagging ever so slightly at the base. Other than that, Bentinck had to hold it up so as not to stain it when he came— William was still far from sober.

And that was just the problem. Bentinck had no idea if this was something William would have eventually mustered up the courage to ask for even if he hadn’t been drinking. He was guessing, judging from the first time they tried, that the answer was absolutely not. Maybe that should have offended Bentinck, that William could only handle him drunk, but honestly, he was just relieved that he had been allowed this honor at all.

He knew the drinking was bad, he knew it could lead to worse things, but when they were working so hard for Albemarle, after everything that had happened lately— did William at least not deserve a break, this release? Bentinck loved William, however he happened to act on a particular day, but this William...he was something else. This William slurred his words and forgot his body really belonged to him, and whether or not that was a good thing was not something Bentinck wanted to explore right now.

The only thing he knew was that he had seen this William before, long before he had received his six lives, and back then, Bentinck could only worry.

He certainly wasn’t worrying now. He couldn’t allow himself to; ultimately, this was what William wanted, wasn’t it?

He pulled out as he came, so that most of the mess got on William’s thighs, dripping out right beneath his tail. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment to catch his breath before looking back down at William.

“You’ve got a cunt now, Will,” he said, bowing his head to bury his tongue deep into William. He felt the legs shake around him, heard the heavy breaths start up again. He couldn’t resist a snort. “Ferocity, if you could see yourself now. Nasty bitch.” He spit down on William and shoved his fingers inside, pulling them out rapidly just to see more of his own cum fall to the bed.

“Mmgh—!” William tried to shift closer to Bentinck, who did as he wished and finished up by kissing and licking his legs clean. It wasn’t good at all, and in fact if Bentinck thought about it too hard it kind of made him sick, but he figured he would be fine. Allies were made to swallow anything; at least that was the conclusion he had come to with his own experiences.

“Alright,” he said, gentler this time. “You did good.” He began to untie William, pulling the cloth away from his lips. William immediately took a deep breath, allowing Bentinck to flip him over to finish untying his legs.

“My motherfuckin’ tail hurts,” he said.

“I’m sorry, I tried to hold it up,” Bentinck said. “Anything else hurt? You breathing alright?”

William shook his head, sitting up and stretching so that Bentinck could rub his back. “I- I will be in a moment. Fuck, that’s nice...”

“You want water?”

William shook his head firmly.

“Are you sure? It was rough tonight—”

“It was always rough!” William snapped. “It's nothing...” He yawned. “It's nothing.” He inhaled sharply, and Bentinck realized with alarm that he was wheezing.

“Alright, well, you definitely need your inhaler.” He got up to look for it. “Just in case.” He hesitated before adding, “Maybe you should be a little more sober when we do this so you realize when you might need the safeword.”

“Fuck that, everyone likes me drunk,” William said. “And I can tolerate seeing you naked just a little bit more, because you're not hot shit to me.” He managed to lift his tail, bringing it down heavily on Bentinck's back. “Don't ever make me fuckin’ tell you that you are.”

Bentinck winced. “Alright, I won't. Thanks for telling me.”

But William didn't stop there. “It makes no sense...why do so many people want you? Why does anyone want anything? Sex is all for stupid power trips and BDSM is to confess our insecurities. We let the old sex trade laws define our victories. I'm so scared of losing to the Disciples, you know that?”

“Why? It's always been an honor.”

“Indeed.” William's voice caught. “So I should have been honored to have my father fuck me all the time.”

“That's not what I'm saying—!” Bentinck turned around abruptly. “William, seriously, drink water and sober up. It's hard to see you this way, and I don't want you slipping in the shower.”

“I do what I please.” William fell back on the bed. “I do not want to be...wanted. At least it wasn’t me he wanted, it was her. But you...you want me, don’t you?”

“Everyone wants an Overlifer, William. You’re going to have to get used to that.”

“You didn’t answer the fucking question.”

“Well, aren’t I supposed to want you?” Bentinck asked, sitting back down beside him. “More than anything, I am honored that you allow me to touch you. To make you feel good.”

William swallowed. “Do you remember when you kissed my father?”

“Oh, that?” Bentinck clenched his fist around the bedsheet, forcing himself to not look at his master. “Of course- of course I remember.” His face flushed.

Stupid boy he’d been then, stupid boy he was now. How the elder William had praised him, how he had tightened a leash around Bentinck’s neck until it only choked him every time he meant to pull away. But it was just another way of messing with the world around William, another way for the Overlifer to show how inescapable his influence was. Bentinck had never mattered to that man. The praise had meant nothing, neither had the kiss that was meant to reward his efforts after a training session.

It was just one kiss, and never again had William’s father touched him. Still, it was enough for little Hans to brag about for ages afterwards to the other Devil kids, that their leader had kissed him and not them. What he didn’t say was how he had hated having the Overlifer’s tongue force itself behind his lips, how he had wanted to pull away and run to William. Because if he didn’t like it, what honor was there in that?

“Hans.” He felt William’s hand on his arm. “Fuck what anyone tells you. If you don’t want to like something, then don’t tell yourself you do.”

“You’re nothing like your father,” Bentinck said, looking wildly back at him. “I know I like you.”

“Oh.” William sighed, moved his hand away. “You never fucking learn, do you?”

“Sounds like you’re not the one learning anything,” Bentinck retorted. “Those Madams wanted you because they know how wonderful you are. Mary sees that, I see it, and even Elizabeth Villiers—” He cut himself off, wondering how he ought to finish that sentence, and William glared up at him.

“Elizabeth, you say? Out with it.”

Bentinck sighed. Well, if it’ll prove my point, why not?

“Anne and I are going out, but she asked me if I could bring you with me,” he said. “She said Elizabeth wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, Ferocity...” William covered his face with his hands.

“I- I think she just wants to see how the leader of the Devils is like,” Bentinck said, remembering what Anne had told him. “It’s nothing like that, but...look, she’s interested because you’re so much better than James, see? Even your enemies find something to like about you!” He smiled down at William, who rolled his eyes.

“If it means I can squeeze every one of the Disciples’ secrets out of her, sure.”

“That’s...that’s the spirit.”

🝰🝰🝰

In life, Charles was well-known by the public for having taken over FaciRonya, the leading developer of vaccines in the world, and, more recently, of medications for the treatment of mental illness. The acquisition of such a large, indispensable company had only made the Stuarts wealthier, though in Anne’s opinion, they certainly hadn’t needed it. And, for Altos Diablos, it only sealed the deal further— the lives of practically every citizen were in the hands of the Disciples.

Charles liked to say, at least in front of the media, that he cared deeply for every customer, for every individual. Anne could never tell how much he meant it, but she could make a pretty good guess— Charles had also owned the largest cigarette company in the world, and the Disciples had always made good money through narcotics trafficking. Of course, no one knew that last part, and only now were there studies coming out on the potential effects of the long-revered, sacred practice of smoking on the human body. So Charles was loved by all except for a few of the more radical leftists, who guessed correctly what he really was, but nobody ever listened to them, anyway.

She had never known how much she could trust Charles to run a pharmaceutical company, considering his only experience lay in how to run a company and not how to run this one in particular. Now that the company had passed onto James, she had far less faith in it than before.

She couldn’t say any of that, though, not now as she currently strolled through the halls of FaciRonya’s huge headquarters, waiting for Mary to come back down. She and Elizabeth had come with her to her father’s meeting with some of the executives, though they had no intention to listen in on it— Mary just wanted them there so they could go all out together once she was done with James.

It would be kind of a nice distraction, Anne thought, but as she looked down at the city through the large windows, she couldn’t stop her breath from hitching. In the eyes of every person far below her, she could only see unsuspecting lives about to be massacred. That would have been massacred already if James’ plans for a war had gone through.

How can anyone be so cruel?

“I just don’t know how we can say that someone deserves to die for the shape of their horns or the length of their tail,” Anne said as she felt her sister approach behind her. “Look at them, Elizabeth! They’re all the same from up here.”

“Yeah, maybe from up here,” Elizabeth said. “But none of us are the same in the end when we look each other in the eyes.”

“What, just because James said it?”

“Exactly because he said it.” Elizabeth glared at her. “Ah, you really are betraying us, aren’t you?”

“N-No, I’m just-”

“A year ago it would have been unthinkable for you to say such a thing regarding our glorious leader.” She hissed the words out like they hurt her mouth, and Anne wondered if she was being sarcastic. “Now you think you’ve got a little something going on with William’s bitch. I don’t think you realize how good you’ve got it. How lucky you are to be a Villiers girl.”

“Lucky!” Anne scoffed. “They only secured our loyalty because we were born into the Disciples. Unlucky, more like it.”

“Correction, they secured my loyalty,” Elizabeth said. “I’m not sure if they ever did yours.”

I believed for the longest time—! Anne wanted to protest, but then Mary bounded out of the elevator, shaking herself like a wet dog, which looked strange for someone without a tail.

“Hello again, princess,” Elizabeth greeted her, flicking her tail dismissively at her sister. “How are things up there?”

“Oh, just fine,” Mary said. “They’re considering biological warfare now.”

“What?” Anne’s eyes widened.

“Calm down, girl.” Mary laughed, leaning against the glass behind her. She held her pipe up to her lips and shut her eyes. “James said, hey, wouldn’t it be great if we could just kill all the Westerners and Northerners without even spilling a drop of our own noble blood? Why didn’t Charles ever consider that? Oh, I’m so, so, so much smarter than my brother ever was, poor, stupid Charles, I am everything he wished he was—!” She sighed wistfully, still laughing. “Yeah, it would be great, I said. And everyone gave me the funniest look. But he nodded at me. He agreed! I mean, he agreed with me. After I agreed with him.”

“Why...would you do that?” Anne asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Well, he’s right,” Mary said.”It would be easier than just taking everyone out in a war. But then all the execs were like no, we’d get caught so easily!” She shuddered in an exaggerated manner, rolling her eyes. “So I guess we’ll just kill ‘em one by one. More work for me.”

“It’s not like you’ve been doing much of it lately,” Elizabeth said, and Anne elbowed her in the side.

“No, I haven’t, have I.” Mary sighed again. “I really need to get better with that. I’m just not sure how much I want to do it anymore! You seriously think I enjoy watching people die under me all the time?”

“Mary,” Anne said, clearing her throat.

“Why not?” Elizabeth shrugged. “I do.”

“I’m high enough to do it right now. But it’s just...sober...I’ve been thinking about what William said—”

“Okay, Mary, that’s enough,” Anne said, taking Mary’s hand and pulling her away. “You’ve had enough to smoke today, why don’t we go out for a walk? No use wasting time while we’re away from your father.”

It was too late, Anne knew. There was not a thing Elizabeth ever missed, and even now Anne saw her narrow her eyes at hearing William’s name. But at the very least, her little interruption had worked for now, because Elizabeth said nothing as the three of them crowded into the elevator. Anne would have taken the stairs, but she wasn’t sure Mary would have made it safely down them.

“We should go eat something,” she was saying. “I’m in the mood for some Grand Cabaretian food, although I suppose it’d be a little awkward as we would have been the assassins of their president—”

Anne leaned back on the wall and glowered right ahead as the door opened in front of them. A fine head with loose black curls and floppy ears stared back at her in that instant, the bloody, upside-down grin suddenly familiar.

“Hello, ladies,” said Monmouth, “are we forgetting something?” With that, he dove down towards Mary, who simply swiped him away with a swift, hard strike to the cheek. He landed with a huff beside Anne, and she hurried outside of the elevator, Elizabeth at her side.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Mary said, pulling Monmouth up by his hair and dragging him out with her. “Where’ve you been? I didn’t think you would come back so soon, or ever, really. I kind of missed you. Oh, my,” she added, looking around, “did you kill everyone here?”

Did he? Anne looked around the vast first floor, with its blue-tinted windows and dim lights. There weren’t usually many people here, just a few visitors heading up other floors, as well as the wary security guards, but today there were even less— they were just bodies now, strewn about the place with their heads nearly completely torn off their bodies. The stench of blood was suddenly suffocating.

“With his teeth, too,” Elizabeth noted. “That’s nothing a human could do.”

“So what if I did?” Monmouth shook himself free, lifting a hand to call his ribbons down from the high ceiling. “You knew I had to come back, Mary. After everything your father did.”

“My father didn’t do anything.” Mary glared at him. “I told you you were crazy! You only made things worse when you didn’t have to!”

“I heard Maria tell you!” Monmouth barked. “Why are you covering for him?! You know he did it! He killed my father, he deserves no protection!”

“What- what did Maria say?” Anne said, looking at Mary.

But it was Monmouth who answered. “Maria said that James had told her that he had killed Charles. And she would have no reason to lie about that.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mary said, letting out a lazy laugh. “Monmouth! I love Maria, but I don’t trust her. You can’t trust her. I know she sees things that aren’t there, not recently but often enough,  and who knows what reality could even be for her at that point? I don’t know how many delusions she’s got, but this sounds like one to me. You’re really gonna believe her?”

Anne narrowed her eyes on the ground. She knew Mary was high, she couldn’t know what she was saying, and yet...she sounded as cruel as her father. How could she dismiss the woman who had so ardently defended her in front of James only weeks before?

“I believe her,” she said.

“Are you serious?” Elizabeth turned to her sister. “Did William’s Ally put that idea in your head, too? You can’t just fucking say that about James! He has his six lives for a reason; if the devils didn’t want him to lead us because he killed his brother, they wouldn’t have given them to him.”

“There is nothing those old monsters can do to help us now,” Monmouth snarled. “They forfeited any right to choose our leaders when they retreated back to their realm like the cowards they are. If we wanted to be led fairly, by the right people, then we shouldn’t have let them choose in the first place.” He hopped up, letting the ribbons wrap around his body and hold him in the air. “Now the remnants will rule, and I will free you from James’ oppressive claws.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Mary said. “You need to leave before James sees you here, or Marly senses your presence. They won’t let you go this time!”

“They don’t need to.” Monmouth’s eyes flashed. “I’ll kill James first.” He bowed his head, the ribbons around him turning into glossy black feathers. He spread his arms- no, his wings out, and Anne realized she was staring not at Monmouth but a magnificent raven.

“Get down from there, you insolent spirit!” Elizabeth took the gun from her belt, and Mary cried out.

“No! Don’t shoot him, Elizabeth—”

Monmouth flew past them with impressive speed, but it wasn’t enough for him to dodge the bullets shot at him by Elizabeth. Anne flinched, covering her ears, and Monmouth cawed at them with displeasure, frantically flapping his wounded wing to keep himself in the air.

“He came in here and killed some of our Disciples,” Elizabeth hissed. “And now he threatens our sacred leader and his Ally! He deserves to die, Mary!”

“I take charge in my father’s absence.” Mary lifted her head, her gaze wavering but sure in what it wanted as it fixed on Elizabeth. “You put that gun away or so help me James.”

Elizabeth lowered her gun slowly, her tail twitching furiously, and Mary glanced back at Monmouth. He had managed to stay up, but Anne had doubts that he would make it all the way up to James.

“Don’t go,” Mary pleaded.

Monmouth looked over at her, and just as he did so, the elevator doors behind him opened and out stepped Ally Marly. He raised a hand as if waving at Mary, but then a golden chain shot out of his hand, flying up at Monmouth and wrapping around the tiny body.

Mary gasped as Marly jerked hard on the chain, bringing the bird crashing down on the floor, hard enough for him to return back to his more familiar, human-like state. He let out a grunt of pain, wincing as the chain dug into the wounds on his arm.

“I knew it was you,” Marly said, waving a hand and bringing the chain back up, letting go of Monmouth. “I could have guessed it from the sky. You know you were never supposed to come back.”

“I’m here to free you.” Monmouth got to his feet, the tip of his tail wagging cautiously. He ran his fingers over his arms, sealing up the wound there as if it had never been there at all. “All of you.”

“I don’t need to be freed.”

Anne stifled a snort. Did Marly really believe that? There was seriously something wrong with the Allies who worked for Overlifers.

“Don’t hurt him, Ally,” Mary spoke up. “That’s an order.”

“I won’t, calm down,” Marly said. He glared back at Monmouth. “But you need to go. I don’t want to kill you. You always wanted a life beyond this place, go make it.” His gaze softened, and he almost smiled. “It’s so easy for you.”

Monmouth flicked his ears back. “I- I want my life to be here. I can’t leave if I know James murdered Charles. The moment James received his six lives was the moment the Disciples lost their way.”

“James is a wonderful leader,” Marly said. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I don’t think you know what you’re saying.” Monmouth’s eyes widened.

“Say what you want about him.” Marly’s voice seemed to shake, but Anne could see how his eyes were as firm as ever. “But he would never, ever murder his brother. He loved Charles, the same way you did.” He took Monmouth’s hands in his own. “Get out of here. Please, Monmouth, if you stay and James kills you, I- I don’t know what I’ll do. You know I couldn’t have done without you when I first joined the Disciples.”

“Marly, I-”

“Thank you for everything, but please, for your sake, leave.” Marly leaned in as if he wanted to say something more, but he had no time as James descended the stairs behind him. Anne bit her lip, and Mary wordlessly held her hand out to Elizabeth, who handed her the gun.

“John, baby, Marly, baby,” James cooed. The words made Anne’s heart lurch.

He’s furious.

“You can thank Ferocity I only heard that last part,” he said, coming up behind Marly and running his tail along his Ally’s shoulders. “I don’t even want to think about what else you said in my absence.”

“I- I swear I was just trying to chase him off, sir,” Marly stammered. “Nothing else. I didn’t want to resolve this with violence; I mean, look how many of our Disciples he’s already killed—”

“Such deaths are meaningless to me,” James said. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in his eyes as he said this, and Anne felt the bile rise in her throat. How many more people had to die for him?

“That’s just your problem,” Monmouth growled. “My father remembered everyone.”

“Perhaps that’s why he lost his way right before he died,” James said thoughtfully. “That would have driven anyone mad.” He stepped forward so that his horns caught the light above him. “Monmouth, I don’t know how to explain it to you. If Charles died, it had to have been for a reason. I will never understand that reason, but- but it is there.”

“The reason was all yours,” Monmouth said. He walked past Marly, lifting his head up to his uncle to bare his teeth at him. “You couldn’t stand it anymore, to see him above you, to see him showing mercy where you would have killed, and killed, and killed, always taking more than what you needed—”

“Mary,” James called out, and Mary lifted the gun and shot her cousin in the throat.

The force he fell back with was as if invisible devil claws had batted him to the ground, as simply as a cat would have done. He tried to catch his breath with terrible, gurgling gasps, shuffling back and lifting a hand to his neck.

“What’s the panic, Jemmy?” James asked, slamming his foot down on Monmouth’s neck, the blood that spurted out staining his shoe. The dog looked up at him in terror, trying in vain to lift his head. “Normal bullets don’t kill you. You’ll just come straight back, like a disgusting fucking cockroach that doesn’t know when to die.”

“Devils below,” Mary muttered beside Anne, covering her face.

Anne wanted to scream at her, to push her away in that moment, for shooting what might have been perhaps the last hope for the Disciples, the son of their late leader. But what could she really have done— disobeyed like Marly had the first time?

She can’t afford to do that now.

“If you wanted my daughter to spare you,” James said, “you should have killed her first. There is nothing in the world, dear, nothing that could cause her to turn from me.” He kept his foot there until Monmouth lay his head back with a breathless whine, falling still with a violent shudder that ran through his tail.

“Well, that takes care of that,” he said. “I do hope he’ll stay down for a bit. We’ll surely have some fun when he comes back.” He gave the body a kick, and it did not disappear, what should have happened if he was truly dead.

Our ideas of fun are very different. Anne felt her legs shaking as she bowed her head. She couldn’t imagine what James could possibly gain from keeping Monmouth alive.

But...maybe there’s still a chance.

“You know, John, I would have thought Mary would be the more emotional one in this case,” James said. “But at least she knows when to stop crying.” He walked over to Mary and wrapped an arm around her. She looked up at him so adoringly it could have made Anne sick. “See, dear, you should get high more often. It makes you more fun. No hesitation, just kill, and kill, and kill.”

“I could kill anyone for you right now,” she said. “I could kill all the Allies, and William, and the Master, and then you could rule the world, and everything will be perfect like how you want it to be, but first I want to kill Ally Marly for disrespecting you. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Oh, Mary,” James sighed. “You know, I’d let you do it, but Daddy needs to have his fun, too.”

Elizabeth snorted in laughter, but she quickly covered it up with a cough when Mary glanced at her. Anne tried to make her own glare at James less obvious.

“John,” he went on. “Come here.”

Marly obeyed, albeit slowly. James turned around abruptly to slap him across the face, and Marly gasped, stumbling back before James gripped his arm and pulled him forward again.

“That was for not killing him the first time,” he hissed. “What would you have done if Mary wasn’t here?”

“S-Sir, I would have obeyed—”

“Bullshit!” James dug his fingers into Marly’s hair, jerking his head back as he spoke. “You were telling him to fucking leave. You were thanking him. And for what?” He shoved Marly back with that same hand, hard enough to make him fall onto the ground, where the blood still ran. “Have I not given you everything? After all I’ve done for you, this was all I would have asked for!”

“If you had ordered me too, I would have done killed him.” Marly’s voice sounded strained as he rubbed at his face. “But- but your daughter ordered me to not harm him, and I had to listen-”

“More lies!” Anne cried without thinking. “She would have shot him if you weren’t in the way. Stop blaming her for everything you do wrong, Ally!”

Mary jumped a little, and James raised an eyebrow down at Marly. “And you are still lying. I must say, I hadn’t seen such insolence from you in a while.”

“I did not- I have not intended it—” Marly shook his head helplessly, sitting up on his knees. “You know I would never do anything to harm you, I have always been faithful-”

Faithful but very, very unfortunate. Anne sneered with disgust.

“Shut up.” James lashed his tail once, and Marly clamped his mouth shut. “Just shut up. You make it worse by talking.” He turned away, shaking his head at Mary. “Oh, Ferocity...Mary, what will I do with him? Does this all mean nothing to him?”

“I think he just needs to be reminded of his place,” Mary said.

“His place...his place- oh, by all the stars!” James burst into tears then.. “He would have let Monmouth- he would have let him kill me—! I cannot take it, Mary, Charles would have- I did not kill my brother!” His voice rose to a shriek, and Anne stepped back, wondering if she could leave now. She didn’t have to see this; she didn’t want to see this.

But it was she who James turned to next, his eyes wide and frantic. “You- you believe me, yes? If I had killed my brother- what kind of evil- you see what they accuse me of—!” He was speaking through hurried gasps. “More than twenty years ago I prayed for him to live! It was all I ever wanted!”

Anne swallowed. “I believe you, sir.”

“As do I.” Elizabeth waved her tail at Anne but said nothing.

“Ever faithful! The Villiers family—” James stopped, unable to speak more though his sobs.

“James...” It was Marly who spoke, standing up and wiping his hands on his pants. “Look at me, sir. Nobody here believes you killed Charles; I certainly do not.”

“And yet- you—!” James turned away, but Marly took his hand to keep him there.

“I ask for your forgiveness,” he said. “You don’t have to grant it, but I just want you to know that I would never, ever do anything to betray you willingly.”

James lifted a hand to his lips. “I- I taste blood- I think it’s mine, John, I-” He took a shaky breath, Anne relieved to see that he was calming down. “Oh, Charles...how could anyone believe that of me?”

Because it is you. Do you really think sympathy can save you?

No, of course not— Anne checked, deep in the back of her mind, and she found with relief that she still wanted him dead.

Yet somehow she just couldn’t make herself believe that he was faking all this.

“Alert our spirit exterminators,” James said, his voice firm once more as he looked at Mary. “Tell them a spirit came here to try and kill me. Hopefully the news gets out soon, and those fucking spirit worshippers in the streets will shut up for a while. Oh, and I guess tell them of the-” He paused to count. “The six people he did actually kill. If that makes a difference. Get them to clean the mess here, too, and take Monmouth to our home.”

“Yes, sir.” Mary nodded once.

“Perfect. As for you, John...” James smiled at Marly. “I can forgive you.”

“Oh, thank you, sir, thank you, thank you,” Marly let out in a rush, falling back down to his knees to kiss James’ hand. “Is- is there anything I can do for you now?”

“Yes, indeed.” James stopped smiling. “You’re in the ring tomorrow.”

“What?” Marly let James’ hand fall, and that hand came up to pull his hair back.

“I said,” James leaned in to growl, “you’re in the ring tomorrow. Fighting Monmouth, got it?”

“N-No, hold up!” Marly stumbled to his feet as James let him go and turned to leave. “Sir, please,” he begged, “anything but that, I- I’ll do whatever you like, you can do whatever you want—”

“That’s nothing special, dear, I have always been able to do that,” James said, flashing a grin back at him. “Come, let’s clean this blood off of us before we leave, shall we?” He tapped the button on the elevator with his tail, shoving Marly towards the wall when the doors opened.

“James—!” the Ally cried. “Listen to me, I don’t-”

“You are all invited to the fight, of course.” James waved at Mary as the doors closed, blissfully slapping his tail against the back of Marly’s head. “Goodbye, ladies!”

Mary turned back to Anne and Elizabeth, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears. “Devils below, how are we this fucking stupid? The murderer is in the room— the murderer still lives!”

🝰🝰🝰

“So this is your idea of worship?” William glared at Anne as they all stood in front of the dilapidated, empty mall in front of them. “If we walk in there, there’s a good chance it’ll collapse right over our heads, and then I’ll lose even more of my lives.”

“Come on, it’s stood the test of time for at least twenty years,” Elizabeth said, stepping forward. “What are the chances it’ll fall on us now?”

“Anne, I...” Bentinck didn’t want to say it out loud, but he kind of agreed with William. It didn’t look very safe, not just for the condition the whole building was in but for the dozens of dwaallicht spirits he could sense were inside. He could handle a few spirits, he was sure, but he could tell that these weren’t any ordinary remnant pests.

Aside from the divine threats, there were also the usual threats. “There’s just...a lot of dust, isn’t there?”

“So wear the gas mask, like your friend here is.” Elizabeth smiled at him.

William flicked the tip of his tail apprehensively. “Anything else about this place, Hans? Haven’t been here in a while.”

“A lot of spirits, it looks like,” Bentinck said. “Older, more powerful ones. But I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle,” he added, seeing the look on Anne’s face.

“Ugh. Alright.” William stepped forward, and Elizabeth hopped in after him, past the broken glass doors.

“Whose idea was this?” Bentinck asked Anne in a hushed voice. Seeing her wide-eyed expression, he took her hand and led her in with him, stroking one of her horns reassuringly. “I’m guessing it wasn’t yours.”

“Oh, you know, of course it was Elizabeth’s,” Anne managed. “But I really had no objections, I suppose I just thought this would be a...unique place to bring you. More interesting than a walk in the park, you know what I mean?”

“What, you don’t like the park?”

“I mean...I didn’t think you would.”

“Oh, come on, don’t overthink it. I love it. I feel like I notice a new kind of flower every time I go.” Bentinck sighed and looked around. “I suppose they used to have plants here too, didn’t they?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Anne said. “I was never here when it was still open. Did you used to go?”

“A few times.” He didn’t like to think of it. “Well, I can’t say this isn’t interesting. It’s really dark. Quiet, too. I think William might like it.”

He looked ahead to see William pacing around a huge, old carpet, the only spot the sunlight touched here, through the windows from above. His eyes seemed to widen as he looked up.

“Didn’t they used to have chairs here?” he asked as Bentinck approached.

“I don’t remember anything clear about this place,” his friend admitted.

“I kind of like it more like this.” William sat down on the carpet, and Elizabeth paused beside him.

“This would be a good place to set up a drug lab, wouldn’t it?” she said. “Hey, William, I’ll race you over at the Disciples. See how many people die for this place.”

William snorted. “It would be good for executions, maybe. Dump the bodies here, who will ever find them? And all the way inside— nobody will ever hear anything.”

“Then we’ll really mean it when we tell them no one is coming to save you.”

“You can scream all night, that just means it’s working.”

“Ooh, I hadn’t heard that one before!” Elizabeth grinned wickedly at him, and Bentinck, much to his surprise, heard him laugh under his mask.

“It’s a classic. I used to hear it all the time, I-” William paused, shaking his head. “I just used to hear it. It really drains the hope from you.”

“That’s really what we gotta do, huh?” Elizabeth yawned as William stood back up again. “If the Disciples intend to take over, then we drain everyone’s hope away until we’re the only ones left to give it.”

“Hmm.” William narrowed his eyes. “And is that how we are meant to be loved?”

“Who could ever love a terrorist otherwise?”

“We don’t have to look that way to them.”

Anne stepped closer to Bentinck, her wary eyes kept up on the ceiling. “You know, Elizabeth, I really didn’t come here to discuss either of the groups. You wanted to get to know William, so get to know him.”

“I am!” Elizabeth protested.

“Beyond the Devils of Orange-Nassau.” Anne looked back down to glare at her with startling firmness. “I don’t want to hear about how much you love killing people. Hans and William are far more than whatever James has made you believe of them.” She glanced at Bentinck. “At least I think you are.”

What’s that supposed to mean? He was proud to serve the Devils— should he have been pleased to be seen as something more than their servant?

“You believe too much of us,” William said with a lash of his tail. “This sort of life has always been cruel. Sometimes it’s the only thing you can expect from us.”

“Indeed,” Elizabeth agreed. “There’s no such thing as an ethical Overlifer, Anne.”

“That’s your whole problem,” her sister said through gritted teeth. She turned away with a huff. “Come on, Hans, let’s go somewhere else. I can’t look at your master anymore.” She spat the word out as if it made her sick.

Bentinck hesitated before bowing his head at William. “I’m sorry, can I go with her?”

William nodded, turning away with Elizabeth. “Sure. Don’t get into any trouble.” He looked back with a flash of his eyes. “And don’t let her turn you soft.”

Soft! Bentinck ignored it and followed Anne as she walked briskly through the ever-darkening building, and he realized they were far into one of the stores now. He guessed it had been one of the largest here, judging by how far the emptiness spread out all around him, how he suddenly felt exposed as he stumbled through a mess of wires on the floor.

“Anne, hold up,” he called. “I- I’m not sure if it’s totally safe to be here, I-” He broke off with a cough, and he waved at the dust in front of him. “Maybe we should get out of this one.”

“I just want us to be better,” he realized she was saying. “I want to believe that we can even try. I don’t know if I can join the Devils if it’ll just be the same thing, Hans.”

“The same thing—?” Bentinck shook his head, walking over to her. She was sitting on top of a counter, where he guessed the register had once been. “How can you say that? William is a far better leader. He’s fair, he’s not needlessly cruel—”

“Maybe that’s what he’s led you to believe,” Anne said. She brought him closer to lean on him, and he sat up beside her, trying not to stare at the nothing in front of them. “Mary wouldn’t call James cruel. She’d call him fair.”

“What are you saying?”

“I believe you,” she said gently, “but I just worry that if William suddenly did turn out to be just like James...you wouldn’t even notice. You love him very much, don’t you?”

“Love is never fully blind,” he said. “It may seem that way, but if something changed, there would always be that whisper at the back of your mind...something isn’t right.” He shut his eyes and took a breath. “But it depends on whether or not you listen to that voice.”

“Are- are you afraid of that happening, Hans?” Anne asked. She gripped his shoulder, and he opened his eyes again. “If you’re already afraid, shouldn’t that be a clue?”

“Everyone’s afraid of- of being abused,” Bentinck said. “Especially when you already were in the past. But I never once believed that of him.” That much he knew. “He’s nothing like James, alright?”

Anne hummed thoughtfully. “At the end of the day, the evil is the same. Genocide is genocide.”

“Will you stop calling it that? It isn’t-”

“I know what the plan is, thank you,” she snapped. “I’m not going to let you forget.”

Bentinck forced a laugh. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. William has it all under control.”

Anne laughed too, shaking her head. “Yeah, he sure does.”

“Well, if you’re going to join us, you certainly can’t be talking that way about him,” he said. “At least not when he can hear.”

“I never said I was joining.”

“Well, it’s not like you have anywhere else to go.” He took her hand, straining to see the painted nails. He thought they were red. “It’s all you’ve ever done, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she replied. She bowed her head, and Bentinck felt a tear fall on his hand, where he held hers.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t really have a choice, either. But I’m proud to serve William, and you will be, too. He’s wonderful, you’ll see.” He bowed his head to kiss her horn. “Thank you for bringing me here. Every Ally wishes they had such a devoted follower.”

She looked up and tried to smile. “How’s that for worship?”

“I don’t want you to worship me,” he said, realizing right then that he didn’t care if William wasn’t his destined lover after all. One day was now. “I love you, alright? But I can’t do that if you worship me.”

“Then I love you too. That is all.”

“It’s all I need,” he said, bringing her head up to kiss her. He felt her sigh, lifting her hand to his hair, but there was no sharp tugging to the side, no biting at his tongue. It was soft, a relief, and he knew he could pull away whenever he wanted to. But he never wanted it to end.

“So the Earl of Portland has found his true love at last!” Voices and a sharpening presence behind them were what made him stop. He gasped, realizing they were spirits, grinning humanoid ones dressed in hardly anything at all. They wore heraldic griffins on their robes and capes. No, not just griffins; these were the arms of the Western Kingdom.

“Remnants,” Anne breathed beside him. “Oh, there’s so many—!”

“Fuck off, little beasts.” Bentinck glared at them. “That’s an order.”

“We don’t take orders from an Ally,” one of them purred, all while shaking the rattle on his tail. “Even then, we mean no harm. We just want to see how m’lord Portland has come to love someone never meant for him at all.”

“Never meant- I do what I want!” He stepped forward, his hand on his gun, but the spirits didn’t move. “What is this? Why do you freaks care?”

“Surely you haven’t forgotten what you were told that day?” another one asked. “My lord, you must find your wife. You know you can’t let her go this easily for a Disciple lady.”

“Are you kidding me, how do you know about that?” Bentinck shook his head. “I didn’t know who he was talking about then, and I still don’t know now.”

“What are they saying? Were you married before?” Anne cocked her head to the side.

“No, my devil was. Apparently.” He had practically forgotten about it. “He gave me his powers because supposedly I would find some girl he was married to. I don’t know how he expects me to do that, though, because if it’s a devil or spirit, then she probably doesn’t want to be found. And if it’s a human—”

“She’s dead,” Anne finished. She frowned, looking to the spirits. “Is it any one of you?”

“No, Lady Anne, no, of course not,” they murmured. “What great honor it would be to be touched by Lord Portland, what honor indeed...”

“Then get out, you insolent creatures.” Bentinck waved a hand in the air. “Why are you even here? I sensed you all the way outside.”

“We’re looking for work, m’lord...”

“As servants and lovers.”

“Please, have your way! Your touch will be enough payment for us.”

“We see how you make love with William...”

“And all the others, too, when he asks it of you.”

You weren’t supposed to say that! Bentinck stumbled back as the spirits coiled around him, whispering and running their hands all along his body. Their touches were fleeting, like drops of rain falling upon him.

“All the others? What does that mean?” Anne narrowed her eyes. “What does William do to you?”

“I- I serve him faithfully.” Bentinck shook one of the smaller spirits off, snapping his fangs at another one that got too close to his lips. “Sometimes I seal some deals with a bit more intimacy, that’s all.” He smiled ruefully back at her. “Sex with an Ally is worth far more than any sum of money, and I’m happy to provide it.”

“Really?” Anne stepped up beside him. “How often does he make you do it?”

“He’s not making me do anything—”

“Oh, Lady Anne, it’s rare enough for him to savor the precious moments when they do come around,” said one of the spirits hanging off of Bentinck’s shoulders. “A perfect whore!”

“Yet common enough for him to know to loosen up before every meeting,” a different one piped up. “Little piece of advice, m’lady: he likes it rough.”

“Oh,” Anne blurted, her face flushing.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Bentinck said, waving the spirits away. “You disrespectful little beasts have no right to use that word for me. I’m an Ally, and you deceitful monsters are nothing below me.” He glared down at them, and they all flinched back.

“Oh, be a little kinder to them,” Anne said. “They just answered my question when you wouldn’t.”

“Anne, it’s really nothing,” he said, exasperated. “I like what I do, okay? I know what my purpose is, and I’ve long understood even before I became an Ally. And you know what?” He stepped closer to her, and she looked up, her face illuminated by the spirits rising up beside her.

Ferocity help me, she’s beautiful! Bentinck swallowed. “I- I don’t like to hear this about William. I know it’s hard to believe when you work under James, but trust me, they are not the same..”

Anne lifted a hand to his face, then turned to the spirits. “Is he telling the truth?”

Are you kidding me? Bentinck raised an eyebrow at the spirits, who flinched away again.

“As long as he knows his purpose,” they all whispered, “he is happy.”

“There, is that good enough for you?” Bentinck turned back to Anne.

She didn’t answer right away, not until Bentinck leaned in. “Well?”

“It’s very good,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “Thank you, spirits. Is there anything I can offer you in exchange for this information?”

“What- no, don’t offer them anything!” Bentinck cut in. “They don’t deserve your worship, Anne.”

“They’re the remnants of the forces that created our world, how can you say that?” She gave him a hard stare, then knelt down to look the spirits in the eyes. “Well, little ones? Anything you like.”

“Anything...”

“Anything?”

“Should we even ask...”

“Yes, look at them! They are ready.”

“Ready for what?” Anne stood again.

“If we cannot touch Lord Portland,” began the first spirit who had spoken, “then may we ask that you do it for us? Allow us that honor, Lady Anne.”

“Hey, you’re not forcing her to do anything,” Bentinck growled at them.

“Hans, it’s fine,” Anne said. She smiled up at him, and the spirits leaned forward in interest. “Let me do it.”

“Really? It’s not- they’re not pressuring you or anything?” Bentinck glanced to the side as she pushed the hair from his face. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but it’s kind of unceremonious to do it here, literally in the middle of nowhere, and just because I’m an Ally doesn’t mean you have to do it-”

“I’m not doing it because you’re an Ally, and certainly not because of them,” she said, her gaze flicking briefly to the spirits. “If anything, I must thank them for this opportunity, for allowing me to worship you in the way I’ve always wanted.” She dropped to her knees, and Bentinck’s eyes widened. “If you so desire it, of course.”

“I- I do.” He would have liked to take her in a Hoerenkast, away from the nosy gazes of the dwaallicht spirits, but this worked too, he supposed.

Let them learn a thing or two from me. He smiled at the spirits, then nodded down at Anne, lifting her chin in his hand. She leaned into his touch, and he ran his fingers up to play with her horns as she unzipped and tugged down his pants with surprising enthusiasm.

“You weren’t kidding.” Bentinck tilted his head to the side, amused. “You’ve done this before?”

“Honestly, I’ve only ever had sex with girls,” Anne said, laughing nervously. “But I’ve practiced on Mary’s dildos before, so I should be fine.”

“Oh, devils below, okay.”

She was more than fine; he swore she was perfect. He inhaled sharply as she ran her hand over him before leaning in to take him entirely. The spirits chirped with excitement, and Bentinck laughed when she pulled away.

“I think they like it,” he said.

“I like it, too.” She grinned up at him, rubbing her face against his cock and lapping her tongue over the tip. “By the stars, Hans, you’re so wet. And it tastes divine.”

Wet? His face grew warmer, and he bit his tongue as Anne continued. She closed her eyes and moved her head rapidly back and forth, sighing gratefully through her nose.

Bentinck huffed and placed a hand in between her horns. She looked up then, her eyes glinting.

“You’re gorgeous, you know that?” he said.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, and he lifted his hand. Had he said something she didn’t like?

But he must have been imagining it, because she started up again with a new fervor. She moaned slightly and swallowed him whole once more, and he gasped, thrusting involuntarily into her mouth.

“Fuck, Anne,” he sighed as he pulled out. She opened her mouth wide so that he could see the cum dripping from his cock to her lips, falling from her chin. “That’s the fastest anyone has done it for me.”

“She really did it,” the spirits whispered all, and Bentinck rolled his eyes. He’d almost forgotten they were there.

“It was everything to me,” she said breathlessly. “I love you, Hans.”

“And I love you.” He smiled down at her as he pulled his pants back up, right before she sprung up at him and kissed him. He stepped back in surprise, but met her kiss happily. He could still taste himself on her tongue, just the same as when he was with William.

“Thank you, Lady Anne,” he heard one of the spirits say. “As if watching him and his master fuck every night wasn’t enough.” The voice lowered to a hiss that startled Bentinck. “Out, all of you!”

He turned his head just in time to see the spirits scurry away into the walls. Their presence had gone, but he could still sense one here more powerful than all of them combined.

“What is it?” Anne asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. He raised his voice. “Who is it? We did what your spirits wanted, can you leave us alone now?”

“If I left you alone, my lord,” replied the youthful, teasing voice, “then you would never forgive yourself.” A glowing white fox bounded out of the darkness suddenly, and Bentinck gasped as it leaped over him and Anne, taking its place on the counter behind them.

“The Earl of Albemarle,” he breathed out as he turned to face it. At last, the ungrateful spirit had made his appearance. He began to advance toward the fox, sitting so pridefully before them. “William needs you.”

“Albemarle? The real one?” Anne took Bentinck’s hand, pulling him back. “Wait, wait, wait, what does William need him for?”

“The gift of life,” he said. “William would like the extra security, you know.”

“And he’s going to get the extra years how?” Anne raised an eyebrow.

“By fucking me, of course,” Albemarle spoke up. He lifted his head and bared his teeth at Bentinck. “But they are fools if they think I’ll let them touch me.”

“How dare you?!” Bentinck snapped his fangs in the air, Albemarle flicking his ears back. “We’ve done so much for you this Western Kingdom! To ignore an Overlifer’s calls is the highest insult!”

“Good.” Albemarle scurried to the side, and Bentinck hurried after him, his hand reaching out for the fox’s tail.

“By the ancient order of the dwaallichten who—” He didn’t get to finish his command, as something came down hard on his head, something so shattering it made the darkness around him only more certain. He was out before he even hit the ground.

🝰🝰🝰

Anne threw her gun to the side and caught him before he landed, stumbling back at the sudden weight. She brought him down gently and took her gun again, examining it for blood. She really hadn’t wanted to use something so heavy to knock him out; she’d seen Mary kill someone like this before.

“I’m sorry, Hans,” she whispered, shoving her gun back in her belt. It had all worked too well, just as she and Elizabeth had planned. She had almost believed that maybe she wouldn’t do this after all, not when she placed her lips on Bentinck’s and he told her he loved her, just as she had always dreamed. But the look in his eyes as he had gazed upon Albemarle reminded her why she was here, alone with him.

And now it can never be, can it?

She began to cry, letting her sobs ring out through the empty room, lifting Bentinck’s head up to her lap. How many times she had fantasized in her darkest moments, how many times she had sworn she would kill for him, how she would die for him, how she had defied James again and again for him. For a moment, she had everything—! And it was all over in an instant.

He’ll never forgive me. She buried her fingers deep in his hair, bowing her head so that her tears fell over his face. His face! He had looked so serene as she had looked up at him, and now he was the same as she looked down to him. Blissfully unaware of his master’s impending capture and execution.

At least he would be free. That would be her last gift to him, though he probably wouldn’t see it that way. Not until much later, if ever.

She placed his head back down and stood, forcing herself to look away. She had to go help Elizabeth, and she had no idea how long Allies stayed out for. Whatever happened, she couldn’t face him when he realized she had played a part in all of this.

She wiped at her nose with her arm and realized with a start that the fox was staring at her.

“W-Why are you still here?” she asked, taking a deep breath.

“I thank you, Lady Anne.” Albemarle bowed his head, and Anne took a step back as the fox before her grew and morphed into a more humanoid figure. One she recognized, with the longest ashen curls that matched the fur on his ears and tail.

“You’re the girl who danced with James!” she gasped.

“I was a man then and I am a man now,” he replied, twitching an ear irritatedly. “I was...hoping I could seduce him and take from him his remaining lifespan, but then that feisty pup Monmouth had to ruin things.”

“You were planning to...kill James?” Her heart broke a little more right then.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t have been very upset,” Albemarle said, grinning at her. “Sorry, we can’t all get everything we want.”

“No.” Don’t look back, don’t look at him now. “We can’t.”

Albemarle glanced behind her. “Trust me, my lady, you dodged a bullet there. Allies make the worst lovers, and the Earl of Portland at that?” He shuddered and turned away. “No, thank you.”

“Do you...know him?” She couldn’t explain the sudden flare of jealousy she asked that with.

“Ugh. You could say that.”

“Oh.” She cleared her throat, stepping past him. “So, you’re not interested in taking my years for yourself?” She couldn’t remember the exact estimate she’d often heard for the number of people he had killed, but she remembered being shocked when she had first learned of it, and that was enough for her to know there was a good chance she wasn’t walking out of here alive.

“You kind of just saved me.” Albemarle shrugged. “Even though I could have saved myself. Besides...” He smiled at her, more genuinely than the grin he had given her. “For the amount of time you have left? Not worth the trouble.”

“Thank you?” She didn’t know how to take that.

“Stay away from him if you want me to consider killing you.”

She kept walking and only looked back when he had fallen silent. He was gone.

I don’t have to stay away from him. She sighed as she took out her phone to ask Elizabeth where she’d gone. He’ll stay away all by himself.

Elizabeth was in the arcade, it turned out, or at least where there had once been an arcade. The wires on the ground covered the colorful carpet, though it was so dusty now Anne could hardly see the design. For a moment she wondered if Elizabeth was here, before she heard a firm voice up ahead, and suddenly a body was flung limply before Anne.

It was William, his hands tied behind his back and his eyes shut under a black blindfold. There was a red ball gag shoved in his mouth as well, and it was from one of the straps that Elizabeth lifted him up, forcing him on his knees.

“He looks good, doesn’t he?” she said. “He was a nightmare to restrain, but he’s really not that strong.” She laughed, tugging back on William’s hair. “For an Overlifer, it was quite the pleasant surprise.”

“He- he didn’t use any spells?” Anne asked. At the sound of her voice William’s head jerked up.

“Well that’s what the restraints are for,” Elizabeth said. “But, hey,” she added, “I didn’t know you were such a good actor! I almost thought you were actually mad at me when you left with Ally Bentinck.”

“Yeah, well...” Anne glowered down at William. “I can’t say all of it was just acting.”

William huffed, trying to stand, only for Elizabeth to kick him in the side. He turned away, biting hard into the gag, and Elizabeth barked out another laugh.

“Haven’t gotten a single squeak out of him,” she said. “James will have a hard time with him, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah.” Anne turned away, and she felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Everything went well, get excited! James will be so pleased with us.”

“I don’t care about James,” Anne said, glaring back at her. “I did this for Hans. That’s all.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, though she still smiled, her tail lashing in amusement behind her. “Oh, don’t tell me you thought you could actually be with him. He’s an Ally! He works for William! You should be grateful it ended this way before James could end it himself by killing you.”

Anne shuddered, lifting a hand to her neck. “Why did it have to be this way?” she whispered.

“Come on, Anne,” Elizabeth said, nudging her shoulder with her tail. “You did good, don’t ruin it by convincing yourself that whatever you’re feeling was ever anything more than infatuation. You’ll get over it, and you’ll be happy you did when the Disciples rule the world and we live like queens.”

“You can’t seriously think it’ll turn out that way!” Anne cried. “Why would I want to live like a queen in a world that James rules? So many people are going to die!”

“And they deserve it!” Elizabeth stepped forward, the fury in her eyes made brighter by the shadows around her. “We are on the right side of history, Anne! We were born to serve the Disciples, this is what our family has always done.”

“I- I want to do something else, Elizabeth,” Anne pleaded desperately. “Do you always want to be trapped under James, living in fear of every mistake you make? He doesn’t forgive mistakes; if we didn’t have William right now, we’d be walking towards our execution.”

“Then I guess you gotta be careful, huh?” Elizabeth replied. “You get paid for doing nothing but threatening to shoot people and following Mary around. I like my job in Mercia, but you have it so, so much easier here. Don’t you ever take that for granted.”

“Well, I’m not grateful.” Anne’s voice wavered. “I would rather die than live a life like this.”

“Then why haven’t you?” Elizabeth turned back to William. “It’s what happens to traitors.”

Yeah, why haven’t I? Anne wiped uselessly at her eyes, and Elizabeth lifted her tail to brush her sister’s tears away.

“I won’t tell James because we actually captured William,” she said, “but please don’t talk that way anymore. He’s not the best Overlifer we could ask for, but he’s the only one we have.”

“Okay.” Anne nodded, dropping her gaze to the floor.

“Now, let’s have a bit of fun with this Overlifer,” Elizabeth said. “Give him a taste of what he deserves before we actually get him there, hm?” She raised an eyebrow at Anne.

“What are we going to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I was actually hoping you’d have a plan.” Elizabeth laughed nervously, running her tail under William’s chin. “It looks to me that you have more reason to hate him than I do. You said you did this for Bentinck. Why’s that?”

Anne’s heart skipped a beat. “Why did I do this?” She knelt down in front of William, pulling the gag away from his lips. “Because you’re a piece of shit, William. Because I know you’re going to kill Hans, like James will kill Marly, and I’ve just found out that you make him fuck for the deals you make.”

“I knew we couldn’t trust you,” William spat, dismissing Anne’s words with a flick of his tail. “What did you do to him?”

“He’s alive,” she answered, “not that you would care.”

“You think you’re that much better than me?! The Disciples will kill him too!”

“At least his blood won’t be on the hands of a friend he trusted.”

“No,” he said, his voice dripping with venom, “of course not. It’ll just be on the hands of a friend he trusted.”

Anne’s next words stuck in her throat. Is that it? Is he still doomed to die even if William is gone?

Will this just make it easier for James to kill him?

“You idiots should have known better than to trust a Disciple, then,” sneered Elizabeth. “If he dies now, it’s his own fault.”

“He- he won’t die so easily,” Anne said, trying to harden her voice again. “He knows how to survive.”

“So that’s it? James kills me, and I can’t even say goodbye to my friend?” William took a deep breath, lifting his head as Anne stood again. “You’re not going to do that to him.”

“Will you shut up?!” Anne practically screamed. “You don’t care about him! You don’t fucking care! He doesn’t need to say goodbye to a man who would have killed him without a second thought! I don’t know what the fuck Mary sees in you, you heartless bitch!” She pulled her gun out, pressing it in between William’s horns. “I swear to James above that I will take one of your lives right here!”

“Woah, Mary sees what in him?” Elizabeth cocked her head to the side, and Anne pointed the gun at her then.

“I’ll kill you if you tell anyone about it.”

“Alright, alright.” Elizabeth’s tail flicked anxiously at the tip. “I guess he’ll be dead by next week, anyway.”

“Oh, he better be.” Anne looked back down at William. “He sickens me.”

“Hans will avenge me,” he said. He hadn’t even flinched at the gun.

“You don’t deserve to say his name,” Anne said. “Open your filthy mouth.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll shoot.” She hovered her finger over the trigger. “As many times as I have to.”

William curled his lip back in a snarl, but opened his mouth. Anne shoved as much of the barrel as she could down his throat, and he gasped, choking and trying to pull his head away. She dug her fingers into his hair to keep him there.

“Suck on it,” she ordered. “May you feel a shred of the disgrace you have forced Hans through, and what you would have forced on even the Earl of Albemarle!”

William clenched his fists behind his back, and Anne brought her foot down on his tail. “I can still shoot a bullet down your throat.”

There was a pause before William obeyed. Saliva trickled out the corners of his mouth as he did so, down to his neck, until at last Anne pulled the gun out. He took a shaky breath, panting as Anne rubbed the wet muzzle on his cheek.

“Damn, girl, maybe you should be working with me, after all,” Elizabeth said, amused. “Nothing to say, William?”

William was silent, his head bowed. Anne raised the gun high and brought it down hard on the side of his head, and he fell before her like Bentinck had. His tail fell still behind him.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Are we calling someone or just putting him in the back of the car?”

“Ugh, whatever’s faster.” Anne tied the gag back onto William and gripped the leather strap like Elizabeth had to drag him forward. He really wasn’t so heavy.

🝰🝰🝰

Fucking spirits. Bentinck’s head felt much too heavy to lift off the ground, so he didn’t. He shut his eyes and groaned, rubbing at the back of his head.

What spirit had been strong enough to do that? Was it Albemarle? Surely not, the fox had been right in front of him. And he would have sensed the attack from behind.

So why didn’t I?

“Anne?” he called hoarsely. “Are you alright?”

There was no answer. Alarm shot through him, and he forced himself to sit up, looking around. She wasn’t here.

Did they take her? He stood up and called her name again. Even the spirits were gone.

By the stars, if Albemarle laid a claw on her— he didn’t want to think of it.

Why were they here to begin with? There’d been some kind of argument, hadn’t there? And Anne’s sister had been here too, with William.

William! Maybe Anne had fled to him. Bentinck turned on his phone to call him, though the light was much too bright to stare at. He winced and quickly held it up to his ear.

But there was no answer. He tried again and again, and it only rang and rang, and with each ring Bentinck felt his heart sink.

Has something happened? He shut his eyes, sending his senses far beyond him, all around the building. William’s presence would be the easiest to find, surely. And yet...nothing there, either. No sign of Elizabeth nor Anne.

Did Albemarle get to them? He ran out of the former store, pausing as he felt a wave of nausea so strong it nearly brought him to his knees. Ugh, do I have a concussion?

I left William alone. I left him alone...but he had Elizabeth, right?

Elizabeth Villiers, a Disciple. He had left William alone with a Disciple.

And Bentinck had been alone with one as well.

Anne...oh, Ferocity help me. It couldn’t all have been a lie. Not for this.

He stumbled outside in a daze. The light of day was fading. He looked around for Elizabeth’s car, praying that it was still there— that would mean the spirits had done something after all. But it was gone, and so was William.

I can’t do this. He leaned back on the wall, shutting his eyes.

You fucked up, he told himself. So fix it. He looked up again, towards the sky. If you can’t have Anne, then take William back. Right now.

And kill her?

No. Surely there was a chance—

He pulled out his phone and dialed for an ambulance. “Hello, this is Ally Bentinck, you probably know me; I think I have a concussion, someone come save me.”

[sunnywalnut]

Chances of your childhood cat reincarnating into a near exact replica of herself just to choose another lifetime with you are low, but never zero 💜

I love you both to the moon and back, my babies. Rest easy, sweet girl💜 I'll take care of her, don't you worry.

[inkskinned]

we were sitting on the floor and i was cutting out tiny pictures to make a collage for a friend's birthday. you were on your phone and you laughed about something, and i was still in love with you then, so i asked what had you giggling.

"sorry. i was just..." you took a moment and went back to texting. "i was telling someone about how you're afraid of the dark."

i'm afraid of the dark because something bad happened. "oh." i felt a little slinky of shame crawl down my throat.

you glanced up, and maybe it showed on my face, because you rolled your eyes and held the phone to the side casually so i could see the group chat. "what? was it a secret?"

i looked down to the scissors in my hand. "i just..." no, it's not a secret. it just felt like something private, something serious. saying why would you tell someone that just feels like an accusation. it's unfair. i honestly am not even ashamed of it, it's just a fact about my person that i don't usually share.

what a strange experience. is this a human thing or a generational thing? for our grandparents: did they need to worry about how quickly someone can just... share your personal information? again, i didn't even really have a true objection. what could i say? i want any person in my life to feel they can be honest with their friends. it's not like i said don't tell anyone this.

i cut out another letter to complete the rainbow happy birthday, started hunting for the exclamation mark. i heard you sigh dramatically.

"don't make a big deal about this," you said.

this entire conversation was a pattern for us, and this was when we got to my least favorite part of the pattern. i would get my feelings hurt in some oblique not-technically-terrible way, and then it would be making a big deal about something. you'd get frustrated for me for being soft, but i was born soft. you knew i was soft when you pierced me. it's one of the things that made controlling me so easy.

"i'm not," i felt my voice crack. the question came without my wanting. "why are you guys talking about me?" and why are you saying that thing? why not like - i'm telling them how you're generous and kind and pretty.

you let out this low, tragic groan. "oh my god." you tossed the phone away from your body. "there, see? i just won't talk to them if you don't like it."

the rest of the hour went the way it always went, between us: i said i don't actually mind if you talk to your friends but -, you found a way to call my minor expression of discomfort "being dramatic." you got upset that i had been offended. i ended up apologizing, even though i hadn't actually done anything.

afterwards, you picked up the phone again. after texting for a little bit, you snorted. "okay," you said, "but it is kind of funny you're afraid of the dark. i mean, when you think about it."

[mashmouths]

i <3 lying down i <3 being horizontal i <3 having the least possible amount of pressure on my feet

[fulgurbugs]

Guess who caught up in the manga

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Ghouls night out

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[hikaaa-bi]

miss alice “pfft i’m not in love with my ex i’m actually down bad for his GIRLFRIEND AHA i have successfully diverted attention” dyer

[laddertek]

etho said actually you _don't_ understand the intricacies of how tango is my boyfriend and bdubs is my ex

(and how tango and bdubs kiss too)

Scar: We went on that little adventure, you know! Etho: Yeah, yeah, we had our adventure, that's true, that's true. Scar: You disparaged your teammates. That's it, all right, no more spoilers. Etho: (laughs) Our team has -- our team has some weird dynamics this -- this season. Cleo: (overlapping) Really, Etho? Is there trouble in paradise? (pause) Who's third-wheeling with you, again? I can't remember. Etho: (laughs) Uhh. The -- Cleo: Genuinely can't remember. I know it's you and Bdubs. And...Tango? Tango. Tango. Etho: (loudly) Why -- Why is Tango the third wheel? Why -- why isn't Bdubs the third wheel? Cleo: Because it's you and Bdubs. I'm sorry. I understand how that relationship goes. Etho: (dissatisfied) Hmm.

[megaawkwardhuman]

[starry-bi-sky]

do yall ever think about bruce/batman!clone danny standing in front of his bathroom mirror after finding out he was a clone and silently tracing his face. The slope of his jaw and point of his chin. The high angle of his cheekbones and the shape of his eyes, the curve of his brow bones and the shape of his nose. The volume of his hair and the way it curls and gets fluffy when it gets too long.

His hair is black the same way a crow's wing is black. His dad's hair is black the same way a black bear's fur is black. His dad's eyes are blue like the ocean is blue. Danny's eyes are blue the same way a glacier is blue.

His dad has a square jaw and straight flat hair, and he tans and gets a face full of freckles when he's out in the sun for too long. Danny burns like a lobster and his face remains untouched. Danny has a sharp jaw and tall cheekbones, and Sam says when he's not smiling there's almost something regal about him. You would never call Jack Fenton "regal" when he's not smiling.

Sam says when he's not smiling he looks scary the same way a stone statue is. Jack Fenton when he's not smiling looks scary the same way that german shepherd staring at you across the street is.

Do you ever think he grew up wondering if he was adopted. Because of course, he has black hair and blue eyes like his dad. But having the same color doesn't make you someone's child.

Or, worse, things he's heard from the other kids and the other parents and even some of his teachers growing up; that he was the product of an affair. And that his dad was just too stupid to notice. And Danny would defend his parents until the day he died, because Jack Fenton wasn't an idiot and Maddie Fenton wasn't a cheater.

But doubt comes in with fickle tongue. his parents swear up and down that he is their child when he asks about either. That Danny just had his grandparents' features, but he was their son and they loved him.

But Danny doesn't look like either of his parents. His mom's eyes are blue like an aquamarine and Jazz's too. And they burn like lobsters in the sun too, but Jazz gets freckles on her face and so does Maddie. And as Danny grows up he doesn't bulk up or get stocky like his dad did, and when he hits puberty he doesn't shoot up like a tree like Jack Fenton did.

He stays small, and they say he's a late bloomer (and he is), or that he just has his mom's height. But he's fast and has good stamina, and some days it feels like he's built entirely different from his family. That the things they went through growing up just didn't apply to him. Jack and Maddie Fenton both had acne and breakouts when they hit puberty, and Jazz inherits it and he's seen the amount of skincare products she keeps on her side of the bathroom.

And then he hits puberty and breaks out maybe once or twice, but his skin stays clear for the most part and the problems and changes his dad went through just don't happen to him.

And the truth is worse than all of the lies.

How horrifying.

[ew-selfish-art]

Dpx Dc AU: Ectoplasm is required for Ghosts to be visible to the human eye- And Danny creates his own ectoplasm.

Danny is visiting Jazz in Gotham and its weird how friendly everyone is. Like, the city gets a really bad rapport, everywhere he goes there is someone trying to strike up a conversation or answer his questions about getting around to the tourist spots. A few people even pointed out restaurants and ways to find off the beaten path gems! Jazz seems to role her eyes at him, but when he brings up her 'roommate' being kind of cute she flat out laughs.

Danny then comes to understand the Jazz doesn't have a roommate and that Ghosts in Gotham don't move far from their haunts- He's just been inadvertently turning these undead folks visible by accident of generating abnormal amounts of ectoplasm.

Which, is comforting in a way, he's never walking this dangerous city alone and really, most of the ghosts have been really friendly! They disappear once he's a few blocks away from them anyway.

---

Tim Drake is having a horrible day.

He'd been given intel that one of Black Mask's guys was going to snitch but that he'd died before given the opportunity to reach out to the GCPD. He tracks down the guy's last know whereabouts and yikes. Its next to the Theater. Tim was often grateful for his childhood obsessions, this time it backfired.

Tim and Bruce get into an argument about trust and respect and, worst of all, mental health. And even though Tim was vehemently against Batman accompanying Red Robin to the alleyway - that's exactly what happens.

They arrive and Bruce is closing up faster than a clam in the contaminated Gotham Bay- Clearly being in the Alley bothers him. No fucking shit. RR gets started on collecting evidence, there are a few extra blood splatters and a single left shoe... When a kid walks into the Alley.

"Uh, sorry to intrude-" The kid looks scared shitless, and runs away. And then, all of a sudden, Batman and Robin aren't alone in the Alley.

Tim can hardly believe his eyes as the dead man appears and quickly blabs Black Mask's bank passwords and what the plan had been- and While he's over joyed to have that closure, he turns around to Batman weeping in the arms of his parents.

The ghosts fade, and the emotions are certainly charged as this was never something Bruce or Tim would have ever dreamed of happening. Ghosts in Gotham. Talking, floating, granting closure.

"RR, Bats, come in." Oracle calls into their ears.

"Reporting in, but, uh, we need a minute."

"A minute? We have a case on 4th and-"

"O, we just saw the ghosts of the Waynes. It's going to be a minute."

"...Lots of Ghost reports lately then. Any chance you saw a kid looking like he could be adopted?"

"Yeah, actually, black hair and blue eyes. He was super polite before he ran away."

"We have work to do. Oracle, lets prioritize finding our person of interest and divert Nightwing and Robin to the case on 4th." Batman cut between them on the comms and he sounded... calmer than either of them anticipated.

---

Jazz is no longer laughing when Batman appears at her door explaining that he's looking for Danny (Who already flew away from town to get a good night's sleep before class on Monday). Turns out Danny reunited the man with his dead parents just briefly- and then the second guy appears and mentions how Danny had also given a guy who'd been murdered by a Mob enough time to explain the ongoing threats the city faced.

Jazz just rolls her eyes and says that it's not like the ghosts are going anywhere anytime soon and Danny will visit in another month. When pressed, she just explains that her brother is a weirdo. No of course he doesn't have powers. Gaslight and Girlbosses her way out.

And Jazz thinks that the game is up for at least another month, obviously when Danny visits more shit will stir up, but then this new guy appears.

Unlike the other Bats who are keen on watching her from a distance, the Red Hood knocks on her door. Are her eyebrows all the way into her hairline when Red Hood asks her to send his thanks along to Danny because somehow this whole situation led to his Dad expressing remorse for his actions and apologizing? Yes, yes they are.

But Jazz can smell Dissertation Data off of these vigilantes- Who is she to send them away? Jazz welcomes Red Hood into her place for a cup of tea and a small chat.

The story then devolves into Jazz getting shit done, Danny being cute by proximity and also bringing ghosts to the party, and the Bats having trauma resolve between them.

[inkskinned]

actually sometimes being neurodivergent is great bc you have a particular kind of Silly Mode that just . manifests glory. harmless fun is my precious side quest & i have a high score in whimsy. like okay if i gotta be the first dork in the dance pit it's gonna be me and this random toddler and we're gonna avril-style rock ouuuuttt

[carouselunique]

They had a bit of a chance encounter on a day where Blueblood was dealing with something that was very difficult and was so caught up in his emotions he didn’t even care that he was in the garden getting grass stans on his coat and Ditzy, with her natural impulse to cheer ponies up, didn’t even notice or care that she was flying into the palace gardens when she saw someone sat in the rain.

At first he was definitely going to call the castle guards to come apprehend this strange filly with the odd eyes who was intruding when this was the last moment he’d want to entertain any desperate debutantes, however she surprised him by not fawning or anything, not even caring about his status, just putting one of her fluffy wings up and asking if he needed somepony to lend an ear.

“Don’t let my eyes fool you, my ears work just fine!”

She was incredibly disarming and while he didn’t reveal everything about why he was upset, he found himself talking about his feelings to her. And she made such cheerful remarks, and was very comforting. In the end, he felt better and she came to check on him the next day, even sharing a blueberry muffin with him. He remarked that he’d never seen her around before, and that he wouldn’t mind terribly seeing her more often.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[festivating]

i do mourn glinda's wardrobe more than anything else the movies could possibly change. every one of her costumes in the musical is so deliberate and there's so much visual storytelling done with them. her skirts get progressively longer as the show goes on because she's growing up. she goes from warm colors to cool colors because she shifts from naive and sunny to melancholic and serious. her accessories go from little purses to actual jewelry and her wand and tiara as her "public persona" solidifies. green and blue are incorporated to signify her relationship with elphaba. you can trace her whole character arc with just the way she dresses.

in the movie she just wears pink. all the time. the same shade of it. a bit of lavender if we're lucky :/

[joshdonnas]

josh and donna + walk and talk throughout the seasons

season 3

[fictionadventurer]

Maybe the problem with Christian fiction is that it's non-denominational. People are just "Christian", with no effort put into showing what practicing that religion looks like for them specifically. No indication that there are other Christians who could have different beliefs. No wrestling with differing ideas and the struggle of how one should live out their Christian faith. And that makes it unrealistic and unrelatable.