Chapter 16
It has been days since Dante said he would go after those guys that attacked us the other day, he didn’t even have his phone, so I had no way of contacting him. I was outside training in the backyard when I felt a familiar presence.
“What are you doing here, Marco?” I turned to face the long-haired vampire; he grins at me. “I thought I hid well; I see you have grown since we have last seen each other. Don’t worry; I am not here to hurt you. I just wanted to apologize for how I acted when we first met. He isn’t here, is he?” He looks around.
“I don’t sense his smothering presence. You know that guy is pure evil, right?” I sigh. “I know what Dante did in his past, but I am sure he has changed a bit since then; I mean, I am still alive after all.” Marco sits on a bench and gestures for me to continue my training. I continue while being wary of him. “Why are you still here, Marco?”
He opens a flask and drinks from it; I’m assuming it is blood. “I am here to watch you and make sure nobody tries to hurt you. I am also tempted to kidnap you, but I saw what he did to the other guys; I fought with him a few hours ago. He is gathering intel on who is the guy working directly under Draco so he can take him out.”
So that’s why he hasn’t come back, why do I miss him so much. He scares me; I should leave while he isn’t here; I only stayed because... Why did I stay? I am so deep into my thoughts that I didn’t even realize Marco was standing beside me. “I can’t let you do that; Dante would kill me, I don’t want to die right now, and I don’t think you are worth dying for.” So much for being my mate. I turn about to head to the house. “I don’t need your protection. Tell him I said that.”
A few hours later, I am soloing in the bath when a thought occurred to me. I had a plan to take down Draco. I am sitting in the living room drinking wine, twirling a knife in my hand. “Dante, get back here now!” I thought in my head, hoping it would work; he then appears in front of me, and my breath hitches in my throat. “What?” He looks me up and down, his eyes stopping on the knife in my hand. “You seem fine; why did you call me?”
I stand up. “Why haven’t you been back?” He shrugs, “You don’t seem to need me, and I am working on protecting you.” I inhale deeply and look him straight in his eyes. “Take me to the underworld.” Dante stares at me for a few moments. “I will, on one condition, be able to draw blood from me.”
He then heads for the backyard, follows behind. “You can’t touch me at all, okay?” I say, adding to the conditions. He nods, making his way to the bench sitting on it, smirking. I stand in front of him, returning the smile. “Do not take your eyes off of me, not even for a moment.” We look at each other, having a staredown. We remain like this for what feels like hours. Neither of us made a sound; it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Patience, wait for the opportunity. I inhale and exhale, then inhale deeply, and as soon as I exhaled again, there was a gust of wind. Now! Everything happened in a flash. Dante blinked, and I used my wind element to graze his cheek enough to cut it quickly. When he opened his eyes, he looked amused. “I didn’t think you had it in you.” He wiped the drop of blood from his cheek. “We will leave in one month. Until then, you will be training intensely.” I nod, and we head inside.
It was finally the week when we were supposed to go to the underworld when Dante received a phone call. He busted into my room, his face almost pale. “Dante, what is wrong with you?” He looks at me; I can see a bit of panic in his eyes. “Draco somehow broke out of where I had him locked up. Someone helped him get out; I have no idea where he is; we need to go now.”
I go into the closet and change my clothes, red leggings with a black shirt and studded black boots. I then grab my belt with my weaponry, strap it on, pull my hair back into a bun, and pocket my phone. Dante looks me over, and his eyes darken, briefly then shakes his head. “You’re so fucking sexy; I am not going to let anyone lay a finger on you.” He grabs me and kisses me deeply. I open my mouth, deepening the kiss, his tongue dances against mine hungrily, then he pulls away.
“Come on, hold on tight and close your eyes. It is your first time teleporting.” I do as he says, and with a ‘whoosh,’ we are gone. “Open your eyes.” As I open my eyes and see words, I can barely describe, Dante stands behind me and whispers in my ear. “Welcome to our castle.” I look around the massive room in front of us, marveling, but before I can even bask in it, a shrill voice echoed through the main room.
“Sir Dante is that you?! Where have you been?” A very busty redhead approached us, eyeing me up and down. “Is this your new toy? She doesn’t seem like your usual type.” She went to grab his arm, but he backed away from her, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Her name is Naila; she is my mate. Learn some respect, Susan.” She took a step back.
“Ha, Dante doesn’t do mates. What kind of joke is this? She isn’t even worthy of being Lady of the underworld.” I felt Dante start to get upset at her words, so I decided to step in. She seems easy enough to make an example of. I gently place my hand out. “Naila Johnson, daughter of Xavier and Scarlet Johnson, surely you’ve heard of the previous Demon Lord?”
She took my hand, shaking it, but I held onto it a bit longer, peering into her eyes—time to try out my new ability. “Now, as the new Lady, I’m going to have to discipline you for stepping out of line. Not only did you disrespect my parents and me, but you also disrespected Sir Dante. Now how should I put you in your place?”
By this time, some bystanders have already gathered to witness the scene before them. Susan then bowed, “I-I am sorry, my Lady, I was out of line, please spare me.” Dante was smirking beside me, clearly amused. “If sorry could fix everything, there wouldn’t be any need for laws or general deterrence. Now kneel.”
Susan instantly went down on her knees, “H-How did you do that?” I let out my best snicker. “Surely if you know of my father, then you would know of his very famous Command Voice?” She looks up at me, then at Dante. “Please, it won’t happen again. Sir and Lady, I apologize for my rudeness.” Dante leans into me and kisses my cheek, then whispers in my ear. “Do it; it would make for a great first impression, let the other demons know you aren’t easy to mess with, plus watching you right now turns me on so much.”
What a pervert. I smile. “Susan, Do you feel a little cold?” I asked in a sweet voice. Just then, her body starts to freeze from the ground up. “Please, your highness, I beg of-.” Before she could finish, she turned into a block of ice. Then Dante snapped his fingers, and she exploded. “Someone clean this up!” He yelled, then led me out of the main room.