IX

Red curtains drape the room. Everywhere the eye can look, the wall has artfully draped red curtains and silently standing Shades in each opening. Making the room small, warm, and a prison. Tables piled high with food are on both sides of the room, with one vast dance floor packed with Demons in the middle. It was a trap for sure, but a fancy trap.

The only other place to look was a raised platform with a scrawny horned Demon, sitting on a throne.

“Jesus Christ! Why are they always sitting on a throne or something? Didn’t we just do this in Yemen?” Adorna sighs.

“Split up. Try to get as much information from the crowd as you can. Some might be rumors, so focus on the ones that repeat itself,” Sauda orders, “I’ll try to get an audience with the new ‘La Muerte’.”

Dimitri and Dimitra dive straight into the crowd, knowing not to stray too far from Sauda. Elaheh and Jinn take the left, while Adorna and Britain go right, leaving Sauda and Kang Dae to push forward.

“Quite a few high powered Demons, here, my love.”

Sauda ignores the “my love” from him. But as far as the politically ranked Demons, she’ll trust him. He is all-knowing about the who’s who of Hell. And she kept her fingers out of that pudding a long time ago.

“No one that owns their own little spot in hell, but definitely high ranking Demons who work for the big rigs,” Kang Dae finishes.

“Anyone that would help just because I am my father’s daughter?”

“Quite a few.”

“Any that would go against me?” Sauda asks.

Kang Dae takes the time to think over his words. They all know that every single Demon in the room could hear exactly what they were saying, even if they whispered. The actual test was seeing if the host of the party was strong enough to hear everything. They look to him and he sits, drinking his wine, oblivious to them. Or faking very well.

“I wouldn’t want to risk your father’s wrath.”

They stop as they stand in the middle of the dance floor.

“My name is Sauda, Lady of Ethiopia. Daughter of Andras, Great Marquis of Ethiopia. I am here to kill this new master. If anyone tries to stop me,” she whispers, “and I survive… I’m not above calling Daddy.”

Some chuckle as they all nod. A Demon with deep burgundy skin stands close to her.

“My Marquis sent me to help you,” She says.

She’s dressed in all black with a simple black lace mask just like her team. There are a few more dressed just like it at the party.

Adorna walks up with Britain on her tail.

“He can’t hear us whispering,” She says, “Or he’s pretending.”

“I’ve seen deceptively powerful Demons before, my Lady,” says Britain, but he doesn’t feel like one of them.”

“No one believes that he’s really the new La Muerte.”

“Only one way to find out,” Sauda says.

Dimitri and Dimitra show up in front of her, escorting her to the front.

The Demon sitting in the big boy chair straightens and plasters a smile on his face. Sauda can see behind the smile to his yellowing chipped fangs. Everyone can see through the facade, but why would the Shades be here if La Muerte wasn’t.

Sauda watches as he puts his drink on the arm of his chair and stuffs his shaking hands underneath his legs.

“Who is this? Would you like an audience with La Muerte—me? With m-me?”

Everyone stands still, either watching him, watching her, or watching the Shades. Two of them stand, guarding him and looking down at the crowd.

“Lady Sauda,” she introduces herself, “Of Ethiopia.”

“Aw.” His smile seems to falter. “What, um… what would you like to talk about?”

Dimitri and Dimitra move to the side so Sauda can see the red-carpeted steps leading to the platform he sits on. She struts up to them, with one eye on the Shades and the other on him.

She sways her hips and licks her lips as she walks up, stopping right in front of the small Demon.

“Do you know how La Muerte died?” Sauda asks. She whips out one of the knives she stashed and places the tip unto the pad of her index finger. The Shades don’t even flinch. Still, her chest is tight, and the sweat rolls down her back.

“You see.” she steps closer and still the Shades don’t move. “When I was born, La Muerte and her men took my father and some other key players. It took my sister three years to get to him and even then she couldn’t get him out.”

She is so close to him, she can see each bead of sweat on his greasy forehead. She steps up, knocking the wine cup off, and sits on the arm of the chair. From there, she can see the entire room, including the backs of the two Shades who seem to be there just for decoration.

“It wasn’t until I ripped my stepfather apart on my third birthday, that my father got enough power to escape. But even then, La Muerte didn’t die. Do you still want to know how?”

He shakes his head and tries to get as far away from her as his chair will let him. Kang Dae grabs his neck and forces him straight. Sauda knew then for sure he was no La Muerte if even Kang Dae could overpower him.

“I’m surprised you don’t know the story. I mean… it’s kinda hurting my feelings. I’m a legend because of this.” Sauda takes her knife and trails it up and down the top of his chair.

“My father took me back to Ethiopia and for a year, he built up an army that would take on La Muerte. For a year… I got to know my sister. She was a half-human like me, and I loved her.” Sauda hisses it out as she put the point of her knife to his jugular. Still, the Shades didn’t move.

“One day, they told me they were leaving and that they would be back soon, and to stay with my Nanny. My sister told me she loved me, and even as a four-year-old, I knew something wasn’t right. I wanted to go with my sister, I loved her… Do you know what I did?”

The sad little Demon shakes all over. Kang Dae forces him off of the throne, letting the knife scrape against his throat.

Sauda slides herself into his seat, and Kang Dae sits at her feet as they watch blood trickle down his neck. They’ll see if he’s Demon enough to heal a nicked vein.

“I stowed away. And then the blood started soaking into the arms bag I folded myself into. The bodies fall on top of me. I crawled out of them to see Shades ripping my sister’s soul apart. I lost it. I destroyed everything in sight; men loyal to La Muerte, men loyal to my father, Shades. When the carnage stopped, I even ripped La Muerte apart.”

The Demon on the floor shrieks as the rest of Sauda’s team walks past him to join her on the platform. Jinn and one of the Twins pick him up by the armpits and his feet barely touch the floor.

Sauda feels a tug in her gut and knows her Bonded is there. Her heart jumps out at the thought of seeing Raum. She looks up and her heart drops again.

She can feel the room heat as the sneer scratches across her lips.

Like magic, the Shades disappear into thin air, leaving the audience shocked and scared. Sauda couldn’t care less. She stares at the woman in a bright red lace dress that hangs all over Raum in a matching red and black suit.

“Adorna.”

“My Lady?” Adorna asks.

“You and Elaheh, go play.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Elaheh pull out her favorite clip blade knives, as Jinn and the Twins drag the false master screaming to a back room.

Finally, Sauda takes her eyes off of Raum and looks at the crowd. “Enjoy the rest of the ball.”