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GRIFFIN
Shelves lined the walls with a collection of books, various couches and chairs spread around the large room. Flames flickered in the fireplace, the only light from the fire and the candles that were in every corner and on every wall of the room. Demons sprawled out around the room, some having heavy make-out sessions, others in the teasing stage.
One woman—or whatever a female demon was called—ran her fingers along another female’s chest and around her back, untying her corset.
My eyes darted away to the seven demons that sat around a large table drinking wine and smoking cigarettes and cigars. The demon at the head of the table, Amon, I assumed, greeted us, gesturing for us to sit down.
Emily’s eyes were glued to the demons getting jiggy on the floor. Amon noticed and apologized. “Do excuse our behavior. We’re still celebrating Beltane.”
“Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t Beltane a holiday celebrating the days getting longer when the sun is out more? Doesn’t sound too demon-ish.” Hopefully, they weren’t offended by my comment.
Amon chuckled, stroking his pointed beard. “I understand where you’re coming from. Beltane, a celebration of fertility and growth, celebrated by demons? The truth is, my companions will use any excuse to party. I’m sure you’ve heard of what your realm calls the Seven Sins?”
“From the Bible?” Ember asked.
Amon shook his head and sighed. “Humans… you love to make everything about religion. Yes, from the Bible, though it’s an insult to our kind to make that connection. We’re older than any religion. One of your popes just happened to stumble across us one day and declared we were consumed by evil. Why? Because we aren’t like you?”
Ember’s eyes filled with sympathy, and she reached her hand across the table to Amon. “I understand where you’re coming from. Trust me. My parents were super religious and never accepted that I wasn’t. I’m the black sheep of my family, always looked down on. Not all humans are like them, though. I’m not, and neither are my friends.” She gestured around the table to us, her eyes not leaving Amon’s.
A smile curled at the corner of his lips, and he laughed. “That is a relief, indeed. However, I should not deceive you, as there are plenty of demons who are consumed by evil, just as there are with humans. Though all demons have varying levels of dark-gray skin, we call those demons the Dark Ones because their souls are truly a void.”
In a skimpy maid’s uniform, a servant waited by the table, holding out a platter of glasses, placing one on the table for each of us.
“Thank you, Mary,” he said to the maid. She curtsied and walked off.
Mary? I love the irony in that name.
“As I was saying,” Amon continued. “The Dark Ones are the demons you should avoid. They’re the kind of demons that ate Samara’s husband, sparking the beginning of her thirst for revenge.”
The table silenced at once, not entirely sure we’d heard him correctly. Why would he mention Samara? Did he know the reason we were there? Tension filled the air so thick it would take a chainsaw to cut through it.
Or a loud moan coming from the corset chicks in the corner.
Amon glowered, telling them to take it to the bedroom so we wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. A gaggle of demons laughed and pointed as the two females left the room.
“You know about Samara?” Cassian asked, his eyebrow quirked in confusion.
“Is that not the reason you came here today? To ask for assistance with ending Samara?”
Cassian’s jaw dropped, and he struggled to find a response. I would probably chuckle at his being stunned into silence if I weren’t feeling that way myself.
Seeing our expressions, Amon’s smirk grew. “I’m far older than any of your kind. You don’t get to be this old without a little intellect. I know why you’re here and who sent you. I also know that Samara’s intentions far exceed anything you’ve expected, which means you’re in peril more than you realize.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
“How can you speak so calmly about this if you know what she’s planning?” Emily asked. “Doesn’t it scare you?”
“Me?” Amon let out a hearty laugh, far different than his previously sophisticated chuckle. “She can burn the world to ashes, and it would make no difference to my kind. We don’t live in the human realm, and she has no power against us. No matter how much she likes to think of herself as queen of the world, she’s no queen over us.”
A female demon came close to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulder from behind. Her hand reached up, stroking the side of my face, as her breath tickled my ear.
“My, my, you’re a fine specimen.” She started kissing the nape of my neck, and I slithered from her grasp, my eyes darting to Emily’s.
Her face was bright red, her eyes seething with anger. I could hear the growl from her wolf, though not out loud. I could feel it from across the table in the way her jaw was clenched and arms were crossed, anger radiating from her skin.
“Please, human,” the demon begged. “I can bring you so much pleasure. And I’m sure you can bring me pleasure, as well. I bet you have a big—”
“That’s enough, Lust!” Amon stood; his arm pointed toward the couches. “Leave!”
Her hands released their grip on me as she sauntered away, her head dipping down in disappointment.
