Demons (Darkness #4)(23)

And a lot of power is just what we needed if a stronger demon came along. Which it would, I had no doubt. The one we encountered was just an experiment. The next might be an experiment, too, but I had a feeling it would be a more powerful experiment.

“Okay.” I went up on tippy toes to kiss him goodbye. “See you tonight. Love you.”

He slapped my butt as I turned away. “Poker tonight?”

“No! I’m sick of losing!”

I pulled open the door to an extremely hostile Jonas waiting right beside the door. Charles stood on the other side of the hallway crocheting, and Dominicous was down the hall a ways, sitting on a plush leather bench against the wall. He had his leg crossed over his knee, focused on an e-reader that he must’ve borrowed from the uncomfortable-looking guy sitting right next to him, staring at his shoes.

“Took you long enough. Do you not tell him where you need a little finesse?” Charles tucked a crochet hook and a tuft of fabric into his back pocket.

“Crochet?” I asked Charles as Dominicous stood and handed back the reading device. “What about knitting?”

“I can’t be carrying around a huge ball of yarn in a bag. People would think I had a purse!”

“Charles…you knit. Why not just take that extra step and have a purse, too? What’s the difference?”

Charles cocked his head to stare at me. “Are you being serious? A purse, Sasha? A male can’t be seen with a freaking purse, get real.” Charles shook his head as we walked down the stairs.

“Soft is as soft does,” Jonas growled with a creased brow. “Want some lotion for your hands?”

“All right Forrest Gump, real original,” Charles shot back. “And you never gave back Scarface.”

I sidestepped the fact that those were my DVDs, so I continued to try and figure out Charles. “So you gave up knitting for crotchet in order to be more masculine? Is there something wrong with your head?”

“I crotchet little pieces at a time while waiting for you since you’re always on the go lately. So I do the little squares, and then I can fit them in my pocket. I hate being bored, Sasha, you know that. I’m going to make them into a quilt. It’ll look good.”

“My grandma used to knit,” Dominicous said pleasantly. “Mean, vicious old lady. She taught me some great combat moves. She was my favorite relative. I don’t think that’s how you make a quilt, though.”

“I feel like I’ve just stumbled into the nuthouse,” I mumbled.

“Sasha, I wondered,” Dominicous continued, “Would you mind dining with me this evening? I’d love to spend some time with you.”

A burst of butterflies fluttered through my ribcage. I had so much pressing on me right now, with this counsel coming up, and these demons, and Toa trying to swap fluids, and Stefan’s dominance issues—but for all that, I wanted nothing more than to get to know my new adopted father. To finally, after all this time, have a real family. That wanted me. That wanted to adopt me!

“I’d love to,” I said quietly, my face getting hot.

“Lovely. What is your favorite meal? I’ll have it prepared.”

“Burger and fries. She can wolf that down faster than me.” Charles peered down the hallway, his eyes starting to lose their happy-go-lucky sparkle. He could be a complete clown in the mansion, but as soon as we stepped outside, his Watch Captain mask clicked into place.

“Anything is fine,” I answered, sparing an elbow for Charles. It bounced off his hard lateral muscle. No effect.

“So Jonas,” Dominicous said as they turned a corner, fast-tracking toward the front of the house. “What is it you hope to find—”

Dominicous cut off suddenly, his eyes snagged on someone up the hall on the right. A short someone. With a shock of blue hair. She stood in the center of the hallway, staring into a sitting room with a gaping mouth.

“Ann?” I walked up beside her and followed her gaze.

A woman sat back on the couch, completely naked, with her knees dropped to the sides. Another woman, wearing black latex, crouched between spread thighs, going to town on the other woman’s lady bits. A man, wearing a freaking catsuit, of all things, kneeled next to the woman on the couch, feeding her his large manhood.

“Ah yes, I see you’ve found the leisure room,” I said in a tour guide tone. “I have no idea why, but people seem to gravitate toward this room for weird crap.”

Ann turned to me slowly with incredulous eyes. “I knew these people were sexual, but…the door’s open. And they just go have random orgies? Just, willy nilly, let’s have a little sex with a bunch of people in the great wide open?”

“Great wide open?” Charles leaned over us and squinted into the din. “They’re in a secluded room. Obviously you’d need a nunnery, but here we don’t mind having a good time. Although, I think they’ve gone a little crazy with the costumes. Latex can chafe if you rub against it fast enough.”

Jonas stabbed the ceiling with his eyes from a few paces away. If it wasn’t for Dominicous, he would’ve grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and hauled me out of the house already. His eyes had that wild, impatient look that said he was about to snap.

I didn’t blame him. This night just kept getting weirder.

As if hearing my thoughts, Ann turned away and said, “Well, this is too strange for me.” Before she moved on, though, she couldn’t help glancing back into the room. The man was moving around to the latex butt.