The Thrall (Seven Sins MC 3)

Besides, no amount of warning would have stopped me when I saw the Chidden of Lilith for the first time, either. Creatures of sex oozed that vibe all the time. It drew you in. You were damn near helpless. Even in a place like Sanctuary where your powers were stripped from you. It was just in their aura, their confidence, the way they walked and laughed and looked at you.

If the Children of Lilith decided to show, Daemon would be sporting a dead tongue for a couple of days. But, knowing him, that wouldn't be enough of a deterrent to stop him from going back for seconds.

I thought I liked pussy.

Daemon put me to shame.

"Are we going in or what?" Daemon asked as I looked up at the club.

Sanctuary was an unassuming club from the outside. I guess all the best ones were. That way, it kept the towns from protesting what was going on inside the walls.

It was a two-story black stucco building with black shutters and blackout tint on the windows. I'd been around long enough to see it be seven different bars, two strip clubs, and one convenience store before it was finally purchased and turned into a kink club for the likes of us about five years back.

By Thysa.

A woman who lived for anything that involved booze, partying, and the removal of social constraints, so everyone's true nature could shine.

There weren't many places in the world that creatures of the underworld could coexist in a friendly manner, but thanks to Thysa's ability to get witches to spell the place, we all actually got to coexist in harmony.

Somewhat, anyway.

It wasn't like the magic sapped us of our preconceived notions or bad blood with others. It wasn't all kumbaya up in our heads. That wasn't how the whammy worked. But it did make it impossible to act on our anger while inside the club, or within a certain amount of feet of the club.

It wasn't long after all that shit with Lenore went down that I walked into Sanctuary to find some of the wolves hanging around.

The urge to stalk over there and beat the shit out of them was there, but there was something like a wall in the air in front of me that made it impossible to move forward.

I'd swear Thysa knew it, too. Because when my gaze slid to the bar where she was situated, there was a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Oh, you brought the puppy," Thysa greeted as I made my way to the bar. Daemon was off already chasing tail.

The inside of Sanctuary was intimate, but not too small, with dark gray, black, and red design elements. There was a lot of leather, and not a lot of lights. Except for on the two stages where people would do scenes with their submissives for the audience to enjoy. Anything you might need for a scene, Thysa had behind the stage. Crosses, kneelers, spankers, horses, cages, and suspension furniture could all be found there. Along with all the toys to use while on those pieces of equipment.

"More like he follows me here," I said, shrugging, as I took the whiskey Thysa passed to me.

Thysa herself was a knockout with her curly brown hair, her flawless skin, and her dark eyes.

"Oh, it's cute. He sees you as a big brother."

"He sees me as someone who knows where he can find pussy."

"Well, that's not wrong, is it?"

No.

It wasn't.

There was nothing to be surly about.

Yes, Sanctuary was my alone time, my chance to get away from the recent, but ever-present drama over at the house. But, for the most part, Daemon wasn't asking me to hold his hand through anything, to show him around, to introduce him to people. He actually left me pretty much alone as long as there were women around for him to talk to.

"He's jonesing to meet a Child of Lilith."

To that, Thysa let out a low, knowing chuckle.

"Is he sure about that? The last time I went home with one, I considered icing my tongue as I took a handful of pain relievers."

"I warned him."

"And I warned you once upon a time," she said, smile stretching wider. "But you had to learn it for yourself too. Stubborn, you demons."

"One of our many attractive traits," I said, saluting her.

"Oh, boy. That's an interesting development," she said, making me acutely aware of the chill that filled the air.

In my experience, there was only one creature that did that.

Vampires.

We'd managed not to have bad blood with the vamps for all our time on this plane. They were one of the few types of creatures Ace outright demanded we didn't fuck with. Since they, like we, are immortal. They were killable, sure, but it wasn't easy. We were matched in strength, but they had speed we didn't, making the chance of us actually taking any of them out slim to none.