The great hall had been transformed for the celebration into a paradise for hedonists. Half of the immense chambered had been cordoned off with portable walls. The chair on the platform had been replaced by a plush, backless couch, raised on one end, and sitting on a thick carpet. More couches, carpets, and a mountain of scattered pillows lay about the massive room. Every chandelier held new candles shedding a halo of golden light.
Half naked bodies lounged around the room in a loose circle, each to their own comfort but close enough to chat. Three were demons, two females, and one male with the usual variety of color and demonic features but no wings. He recalled that the Baroness had also not been winged and wondered if they possessed some ability to retract them as Beauty did with her claws. All three were, of course, beautiful, but only the male bore the mark on his cheek of being Harem. The females bore no face tattoos at all. Guests of the Baroness perhaps?
Five humans were also present. Two were the man and woman who had been guarding the Baroness earlier. The other two unknowns to Logan was also a man and woman, equaling as attractive and marked as Harem. The last was de Sade who smiled at him in a way that made Logan want to reach for a weapon.
If I still had one, he thought with regret.
"Ah, the guest of honor had finally arrived," de Sade stood and offered a graceful bow. "And just in time," he added as a bell rang and everyone stood.
Baroness Graveek strolled in through a door at the back of the hall. She wore a black, translucent drape from her shoulders that floated around her legs. The same diaphanous material billowed around her arms from wrist to shoulders. Thigh-high, black leather stiletto boots sheathed her long legs. A black leather corset magnified the deep hourglass of hips and waist. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. Silver jewelry glittered on ears and black clawed fingers. Two magnificent, plum-colored breasts and her sex brushed with midnight pubes were on full display. Every graceful movement of her perfect body silently screamed danger and sexuality in equal measure.
She stepped in front of the couch and her eyes swept across each person in the room, settling on Logan. A wicked smile played at the corners of her full lips as she seemed to look through him.
"My pets… let us play."
She clapped her hands together once and the hall came alive with movement and music. On an overhead balcony, three servants began to fill the room with the soft melody of drums and flutes. Two males and two females, dressed only in translucent veils, moved to the center of the room and began to dance in a very suggestive way, caressing each other and themselves in graceful, slow motion. Servants dressed in silver chains and flowing scraps of white cloth, male and female and each more beautiful than the one before, spread out through the hall in pairs. One carried a silver tray heaped with delicate bowls of food or polished cups of drink. The other trailed behind carrying… a bucket.
Logan settled onto an empty couch and cautiously accepted a drink that tasted like some kind of dark, smoky wine yet burned going down like whiskey. He made a mental note to consume very little of the strong drink. Soon enough the mystery of the buckets was revealed. He watched the demons in the room sample the many delicacies on offer. The "wine" they drank with great enthusiasm. The food, however, was another matter. He watched them chew, savor the taste, then spit the remains into a nearby bucket.
For enjoyment, he realized. Not for sustenance. I wonder where the wine goes? He had never known Beauty to need to eat food nor rid herself of bodily waste. Like her, their hunger could only be satisfied with the sexual life force of human souls. A chill of foreboding crawled over his skin at the thought.
A movement drew his attention. He looked up. People and demons were beginning to gather into smaller groups, many gravitating to the pillows around the Baroness. Two of the human women were approaching him. They were wearing smiles and not much more.
"Hi, I'm Anna," offered a statuesque brunette as she draped herself on the couch beside him. She had been the woman standing guard earlier. Her dusky complexion hinted at a Hispanic or Mediterranean heritage.
"My name is Lily," murmured a striking redhead with hazel eyes and pale, lightly freckled skin. She settled in at his other hip.
"You have been the topic of much debate today," Lily smiled.
"I have, huh?" Logan smirked and leaned back to keep them both in his peripheral vision. "Why's that?"
"Well, for one we get too few visitors this far from the city," Anna laughed. "New blood is always welcome."
"Especially when they are so handsome," Lily purred and brushed a finger down his naked bicep.
Uh oh, Logan thought.
A high squeal of surprise saved him from a reply. They all looked over to see the four-eyed demon laughing and pawing at the servant girl now draped across his lap, even as she struggled to keep the platter in her hand from tipping over onto the floor. Another served rushed over and smoothly took the platter away just as she was pulled down into his arms.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Tycus is such a brute!" she giggled. Logan could feel her gaze traveling slowly over his shoulders and chest. "Not that I don't appreciate an energetic male."
Anna settled in closer on his other side. He was now sandwiched between the two gorgeous women and his body began to react in the normal fashion. Anna's dark eyes noticed. Her eyebrows rose in appreciation as her hand slid up the inside of his thigh. "Very energetic, I suspect."
Logan knew there was no way he could allow this to play out to its inevitable conclusion for fear it would almost certainly reveal his unique nature and blow his cover wide open. Fortunately, this was a possibility they had planned for.
"Ladies, I am honored by your interest but I can't."
Anna pulled back and looked at him. "If you prefer men…"
"No," Logan quickly replied. "Not at all. In better circumstances I would savor the both of you like candy," he replied truthfully. "However, my Master forbids me from any form of physical pleasure until I have successfully returned from a hunt." Logan shrugged. "He calls it motivation."
"You are not joking?" Lily asked as both women slid to their feet in a soft jiggle of feminine wonder.
He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."
For a moment, both women just looked at him. As one, they turned to walk away, any interest in him utterly vanished. The Baroness looked up at them curiously from where she had one of the servants between her legs tending to her pleasure.
"His Master allows him no pleasures of the flesh!" Anna said loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear. There was a pause in the activity and then everyone burst into mocking laughter.
Logan felt his face flame. In a blink, he had gone from an honored guest to public ridicule. Though it was based on a lie, the mockery was real and it cut deep.
"How very delicious." Graveek sneered as the laughter died down. "Poor pet. You will just have to watch and appreciate all that you cannot have."
A moment later Logan learned how demons dealt with alcohol. The four-eyed one leaned into a bucket and proceeded to purge the contents of his stomach before reaching for a fresh cup. Suddenly, any lingering desires he felt were purged as well, leaving his mind clear.
Bulimic demons, he thought. Who would have thought?
Logan, who had been with more women than he could honestly recall, had never imagined he would be a spectator to an orgy. As the night wound on, so too did the growing tangle of bodies. The four dancers had long since been pulled down into the writhing festivities. Sounds of pleasure and pain floated with the music on the humid air. Cries of orgasmic release and the sharp crack of a hand or whip on bare flesh rose and fell. The Baroness continued to reign from her couch, partaking in one or more rotating partners on her couch, as the rest writhed across the floor and furniture in a shifting mass of flesh and fluid, lust and fear.
And, of course, the demons fed. This, not food, not even alcohol, was the main course of the evening. Sharp teeth pierced whatever soft flesh happened to be within reach at the moment.
A steady stream of mundane dishes continued to be circulated by carefully stepping servants. More than once, Amber stopped by to offer one delicacy or another. Each time, he made a point to smile and thank her. Yet, for all the rich foods available, it was the alcohol that the assembled revelers were far more interested in, to the point of excess. Drunken laughter, squeals of delight, and cries of pain rebounded around the hall.
Drunk. A thrill of comprehension sliced through the faint haze of alcohol in his brain. They are all hammered!
It was time. But how? However distracted the Baroness seemed with her erotic amusements, Logan felt certain she was keeping a close eye on him. Any attempt to sneak away would only arouse suspicion.
That left only one alternative. If I cannot be quiet then I will have to be loud.
He waited until he could wait no longer. When Amber made her next appearance, Logan rolled the dice.
He stood to accept another cup of wine and stumbled into her. They fell together in a tangle of limbs, cups, and a wash of dark wine.
Everything stopped.
Bodies stopped writhing together. Servants ceased moving around the room. Even the music stopped. Abrupt silence fell across the hall.
"Apologies!" Logan cackled laughter and tried to climb to his unsteady feet while helping Amber up at the same time, and failing at both in a sad comedy of drunken lack of coordination. He reached for the serving tray, "accidentally" banging it against the edge of a table in a bright, jarring crash of metal and nearly falling again.
A glance around confirmed a sea of shocked and angry faces. None more so than the Baroness Graveek. Fury twisted her lovely face into something brutal.
"Get. Him. Out!"
Logan mumbled apologies and threw an arm around Amber's shoulder. She staggered under his weight. Both of them were soaked in spilled wine. Humiliation colored her cheeks the color of a ripe berry.
They exited the hall with no small amount of difficulty. He didn't make it easy for her, staggering and letting his weight drag on her much smaller frame in a show of drunken incompetence.
"Oh, Mr. Denke!" she whispered in a terrified voice. "Why did you do that? The Mistress will be furious with me!"
It hurt him to hear the terror in her voice but he said nothing as they struggled up the winding stairs to the guest quarters. He did at least find his feet and cease to torture her so much with his weight. Eventually, she managed to maneuver him into his room. Logan kicked the door closed as they staggered to the bed. She tried to drop him onto the covers and only succeeded in falling with him.
"Mr. Denke,��� she gasped. "Sir, you're crushing me…"
Logan eased his weight off her even as his arms circled tighter around her. His lips nuzzled against her ear.
Amber began to struggle against him. "Sir, please. I can't."
"Amber, listen to me very carefully because I don't think we have long before someone discovers that I have filled the spy holes in this room with candle wax," he whispered into her ear. "I'm not drunk and I am not trying to seduce you."
He felt her freeze against him.
"Do you understand?"
After a long moment, she whispered, "Please don't hurt me."
"I would never do that, Amber. I want to help you. Are you listening?"
"Yes."
"My name is not Karl Denke. It's Logan. My companions and I ended Karl Denke when he was sent to hunt us. Just like we are going to do to Baroness Graveek and every one of the sick bastards that follow her."
Amber moaned in terror and began to quake against him.
"You and every other soul in this castle can be forever free of her cruelty. You don't ever have to be a slave again. Would you want that?"
"I can't…" she whimpered. "It's not…"
"Amber, listen to me. Eternity in the afterlife means forever. This will be your fate until the end of time if you let it. Together we can change that. I can set you free… but I need your help to do it."
"Why me?" she softly pleaded. "I'm no one."
"Not true but they think you are and that is exactly why you are the perfect person to make this possible. We can do this, Amber, but you have to brave enough to take a chance! If you want to be free, truly free, you will have to take a leap of faith and trust me."
When she did not respond, Logan sighed against her ear. "I said I won't hurt you and I meant it. If you want, I will let you go. If you return to your Mistress and tell her everything I have told you, she might even forgive you and let you go back to being a mindless pet to be used and abused for the sick pleasure of her Harem… forever. Is that what you want?"
"… no," she finally whispered.
"Atta girl." Logan tenderly kissed her cheek. "I just need you to be brave for one night. Can you do that?"
"I don't know. What do want me to do?"
Logan climbed off of her, careful to watch for any sign of panic or a scream for help. He retrieved a drinking skin from his backpack. "Only what you always do."