“The Department is testing out a device capable of telling if someone is a half-breed.”
That can’t be possible.
He must have seen the disbelief in her eyes, because more words rushed out. “They have a place they keep people they suspect of being more than human. They just appointed a new head of The Department, and the device is nearly finished. Once they prove it works, they’ll replicate it and no one will be safe.”
If what he’s saying is true, we have to stop it.
“So why come to me about this little problem then?”
The demon studied her for a moment. “Because you work with the Hunters. And because you have the clearance to get close to the device.” He hesitated for half a second. “And because the new head of The Department is someone you know. A man named Blake.”
My ex-fiancé? He can’t be serious!
Then, the demon whispered, “and you know he’d do anything for you.”
Releasing her hold on Zarr, she tossed him onto the ground and went to Kate. “You okay?”
Kate looked pale, but otherwise in good health. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“So are you going to help?” Zarr challenged, rising onto his elbows.
She untied her friend, keeping the demon in her peripheral vision. When the ropes were loose, she helped Kate stand and turned back to the demon. Something in her expression made him cower back from her.
“And what’s in it for you? Why do you suddenly care about the fate of a bunch of half-breeds?”
The demon slowly rose to his feet, his expression serious. “My daughter, Eveleen, is in their testing facility. I visit her, but I can’t get her out.”
Her stomach twisted. No wonder he’d been desperate enough to kidnap her friend.
“And you couldn’t just tell me that when you showed up at my place?”
“To be fair, I didn’t think you’d be this reasonable.” He muttered. “And also, I wanted to show you what I could of the facility.”
“Show me?” she frowned.
What the hell does that mean?
He gestured to the caldron beside him.
Suddenly, Jaxson stepped forward from the doorway. “Don’t look. Voltorra demons are known for being untrustworthy.”
Zarr glared at the other demon. “All of us are known for being untrustworthy, but I’m not going to harm the only person capable of saving my daughter.”
“If you even have a daughter!”
“Stop!” Lily shouted.
The idea of half-breeds being kept as prisoners, and of a device capable of identifying her people, was enough to make her take the risk. She didn’t trust Zarr, but she couldn’t just ignore the possibility of something so dangerous.
“Take Kate,” she ordered Jaxson.
He glared, not moving.
Ian stepped around his brother. “Kate, will you wait with me over here?”
Her friend cast a nervous glance her way.
She nodded. “They’ll keep you safe.”
Kate shuffled after Ian, only looking back once.
When she was sure her friend was safe, she turned back to Zarr. “Okay, demon, show me what you got.”
Zarr got to work, adding strange smelling herbs to the bubbling waters in a frenzy. Before, at last, just stopping to stand over the dark waters. Speaking softly—words she didn’t understand—he slowly wove his spell.
Jaxson and Zane moved to stand closer to her, the comfort of their presence overwhelming. Each man flanked her, so close they could almost touch her. Although they didn’t.
When an image formed in the dark waters, she leaned forward, bespelled. And then, more and more images came at her, faster and faster.
A metal hallway circled around, passing dozens of prison cells. The magic propelled the images forward, through one room after another at a fast speed. Past several thick metal doors, a room with a strange contraption, like some freaky ray gun, sat in the center of a table, being worked on by several scientists. Back down the hall, past several doors, they went into an office. Behind the desk, Blake sat in a dark suit. As they moved closer to him, she saw what he was staring at: a picture of her.
And then the image faded away.
Staggering back, she nearly lost her balance, but Jaxson and Zane grasped each of her arms, keeping her up. When her legs stopped trembling, she tugged her arms free of them and turned her gaze to Zarr.
“Do you know where the facility is located?”
Zarr folded his arms over his chest. “No. I can teleport in to see my daughter, but I can’t identify where they’re keeping her. I figured you could find that piece of information.”
How helpful.
“I guess that’s that then.”
Starting toward the door, she paused as she was about to pass the demon. Without warning, she punched him as hard as she could in the face.
He hit the ground, unmoving. Sprawled and unconscious in a pile of limbs.
Zane gave her a disapproving look.
“That was me being merciful. If he ever touches Kate again, I’ll tear him to shreds.”
Ignoring his stunned expression, she left the room. Out in the cave tunnel, Ian and Kate spoke softly to one another. But both stopped when they saw her.
Kate hurried to her and threw her arms around Lily’s neck.
Lily squeezed her friend right back, feeling her eyes sting. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I knew you’d come for me. When I heard noises, I screamed. Hoping it was you. Hoping you would find me.”
“Always,” Lily whispered, the word a promise.
When Kate pulled back, Lily had to close her eyes for a second to fight the tears threatening to spill. She had to do better. The young woman deserved it.
As they started back down the mountain, Kate spoke to Ian and Zane, her sadness quickly replaced by small smiles, and eventually, a permanent blush. Lily hung back, overwhelmed by her emotions. She hated that because of who Lily was, Kate was constantly put into danger. If anything ever happened to her, she’d never forgive herself.
“She’s fine,” Jaxson said, his voice forcefully gruff.
Lily jerked her chin up. “Of course she is.”
“And it wasn’t your fault she got mixed up in this.”
Lily snorted. “Of course it was. I’m the reason—“
Suddenly, she couldn’t finish her sentence. I’m the reason she’s always in danger.
Jaxson grabbed her arm and stopped her.
Looking up into his handsome face, she reached up, longing to touch the scars on his right side. The ones that still looked painful.
He flinched and started to pull back, but she wouldn’t let him. Instead, she gripped his arm with one hand, while she let her fingertips graze his scars, his strong chin, and finally his lips.
“What are you doing?” his brows were wrinkled, but his dark eyes held uncertainty.
“I don’t know,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “I guess... just making sure I don’t forget anything about you.”
“Lily—“
“You guys coming?” Zane shouted. “Kate’s ready to go home.”
She pulled away from him and started after the others, Jaxson following slowly behind. When they reached the edge of the mountain, they teleported, appearing at the edge of the city. There, to her surprise, her father was waiting.
His gaze slowly ran over her. “Did Zarr hurt you in any way?”
She smirked. “Not a chance.”
“Good,” he said. “Now, it’s time for you to return home. I’ll take you back.”
She wanted to protest, but she could think of no good reason to do so. “Alright.”
Looking back at the three demons she’d fantasized about more times than she could count, she thought of something clever she could say. Something memorable. “Well, it’s been fun.”
Basically, anything but that.
And then, they shimmered away, and she was standing in her apartment once more.
> Her father hugged her awkwardly, wished her the best, and left.
Kate gave a deep sigh and headed for the shower, promising to tell her everything after getting clean, eating, and taking a nap. The second the girl was out-of-sight, Lily collapsed onto the edge of their bed, staring up at the ceiling. She needed a plan. She had to find Blake, destroy the device, and help the half-breeds.
But instead, she was thinking of the three handsome demons and all the things she wished she’d said and done.
Regret tastes pretty damned awful.
The End of Lily’s Story. For Now.
Chapter Nine
The last thing Jaxson wanted to do was have an audience with his king. But the devil wasn’t exactly known for his patience. So, he and his brothers stood before his throne, finally finished sharing most of their tale.
Except for the whole sleeping with his daughter thing. Jaxson didn’t have a death wish, after all.
“So that’s all Zarr showed her? You’re certain?” the demon-king pressed.
“That’s everything,” Ian asserted.
The king crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. After an uncomfortably long silence, he sighed.
“That won’t do at all. My daughter was already putting herself into far too many dangerous situations, but now she’ll go against the Hunters. And that is something I can’t allow. Not without knowing someone is watching her back.” He leveled them with a pointed stare.
Jaxson’s heart raced. “My lord?”
“The three of you are now assigned the duty of keeping my reckless daughter safe.”
“But we’re here and she’s—”
“You now have my permission to return to earth. You must, however, try your best not to piss her off. My daughter, I’m afraid, has my attitude, and I have no desire to make our relationship worse than it already is.”
Is he really—really telling them they could return to the human-realm? The thought made his head feel light.
The king’s lip quirked. “After all of your years of loyal service, some time on earth is the least I can give you.”
“Thank you, my lord,” they all murmured.
When they were dismissed, Jaxson walked from the throne room feeling uncertain for the first time in longer than he could remember. They could go to earth. All they had to do was keep one headstrong woman safe. How hard could that be?
And not fall back into bed with her.
His groin tightened. Maybe this won’t be quite as easy as I think.
BONUS: An Angel And Her Demons
Mates of the Realms: Immortals
How Surcy Met Her Demons
Chapter One
The way they met...
Surcy flew through the crisp autumn air feeling more alive than when she was human. This was living! Not just how powerful she felt, but also knowing how important her job was. Killing demons kept humanity safe, and she gloried in protecting the fragile humans from harm.
Because when I died I was no longer able to protect the people I loved.
The thought made goose bumps erupt on her skin. Her death had been a strange one. After years of making all the right decisions, she’d made a choice that shook up her world. She hadn't seen Jen, her best friend since second grade, in years. Not since Jen had disappeared at eighteen with her troublesome boyfriend. When her best friend showed up at her door with a baby and nowhere to go, Surcy took her and the baby in without a thought.
Jen’s life had been a series of misfortune. Her boyfriend turned out to be a narcissist abuser. The pregnancy wasn't planned, but she had loved her daughter. And when his abuse was too much to handle, she had no one to turn to. No one but Surcy.
Surcy never questioned her decision to take her friend in. Even in her death she didn’t question it. She’d given Jen six months of peace: A place her ex couldn’t find her, a babysitter when she was off work, and someone who loved her unconditionally.
Neither of them could have expected what would happen.
Surcy still broke out into a cold sweat at the memory. She had opened her eyes late at night to a man standing over her with a gun, Jen’s ex, angry and bent on revenge.
The sound was loud. The flash of the gun brighter than any light. And then, then she was gone.
She’d never regret taking Jen in. But she’d always regret failing to protect her and her child.
A mistake she wouldn't repeat.
So now, like all angels, her mission was to hunt demons and protect humanity from them. But unlike many of the other angels, she took her job very seriously. The slightest mistake held such great consequences...something she could never forget.
When Surcy spotted the right place, her mind refocused on the task at hand. She shot down from the sky and landed roughly on the earth between the worn road and the endless stretch of woods. Breathing hard, she let her senses spread out. Yes, this is the place my commander told me to go to. The disturbance had been six weeks earlier, but there was still a sense of wrongness that told her demons had entered this world.
So why didn’t anything else tip us off?
Angels rarely needed to explore an area just because of a disturbance, because within a short period of time the demons used their powers. Any time a demon used dark magic, angels felt it like a crack of thunder or a flash of lightning.
The fact that this disturbance had ended in nothing of note worried her.
She folded her wings on her back and concealed them with a glamour. Demons could still see that she was an angel, but she wasn’t worried about them. The glamour kept her wings from being visible to humans.
Now, to track the disgusting vermin.
Acting on instinct, she headed through the woods toward the disturbance. It was there... in the distance. She could sense the traces of it, an unpleasantly acidic scent that lingered in the air.
She walked for a long time, never slowing or growing tired. When she broke out into a clearing, she froze. This was the place where the two realms met, one of the places on the human-realm that bordered the highest level of the demon-realm. If she were to stretch out her magic, she could actually see into the demon-realm.
But she had no interest in that. The demon-realm was a wasteland that she had no desire to explore. She was more interested in the dangerous creatures who had stepped into this world, and where they had gone.
For a moment, frustration blossomed within her. Her commander, Frink, had waited a long time to send someone to check this out. He must have thought it was a fluke. If he were really worried, he would have sent one of the white-winged angels, one of Caine’s chosen few.
But if I were in charge, I would have sent someone sooner. I wouldn’t risk the humans here. Stiffening, she was surprised by her thought. It wasn’t her job to question her superiors. It was her job to obey them without question.
Kill demons.
Protect humans.
What you want and think no longer matters. You are a tool of the great Caine and nothing more.
Her head ached. The familiar words echoed in her mind. She had heard them thousands and thousands of times during her training. She had strained against her ties, trying to escape the words, but there was no escape.
She touched her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. Thinking about her training as an angel was hard. So she tried not to think about it.
Something about this situation and this day has me spooked, but why? She clenched her fists.
Your needs and wants no longer matter.
You’re a tool.
A device.
Obey orders without question.
Do not feel. You feel nothing. Not fear, happiness, or anger.
You are no longer human.
A tear ran down her cheek for reasons she didn’t understand. She touched it with her fingers and stared at it. Something told her that it mattered, but she flicked it away. She had a job to do and no time for thinking about useless things.
&nbs
p; Circling the space, she searched for evidence of where the demons had gone, but found nothing. She’d already looked at the news in the area. There had been no strange deaths and no unusual robberies or assaults.
So what had happened?
The wind blew through the leaves, lifting them above the long grass in a macabre dance. She inhaled deeply and caught the scent of fresh cut hay and manure. There must be a farm nearby.
Maybe they can tell me something. She turned toward where she thought the farm would be and started walking again.
A short time later, she came out of the woods and found herself standing at the edge of a little farm. Cattle grazed behind wooden fences, and a red barn stood in one corner. She spotted a chicken coop and a large farm house beyond the barn.
It looked picturesque, not at all like a place visited by demons. Nothing was burnt. There was no smell of dead bodies, and yet, she felt something was there.
She took one step forward and froze as a man came out of the barn. An unspeakably handsome man. He didn't have the inhuman beauty of the angels, but a real beauty that seemed to awaken something fragile and uncertain within her.
Her entire body shook and she fought the urge to turn and run. She felt different... strange. And she didn’t like feeling this way. She needed to be steady and confident, not as if a powerful song was bringing up long dead emotions.
She didn’t know this man. Seeing him should not awaken anything inside of her. He was not a part of a past long forgotten. He was just a stranger.
So what’s wrong with me?
Defying her impulses, she stayed rooted in place. Staring. Letting the emotions roll through her like waves.
He carried a huge bushel of hay on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing at all. He was shirtless, and sweat dampened his big, corded arms, his hard chest, and his six-pack of delicious muscles. He had long dark hair and carried himself like a man who owned every room he walked into.
And yet, it wasn’t the sea of muscles that drew her to him, or the perfectly angled lines of his face. It was something else. It was the way he made her feel.
Mates of the Realms: The Complete Collection: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Box Set Page 72