Chapter 866: Lailah is Leaving?
Abaddon woke up to the cool feeling of ice pressed against his forehead.
He slowly opened his eyes and found Sif sitting above him, holding her palm to his skin.
"Feeling better, my dumbass husband?"
Abaddon didn't know if he should wince from the insult or the soreness ravaging his body.
He sat up and realized that several unkind, albeit beautiful faces, were staring at him from the foot of the bed.
Valerie's glare was particularly ugly as she kissed her prized elbow threateningly.
...He couldn't explain why he found that gesture so hot.
"Girls, I swear-" Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire
Audrina: "Nope."
"I just need-"
Eris: "Nuh-uh."
"Would one of you just listen to me for two secon-"
Erica: "We already know everything that you want to say."
Abaddon sighed in frustration. "I appreciate your concern, but I still feel it would be best if-"
Lailah lifted up her night dress and stepped up on top of the bed.
She walked across the covers sensually and kneeled with her thighs on either side of her husband's head.
Abaddon blinked a few times before fully reclining into a comfortable position.
"Well, now I don't remember what I wanted to say."
"That's what I was hoping for." Lailah smiled knowingly.
She lowered her hand and ran her fingers through his thick, curly hair.
"I thought we had an agreement, love. Rest and recovery."
Abaddon tore his eyes away from Lailah's exposed flesh. His eyes met her own, and they very briefly turned a darker shade of pink.
"You can't honestly expect me to just sit at home by while you go and sit around all of them. They are a repugnant bunch."
"You think I am incapable of handling a handful of gods?" Lailah's eyes sparkled with humor as she asked the question.
"I do not doubt that they could march against you with every army and every soldier that they have ever and will ever possess and it still wouldn't be enough. My concerns are greater than them."
Lailah went from running her fingers through her husband's hair to touching his cheeks affectionately. Every trace of her warmth against his skin was so electrifying that it nearly made him shudder.
All men know that they have a set of weaknesses that would make it easy for a woman to get whatever they want out of them. Laialh was almost like every one of Abaddon's weaknesses personified.
"I'm quite capable of defending myself, and it isn't as if I will be going anywhere alone."
Abaddon started to look away. Lailah gently turned his head back towards her.
"But even if I was, you should trust me anyway. I've yet to fail to come home so far." She joked.
"It only takes one time."
"Indeed it does. But I have a fair bit more than just luck on my side to rely on, you know? You don't have to watch over me."
In his mind, Abaddon knew that. Hell, one of the things that he loved most about their wives was their capability. They didn't need him to do everything for them or their family.
But that also meant sometimes they didn't want him looking over them all the time either. And for a chronic worrier like Abaddon, that was a feat that was easier said than done.
"Fine... resting." He acquiesced.
Lailah smirked. "Are you now?"
"Mhm." Abaddon pretended to close his eyes.
Lailah seemed to find the gesture amusing. "That isn't really what I meant. But I'll take it."
Biting her lip, she lowered her hips down a bit until her exposed flesh was more closely in range.
"A kiss for the road?" She asked, a hitch in her voice betraying her inner sense of anticipation.
Abaddon cracked one of his eyes open.
He stared at her flower for a long time, displaying immense self-control. Even when her nectar dripped onto his lips, he had yet to react.
When he finally moved, it was only to bite her inner thighs and sensually.
...But that was as far as he went.
"That was mean." Eternally dignified and royal, Lailah almost seemed like she was going to pout. It was a sight most would label unthinkable.
"If I gave you everything you wanted now, what would you have to look forward to when you came home?" Abaddon cracked a small smile that made her feel like she was going to go insane.
"I always have something to look forward to as long as you are here." Lailah descended on top of her husband like a starved but rational wolf.
She bit his bottom lip twice as hard as he had bitten her. A rare display of aggression that both of them seemed more than just a little pleased by.
Lailah let her forehead rest on top of her husband's before things inevitably became too heated. Both of their breathing had somehow turned heavy over the course of who knew how long.
"...I promise that I will come home as quickly as I can." She smiled.
"....Any chance that you can come home even faster?"
Lailah chuckled. "Cute."
She finally climbed off her husband while leaving both of them in a more 'excitable' condition than they had been in before the conversation had even started to take place.
Abaddon looked at the rest of his wives, who were standing at the foot of the bed and shuffling their feet.
It was clear they were under the impression that they were about to see something significantly more stimulating.
"Disappointed?" Abaddon smirked back.
None of the girls would openly admit that they were.
Audrina just hiked up her dress and made knowing eye contact with her husband. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. Sooooo…?"
"Drina." Bekka rolled her eyes.
"I just want to know if he's tired-tired or... a little bit thirsty and tired."
"You're the thirsty one. Go take a cold shower." Lisa zapped her lover on the butt and she yelped.
Abaddon started to laugh as his eyelids began to feel heavy. He closed them once again, and his head settled back onto his pillow.
He didn't even feel himself doze off.
But once his mind actually allowed itself to rest, his form began to break apart into nothing.
What remained was a mass of divine energy and magic that was somehow lighter than air and denser than every black hole in creation.
However, the only sign that he was imperfect were the red cracks that seemed to be permeating his body.
His essence, his very foundation, had in fact been damaged.
Even though the girls already suspected this, seeing it was another matter entirely.
One by one, they soon turned their gazes to Erica and glared at her.
All: "You get in bed with him!"
"W-What!? But I feel fine, I didn't do nearly as much as he did-"
"GET IN THE BED!!"
"Fine!" Erica yelled back as she began aggressively removing her bathrobe and nightgown. "Bunch of bitches..." She grumbled.
"What was that!?" Valerie yelled back.
"I said I'm getting in bed!"
-
Izanami took several deep breaths as she steeled her overactive heart.
She didn't know why she was doing all of this. Calling her current course of action foolhardy would barely be scratching the surface of it.
But her feet would not allow her to turn herself around. Likely because she knew that it was the correct thing to do.
But it being the right thing to do didn't mean that it wasn't scary.
Izanami wished that things with Abaddon and the others were more... Solidified.
It would have been nice to lean on him at a time like this… he always had a way of making her feel more courageous than she actually was.
But being encouraged to wear trendy new clothes was a hair bit different than what she was attempting to do now.
'No time like the present…'
Izanami lifted her pale hand and knocked on the door twice.
After declaring her intent to enter, Izanami placed her hand on the cool handle and turned it to enter.
She ended up in a more simple bedroom than every other room in the house.
Inside, only one person was sitting on the bed.
A mature woman with perfect silver hair and bright orange eyes.
She only wore a simple dress that was curiously similar to a hospital gown.
The usual traditional makeup on her face had been wiped away at some point. Leaving her natural beauty on full display.
Surprise showed up on her face when she laid eyes on her latest visitor.
Even though no words had been spoken, it was very clear that the tension in the air wasn't going away any time soon.
"…Why have you come here?"
Izanami was hardly surprised by her unfriendly tone. "I heard that you were hurt. I wished to check on you..."
Amaterasu stared at her mother with deep suspicion.
Everything about her was different from memory.
The clothes, the hair, the timidity… it was all a new look for her.
And Amaterasu didn't know how she felt about it.
"Is this the dragon's understanding of imprisonment? Those garbs seem rather fashionable for prison attire."
"Tehom doesn't exactly have prisons anymore…" Izanami thumbed the zipper on her jacket. "They haven't for eons now."
"Ah, yes. There is only one prison that matters in the Abyss." Amaterasu recalled. "And Abaddon is a bit too lighthearted to even consider sending you there."
"Do you feel that is where I deserve to be sent?"
"The lives of those you took due to your troubles with father would certainly make the argument."
"…Perhaps they would." Izanami dropped her gaze to the floor. "And I would certainly deserve to face their judgment."
Amaterasu finally couldn't withhold her suspicion any longer. "You are different than before."
Izanami deigned to be a little more courageous and sat down on the chair next to her daughter's bed.
"Yes… a thousand years of bliss will do that." She sighed.
Amaterasu had no idea what her mother meant by '1,000 years of bliss'.
Or why she seemed so sad about something that was clearly supposed to be positive…