A pair of platinum earrings dropped in her hand, her earrings. The ones she
took off before she tried to plant her foot in Armando"s ass.
“Now go home, take a bubble bath or something, whatever you females do
when you"re all emotional like this, relax and wait for him. And please, before you
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go crazy, try not to think about blood, or the memories my brother passed on to
you.”
Not in the mood to debate his command, she nodded and followed the
woman onto the elevator.
“Oh and uh, Rayne…” Halting the sliding doors with his hand, he paused and
stared at her with a secretive smile plastered across his gorgeous face.
“What, Crazy?” she shouted, trying not to laugh.
He stepped into the elevator, drew her into a tight hug, kissed her temple
and whispered, “Welcome to the family.”
When the doors closed, Maurisio turned to Mia and laughed hysterically.
“Ohh goddamn, goddamn, goddamn! Leave it up to Demetri to get into some crazy
uncontainable shit!”
“Oy vey,” Mia sighed, planting her hand on her forehead. “What is her full
make, Maurisio?” she asked in confusion.
“The hell if I know,” he said over his shoulder, heading to his desk. “I tell you
what I do know though, she"s a monster. A monster in plain sight! Did you see her
aura, Mia?” he asked, pointing at the closed elevator doors. “What the fuck!”
Mia nodded, smiling wryly.
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“Goddamn, my brother! The man gets off on dangling on the edge of
situations that will explode. And this is definitely about to explode, „cause if you
know like I know, that girl is packing some serious spiritual force, and she doesn"t
even know.” Leaning against desk, he pushed the button to connect to the
swingers club. “Drop the shutters. I"m sending Mia down.”
He ran his hand roughly down his face and groaned. “Go find me a few
tainted souls ready for the taking. I have to go visit my brother.”
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Chapter Sixteen
Spirit Dragon
Imrie shot through the open window of her hotel, room then quickly willed
it shut. She drew the curtains close and stared at them as if they would somehow
come alive. She blinked rapidly, her senses vibrating to the unseen peril. She spun
around, frantically searching her surroundings, deathly frightened about what
might be hidden in the shadows. Chingi.
The presence of the humans who"d been in her room hours ago lingered. She
glanced over her shoulder at the made up bed. Housekeeping.
She looked down at the black filth that covered her favorite dress. “Sheeki, ”
she cursed softly. The disgusting remains of her master"s henchmen stained her
beautiful skin and filled the air with their foulness. “Cursed chingi!” She crossed the
small room to make sure the door was locked then paced in an anxious circle.
She"d never thought her master would find her in such a human infested
realm. She figured she"d be safe here, and assumed his distaste and hatred for
mortals would prevent him from traveling to the earthly realms. But his goons had
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found her, which meant she was no longer safe here. She would have to make her
move sooner rather than later.
Ending her agitated pacing, she stared aimlessly across the room. Even if he
did venture into the earthly realm, it would take him centuries to find her in this
massive space.
At least she hoped so.
Sighing, she unzipped the back of her dress and slid it from her shoulders,
enjoying the silky feel of the human-made fabric gliding over her skin. Once it
pooled at her feet, she stepped away from it then murmured a spell. “Goti ochale.”
And the garment, once known as her favorite dress disintegrated. Now to clean the
stench from her skin.
She moved into the bathroom and gazed at her reflection in the mirror.
Spots of the chingi blood smudged her face and hair. Growling in disgust, she
reached into the shower, turned on the water and watched it spray onto the tile
then swirl down the drain. It brought her to mind of the sparkling waterfall on
Calroada Island in the demon realm.
Oh, how she missed home.
She stepped under the showerhead, drew the curtain and moaned as the
warm water sprayed on her hair and face.
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Drawing her attention, a stinging sensation on her hand jarred her. A
luminous symbol emerged on her palm. The tail of a serpent-like symbol circled
her wrist then a searing heat in her core emitted throughout her whole body and
strained her energy. She shrieked in pain and tried to clamp her hand shut to
eliminate the agony, but it couldn"t be stopped. It was too strong.
She dropped to her knees and uttered every spell she could think of to break
the hold of this unknown force, but to no avail. Against her will, her arms were
yanked out before her, then suddenly, peace overcame her. She looked down. Her
eyes widened in shock. A small glowing spirit dragon whirled around her arms.
The creature was fusing with her spirit energy, absorbing the elements of her
power.
“Who is your master, little one?” she whispered, no longer attempting to
prevent the inevitable.
It gazed up at her, bawled softly then melted away with the water. Baffled,
she got to her feet and stared at the hand where the pain had started. An imprint
of the mysterious symbol was imbedded deep into her flesh.
She had been marked, spirit and body, but by whom?
“Enjoying your stay in the human realm, Imrie?”
She gasped, yanked the curtain back and came face to face with her master.
He glared at her, his eyes black with fury.
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His thin, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Ashen veins protruded
out through his pale, paper-thin skin in a tracery of pulsing anger. His darken lips,
which were horrifically chapped, arched up in a snarl, flashing a mouthful of thin
pointy teeth. He was once a beautiful sorcerer but, now he stood before her a
ghastly warlock.
“Master Doshar, I—”
A swift, hard blow to her face cut her words short. He grabbed her neck,
jabbed her in the face again then shoved her. She tumbled back and her head
slammed against the tiles. The deep burgundy of her blood clouded the water as it
ran down the drain.
He grabbed her by the hair. She screamed and clawed at his hand, begging
him to release her. Ignoring her pleas, he snatched her out of the shower then
hurled her through the bathroom wall.
In a fetal position, she lay twitching on the floor, watching him smirk
triumphantly at her through the huge hole in the wall. Her wounds healed
instantaneously, though her body ached from head to toe.
“My feelings are crushed, Imrie,” he sneered, casually dusting debris from his
shirt. “Extremely crushed. I went back home expecting to find you waiting for my
return. I was eager to bring you in on this quest. Imagine my surprise when I got
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there to find my servants dead and my wife missing.” He clasped his hands behind
his back and pinned her with a glare. “Why did you flee, my darling
?”
Doshar approached her slowly. Determined to keep distance between them,
she scooted away until her back pressed against the wood frame of the bed. “I
didn"t flee. I…I only came here looking for you, master,” she choked out.
He grimaced as if her words had poisoned him. “You"d dare lie to me,” he
hissed through clenched teeth.
With the crook of his finger, he cast a spell that sent a jolt of intense pain
throughout her body. Shrieking, she squeezed her eyes shut and suffered the
torment that sliced her to the bone. She dug her fingers into the carpet, channeled
the pain to the pit of her gut, and then hurled the force of his spell back at him. He
doubled over and she struck him once more with a spell of her own, sending him
crashing into the shower wall.
The pain ceased. She swiftly regained her strength, shot to her feet and ran
toward the window. Prepared to barrel right through it, she willed the curtains
open. Before she could make her escape, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, jerked her
back and threw her onto the bed.
Giving her no time to recover, he pounced on her, pinned her face down,
yanked her arm behind her back, and twisted it until it broke. A bone chilling
scream singed her throat.
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“Yes! That"s right, my love! Screeeam!” He dragged his nails down her back,
raking her flesh open. “Scream all you want!” His weight pressed down on her and
his lips touched her ear. “No one can hear you!” he shouted, rattling her eardrums.
Her struggle was futile. Besides the fact there was no more fight left in her,
she didn"t have the power to defeat him, so what was the use? She closed her eyes
and allowed the pain to consume her. She stopped struggling, even stopped
moving and just laid beneath him with her hot tears soaking into the comforter.
“Ah, very wise of you to cease your defiance, you ungrateful demon bitch.
Where"s Gye and Qin?”
It took a few seconds to realize he was talking about the two demons he
sent after her. She winced. It wouldn"t matter to him she wasn"t the one to kill
them. Being the messenger of their demise was enough reason for him to punish
her some more.
While trying to figure out a way to tell him to make her punishment less
severe, his patience grew thin. A swift punch to the side of her head caused her to
shriek.
“Where are they!”
“Dead!” she retorted. “Slain by a pack of shifters! The chingi are not welcomed
in those parts.”
“In what parts,” he snarled.
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“In all parts!” she growled. “They are not welcome here. Your foolish demons
are slaying senselessly and the creatures of this realm are striking back.
Andausians and shifters alike are demolishing your demons and in addition to
that, there is a demon slayer about.”
“A demon slayer?” he asked with a hint of skepticism. “So you say.”
He moved off her and released her broken arm. Flinching from the sharp jolt,
she held her twisted arm out to the side and allowed it to repair itself. Blood
traveled through her limb and back into her fingertips. She sighed with relief.
“Tell me of this demon slayer,” he ordered incredulously, sliding off the bed.
“What does he look like?”
Glaring at him, she rubbed her arm and sat up. “I know nothing but what
I"ve heard,” she confessed, turning away from his cold stare. “A boorish incubus
warned me about him when I first came here.” She glanced down at her hand,
taking in the image of the marking once again. “He told me the demons of this
realm usually stay out of his path, for his need to destroy our kind is unyielding.”
With great concentration, she willed a fleshy shield over the symbol, so she
wouldn"t be forced to explain to Doshar what still was a mystery to her.
“So, I am to believe you don"t have an image of this so called demon slayer in
your beautiful mind?” He teased her chin with his fingertips.
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She jerked her face away and snatched the tightly tucked comforter up from
the bed to cover her naked body. “I didn"t read the creature"s mind, so I don"t know
what he looks like. However, he did inform me those with human blood on their
hands are most likely to taste the end of his blade. So, all I had to do was keep my
hands clean.”
“Ah! He kills for mankind. That"s interesting.” He clamped his hands behind
his back, and moseyed around the room. “What kind of creature is he? Is he a
mortal Andausian?”
“No. I was told he"s a Xsonri, stronger than any other vampire in this realm.”
Doshar stopped to leer at her. “A Xsonri? Xsonris don"t exist in this realm.”
“Says who?”
With a distorted smirk on his lips, he tilted his head. “A demon vampire
killing demons, his own kind? How rich!” His words were coated with a tint of
beguilement. “I find that utterly amusing! Being damned himself, he has chosen to
destroy demons for likes of mortals?”
“I don"t believe he kills for the likes of anyone. If he"s damned, as you say,
he"d kill for the mere pleasure of killing. Isn"t that what they do?” she murmured in
sarcasm. “Perhaps he"s gotten bored with killing humans. Perhaps he gets more
satisfaction in destroying demons.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “Why have I not heard of him, until now?”
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“Maybe because he"s not in the habit of leaving any of our kind alive to tell of
his existence.” Sensing the heat of his glare on her partly exposed breasts, she
gripped the comforter and pulled it higher over her chest.
“Hm. His story intrigues me. I"d very much like to meet him.”
“And you don"t think he"d claim your head,” she questioned, rolling her eyes.
“You have the stench of Chingi all over you. You"d be dead before you utter a
word.”
He stared at her hard for a long moment. Probably thinking of what else he
could do to punish her. It showed on his face.
“I presume this is a wish of yours, for my head to be taken?”
The thought of his headless body twitching at her feet sent shudders down
her spine. She was torn between the desire for his death and the longing for the
redemption of his soul. She wanted her beautiful sorcerer back.
“There is one more thing about him I should tell you.” Anxiousness clouded
his face as she continued. “They say he"s beautiful. You know, the kind of beautiful
you used to be, before the dark Lord shared his blood with you.”
His fist to the side of her face caused her head to bash into the headboard.
“You are never to speak foul of our Lord! Never!” he spat, hitting her again,
knocking her to the other side of the bed.
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She lay trembling, face down. Defeated, she turned her head to the side and
gazed at him through blood blurred vision. “I, I only speak the truth, Master
Doshar,” she stammered softly. “The sorcerer I loved used to be so beautiful. Look
at what he has done to you and what you had to sacrifice to be his servant.”
Doshar threw his head back in laughter. “You enjoy being punished…” He
reached across the bed, grabbed h
er by her hair and pulled her closer to him.
“Don"t you, my dear Imrie?”
He climbed on top of her, pressed his hand down on the side of her face and
smashed her head into the mattress. “The dark Lord has sent me here to retrieve
his bride.” He dragged his sharp nails over her rear end. She winced in pain. “And
you"re going to help me find her.” He eased his fingers between her rear cheeks and
jammed one into her tight hole. “Whether you want to or not.”
Whimpering, she tried to block out the pleasure she felt from his sensual
assault. “Please, Doshar…don"t,” she moaned. But it was no use. She hadn"t found
anyone to satisfy her since she arrived in this realm and her body desperately
needed what he was about to give her.
“Oh, are we now reduced to begging?” His finger delved further inside of her
triggering her sweet spot. “It will do you no good, my love. I"ve been craving this
ass for far too long.”
And she"d been helplessly craving him.
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He drew his finger out and hungrily sucked on it, then sharply sucked air
through his teeth. “You may be a disobedient, untamable wench, but you do have
the best tasting ass around.” After sucking his finger clean, he shoved two fingers
back inside of her tight passage. “Which is why you"re still alive.”
Her body betrayed her. She arched her back, hissing, half repulsed and half
aroused as she propped up on all fours to push her rear end back on his hand.
He chuckled. “Say what you want about my appearance, but you know no
one will ever be able to sex you like I do.”
He added a finger and began plunging her hard and steady, in and out,
spreading her quivering walls. Growling with pleasure, she widened her stance,
slipped her hand between her thighs and feverishly rubbed her clit. He gripped her
hip and slowed his pace, drawing a howling protest from her.
“Master, please!”
“That"s right. Beg my darling.”
Doshar pushed in hard, fingered her internal pleasure nub, and then
withdrew his fingers to thrust them back into her. Mewling, she slurred words in
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