Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty-Four

Damien sighed as he leaned down and took his phone from his pants pocket. "What?" he demanded, putting the receiver to his ear, without checking the caller ID. As he listened to the person on the other line, he closed his eyes with a growl. "Very well."

"What's wrong?" I asked after he'd hung up.

"It was Sam, the elders are coming now. They'll be here soon." He responded as he stood, and put his pants back on, then turned on the shower for me. "I'll be downstairs, Sam will come and get you." He said before walking towards the door. Before opening it, he turned back to look at me "Bast?"

"Yeah?" I asked, turning back to face him, curiously.

"Please, do not come down, until Sam comes to get you. He should be here before you are done with your shower, but if he isn't, wait for him." He said, then crossed the room again, taking me in his arms. "I'm not saying this to be controlling, I just don't want to chance Anastasia or Cristóbal getting to you before I can stop them."

I nodded my understanding, then stood on the tips of my toes to kiss him. "I promise."

"Thank you." He said with a smile before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

I quickly went to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. After my shower, I found I was too scared to open the bathroom door, and decided to sit on the toilet seat and waited to hear Sam enter my room.

It was only a couple of minutes later that I heard my bedroom door open, and then close.

"Bast, it's Sam. Are you alright?" He said from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yes I'm okay." I said as I stood and unlocked the door. As soon as Sam saw that I was covered with only a towel, he quickly turned his back to me, apologizing profusely. "It's okay, Sam. I um... I was too scared to leave the bathroom without knowing that you were here." I said softly, looking down at the ground, my cheeks hot with embarrassment.

Sam nodded as he began to walk to my bedroom door, to give me privacy to dress.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, jumping forward to take his hand. "Please, can you just stay in the room? You can face the wall or whatever. But seeing Damien being so nervous, it just really rattled me." I whispered, my eyes starting to water as I explained to Sam.

"It's okay Bast, nothing is going to happen to you. I swear on my life." He said with a soft reassuring smile, releasing my hand before leaving my room.

I don't think I've ever gotten dressed so quickly in my life as I quickly threw on a pair of undergarments, then put on a pair of denim leggings, with a gray t-shirt. I quickly went to my bedroom door and opened it, quickly rushing to Sam, who was waiting just off to the side.

"See? You're okay." He said gently as he took my hand and led me down into the main foyer. Once we were by the water fountain, he led me into the kitchen, then by the dining room where I could hear various voices. He started to open the door, but stopped and looked down at me. "Bast, I can still take you to be with Valerie, if you no longer wish to be here." He whispered, his blue eyes looking over my face in concern.

I shook my head softly, refusing. "I need to be here, Sam."

"Okay." he said as he took my hand and opened the dining room door, revealing that every one had indeed already arrived.

When Damien saw me and Sam enter the room, he stood and held his hand out to me, keeping his eyes trained on the red eyed couple at the end of the table. All the men stood when they saw me entering the room with Sam, making me realize that there were only four women in the room, not including me. I guess even the vampire world is ruled by men, not unlike the human world.

"Your lieutenant is holding hand's with your woman. Does that not irk you?" The man standing two chairs away from Damien asked as he looked me up and down, then gave and approving look. The way he 'approved' of me, creeped me out, making me rush to Damien's side even faster.

"Unlike you Geoffrey, I trust my lieutenant, and my woman." Damien spat in response.

Sam held my hand tightly as he walked with me towards Damien, like he was afraid someone would try to steal me away. He didn't release until Damien took my hand from him, leading me to the chair on his right. This brought me to the conclusion that they were indeed afraid that someone would try to take me away, making my already erratic nerves worse.

"Are you okay, little human?" The man to Sam's right asked me, his brown eyes filled with genuine concern.

"Yes, thank you." I responded with a gracious smile. This man's demeanor reminded me a lot of Sam, in the way that he gave off a soft and kind vibe.

"Unlike you randy men, I am not interested in Lucifer's human, so let us get down to business." A woman towards the middle of the table said, her thick European accent nearly impossible to understand. "Why are we here, Lucifer?"

"I am changing the recreant law, so you all need to enforce it in your respective territories." Damien boomed his deep voice showing no sign of the soft and caring man he was towards me.

"So it is a vote? Good then, this shouldn't take too long." The woman responded, leaning forward in her seat.

"That would insinuate that you've a choice in the matter. Let me be perfectly clear when I say this. I am changing the law, you will enforce this law, immediately. Is that clear?" Damien said, glaring at the woman who had spoken. It was surprising that Damien could speak with such authority and dominance, while caressing my hand softly with his thumb.

Damien waited a few moments, giving anyone a chance to speak. It was no surprise that they all remained silent. Although their faces would never show it, I could tell they were too afraid to utter a sound.

"Recreants are no longer to be hunted and destroyed. If you come across one, you will bring them to me. Understood?"

The moment he stopped talking, the room was filled with an uproar of angry protests, some stood quickly, forcing the chairs to go hurtling backwards. Others stood, and threw the chairs, causing them to shatter against the walls.

Damien sighed as he watched them, but remained seated, and still didn't release my hand. He leaned over to Sam and the two of them began conversing quietly, despite the fact I was sure that no one could hear them over the commotion anyways.

"Ow!" I cried out as a plate came hurtling at my head, shattering to pieces, causing a small cut. Although it was small, it began bleeding profusely. In a matter of moments there was a thick line from my hairline, down my chin, and quickly bleeding onto my clothes.

The second I cried out in pain, the entire room went deathly silent. When Damien and Sam saw the pieces of the plate on the table in front of me, they both jumped to action. Sam took a towel and held it to my head, his blue eyes wild and filled with concern, checking the wound to make sure it wasn't too serious. When Damien confirmed that it wasn't a serious injury, he jumped on the table and let out a deep terrifying roar, causing every vampire in the room to bow their heads.

"Who did this?" He snarled at the coven, baring his fangs at the group, who still refused to meet his gaze.

"Damien..." I mumbled, feeling weak. I brought my trembling hand down to my abdomen, to find that there was a shard of glass protruding from my stomach. I tried to stand, but instantly collapsed to the ground. The last thing I remember was Damien's right eye turning gold, the left still red, before the world faded into nothingness.