The Lion's Den (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles)

by D N Simmons

  Adrian nodded, understanding his father. “This is our best shot, I think. He may be able to hurt us one on one or even three on one, but I don’t think he’ll be able to defend himself against thirty to one. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t disappointed in your decision.”

  Xander nodded. “Whether or not this is the best course of action to take, is irrelevant. It’s our only option at this point.”

  Richard entered the den, looking at the two shifters conversing. “Are you both ready?”

  They turned toward him. “Yes,” Xander answered.

  “All right, everyone is outside getting into the automobiles.” Richard turned, exiting the mansion.

  Both men left, climbing into a new black Sidewinder SUV with Richard, Elise, Sergio and Daniel. The two SUV’s carrying Adan’s Pride were followed by two SUV’s with Elise and Xander’s members in them. They drove through Chicago, heading into Oak Forest, They continued driving, wondering if they would soon be attacked by Marcus not wanting Adan’s Pride to flee the city. Another hour passed along with another city and still, there was no attack. Devin, who was driving the first SUV pulled over along the road, the others followed. The leaders of the three groups climbed out to see why he pulled over. They walked over to the SUV.

  “Devin, what’s wrong?” Elise asked.

  Devin shrugged. “He told me to pull over.” He pointed at Adan.

  “Why?” Elise asked, now looking at Adan.

  “Because,” Adan began, giving them a sad smile. “I really can’t ask for more than what you’ve all tried to do for me and my Pride. None of us can guarantee this is going to work. You should return back to your family and friends, we’ll”

  “Enough with the death wish, already. You go off on your own, you’re as good as slaughtered,” Sergio said. “You came here for help and you might as well stay and fight, win or lo- Naw, fuck that, we’re going to kick ass when the time comes.” He was not willing to even imagine a predicament that ended in defeat.

  “I’m not afraid to fight or die, I just want to protect my Pride. Many of them have never seen battle, let alone had to fight for their lives,” Adan said.

  “Maybe it’s time. I know that in your Pride, things run differently, but now is the time for your females to step up,” Sergio said.

  Adan nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true. Another thing is, I don’t think going to another city within the state is enough to draw him out.”

  “Why didn’t you say that before we drove all the way out here?” Devin asked.

  “Just thought about it, that’s why,” Adan said.

  “None of that matters. We all knew it was a long shot to begin with. How about this,” Sergio turned toward the others. “We head back but we stay separated, keeping a short enough travel distance between our two locations. Let’s see if they attack us that way. Our best option is to keep them divided. They’ll either split up to attack us, or team up to attack one location in which we can alert the others in time for them to join us to combine our forces. This is, of course, a contingency plan in case they bother attacking us at all.”

  “I think that is a pretty decent strategy,” Xander said, nodding. “In fact, I’d like to elaborate on it. Perhaps, we should gather three or four members from Darian’s coven and take them to our second location. That way, our strength can be as equally divided as much as possible. Also the vampires can telepathically connect with each other in the event of an attack.”

  “That works for me,” Devin agreed.

  Elise smiled, so proud of her king and lover, father of her children. “I’ll inform Darian when he rises. The only thing that’s still troubling me is the age of Marcus’ entire coven, I really wish I knew how powerful they were.”

  “I know, right now, we just have to do what we can. Let’s head back,” Xander said.

  They all decided to follow Sergio’s plan and headed back to Evanston. Some stayed at the mansion, while others went with Elise and Richard. The second team left after gathering John, April, Gary and Tony from Darian’s coven, and drove to the hotel Elise had rented which was less than ten minutes traveling distance, possibly two if you break all speeding laws, from Darian’s mansion. Each team waited it out to see what would happen next.

  ***

  A little after noon, Warren pulled into the parking lot of the S.U.I.T. precinct. He and Matthew picked up Brian and Colin along the way. They went inside, meeting up with Barry and Gabriel, who were looking over paperwork.

  “Anything else happen that we need to know about?” Warren asked.

  Barry looked up from his paperwork. “No. Everything’s been quiet so far. I don’t know what’s going on, what they have planned. But it’s been at least twelve hours without a body being reported.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good news or bad,” Gabriel said.

  “Well, we’d know about a body if there was one. This coven likes to brag about their kills,” Colin stated.

  “You two need to head home, get some rest. We’ll take over the watch from here,” Matthew told Barry and Gabriel.

  “Good idea,” Gabriel said, yawning as he stretched his limbs. “Let’s go, Barry.” He rose to his feet, pulling his jacket from the back of his chair and slipping it on. Barry did the same and both detectives left.

  Warren looked at the other three men. “Let’s do some patrolling, see what we can find out.”

  “Okay, we’ll take the south side, you take the north, keep in contact,” Matthew said.

  Warren and Brian headed north, while Matthew and Colin headed south. They patrolled the neighborhoods, speaking with other supernaturals to see if any of them had information. No one knew anything that could help them solve their case, but they continued to search for answers.

  ***

  Kiren lay panting breathlessly beside Marcus, his chest heaving as he struggled to regain his composure. Marcus lay on his back, his eyes closed as he relished the sensation of his lover’s blood warming him as the last waves of his fleeting orgasm subsided. The tingles began to vanish until there was nothing left but the memory of their lovemaking.

  Kiren rolled over, watching him. “Are you still mad at me about last night?”

  Without opening his eyes, Marcus answered him. “Yes.”

  “I couldn’t help it, I wanted to see them. I wanted to watch them try to figure me out.”

  “I don’t care. You were careless and you almost died because of it. Had I not come when I did, Darian would have killed you,” Marcus said, finally turning his head to look at him.

  “He took me by surprise. I’m sure on any other given day, I could have killed him.”

  Marcus laughed. “And then you’d really piss me off. That beautiful man is mine. I have plans for him. Besides, you couldn’t kill him even if you wanted to. He’s stronger than you’ll ever be. But that’s not to say you still can’t have fun. His lover and second in command is weaker than you. In addition, they have the woman, their son and she’s pregnant with their second child. This makes her very special.”

  “Think he’d surrender if we took her hostage, threaten to kill her?”

  “No. He’s a Master vampire; he has much more at stake than his human lover if he surrendered. As a matter of fact, I’d think him weak if he did. No, this one would never give in so easily and I think that’s what’s exciting to me. He knows I want him, yet he’s not running as many others have in the past.”

  “Just like that pussy, Adan?”

  Marcus chuckled. “You’re incorrect. You mistake his fleeing as a sign of weakness. He is strong, powerful and brave, but he has obligations to protect his Pride, his women. He knows his death would most likely mean theirs and he’s trying to prevent that.”

  “Do you still want Adan and his Pride?” Kiren was curious. He knew his lover had struck a gold mine per say when he’d met Darian, Elise, Xander and Richard.

  “I do, even more so now, than before. He has joined forces with the other supernaturals in th
is state and I’m intrigued to see where this is going to go. I’ve never come face-to-face with a situation such as this where separate communities are working together. Also, they have members within the S.U.I.T., which I wasn’t expecting, so intelligence is coming in from all angles.” Marcus smiled wickedly. “As a matter of fact, I want you to do something, we need to raise the bar on this one.”

  “I thought we already had,” Kiren said, running his fingers down the length of Marcus’s torso.

  “Killing the infant and the others is nothing compared to the hell we’re going to bring forth.”

  Kiren sat up, intrigued. “What is it that you want me to do?” His eyes were bright with anticipation.

  “This S.U.I.T. organization needs to be roused a bit more. I’ve enjoyed watching them chase their tails in trying to figure us out. They’ve failed and they know it. These humans have no idea who they’re dealing with.” Marcus caressed the side of Kiren’s face. “You’ll enjoy dohis.”

  “The anticipation is killing me; what is it you want me to do?!” Kiren was growing more impatient.

  Marcus chuckled. “There are two detectives who were flown in from California to help. One of them I sensed is a shifter … a wolf. The other is human. I want you to turn the human. Remember, turn him not kill him. Then I want you to turn the other two human detectives who are working the case as well. I think it’ll be fun if we change the S.U.I.T. around a bit, don’t you.”

  Now it was Kiren’s turn to smile, only his bared a more sinister appearance. “A little change here, a little change there, I’m enjoying the possibilities. Can I do this thing my way?”

  “Have all of the fun you want to. There’s nothing those other shifters can do to stop you.”

  Kiren’s smile grew wider as he planted a kiss on his lover’s lips before climbing out of the bed. He began to dress quickly, not bothering to shower.

  “You’re not going to shower first?” Marcus asked.

  Kiren shook his head. “No, I want your scent all over me.”

  “I see. Good decision by the way. My scent being on you is quite an improvement.”

  “I think so.” Kiren chuckled. “Do you have any idea where I can find these humans?”

  “Of course I do. I formed a mental link with them the moment I realized they were handling the case.” Marcus told Kiren where he could find his targets. “Have fun,” he said before his lover left.

  Kiren was beyond excited. No one had ever dared to destroy the S.U.I.T. organization before. The concept was forbidden. The Council; which consisted of eight supernaturals, both vampire and shape-shifter, had long ago decided that the humans should have their police Force in order to keep the peace. They decided the humans should have their laws and their justice; everything reasonable to make them feel safe enough to sleep at night. In order to co-exist with mankind, the S.U.I.T. was a necessity and therefore it was agreed that no direct attack would be taken against them for the sake of maintaining that peace.

  Master vampires and various leaders of shifter communities all agreed to allow the S.U.I.T. to protect the humans from those of their kind who broke the four laws. Many didn’t agree with the new system, but none dared to overstep the ruling of the Council. Not until now. What Marcus was planning was a direct insult to the Council. Kiren wasn’t surprised by Marcus’ plan. His lover had never had much respect for the Council. Many felt that the Council had given in to the humans all too easily, which allowed the humans to think they were still in control. Others, however, had felt the Council was wise in their decision, which allowed supernaturals more power over the humans than they ever had before.

  Then there were those, like his Master, who did whs sho wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it. They didn’t obey a set of rules made up by people weaker than themselves. They ruled their own world and this attack was a message to all who dared to press their ideals onto them. Kiren would make his Master proud. He pulled his car in front of a red brick home. The lawn was trimmed in pretty flowers and there was a child’s bike lying on its side next to the rose bush. He climbed out of the car, walked up to the front door and knocked.

  Gabriel’s daughter, Rhiana answered, looking upward at the very tall man who stood before her. “Hello, can I help you”

  “Rhiana … ,” her mother came up behind her, taking over the introductions. “Sweetie, go and play with your brother, okay.”

  “Okay, Mommy,” Rhiana said, running upstairs.

  Her mother returned her attentions back to the stranger. “Hello, how may I help you?”

  “Is your husband home? I have some information for him about his case.”

  “Yes, my husband’s home. Please wait right here.” Melinda closed the door, locking it in place. She called to her husband who came out of the kitchen at the sound of his name.

  “Yeah, babe?” he answered.

  “There’s a man outside, he says he has information about your case.”

  Gabriel’s eyes widened as he quickened his pace toward the front door, he opened it. “Who are you?”

  “Someone with a message.” Kiren pushed Gabriel hard knocking him backwards to the floor. Moving faster than the two humans could see, he punched Gabriel’s wife, rendering her unconscious before returning his attention back to Gabriel who was scrambling to his feet. Kiren smiled as he advanced on Gabriel, pushing him back onto the floor. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “What do you want?!” Gabriel asked, his face reddening with anger and frustration.

  Kiren tilted his head sideways. “Isn’t that the million dollar question? What do I want? What do we all want? Great sex, a hot meal, a bank full of cash and a lot of fun ways to spend it. Am I right?” He chuckled.

  “You’re the shifter, aren’t you? The sick son-of-a-bitch who killed those children?” Gabriel questioned.

  “I am,” Kiren said before advancing on Gabriel, straddling him and pinning him against the floor. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

  “Fuck you!” Gabriel growled as he struggled in vain to toss the shifter off him. He looked over toward his wife who was now bleeding from the open gash on her forehead. “My wife! What did you do to her?!”

  “You’re ballsy for a human. I like you. Don’t worry, she’s not dead. Concussed, but not dead. There might be some brain damage, but that’s not really my concern. Now, those two adorable kids of yours, I could have some fun with them.”

  Gabriel stopped ng as he locked eyes with the shifter. “Leave my children out of this.”

  “I’m feeling pretty charitable today, so maybe I will, then again, maybe I won’t. Tell you what, I’ll let it be your decision if I involve your kids.” Kiren’s smile widened, revealing his pearly whites. His right hand held both of Gabriel’s wrists to the floor, while his left slid down his captive’s chest, past his stomach, finding his groin. “Niiiice. Have you ever fucked a guy before?”

  “Don’t even fucking think about it, freak!” Gabriel begin to struggle again against his captor.

  Kiren frowned as his grip tightened on Gabriel’s groin causing the man to grimace in pain. “That wasn’t a nice thing to say at all. It certainly wasn’t smart. You must want to watch me devour your precious kids in front of you. You know I can.”

  “NO! Please, don’t hurt them!” Gabriel ceased his struggling.

  “Are we willing to be cooperative now?” Kiren asked, his hand beginning to massage Gabriel’s groin.

  Sickened by the shifter, Gabriel swallowed hard. “What do you want from me? You want me to back off this case?”

  Kiren laughed outright. “No, nothing so easy as that. I don’t care if you work twenty-four hours straight on this case, makes no difference to us, you’ll never stop us even if you did. No, we have other plans for you and I have a few of my own ideas of what I want to do to you.”

  Gabriel didn’t want to mention what he thought those “ideas” were. He didn’t want to think about what this shifter was going to do to him.
But he knew he needed to ask, so he did. “What are you going to do to me?”

  Kiren unbuttoned Gabriel’s jeans then unzipped them.

  “Fuck! Stop it, please!” Gabriel begged.

  Kiren ignored Gabriel’s pleas, slipping his hand underneath the waistband of the other man’s underwear, fingers finding the soft flesh. “You know, I get a lot of pleasure making men like you bend to my will. Right now, you’re soft, but I can make sure you don’t stay that way.”

  “Men don’t turn me on, you’re wasting your time.” Gabriel hoped he could dissuade the shifter from taking him against his will.

  “I don’t think I’m wasting my time, unless of course, you want me to let your kids take your place instead.”

  “You son-of-a-bitch! I swear to God you touch my kids I’ll find a way to personally rip your heart out of your fucking chest! You fucking freak!”

  “My, my! You kiss your kids with that mouth?” Kiren laughed. “I guess you do. It is the same mouth you eat pussy with, right?”

  “I’m not fucking playing with you, leave my kids out of this!”

  “Like I said, that depends on what you do and what you don’t do.” Kiren pulled Gabriel’s penis free and began stroking it in a slow motion. “I know this feels good. You need to stop fighting me. I’m not the kind of man you want to piss off. You’ve seen my handiwork, haven’t you? Remember the ice cream truck?”

  Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Those kids … you’re psychotic.” He was struggling to maintain his calm, but his groin was beginning to respond to Kiren’s masterful fingers. He hated that his flesh was growing harder with each stroke. But he knew this killer wasn’t bluffing. The last thing he wanted was to see any harm come to his children.

  “Yeah, I know. I had fun, too.”

  “So are you going to rape me?”

  “Rape you, hell no. You can’t rape someone who gives themselves over to you willingly. That is what you’re doing, right? Giving yourself to me?”