Magical Tendencies (23 page)
"Or maybe you are Italian!" Leo leaned his head back and stretched his arms out to the side, "Oh! That would be even better! The love making will be
epic
!"
"WHAT?!" I shook, "I haven't even dated you. How could I even think to marry you much less… have sex with you?! ICK, Leo!" I threw that last bit in to wound his ego.
Judging from the way that Leo was prowling towards me, I didn't figure that had hurt him at all. What was this guy made of—industrial strength rubber?
"YES! A queen fit for the king of the demons! You are the one—you are the one!" He shook with excitement and I began to get nauseous as the purple waves crescendoed in my field of vision.
He took a step towards me and stopped when he saw my shaking body and glowing eyes. An eyebrow quirked upward as if he was just registering what was happening, "My dear?" His voice had a menacing growl in it.
My body began to float gently upward as I held on to Solomon's loose shirt, grasping it for all it was worth. I could hear the hum of my power and recognized the pulse of the strength of the wave that I was getting ready to push away from me.
"Piss off!" I snapped at Leo as Solomon's hand reached up and grasped my own before the whole room was enveloped in the purple haze and flash of power.
I was pretty proud of myself—sure that we had escaped eminent doom and my cells were singing with the success of our flight. That was until my eyes focused and I realized that we were sitting inside my bedroom suite in the demon castle. My heart dropped so quickly that I thought I was going to faint.
Solomon held me tightly in his arms and crushed me against his chest. "You did it, Celeste!" His voice dripped of pride.
In me?
I shook my head as I pushed against him to get a clear view of those blue-green eyes, "I didn't do anything fantastic, Solomon. We are still in the castle—this is the bedroom the demons kept me in before I saw you." A shudder ran through me as he looked around slowly.
"Hmph, slightly better than my accommodations. That is to say the least." He shook his head as his sweeping eye finally came back to rest on me.
"We are stuck here it seems, Solomon. What do we do?"
"Where were you picturing when you shaded us?"
"Shaded?"
"That's what vampires call it."
"Vampires can do what I've been doing?" That was a new twist.
"Only the most talented and oldest." He nodded at me, "And only for short distances usually."
I thought about that, "Gull Cottage."
Solomon's mouth quirked up on one side, "
Our
Gull Cottage or the one in
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
?"
"The house you showed me most recently—the one that you bought for
me
. It reminds me of Gull Cottage." I looked around the room, looking for points of escape.
Solomon nodded at me and smiled a warm, rich smile even though we were in such peril. "The house is warded against intrusion, Celeste. I had it done so that it would always be a safe place for you. All of the boundaries are warded around it. We will not be able to shade there by magic." He was still smiling.
Huh. "I never considered that might be the reason. I thought that what Leo had said had been true—that I couldn't leave without his permission."
Solomon nodded, "That very well still could be the case."
My eyes darted towards the window, "That was the way that Leo would get in and out of the room before he took me to dinner. He would use the window."
Solomon walked easily over to the window and took a quick glance outside. "Five stories high. Hardly safe for you to attempt an escape through that route. Even if I carried you there would still be the odd chance that you would slip and fall to your death." He looked pensive as he stared at the ground, weighing options.
"Could you try to shade again?" Solomon looked up at me.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my senses. I wasn't angry enough or emotional enough to do anything. Actually, I was extremely tired and I was fighting the desire to throw myself on the huge king-sized bed.
I shook my head and shrugged, "I don't think it's possible right now."
Solomon walked back to me and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "It's okay, Celeste. You don't have to do everything on your own." He picked up my hand and kissed it gently, "You have already done so much."
My body tensed as I felt the temperature in the room change. The cool night air immediately spiked and it felt like we were getting ready to have an extreme heat wave. The hairs on my arm stood up as my eyes darted up to Solomon who was now staring over at the open window.
"My love, you ran away without excusing yourself. That would be considered quite rude in certain cultures." Leo chuckled from the window, leaning against it with his hands on the sill and his legs kicked out and crossed at the ankles in front of him. It was as if he had been there the entire time.
My body began to shake with anger as I eyed Leo's incredibly muscular and manly silhouette at the window.
I am NOT turned on, I am NOT turned on!
Cleansing breath!
I drew a deep breath like I couldn't get enough demon oxygen and released it as I stared him down.
"Leo." I said his name like an explicative.
Leo smiled broadly me, "No matter what tone you use, my pet, my name on your lips is extremely satisfying." His eyebrow arched in a sexy quirk.
Darn him!
"So it looks as if you were right—we could not leave the castle." I swept my hand in a broad gesture around the room, turning my full attention back to him as I finished.
Leo was eyeing Solomon when I came back to him.
Uh Oh
.
"And it appears that this… guard is more important than you originally inferred." He quirked his head to the side as he pushed up from the window sill, "That is quite interesting."
I was not going to look at Solomon because we were already on thin ice. There was no need to confirm what Leo had already concluded.
Yes, but how important has Solomon become?
I didn't deny what Leo had said, though and that was just as much of an admission of the truth as telling him outright that I had deep feelings for Solomon.
My mind began to spin as I tried to scan through the possibilities for our coming conversation. The options were not promising.
I walked over to the chair next to the fireplace and sat down as if I were in charge. Solomon followed me and stood to the side and behind slightly just as a guard would normally do. He obviously did this a lot and it actually felt natural for me. I waved Leo to the chair across from me.
Leo smiled a dark, evil smile as his powerful gate took him to the chair and he set himself down. Leaning back in the cushion, he placed his elbows on the armrests and steepled his fingers as he looked at me over them, attempting to read my thoughts.
Hmm, wonder if Solomon was the only one that could do that
.
Solomon remained quiet but alert. His body tensed when Leo sat down and he was keeping a watchful eye around the room as if he was ready for the shadows to begin attacking.
"So, where would you like to begin,
my queen
?" Leo smiled up at me over his fingers. The way he lingered on
my queen
gave me a sudden feeling of foreboding.
"I am open to listening to your
offer
." I began simply.
Leo chuckled, "I'm sure you are. Especially now that you know that there is no escape from this castle without my permission. It would take magic much stronger than yours to allow you a true exit." He shrugged, "But you have figured that out all on your own already."
There was silence between us as I stared at him as if I were bored. The bored look was something that I had learned from the teenagers in the apartment complex. They could take the most exciting situation and turn it into something like attending a lecture on paint drying—it was a true talent.
Leo eyed my bored expression and began, his voice low and sultry, brimming with heat, "I offer you my hand, my dear queen. My eternal passion and fire, all at your convenience," he smiled wickedly.
My heart stuttered, "And that would mean exactly what to me? What would I get out of this 'offer'?"
Looking bored, looking bored.
I allowed my eyebrow to quirk up.
Leo studied me again but he was not offended by what I was saying. Thank goodness. He was just a king in negotiations, "You will marry me, you will be my queen. We will have the bambino—a perfect combination of your beauty and my brains and brawn."
That stopped me for a minute, "I thought that demons were unable to mate." I sounded dubious, "Hey! Are you calling me stupid?"
"Ahhh, but the prophecy!" He shook his head in excitement, ignoring my 'stupid' comment, "There is a chance! And with the one chance to have a child of my own, an heir… it is too great to let it pass by!" His eyes glowed with power as he glared directly into my soul, "You are certainly a treasure beyond compare if you are able to produce a child for me, the king of the demons."
A distinct chill ran down my back. This was a bad idea to talk to him about all of this, "Leo… have you been trying to capture me for this? Are you planning on forcing me to have your child… because I don't think that's going to work. Rape nullifies my magic."
How did I know that
?
Leo looked at me, shocked and offended, "Capture you? I
saved
you from the accident."
"
Your
demons
caused
the accident!" I shook with anger.
Leo shook his head and ran his fingers through his thick, shiny hair. Looking towards the window, he pensively snapped his eyes back on me. There was a flicker of fire behind his iris, "Are you saying that you were attacked?"
I nodded.
That was weird
. "But this was not the only time, Leo. Did you or did you not send a greasy demon to kill me behind the Starlight Diner in Portland?"
Leo sat straight up, shock painting his features thoroughly, "I did NOT!" He pushed away from his chair, standing with his hands fisted at his side. Anger was rolling off him in waves and there was a sudden sense of remorse that ran through me for asking him these questions. There was going to be hell to pay and Leo was going to do the dishing.
Leo's eyes filled with the fire that was only hinted at before. He looked at me and then back to the window. Squaring his shoulders he began to pace the room, "Describe this attacker." He settled at the window, reclining against it as if for support.
Solomon was the one that answered, "5'3", Latino in decent, short dark brown hair, red eyes, claws for fingernails, dressed like a gang banger with baggy jeans and a white muscle shirt. He had a Latino accent and carried a demon black switchblade knife. He was urban league, full-blooded." That was when Solomon turned quiet.
Leo began to absolutely vibrate with anger as he pushed away from the window, fisted his hands at his side and then finally yanked a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his fantastic Italian suit. How did I know it was Italian? My gut told me. He wiped his forehead as if he were sweating up a storm… but he wasn't.
"That damned woman is going to be the death of me." He said it to no one in particular. He turned back to the window and stood quietly as he stared out the window.
"CAMELAAAA!" His voice resonated off of every solid surface in the room. I could see his body shake and his head lean backwards slightly as if he were trying to send his voice straight into the sky. He quivered with the power that was pouring out as well as the absolute rage.
My heart skipped a beat when the eerie quiet returned. My eyes flicked to Solomon but he was watching the frightening demon at the window as if he were watching reality TV, not allowing his eyes to move once from his point of interest.
"CAMELA!" Leo turned this time and shouted straight at the door hidden behind the tapestry.
Just then a shape flew in through the window and landed in the middle of the hardwood floor, flowing in a wave of vapors and finally taking the shape of a beautiful woman, kneeling in Leo's direction.
"You called, my lord." Her voice dripped with sex appeal and my mind wanted to take a better look at her. Her voice alone was something to be concerned about—it oozed with desire and sensuality. I was afraid that every man in the room would now be a concern. My eyes darted to Solomon and back to her. He had not made any movements out of the corner of my eye.
Good
.
Her witch-black hair was long and touched her lower back as she kneeled in front of Leo. Her skin was perfectly tanned and she wore a soot black power suit and four inch red patent leather shoes. She definitely should not have been kneeling—it could be disastrous for the outfit!
Leo glared at her from where he stood. "Tell me, woman. What have you been doing with your time these days? I hardly see you. I hardly hear any news from you… "
"My lord?" Her voice had the hint of a secret to it. I knew the sound quite well myself.
Leo walked over so that he was within a foot's distance from the demon on the floor. She bowed just a fraction more as he came closer, her hand twitching but she fought to keep her hand where it was on the floor for her deep bow.
"What have you been doing, Camela? Don't play games with
me
, woman." His arm pulled back as if he were going to strike Camela in the head, but since Camela couldn't see it he just put it back down, after composing himself a little better.
"You have sent Manuel after the queen." His tone dripped with hostility and poison.
Camela froze where she knelt on the floor, body stiff, "I… I… "
"Where IS he, that worthless son of a dog?!" Leo paced toward the door like he was going to get something that was crucial to the conversation.
"Dead." Solomon sounded like a gong standing behind me spouting one word at a time—GONG! GONG!
I kept my eyes on Leo because that was when I could see Camela's head snap upward and her burning red eyes drilling into me. I could feel the hate rolling off her and my mind threw out a tiny shield to protect itself—I could see the lavender hazing my view again. This time I pushed the shield out towards Solomon, feeling for his life force to cover him in protection. Even though he was technically not living, I could feel his subtle glow and taste his essence. Something about his essence 'tasted' familiar. Well, we had been together for years so I guess that would explain it.
