Page 15 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
Haures glances over at me. “Did you speak?”
Sure did. “I said, my name is Susanna.” He doesn’t get to call me Su. Not while he has the major stick up his butt. “And you’re Haures. Right? Our introduction down in the dungeon happened so quickly, I thought I’d double-check.”
“I am Duke Haures, Lord of the Shadows, Ruler of the Flames?—”
“So I was right. Your name is Haures.”
His brow furrows slightly. Huh. His ears are as pointed as any other demon I’ve seen, but unlike the others, his forehead is smooth. He doesn’t have any ridges over his nose. Neither does he
“Hey,” I say, changing the subject because, as ever, I’m super friggin’ curious. “This is your home?—”
“Mavro is the capital of Sombra. This palace has been mine as long as I’ve worn this crown.”
That’s a lot of words for a simple ‘yes’... “Cool. But I’ve seen a lot of those shadow demon guys milling around. Bodyguards, I guess. When they’re not shadows, they’ve got this deep red skin. What about you?” I wave my hand at him. “You look like this now. What happens when, you know, change?”
I thought it was an innocent enough of a question. Especially if I’m going to be stuck here, shouldn’t he take it as a compliment that I’m interested in him and his people?
He scowls, and I gulp. I… I’m not scared. He makes me nervous, and… and something I’m not ready to deal with just yet… but he doesn’t scare me.
The scowl fades to a flat expression, as though I surprised him by not screaming again and trying to run away.
Why would I bother? With the spellbook left behind, it’s not likeIcan really go anywhere else…
It takes him a moment to understand that I meant my question, and that I’ll peer up at him curiously until he answers.
The scowl makes a triumphant return. “I don’t change.”
“Really? Why not?”
He clicks his claws together in obvious agitation. Even so, his deep voice is completely emotionless as he tells me, “Because Iam the only Sombra demon currently in existence without his shadows. I am always as I am.”
Right. Big and fearsome and too ruggedly beautiful for his own good…
“Wow. So that’s why they made you the demon king?”
There goes his forehead scrunching again. Poor guy. He makes it too easy… “No. That is why I am the duke of Sombra. Now, come… Susanna.”
Progress. “Where are we going?”
“Follow me and you shall see.”
It takesa trip through two doors, then down a long hall before Haures leads through another door into what has to be his dining room. As I gawk at my surroundings, he moves in front of me, blocking me with his giant demon body.
Haures rumbles in his chest as he peers down at me imperiously. “You will dine with me.”
Wait…that’s why he pulled me out of the dungeon?
I smile at him sweetly. “I’d rather starve.”
His eyes flash. “It wasn’t a request. Take your seat.”
I glance at the long, shiny black dining table stretching out behind him. It’s different from what I’d expect from the duke. It’s lavish. Polished. Way too dramatic after the icy way he rules over his throne room. His dining room is much more inviting, though I notice something interesting about the long table: it’s set for two, with one chair at the head of the table, the other just to the right of it.
Oh. I’m not just supposed to ‘dine with’ Haures. He wants me right at his side instead of watching me from the other end of the table. Almost like he wants me close… but since his actions sofar have made it clear that—spell or no spell—there’s no true love here, I don’t understand it.
I blame it on my fuzzy brain. I’ve only eaten sparingly, ignoring most of the meals that the dungeon guards have slid into my cell these last three days. For one thing, I’m a little wary aboutwhatthey’re serving me. For another, anxiety does an awesome job of snatching my appetite away. I didn’t even realize Iwasthat hungry… until I take a breath and my stomach goes tight.
I can’t identify any of what’s laid out on the dinner table. Right now, it doesn’t matter. The food, undeniably strange yet somehow tempting, smells like roasted spices and something vaguely floral. There’s obviously meat—larger hunks of the roasted meat served to me in the dungeon—and something that could be a demon melon. Fruits, maybe, or sweet vegetables.
