by K. F. Breene
In the beginning, this would irritate people to no end, no one understanding why everything ground to a halt so we could share a moment meeting our other half. After Stefan scared the crap out of a few people for interrupting, or I accidentally zapped them with magic, they all got the hint. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but in that time, nothing existed in the world but each other.
“And they’re back,” Charles said as I exhaled, taking in the scene.
Stefan stood near the far wall, holding a sheet of paper with that sexy muscular arm. His rippled body stood in repose, in the middle of some business meeting that must have to do with our journey in a few weeks, because all of the top army guys and gals, including my new adopted dad and his staring side-kick, were present. Stefan’s slacks fit him oh-so-right, showing off that defined butt and his strong thighs. A dress shirt strained across his enormous width of shoulders and hinted at his mouthwatering pecs. Those washboard abs were hidden, but I salivated knowing they were there.
“Having a hot flash?” Charles asked with a smirk, the only one allowed to back talk to me in Stefan’s presence.
Charles had been through serious crap on my behalf—he’d earned it.
“Sorry, where were we?” I swung my gaze around the crowded room.
“We were discussing the needs of the clan in our absence,” Stefan said smoothly, eyes devouring me instead of going back to his paper.
I cleared my throat and noticed an intense stare from Jonas. Oh yeah. Lead.
“Well, we might need to put that on hold. We found something.” I just barely left off the uncertain, “is that okay?”
Stefan’s eyes cleared of heat. Anxiety crept back into the link, having disappeared when I arrived in one piece. “What is it?”
I quickly ran through what we found at the warehouse, watching carefully as Stefan’s face got grimmer and grimmer with some emotion he was trying desperately to suppress. The link warred with shock and fear and determination. When I finished, more than a few people, including Dominicous, were subtly glancing at him.
“You contained it?” Stefan asked in a low voice.
I nodded. “But we need to get rid of it somehow.”
Determination took over the link as his jaw set. “You stay here. I’ll deal with it.”
“She has to remove her charm,” Jonas said in as small of a voice as I’d ever heard him use.
Stefan’s gaze skewered Jonas.
“Orange was containing it,” I rushed in quickly, knowing Stefan didn’t want me anywhere near that monster, and also knowing the decision came from a man in love, not a leader. Nothing would undermine me faster than if Stefan tried to put Baby in the corner.
“If it escaped orange power, then Jonas wouldn’t be any good, since he is also orange. It’s my job, Stefan.” I straightened my back against that scorching, dominating stare. My warning butt tingle sounded, screaming at me to flee. Still I stood my ground, nearly letting terrified chuckles escape my throat to let the tension out of my body.
That intense, black-eyed gaze retracted before he grudgingly nodded. I took a silent breath, trying to ignore the sweat dripping down my back.
“Let’s go.” Stefan moved across the room. “Jonas, assemble a team. Charles—”
Stefan cut off, his eyes flicking to me. Jonas was staring again.
Oh yeah. Lead.
“Charles, get Adnan,” I jumpstarted. “You two are mine so Stefan can use Jonas.”
Stefan gave me the briefest of nods, indicating I did the right thing. Thank god.
“You’re going to take a juvenile for protection?” Claudia, a red power with a mean right hook, came as close to a snicker as was possible for it not to be a challenge.
I stared her down, trying to get my gaze to shock into her like Stefan’s always did. Condescension stared back.
“You’ll challenge him to a duel tomorrow,” I noted smoothly. “We’ll see how you hold up against a juvenile. I will personally tell you you’re right if you win. Now,” my gaze swept the room, “let’s get going. That thing was too smug for my taste.”
Chapter 2
“What did Jonas have to say?” Toa asked in his silky tone as he drifted in beside Dominicous.
Dominicous slowed his pace, allowing Stefan and Sasha to lead their fierce-eyed warriors out of the mansion. If he kept to the front, his position would dictate his leadership. Stefan was barely keeping his subservience in check as it was; if Dominicous took control of a situation as dire as this, the younger male would challenge for sure. And while usually that wouldn’t be a huge deal—Dominicous able to quell most upstarts easily—he wasn’t entirely positive he would come out the victor. Even if he did, however, he didn’t want to leave his adopted daughter without her future mate. A challenge needed to be prevented at all costs.
“This is probably a class-six demon. Weak enough, but based on what Sasha said, operating with some strange magic.” Toa glided out the front door with a smooth and calm demeanor. Most wouldn’t notice the left shoulder raised slightly above the right, a sign of Toa’s tense and unsure state of mind.
Very little ruffled Toa.
“That isn’t an altogether strong demon,” Dominicous said calmly. “With it contained for now, and with Stefan’s ability to organize and lead in battle, we shouldn’t have any problem dispatching it.”
“We shouldn’t, no.” Toa’s gaze drifted toward Sasha, walking with a sure step toward one of the many parked cars.
Dominicous knew she had no idea what she was walking toward, but she kept her chin up and back straight. Such a courageous young woman.
“The demon will hone in on her, I am certain,” Toa continued. “Usually, only someone that summoned the demon can converse with it.”
“Speaking with it means one can control it, correct? Why isn’t this beneficial?”
Toa made a disgusted sound at Dominicous’ ignorance. “It could be beneficial, yes. It could. But it is a two-way affair. You can speak, but you can also understand. And if you aren’t strong enough to control, you will become the controlled. Sasha has barely emerged into our way of life, into leadership, into her magic—and now we are throwing demons at her. She barely has time to grasp one idea when we throw something else at her. How can we expect her to keep up?”
Toa smoothed his hair, and Dominicous knew he was trying to smooth his nerves at the same time. Toa had to be out in front of her training-wise to give all of them any hope of her making it through the council meeting in one piece, but so many other dangers kept arising. Toa was a perfectionist, and often contemplative, but he’d been having to sprint to the next challenge right along with Sasha. He didn’t have to tell Dominicous that it was getting to him—Dominicous could feel it all through their blood link. But they each had their duties, and all duties had a hard road as far as Sasha was concerned.
“You fear Sasha can be thus turned?” Dominicous asked quietly, trying to keep them on track.
Toa’s mouth collapsed into a thin, bloodless line. “I am not sure. She has not dealt with a demon of this magnitude. Dulcha do not even remotely compare.”
Dominicous shook his head as a chorus of car doors shut around him. “She will not turn. She has a core of steel to her.”
“Then it will attempt to destroy her. Without someone to control it, it is a free entity, able to rip, rape, and pillage as it will. She will be target number one.”
“This isn’t the age of Vikings, Toa.” Dominicous suppressed a chuckle, starting the car and pulling away from the curb. His partner at arms had always been a little…overdramatic when edging up to a battle. It was a side of him not many saw. “Plus, it won’t come anywhere near her. Stefan will see to that long before I would have to intervene and ensure it.”
“Dominicous—” Toa’s nostrils flared. “You take things too lightly. It will target her. Her defensive…talents will spring to life. She will try to dispatch it on her own, feeling out the spell like a blind man searches for a telephone. Like
she has with Dulcha. It will sap her energy and rip the life out of her before she can complete the spell.”
Dominicous cleared his throat. “She has Stefan to fortify her magic until we can link. She will have plenty of power for a five or six-level demon. Toa, I really think—”
“I cannot link with her.”
Dominicous’ head whipped around. The car swerved to the right before Dominicous ripped the wheel back. “In all this time, you, a white, have not enacted the age-old partnership between a black and a white? You realize, I am sure, that the more one person links with another, the easier and more effective the bond. At the council there will be a great many trying to link with her to create just such a bond. You have the privilege of having her all to yourself, and you have not linked?”
Toa’s stare drifted across the space of the car and held his, unwaveringly. Dominicous pulled to the side, idling. The car crackled with magic, the challenge in Toa’s eyes making the hair stand up all over Dominicous’ body.
“We’ve been here before, Toa,” Dominicous said in a low tone. “I will take this moment to remind you that, despite your higher level of power, you do not usually come out on top in these instances.”
Toa’s gaze retracted slightly, but he did not drop it altogether. Nor did he speak. Dominicous had offended him. Damn.
“I was bold in my allegations.” It was as close as Dominicous would come to an apology.
That icy blue stare held. And held.
Finally, the blond head bowed ever so slightly. He turned back to the road. Dominicous pushed the gas pedal.
Into the purr of the large motor, Toa said, “Pairing with a black should be effortless. It was how we were made, after all. And I can see how this could be a possibility, but she is a magic conductor. She is wired differently. When I link, I give that raging torrent of magic another outlet. I give it more body to fill. It gushes through her and directly into me. It’s…chaos. There is no controlling it—I do not know how she manages. I have tried three times, and all three times ended up flat on my back. She, she, had to cut it off and rip it away. The novice had to protect the master.”
“And this torrent—this is something she deals with on a daily basis?”
“Yes. Like trying to direct a flood. It is the price for the power at her disposal, I am sure. With her as lead, we could have a huge Merge. She doesn’t have to pull the power and disperse it, or merge with anyone to pull more, she simply has to open up, and direct the deluge.”
Dominicous shook his head. “Is this because she is human? Because she is black?”
“No. It is because she is one in a million. Had we known what we found that night, the little thing you gave blood to, we would’ve taken her right then. We would’ve had time to train her, to study her. To coach her before she could come up with wild ways to use her power.”
“That day is done. We are here now. What do we do? Link around her?”
“And then there is Stefan to think about.”
Dominicous threw the car in park beside Sasha’s vehicle. He breathed through his mouth in a silent exhale, willing patience in the light of Toa’s constant analytics. Stefan stepped out of a large Hummer on their right, his face a mask of fierce determination. Dominicous could almost see the ghosts of his parents sitting on his shoulders as his gaze stabbed Charles, the driver of Sasha’s vehicle.
Toa said, “He can balance Sasha. Her special skill seems to be to coax others to accept more magic. His special skill is to balance the flow of magic. He gets more power while balancing her so she can work the torrents accosting her. They make each other better—more powerful. They were made for each other. One in a million.”
Dominicous snorted at the romantic babble. He earned a glare.
“If he had been a white…” Toa’s voice drifted away as he watched Stefan consult with Jonas. Charles sat in the car, speaking with Sasha. Probably filling her in on what she faced.
“Stefan is not in control,” Dominicous stated flatly. “He was not there when his parents died, but he lost everything. Imagination is sometimes worse than witnessing the actual events.”
Toa threaded his fingers together in his lap. “It might be wise, for all our sakes, if you lead this battle.”
“He would challenge me, immediately. He would see the value in my leadership, but he would fear for Sasha’s safety if he wasn’t in control.”
“But he’s not in control.”
“He’s holding it together.”
“She will try to cut that thing off from the source before I can enact a link with you. I will then have to try and work around her magical weave without merging. Dominicous, if you sit and do nothing, it could kill her, and then everyone else. If I scrape against her magic, it will bind to me and surge through me. I’ll end up flat on my back, but this time, without the novice to save me. You’ll then be fighting without me.”
“So we chop the thing into bits while you two play at elements. It’s not that strong of a demon, Toa. You’re fantasizing.”
Toa exhaled noisily. The glare was back. “Can you take nothing seriously? I wonder how you were able to ascend to your position at all.”
“You know how: by killing. C’mon, I want to be in position to monitor my daughter. I’ve just found her again, I will not lose her.”
Chapter 3
Charles sat in the car after the Boss evacuated, feeling uncertainty and nerves burning a hole in his stomach. Sasha sat beside him, picking her nail and watching the Boss as he gathered his men to him.
Charles had just explained what it was they faced, but the problem was, he didn’t really know, either. He’d learned about this stuff in school. That, and from the rumors and the hushed stories told in places the Boss was sure never to hear. This wasn’t one of those things people wanted to get caught talking about.
“So…” Her voice was frail, sounding as nervous as Charles felt. “It’s kind of like a Dulcha, then. This thing. Right?”
“This thing is not like a Dulcha,” Charles answered. “Well, it is, but in a different sort of way. A Dulcha is a newer creation with magic—implanting a demon into a human body. Demons that need a host—need to feed off of a life—are lesser demons. No real power. No real ability to think on their own. They’re governed by the magic holder that summoned them.”
“Trek always did that.”
“Exactly. And they reacted to his desires. As demons get more powerful, they need a sacrifice, but not a host. These demons are also less likely to take directions. They’re harder to control. Plus, it’s the old magic. Think of it like opening a portal to that underworld you believe in. Let one of these magical beings with a lot of power run around, and it’ll rain down death and destruction.”
“Why? What’s their purpose? What do they want?”
Charles squinted at her. “Ah…good question. I never thought to ask.”
Adnan shifted in the back seat. Charles glanced at him in the rear view mirror and got a blank expression in return. He obviously didn’t know, either.
Sasha said, “Okay, well, how do I get rid of it? Toa hasn’t taught me how to link, yet.”
Charles stared at her. “He hasn’t?”
Sasha chewed her lip in response.
Oh. Toa probably tried, but something went wrong. Figured. With her, something always went all kinds of wrong before it finally went right.
He said as much.
“Really helpful, Charles, great talk.”
“At least you have a little information. If it was up to the Boss, you’d be back at home base.”
Sasha turned to him in a cloud of frustration. “What is really going on, Charles? Why is he so freaked—”
Her mouth slammed shut and her body went rigid. Her eyes flicked toward her left—Adnan. She could be open with Charles—they were as close as siblings—but Adnan was a different story entirely. And he must’ve known it.
“See you out there,” he said quickly. He slid out of the car and closed the door
behind him, waiting just outside.
“What is his deal with all this?” she asked immediately, fear riding her words. “Why is he scared out of his head, Charles? What’s happening?”
“He’s, ah…”
Charles hesitated. This was the Boss’ business, and that man hadn’t opened his mouth to utter a word about it since it happened. Apparently not even to his lady love, which meant he didn’t want the information known. Charles was not about to get killed by being the messenger.
Although, not telling her anything and letting her get her fool self killed would also get him, as her protector, killed.
How did he always end up in these situations?
“You know his parents were killed, right?” Charles hedged.
Sasha’s round eyes swung his way. Charles nodded. “Without giving too much detail—or any, because I value my life—I’ll just say that his parents had a run-in with one of these things, and it didn’t work favorably on his family life. You need to approach with caution on this one, Sasha.”
“Oh my god—demons killed his parents?”
Charles wiggled like fire ants were eating his backside. “I’ve said plenty.”
“A demon like the one in there? Is it that strong—or, you know, that powerful?”
“Jonas said that this one is probably a six or seven, out of ten. Dulcha are nines and tens—not powerful. This one is just slightly more so. The one that…you know…with his parents—gods, I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“I won’t breathe a word.”
“I’m sure he can feel your gushy compassion and all that chick crap.”
“Oh, shut up.” She punched him. “You feel those things, too, you jackass.”
Charles rubbed his arm for something to do. Mental note: teach her how to punch. “Anyway, the demon that…”
“I get it. Finish the damn sentence.”