His Concubine (Book 2 of the Vanessa Solomon Series)

Chapter 22

  "Oh, you found him!" My mom shouted over the music as she stood next to a woman named Sarah I had been introduced to earlier. I gave her a friendly smile but she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Damarius. He was tall, and I hadn't met many men his height, so I was starting to get used to women staring at him. And not to mention he was so fucking handsome. 

"Why aren't you dressed up?" The woman asked as she looked up at him. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but you could barely see her eyes because of the black masquerade mask. She was an inch or two shorter than me, and much more petite. I scanned the room for the witch I met earlier as Damarius responded, "I don't dress up."

"Then why come to a Halloween party with no alcohol?"

I gave her a glare then because I knew damn well the men in the corner had beer in their cups. Most of them weren't even dressed up, and if they were, it was just a mask that they already took off 5 minutes after arriving. 

"He's my guest." I replied, locking eyes with her so she would know to watch her tone. 

She didn't say anything back, but she didn't look threatened either. She took another sip of her drink and walked off with my mother. I turned to the dancing crowd in the middle as I stayed close to Damarius.

"Is that her?" He leaned down to whisper in my ear. I looked in the direction he was and saw the tall black woman standing there stirring the juice on the table. 

I gave a nod. 

"She isn't a true witch. And if she is, a very weak one at that."

"Why do you say that?"

"I can sense her power, and she feels more human than you do."

I stared at her from across the room. "Are you telling me she's one of those wannabe witches that collect crystals and do yoga at night?"

He gave a small smile. "So you know of them."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. So if that's true, was she just messing with me when she asked what I was?"

"There's no way she would have known. I have the closest bond with you and I have only sensed it recently. And even then, I wasn't sure what it was."

The woman turned around and smiled when she saw us standing there watching her. She grabbed a drink off the table and began walking to a room in the back. I didn't like that she was going out of our sight, so I started to run after her when the lights suddenly went out.

"What the fuck?" I said as the music went out as well. We were all in complete darkness and I could feel Damarius pulling me against him. 

"There's another demon here," he whispered, putting his arm around my chest to keep me close.

        The lights suddenly turned back on and all of the people from the party were standing together in the center of the room where the fake graveyard was. I saw my mom and dad near the middle but couldn't seem to find Matt. None of them were moving as if they had been put into a trance, I tried to walk up to them but Damarius tightened his grip around me. 

"Who would have thought that an amateur witch could trick a demon as old as you, Damarius?"  His voice... it sounded the same as the demon that possessed my mother. A man with long white hair stepped out of the crowd, he had glowing white eyes and a long white robe on that brushed the floor when he walked. 

"Sergius." Damarius said before I could open my mouth. What the fuck was he doing here? Kamar said they were allowing me to visit my family before the Ceremony. 

"Thank you my Lord. I am honored that I got to help you," the woman said as she held her hands out in front of him as if waiting for a reward. He looked down at her and grabbed one of her wrists. She jumped at his touch, but didn't move away. 

"Your hands are filthy."

Her eyes widened. "My Lord, I just want to serve you. Please allow me to be your servant-"

He swung his hand so fast across her throat that her head flew across the room. My body froze as I watched her headless body flop onto the floor. My stomach became uneasy and Damarius tightened his grip around me so I wouldn't fall. Sergius looked at me but I could barely focus on him. After all the shit I had seen, that was still unsettling. I covered my mouth as I felt my head begin to swirl, closing my eyes as I took a few deep breaths.

"I didn't realize you had a weak stomach, Miss Solomon," the demon said as he looked at me with a grin. He turned to the crowd of people and put his hand on his chin as if thinking.

"Hmm. Who wants to go next?" He scanned the crowd. "Ah, you look annoying."

He waved his hand, motioning for someone to come over. A man in a black and red plaid shirt and jeans stepped out, holding a bear mask in his hand. He wasn't blinking, and his eyes had an odd shade of gray to them. I didn't know his name, but I did see him talking to my dad earlier. 

"Why are you here?" Damarius asked in a calm voice as if he was hiding his true emotions from us. 

"Your brother thought we would actually allow her to change our plans. He even gave himself up to us for punishment." He shook his head as he touched the man's face. "He really isn't fit to be King."

"Don't hurt him." I said once I found my voice.

"I don't plan on hurting anyone, Miss Solomon."

"Then why did you kill her?" I tried to avoid looking at the dead body between us and kept my eyes on him.

"Killing someone is not the same as hurting them. Some would even agree that killing themselves is a way to end the pain. Wouldn't you agree?"

I didn't answer him and just stood there in silence. There had been a time after Olive's death that I considered suicide, but I never had the willpower to do it. I knew how much it would hurt my family and I didn't want to put them through that.

"Where is my brother?" Damarius asked, taking the demon's focus off of me.

"He's resting. Amon had a little too much fun with him."

I remembered Kamar saying that Amon was the one he was looking forward to fighting. I knew how well Kamar could fight with a sword, so I was honestly surprised if he lost against him. But something told me that the fight probably wasn't fair at all considering that Sergius just killed a witch for asking to serve him. 

Sergius grabbed the man in the plaid shirt by the throat and began to squeeze.

"Don't!" I shouted, moving out of Damarius' reach. "Why the fuck are you here? Kamar told me The Council agreed to this."

He let out a laugh. "You really think we would let some mundane plans change our schedule?"

The man's face was starting to turn red and my heart was beating hard against my chest. I couldn't let one of my dad's friends die. I would never forgive myself.

"Let him go and tell me what you want," I said in a panic.

"I came to escort you to the Ceremony, and if you refuse, well... then I guess the party is over." He tightened his grip on the man's throat until I could hear him choking.

"Stop! I'll go."

His hand continued to squeeze.

"I said I will go!"

"I heard you. Did you expect me to stop?" He grinned, and suddenly his nails ripped through the man's neck until all he was squeezing was his spine. Damarius grabbed my arm so I wouldn't fall over incase I fainted, and I just let my body relax against his. My head was spinning, and now I was trying to keep my focus off of the two dead bodies in front of me as I went to my knees.

I heard footsteps coming towards us, and I looked up to see Sergius standing a few feet away. Those white eyes stared into mine as he held his hand out to me. "Shall we?"