Watcher in the Darkness, Book 3: Imprisoned

Chapter 29

Khalid's wide desk stood between us as he leaned back in his chair and pretended I didn't exist. His demon enforcers stood on either side of me, arms crossed but ready to attack. My pre-battle adrenaline rush faded, so I passed the time by taking in my surroundings.

Khalid's office was a monument to all the nice stuff the sex industry can buy. The furniture was modern and high-end, but the artwork appeared to come from medieval times. Every painting depicted human beings entangled with demons; some sexually, while others were being tortured and eaten. The collection would be worth millions to the right psychopathic collector. I filed that tidbit of information away for later.

An obsidian statue loomed in the recess behind Khalid's desk. It had to be at least eight feet tall, and polished to a mirror finish. I could make out every strand in the angelic female's long, flowing hair. She loomed above a demonic male, their hands, bodies, and lips not quite touching. Close, but forever out of reach.

I sucked my front teeth in absolute boredom. "Nice place," I said.

Khalid didn't look up from his phone.

"You turned an old church into a whorehouse. That's pretty funny. It must've been worth some irony points, at least."

Khalid heaved an impatient sigh.

"So, are you going to keep playing Candy Crush for the rest of the night, or what?"

"If you would, kindly shut the fuck up." Khalid's tone was flat and disinterested.

I nodded, my arms crossed, then counted to ten in my head. "So, you're a pimp?"

Khalid closed his eyes as he massaged his brow.

"Don't get me wrong, that sounds like a pretty sweet gig. You keep the money while your whores do all the work. How do you talk these women into going along with something like that?"

Khalid looked at me at last. "You know, vampire tongue is a delicacy, half-breed."

"Really? Cool. So, why haven't I heard of this place?"

Khalid made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "I take offense at the notion that a homeless vermin such as yourself believes he would hear about my establishment. Our social circles do not overlap, Tobias. They orbit in completely different galaxies."

I'm used to people talking down to me, and under normal circumstances I don't care. "You know I'm royalty, right?" I've never played that particular card before, and I don't think I ever will again. It felt...very wrong.

Khalid wasn't impressed. "Perhaps, but you are also Disavowed."

Prick. "So, are you going to kill me, or what?"

"Oh, yes," Khalid said with a nod, which made his underlings smile with sadistic joy. "First, I must assess any damage your presence might have caused here tonight."

Before I could respond, Khalid's office door opened, then a blonde woman walked into the room. She looked and smelled human, but it was obvious she worked there. Her long hair hung loose on her shoulders, having just enough natural curl to be unmanageable. Her cheeks were round and her blue eyes were too small for her face. A corset cinched her boobs and waist into an hourglass shape, but did nothing for her flat ass. I could tell right away she was a skinrider, like Khalid. Unlike Khalid, her inner-demon was weak and inferior. The aura she threw off was repellant rather than intimidating. Translation: I hated the bitch at first sight.

A cat-sized shadow perched on the whore's forearm. It flitted across the room the second it saw Khalid, the imp's wings silent as it swooped past my head. The creature didn't ruffle a single paper when it landed on Khalid's desk. It handed him a pearlescent black stone, then crouched down to wait.