His Concubine (Book 2 of the Vanessa Solomon Series)

Chapter 12

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Vanessa," I said with a friendly smile, not sure if I should offer my hand or not.

He smiled. "I'm Veer. I would offer my hand but I can read humans very well. And I'm sure you have some secrets you don't want me to see."

I gave a nod. "Yeah, thanks for that."

"Vanessa needs your help on breaking a blood oath."

"Oh, that's a bad spot to be in. May I ask what you made a blood oath for?"

"It wasn't me. It was the demon king."

He looked at Sarah with a disgusted look. "We don't help demons."

"No, but we help humans. And she needs our help. Please explain to him the situation you're in."

I did as she asked, and Veer looked displeased the whole time I talked. I knew it wasn't because of me personally, but it still made me uncomfortable.

Veer sighed as soon as I was done and shook his head. "It's very unfortunate that you got pulled into this mess. How did he find you?"

"Well, his brother is my demon servant."

"Ah, I see. You wanted to live."

His response made me a little weary and I had to ask, "Yeah, who wouldn't want to live?"

"If I was given the choice to die or be bonded with a demon for the rest of my life, I would definitely choose death."

I shrugged. "I didn't want to die."

The tension in the room was starting to pick up and Sarah must have felt it too because she said, "So what can you do about the blood oath? Can you break it?"

Veer sighed as he thought to himself. "Yes, I do have an idea, but it will take a lot from you to make it work." He looked at me with such an intense gaze.

"What do you need?"

"A little blood, a strand of your hair, and to see the demon's mark. Where is it on your body?"

My heart was racing as I placed my hand on my chest to let him know where it was. He smiled and gave a nod. "You will need to remove your shirt once I've made the ointment."

"What are you going to do?" I asked nervously as he walked into the kitchen and began pulling things from the cabinets.

"I'm going to make you an ointment to rub on your mark. It will temporarily remove your bond so you can perform the next task."

"Which is?"

He found a few herbs and gathered them up in a bowl before turning back to me.

"You will drink this potion as soon as you get back to the castle. You may feel a little off for a bit, but it'll wear off. And then I want you to find the demon king and get him alone. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, but how is that going to-"

"The potion will be working through your body. It will know what to do when you are near him. It shouldn't take long to break the bond."

"Is it safe for me to take? I mean, I won't die or anything, right?"

"No, I would never give this to a human if it would hurt them. Like I said, you will feel a little off for a while and then it will wear off."

He began stirring the items in a bowl and Sarah went to go help him. They talked amongst themselves as I took a seat on the couch. I was nervous about how the potion would make me feel, and I wasn't even sure if I trusted them enough to drink it. But neither one of them had tried to hurt me, and I believed that they wouldn't. But I don't know what other motives they had. 

        Many minutes passed until Sarah walked over to me and asked me to take off my shirt. I slowly removed the cloak, wondering if Damarius would instantly be able to find me, and she said, "My house has a spell on it. He won't be able to find you."

I gave a nod, and continued to take off my shirt. I stood before her in just my bra and pants as she dipped her fingers into the clear ointment. She studied the marking on my chest as if she had seen it before. Her eyes widened for just a moment as she rubbed it on me, and then they shrunk back to normal. Was she able to see things too, like Veer? The ointment immediately made my skin go numb, and I was starting to feel a little dizzy.

"Have a seat," she instructed, and I sat down on the couch.

"Why do I feel dizzy?"

"The ointment helps to temporarily break your bond with the demon. It's nothing permanent, but it's enough to take a lot of energy from you. You may not have noticed, but his powers can run through you and make you feel stronger."

I didn't realize how much Damarius had an effect on me, and it made me wonder if I was always this weak without him. 

"You can put your shirt back on now," she said as she walked back into the kitchen.

I hurried and put it on before Veer could come over. He hadn't looked the whole time while I was topless, so I was thankful for that.

"It's done," he announced from the kitchen, and they both began walking over to me.

"Now remember, drink this as soon as you get back to the castle," he instructed, and handed me a small glass vial.

"Thank you, I will."

"I hope after this oath is broken that you can get away from them. I know the servant has ownership over your soul, but if you'd like to get rid of that one day, come back and see me."

I gave a nod, not really sure of what to say to that, so I just stuck with, "Thank you again."

Sarah lead me out of her house and back into the woods. I was glad she let me wear her cloak again until I got back to the castle. It was dark out now, and I knew they had to be wondering where I was. Kamar had invited me and Damarius to dinner, so I hoped I would be back in time to get ready. 

    It didn't take that long to get back to the castle, so as soon as I saw it I handed Sarah her cloak and chugged the potion. She smiled as I handed her back the vial and said, "Good luck!"

"Thank you," I replied, and climbed back up the vines that lead to my balcony. She waved her hand once I reached the top and the vines went back to normal. I hadn't ate anything all day and the potion didn't help with that feeling in my stomach. I felt light headed, and had to prop myself against the wall as I made my way inside. I couldn't seem to stand as I felt my legs start to wobble. I closed the sliding glass doors and collapsed on the floor. The door to the room suddenly opened and I looked up to see Avery. He looked surprised to see me as if he had been looking for me for a while. 

"Where have you-"

"I need to see the King," I interrupted him as the room began to spin and my head hit the floor.