I had been marked, again, and now I belonged to two demons. I was so angry that he had did that without my permission that I refused to even ask him about going to see my family. I needed time away from him, and that's exactly what I was going to get.
"I need to go see my family," I said to Damarius as I sat on his couch. He was standing by the window watching the snow fall. He hadn't said much since we showered, and I didn't blame him.
"It's unwise to see them right now. The Council is expecting you."
"They'll have to wait."
He looked at me with a serious face. "Vanessa, this isn't a game. You can't just expect them to pardon you when-"
"I don't care!" I came to my feet as I raised my voice. "Call Kamar and I will let him know."
He looked at me for a few moments before he pulled out his cell and handed it to me.
I listened to it ring a few times before he answered.
"Salve?"
"It's Vanessa."
"Oh, have you decided to come back?"
"No. I called to tell you that the ceremony will need to be postponed."
"And why is that?"
"Because I have somewhere to be, and if The Council is really trying to make me your concubine, then they should respect that it was already planned before they picked a date."
He laughed. "You expect me to tell The Council to postpone the ceremony because of your mundane plans?"
"Yeah, I do. If you want to be anywhere near my good graces, you'll figure out a way."
I could hear him sigh. "You're mad about the mark."
"You didn't even ask me!"
"I knew you would say no."
"Then why do it?!" I could hear the anger in my voice and I could see Damarius moving closer to me out the corner of my eye.
"As evil as I may seem to you, I do want you to be protected. Now that I have marked your body, I will be able to sense when someone even lays a finger on your skin."
"I had enough protection."
"My brother is very good, but since we both care for the same woman, you can never have enough protection. And... I didn't want anyone else touching your body before I did."
I could feel my cheeks turning red. "You're such a jerk."
"Perhaps. But that is the truth."
"When will you remove it?"
"The mark? I don't plan on it."
I balled my free hand into a fist. "You know I care for Damarius. If he can never touch me again I will never forgive you."
"Do you lust for him that much?"
"It isn't just lust. And you have taken away so much from me already, and now I can't even lay with the person I care about? How will I feed him?"
"He can still feed from your energy without touching you, it just won't be as... exciting."
We both became quiet for a few moments and I had to check the phone to make sure he was still there.
He gave a sigh. "I will mention this to The Council, but don't leave before I give you an answer."
"Fine." I waited for him to say something else, but once I realized he wasn't going to I hung up.
I handed the phone back to Damarius and sat down on the couch.
"Are you hungry?"
"No, I'm fine. I think I just need a nap."
He gave a nod. "You're safe here. Would you prefer to nap in the bed?"
"No, the couch is fine."
He gave a single nod and walked out of the room. I wasn't sure where he had gone, but a few seconds later he came back with a blanket and pillow. I smiled up at him.
"Thank you."
He layed the blanket on top of me as I turned on my side. I wanted to touch him, but knowing that I couldn't now only made me upset. His eyes met mine and I knew he could sense it. We were both in agreement that Kamar would pay for this, even if he was being honest about protecting me.
**** When I awoke, I looked around for a clock to see that I had slept for a solid 3 hours. I didn't have my cell or any belongings with me, and the only clothes I had on was the over-sized shirt and shorts Damarius had lent me. I heard him talking on his cell in the other room, but I couldn't understand what he was saying since it was in Latin. I slowly sat up on the couch and waited for him to come back. He must of sensed me wake because it was almost immediate when he hung up and came back in.
He smiled down at me. "The Council has approved it."
"Really? That's great," I tried to sound excited about it but knowing some group of demons were controlling my life really pissed me off. "I need to get my belongings from Kamar's castle, and the plane tickets should be in my mailbox."
He gave a nod. "I will gather your things from Kamar and take you to your apartment."
He disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and I came to my feet to fold the blanket. Under completely different circumstances, I would have liked to introduce Damarius as my boyfriend to my family, but considering that we can't even touch right now, they would probably find that strange. I sighed and shook my head. "How can you be such a dick, Kamar?"
**** I couldn't explain how nervous I was about taking Damarius home to meet my parents. Did he even realize that they were going to think he was my boyfriend? And if so, how would he feel about that? I gave a big exhale as our plane began to land, and it was only less than an hour when we would be standing before my parents as lovers. Damarius carried my bags as we stood on the sidewalk, waiting for our taxi to pick us up. I held out my hand at the nearest one, and he stopped in front of us and popped his trunk.
"Thank you," I told Damarius as he loaded my bags, and then we slid into the backseat as I gave the driver the address. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF VANESSA! I wanted to run around outside to blow off some energy, but I was now stuck inside a moving taxi with my demon servant and headed to my parent's house. God, be with me.
"Are you going to faint?" Damarius asked as he studied me with a concerned look.
I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."
"You're pale, and breathing quicker than normal. Is it because of me?"
I chose my words carefully. "You're the first guy I've brought home to my parents since high school. It's a very big deal to them. And I don't really know how you feel about this whole thing..." I let my voice trail off as I looked at him with a questioned face, hoping he would tell me what he was thinking.
"I am happy to join you on this journey back home. Family is important to you."
His response was short, and didn't give me much of a clue to what was going on in that demon head of his. I decided to push the subject a little more.
"You realize they're going to think you're my boyfriend, right?"
"Yes. I suspected that."
"You don't feel weird about acting like my boyfriend to meet my family?"
"No because I truly have feelings for you. This will be no act."
I hadn't seen my parents since last Thanksgiving and it was going to be such a relief to see them again. I stared out the window and watched all the cars pass by. It wasn't snowing here like it was in Colorado, but it was still in the 40's and had a chilly wind. All of the leaves were on the ground and not many people were out walking around. I wondered who all was going to be at my parent's house. It was the same house I had grew up in, and where I first met Damarius. The thought made my heart race, and I tried to quiet my mind as we made our way across town.
Seeing my parent's house for the first time in a while felt so abnormal. The large willow tree was still out back and blowing beautifully in the wind. I remembered seeing Damarius standing beside it that one night and staring through my window. It frightened me, but now that I knew him, it wasn't so frightening at all. Damarius paid the driver and retrieved our bags as I studied the cars in their driveway. I didn't recognize any of them, so I'm guessing everyone had gotten a new car in the past couple of years since I'd been gone. There were about 5 cars in their driveway, and my heart was beating faster and faster as we made our way up the driveway.
"I'm going to go ahead and apologize if my family seems a little outspoken. They can be a handful," I said to Damarius as we got closer to the front door.
"I'm sure they're wonderful," he responded respectively, and we stood in front of the door. My finger hesitated over the door bell, but it seemed I didn't need to press it anyway...
"VANESSA'S HERE!" My mom announced as she swung the door open and wrapped her arms around me. "Wow, when did you dye your hair black?" She looked so surprised by it I almost forgot that she hadn't seen me with it. I still didn't know why my hair had turned dark, but Damarius and Kamar didn't see it as a problem so I never worried about it. My mom had blonde hair that was shoulder length like always, and she had on a bright red sweater and black pants. She looked like she may have lost some weight, but she had never really been big. She was probably around 190 pounds, but it looked great on her. She pulled back from the hug and turned those gray eyes to Damarius. I'm pretty sure I swayed as I felt my head go light as a feather. Oh God, what is she going to do...
"So you're the reason my daughter hasn't been calling me," she said with a smile, and pulled him in for a hug. I think Damarius was surprised because his entire body stiffened as he didn't know whether to hug her back or not.
"Not a hugger, I'm guessing?" She asked when she pulled back from him. She looked him up and down and said, "Wow! You're so tall. Do you play any sports? You look very fit." She, embarrassingly, squeezed his arm muscles and I swear I wanted to crawl under a rock. I laughed at her to cover up my nervousness and grabbed her hands.
"Yeah he loves sports! Let's go see everyone else," I said to her, and she happily led us inside. I shot a glance up at Damarius' face and noticed that he was smiling quite a bit. He used to not smile as much when I first met him, but now, I enjoyed those moments when I got to see those straight white teeth.
As soon as we shut the door behind ourselves, I felt every pair of eyes in the room turn to us. I knew who they were staring at, and it was my demon servant. He was taller than everyone here, and he had to bend his neck to walk under every doorway. I was nervous, and wanted to find a quiet spot in the room where no one would bother us. It was kind of a bad thing to say when I hadn't seen these people in so long, but the energy in the room was overwhelming.
"I'll take your bags," my mom said, and gently took my luggage from Damarius.
"Eyy cuz!" My cousin, Leon, said as he approached me with his short blonde hair and deer hunter outfit. He always wore camo, even when he wasn't hunting. He had striking blue eyes and an eyebrow piercing that must have been recent because I didn't remember it before. He was about 6 foot even and pretty skinny, probably around 160 pounds. He gave me a big hug and then extended his hand to Damarius.
"You must be the boyfriend. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well."
"You might want to avoid grandma. You know how she is about..." He nodded his head towards Damarius, and I did know what he meant. I came from a southern family, but they weren't all rednecks and farmers. Leon liked to deer hunt, but he also liked to skateboard and listen to rap. My mom was a nurse, and loved to cook for the family. My dad owned a car garage and fixed cars for a living since he retired from being a lawyer. My mom could retire if she wanted to, but she enjoyed helping people too much. And sitting around at home just wasn't her thing. Now my grandmother was a different story... She was in her late 70's and very aware of what she said and did. Even if she tried to play dumb most of the time she said something offensive. She was stuck in her old ways, like most older people, and she didn't care what came out of her mouth. I was hoping she was in a good mood today and stayed away from us. My eyes scanned the room and there was about 5 people here that I didn't know. I guessed they were neighbors or friends of my parents', so I just gave everyone a friendly smile and headed into the kitchen.
"Your daughter is here," my mom said again, and my dad was sitting at the kitchen bar next to a guy I didn't recognize. He had long blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail, and beautiful blue eyes like most people in this town. Damn, I didn't realize how many people here had blue eyes. My dad came to his feet and gave me a hug.
"It's so good to see you daddy!" I said with a smile, and he squeezed me tightly.
"You too, honey." He kissed me on the cheek and then turned to Damarius. They stood there in silence for a few seconds too long as my dad took all of him in. And then he extended his hand.
"I'm Troy," he said with a blank face, not really smiling or showing any emotion. My dad usually liked to play the hard ass, so I hoped Damarius could take it.
"I'm Damarius." He shook his hand firmly, and I think my dad was surprised by how tall he was. No one around here was that tall, so I knew everyone was going to be staring a lot while we were here.
"Gah, it's been forever since I've seen you," the blue eyed blonde guy said as he sat at the bar staring at me. Shit, we knew each other. I hated it when I couldn't remember someone but they could remember me. I felt very rude, but I just couldn't figure it out.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. But I don't recognize you."
He came to his feet and he was an inch or two taller than my dad, making him the second tallest guy in the house.
"It's me, Matt."
"Sherry's cousin? The one I talked to on the phone the night we-" I cut myself off, and realized I didn't want to bring that night back up. Instead, I walked over to him and gave him a hug.
"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you! It's nice to see you Matt!"
He wrapped his arms around my back but didn't give a tight squeeze. I wonder if he did that on behalf of Damarius standing right behind us.
"Is Sherry here, too?" I asked, hoping to be reunited with one of my best friends, but Matt shook his head.
"No, she went to go visit our family in another state. She really misses you though."
"I miss her too. Why didn't you go with her? It's your family too."
He gave a shrug. "I've grown closer to your family than I have my own. And I was hoping to get to see you since I've missed you the past couple times."
"Where do you work now?"
"With your dad, actually. But I still do computer programming on the side. It's always been a hobby of mine."
"You work on cars with my dad?" That was a surprise to me. It wasn't because I didn't think he was a car guy, but I just didn't realize how close him and my dad had become.
"Yeah, it's actually very similar to computers after you learn about the wiring and such. And he let's me do the programming on most of the cars. So he needs me," he teased my dad, and my dad just rolled his eyes.
"Needing you would be me being desperate. You wouldn't believe how terrible his jokes are."
"I bet yours are even worse," I joked back with him, and my dad let out a laugh. It was a great sound to hear, and one that I really missed.
"All right, come get yall some food!" My mom said as she handed me and Damarius a plate.
"You don't have to eat if you don't want to," I whispered up at him, realizing that I don't think I've ever seen him eat human food before.
"It would be rude to not eat your family's food. I will be all right," he politely responded, and I went first and began putting the healthiest foods on my plate. I started with the green beans, hoping that they weren't drowning in sugar, and then I got a big load of ham.
I heard my mom sigh from behind me. "Don't tell me you're dieting."
"Yes, I have to eat healthy, even on the holidays."
"But I made your favorite chocolate cake."
I loved my mom for remembering my favorite cake, but I hated her for trying to get me to break my eating habits. I know she was just being a mom, but I had worked very hard to get into shape, and I wasn't going to blow it even for a day.
"Thanks mom. But I can't. I know Leon will eat it though. He loves that cake as much as I do."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Did someone say chocolate cake?" Leon peeked his head around the corner with a grin, and I couldn't help but smile. He had to be around 28 now, but as I studied his teeth, I realized some of them were very dark. I wondered if it was from smoking cigarettes or possibly other drugs. Right now was not the time to ask, and I wanted to enjoy my time here with my family.
"Vanessa, yall can come sit at the dining table with us when you get your food," my mom said as she pointed her hand to the dining room. I gave a nod and continued fixing my plate. I glanced over at Damarius' plate to see that he had picked mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken, and a spoonful of sweet potato casserole. I looked up at him and asked,
"Have you eaten food like this before?"
"Yes, it was a long time ago. But I remembered these tasting very good." He gestured towards the sweet potatoes.
"My mom makes the best in town. I think you will love them."
We grabbed our cups of water and headed over to the dining room to find a seat. My dad and mom were on one side of the table while my grandmother and Leon were on each end. There were two seats left for us, and unfortunately, one of us was going to have to sit beside my grandmother. I decided to take that bullet and put my food down on the table before giving her a hug.
"Hey grandma, it's so good to see you," I said with a smile. She had short and curly gray hair, gray eyes that reminded me of me and my mother's when they changed colors, and a dark green sweater that really made her look appealing for an older lady. She had a little bit of makeup on, including some burgundy lip stick and foundation that covered up her wrinkles nicely.
"It's good to see you too, sweetie," she said in that sweet voice that I knew she did only around the holidays. I had a sour spot for my grandma, only because she said a lot of things that she shouldn't, and she was a drunk. I slowly went to sit down in my seat before introducing her to my pretend boyfriend.
"Grandma, this is my boyfriend, Damarius," I finally said when I sat down, and she turned those big gray eyes to him. Her eyes widened, and I anticipated what was going to come out of her mouth.
"How nice of him to join us," she responded, but I could see the tension forming in the edge of her lips. I ignored her, and looked across the table at my parents. My mom was giving grandma the evil eye, but my dad was staring at my arms.
"How many tattoos do you have now?" He asked as he studied my arms. He wasn't a fan of tattoos, but it was nice of him to make small talk to ignore grandma's reaction.
"I lost count after 10, but most of them were pretty big pieces," I replied, making sure I didn't make eye contact with the old lady sitting next to me. Leon noticed the tension and tried his best to hide his grin as he ate his food. My dad opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by the old hag next to me...
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that she's dating a black guy?!"
And the arguing began...