Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (31 page)

The door swung open, and a maid clad in full
uniform entered the room, carrying a large tray of food which
smelled absolutely delicious. I realized in that moment that I was
starving, having not had anything to eat all day.

My appetite was soon dampened, however, as
Damien followed into the room shortly behind her. He was dressed to
the nines, which was the only way I had ever seen him dressed, now
that I thought about it. If it weren’t for a hardness that glinted
off the planes of his face, I would have almost called him good
looking.

The maid didn’t even glance at me as she
carried the tray over to the sitting area and placed it down on the
beautiful cherry wood coffee table, which was flanked by two
chairs.

Damien moved across the room and sat down in
one of the chairs, making himself comfortable, as he looked over at
me.

“This is Darcy,” he said, motioning to the
pretty, petite woman. “She’s been told that you’re a guest who’ll
be staying here with us for a while. If you ever need anything at
all, she’s been instructed to see to your every need. All you have
to do is ask.”

“Perfect!” I replied, clasping my hands
together in exaggerated enthusiasm over his remarks, before I
stepped up in front the maid, my tone turning serious. “Darcy,
could you have the car sent around, please?” I asked very politely.
“I need to catch a flight to Phoenix as soon as possible. If you
could call ahead while I’m on my way to the airport, I’d appreciate
it. Just make sure I get a good seat on the plane. First class
would be preferable, if you don’t mind. It shouldn’t be too hard as
it appears Damien can afford it.”

Darcy looked confused toward me at first and
then swung her head to look back toward Damien, as if she wasn’t
exactly sure about what she should do with my peculiar request.

Damien started laughing out loud, as he shook
his head slightly from side to side at the perplexed maid.

“You’re dismissed, Darcy,” he said, waving
his hand at her without taking his gaze away from me.

Darcy gave him a curt nod of her head and
left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Maybe I should amend my statement,” he
replied. “She’s to see to your every wish that doesn’t interfere
with any of mine. You might want to know that Darcy is a demon
witch. I supply her with all of her blood, so there’s no chance
she’ll be persuaded to assist you with anything that goes against
my designs. She would sooner be persuaded to kill you than to help
you get away,” he said, as he watched me. “But, before you get any
bright ideas about that, let me assure you that she’s been
threatened with her own demise if she were to even touch you in any
way which might bring you harm.”

I just stared at him, not replying, wishing
he couldn’t read my thoughts as easily as he did.

“Come have a seat,” he said in an almost
friendly sounding tone as he gestured to the chair next to him.

I eyed him for a moment before I walked over
and sat down, trying to show bravado I didn’t really feel.

“So, how do you like your accommodations?” he
asked me with a smile, his gaze never leaving my face, making me
feel nervous about how he was always watching me so closely.

“Looks like a prison cell to me,” I replied
as I glanced about, feigning disinterest for the fabulous
suite.

He was every bit the actor I was, as he then
pretended to be completely distraught over my answer.

“Portia, you have no idea how that offends
me! I’ve gone to every length to make your stay here as comfortable
as possible. After all, you’re my future daughter-in-law,” he
replied, his gaze dropping obviously to the diamond ring that still
graced my finger.

I didn’t say anything, feeling a little sick
over the whole daughter-in-law comment, realizing it was completely
true and this monster would indeed be my father-in-law if Vance and
I were to marry as we planned.

“We’re like family, you and I,” he continued,
his voice sickeningly sweet, as it dripped in eloquent tones
through that patronizing smile of his. He continued on. “I’ve made
arrangements for you to have run of the entire penthouse. You may
go anywhere you choose in here, and your every need will be catered
to.” He waved a hand like a magician at the food on the table.

“Well, that’s good to know, because I need to
go home,” I said, emphasizing the word “need.”

“You know I can’t do that. And even if I
could, I’m not sure I’d want to. I’m finding your companionship
quite enjoyable.” He smiled at me as he crossed his legs then,
placing his hands in his lap, and continuing his unnerving stare,
purposely trying to make me feel uncomfortable.

“In that case would you care to join me for
dinner? Or is it specially poisoned for my particular pallet?” I
asked sarcastically, as I gestured toward the food on the silver
serving tray in front of us.

“I would never poison your food,” he replied,
reaching out to take a grape off the tray and pop it into his
mouth. “I pay a lot for my famous chef. I wouldn’t dream of
defiling his food.”

“And which famous chef would that be?” I
asked, wondering how one might go about finding someone who caters
for demons.

“No one you’re familiar with,” he replied in
dismissal of my question. “But I’m sure you’ll enjoy his creations
just the same.”

“I don’t know,” I said skeptically. “I tend
to be more of a peanut butter and jelly kind of girl.”

“I understand completely. It’s so easy to
find a taste which one tends to prefer over all else.” He agreed
with a nod. “However, my tastes tend to run more to the liquid
variety.”

His eyes flashed red for a second as he
smiled at me, emphasizing his meaning, before fading back to their
natural color.

“Whatever floats your boat,” I said, rolling
my eyes at him, while reaching for a cold cut slice of meat and
stuffing it all into my mouth at once, trying not to let him think
his little display had affected me at all.

I chewed it slowly, making a face of delight,
as if it were the greatest thing I had ever tasted in the world.
When I finished swallowing, I purposely licked every one of my
fingers, just to be annoying to his perfect set of manners.

He laughed at me before reaching over to pick
up a fork, sticking it into another piece of meat, and then holding
it over to me.

I eyed him for a second, through narrow eyes,
before I decided to trust him and take it from him. I was
starving.

“Eat up,” he said, reaching over to pat me on
the knee with his hand, in a familiar gesture.

I yanked my leg away from him, cringing at
his touch, and he laughed as he stood to walk out of the room.

“When you’re finished with your dinner,
Portia, you may want to get cleaned up. Just set your tray outside
the door, and I’ll see to it that you aren’t disturbed for the rest
of the evening, that is unless you might want to come spend the
evening with me,” he added over his shoulder as he paused at the
door.

“Not likely,” I said rudely, over a mouthful
of food, not even taking my gaze away from the plate.

“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug. “I
should warn you though, I’ll be having a few … guests … over for
dinner.”

I didn’t miss the hidden meaning of his
words.

“Get out of my room, you sick pig,” I said,
trying to annoy him and not think at all about his little dinner
soirée.

He smiled at me with an almost charming
smile.

“As you wish, my dear.” He bowed curtly and
left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Freaking psycho,” I muttered to myself under
my breath after he was gone, feeling relieved at his absence.

I continued eating until I had polished off
every crumb of food that was available, before lifting the tray and
taking it to the door. I only opened it a crack, not wanting to
witness any gross or disgusting thing which might be going on
outside it. I slid the tray straight out the opening, not even
risking a glance to the space beyond, and hurriedly closed the door
behind it.

I locked it afterward and added my own
magical reinforcement to the lock, just as some added protection.
If I had to be a prisoner, I was going to reinforce my own prison
space to keep unwanted people out of it. I didn’t want anyone being
able to sneak up on me while I was unaware.

Wandering back into the large closet, I began
rummaging through all the clothing there, trying to find a decent
pair of pajamas to wear that didn’t look like something straight
out of a lingerie shop.

After digging through half the closet, I
finally had to settle on a short, silky, white nightdress which had
spaghetti straps and was slit up to my hips. It was the most modest
thing I could find. Thankfully it had a matching robe to go with
it, even though it was short, too.

I rummaged through the drawers then, holding
up the lacy under things that I found in there with a questioning
look. I wasn’t finding anything that looked too appealing, let
alone comfortable. Suddenly I found myself wishing for a pair of my
boxer shorts and one of Vance’s t-shirts. I ended up just grabbing
something and heading into the bathroom.

After magically reinforcing this door also, I
turned to the large bathtub and began to fill it. I poured an
obscenely excessive amount of the sweet smelling bubble bath into
the water, watching it foam up, before undressing and sliding into
the deliciously hot water.

I flipped the jets on and closed my eyes. I
knew the tub was overflowing with bubbles onto the floor, but I
didn’t care. Just because I was being forced to be a “guest” here
didn’t mean I was going to be an easy one. Maybe I would flood the
room beneath me, and someone would have to call maintenance up
here. I bet that would upset him, I thought with a chuckle.

Tired of thinking about my captor, I tried to
calm my racing thoughts and center my feelings onto Vance.

“Vance,” I whispered into the air, my chest
tightening just at the thought of him. “Where are you?”

There was no reply, just as I had expected,
and I sighed as I continued speaking to him anyway.

“I’m okay. He hasn’t hurt me,” I said to him,
even though I knew he couldn’t hear me. “I love you,” I added after
a moment.

I let the dam I had been holding in break
then, and the tears streamed freely down my face.

He was probably frantic with worry right now.
I knew exactly what he was experiencing, as I had felt it all
before when he had gone missing after the explosion. I hated being
the reason that he was in pain.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to clear my
head. I needed to think rationally and come up with some type of
plan instead of sitting here like a crying silly ninny.

I decided I was going to need to venture out
at some point and survey the rest of the penthouse. In order to
devise a good game plan, I was going to need to know what the
playing field looked like and what resources were available to
me.

Tomorrow would probably be the best day for
that, I decided, as I had absolutely no desire to run into Damien’s
dinner party this evening.

After soaking for over an hour and making
sure I was completely pruned beyond recognition, I climbed out of
the tub and got dressed. I was surprised to find the silky clothing
I had chosen to be very comfortable, as it was made from very high
quality material.

How ironic was it that the nightgown from my
captor was probably more expensive than my entire wardrobe at home?
I thought. Life could certainly be funny that way.

I wandered back into the bedroom, leaving my
massive mess of water and bubbles all over the floor in the
bathroom, and plopped into one of the chairs in front of the
fireplace. I picked up the remote on the side table and pushed the
button to make the flames in the grate jump to life. I just sat in
the dark, watching the fire burn as I ran one hand through my damp
tangled hair.

My thoughts, of course, drifted back to Vance
once again, and I wondered where he was and what he was doing.

Reaching up to finger the locket that was
hanging next to the amulet at my neck, I gently opened the silver
heart and looked at the tiny remnants of his hair that lay inside
it.

I remembered the day I had cut these
trimmings from Vance’s thick locks. We had done it in a desperate
attempt to ease some of the physical discomfort we felt when we
were separated from each other, so we could always have part of
each other with us at all times.

I reached into the locket, placing the tip of
my finger against the soft fibers. I couldn’t believe how good it
felt just to touch a piece of him.

After a few minutes, I gently closed it
again, afraid of losing the only physical thing I had of him right
now.

Leaving the fireplace burning, I went over to
the bed, removing some of the many pillows so I could actually
reach the top of the quilt. I pulled it back and crawled under the
covers.

I closed my eyes then and let sleep claim
me.

I allowed myself to lie in bed for hours
after the normal time had passed for me to get up. I didn’t see any
reason to rush into this new day, and I certainly did not want to
spend any of my time visiting with Damien.

Finally, however, I decided I couldn’t stay
there for another moment. My stomach was growling viciously at me,
and I was beginning to feel sick from lack of food.

Glancing over at the door, I realized that
apparently my little magical lock had held, since no tray of
breakfast had arrived from Darcy this morning. Of course, the
downside to my little plan had left me very hungry now.

I climbed out of the bed, walked over to
remove my reinforcement spell from the door, and opened it.

Since I didn’t really give a care to what
anyone thought here, I strode out into the hallway, in my
nightgown, with my messy hair tangled about me, to have a look
around the place.