by Tia Didmon
“Only if she is our mate.”
“So as soon as you knock boots with the woman you want to mate, the crystal starts to... bond?”
“Yes.”
“We have had sex before.”
“I was holding back. I... slipped. Lost control for a moment. It won’t happen again.”
Kiki ran a finger in a circular motion on his chest. “What if I want you to?”
“Then you will complete me. Give me the greatest of gifts.”
Her heart raced with anticipation and fear. “What does the bonding do?”
“Our crystals power will merge as will our spirit. It will link our souls for eternity. There will never be another for us. When one dies the other will follow.”
“There’s no divorce in the demon world?”
“It does not exist for us. There is no second chance. For us, it is all or nothing.”
Her voice dropped. “Some people deserve a second chance.”
“I agree but nature must seek a balance. We can live thousands of years, so it gives us one chance only to find and secure our mate. If we cannot keep her happy. Keep her safe. The failure is on us. We lose everything.”
“That seems extreme.”
“It isn’t,” Jordane said.
“Did you think it was fair when your parents died?” she asked.
Jordane was quiet for a moment. “No, but they had nine hundred years together and had three children who loved them.”
Kiki’s heads snapped up. “Three?”
“My older brother died protecting Tovan and I.”
“He was the leader of the warriors?”
“No, I was born with that designation but my older brother made sure Tovan and I escaped the attack. I later retrieved his crystal.”
“I’m sorry. Here I am telling you about my past and I never considered how hard losing your parents was for you. Or your brother.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“What was his name?”
“Ariel.”
Kiki put her arms around his neck. “I love that name. It sounds like an angel.”
Jordane smiled. “He would have liked to hear you say that.”
“Is his crystal in the warrior’s crypt?”
“No. Ariel’s crystal merged with Tovan when he went through the trials.”
“The trials are tests for the warriors. To see if they’re worthy of a crystal?”
“Yes. Your past made you exempt from the trials.”
She pulled him close. “I’m glad I found you.”
“As am I.” He made love to her, telling her without words what she meant to him. She felt the warrior beneath the surface. Pushing for the bond but content to have her in their arms. She was drifting to sleep when her cell phone chimed. “That’s Zane.
Jordane grunted. “I will have to speak to him about his timing. You need rest.”
Kiki rolled from the bed, grabbing her phone from the dresser. “Yeah.”
“Where are you?” Zane growled into the phone.
“I’m with Jordane at the shelter.”
“There has been a new development.”
“What is it?”
“Kat identified the assassin.”
Kiki’s mouth went dry. “Who?”
“His name was Rico Voris. He worked for Santon Lopez. We just found him with his throat cut.”
Pain squeezed her chest. “I’m on my way.”
Kiki arrived at the PIA dressed in full combat gear and her DK10 strapped to her back. Zane looked her over as she approached.
“We don’t have the assassin’s location yet,” he said
“I know, but after we talk, you might pull your gun on me.”
Zane’s face hardened. “Did you betray the PIA? Me?”
“No. I would rather die.”
Zane smiled. “That’s my girl.”
“You may change your mind after we talk. I may be the reason for the attacks.”
He looked down when his phone chimed, reading the message. “Whatever it is, I trust you. I’ll be right back.”
Kiki swallowed hard. Zane’s trust was a knife in her stomach. She made her way to the armory. Shooting had always calmed her, and she needed that now. She put her DK10 casing on the shelf in front of her and pulled out her handgun. Every shot rang out, vibrating in her ear despite her protective gear. The black bullseye ripped open with each shot. All dead center. Perfect in their accuracy. The rough tap on the shoulder startled her. She swung around with her gun in hand though she knew it was empty.
Lester held his DK10 in his hand as he sneered at her.
She removed her headgear, uncomfortable with the way his eyes roamed her body.
He shook his head. “It’s a shame a whore like you has that kind of talent. It’s why Zane can’t see you for what you are.”
Her hand tightened on the gun. “If you have a problem with me, take it up with Zane.”
Lester shrugged. “I would if it would get you off the team. The DK10’s are a life sentence. The brass can’t fire you and with your shooting ability, Zane will never let you go. That, and he is hot for your ass... I wonder if that will change when he finds out you were working the streets of New Jersey by the time you were fourteen years old?”
Kiki’s heart stuttered. “Back off Lester, you don’t understand what you’re fucking with.”
Lester laughed without humor. “I wouldn’t fuck you with someone else’s dick but I could retire off your payday.”
Her throat went dry. “What are you talking about?”
“I am getting paid a shit load of money to bring him your head.” He powered up his weapon. “You know what’s funny? I would have done it for free just to get you off the team. Out of Zane’s life.”
Kiki held out her hand. “Lester, if you point that at me, threaten me. You’re dead.”
Lester sneered. “Nice try. You may have Zane snowed but I see you for what you are. A power-hungry little whore with political ambitions. You can’t play both sides of the fence without pissing someone off. You should have chosen a side. The demons or us.”
She could feel the power inside her. It raced through her bloodstream, forming a barrier around her, pulsing over her skin while it remained undetected to the human eye. “Lester...”
He grinned before he pulled the trigger.
Fire exploded inward like an internal nuclear bomb. The building shook as Kiki watched the room destroyed. The barrier remained invisible as flames skated around the sphere. She could hear the alarms and shouting in the distance, muffled by the roar of the surrounding inferno. The restricted blast died out quickly in the contained space. The lack of oxygen, suffocated the flames.
Zane was screaming her name as the barrier wavered. She coughed as she knelt down, inspecting Lester’s charred body. His chest turned to ash revealing a black crystal inside the incinerated ribcage.
She reached for the crystal, feeling the warmth as her fingers touched it. While Jordane had explained the crystals would return to their own. The sensation against her skin shocked her. She felt it pulse on her hand, thankful to be free of the maimed creature that had held it, before it went dark. She put the black crystal in her pocket before Zane forced his way into the destroyed armory.
He removed charred debris to get to her. “Are you all right? I thought you were in here when it blew.”
She surveyed the surrounding destruction. “I was.”
Zane looked her over. “You don’t have a mark on you?”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“Lester pulled his gun. I warned him that if he threatened me, it would kill him. He didn’t listen.”
Zane looked sick. “Lester tried to kill you?”
“He said he was being paid good money to retrieve my head.”
Zane looked around the room. “Your DK10 did this?”
“No. His exploded when he pulled the trigger. Jordane wasn’t lying. If we knowingly kill an innocen
t. We die.”
“His gun exploded?”
“Yes.”
“How did you escape the blast?”
“My gun... protected me. Actually, I think both power sources protected me.”
Zane shook his head. “That’s impossible.”
Kiki pointed at the ground. “That circle of non-charred floor. That was where I was standing. I just stood in the middle of an atomic bomb and didn’t get singed. Don’t tell me what the fuck is possible.”
Zane ran a rough hand through his hair. “We need to talk to Jordane.”
Kiki gave him a sarcastic look. “You think?”
“What did the PIA do to us?”
She stood, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “They put the entire team in danger. I don’t think they realize what they’ve done.”
Zane nodded. “Do you think Jordane can help us? Will he?”
Kiki paused for a moment before handing her DK10 to Zane. She willed the fire to erupt on her skin before extinguishing it. “He already has. I’m safe but the rest of you have to take the warrior trials.”
He glanced at the weapon in his hand. “The power source from the DK10... it did this to you.”
“It protected me but the crystals aren’t stable the way we are using them in the DK10’s. They are a Lester waiting to happen.”
Zane glanced at the door hearing other agents approaching. “You’re sure you’re safe?”
She nodded. “Jordane won’t let anything happen to me.” Saying the words lightened her heart. She knew it was true. Jordane loved her, was committed to her, in a way words couldn’t describe. Could she admit she loved him?
Chapter 9
Jordane watched Kiki enter the Moretti mansion. It took all his control not to run to her. Wrap her in a cocoon of power and lock her to his side. He detected the waves of anger and grief from her, though her face gave away nothing. “Are you unharmed?”
She flashed him a look of annoyance. “You know I am.”
“Yes, but a colleague just tried to kill you. While the crystal will protect you from physical harm. It cannot combat the trauma of such a betrayal.”
Her face was like a stone. “We both know I’m used to betrayal.”
Jordane’s heart fluttered. It wasn’t what she said. It was the way she said it. She expected him to betray her. As if it were a matter of time before he gave her up. “Kiki, I am not...”
She shook her head. “Don’t. I grabbed the crystal from Lester’s corpse before the rest of the squad arrived.”
Jordane lifted an eyebrow. “I am surprised there is anything left. May I see it?”
Kiki pulled the black crystal from the empty housing of her gun and passed it to Jordane. “Can you... do something with it? Restore it?”
He let the power inside him pulse over the crystal. Fire leapt in his hand to connect with the power source once contained within the black rock. “It was used against one of its own. Worse, you hold the first warrior. This was one of his own pack. His family. I do not possess the power to replace what it lost.”
“But you’re the leader of the warriors now.”
Valen and Dante strode into the room as if summoned. “Jordane, you need assistance,” Valen said.
Jordane shook his head. “You cannot connect with the crystals, Valen. They don’t possess a mind. They are power only and...”
Valen held out his hand as Dante lay on the couch. “I wasn’t planning to talk to it. I will simply restore its power.”
“You can’t.”
“Jordane, these warriors were the personal bodyguards to the first king. It connects them to me in a way you can’t understand. We created the crystals from their souls.”
“But they fought the king. They died trying to protect the demon races from him.”
Valen nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that they once loved and revered him.”
“It destroyed their souls, when they combined their power to oppose the king.”
“Your mate is proof that we can vindicate the souls of those warriors,” Valen said.
“Her soul may have changed her crystal but this was used for evil.”
Valen held out his hand. “I’m asking you to trust me. Give me the crystal.”
“You must be a warrior or it will kill you.”
Valen’s form bulked out to that of the king. His voice echoed inside another. “Nothing of this earth can kill me, Jordane. You have dominion over the warrior’s crystals, their power, but the first king created that power. Give the crystal to your king.”
Jordane deposited the black crystal in Valen’s hands.
The dark rock pulsed twice before it liquefied in the king’s hands. Jordane could feel the power emanating from the king. It was unlike anything he had encountered. Valen was more powerful than any of them realized and he had one purpose. Laura.
They all watched in quiet reverie as the liquid in Valen’s hands turned amber before solidifying into a crystal once more. The glow was beautiful as was the sense of thankfulness and commitment coming from the crystal. Valen was right, the soul of that first warrior was within the crystal and Valen had saved it. Jordane’s sense of wonder was cut short when the king’s eyes flared red.
The king stepped forward as claws sliced from his fingertips. “You kept a secret from me.”
Jordane nodded. “Your mother’s secret was not mine to tell. I do not understand how she could retain a crystal and not become a warrior. I went to her body after her death. The crystal was not within her and wouldn’t reveal itself to me.”
The flames died in the King’s eyes. “It also hides from me. I do not understand why.”
“Your mother defied our rules at every turn. She lived her life for the ones she loved. Mother Nature herself, worshiped Carina.”
The king turned with a strangled cry. While he held the crystal, Jordane felt the king’s grief. His love for his mother. His failure to save her was a debilitating pain. Jordane went down on one knee clutching his chest.
Kiki put her arm around Jordane. “He’s in pain. What’s happening.”
Tovan shimmered beside his brother. He held out his hand to Valen. “He is feeling your emotions. Please release the crystal and break the connection.”
Valen resumed his form. “I am sorry, Jordane. I didn’t realize your connection to the crystals.” He passed the crystal to Tovan.
The crystal pulsed in Tovan’s hand before he shimmered out of sight.
Jordane stood. “I’ve never been overwhelmed by emotion before. I don’t know why the pain was so intense.”
Valen smiled sadly as Dante approached. “The king is the vessel for the demon people. He has the power to command, to use the combined power of the demon species but the price is feeling their emotions. While the death of a single demon has little effect on us as a species, my mother was... loved by all. What you felt was the combined grief of the demon species, concerning her death.”
Jordane blew out a breath. “Everything Carina did from the time she was sixteen was for you... us. I believe your mother was the most powerful creature to have ever walked the earth. Considering you have the power of the king. That is saying a lot.”
Valen glanced at his brother. “She rarely used those abilities.”
“Perhaps that is how she became so powerful,” Jordane said.
“What was my mother hiding, Jordane?”
He shook his head. “Only she knows the answer to that.”
Dante put a hand on Valen’s shoulder and led him away.
Kiki touched Jordane’s arm. “I’m not sure I understand the king. He’s still Valen, right?”
Jordane tilted his head. “Yes and no. Think of the king as a vehicle with four passengers and Valen at the wheel.”
“But I saw Dante become the king too.”
“Yes. Then Dante is at the wheel, but only Valen possesses the power of the demon race.”
Kiki shook her head. “I don’t understand.”<
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“If Valen died, we would lose the king. If Dante died, Valen would absorb the power of Dante’s demon. The two demons would war inside Valen’s body driving him insane. He would become the king the warriors had to kill.”
“Shit.”
“That’s why Dante has the power of blood. He is hard to kill.”
Kiki crossed her arms. “Jess said you wanted to fight him.”
Jordane shifted his stance. “I admit I was looking forward to matching my skills against the blood prince but I must pass on that honor.”
“Why?”
“A mated warrior does not challenge the blood prince.”
“We’re not mated.”
Jordane forced himself not to smile. God, he loved her defiance. He had the urge to kiss that sassy look from her face. “We will be.”
She put a hand on her hip. “Your age has made you overconfident.”
He leaned toward her. “My age has made me resilient. I won’t allow any other outcome.”
“I’m bitchy.”
Jordane laughed surprising them both. “You are unpredictable. I love that about you. You are and will forever be... challenging.”
Kiki was quiet for a long time. Her voice dropped as if she was unsure if she should ask him. “What was that stuff about Carina?”
He led her to the love seat in the sitting room. “Carina brought a crystal of a fallen warrior to our crypt. I still don’t know how she found it.”
“What happened?”
“I performed the ritual but the crystal would not leave her, yet it didn’t merge with her as it should, if it had chosen her to be a warrior.”
“What did you do?”
“I commanded the crystal to come to me. It would not.”
“That’s unusual, right?”
“It has never happened before or since. I assumed she was a mate to a warrior. That the crystal would merge with her in time. She was young then. In truth, I was taken with her myself. Everyone was. She had a light inside her soul that exceeds my ability to describe. I understand why a fallen warrior would wish to stay within such peaceful beauty.”
Kiki smiled. “You admired her.”
He nodded. “Everyone did.”
She intertwined her fingers with Jordane’s. “Laura showed me her picture. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen... but I have a hard time looking at the painting.”