High-pitched cackling echoes through my lair.

Damn, I love the sound of my own laughter.

I despise this "holiday," but this year I'm expecting an anxiously awaited gift. And I don't get anxious; not often. Or ever.

The dark hero is dead, and he should be entering our realm shortly. Perhaps my guards will bring him in wrapped tightly in a satin bow. My own giant, sexy gift to myself on this wretched Chris–Ick, I gag. I can't even think the words without wanting to swallow my own tongue. What a disgusting celebration.

Where's my holiday? A celebration of the day I was cast out of Heaven and sentenced to rule the underworld? Where is the thanks for bringing torture and misery to souls deserving? It's a bloody, grueling job, but someone has to do it. I laugh again, unrestrained. Who am I kidding? I love my job.

Guards enter the massive doors of my lair in a hurry, quite suddenly, staring at me in stupidity.

"Well, is he here or not?" I snap, intentionally ignoring the fact that they've barged in without warning. I'm feeling charitable today. Well, not really. There's always time for punishment later.

"Yes, ma'am. They're carrying him down now," one of my many guards answers, and I feel slightly...giddy? Excited? Is that what this strange feeling is?

"Bring him in then." I motion the guards to do as I've asked. It's been decades since I've felt this way... Since my last encounter with the dark hero.

My guards drag him in with a fight. His muscles glisten and shine against the light of fires dancing all around us, and I suck in an uninvited breath.

This is the affect he has on me.

I lick my lips slowly, taking in the divine soul before me. He looks even better down here, in the deepest pits of hell. His dark hair, chiseled features, rough scruff, and gleaming muscles are only enhanced by the orange glow of fire and lava, by the blackest of rock and ash.

"Boy was I surprised when I learned you'd be joining us in the underworld. Someone finally took you out, I see." What a feat that must have been. What an entertainment. I should have been paying more attention to earthly activities, then maybe I could have caught a glimpse of this beautiful creature's end. "Tell me, how did it happen?" I find myself asking without permission.

"Go to hell!" he bellows.

I laugh even harder than before, my guards looking nervous. "Don't you know? That's where we are!" I gesture around the space, rising from my throne. My crimson dress sweeps along the blackened floor behind me, every silky inch hugging each of my delicious curves. I look ravishing, and even he can't deny it. I see the lust burning in his eyes as they rake my body, behind his fiery hatred. He stops short of my face, looking away. That's okay; I like it this way. This wouldn't be fun if I didn't have to fight for it.

"All I've done is sought justice for the good, and punishment for the evil. How is that I've ended up here?!" he questions.

"Apparently wrong is wrong, no matter which way you look at it. Dear old father is twisted in that sense," I reply sardonically, but this is why we'd be perfect for each other. I'm an evil creature by nature, but we're one and the same. We both bring punishment to those who are deserving of it.

He has yet to look me in the eyes.

"I have a proposition for you, if you'll recall."

He remains silent without reply.

"You and I, what we do–"

"Don't compare me to the likes of you!" His deep growl cuts me off mid-sentence. One of my guards holding him strikes him across the stomach, and he lurches forward in their grasp, struggling for breath.

I smile. "We're one and the same, how can you not see that? In your waking life, did you or did you not bring pain and torture to the darkest of souls?"

No reply.

"I do the same here, on a much grander scale, of course. With the very same types of souls."

He looks up, his eyes finally finding mine. "We are not– Wait...you?" The question falls from his mouth with anger, though it's barely a whisper.

I smile wide, baring teeth and all. "Didn't you know we'd struck a bargain that night?"

"Son of a bitch," he responds, recognition dawning. His memory of me playing behind his eyes...

Tasking myself to pay a few visits and strike a few bargains, I found myself here. On earth. But it was the eve of my least favorite holiday, and the atmosphere was too damn cheery. Detestable, really. Where were all the tortured souls and depressed humans in need of what I could offer? I spun around on the stool, resolved to go back home. Earth was boring me. Humans are dull, a waste of creativity. But before I could fully stand, strong hands gripped my arms, preventing me from knocking over a brick wall of a man, and from spilling his drink all over himself.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked in such a dark and seductively gravel voice I'd swore he came from hell itself. But I had never seen him before, I knew that. And I could smell his disgusting human scent... Underneath the cinnamon and spice that strangely enticed me. His deep brown eyes searched my own, awaiting reply.

And I saw what I had been looking for in his eyes, someone desperate. I couldn't quite put my finger on the whys, and I found myself intrigued, wanting to delay the usual process of sinking into one's mind for the answers I wanted, and instead, keep him a mystery for a little longer. The truth is, I didn't want to be disappointed. Humans tend to be a disappointment in general. But there was something about this one.

My fiery red lips curled into a slow smile as I slid my raven-black hair over my shoulder. "Now that you're here," I eventually replied, lowering back into my seat at the bar, "I think I'll stay."

"She'll have another martini," he called to the bartender, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Extra dirty," I added, sliding an olive into my mouth, enjoying it as his gaze followed the movement. "Tell me, what is it you're hiding behind those dark and impenetrable eyes of yours?"

He laughed, deep and throaty. "I'd hate to bore you with that."

And so, we drank, and talked some more.

"You want to get out of here?" he'd eventually said.

My lips had started to turn up before I paused, realizing with shocking clarity that I'd been tempted, and my face fell into a smooth and impenetrable mask. "Mortals aren't my type."

His head fell back in laughter, and my eyes drunk in the sight of it. "Are you an angel, then?" he asked when he'd composed himself.

And then I'd laughed too, for the first time in a terribly long while. "Darling, I'm the very opposite."

"Join me outside then. For a smoke."

"Lead the way."

As I followed him, I sensed the evil in him growing. Interesting. I'd pegged him as desperate, but the farther down the sidewalk we moved, the more certain I was that there was so much more lying beneath the surface who of this man was. How had I not sensed the evil earlier?

He hadn't surprised me with his next moves; I can smell malicious intent a mile away. I was merely curious. Was he a rapist? A thief? A murderer? I couldn't wait to find out. He gripped my wrists, slamming me into the wall beside us. "Who sent you?" he questioned through gritted teeth.

I cocked my head, curious. "No one sent me. I'm here of my own volition."

"Bullshit. Something's off about you, but I can't put my finger on it. What secrets are you hiding?"

I took a few deep breaths, our chests colliding. Seems he had stolen all of my lines, all of my thoughts. "I should ask you the same." I twisted out of his hold swiftly, grasping his wrists firmly as I spun him around and slammed him into the same wall with thrice as much force. Brick cracked in response to the collision. His eyes widened in response, barely. I closed my eyes and let my mind seep into his. I was shocked at what I saw, ecstatic at the cold-blooded murders I witnessed through his memories. "Seems you have a few secrets of your own." Knowing his secrets was invigorating. "I look just like her, don't I?"

"I will kill you," he spat, though in his current predicament I was baffled as to how he could possibly be so sure of his words. "And then I will kill every last one of you responsible."

"Then do it."

He tried with much force to fight me, to escape my hold.

"Even if I let you go, you don't have the means to exact the revenge you so desperately crave."

He growled in frustration.

"You've found yourself at a dead-end, haven't you? Already killed as far up the ladder as you can go. Well, I'm here to help you." That immediately sparked his interest. "But I'd want something in return."

"Anything," he replied without thought. Perfect.

"Anything?" I threw the word back at him in question.

"I want nothing more than to kill the men who are responsible for her murder."

"I can give you what you want. All I ask is that when you've finished with your journey, and we find each other once again, you repay me with a favor of my choosing."

"Done."

"Just like that?"

"Done," he repeated angrily.

"Then we have a deal."

I pull myself from the memory, my eyes locked on his. I still remember the strength in which he'd pushed me away after I'd gifted him with the power to do so. I've longed for that strength. For him to use it with me here. In more ways than one...

"You tricked me," he breaks the spell.

"I did no such thing. Would you take it back?"

I watch as he thinks it over. "Not for a second."

I watched him over the years, my dark hero, exacting his revenge. He killed all those responsible for his wife's rape and murder. Then killed those responsible for framing him. And then he'd gone on to kill those who did such crimes to others, and those who intended to.

"It's time for payment then. Don't look so glum, what I have to offer is more of a reward, really."

He looks around the lair, doubt playing across the sharp lines of his features.

"You will rule with me, as King of the Underworld. We will punish the darkest of souls together, those deserving of the harshest of punishments. No different than what you're used to, only much more fulfilling. And then at night, we can fulfill other desires." I lick my lips, watching for his initial response and am pleased to see a fire in his eyes that wasn't there before. But still, he doesn't answer. "Your only other option is to rot in hell with the rest of them."

He continues to weigh his options, torturing me with the wait. Then the most seductive of smiles begins to form on his lips, twisting my insides in surprise, and want. "You have a deal," he says.

And this wretched holiday becomes my absolute favorite day, just like that.

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