The Demon's Game (The Guardian Series Book 4)

by Rain Oxford

  “No, she requested you. I don’t know where her parents are; she’s legal.”

  I realized I made an error, since I was distracted by reading. The girl was twenty, so she was legally independent in America. The legal age, at least in this country, was eighteen, while on Duran, it was twenty-two. Although I voted against raising the legal age of women to twenty-five, I was still accustomed to thinking of anyone under twenty-two as a child.

  “Abdominal cramps? She checked into the ER for cramps?”

  “She said they were agonizing, but that she would wait for you.”

  “I don’t recognize her name.” I would have known if I had treated her before. There was the chance that she had an ulterior motive for requesting me. Maybe she is a shifter like Alyssa. After all, Divina had said this town was mostly supernatural.

  I went to her room and checked her chart once more before I opened the door, holding back a sigh. With abdominal cramps, she should have insisted on a female doctor. We were a small hospital and the ER nurses didn’t do preliminary questions like the general nurses did. Unfortunately, our nurses usually didn’t enforce the questionnaires and only asked how bad the pain was on a scale of one to ten. Half of my patients said eleven, and the other half were trying to act tough. This girl’s questionnaire was blank and because of the particular symptoms she listed, I was going to have to ask her questions that were better left for a female doctor.

  “Good morning Ms. Scott. I’m Dr. Yatunus.”

  “Linda, please,” she said, smiling.

  Linda Scott was blond with huge blue eyes and big pouty lips. Her face was round, making her appear younger than her twenty years, and ridiculously innocent. She wore a tight, blue plaid shirt and jean shorts with cowboy boots.

  “Your name is Asian, right? Korean?”

  “Japanese,” I corrected. Of course, I was lying, but saying that my name originated in Duran would have gotten me in a lot of trouble. I sat down on the stool and set the clipboard on the table. Because she didn’t fill in any of the questions, I had to ask them and fill them in for her.

  “Nihongo ga hanase masu ka?” she asked.

  Although my Iadnah magic could translate language for me, it wasn’t a flawless method. In fact, the headache alone that it could inflict was worth the effort to actually learn a new language. Therefore, when she asked me if I could speak Japanese, I was prepared. “Hai.”

  “Saisho no namae wa nanidesu ka?”

  She wanted to know my first name and it gave me a bad feeling. She looked a little too excited to be hurting. “So you checked in for abdominal cramping? When did the pain start?”

  She sighed and rolled her head back on her shoulders. “Last night.”

  “Are you still in pain?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you supposed to listen to my heart or something?” she asked, hopping up from the exam bed. “I can take my shirt off.”

  Before I could stop her, she got the top three buttons undone and her cherry-red bra on proud display. I stood and started to leave. “I’m getting you another doctor,” I said. The last thing I needed was to be hit on by head-strong teenaged girls at work, especially when my wife was powerful enough to destroy every living woman on the planet.

  “Please, stop!” she begged desperately.

  My hand was on the handle when I was turned and shoved roughly against the door. She was strong; definitely too strong to be human. Gone was the innocence in her eyes, as well as much of the youth in her face, so she looked to be in her mid-twenties instead of teens. It was my intention to push her away right up until she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss me.

  My brain shut down and every nerve ending lit with arousal. It didn’t matter who she was or how old she was or the fact that I was married. It didn’t matter that Divina would kill her. The only thing that mattered was how good she felt against me.

  This wasn’t the playful banter or aggressive caresses I shared with Divina; this was an absolute desperate need to touch and get inside this woman. The next thing I knew, I had her on the exam bed. One quick jerk of my hand and her shorts were on the ground, torn. If it weren’t for the overwhelming heat, I probably would have been a lot faster. It had to have been at least a hundred and fifteen degrees in the room, and that was counterproductive to whatever the hell I was trying to do with the stranger.

  She didn’t kiss; she bit, and that was okay because I liked it. Kissing was for the person I cared about. I pinned her arms when she tried to reach for me again. Despite the fact that I was about five seconds from taking her, I didn’t want her to touch me. She moaned and wiggled. My body moved without orders from my brain.

  Bright light filled the room and I had to close my eyes, even though I was very familiar with the flash. After all, I used it all the time. When the flash cleared, Mordon was there. He instantly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off the young woman. She was just as fast. She wrapped herself around me and tried to pull me back in for another kiss, but Mordon’s claws extended. He raked them down her back and she let me go with a screech.

  That was about the time my neurons started firing again. Vertigo and lethargy dominated over the quickly evaporating lust and I pretty much collapsed. Mordon caught me, as I knew he always would.

  “Are you okay now?” he asked.

  “I’m… confused.” I was confused as to why I gave into the woman I didn’t even like, I was confused as to how I could disregard my marriage to a goddess, and I was confused as to why my pants were open. I knew very well what sin I had been about to commit, I just hadn’t realized I was so close to it.”

  “She used magic to seduce you,” he growled. His teeth were shifted and bared. “She’s a demon.”

  “I’m not a demon,” she snarled. “I’m a succubus.”

  “A sex demon,” I pointed out.

  “I’m not any class of demon. We’re called demons because we have magic, we can dream walk, and we feed on energy, but we are completely unrelated.”

  “Send her to the void,” Mordon suggested.

  “Why didn’t my magic work on you?” she asked Mordon.

  The fog in my head was clearing faster now, but the lethargy wasn’t. “He’s a dragon,” I said. Her eyes widened and she took a step back from him. “Why did you attack me? You came here specifically looking for me.”

  “I was hired by Sardis.” She vanished.

  * * *

  Divina didn’t return that night. The boys weren’t concerned since they were used to her disappearing for days, but this was different. Ron made dinner, bickering with Hail and Xul, while I sat beside Mordon on the couch in silence. I was both ashamed to face my wife and in a hurry to hold her in order to get the memory of the succubus out of my mind. As the hours passed, I grew more and more worried for her safety.

  Mordon patted my shoulder and sat down at the table to eat the lasagna that Ron made, which was my favorite. I tried very hard to follow the conversation as I ate until I realized that Hail rambled while Ron looked exhausted. After about ten minutes, they switched and Ron rambled while Hail rested. They were as worried as me, but they were trying very hard to hold us all together.

  “You should go see your girlfriend tonight.”

  “Sydney can wait,” Mordon said with absolutely no room for argument. He would not be persuaded on this.

  “You flashed,” I said suddenly. Hail, Ron, and Xul stared at me.

  “Took you long enough,”

  “Bite me.”

  “We already know we can use each other’s magic; that you can absorb my fire and I can absorb your Iadnah energy when we touch and use it for a short time. Apparently, we can use each other’s magic from a distance. I felt what was happening and needed to get to you. It was exactly the same as when we’re touching and I take your energy. The weird part was flashing.”

  “Kind of feels like you’re trying to walk through a brick wall, doesn’t it?” Hail asked him. “Like, you know you shouldn’t be able to d
o it, but somehow you can. And the entire time, you keep thinking you’re about to die some horribly painful death because there’s no way it won’t go wrong.”

  “That isn’t how flashing feels at all,” Ron argued.

  “It’s easy for you two. Mordon and Hail aren’t naturals at it,” Xul explained.

  After dinner, as soon as the boys went to their room, Xul pulled out a bottle of black label Southern Comfort from the cabinet above the sink. “No way. Mordon and I have to get up early,” I said.

  “For what?” Mordon asked.

  “One of my patients the other day is an elderly man who injured himself trying to fix his roof. His wife died less than a year ago and his son is gone. He needs help keeping his house together, so I volunteered us.”

  Mordon didn’t even hesitate before nodding his acceptance. I probably should have asked him first, but I knew my brother. He grew up as the son of a king, where getting his hands dirty for the common man would earn him a night in the dungeons by his father, yet he did it anyway.

  “How bad is the place?”

  “I haven’t seen it. Apparently he has some critters in the attic.”

  He nodded again. “Bring the mobile phone thingy and we’ll call the other dragons in if we need to. The guy with the funny hair on the news said it was going to get cold on Monday. An old man shouldn’t have holes in his walls in winter.”

  “You two are so weird. Why do you care so much about a stranger? And an old, frail mortal at that? He’ll probably die soon anyway,” Xul said, starting to pour himself a drink. I took the decanter and glass away from him and put them back in the cabinet.

  “If you don’t understand, then you’re coming with us. Life is the only thing that man has left and if he’s about to lose it, it should damn well be good. He’s not going to die doing something like trying to fix his house when we could do it much faster, easier, and safer.”

  “But I don’t want to go,” the demon whined.

  “Don’t be a brat. The boys will go to; they can clean his house.”

  “Why do you smell like a succubus?” Xul asked. Mordon tried and failed to hide a laugh behind a cough. “It’s been bugging me all night, but I didn’t want to bring up any awkward questions in front of the boys.”

  “I was ‘attacked’ by a succubus at work.”

  “That sucks. How did she compare to a goddess?”

  “I didn’t do it.”

  His eyes bugged out. “You resisted the powers of a succubus? They are masters of seduction. They survive by being the best.”

  “I couldn’t fight her. Mordon showed up and snapped me out of it.”

  “I bet she went ballistic.”

  “Actually, she calmed down. She said she was hired by Sardis.”

  “The vampire who kidnapped Mordon and the boys?” he asked. I nodded. “Well, that is interesting. That seems more like a demon trick than a vampire scheme. Maybe the vampires are taking notes.”

  “What are you talking about? What scheme? You know why they hired her to seduce Dylan?” Mordon asked.

  “Well, the only reason I can see them employing a succubus is to get a child. It’s probably the oldest demon trick in the book. A demon would ally with a third party to seduce their enemy. The third party would impregnate or get impregnated by the demon’s enemy. Then the demon would get the child and either use the baby as a hostage or raise it to fight the demon’s enemy itself. Incubi and succubi were favored for obvious reasons.”

  “How was I able to resist her if her magic was so powerful?” Mordon asked.

  “You’re a dragon,” Xul explained. “Incubi and succubi are designed to feed from and breed with people. Dragons are incompatible, so a succubus cannot feed from them. Therefore, there is no logical reason for their powers to work on you.”

  “Why was she so furious when Mordon called her a demon?”

  “She smelled like a demon,” Mordon added.

  Xul glared. “We don’t smell anything like those skanky bitches. Demons are powerful beings from the void, whereas the incubi and succubi are more closely related to the fae species. The only magic they have involves energy, seduction, and illusions. They can feed on your energy while you sleep. Their seductive powers actually use your own energy against itself.”

  “So the more powerful you are…” Mordon said.

  “Theoretically, the more powerful you are, the better they can seduce you.”

  * * *

  The next morning, we pulled into Jack’s driveway at nine. He was sitting on his porch and gaped at us as Mordon, Xul, the boys, and myself got out of the car.

  “I didn’t think you’d really come,” he said.

  “Dylan always does what he says he will. Where can we start?” Mordon asked.

  “Well, there’s another hole in the roof and…” he trailed off and looked down beside him. To the left of his plastic lawn chair was a hole in the floor of the porch.

  We did a quick search around the house to determine what we needed. Although Jack had roofing material and tools, the porch and one of the walls on the back of the house was going to have to be rebuilt.

  Mordon and I got to work on the roof while Xul… well, he was apparently afraid of heights. The demon took the list of materials we needed and went to the store instead. I had to text him a few minutes later to add forgotten items to the list. Mordon was absolutely fascinated with the convenience of texting.

  The boys split the cleaning duty until Ron whined about the cleaner drying out his hands. Ron vacuumed and washed windows while his brother volunteered to do everything else.

  Within ten minutes, we realized there was no way we could get everything done that day without more help, so Mordon called in the dragons. The sheriff’s truck pulled in behind my Jaguar and a man got out. He was thin but not skinny. His hair was brown and his eyes were an interesting grey color with a hint of blue. I climbed down the ladder with Mordon right behind me. He took his usual place to my left when the sheriff approached me, as if daring the dragon to attack me. The sheriff realized his place among the living was being threatened and kept his eyes just a little too low to meet mine.

  “I’m Dylan Yatunus,” I said, holding out my hand. Mordon growled as the sheriff shook my hand and I elbowed him in the gut. “Shut up. You called him here.”

  “Rojan did it,” he lied.

  “I’m Taylor McCoy.” He glanced up at my face and his eyes widened. “I didn’t realize it in the hospital with the fluorescent lights. Your hair and eyes are different, but you look a dead ringer for…” he trailed off, realizing he was about to admit something. “Never mind.”

  “I look like Ronez?”

  “Yes. You know him?”

  “I should hope so. He’s my father.”

  “Oh, wow. I suppose you’re following in his footsteps. I mean, you’re helping people and all. How is he doing? I haven’t seen him in many years. I signed his book.”

  He couldn’t have realized how much of a complement it was to be compared to my father as opposed to my mother. Then the pain of losing him hit me in the gut, as it always did when he was mentioned. Hearing stories from Edward about him was always wonderful and agonizing for both of us. “He died thirteen years ago,” I said.

  His expression was stunned and then a mix of resignation and pity. “I’m sorry for your loss. I wish I had known; I would have liked to have attended his funeral. He was one of the best men I ever knew and I will always regret not getting back in touch with him.”

  Except he didn’t have a funeral. There was no body found, for it had been taken by his killer.

  The rest of Mordon’s fan club arrived and Jack made tea for everyone. All of the dragons except for one introduced themselves to me, including Mordon’s girlfriend. Sydney was very beautiful, but I got a very different sense from her than I did from Divina. Without considering the consequence, I took Mordon’s hand and absorbed his fire. The colors of the world around me dimmed and the shapes became blurred, but th
e woman lit with a light green, almost celadon, glow.

  As a happily married man, I could notice the beauty of a woman without wanting to do anything with her. For this reason, I could both acknowledge Emiko’s lovely appearance and want to be as far away from her as Duran allowed. Her beauty was like a gift-wrapped Pandora’s Box. Inside, she was a snarly little snake. However, for whatever reason, Mordon liked her.

  This woman was much better for him. Where my wife was mysterious but ultimately a fairly “good” person, this woman was selfless. She wanted to love and nurture someone. I let go of Mordon and pushed the fire back. My vision returned to normal and Sydney was staring at me with shock. I leaned in close, put my arm over her shoulder, and pressed my finger to my lips in a shushing motion. She nodded, her eyes darting to Mordon.

  “What are you?” she whispered.

  “You haven’t seen her?” I asked.

  “I relied on my scent. What do you think?”

  “I think you should keep her.”

  Then Mordon delegated assignments and we got back to work. It didn’t escape my knowledge that Mordon kept Sydney close. They touched softly every time they passed each other. Mordon would reach out for the hammer, feel her hand instead, and smile. Every time he looked at her, even when she wasn’t looking at him, his expression would soften and he would usually smile. I had never seen anyone cause this reaction in Mordon and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

  After about an hour, a young couple from next door walked over and joined in. At around noon, another neighbor brought us lunch. Before we were done, most of the neighborhood, the entire police department, the fire department, and completely random strangers that happened to see the commotion arrived to help. People were making trips to the hardware store and buying stuff with their own money, not just to fix the house but to make it comfortable for Jack.

  It turned out there was a family of raccoons in the attic, so me and some of the dragons trapped them and Taylor took them far away to let them go in the woods. By sundown, the house was in great shape. Some of the neighbors as well as the police force and firemen left, but the rest of us had grilled steaks in the back yard. In addition to Ron and Hail, there were four children who, strangely, all followed along behind my boys. In respects to who everyone pulled together for, stories were told about Jack and what he did to help them. Apparently, Jack was a friend and grandfatherly figure to everyone.