Page 64 of Claiming the Dhampir

Rising to his feet, Damon grabbed my hand, effectively shutting down my conversation with Mir. Lucifer had already turned and strolled down the long corridor. I had no idea where we were going, only that I was being led through an enormous hall with long tapestries hanging on the walls. Each tapestry portrayed a different type of demon.

When we walked past one that looked just like my mate, I glanced back and started counting. Yep! Twelve tapestries. Was it one for each of the twelve orders of demons? It made me wish I’d taken more time to study them.

I wouldn’t get time. Lucifer had stopped in front of another large archway at the end of the hall.

“Welcome to my home.” He extended one arm, gesturing toward the room beyond.

Damon pulled me closer to his side and we stepped past Lucifer. My jaw dropped—again.

Are they …? Mir’s voice trailed off.

I think so.

Chapter 23

Damon

Lorna and I stood in the open archway of the castle’s main dining room. Her sharp intake of air mirrored my own. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Even though my senses confirmed that I couldn’t be wrong, I still couldn’t believe it.

Every seat in the room was taken. Half of them by demons and the other half by human females. Not just humans—dhampir. I’d been around Lorna enough to recognize their aura and their black irises. They sat together in pairs. One dhampir with one demon.

My mind struggled to understand. Were the demons feeding the dhampir and creating their own army? No, that didn’t make sense. Demons received no benefit from sharing blood with a dhampir. Regardless, we were already the strongest force in all the realms.

“Come in and take a seat,” Lucifer said, strolling past me. “Everyone, please welcome Traz’damon and his soulmate, Lorna Cross.”

Murmured echoes of welcome jolted me into motion. I pressed my hand against Lorna’s lower back and nudged her forward. The only empty seats were at the opposite end of the room. Three chairs waited for Lucifer and his guests.

I scowled, hating that he’d anticipated my early arrival. I couldn’t hold onto my hate, though. My curiosity overrode everything else.

I glanced at the dhampir as we strolled by. Where had they all come from? They didn’t appear distressed or fearful. In fact, several of them smiled at me and nodded. Many of them sat very close to their demon partner, making it obvious who was together. None of them appeared to be here against their will.

Every one of them wore an amulet exactly like the one that Lucifer had given to Lorna.

As soon as we settled into our seats—I put myself between Lucifer and Lorna—several Twelfth Order demons started bringing out trays of food. They were taller than the average human, standing just over six feet tall. Their long arms and longer legs were disproportionate with their slender bodies. Their tail split halfway down its length to give them extra balance to counteract their unbalanced bodies.

Despite their awkward appearance, they were extremely agile and more graceful than most of the other orders. Being the weakest demons in the realm, they were typically servants. They weren’t monitored the way the upper order demons were because they weren’t privy to Lucifer’s secrets. Most demons from the Twelfth to the Sixth Orders were allowed to live their lives with no restrictions.

A Twelfth Order demon had to be the one to make a deal with the fae in exchange for their DNA. They were the only ones who were just as much flesh as magic. Had one of the servants in Lucifer’s court betrayed him? Or had they done it for personal reasons? I might never know, and I wasn’t sure it mattered.

“Damon,” Lorna whispered, pinching my thigh. “I have no idea what to pick.”

I shook away my thoughts and focused on my mate. Of course she didn’t know what to eat. Everything on the table was from the Underworld.

“You’ll like the roasted meat.” I pointed at a platter diagonally to her left.

“All of the fruit is sweet and delicious.” Lucifer leaned forward to peer around me. “Some of your fellow dhampir like the root vegetables, but they can be … what is the human word? Spicy?”

Lorna looked at me and raised her eyebrow, like she waited for me to confirm his opinion. I nodded, and Lucifer laughed.

“Eat, drink, and be merry!” He waved his hand at the glutinous array of food. “That is the human phrase, correct?”

His merriment didn’t seem forced, but I didn’t remember Lucifer being so open and carefree in the past.

“Yes, my lord,” the female next to him replied.

Lucifer gazed down at her with a look I’d never thought I’d see on his face. Tender admiration. She blushed and looked away, adding a helping of food to her plate. I studied the woman more carefully. She was definitely dhampir. I couldn’t detect more than her humanity, unlike Lorna whose fae half was obvious to anyone who could sense magic.

So why did he look at her like that? She couldn’t be his mate.

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