Book 1 of The Courts of Daemonium.
Alexander 'Xander' Duran, the world's first Lamia, has been in charge of the Courts of Daemonium for decades. After being turned into a shadow-wielding, blood-thirsty Daemon in 1649 by Lilith, his only purpose in h...
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Blood.
It was the first thing Adriana could remember, the first thing she could smell and taste as she slowly awoke. Her body ached all over, her neck still stung from whatever Norman had injected her with, and she was freezing cold in Xander's joggers and t-shirt.
Xander.
She had no idea if he was okay, had no idea if he had even woken up, or if he was here with her.
She opened her eyes and lifted herself off the cold floor, her head throbbing with every movement. It was dark, so dark she struggled to see in front of her, even with her Lamia eyesight. She could hear odd sounds of panting and crying all around her, and the sweet smell of blood grew stronger as she fully woke up.
She reached in front of her to guide her steps, only for her fingers to wrap around cool, metal bars. She was in a cage.
Adriana began to panic, her breathing erratic as she felt around the cage for a faulty bar, a dodgy padlock, any way she could escape. But there was none, this cage had been built for something strong, much stronger than a second generation Lamia.
She conjured a small ball of light in her palm, lifting it in front of her to examine the cage, but all she could see was a set of huge snapping teeth lunging toward her through the bars.
A lupus. A fucking massive one, too.
She fell back in shock, her elbows taking the brunt of her fall against the hard ground, her light diminishing in her hand so she was left in the darkness once again. The darkness was good, it meant the Lupus might not be able to see her in its weakened state either, she hoped so at least.
Suddenly, a loud creak echoed through the room as a door was opened. She could hear heavy footsteps walking down a set of stairs before coming to a stop a few feet from her.
A light switched on, a bright bulb hanging from the centre of the room that cast an ugly white glow across the basement. She squinted for a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust, and looked up to Norman's smiling face.
"Good evening, everyone!" he laughed, his hands in his jacket pockets as he strolled around the room. "I hope you all slept well, we've got a big night ahead after all. It's a full house for a full moon!"
Adriana's eyes followed his movements, only allowing herself small glances at the rows of cages like hers that housed seven other victims. Four of them were Lupi, she could tell by the way they had all begun to shift or, in the case of her neighbour, had already fully shifted into their wolf form. She saw two Lamiae in cages furthest from hers, a woman and a man, their eyes black and fangs sharp as they hissed and growled at Norman. They looked starved, their skin was far too pale, their black eyes seemed too big for their faces. But neither of them were Xander. And then, to Adriana's horror, she saw two mortals huddled in a cage across from her.
