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Etaya's gaze widened in the dark cell of the celestial prison. She tightened her hold on the chains. A cool slip of energy caressed her back and she froze. Her chest seized with unknown fear. 

No, she thought, as she closed her eyes. This couldn't be true. She was not sure that she could trust the sensation on her back—the gooey, cold, slither like that of a snake. It was merely her mind playing tricks. 

But then it grew stronger as it slithered further up, and Etaya heard him speak through the dense fog that had gathered around him and her, "I was waiting to get close to you, wifeeee," Seraph hissed in a familiar voice that sounded muffled sound of like nails against glass. 

Etaya stilled as her body trembled. Tension crept in her soul. Her lips quivered and in a shaky voice she said, "Wh— what are you doing here? H— how did you find me?" 

Seraph slithered all around her body. His head emerged from behind, it extended and faced her. "Where would a husband go without his wife? And I remember you running away with me because you loved me. I intend to stay with my love… forever." He brought his fingers on her cheek and caressed it in feathery light sensations. Then he looked at the chains she was bound with. "You do look… trapped." 

Etaya's eyes were wide as she moved her head back. She knew that Seraph was here for revenge. However, her mind started forming devious plans immediately. "I still love you Seraph," she said, with her eyes darting in the haze to see his face. "I have been waiting against hope for you." 

He disentangled himself from her as if amused and slithered over the chain that tied her hand. With his legs up and face facing her, he asked, "That's so sweet, Etaya. You loved me so much that you destroyed my body without telling me?" He brushed a finger on her cheek and then took it in her ear. 

And Etaya screamed as icy shards of cool energy entered her brain. "Nooooo!" It was as if someone had stabbed her on the inside. 

He withdrew his finger from her ear and cooed, "I would love to hear about it, wife." He rested his head over the chain and stared into her eyes. His body was nothing but gray energy that peeled off in smoke and dense fog. 

"You have to believe me, Seraph," she said, panting with pain after he withdrew his finger. "I have always loved you. Why would I destroy your body? I wanted you to come back. It was— it was Iona who destroyed your body. Not me." She shook her head vehemently. "Did you ever think that it was Iona who discovered the coffer in which you were lying, not me? She weaved lies that you believed. I wasn't the one, it was Iona. Trust me." 

Seraph slipped down the chain and came to the floor. He stood in front of her and tutted her. "It's too late for any kind of lies my dear Etaya. Why don't you and I dance to celebrate my return?" He slipped his hand on her waist and tugged her near him making her wrench against the chains. They bit in her flesh. 

"Ahh!" she shrieked in pain. "Don't, don't!" 

But Seraph pulled her closer and started swaying with her. The chains rattled and sank in her flesh. His pace increased and he pushed her back and forth and then tried to twirl her. She screamed and screamed in pain, begging him to leave her, but he didn't. When she was numb with pain, he left her and then slithered right over the chain that was tied on her leg. "Now tell me Etaya, you always loved me?" 

There was blood trickling down her wrists and ankles, her body was writhing with pain so immense that she didn't know what was even happening. 

"Etaya?" he called her. "Do you want another dance?" 

She shook her head weakly. In a breathless voice she said, "No Seraph, I don't. Please I do love you. Just kill me and take me with you. Please Seraph, if you want your revenge, then kill me." She thanked the demon that she had vowed that she would return every time she died. And she had to take chances, she had to provoke or lure Seraph into killing her because the celestial prison was like hell to her. "Kill me Seraph. I want to be with you… always." 

Seraph slithered on her body and reached the chain of her hand. He sat on it and crossed his legs. "You want me to kill you?" 

She nodded feebly. "I want to drift with you to the Land of Gaira, away from all this. I am fed up, Seraph. And you have to help me this one last time." 

The fog around him shifted and his face that was half covered with it, was now covered fully. A wail sounded from within. "I helped you—" he said in an agonized tone. "I always helped you. I gave up my life for you and existed in this form for so many years. For what?" He cried. "For your cause. I always helped you." Suddenly the spirit vanished from the chain and stood right in front of her, it's eyes bulging out, its fangs bared, hissing. "And you— what did you do? You have made me drift in this form forever. My crimes are so gargantuan that I won't be accepted in the nice gates of the Land of Gaira. They are going to trap me in the worst one. And I can't even live properly in this realm." He gripped her neck and squeezed it. "Look what you've done to me!" 

She choked and coughed. Tears ran out of her eyes. She closed them. Yes, this is what she wanted. Kill me, she thought and I will run away. Suddenly, she felt his grip loosening. Panting for air, she sucked in a sharp breath and opened her eyes. She found him staring at her. "You thought I was going to kill you?" he asked, then tipped his head back and laughed in a sound that came out as a hiss. The spirit slithered to one of the chains on her hand and rested there. "I am not going to kill you," he said. 

"Why?" she lashed, desperate. "Are you not man enough?" 

Seraph's spirit froze at the provocation. But then he sighed. "No, it didn't work," he said and rocked on the chain. "I won't be killing you today." 

Etaya screamed at him out of frustration. "You were always a loser and you still are!" 

He turned his head to the other side, as if tired. "Maybe…" he said and then closed his eyes. "I am here for a long time, Etaya. After all, we are husband and wife. We will have to stay together, till death do us part." He chuckled. "That doesn't apply in our case." 

Fear surged through her. As if the torture of her brother wasn't enough, now her husband had also come. She was going to ask Ian to kill her. Weak and tired as hell, she closed her eyes and slipped into darkness. When she opened them, she found that Seraph had wound himself around her leg. "What are you doing?" she asked. 

"Shh… Ian is coming," he hissed. 
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