Page 29 of Demon Queen
I took a shaky breath. “Good.” Good, right? Of course good. Not like I actually wanted him coming into my shower. Right. The last thing I needed was to complicate my life by rekindling my addiction to a demon.
I finished washing my hair quickly and then stepped out, dried myself off and went into the bedroom. Then I realized that I was in my bedroom with a demon without anything on other than a towel. He did have his shirt on, but only two buttons were done. He was sitting on my bed, frowning at his phone.
“Are you looking for a good restaurant?” I asked, going to my closet to find something normal. I had so few things that fit into that category and I’d already worn everything functional. I needed to do laundry. In the meantime, I had a pencil skirt and blouse with pumps that I had for my lady teas every Wednesday. I’d keep the jewelry simple and the accessories minimal, so I should look okay.
“We’ll have to go back to the club after you get dressed,” he growled.
I turned to look at him, still holding my hanger with the gauze blouse on it. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, there is a problem. I need to lick all the water droplets off your damp skin, but it would probably give you a heart attack. Your pulse needs to stay steady until your blood levels are up, but you’re wearing a towel. I’ll wait outside.” He moved so quick, in a blink he was out, closing the door firmly behind him, leaving me and my unsteady pulse alone with my towel.
I stood there for a second, staring at where he’d been on my bed, then I finally shook my head and all the madness out of it before I dried more thoroughly, lotioned up, and dressed. My makeup was tasteful and subdued, and I looked mostlynormal when I checked my reflection in the full-length mirror. I didn’t look like I belonged in a fight club, and I was too pale, but I looked mostly normal. Whatever that meant, and whyever I’d care, because nothing about this situation was normal. And Wilkie was still lost.
My arm ached. Yep, those were real demon claw marks that were red around the edges, scabbing over. I turned until I could see the back of my neck. Yep. There were the puncture wounds that had ripped when Dorian startled Lucy. I’d really been bitten by a vampire and clawed by a demon. At least no one had accidentally ripped out my spine. What if I was turning? I’d thought he was joking when he mentioned that, but what if he wasn’t? And Lucy had almost killed me. She was one of the oldest girls I’d known at Aunt Perry’s house. She’d always had so much energy, so much curiosity, but always been solid and responsible. She was the one who would make sandwiches for the little kids when they were hungry. Weird she’d ended up a housewife, and then a vampire. Weird that three of us would end up with monsters. Yeah, those things were just weird, not ‘freak out right now,’ issues at all. Aunt Perry always seemed to know more than she’d tell you. I wasn’t going to dwell on the Roberta thing. That was even more ‘freak out right now’ than the Lucy vampire thing.
I grabbed my phone and called Gloria.
“Divine Inspirations. Your voice is the shattering of raindrops on a million fans.”
“Um, thank you? I feel very validated now. Did Aunt Perry intentionally adopt children who would turn into monsters?”
“Aren’t you supposed to still be hibernating from your traumatic weekend?”
“Yes, I am, but instead I’m being dragged back to the fight club, because some idiot demon thinks I belong to him.”
“Do you want me to call Lucy? She could take you to her castle and then?—”
“Lucy bit me last night or whenever that was, because I was unconscious and feverish and… No. I don’t want to go hang out at Lucy’s vampire castle. You should be more careful around her. She really is an unstable vampire.”
“She bit you? Like infected you with vampirism?”
“Bit me like I hope not, because if there’s one thing my life doesn’t need, it’s a thirst for blood.” My stomach rumbled. I looked up and Dorian was standing in the door, apparently listening to my conversation like that wasn’t rude.
“You’re hungry,” he said.
“Not for blood.”
“What?” Gloria asked.
I sighed heavily. “I’ve got to go. Dorian is standing in my doorway looking like he’s about to pick me up and carry me away. Too bad demons don’t have castles in the clouds.”
She said, “Tom says they like caves. More defensible than clouds. Also, clouds would be damp and cloudy all the time. You’d get good rainbows, but I don’t think it would be worth the tradeoff.”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah, I was saying more that it was too bad that he wasn’t a Prince Charming with a castle instead of a demon with a cave, but whatever.”
“He’s right there? You might hurt his feelings telling him he’s no prince.”
I glared at Dorian. “He’s a demon. He has no feelings. Also, he’s a king.”
She snorted. “Ah. A possessive king. Sounds much better than a whiny prince.”
Or a fear-devouring general manager. I shuddered and shook it off. I wasn’t thinking about Roberta. Lucy was bad enough. “Bye, Gloria.” We hung up and then I was left staring at Dorianwho cautiously patted the spikes coming out of his head, eyes glittering with amusement.
“And you are my Candy Queen to my king, delicious to all the monsters I will protect you from.” He frowned. “Or fail to protect you from as I already so clearly demonstrated.”
I pushed past him. “I’m the Candy Queen because I own the Candy Kingdom, not because some demon thinks I belong to him. Also, we’re not married. Whether you were a prince or a king has nothing to do with me.”
“You made me a ring and swore vows. What is marriage if not that? You haven’t even taken any other lovers. Even that notoriously irresistible incubus who bakes you cake hoping for a bite.”
