Page 29 of Stolen By the Demon

“I told you I would have her ready for you,” Jonathan said, but his voice faltered.

“As a fucking vampire?” Adramalech spat, and Dagon’s laughter turned into howling as he doubled over from it.

“I fail to see the humor in this.” Adramalech scolded Dagon, “Do you have any idea how furious our father will be?”

“That’s the fun part,” Dagon panted, wiping actual tears from his eyes. “Because it won’t be directed at us.”

My stomach dropped; even though this was part of Devon’s plan, the reminder that, as a vampire, I would never be able to bear his children still hurt deeply.

With astonishing speed, Adramalech moved to Jonathan’s side. Grabbing him by the throat, he lifted him high up into the air. “What game are you playing?”

Jonathan squirmed under Adramalech’s grip. I was sure it wasn’t hurting him and he didn’t need to breathe, but he was scared of Devon’s brother, that was easy to see.

“Ah, so much fun, this is even better than I thought it would be,” a woman appeared from behind a corner and I recoiled, stepping closer to Devon who put his arm protectively around me.

“That’s the woman… she’s the one,” I mumbled.

Elizabeth Bathory sashayed into the room, moving straight to Adramalech. “If you like I can explain.”

“I’m all ears, Lady Elizabeth,” Adramalech acknowledged her, looking neither surprised, nor letting Jonathan down.

Elizabeth ran her hands over Adramalech’s chest seductively, “You see, a few hundred years ago, Sir Jonathan approached me with a ridiculous plan. He wanted me to turn his daughter into a vampire, so that he could present her to your father in the future.”

“Didn’t the idiot know that vampires can’t have children and that her,” he nodded his chin at me, “only purpose in life was to give my father another son?”

Elizabeth smiled. It would have been alluring and sensual, had it reached her reddish-brown eyes. “Not at first.”

“You bitch,” Jonathan wiggled against Adramalech’s hold, who didn’t appear fazed by it. “You double crossed me.”

At that Elizabeth laughed. “I entertained your idea for a while,” she winked at Adramalech, “forgive me, but you cannot deny a lure for more power.”

“Of course not,” Adramalech acknowledged, making my skin crawl with the calculating glance he assessed her with.

Elizabeth was still as beautiful as she had been the day she told her pet to turn me into a vampire. If anything, the years had only made her look more alluring and she used it to her full advantage.

“When he finally figured out that his precious daughter, wouldn’t be able to fulfill her womanly duties with your father, he consulted me again. This time, he asked me to put her under a spell that would create the illusion that she wasn’t a vampire.” Elizabeth explained, never once even looking at me, her whole focus was on Adramalech. I realized that this must have been her goal all along, get close to Adramalech and have him owe her a favor. Him or Satan. Jonathan and I had only been pawns in her schemes.

“What is she?” I whispered to Devon.

“One of the most powerful witches there ever was,” he whispered back.

“Father would have seen through that,” Adramalech boasted.

Elizabeth’s smile said otherwise, but she only shrugged.

“You bitch, you promised. You said you and I would rule the world,” Jonathan spat, still hanging in the air. To Adramalech he pleaded, “She is just as guilty as me. It was her idea. She said that your father wouldn’t find out. He would mate her, and then she would have an unfortunate accident. She and the baby.”

Adramalech shook his head, “And you believed her?” He laughed snidely. “How do you think Satan would have taken the news of his son and bride dying? Didn’t you think for one second he wouldn’t hold someone responsible for that?”

Jonathan’s eyes darted to Elizabeth, making it plain that he would have blamed her. Elizabeth laughed loudly, “You have a lot to learn if you thought you could double-cross a double-crosser.”

The urge to slap her and Jonathan was nearly overwhelming. I had been nothing but a puppet to both of them. Thankfully, Devon’s hand around my waist grounded me enough not to give in to my urge. I had a feeling both Jonathan and Elizabeth would get their due at Adramalech and Satan’s hands. Still, the idea of what would have happened to me had Devon not interfered twice, was enough to make me nauseous.

“Now, why don’t we hand this pathetic vampire over to your father and then you and I will get to know each other better?” Elizabeth purred, rubbing herself at Adramalech’s back.

“Well, this was surely entertaining, but I have some… fires to watch,” Dagon interrupted, pushing himself from the wall, not even trying to mask his bored expression.

With that, he dissolved with a plume of smoke into thin air. Stunned I stared at the place where he had stood a blink of an eye ago.

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