I woke up in Kamar's bed and him and Damarius were standing over by the fireplace talking. It's like they could sense it as soon as I woke up because they both turned their heads as I opened my eyes. I sat up slowly and Damarius appeared beside the bed.
"How do you feel?" He asked as he reached out to touch me, and suddenly just his presence sent a burning wave of rage throughout my body. I immediately pushed him out of the way and locked my eyes on Kamar. He was the one that I wanted right now.
"Avery said you were asking for me," he said with a smile, but I wasn't happy. My body was full of rage and all I wanted to do was kill him. I reached up and grabbed him by the throat and dug my nails into his skin. A red light came off the tips of my fingers and into his skin and he let out a laugh.
"Someone has been playing with dark magick," he said with a laugh. He grabbed me by the wrist and forced my body onto the floor.
"Kamar!" Damarius yelled, quickly appearing beside us to pull him off of me.
"She's been bewitched. I can feel the magick coming off her body."
Damarius looked down at me as I squirmed on the floor. "Get off of me!" I was angry, so fucking angry. I reached up to grab him again and this time when my hand touched his skin I forced him to turn into his demon form. It caught him by surprise as his body shifted and he quickly moved off of me. His eyes were glowing red as he put some distance between us and I could see the anger that was running through me now running through him.
"What is that?" Damarius asked.
"A furorem potion. It's used to drive demons insane and shift into their demon forms." (furorem means anger)
"But why is she angry then?"
"Because she's waited too long to release it and now it's eating away at her."
I could see the worry on Damarius' face, but I still felt too angry to care at the moment. I let out a scream and tried to reach for Kamar again, but he moved his foot away.
"We've got to get it out of her."
"Do you want to kill yourself?" Kamar asked with his arms crossed over his chest. He was slowly turning back to his normal self and that beautiful cream skin was back.
"I won't let it hurt her." He reached down to grab me and pulled my body against his chest. His body immediately started to grow as his skin turned black. I wrapped my arms around him and could feel black fur coming out of his back. His body was growing so large I thought he was turning into a werewolf, but he didn't have a snout. I looked up to see two large horns coming out of his forehead and those bright yellow eyes looking down at me. He had to be at least 10 feet tall and his torso and arms were much bigger than a normal human body. He was so muscular as my hand touched his back and I could feel how solid he was. I ran my hands up a little higher and felt something coming out of his back. Wings? I tried to pull myself back but his arms were locked behind me so I couldn't move. I didn't feel that angry anymore and I could finally think clearly. I could see the veins in his arms beginning to bulge out as he continued to absorb the magick coming out of my body. I felt something wrapping around my leg and I looked down to see a tail. It had hair on the tip of it and gently wrapped around my legs as he held me. His legs weren't even human anymore as I studied their odd shape. They reminded me of Imp legs I had seen in books I read in college, or maybe even very large goat legs. He had large animal feet with long sharp claws. I had a small urge to rub the fur on his back but I was scared to touch him anymore than I already was. His arms were getting tighter around my back and I was starting to feel the pressure on my rib cage.
"Damarius, don't hurt yourself," I said to him, a little in shock by his demon form. He was so strong and it seemed like he was barely using any of his strength to hold me there. I looked up at him again and he had closed his eyes as if he was fighting a war inside himself.
"Damarius, please-"
"I can take it. Just hold onto me until it's left your body." His voice was barely shaking, but I could hear the tiny strain in his voice. I did as he said and locked my arms around his waist. It felt like my chest was starting to bruise as his grip got tighter and I had to tell him, "You're holding me too tight."
He didn't answer me as he struggled to control his anger. I started to gasp for air and tried to push away from him but he wouldn't budge.
"You're going to break her," Kamar said as he stood beside us, suddenly very concerned as his glowing red eyes stared at me.
"It's almost gone. Just a little more." And then I felt it. Whatever I had drank earlier finally left my body and all of the red light I had seen earlier escaped from my mouth. Damarius stayed in his demon form as my body collapsed against his and he loosened his grip. He still seemed tense, and when I looked up to see his glowing yellow eyes, he quickly handed me to his brother.
"I need to get some air," he said in his demonic voice that sounded more animal than human. He disappeared out of the room and I was left standing there leaning against Kamar's chest. He looked down at me and made a sucking noise with his tongue as if I had done something bad.
"You have been very naughty today, my little human."
**** I didn't have the energy to discuss everything that happened, and I definitely didn't have the energy to attend the dinner he wanted us to have. I laid down on his couch as his servant brought me up some food and water while I waited for Damarius to return. I could see how angry he was when he released me, and I could feel it in the tightness of his grip. I wondered if he could feel our bond now, but I knew I still had that cream on my chest. I needed to wash it off. I headed into Kamar's bathroom and was completely blindsided when I realized he was taking a shower.
"Dammit, Kamar! Why would you leave the door cracked if you were in here?" My face turned red as I immediately turned around.
"It's not my fault you couldn't hear the water running."
He was right. I should have heard the water running but I was too busy thinking about when Damarius would be back. I gave a sigh and began walking out of the bathroom when he reached for my arm. He pulled me into the shower and I wanted to kill him.
"You're getting my clothes wet!"
"Then take them off. I've been curious to see how much skin those tattoos cover." He stared down at me as he stood before me completely naked. I was trying so hard not to look below his waist, and it was quite easy since his face was so attractive. Those hazel eyes were mesmerizing, and for a moment I thought I would get lost in them. The water ran down his chest, grazing every indention until it reached his nipple. I wanted to catch that water with my mouth before it fell off, but I quickly looked away and stepped out of the shower so I could dry off.
"Let me know when you're done." I called from the bedroom and slammed the bathroom door behind me.
I changed into some dry clothes and waited on the couch for Kamar to get out of the shower. I looked at the time to see that it had been over an hour since Damarius had left. I hoped that he was okay.
"I'm done, human. It would have been more pleasing for the both of us if you would have joined me," Kamar said as he stepped out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist. His dreads were hanging freely down his back, looking even more handsome and relaxed. He usually always had them tied behind his head, but now some of the strands were hanging in front of his chest and he looked even more attractive. Dammit I needed to focus on something else.
"Put some clothes on," I said after glancing at his half naked self. He grinned.
"I think you're mad because I'm right."
"Yeah right..." I whispered to myself.
He suddenly appeared behind me on the couch and tilted my head back so I could look up at his face. I jumped at his presence and began to sit up until he placed his hand on my shoulder to hold me still. He leaned down so our faces were close together as he said, "Don't be coy with me. I can sense every reaction your body makes. And I know you would have enjoyed that shower with me."
He ran his hand through my hair and I quickly sat up and came to my feet. "Just let me know when Damarius get's back."
I shut the bathroom door behind me and considered locking it, but I'm pretty sure a small mundane lock wouldn't keep out a powerful demon. I did it anyway just to calm my nerves.
**** I decided to take a shower instead of a bath so I could get it done more quickly. I rinsed out my hair and took my time shaving my body so I wouldn't accidentally cut myself. I loved how good it felt to smell the body wash on my skin as the warm water rinsed it off of me. This was the most peace I had felt all day and I didn't want to get out. I heard a knock at the door as it began to open and I quickly shielded my breasts with my arms as I said, "Get out Kamar."
"It's just me," Damarius said as he cracked the door just enough so he could speak and not see me.
"Oh thank goodness. Are you okay? I was worried about you."
"I'm fine now. I had to... relieve some of that anger before it consumed me."
"What did you do?"
"It's probably best not to talk about it right now. But I'll definitely need a shower when you're done."
My chest tightened and I knew what my body wanted me to say. "Would you like to shower with me?"
"It's probably best if I don't right now. Just in case any of that magick is still lingering around in your body."
I could feel the sadness forming in my chest and I just covered it up with fake happiness and said, "Okay. I'll be out shortly."
He didn't say anything else, but he hesitated before closing the door and let me finish. I knew that he would want an explanation of what happened today, and I hoped he would forgive me for it. I just wanted to find a way to break the blood oath but I ended up causing him pain instead. I quickly finished washing off and putting on my night clothes before walking into the bedroom to find it empty. I wondered if he went to use another shower since I'm sure this castle had a hundred of them. I sighed, feeling let down that he wasn't waiting for me. I went ahead and climbed into bed with my phone sitting on the nightstand and tried to get some sleep.
**** I didn't know what time it was, but the sun was barely up and my phone was ringing on the nightstand.
"Hello?" I asked in my scruffy morning voice.
"Hey baby! Did I wake you? I thought you were usually up running this early in the morning."
"Hey mom. What time is it?"
"6:36. Are you already packed for this weekend?"
I fell silent because I couldn't recall what she was talking about. Was there a holiday coming up? It was too soon for Thanksgiving, and the closest thing was Halloween."
"You forgot, didn't you?" She sighed. "Our Halloween party is this weekend and we bought you plane tickets so you could come stay with us."
There was no way I could go this weekend because the ceremony was on Saturday and there was no way The Council would push that back. I don't think? That would be nice to buy some more time. I'd have to ask Kamar about it.
"Oh yeah, I remember. How many plane tickets did you buy?"
"Two, just in case you had a boyfriend you've been hiding from us." She laughed. I had never brought any real boyfriends around my mom, and she was always wondering why I didn't date more often.
"When does the plane leave?"
I heard her digging through papers until she found the right one. "It says Friday at 9:15 AM. The tickets should be in your mailbox."
"I'll go check it as soon as I can. I'll have to give you a call back mom, I'm kind of busy at the moment."
"Okay, but you better come this weekend! We haven't seen you since last year!"
"I know. I miss yall too."
"Love you."
"Love you too." And we hung up. I sat on the edge of the bed and wondered how the hell I was going to make this work. I stood up and headed over to the fireplace to get warm and that's when the door opened.
"Good morning," It was Damarius.
He was wearing a long sleeve green sweater, black pants, and black shoes. He always looked so cozy and handsome. I smiled as he walked over to me and sat down on the couch. I flopped down beside him and held out my hand. He looked down at it as if he didn't know what I wanted.
"Just checking if I'm still broke," I said with a smile, and he softly touched my hand to see if the magick was still there. We both let out a breath of relief and smiled.
"I'm glad. Now, do you want to tell me what happened yesterday?" He asked as he stretched his arm behind me on the couch.
"I found a witch in the woods that said she knew another witch that could help me break the blood oath. They made me a potion and rubbed some kind of ointment on me so that you wouldn't be able to feel our bond. They said all I had to do was drink the potion when I got back to the castle and it would somehow break the blood oath. They never told me what it actually did or what would happen besides me feeling dizzy. I feel so stupid." I rested my hand on my forehead as I closed my eyes. I felt his large hand grab my wrist and hold it gently in his lap.
"I know how badly you don't want this, and it honestly makes me happy that you went out of your way to try and break it. But it was dangerous, and if something would have happened to you I would have been so angry. I don't want you making decisions like that on your own. Can you promise me that you won't do something like that again?"
I gave a nod. "I promise. I'm so sorry if I caused you any pain. I hated seeing you that way last night."
"You hated my demon form?"
"No, I meant I just hated seeing you be so angry because I caused it. But your demon form was shocking..."
He reached his hand up and cupped the side of my face. "I would do anything to protect you, and that has nothing to do with our bond. I want you to stay alive so I can be with you."
I couldn't help but smile at his words and I wanted so badly to give him a kiss, but I knew how he made my body react.
"Oh, I have some news... I forgot that my family is having a Halloween party this weekend and they already bought me a plane ticket."
"But the ceremony is this Saturday."
"I know. Is there anyway they can move it back? Maybe say I got a cold or something. If they were so high strung about training Kamar to be a good King, they've got to have some kind of sense."
"We can ask him later at dinner."
"Oh, we're still doing that? Just the three of us?"
"No, unfortunately, he just wants it to be you and him. But I won't be far."
"Why just the two of us?"
He shrugged. "He likes you. And he seems to think that you like him back, but I get in the way when he tries."
"I don't want to be with him, Damarius."
"I know," he smiled. "So just go to the dinner with him and try to enjoy yourself. I'll see you right after."
He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up.
"Oh, I guess the sooner we find out about going to see my family, I'll need to go to my apartment and check my mail."
"Are they expecting you to go alone?"
"No, they sent me two plane tickets. I want you to come with me."
He smiled. "I would like that."