Existence (The Devilgod Series Book 1)

Book summary

Sophia Abuda, an author who dreams of her past lives, yearns for a prince lost to her reincarnation cycle, despite her love for her husband, Nathan. Meanwhile, her son Seth wrestles with his true identity and destiny, risking a delicate balance that may awaken a formidable foe in his quest for the truth.

Excerpt from Existence

MR. ABUDA ERIC

I wasn’t looking forward to speaking with Mr. Abuda this evening. As a matter of fact, he kind of scared me just a little. Why was I so unfortunate? The fact that he had called me to his office simply made me nervous. My hands were trembling as I ascended the grand staircase that led to the office. I could see the door of the office open wide just as I reached the top. I could imagine his form sitting on his mother’s old leather office chair, and that made me cringe just a tiny bit.

My steps echoed as I came to the level where the office sat, dividing the dancing-dome floor on the opposite side of the arches, below where the antechamber and the foyer connected.

I didn’t hear any sounds coming from inside the office, but I knew that he was in there working on business deals and other offers from clients that had come to meet with him earlier.

My hands were shaking as I came closer. They always did whenever I met with him. I could feel my heart pounding within my chest and the blood in my veins racing. Why was I so scared of him? I had never been before. In fact, I could still remember the day his mother had announced she was pregnant with him. The look on her face, the words soaring from her lips with delight and excitement as she jumped from her seat and spoke so suddenly. It seemed to be an announcement I didn’t regard with the greatest of wonder, until now.

“I have something to tell you…”

Sophia’s large, brown, sparkling eyes were lit so beautifully by the florescent lamps above us, and so they were caught magically in her pupils. She was dressed in a long, red, satin dress, her dark hair came down over her shoulders. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on.

“What is it, Sophia?” We all looked over at her, our red lips dropped in utter shock with the anticipation of her news.

My companions tried to find an answer among each other, but there was nothing but confusion surrounding the table.

“I’m pregnant,” came her announcement so simple it gave no room for anything else. It was just that simple.

I rose first from my seat near the table, where all the others were glaring back at her with wide eyes. I looked at her with a single questioning stare.

If only Ramiel were here, the thought crossed my mind suddenly, for apparently no reason. It seemed that only with our boss could things continue, or be resolved without trouble…

Sophia smiled at all of us, but soon after, her eyes begged for a word from us.

“Well, isn’t anybody going to say anything?” she asked regarding our silence.

The others remained confused, doubting the truth to those words.

“Sophia, that’s wonderful!” Damien suddenly rose from her seat to say this, breaking the long silence. She moved over to Sophia and embraced her, kissing her gently on the cheek.

I didn’t move; frozen by a strange feeling, I remained on the spot.

The others took their turns wishing Sophia congratulations with warm kisses and loving embraces. Santiago and Valentino soon took their turns hugging Sophia as well.

Santiago hesitated at first, being the flirt that he was with Sophia. He bowed, smiling and baring the long double canines behind his painted red mouth. His white ghostly face glimmered, while beyond his penetrating sharp green eyes flashed and sparkled over at her in lustful longing, an obvious crush we had grown tired of over the years. Sophia was well aware of it.

“My dear, my heart is broken. I no less adore you.” He grinned and kissed the back of her hand, hoping perhaps that his vampiric charms would work on her as it had on many foolish others.

“Santiago!” I called out simply to catch his attention.

I came from behind and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to save Sophia the embarrassment of Santiago’s sometimes outrageous behavior. We neared one another. He turned and glared directly at me, his rival here again to ruin his chances at anything; perhaps these were his thoughts.

He gazed back at Sophia, “Forgive me…Where are my manners?”

He stepped aside, wandering from the others to the opposite end of the room. Santiago was always like that, withdrawn even from his own crowd, a loner, even in his own world. He dressed in a long dark coat, with a black top hat, a vest and trousers and a cane which he sometimes used to conjure his own magically generated roses. Think of it as a sort of pick-up line. Whenever the task was needed to entice a beauty, the cane was used.

Sophia smiled and held herself from saying anything as she watched Santiago wander away. Her eyes shifted to the windows of her small office glancing out the glass to the giant dance floor.

I followed her eyes, watching her stray from me to where Santiago stood. Santiago knew she was staring after him, and for that reason he barely glanced back over his shoulder towards her. Perhaps she worried about him. I knew that could be the only reason she stared after him. For she was that kind-hearted.

“Sophia, I’m so happy for you and Nathan. I can’t believe it. It’s such wonderful news!”

The others came closer. Damien and Damon as well as Angelo, whose long, white mane made him appear like a banshee. Even our newer member Riccardo, a seventeen-year-old runaway, had found his display most exciting. Riccardo had joined the coven over the weekend. Damien brought home all sorts of strays, and this time it hadn’t been a dog.

Valentino was near the window by Santiago’s side; for some reason or another they had always been closer to each other than the others.

I glanced back at them wondering why they chose to separate themselves from those that were like them. They, without a doubt, loved Sophia, but no matter what, they did what they wanted. I knew they would never go against Sophia’s words; they’d rather question my authority whenever the chance came. I had no power over their actions, and only by Sophia’s wishes did they ever do anything when I said it.

Valentino frowned back at me, growling beneath his breath. He dressed in the same eighteenth-century apparel as Santiago, with the long black tailcoat and the vest in a lovely emerald color. A long collar covered his neck and was decorated with a claw pendant. Valentino’s face was painted in the same manner, to give him the pale appearance of a real vampire. Only when I looked at them did I realize how much they reminded me of Lestat and Louis, from Interview with the Vampire. That book was a bible to us and real enough.

We referred to them as the Elders, because they were older than any of us, and far wiser in the vampiric sense of the word. Older in human reality, and just as old in vampire reality, which only meant they had done this most of their lives. They resembled eighteenth-century European vampires, with the silk top hat, the long dark cape, jacket, vest and walking cane. They had seen the worst of days, and the grayest of nights. They’d partaken in blood rituals of all sorts- humans as well as animals- or so they liked to tell people. I knew nothing but what the others knew, what they told others.

We respected them because they were older Goth. Like human parents, the Elders were our guidance. A dying breed, instinctively abandoned by everyone, including their own children. These were the vampire rules we knew, in our lovely and long-lost Vampire Reality. This was the vampire reality we followed.

Santiago was a savage in his feeding, sometimes biting and leaving teeth markings on his companions. It had not be a secret that he fancied doing the same one day to Sophia. To drink her blood would surely satisfy him greatly.

That was his fantasy; I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t written it into his journal, which I happened to come across. In the other pages were his many names and descriptions of all of us.

As for Valentino, he cared for Santiago in ways I believe Santiago might have not been aware. I knew his sexual orientation and he preferred both. He also had his eyes on Sophia, but he would let Santiago have her if it meant he could win his heart.

Valentino stared at me; his face fell forward vengefully. His hazel eyes penetrated and could cut the air around us. His vacant, hollow expression housed a warning. The vampire stare, the grimace that meant death. An expression most vamps gave their victims, but for vampires it meant, I don’t like you.

“Oh, it’s so wonderful!” Damien cried delightfully. “I wonder what it’s going to be? When’s your due date, Sophie? Did you tell Nathan, yet? Oh, this is so exciting!”

The others seemed as delighted as she did. Riccardo and Angelo were jumping up and down along with Damien thinking of all the things they must prepare for the moment of triumph. They just loved that. It meant “gold and riches” to them, an immortal something that couldn’t ever be abandoned.