The Devil’s Fire by Mariam El-Hafi

AlthaiaI woke up from my deep slumber, stretching and feeling just how sore my body was. It was the best sleep I have ever had in my life, and it was most likely due to all the sex. Damiano really meant it when he said it wasn’t over yet. At some point, we had fallen […]

AlthaiaThe car coming to a stop woke me up. I had fallen asleep as the ride to wherever he was taking us took a while to get there. I looked out of the window but there wasn’t much to see as it looked like we were in an underground parking lot.“Where are we?” I asked

Althaia“Mmhh, this is so good!” I stuffed pieces of meat in my mouth. Michael’s surprise was to take me to a Korean restaurant he came to often, and we were having the best Korean barbecue I had ever had! It was so mouthwatering I couldn’t stop eating. Even the kimchi was so delicious that my

Althaia“So, why exactly can’t Michael come and get me?” I asked again. I was in Damiano’s office, trying to knock some sense into that thick head of his.“I don’t like him.” He replied curtly and he continued to look through some papers that were s*atered around on his desk.“Well, I do!” His eyes snapped to

Althaia“I gave birth to you! I suffered for hours for you to come out of my vagina!” My mom yelled at me through the phone.“Mom – ”“You’re my only child and you have forgotten all about me!” She said dramatically.“Mo – ”“I let you go out for a little, and now look at you, not

Damiano“You’re getting slow.” I slammed Rafaelle down on the training mat. He quickly got up again and threw his leg for a sidekick, aiming for my head. I blocked his kick, holding onto his leg, and kicked the other, making him fall with a loud thud.“All right, I’m done.” He groaned as he stayed down.

AlthaiaI woke up to the most pounding headache I have ever experienced in my life. My muscles were aching like crazy, and my mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert.G*d… What did I do to myself?I was sprawled out on the bed. My eyes were barely open due to the bright sunlight that streamed

AlthaiaI made my way back to the party after I had changed. I had to freaking hold onto my top as I made a run for it to my room, and was lucky I didn’t bump into anyone. I had no choice but to open the gown bag that was sent to me earlier and

AlthaiaI went silent as I blinked at him.Then I burst out in laughter.“Oh my… That’s like the oldest excuse in the book.” I wiped the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard. Damiano stared at me blankly, probably thinking I had lost it.“You didn’t strike me as the person who would make jokes, but

AlthaiaI was definitely getting my workout done with all these stairs. Especially when I was wearing heels, that was a whole new kind of workout.For me, at least.I walked down the last steps and looked at the scenery in front of me. It was beautifully set up, but then again, this manor was out of