The Demon Lord's Lover
Chapter 7

I lay there and wait for the pain, but it never comes. When I open my eyes, Marco is gone. Huh? What? I look around the room, then I remember my phone and fetch it from under the blanket. “Hello, Dante?” I speak into the phone. (I am here.) The door to my room opens, and Dante walks in.

Relief washes over me, and I sigh deeply. Then I panic. “Dante, what the fuck is wrong with Marco? He just tried t-t-to bite me! I saw his fangs t-they were, I saw it….” Dante walks up to me and hugs me, and his warmth immediately makes me feel better. “I am sorry I didn’t think he would attack; I thought he was in control.”

He pulls back a bit and checks my face; he wipes my cheeks. Am I crying? He looks worried. We stay like that for a while until I can get myself together. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. But I think I know what happened, but first I have to tell you everything. I was going to ease into telling you, but I might as well get this over with. Maybe you will understand why I did what I did.”

He holds my hand and leads me down to the living room, and sits down with me. “Do you want something to drink? Something to calm your nerves.” He takes off his suit jacket and loosens his tie. I watch his muscles flex and bite my lip. “Uh, maybe something to drink; I am a bit shaken up still.” He goes to grab me some water.

“Alright, where should I start? Draco and Marco are vampires. Draco is much stronger than Marco. Right now, Draco can’t physically get to you because he is locked away somewhere far, but it doesn’t stop his lackeys from doing the work for him. I think one of them may have taken over Marco; maybe Draco did it himself.”

He looks over to me to see how I am doing. Vampires? I nod for him to continue. “Remember how I said I am helping you was a one-time thing? It was a favor for someone. That person is your dad. He uh we are demons.” He pauses. Wait... We?

“What do you mean we?” I asked him. “Let me explain; your parents were demons, strong ones. Your mother was a powerful sorceress. And when they had you, they predicted the threats would come to you, so for the whole time that your mother was carrying you, she was conjuring a charm or a barrier to protect you. It used up her life force in exchange for your protection.

I assume the spell itself lasted as long as your mother was supposed to live. Now it’s fading, which is why you are currently a target. Your father was the Demon Lord, and that title he passed onto me before he went to deal with Draco.”

My face drops. “Draco killed him, didn’t he?” Dante nodded. “I promised him if anything happened to him, I would protect you.” I think for a moment. “If Draco defeated my father, how is it that he is locked up? Who is the one that locked him up?” He shifts in his seat.

“I did; he had it coming.” Dante must be powerful, but I never even met my father. “Why was I given away? Was that to protect me?” He nodded.

“They agreed to give you away once you were born, so they brought you to the human world to be raised by humans. It would make it harder for Draco to replace you. Now back to Marco, I am sure I can get him out of whatever trance he is in; I know he wouldn’t have killed you for three reasons.”

I raise an eyebrow. “One is the necklace I gave you, two is he is your mate, so if he kills you, he kills himself, and three is… you’re My Mate.”

I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but it sounded like I had two mates, which confused me. “Uh, can you go over what a mate is, please?” I say softly. “There are different types of mates, a normal mate which apparently you can have many of and a True Mate, which you can only have one.”

I breathe deeply. “So, which one are you?” Dante reaches and strokes my cheek gently. “I’m your True Mate, so you are stuck with me, sweetheart.” That must explain it then, the undeniable attraction or the sparks. I don’t know what to say, and I am at a loss for words.

My heart is beating so fast and hard; I had no idea. This is all so new. I never even knew demons and vampires, and all that even existed. I just thought it was all in the movies.

“I have so many questions; I do not know where to start. So what does that make us? How do you even know we’re true mates or whatever ?” He smirks.

“It would be very embarrassing to tell you straight up, so let us just stick to love at first sight, okay?” I sigh, unable to process everything. “So, where is Marco?” He just disappeared. “In the basement until I can figure out what happened to him.” My eyes widen.

“The basement? Why would you keep him here? Is that even safe? What about when you go to work, and what if he escapes? “I start to panic again, and Dante holds me in his arms, rubbing my back.

“It’s okay, I won’t be leaving you anytime soon, and I can work from home in my private office. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He kisses my forehead.

“I promised your dad, and I promise you. I won’t let anything happen to you. I am pretty sure Marco will feel bad about what he did to you anyway. So let us focus on what to do next.” He stands up and eyes me from head to toe.

“Now I can still sense your mother’s spell, but it is getting weak, which means we are going to have to get you stronger to at least deal with the lackeys.” I huff and smile confidently.

“I know how to fight, and I have a black belt, you know.” He grins. “I am talking about your powers. You won’t last 5 minutes as you are right now. So tomorrow, we will begin training.”

He lets me go and heads to the kitchen. “Go take a shower; I’ll have dinner ready for you when you get out.” I nod and head to my bedroom to prepare for the shower. Hmm, what to wear? I pull out some shorts and a t-shirt, grab my underwear, no bra, and head to the bathroom.

After I take my shower, my nostrils flood with the scent of the delicious food. “Mmm, something smells good.” Dante turns and looks at me.

“The food is done. Go sit at the table.” I oblige, and he brings me spaghetti with meatballs and meat sauce with some Moscato wine. “Thank you; it looks delicious.”

Dante joins me at the table and eats. “I can do the dishes once we have finished eating.” I offer since I am not doing anything right now. Dante nods. Once I have finished cleaning up, I go to the living room to read; a freshly showered Dante sits down with a severe look on his face. “What’s up? Why the serious face?”

I ask him, putting down my book. “I want to talk about us.” I nod for him to continue. “I have to mark you, Naila. I want to wait, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I look at him, confused. “What do you mean mark me? What does that mean?”

“Marking you is a way of making it known to other species that you are mine; the weaker ones won’t bother you.” I start drinking. “So, what do we have to do?” His eyes darken as he looks at me. “I have to bite you under certain circumstances.”