Page 14 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
There are two reasons why I refrain from telling him to take a hike.
One? I want out of the cell. Period. Whatever he did to me so that I can understand the demons—because they’re not speaking English, I’m just suddenly fluent in Sombran—it also makes it so that I can read their language. I found that out when I buggedone of the green-eyed guards patrolling the corridor outside of my cage, asking him if there was anything I could read since I was just so bored.
He did, almost begrudgingly, though I had to swallow a retort when he admitted that he received permission from the duke to do so. It was a history of the wars between Sombra and another demon plane known as Brille Rouge, and while it was a far cry from the romance books I devoured back home, at least it was something to distract me since my poor Walkman was abandoned back in Connecticut.
I needed something to take my mind off of my situation. It was one thing, being whisked away to a fantastical realm for the promise of a happily-ever-after. It’s enough to be branded a criminal, tossed into a dungeon, and studiously ignored by the demon duke who I thought might actually be my true love.
He’s not, clearly. I got fanciful ideas in my head, and now I’m paying for it.
I’m not the only one, either.
Mindy… does she know something happened to me yet? It’s been three days, and I usually speak to her every other at least. When will she realize I’ve disappeared? If I don’t show up at the call center, will they think of me as just another flakey employee, or will LIssy sound the alarm?
My book is out in the open. I never got the chance to clean up the protective circle. I feel bad for the Madison PD. Add the pentacle to the grimoire and I wouldn’t be surprised if Susanna Benoit isn’t written off as another victim of Satanic Panic.
They’d be right, too, I think as I follow at Haures’s heels, hurrying up the stairs so that his much larger stride doesn’t leave me behind. I’ve been taken by a demon—arealdemon—and he’s made it clear that, whatever reason he had to Su-nap me, I’m not going back to Madison anytime soon.
And that leads me to the second reason why I gave in.
Curiosity.
They say it kills the cat, but I’ve beendyingto learn more about the world he’s brought me to. Not even because I’m itching to return home. I know heroines in stories like these are always eager to go back to the mundane human world. I guess I’m the opposite because, while I’m in Sombra, I want to drink it in.
That’s the researcher in me. After owning the grimoire for nearly half my life, it’s such a delight to discover that theSombramentioned in the title,Grimoire du Sombra, is a place. It’s a world.
It’s a fantasy.
So far, I know that Haures is its ruler, and that it had a ton of wars when a different demon wore the crown. The book I’m reading talks of a king—Yelios—and a queen—Alana—making it clear that Queen Alana was the ruler, and Yelios? He was her mate.
That one word caught my attention. Mate… The sudden ability to understand Sombran is a strange one. When I look at the pages, I see the unfamiliar language printed on the page, but it’s like my brain provides the English translation instantly.
Mate… I saw the word ‘uxor’ on the page, instinctively understanding that it referred to a mate. A bonded partner, each demon only gets one.
It’s their one true love.
I swear that I heard Haures refer to me as that before he disappeared through the portal the first time. Then again, maybe I’m just remembering how that was one of the formerly gibberish words that were in theverus amorspell. Either way, between the queer sensation in my chest and the way my body is reacting now that Haures is near, I have to wonder…
Is that what he meant by ‘mine’? That I’m his mate?
If so, he doesn’t tell me. Instead, after announcing that I will come with him, he stays quiet until we’ve climbed what has to be nearly four flights of stairs.
They took us out of the dungeon. At the top, Haures slides open a door made of stone, leading me out into a large room that’s so different… sostriking… I almost forget that I’ve spent three days peeing in an unusual hole in the ground.
It’s beautiful, and like nothing I expect.
This has got to be where Haures spends most of his time. Not only because there are blue lightseverywhere, all of them the same shade as his eyes, but the huge throne made of crystal, up on a raised dais, has got to belong to the demon duke.
The floor beneath my sneakers is slick and shiny. The tiles seem to mimic the crystal throne and his crystal crown, reflecting the orbs of light that illuminate the long, narrow room. Over my head, I notice that the ceiling has holes the size of a small pizza tray cut into it. Part of me wonders what would happen if it rains, while the other part is like a magpie, stunned with how sparkly everything is.
“This is my throne room,” Haures says. “Where my subjects come to meet with their duke, and where I make the decisions that affect them all.”
I get the sense that I’m supposed to be impressed.
I muster a small smile, doing my best to hide that, well, Iam. “That’s nice.”
He grunts softly. “Come, mortal?—”
“Susanna.”
