Chapter 12 ∣  I'm Not Listening

-Adrasteia

"Do you have a name, or should I just refer to you as messenger boy?" I asked the demon leading me down the long hallway that I had previously attempted to escape down. His black hair was like Keegan's, in fact, almost every demon had darker hair. When his striking purple eyes glanced at me sideways, I saw a smirk form on his lips and I just sighed.

"My name is Harlan," he replied, keeping his hands stuffed in his pockets, crossing a small intersection of hallways, many other demons standing around and chatting. Some were brought from their conversations to get a quick look at us, and their eyes following our direction. "So, do you have a name, or do I just refer to you as Lady Vampire?" The amusement in his voice made me smile, finding someone with a sense of light humor was refreshing.

I shrugged my shoulders, the towel corners still in place by the shoulder straps of the halter top. "I dunno, I kinda like that actually. It makes me sound like more of a lady than I really am."

"Oh?" He questioned, "You're not really a lady then? Are you a crossdresser with nice assets?"

Well then, the light humor just pushed over into full-on sarcasm. "If you're referring to the women who sit around and look pretty all day, never lifting a finger, then no, I'm not a lady."

"Ah, I see," Harlan and I were nearing the entrance to the very large throne room, probably one of the only places I'd ever felt intimidated. "Now it makes sense why you eluded the guards with your techniques, though weakened you managed to outwit them."

"If I wasn't weakened...I wouldn't be here right now," I mumbled, my eyes peering out over a good number of demons standing in this large room. It was Keegan who was seated on a giant throne with another male standing at his side.

"Well then," Harlan chuckled, "It's a good thing for you I was off attending to other matters yesterday."

"And why is that?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Harlan turned his full attention on me before replying, "I'm Keegan's commander. I'm not sure what that equates to in your vampire hierarchy, but-"

"Probably the very same..." my voice trailed off as I unintentionally interrupted him, my thoughts roaming to that backstabbing bitch of a commander, Cleo. It was her fault as much as Landon's. She could have stopped him and told him how wrong he was being, what he was doing to us. She helped tear us apart and for that, I'll never forgive her for it.

You can't escape vengeance...

I'll come for you one day. On that day, I suggest you take your own life because I'll leave you far worse than you could ever imagine.

Harlan had said something else, but I barely caught a word of it, my thoughts clearing when Keegan's voice rung out across the room. "If they are rebelling, you'd think they would have the common demon's well wishes in mind."

"They're stealing!" One woman snarled, showing Keegan a basket, she had of what looked like missing goods.

A man growled, "It's not just food...they've also taken young members of families, poisoning their minds and taking them away. We don't need the vampires brought back to the Dominion Plane! We don't need to be fed off, humans sustain them enough."

"Why bring them back?" Another woman was close to tears, "They're much more violent and unpredictable. Why would they want to bring them here?"

So, it looks like he has his own problems here.

"Rebellion?" I asked under my breath, Harlan catching my word and replying, "There is many demons that have always hated the rulers of the Dominion Plane. The thing is Keegan's family was handpicked by Lucifer to rule over this section of Hell. I will agree that his father, the late King Bram, was a lot more ruthless than he needed to be, but Keegan is holding a good balance between many demons. There is a group of demons that want to see their own ruler seated on that throne, as well as bring back the vampires to where they originated from."

"Really now..." I scoffed, "You can't be serious that we actually once belonged here."

"Dead serious, not many vampires know of their origins, as time has wiped a lot of old memories away and only the few who lived through it know exactly how they came to be," Harlan acknowledged me.

"Filthy vampires...bloodsucking leeches," One woman was speaking with another near where Keegan sat, "They caused enough problems..."

I narrowed my eyes and hissed, "The feeling's mutual."

Harlan gripped the top of my shoulder and quickly placed me behind him.

"What did you say?!" The demon frantically looked around to find who had spoken out against her.

"You heard me," I poked my head out from around Harlan's arm and he just sighed in frustration.

Apparently, these demons really didn't know a lot about vampires. We couldn't be any worse than these creatures that literally lived in Hell. Now could we?

"Oh, look at that," the woman laughed, "Harlan has a vampire pet. Careful she doesn't bite."

"I'll bite you..." I growled, but Harlan clicked his tongue and stated, "She's not a pet."

Everyone's attention had now turned to us, those who had been speaking to Keegan, looked our way. Keegan stood to his feet from the throne, the male demon beside him hastily warning him, but he just threw his hand up as to shoo away a pestering fly.

"What the hell is she even wearing?" The woman rolled her eyes at my very tasteful towel ensemble I had thrown together at the last minute.

I scoffed, "Please," I eyed her up and down. She was wearing black booty shorts with a plunging red tank top that sailed down all the way to her belly button. It practically exposed her breasts, her fiery temper matching her long black hair with red highlights. I was already tired of these demons, so much worse than any vampire I'd come across.

"Aren't you going to stop her?!" The woman lashed out, pointing at me. Harlan shrugged, just making sure to stand between me and any potential threat.

"How much?" I asked, and I heard Harlan choke on a laugh, straightening up as Keegan walked closer to us.

"How much what?" The woman retorted, her face filling with color as she slowly thought on those words.

I crossed my arms and sighed, "I see...you must be what? Like a twenty-dollar whore at the most?"

"Why you disrespectful-" she was cut off, her eyes leaving mine and landing on something else.

"He's standing right next to me, isn't he?" I let out an exasperated sigh.

Harlan snickered, but Keegan immediately smacked the back of his head and he went silent.

"Sir," the demon who had been standing next to him when he was seated on the throne cleared his throat, "If I may, isn't she overstepping her boundaries? If demons, see her like this...retaliating...isn't it displaying another good reason why vampires should remain on Earth?"

Then it clicked.

Maybe if I got him angry enough, he'd let me go back to Earth. Maybe I should show him why vampires shouldn't return to this horrible place and I shouldn't be forced to stay here either. If anyone, it's this so-called rebellion that needs to see why they shouldn't bring us back...maybe...that might be my ticket home.

Keegan was silent, but his stare was burning into me.

Nice incubus, please stay on that side of Harlan, thank you very much.

"Wouldn't it affirm even to the rebels that vampires...are not like the other demons that live here? Maybe we can use her to our advantage? They wouldn't want to bring them back if they knew how difficult they can be...let Earth deal with them, why should we? Why should we all live together when we're clearly not meant to reside on the same plane of existence," I was liking this guidance counselor more and more.

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.

"I have a much better idea," Keegan finally spoke, his words captivating the entire room. They were all waiting for him to reveal this big plan, but he just eyed them all and asked, "You expect me to reveal my idea? You're all sorely mistaken. Everyone, leave. Time to go back to your everyday lives, now leave us."

Maybe I can sneak away...

"Where do you think you're going?" I had tried to sneak away in a crowd of five demons but felt Keegan wrap his hand around my right upper arm, dragging me away from the protection of blending in.

"Uh..." I tried to look away at the ground, "You...said...uh...to leave?"

"Not you," he sighed in frustration and I could hear Harlan snickering again before he whispered, "You sure have a lot on your plate. Why'd you pick a vampire anyway?"

Keegan didn't respond, instead, I interjected, "It seems he has a range of fetishes...it wouldn't surprise me if dominating a vampire was one of them." I shrugged my shoulders innocently while the demon who had been speaking my language about letting vampires stay on Earth stated, "Sir! She's out of control! That mouth of hers..."

"Likes to talk, so get over it," I growled.

I screamed when Keegan picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I tried to pull down the towel that was hiking up my back, covering the revealing booty shorts as I cursed under my breath.

"I think she's rather entertaining," Harlan chuckled, waving goodbye to me as he spoke to the flabbergasted demon beside him, "Come on Tyco, she's different."

"I don't like 'different', he should just take her back or use her to his advantage with the rebellion," Tyco turned to Harlan, arguing with him.

I slammed my fists hard against his back, trying to grab the back of his head and wrapping my arm around his neck. My eyes widened and I yelped in pain, smelling my own blood, my arm leaving his neck and startled to see what he had done.

"You fucking bit me..." I covered the marks on my upper arm, just a small amount of blood coming from the wounds. "I can't believe you just bit me..."

"Don't flatter yourself, darling," Keegan had reached the door to his room down the long hallway and I just glared when another demon bypassed us with a look of confusion on its face. "If you try to kill me, I really won't hesitate to kill you."

Glad we have that all sorted out.

He set me down on the warm floor, closing and locking the door behind him. When he turned around, he looked me up and down asking, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Towel chic," I placed my hands on my hips and turned around for a three-sixty view for him, "You like, no?"

"How-" he stopped himself, breathing in as he steadied his temper, "Why-" he ran a hand through his ebony hair, watching as the muscles in his arm tensed, "Why would you-"

Awe, he's speechless...good. I'm so tired of being manipulated and used, even when I didn't see how far Landon had used my ability just to serve his coven, never caring about me once. This time, I was going to look out just for myself, my one goal, leaving this godforsaken place.

I'll have my freedom, watch me.

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To Seduce a Vampire by K. A. Young.

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