The shower was a home remodeler's dream. Small rock tiles were sprinkled throughout, eight heads poured and shot water out at you from every direction you could ever dream of, and the glass walls offered a perfect view of the rest of the outstanding bathroom. I scanned around to really look at the bathroom. White bead board trimmed the room, beachy blues were painted on the walls, recycled glass counter tops were speckled with greens and blues throughout and the mirrors were huge wood-framed pieces of elegant glass work. This was the bathroom I had always wanted. Huh, it's weird that I really didn't notice it at all yesterday.
Releasing a slow breath through pursed lips, I opened the door and stepped into the streams of perfectly heated water. I turned around slowly as I felt the water stream down my body. Grabbing the bar of soap on the ledge, I lathered up and began to run it across my body. First I washed my feet, then my calves, thighs, torso, arms, and then my chest. I was enjoying the smooth glide of the soap on my body as I closed my eyes and paid special attention to the warmth of the water washing over me, allowing it to remove my stress and frustration, sending it swirling down the drain.
Opening my eyes slowly, my breath hitched loudly as I caught sight of Solomon standing by the open bathroom doorway, watching me in shock with his mouth slightly open and his eyes unblinking in their blue-green daze.
I turned my back towards the shower door, wanting to hiss as I did so. Kiss my tush, Solomon. I thought haughtily as I continued to lather my body.
"What do you want?" I asked, none too nicely.
There was no reply, which I figured signified that he had given up and gone back into the bedroom. I went back to lathering, but the next thing I heard was the shower door opening and then closing again. It was suddenly obvious that there was a lot less space available in the stone shower, and it was also obvious that the shower had originally been intended for two and not just one body. Holy maracas!
I felt my heart begin to pound as Solomon's cool hands reached up and caressed me around my waist, sliding across the soapy layer that swam across my skin, his hand splayed out as he touched my body slowly and gently.
I could barely breathe in the steamy shower when I felt him pull me against his naked body, parts of his skin rubbing against mine in delicious riots of sensation.
"What?" I swallowed loudly before gasping to continue. "What are you doing, Solomon?" I nearly whispered, husky and emotional.
"What I should have done last night." His emotion was clear in his rich voice and he spun me around to look up at his loving eyes.
I couldn't help it when I melted into his strong arms—it was as if I were drugged by his beauty and I felt myself going under happily.
The water poured over our naked bodies as we gave in to our desires and emotional needs. We needed each other so very much. There was nothing on our minds but each other.
———
"Well, it looks like you survived the night." Tisha looked at me sideways from the antique buffet lining the far end of the extravagant dining room. It was the dining room of the demon castle, and I had been there before.
My eyes scanned the seemingly invisible ceiling as the sun peeked through the clouds. It was definitely a different setting as the sun filled the room and gave us perfect lighting for an enjoyable breakfast.
"Mmmhmmm," I hummed as I smiled at her words. I practically wanted to skip around the room singing 'This isn't surviving, this is living!' I smiled broadly at my giddiness and scooped up a plate, loading it with so much food that Tisha raised an eyebrow.
"Hungry much?" She laughed at me, eyeing me warily.
"Just a little." I smiled broadly as I threw a bunch of grapes on top of my hungry man breakfast. I waggled my eyebrows at her and turned towards the table as her eyes popped open slightly. That's right, mama's pretty happy with herself.
Tisha followed me to the table, still eyeing me and making me shift in my seat. How she could make me feel so uncomfortable about everything when I was an adult, was beyond me.
Rolling my eyes, I scooped some fluffy scrambled eggs into my mouth. Hmm, demons must really be learning more skills than team building.
"Where's Solomon?" Tisha scanned the room for any accomplices I may have had to whatever it was I was guilty of, I could tell.
"He's with the men upstairs in the conference room." Cora sat down next to me and scooped some eggs into her mouth as well. "Oh, my goodness! This is fantastic! Who knew eggs could taste so good? Right?" She smiled at me enthusiastically as I eyed her suspiciously. She seemed to be just too happy with the eggs. Weren't you just as delighted with the eggs earlier? Yeah, and that's my POINT!
Eyeing Cora, it didn't escape me when Jack strutted into the room with a huge smile on his lips as well.
"Hey, everyone! Whassup?!" He grinned his toothy grin as he walked straight for the buffet and began to serve up a plate of food that could have put a healthy horse into a coma. He spun around in a full circle, just like James Brown, and strutted over to an empty chair on the side of the table opposite Cora.
My eyes shifted from Cora to Jack and then back, watching for any body language that would confirm my now uneasy suspicions, although both of them seemed oblivious to my scrutiny. Jack was busy shoveling food into his mouth as Cora turned to me and happily asked me questions about my time at the beach house with Solomon. It bothered me how easy it was for both of them to act like there was nothing between them.
Maybe you're just imagining things. Maybe, just maybe, they are simply both in ridiculously good moods without having anything remotely in common. Yeah, right, and I didn't stay in the shower for more than an hour this morning.
I was half listening when I realized that Cora was talking about a meeting that we were going to have.
"So the meeting begins at 9:00 because Babbo, Dad, Daddy and Father are making preparations for our trip to Colorado."
"Colorado? What's in Colorado?" My eyebrows furrowed.
"Mom? Are you okay?" Cora leaned towards me inquisitively as she looked deeply into my eyes. I'm sure that she would have shined a penlight in my eyes to check for dilation if she'd had one at hand. "It's the location of the ritual—we have to get to the highest safe point near Durango, Colorado. Seriously, Mom. I'm a bit worried about you." She eyed me with a frustrated expression as she scooped another forkful of eggs into her mouth.
"The highest safe point? Are you talking about Purgatory?" My tone was piercing. "Who names a ski slope after a part of hell anyway?" I shook my head at the irony because I'm a terrible skier. "Who decided that we needed to do the ritual at Purgatory, anyway?! I mean, why can't it be someplace I would enjoy going, like Maui?"
Cora giggled as she tilted her head at me, "I don't believe they call it Purgatory anymore. I think they renamed it to be more PC. Hm, I think it's called the Durango Mountain Resort or something benign like that." She popped a grape into her mouth and nodded. "I prefer Purgatory, though. It makes the slopes sound more menacing—more of a challenge." She got a faraway look in her eyes as she thought about it.
"I don't like skiing." I looked down at my food. It wasn't like I was going to have to ski at that time of year—it was late spring and the snow wasn't really going to start falling heavily for quite a while.
"That's sort of a moot point right now, isn't it?" Tisha sounded like a teacher from her spot at the table. "There isn't enough snow right now, and we will not be there for the scenery. It's a location just like any other. It's the specific location that we are looking for."
"Right!" Cora chirped in as she leaned back in her chair, flipping her hair over her shoulder. My eye caught a slight movement from Jack as he seemed to pay attention to Cora's hair flipping. It didn't look like Cora noticed at all because she was looking straight at me. "So, we will have our meeting and talk about what to do next."
My mind was racing to keep up with the details. "So, we need to get to Durango. The fastest way is by prop plane. Do we have access to an airport anywhere close?" I really hate
d prop planes because of the close quarters and the way that the winds would knock the planes around like little cat toys. I had only taken a few rides on prop planes and, strangely enough, two of my flights had actually been to Durango itself. My mind was trying to catch up to the coincidence of that having been the case. Guess I was actually scoping out the area for future reference. HA! Whatever—I was on vacation both times.
"Oh, don't worry about that! Babbo has a plane and he's an excellent pilot. He trained me as well." Cora beamed at me from over her plate of diminishing food. "You will be perfectly safe with both of us at the controls." She smiled at me encouragingly, nodding emphatically. She can't be serious, can she? She expects me to go up in the air with that sizzling demon at the controls?
"Right." I tried not to sound uncertain, but it came out that way anyway. "Leo is a pilot and so are you." More information to file away for the future. That crazy demon took my little girl up in a death trap!
The doors to the dining room opened swiftly and a short, stocky demon stood in the doorway. Bowing deeply to Cora, he straightened and announced in a deep tone, "The king is ready for you now in the conference room."
Cora nodded, "Thank you, Darrin. Please tell the king that we will be there shortly." She turned back to me and smiled. "Guess we're on."
I sighed deeply as I pushed my plate of untouched food away from me. Guess I'll have to grab something later. I pursed my lips as I turned to Tisha. "So, Tish, are you going to say anything?"
"What can I say? Everything has already been decided." She shrugged as she pushed away from the table and stood up.
I stood up as well and followed Cora into the hallway alongside Tisha, noting especially that Jack was still at the table, shoveling food into his mouth at a breakneck pace. Cora didn't seem to notice that he had stayed behind as she led the way down winding hallways, turning corners and up the monstrous staircase as she talked about subjects that I knew nothing about and didn't have any interest in.
"The men's quarters are on the bottom level. There they have direct access to the training grounds. Guests are usually housed on the fourth floor now that they have been redecorated. There is more of a traditional style, but Babbo has a flair for tradition. The conference rooms are all on the fifth floor and so is Babbo's office. He prefers to be able to watch over everything happening on the training grounds and around the outskirts of the castle so... Well, he had to have a few walls knocked down to accommodate his need for a panoramic room." She turned back to look at me as my eyes scanned the rich paneled walls and the antique pictures of demons and angels. Leo really had a love for the old stuff alright.
"Okay..." I followed her as she finally came up on two huge doors that could have been ten feet tall. "And here we are." Cora smiled back at me as she pushed against the doors to open them, stepping aside as we all walked into the cavernous room.
The room seemed to extend the length of the entire castle. It was such an expanse that I couldn't see the other side of the room because of the darkness that loomed there as if every curtain had been left closed to trick the eye into seeing endless black. The area that was set off for a large oval conference table was closest to the doors and well-lit with enormous crystal chandeliers and candlelight.
My eyes took in the tapestries that hung from every wall. They were more the medieval castle style with scenes of dragons and knights, as well as individuals in period clothing, which made them strikingly beautiful. I appreciated those tapestries much more than the one of the demons that had been in my bedroom previously. Does that knight look familiar? I scanned the scenes to see if there was anything else that I recognized from the tapestry.
"It is wonderful to have you join us, ladies," Leo's voice drifted from one end of the conference table, which brought my attention to the men sitting there. All four of Cora's respective fathers were now sitting at the table and, just from first impressions, it had all of the markings of a deeply twisted poker group. Every one of them appeared ready to lay down their bets and get on with the bluffing.
Solomon stood and walked over to me, leaning over my cheek to whisper in my ear, "All is well. Don't worry about anything." He winked at me as he pecked my cheek politely.
Tilting my head up to look at him, I walked over to one of the huge leather rolling office chairs skirting the table and pulled it out. I sat down as I watched Cora and Tisha do the same to either side of me. We all scooted in and I noticed Jack appear in the doorway and make his way to the corner of the room. He stood alert and ready for anything as he took his usual guard stance, hands clasped behind his back, looking stoically at the assembled group of odd creatures. His black camo outfit made him stand out as deadly and well-trained, and I winked at him as his eyes scanned the room.
"So let us begin." Von's voice sounded professional—businesslike. "We will need to leave as early as possible in the morning to make it to the peak in time for twilight." He nodded as he pointed to a map on the table. "We are going to make it to the highest point of the Purgatory slopes and then we will have to move to the Northwest tip. The team will make good time if we are taking Leo's Learjet." He nodded in Leo's direction, making me aware that Leo was nodding with everything that Von was saying.
There was a respect there between the two now that they were both on the same team. I'm not sure that I approve of this...respect between demons and warlocks. Of course I had to be okay with it—we were a family now.
"Leo's Learjet seats six and the two pilots. That allows our group as well as a select few to attend. We will fly out of Portland and into the Durango La Plata County airport. Leo and Cora will be flying the plane, inside will be Celeste, Solomon, Gabriel, Jackson, and Camela." Von's head jerked towards the doorway and I couldn't help but look in the general direction.
Standing no more than 5'6" in four inch black patent leather heels, Camela, the wicked demon witch of the west, practically glowed in all of her pinstriped glory. Her suit was trim and fitted all the way down to her ankles, where the pants flared out by a fraction and then covered a good portion of her heels. The stripes on her suit accentuated the fact that her figure was perfect. Witch. Her blood-red satin shell shimmered underneath the opening of her jacket and her matching red lipstick brought attention to her olive colored and flawless skin, long, flowing jet black hair and her glowing, creepy red irises. She eyed me venomously from her little area near the door, although her hostility seemed to make her look larger for some strange reason.
"The women should leave to prepare while we finish outlining our plan," Leo's voice hit me in the back of the head.
"WHAT?!" I yelled as I spun around to give Leo a dangerous flash of my eyes. "Are you kidding me?! Me? Go anywhere with that witch?!" I turned back around to face the witch in question and glared openly at her with bold hostility. Yeah, really scary, Celeste. "She'll kill me the first opportunity that she gets. She's already tried...twice!"
"Is this true, Leo?" Gabriel's voice sounded concerned. Thank goodness someone is showing some concern for my life.
I continued to glare at Camela as she flicked her hair backwards and simply stood around like her name was the only part of the conversation that was worth listening to.
"Yes, yes, but we have worked through all of that. Camela is going to protect Celeste now—she has sworn an oath." Leo tried to make it sound trivial. "Haven't you, Camela?" There was a deep warning underneath his words.
"Yessss, my lord." She bowed in Leo's general direction, although her eyes were all for me. A wicked grin worked its way across her shimmery lips.
I stood up from the table, pushing my chair back so quickly it bumped into Tisha's and stalked within six feet of the gloating demon. Goodness, I forgot how much hating someone made you feel truly alive. Life was just coursing through my veins. Ha! Who knew that being around Camela would give me so much energy?
We stood there glaring at each other with deep hostility. My eyebrows shot up when I heard a deep growl come from her chest and I watched he
r eyes glow brightly as her fingernails twitched, snapping against each other to make a clicking noise, one finger after the other against her thumb nails. Click, click, click.
"Perfectly manicured fingernails." I harrumphed. "Not what I would have expected from a demon bitch. I mean witch." I snorted.
"All the better to claw your eyes out with, my dear." She growled dangerously as she took one deliberate step towards me, her body sinewy and deadly as a panther's.
We were getting close enough to taste each other's perfume, and I was sure that I didn't want to smell the monstrosity of a perfume that she chose to douse herself in to cover her demon scent.
Wow, I have CLAWS! Rowww!
Just then, and quite unexpectedly, we heard Cora's approach.
"Camela!" She squealed as she rushed over to grab Camela's shoulders and take another step towards her. She kissed Camela genuinely on the left cheek, turning quickly to the other and doing the same as well on the right. I could feel the shock coursing through me as I watched Cora engulf Camela in a loving embrace, rubbing her back fiercely as if they had been the closest of friends.
Fierce shudders ran through my body at the image of the two women hugging. Well, actually, it was Cora hugging an uncomfortable Camela, but it was still uncomfortable for me to watch.
"It's so wonderful to see you here!" She held Camela's shocked form at arm's length and eyed her from head to toe. "Oh my gosh, you are just as stunning as always! Such taste! Such style! You still have to show me how to do my makeup like that!" She smiled down at Camela's overwhelmed expression, and I almost forgot to savor the moment where Camela was actually at a loss for words, stricken by both shock and a touch of fear.
"Do I...know you?" Camela's voice actually trembled as she turned her head a fraction to give Cora a sideways glance. It was clear she was uncomfortable, and I had decided to embrace the moment, savoring her discomfort like a fine piece of chocolate.
"This is Cora Elena Ravenwood, Camela. You will know her." Leo's voice rang as an order and not an explanation. "Assist the women with their preparations, my dear, and don't dally with the death threats—they are such a waste of valuable energy."
Ritual Magic Page 14