Page 8 of Forty Deaths Till Us Part

Cass glanced at the hallway. “I need to check in with my team. Rene, are you staying in the parlor?”

Rene touched my back. “Stay here with Davon. I will just move to the corner to speak with Dimitri.”

Dimitri huffed. “She is safe within these walls. Almost the entire clan has returned and there are no off-site visits without supervision during protective protocols.”

Rene stared at Dimitri for several seconds. “You seem to have forgotten that Marie was on site when she was killed. I trust no one with Raven’s safety. She will remain in my line of sight, no matter where we are.”

Dimitri’s lips pursed. “Of course.” He followed Rene when the overseer walked toward the corner of the room, passing several clusters of well-dressed vampires.

The room was alive with chatter, and I had to wonder if I was the topic of conversation.

“It isn’t that you’re a witch,” Davon said.

I turned to stare at him. “Pardon me?”

He motioned to the vampires surrounding us. “They don’t fear you because you have magic. They fear you because your existence threatens their view of the world. Don’t let it get you down.”

“That obvious, huh?”

He bumped my shoulder playfully. “I hear that Isra Nassir is one of your best friends. I love Club Spice. Very entertaining.”

I laughed. “I’m sure the ladies love you there.”

He winked. “They do, but I only go for the shows.”

“Isra is also my daughter’s father.”

He arched an eyebrow. “It takes a very sensual woman to convince a gay man to... experiment. I have met Isra. There isn’t a heterosexual bone in his body.”

I laughed. “You are so right. We had both lost people and had a brief sexual relationship.” I didn’t usually divulge my past so quickly, but I found my lips moving before I considered the consequences. Davon was endearing, fun, and had kind eyes. I liked him and I could see why he was popular with the ladies. He didn’t strike me as the kind of man to lead you on. Nobody who shared his bed expected it to be permanent or the relationship to be monogamous.

He nodded. “Grief messes with you. Dimitri never really recovered from our parents’ death or the unfortunate chain of events after. He comes across as pretty stiff, but you will learn not to take him too seriously. I don’t.”

“Your parents were killed? Was it vampires?”

Davon shook his head. “They were vampires and a rogue witch killed them just after I was turned. She had fire magic and vampires are not flame retardant. There hasn’t been a witch withfire magic since to my knowledge, so there is that, but I am not a super fan of the empowered.” He winked. “Present company excluded.”

Part of me wanted to be honest and tell him I had just learned I possessed that magic, but honestly, I had no idea how to call on it. The tests forced certain magics to the surface, but that didn’t mean a witch would learn to harness their power. My fire magic could be a minor ability that produced no more than a lighter of flame when not fed by the coven’s magic. “I am sorry about your parents and the coven is not exactly my friend anymore.”

“Yeah, they get all uppity when you don’t obey them. It’s the reason I hate politics. So boring. Who wants those responsibilities, anyway?”

Davon reminded me of Isra in some ways. Jana would love him but knowing his fondness for women, there was no way I was introducing him anytime soon.

Cass strolled up to us. “Davon, I hope you are playing nice?”

He winked at her. “I would love to play with you, but you keep turning me down.”

Her hand strayed to the silver staff at her belt. “I’m too much woman for you, honey. Run along. I need to speak with Raven.”

Davon shook my hand again. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Raven. I hope we can spend more time together in the future.” He bowed respectfully to Cass and sauntered off before striking up a conversation with a tall blond woman in a long red dress.

I stared at him for a few seconds. “Okay, I gotta say it. Davon is not what I expected.”

Cass grunted. “Be careful Raven. He isn’t the most… stable among us.”

I turned back to her. “He hurts people?”

She shook her head. “No, not physically. Just don’t count on him for... anything. He loves the ladies, but he is unreliable when it comes to anything of real importance.”