Claiming of the Demon King (ICS Book One)

Chapter Twenty-Three - Victoria Misses Her Demon

Victoria Misses Her Demon

"Shoot it!"

"Shit!" Jasper swore, struggling to shoot the horde of zombies racing towards him. They were being surrounded. Jasper went down, a zombie gnawing on his neck.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" Victoria squealed, jumping up and down on the sofa as her fingers worked the game controller. A zombie swung a well-aimed cleaver. Her head rolled before the TV screen went red.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Jasper groaned, dropping the controller. "Un-fucking-believable. We have to start all the way at the beginning."

Victoria giggled, sitting back on the couch and taking a swig of her beer. "You shoot like a girl, Jaz."

"Bullshit." The demon grinned. "You should see me against real zombies."

Her jaw dropped. "Those exist too?"

He laughed. "Yea, they're summoned by necromancers. That's an old practice though. The things are like locusts. Even the necro's have a hard time keeping them under control." He shuddered, as if remembering a past event. "The bastards mostly summon ghouls and phantoms now."

She stared at him.

He laughed again at her expression. "Haven't you been reading your books?"

Victoria blushed. "Yes! There's a lot to take in." She'd been struggling through the The History of the Demonarchies and it was hell. But she had learned a lot about the different clans and the history around the berserkers, Sebastian in particular.

Her heart had ached when she read about his servitude to the demon lord Ivan. For centuries he'd been tortured and forced to turn demonic. Of course Sebastian had overcome all odds, freeing not only himself but his brethren.

And her suspicions regarding his curse were all but confirmed. Although the book didn't go into detail - she suspected that whoever wrote it probably couldn't as a condition of the curse - she did know that a mystic named Levina the Ever Watchful had cursed him into what he hated most. If she knew anything about Sebastian then it was his demonic form.

What she didn't know was how to break it.

Even more frustrating was the fact that every time she'd tried to talk to Jasper about it she couldn't, it actually hurt just to try, the words stuck in her throat. Freaking curses...

"Excuses, excuses, halfling," Jasper teased, pulling her from her own thoughts.

"Do you know when Sebastian will be back?" Since the ghoul attack Victoria had hardly seen the demon. She knew he was hunting down the necromancer that had summoned the ghouls but she missed him, badly.

Now that they shared a room she had expected to see more of him, to at least sleep with him. However, whenever he returned it was only to shower, give her a peck on the cheek, and leave again.

"Soon. He had a good lead this morning from Charles." Was the spectral demon blushing?

She eyed him suspiciously. "Have to admit that vampire is a hotty," she said coyly.

Jasper grunted, "I wouldn't know..."

"Uh huh." She couldn't stop herself from giggling.

He looked over at her with a raised brow.

"Can I ask you something?"

"That depends... Does it involve a certain vampire?"

She shook her head. "No. I was just curious, why have you served Sebastian all this time?"