Elisha's gaze fixated on the hourglass before her as the sand poured slowly. Her breaths were slow and precise, too calm for the thoughts racing through her mind. Her composure was so controlled it might mislead anyone close to her into thinking she was simply fascinated by the hourglass rather than believing the truth: she was anxiously waiting for an auspicious time.
It was only two hours till midnight, and her patience was slowly slipping away. She had dispatched her army early that day to penetrate the demon realm, but their hold was too powerful, withstanding their attacks and even the assaults of the human army and priests. It still stunned her to see that Moist was only interested in Lucifer and Sheba; among everything she should be worried about, it made Elisha wonder whether Moist sought to reclaim Lucifer or destroy Sheba before she woke up. She was not sure. They had ended their alliance after Aliadam's return, following Moist's coma and her belief that coming after Lucifer and Sheba would be the least of her worries since Aliadam was back and had determined to end her. She would rather focus on him than pursue her infatuation with Lucifer—but here she was, proving her wrong.
However, Elisha could not care less. She was going to make the most of the situation. Moist's army attacking the demon realm increased their chance of breaking its hold, and if they did, she knew exactly how to handle Moist and prevent her from harming Sheba—if she even had such plans.
Moreover, she had another plan, the very reason she was anxiously waiting with her gaze fixed on the hourglass. She had found a means to penetrate the demon realm seamlessly, directly into the Hollow Eden. While she had been desperately searching for ways to enter the demon realm before Lucifer took Sheba there, she had trusted that Aliadam would not risk suffering his people once more, so he would definitely ask Lucifer to leave the spirit kingdom. She began preparing beforehand and finally hatched the perfect idea.
Luckily for her and unfortunately for Lucifer, he had brought spring water into his Hollow Eden and even built a bathhouse inside. That was the riskiest thing he had done throughout this whole affair and, in her opinion, the most foolish. She did not know whether to call him stupid or simply think he was ignorant—maybe he was both.
Only two reasons could excuse this act of his: one, he either underestimated her, her influence over water and water bodies as the Siren Queen, and had no idea what awaited; or two, it was a trap. Yes, she was not going to make the mistake of underestimating an enemy—this might be a trap he had set to get a hold of her or maybe kill her—but that did not mean she was not going to take the bait.
He might be all-powerful and ruthless, but she too was no joke. He could have all the backups he wished for, but she only had to promise herself one thing: she was not going to let him mark Sheba, never! If he did, that would be game over. She understood how possessive the demon mating mark could be, not to mention one from the demon lord himself. It would give him total control over Sheba, forever, and not only would that break her heart, she was sure Sheba would never forgive her for it.
This was her only chance to make it up to her and make things right. It already hurt her so much remembering how sad Sheba sounded while speaking to her the last time she partially woke. She had blamed Elisha for everything and was not happy with her. That deeply hurt Elisha's feelings, and she wanted everything to change by the time Sheba woke.
She wanted Sheba to wake in her arms, away from Lucifer's possession and wrongful claim—right where she belonged: her bosom, her love, her warmth, and her undying affection. They were so good together; their love story and the times they spent together were the best moments of her life. Their endless yearning, exciting romance, and most pleasurable lovemaking were things she looked forward to having again, and there was no way she would let Lucifer take it all from her by making Sheba his.
It was still very unclear to her when Lucifer began to develop feelings for Sheba, but thinking about it now, she could not help imagining that maybe he had always had feelings for her and only held back because Sheba was already in love with her. Now that his chance was here, he would rather die than let it slip away. Well, he better prepare his grave—no way she was going to let him have his way.
She kept her senses sharp and her mind very ready, waiting for the right moment: once Sheba got into the bath. She did not care about scaring her right now; Sheba was not herself anyway, and by midnight when she fully awoke, she would definitely be grateful to her for saving her from an unbearable curse of a lifetime: being Lucifer's mate.
She was going to channel her powers from her Salt Kiss Keep, where she currently was, and connect with the bathhouse water. It had been taken from a river, so her powers could seamlessly pass through. She was going to use the same method she had used while trying to penetrate Aliadam's wall of fire over the spirit kingdom. Only this time, she did not mean to enter the demon realm herself—she only wished to take Sheba out of it. Going in herself would be riskier; that was Lucifer's territory anyway, and she anticipated he must have an upper hand over her there. Also, she did not sense any restrictions that could suppress her power there, so as much as she had fully prepared to carry out her plan, she could not help but think that maybe this was a trap.
Back when she did not know where they stayed, he had hidden Sheba well and put up several restrictions to the extent that she could not even sense their location using her influence over water. The same restrictions had been set up by Aliadam over the spirit kingdom.
Moreover, she believed she could still outsmart him. He must have anticipated her presence or personal descent by now, but she was going to take him by surprise. No way would he anticipate the move she was about to pull now, and that was why she had to wait for the very right moment.
Her will over the water would allow her to create a portal in it and suck Sheba in the moment she entered the bath, and even if Lucifer decided to act swiftly, it would only suck him in too. Honestly, she would not mind giving him a nice room in her Salt Kiss Keep to rest his lifeless body after she totally drained every single bit of life left in him.
Her plan was nearly perfect. She only waited patiently to sense Sheba's presence in the water, and once it came, she would act immediately. She had waited hours now, and as midnight drew near, her patience seemed to run out. She so dreaded to think that she had miscalculated—no way Sheba would not enter the bath; her wits had never misled her, not even once.
Half an hour till midnight and the time finally came. She sensed Sheba's presence in the water and acted at once. With all the power she could muster, she created the portal swiftly and immediately made to suck her in.
A few seconds into the process and she immediately felt something wrong. Not only did she stop sensing Sheba for a while, it seemed as if she had vanished completely. She panicked.
'What is going on?' she asked within, cold sweat running down her neck.
Without thinking it through or hesitating, she immediately jumped into the portal herself, determined to find out what really happened to Sheba and bring her to Salt Kiss Keep with her.
Little did she know, she had completely fallen into Lucifer's trap.
In the next moment, she appeared in the bathwater. Standing directly before her was Lucifer, a smug on his face and his ruby orbs brooding over her in victory.
"You are even more predictable than I imagined," he began, his smug turning into a graceful grin. "Did you actually think I would be so stupid as to underestimate you?"
"Where is she, you vile thing?" she demanded, not minding the possibility of her having already lost.
"You know, since you have always fought against my claim over Sheba, I believed it would be best to have you bear witness to me marking her. That way, you would not, for the rest of your life, challenge my possession over her ever again." His expression returned to smug.
"What do you mean?" Elisha did not like that she was confused at this very moment. "I am asking you Lucifer, what exactly do you mean by that?!"
Without words, Lucifer simply waved his hand over her and whispered, "Shush. Just sit back and enjoy the show." ...