The Demon's Song: Paranormal New Adult Romance (9 page)

She hadn’t even made it that far from his home, but the race back seemed to take an eternity. She could almost feel the shadows as they reached for her, but she refused to let them catch her.

She rounded the corner back to Draven’s isolated street and saw he was still there, watching for her. It wasn’t until she was only a few feet away that she saw he was smiling, but he said nothing as he let her back inside.

“I trust you changed your mind,” he said as he closed the door behind her.

“You knew they’d be there,” she accused him. “You knew and you let me go anyway!”

“You can see so much,” Draven said to her. “But you needed to see more. You were never in any real danger, I promise you that.”

“This time,” she said with a sigh. “But I’ve only got a few days. Then what?”

“Hopefully it doesn’t get to that point,” Draven told her. “Come in and get comfortable.”

Cadence was about to do that, but then she remembered Jane.

“Wait,” she said. “I need to use a phone. Or a charger. My roommate will be worried sick.”

“I have one in the library,” Draven told her. “You’re welcome to use that. Once you’ve made your call, feel free to get settled in.”

“So I can stay?” she asked.

“Of course,” Draven said with an uncharacteristically warm smile. “My home is yours, as long as you need.”

“But no funny business,” she told him, wanting to put a damper on the idea for both of them.

“Not unless you ask,” he told her, his warm smile turning coy. “Make your call. When you’re done, I’ll make you some dinner.”

It was an oddly quaint offer and Cadence appreciated it. She hadn’t eaten much all day and she was starting to realize that she was quite hungry.

First though, she needed to call Jane. Draven only had an old rotary phone and she slowly punched in Jane’s cell number.

“Hello?” Jane said, her voice quick with worry.

“Jane!” Cadence said. “It’s Cadence, I’m so sorry about ditching you.”

“Oh my god,” Jane yelled at her in a mix of relief and anger. “How could you do that? I was about to call the cops! You just left and I had no idea where you went. I called your cell like, a hundred times.”

“I know,” Cadence said, remorse flowing out of her. “There was a work emergency. My boss actually picked me up.”

“Doesn’t he know you hit your head?” Jane yelled back. “That inconsiderate asshole!”

“It’s fine,” Cadence tried to placate her. “I feel a lot better now.”

“I hope you feel like shit,” Jane said. “I was so worried. What if something had happened?”

Something had happened, but Cadence wasn’t about to tell Jane that. She couldn’t even believe it herself, how could she expect Jane to?

“I am so, so sorry,” Cadence repeated. “I feel awful and I promise I’ll make it up to you. Right now though, I have to work. I’ll be home late.”

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Jane said, her voice finally returning to a normal octave. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Cadence said as she hung up the phone.

From another room, Cadence could smell something cooking. Light notes of herbs and spices seemed to fill Draven’s home and she went looking for the source.

She found her way through the galley doors to the kitchen where he was cooking for her. He still wore his designer slacks and black button down shirt, but his suit jacket was hung over the back of a chair and he had flipped his tie over his shoulder.

“It’s almost ready,” he said without looking back at her. “Go have a seat in the dining room and I’ll bring it out to you.”

Draven didn’t tell her where to find the dining room, but Cadence followed the other door from the kitchen and found exactly where Draven had told her to go.

His dining room was expansive, with more high ceilings and dark red walls. An elegant table that could easily sit sixteen people ran down the center of the room and old paintings hung on the walls.

She wasn’t sure whether to sit at the end of the table in one of the high back chairs or along the side. First she moved to the end and sat down, but she felt silly and moved a couple seats down. Then she worried that Draven would as her to move again and by the end, she settled on a seat right in the middle of the table, the one closest to the door to the kitchen.

If she wanted to move again, she’d lost her chance. Draven stepped through the door with a plate in one hand and a glass of wine in another.

He didn’t make any kind of mention towards her seating choice as he put the meal in front of her. She saw what looked like maybe lamb or veal on the plate with small potatoes and some fresh vegetables. The wine was a deep red and she didn’t see the point in reminding him that she wouldn’t be twenty-one for another week.

It was when he sat across from her that she realized he didn’t have a plate of his own.

“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked him before she made a move to cut her meat.

“I don’t have any need to eat food like you,” he said with a gentle shrug. “I do enjoy food from time to time, but I don’t necessarily need it. Right now I’d rather sit and enjoy your company.”

“No funny business?” Cadence confirmed as she shot a glance at the wine.

“None,” he assured her. “Even if you beg, I won’t pour you another glass. Does that sound like a fair compromise?”

After the day she’d had, Cadence knew she could use more than one glass of wine, but she agreed to the deal. She didn’t need the wine clouding her judgment and she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to give herself to Draven.

“So tell me about yourself,” Draven said. “I’ve revealed some of my past, and I’d like to know more about you.”

“Well, Cadence said as she cut off a piece of what had to be lamb. “I grew up in the city. My parents are, god I hate telling people this.”

“Please,” he said with a reassuring smile. “You’ll find no judgment from me.”

“Fine,” she relented. “My parents are quite wealthy. I grew up with the old silver spoon, as people say. They pushed me to follow them into medicine, but it wasn’t for me.”

“You studied, literature correct?”

“Yes,” she nodded, remembering she’d told him that once before. “They already hated that, so when I dropped out, they lost it. They cut me off completely and I was actually about to be sleeping on the streets. Jane took me in when no one else would. I really do owe her a lot.”

“Our experiences shape who we are,” Draven told her. “Looking back, would you say you made the right choice leaving school when you do?”

Cadence hadn’t really thought about it before, but when she did, she realized that it was the right choice. She needed a change from the city. She needed to get away from having her parents’ money always at hand. Living with Jane had made her grow up fast and she was better for it.

“Yes,” she said in a way that surprised them both. “Yes, despite all the weirdness that’s gone on since then. I do miss having access to the school library though.”

“You’re welcome to anything in mine,” Draven said. “I have a little bit of everything, but I noticed you like Hawthorne.”

“How do you know?” Cadence said, guilt creeping over her for getting caught reading at her desk.

“You aren’t as sneaky as you thought,” he said with a soft laugh. “Neither was Ramona, despite what she’d have you think.”

“I tried,” Cadence had to laugh. “But I do like Hawthorne. I don’t know if I’d say he’s my favorite, but I enjoy early American Gothic literature.”

“A renaissance for America,” Draven agreed. “I’m sure you’ll find many books in my home that you’ll enjoy.”

“Thank you,” Cadence said as she ate some more of what had to be lamb that Draven had cooked for her. Despite the weird reasons for being there, she couldn’t deny that she was enjoying herself. Talking to Draven, actually sitting down and talking to him, put her more at ease than she imagined possible.

Once she had finished her meal, Draven stood and gathered her plate. She tried to protest and say she would get it, but he would hear none of it. Instead, he left and then returned with another glass of wine for her.

“To help you sleep, nothing more,” he assured her. “You can have any of the rooms upstairs that have their door open. You’ll be safe here, no one would dare touch you while you’re under my watch.”

“Thank you,” Cadence said as she took the glass from him.

“If you need anything,” he told her before he left the room. “Just come find me.”

With that, he left her alone in the dining room. An old grandfather clock read the time as nine and though she’d had an exhausting day, it was much too early for her to sleep.

Instead of bed, she took her glass of wine and moved back to the library. Draven had told her she could read anything she wanted and she was going to do just that. She didn’t have anything in mind to read, but she had no doubts that she would find something that sparked her interest.

He had to own hundreds, maybe even thousands of books and Cadence scanned the shelves to find something to read. Nothing was in any order and some of the books looked to be as old as Draven himself. Some were so old she couldn’t even read the letters on the spine that identified what they were and many were handwritten.

It was when she found an old, faded black leather book that she stopped her search. The words were so faded she could only make out a few letters, but it was enough.

Frantically, she pulled the book from the shelf. Even without looking, she knew it was a first edition and her eyes went wide as she gently cracked the faded leather cover of the book.

“
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
,” she read the title out loud. There on the front page, for anyone to see, was the date 1840 and above that, the name Edgar Allan Poe.

Cadence carefully put down her glass of wine before she took the book over to the chaise. Of course she’d seen copies of the book, new printings, but this was a first edition. Nearly as valuable as
Tamerlane
and it was in her hands. Poe’s original words were hers to devour and she carefully turned each page as she began to read the beautiful poems while she sipped her glass of red.

It was almost enough for her to forget the strange, crazy world she’d been thrust into. For a moment, only a moment, she could pretend she was just Cadence Lowry, normal girl, a bit of a bookworm, and nothing more.

“This is incredible,” she murmured to herself while she read his dark, haunting words.

Outside, the rain was picking up again and she shuddered. Something about the continuous storms was starting to feel unnatural and she was beginning to believe it had something to do with her. Maybe it was the shadows bringing the rain, maybe it was the other way around, but she was starting to believe that the two were connected.

Another sound began to carry over the rain as Cadence read on. It wasn’t thunder or moans or anything horrid, but soft, gentle notes of music.

She put the book down on the chaise and began to listen. From somewhere in the house, music was playing, but over the sounds of the weather, she couldn’t tell what it was or exactly where it was coming from.

Leaving the book and the wine behind, Cadence set out in search of the music. She left the comfort of the library and in the grand entrance, she could hear the music just a little better. The sound was of soft strings, a cello or a violin, and it seemed to be calling to her. It had to be coming from upstairs and she began to climb in search of its source.

Once she’d made it upstairs, the notes began to sound familiar. It was almost certainly a cello and she was sure she’d heard the melody before, but she couldn’t place from where. It was beautiful, haunting, and almost a little sad as she made her way down the hall and followed the music.

At the end of the hall was a half closed door to the only room with lights on. From inside, the music poured out and she was beginning to realize that the sounds weren’t from a recording or CD, but from an instrument being played.

“Draven?” Cadence whispered as she pushed the door open a crack.

“Come in,” he said over the sound of the music.

Cadence did as he requested and stepped into the large room. Instruments of all kinds hung on the walls and filled the space. A grand piano, guitars, violins, even a dusty drum kit that looked like it hadn’t been touched in fifty years.

“Did I disturb you?” he asked as his melody slowed.

“No,” she said as she sat down on the bench at the piano. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” he said as he set the bow down and stood. Without the music, the rain filled the silence and sent a shiver down Cadence’s spine. “I’ve always loved music, but the cello,” he said as he ran his hand over the large string instrument’s neck. “I’ve never found anything that creates such beauty.”

“It was lovely,” Cadence said. She wanted to stand, but she seemed frozen in place.

“Do you play?” Draven asked her as he stepped towards her.

“No,” she shook her head. “My parents tried to force me into piano, but I couldn’t get into it. The teacher slapped my fingers when I messed up and I usually ended up in tears. I couldn’t even get through
Mary Had a Little Lamb
.”

“You just need the right teacher,” Draven said, his voice low and rich. “Come,” he said as he held out his hand to her. “Let me show you.”

Nerves crept over Cadence and even the wine couldn’t stop them. Still, she put her hand in Draven’s and let him help her to her feet.

“Sit here,” he instructed as he moved the plush, antique chair he’d been sitting on towards her.

Cadence did as she was told and waited while Draven moved the cello closed to her. With a gentle hand, he parted her knees and she waited while he worked to ensure the setup was right for her.

“Now,” he said as he handed her the bow. “Just relax.”

Behind her, she heard him pull the piano bench closer to her and her breath caught in her throat as he sat down right behind her. She could feel the heat coming off of him and it made her shudder, but she didn’t protest.

“Here,” he said as he took her left hand in his. “Just follow my lead.”

Cadence moved her fingers with Draven’s as he placed them on the strings. His touch was gentle and kind as they pressed their fingers to the neck of the cello.