"No, but I can offer your child an impressive and powerful future." Sophia's words were creepy, but her voice sounded calming, reassuring. Geesh! Get past the mommy complex and move on with it.
I crossed my legs and leaned back in my own antique chair, projecting an air of comfort that I didn't possess.
"Look. I appreciate your offering to take my child, raise it and give it power and some crazy-ass future, but I will just have to pass. I sort of suspect that I will enjoy taking care of my own child. Thank you very much!" My voice didn't disguise how very disturbed I was with the offer. What a creepy woman.
Sophia smiled at me over her hands, her jade green eyes sparkling with renewed energy. "Yes, I can see how you would feel that way."
"I can't grasp why you ever imagined that this conversation would go the way you wanted." My frustration level was high, but I was working on a way to get out of there. Ideas were already stealing through my mind and I kept coming to the only one that made sense to me—make a demon phone call.
Sophia shrugged easily as she leaned back in her chair, eyeing me from a more relaxed position. She looked almost regal as she eyed me, and then she tilted her head and nodded at me slowly, a cruel smile lifting the corners of her thin mouth.
"Do you realize that I am a very close friend of your brother's?" Get it out there and let her know what your intentions are.
"Ha! My little brother." Sophia's cruel expression immediately turned sour.
"You know...Leonzio Emilio Castillion?" My eyebrows knitted together as I put emphasis on my words, "Your little brother that I would enjoy seeing at this very moment?" Please work, please work, please work!
Henry's head turned to face me slightly but his body gave nothing away. Does he know what I'm doing? Something inside me told me that he may have suspected, but he could never really be sure if it didn't work.
Sophia's back straightened as she fiddled with the edge of the lace tablecloth. "Let's get to the point. I have a son."
"Son?!" My body instantly tensed. This was extremely interesting news to me. "I thought that demons weren't able to have children. I'm not trying to be rude, but that is what I understood about the subject."
Sophia immediately looked indignant as she glared at me. Gulp!
"He's her adopted son." A familiar voice rumbled from behind me, dripping with sexuality and Italian masculinity.
Relief rushed through my body as I sighed deeply, thankful for this fleeting moment where Leo was my knight in shining black Armani. Leo. Thank you, sizzling demon man!
16
"Sophia, sister dearest." Leo sauntered from behind my chair as I uncrossed my legs and felt the knees begin to knock together. There was definitely tension between the two siblings as he neared her side of the table—their weighted expressions boring into each other with each leather-soled step that sounded on the wooden floor.
Wow, I'm pretty dense, but even I picked up on the tension right away. Guess it must be pretty darned obvious for me to notice it at all. The tension in the air had literally doubled with his presence.
Leo slowly approached his sister, laid a hand on her slender shoulder, and leaned over to kiss her on the left cheek and then moved directly over to the right to repeat the motion. When he was done greeting his sister, he smiled up at the albino as he straightened his posture.
"Enrique. Always a pleasure."
"I would prefer that you would call me Henry—Enrique is not my name." Henry straightened his collar as Leo eyed his perfect suit with obvious respect.
"Yes, yes, but neither is Henry. So when I call you Enrique, you answer." Leo gave him a look that brooked no argument. Wonder what his real name is. Henry bristled but remained in his stoic position next to Sophia.
"So, I take it that you are here because of the witch." Sophia's voice flowed with grace and casual conversation. She was acting like nothing had happened between us at all—as if I weren't an important part of the conversation to begin with.
"Witch?" Leo sounded interested. "What are you referring to?" He eyed her from head to waist since she was still sitting down.
Sophia waved in my general direction and I immediately began to hate her. "This witch here—she is going to conceive. I want my little Max to be the one to father the child."
Leo walked smoothly over to the chair on my right and pulled it out with a sharp dragging noise. My heart began to pound as I realized that I was going to be wedged between two crazy siblings with dysfunctional tendencies. CRAP! Tiny droplets of sweat began to tingle the back of my neck just as Leo reached over to the arm of my chair and dragged it to the now open spot. He then slid his chair into the vacated spot and sat down in a smooth, fluid motion.
Leaning back, Leo crossed his legs and tapped his pant leg with his hand. Of course he looked as gorgeous as he always did—perfect Italian charcoal black suit, manicured nails, slicked back hair, and glowing olive skin. His strong Roman profile was striking with his sister in the background. He looked nothing like her, and it was more than obvious when they both turned to look at me—Leo with a warm but aloof expression on his face, and Sophia with an evil glint in her jade colored eyes.
"So let's begin. We have plans and, technically, we were on a date when you sent Enrique to gather my dear Celeste." Leo continued to look at me warmly and I smiled back genuinely at him. Liar!
"Okay, let the negotiations begin." Sophia nodded sharply as she leaned back, flicking her hand into the air like she was bored.
"Negotiations?" My voice shook with frustration. "I doubt that either one of you have the right to be negotiating over me, much less about me."
Leo turned to me and lifted his eyebrow. "My dear." He was avoiding my name for some strange reason. "We negotiate about absolutely everything. Even the smallest serving of dessert must be negotiated between us—it is our way."
I wasn't an idiot—there was something more going on here, and it pained me to admit, even to myself, that my freedom may actually be in the hands of a crazy demon king and a crazy-eyed woman with a taste for unborn children. But an ominous bell chimed in my mind as the two siblings began to put their heads together to work out the whole situation of Celeste Ravenwood and her future child.
Leo waved his hand with a sharp flick towards Sophia as the conversation went something like this.
"Offers?" Leo's voice oozed with innuendoes.
Quiet fell and then Sophia's voice was filled with excitement when she finally spoke, "Cream." Henry's cheek twitched.
"Pass." Leo's laughter rumbling as if he didn't like what was on the table.
"Coffee then," Sophia leaned in and looked intensely at Leo's ice-blue eyes.
Leo paused and leaned back as if he was honestly considering the offer because it was of deep interest to him. "No, I believe there are too many strings to that offer." His eyes narrowed.
"Then chocolate?" Sophia smiled wickedly as an eyebrow climbed upward in a telling sign of excitement. She eyed Leo as if she held his deepest desire in her hands, and that was when I felt a deep sense of fear. She was holding a card that she knew would drive Leo insane just considering it. Figuring that she had him, Sophia leaned back as if the negotiations were over. "Chocolate then."
Leo's hand shot up in the air with his palm facing Sophia and my heart stuttered furiously underneath my shirt.
"I doubt that you are aware of the true offer that you are making me here." His eyes turned slightly red as he leaned in. "Actually, I believe that you are completely aware of what the offer would do to my future. No," he shook his head thoroughly, "pass." He then laughed loudly and leaned back in his seat so far that the front feet of the chair began to leave the ground. He had the expression of a man that had just dodged a huge bullet.
Sophia instantly looked put out. Huffing, she snapped her fingers loudly and a voice rang out behind me.
"Yes, Madam?"
Turning, I finally noticed the entrance that Leo had used when he had come to answer my call—a dark doorway
leading away from the well-lit room. Standing in the doorway was a stocky little demon, black as the night was long, with a crooked nose and deep brown eyes.
Wonder what wall he walked into? Repeatedly.
"Bring Maximilian here, would you Smithe?" Sophia breathed as she turned back to Leo. She was clearly trying to get her edge back in the fight.
"Maximilian has been speaking of nothing but meeting you, my dear." Sophia waved her hand in the air as she leaned in eagerly and gave me a sideways glance coupled with a sharp wink. "He has a deep interest in you, and his desire to have a child is beyond measure. He would be a wonderful father and I would be an exceptional grandmother."
My heart sank as I eyed Leo's passive face. Say something, you demon! I simply blinked my eyes in her general direction to acknowledge that I honestly heard what she was saying.
"Negotiations are over?" Leo leaned forward to block the view that Sophia had of me. "I don't think that we have actually reached an agreement." Sighing, he waved his right hand in the air just as Sophia had previously. "C'est la vie!"
Sophia lowered her chin slightly, but tilted it straight up and began to beam as a new man walked into the room. Or maybe I should refer to him as the Abercrombie and Fitch model, because he should have been.
Maximilian walked into the room, standing more than six feet tall with broad shoulders, olive skin, wavy golden brown hair, Roman facial features, and long tapered hands. His outfit was all black—black shoes, black pants (not suit style), black button down shirt, and a black broad brimmed hat held tightly in his left hand.
Yes, this man could have been Zorro in another life...and I really have a thing for Zorro. Yikes! Clean thoughts, Celeste. Clean.
His hair was what was throwing me off the most, besides his amber colored eyes. His hair was golden brown and cut so close to his head that the curls hugged his scalp—giving him a Julius Caesar quality that was hard to deny as being very, very sexy.
Wonder where the jet black horse is sitting; maybe underneath the window, ready for a fast escape into the sunset?
I sat in absolute disbelief that this man had anything to do with Sophia in any way. The entire situation didn't seem to ring true. Turning back to the table, I noticed that she had been eyeing me appreciatively. Maybe she knew that I respected the goods—no mother wants to think that her child is unattractive.
Sophia turned back to face the amazing figure of a god in the doorway. "Come greet your Tio Leonzio, Max." She waved in Leo's direction.
The sound of strong strides echoed against the wooden flooring until they halted just behind us.
He's too close! I began to feel the sweat bead down my back. There was something about this man that I didn't want anywhere near me. Was it the hotness? The utter hotness? Think clean thoughts—Solomon is waiting, Solomon is waiting, Solomon is waiting. Releasing a cleansing breath, I kept my eyes trained on Sophia.
Leo and Max made their hellos and then it was over. I paid as little attention to the whole thing as possible. That is, until Sophia's smile spread like a black wisp of smoke across her eager expression. She immediately looked as if she were the cat that was planning on consuming the brown-eyed canary, opening her mouth and then turning to me with that same wicked expression twinkling deeply in her eyes.
"And introduce yourself to our dear friend Celeste Ravenwood, my son." Wicked, wicked woman!
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." A rich, heavy English accent sounded just to my right. I allowed my eyes to meet the voice, but I was suddenly captivated by those intoxicating eyes of his which were golden, clear and mysterious all at the same time. His hand was extended, requesting mine in a sign of respect, and even though it crossed my mind to avoid contact, it would have been rude for me to refuse him. The last thing I wanted to do while I was sitting in the home of a demon was to be rude.
Lifting my hand to brush mine across his, I instantly felt how cool he was. Immediately I knew something that just didn't click. "You're a vampire." I looked at him as if I knew his dirty little secret.
Max leaned over my hand, turning over the palm and eyeing it as if he could see my past, present and future. "Yes, I am." The corners of his mouth turned up in tiny peaks as he leaned down and laid a small feather of a kiss on the inside of my wrist—my pulse point. Releasing my hand slowly, he walked over to his 'mother' and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking to the chair across from me. He completely skipped the chair that was sitting empty across from Leo—he was clearly more interested in sitting closer to me.
I suddenly didn't know what to do with my hands as I could feel his eyes boring into me from across the table. What a freaky little family they make.
"So," Sophia smiled as if she had won the argument. "We are all agreed—our dear Celeste will provide me with a grandchild." She smiled warmly at me and it gave me the total creeps.
Did she really believe that trooping in the hottie was going to change my mind? How hormonal did they think I was?! I wanted to laugh, but it was clear that Sophia would probably take it the wrong way...which was actually the right way, I guessed.
Leo laughed richly from his chair next to me as he lifted his left leg and rested the calf on his right thigh. His perfectly shiny black Italian shoe shimmered in the light.
"I doubt that dragging in the child would persuade Celeste into agreeing to provide you with an heir. By the way, don't you already have Max as your heir, yes? Why would you want another child in this house—he's barely a babe himself." Leo smirked, even his eyes implying that Max was as young as they came, making Sophia appear to be a coordinator of a cougar dating service. Suddenly I felt very old.
Max raised an eyebrow at me from across the table and I could see Henry shift out of the corner of my eye. Don't know what that means, but I will be keeping an eye on Henry more from this point on. But that's when a new sensation hit me as my focus zeroed in on Max's golden eyes, which were boring into my very soul—caressing thoughts that I didn't even know I had.
Suddenly a vivid image of me standing in a slinky black negligee was foremost in my mind, my hair cascading down my bare shoulders, my body tense with seduction and my face in a lusty expression—my eyes glassed over and my mouth pursed out like I was making a little 'o' with my lips.
Guess this is what men think is sexy. Go figure. Too bad I don't fit that bill. I bit down on my tongue as I looked deeply into Max's eyes again. I was not the source of that very detailed image.
Feeling my eyebrows furrow, I looked at this amber-eyed vampire with deep concentration and new awareness. My instincts took over and I clenched my left hand tightly without thinking and then released it, flicking my palm underneath the table towards Max's side of the table. I was now very aware that Max was much more dangerous than just a vampire—he was something more, much more.
Max sat up instantly as if he had just been struck by something painful. His eyes grew large enough that I could see more of the whites of his eyes than the amber. I tilted my chin upward a fraction and let my gaze drill into him.
He had tried to put a suggestion in my mind. NOT NICE!
I fought the urge to cross my arms because I could see Sophia smiling at us and nodding like she had orchestrated all of it.
"I believe that the children should have some time to get to know each other." Sophia pushed up from the table and extended her hand to Leo—a sign that she was getting ready to lead him away.
Leo turned back to me and eyed my cold stare. His eyebrows flicked upwards a fraction as he took in my deadly expression.
"I suspect that you are getting ready to show me something quite interesting." He shrugged like he didn't care as he pushed away from his chair and spoke brightly, "I am open for a tour." He turned back to Sophia, smiling broadly and then wrapped his arm around her proffered hand. Glancing slowly at me over his shoulder, he smiled one more time as they whisked out of the room through the door that Max had come through. He's obviously looking for information. I have to
stall. But how?
Leaning back in my chair, I looked down at the edge of the lace on the tablecloth and back up to Max's seat. He was no longer there, and I snapped my head around to the left to see that he was now sitting in the chair directly next to mine—Leo's vacated seat. He was leaning into the arm of the chair, applying his weight in my general direction. His face was almost glowing and his eyes were absolutely captivating, but the fact that he had moved without my hearing or seeing him practically set my hair on end.
"What are you?" My voice sounded upset and frustrated. Just the tone I was shooting for.
Max flicked his hand over into my space and ran one finger against the back of my hand, allowing it to leave cool streaks of sensitivity across my skin. "A vampire....a warlock. Kind of like a two-for-one...I'm unique." His eyebrows waggled at me as he closed his eyes and took a long whiff. GULP!
"Right. Unique." I rolled my eyes up at him and removed my hand from underneath his touch. I pushed away from the table and felt exhilarated as I watched Max's frustrated expression. It seemed that women didn't just walk away from him...for any reason.
Walking over to the far end of the room, I ran my fingers over a shelf of books that was standing on the far wall. The entire wall was a monstrous bookshelf built from floor to ceiling. The books were old and leather-bound. I found that I actually had read quite a few of the books present, but there were many, many others that were completely foreign like The History of Demons and Angels, Who Knew They Were Really Gods?, Jack And Jill Were Really Demons, and The Eight Habits Of Highly Destructive Demons. Oh, and my favorite—Take Over A Dimension in Twenty Easy Steps. Guess that was sort of a 'world domination for dummies' book. The thought made me want to laugh right then and there.
"We need to talk." Max's voice was directly behind me then.
How the heck does this guy move so quickly and without sound? Oh yeah, he's a vampire. I had to get a grip on the situation—he was going to dominate everything if I didn't.
Ritual Magic Page 17