Dark Awakening

by Patti O'Shea

  "She is young," Augustin commented. He finally came into view.

  The first thing Kimi noticed was his eyes. The irises were so pale, she couldn't guess their color in the dim light. He was a demon, then. The next thing she noticed was how obscenely handsome he was—Hollywood would love his face. He had waist-length, dark blond hair, and at both temples he had a tiny braid, each interwoven with shiny thread. Bak-Faru.

  Mika's admonition to never use the name of that branch rang in her mind, and immediately on the heels of that thought came the dozens of warnings her cousin had given her about the Dark Ones. Kimi's gulp was audible in the silence.

  Augustin smiled at her fear and held out his hand. "Come to me," the demon ordered.

  Kimi shook her head. There was no way in hell she was going to make it easy for him. He was big, he was muscular, and he had the power of the darkest of the demon branches, but she would fight him with everything that she had.

  "Excellent," he said. "The more you struggle against me, the easier it will be to wrest your magic from you."

  He'd read her mind and that scared her, but not half as much as the fact that she was getting information from him and didn't think Augustin was sending it on purpose. A demon acquired a kijo's powers through sex, and he planned to rape her to get it. Like hell. She wasn't letting anyone take what was hers.

  Making the decision calmed her somewhat. Kimi felt her heart begin to slow, and her respiration became deeper, more even. She'd only had a few weeks of training and hadn't used her magic yet, but she knew she could protect herself with a shield of light. Calling it forward, she surrounded herself, letting it thicken and grow until it would be impenetrable.

  "Think you that such a meager defense will stop me?"

  It took all her will, but she forced a smile and shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned. Her dad said if she didn't have a full house, to bluff 'em into thinking she held a royal flush. The dark demon threw back his head and laughed. Damn it, he was still picking up her thoughts.

  Brittany shifted then, and Kimi looked to her, hoping the other woman was reconsidering her actions and would help her. In a glance, she knew she was on her own. So be it. Kimi had one advantage—the demon wanted her alive—and she'd exploit that as much as possible.

  "Come to me," Augustin ordered once more. This time, there was a mental compulsion behind it that Kimi could feel, but it had no effect on her. The second push was far less subtle.

  "I think you're out of luck," she said with a smirk.

  To her great amazement, her near serenity remained even when Augustin started toward her. As he tried to grasp her left arm, she slammed his face with the heel of her right hand. She missed his nose, damn it, but she got his eye. Her action left him momentarily stunned, and she kicked out, catching him solidly in the knee with her foot. He remained standing and she kicked again, only this time he dodged the blow.

  "I could prevent you from moving your arms and legs," Augustin said, "but I won't. I like it when a female fights." He smiled, his eyes so cold that Kimi shuddered.

  He tried to snare her again, but she whirled—a big mistake. Her hair fell into her face, partially obscuring her view, and she fought the long tresses, trying to get them out of her way. Augustin took advantage of her difficulty and seized her wrist.

  Kimi turned her arm, and with help from her opposite hand, yanked herself free of his grip. She backed away, using the time to shove her hair out of the way so she could see.

  Another lunge by the demon and Kimi found herself fighting in much closer proximity to her attacker then she'd expected. She hit him in the kidney with an elbow, then rammed him on the opposite side with the other one. Her knee connected firmly with his groin and he slapped her. Hard. That froze Kimi. No one had ever hit her before.

  Augustin caught her and spun her around, pinning her against his body. All she could manage was some weak backward kicks that caused no damage. He put his mouth against her skin and bit her exposed shoulder.

  The pain woke her up. She knew he believed that he'd won. She struggled, twisting and writhing, trying to break his hold. And as she fought, she felt him grow hard against her. He began chanting in a language she didn't understand.

  No! This wasn't happening. It wasn't.

  Kimi felt someone playing with magic and she shook her head, moving her hair enough to see Brittany. The woman's eyes were half closed and she was working some kind of spell. Augustin finally noticed, too, and raised his head. "Her power is mine! You will not touch it."

  Brittany ignored him and the demon took one arm from around Kimi and threw a fireball at the woman. The creative director hit the floor, her body convulsing. Before it went still, Kimi took advantage of her assailant's lack of attention to fight free.

  She should be afraid, but she wasn't—there was no fear left anywhere inside her. Instead, Kimi was furious, more furious than she'd ever been in her life. First some damn demon thought he was going to rape her and take her powers; then a majo had tried to steal her magic. Enough.

  When Augustin started toward her, she held her arm out, palm facing him, and directed the rage building inside her at him. What came out of her hand looked like a bolt of electricity. It affected the demon the same way. This time, he was the one who was knocked to the floor. He didn't get up.

  Kimi saw he wasn't dead, only injured; she caught the movement of his chest and was relieved. It would make things easier if she'd killed him, she knew, but she wasn't quite sure how she'd feel about taking a life. Sidestepping him, she scurried to Brittany, but the other woman's life force was gone.

  The demon stirred, so Kimi ran. She went to her cubicle first; she had to have her purse to get her keys to drive her car. As she yanked the bag out of her desk drawer, she realized she needed help. She didn't know what she'd done to Augustin or how exactly she'd done it, which meant she couldn't count on repeating the act when needed. She had to have someone who could help her fight a Dark One.

  Mika! Mika was a demon. Gasping for breath, Kimi clawed through her purse, trying to find her comm and the number for the hotel—the number she was only supposed to use in an emergency.

  She located both, but the few seconds it took made her realize she couldn't call her cousin. Mika was in Tahiti on a belated honeymoon; by the time she and Conor got back to Crimson City, Kimi would be long dead. And demons who had human blood couldn't be summoned, either. Kimi needed someone here now who was strong enough to protect her.

  Nic.

  It didn't matter if he were in Orcus, San Francisco, or Timbuktu, a summoning would bring him instantly to her side. All she had to do was make it to her apartment safely, find her grimoire, and call forward the demon named Nicodemus.

  Chapter Two

  Nic sat at a scarred wooden table in the corner of the diner and waited for his change. Although he was restless, edgy, he was in no hurry to leave the air-conditioned building and face the oppressive West Texas night.

  The place was nearly empty; he could have lingered without difficulty and he would have except his waitress had made it clear she'd like to take him home with her. It irritated him beyond measure that he wasn't interested. Darla was an alluring, curvaceous redhead, and he should have flirted in return, not discouraged her. Sex had always been easy for demons: If there was a mutual desire, they sated it; it was no different than drinking water when thirsty or eating when hungry. Things, though, had changed for him, and Nic knew exactly who was to blame: Kimi Noguchi.

  Though the time he'd spent with her could be measured in minutes—a handful of meetings and several short conversations over a two month period—the bonds had begun to form. For him. They weren't fully developed, not yet, but they were strong enough that he was averse to having sex with other women.

  Not that he'd been celibate these many months away from California, but his encounters had been few and far between, happening only when his need for physical release was greater than he could deny. The corners of his lips quirked up. If
he did the bonding rite with Kimi, there would be no others at all. Perhaps, though, mating with those women had been for the best. He'd been very careful with each of them, and his confidence in his ability to maintain control had increased.

  Nic sighed, tapped his fingers against the table and thought about the day he'd realized he couldn't have Kimi—not in the near future. It had been yet another Noguchi family party, and he'd been standing in the corner, his eyes never leaving her. His half-sister, though, had seen the way he'd been watching, and had dragged him out of the room. What she'd said still worried him.

  "Stay the hell away from her, Nicodemus," Mika growled the instant the door closed behind them.

  "You know what there is between Kimi and me," he countered. Demons read energy; Mika should discern it readily.

  "I know," his half-sister replied, "but she's too young. Kimi won't turn twenty for another month yet. You need to give her time to grow up, to finish college, to mature."

  "But—"

  "No buts." Mika made a slashing gesture as if she needed to stop the arguments with more than words. "It's not just her age. You could hurt her."

  His temper flared, no doubt making his eyes glow red. He'd never hurt Kimi, and Mika should know that. He started to stalk past her, to leave the room, but she grabbed his arm.

  "Not intentionally," she said quickly, emphatically. "I know you'd never knowingly harm her, but you're a demon and she's human."

  This was Nic's first time out of Orcus, and he knew there was much he didn't understand about humanity. "How?" he asked, hoping that Mika was wrong, but fearing that she wasn't. She was half-human and understood this world in a way he did not.

  "Demons are stronger than humans—much stronger—and we're not necessarily gentle when we have sex. We bite, we claw and we like hard thrusting—our females as well as our males. But if you mated with a human the way you do with another demon, you'd severely injure her."

  Nic stood there, stunned. Were humans so very fragile?

  Mika misinterpreted his silence. "If you don't believe me, ask Conor what it was like for him before we met. Ask him about how much self-command he had to exert to have any kind of sexual contact with a human, and he's a lot more controlled than you are. I don't think you could rein yourself in tightly enough, Nic, particularly not with Kimi."

  "Because of the bond?"

  "Yes." His half-sister nodded. "Even if you managed restraint with other human females, you know what the vishtau does to demons, and if you slipped, even for a moment... Well, I don't want to think about that."

  Neither did he. "Why even mention her age then?" Nic asked bitterly. "With our physical differences, it's a moot point."

  She squeezed his arm. "Because I don't believe it's hopeless. In five or ten years, when Kimi is old enough to deal with you, you'll have learned how to hold back. I know you, big brother, you'll be working hard to master your nature."

  He mulled that over. Could he do it? Demons were emotional and tended to lose themselves in sex. And they did like it rough; Mika was right about that as well. Could he overcome his own genetics and be careful with Kimi?

  "I want a promise from you," Mika said.

  Nic tensed. Once a demon gave his word, he'd die to keep it, and his half-sister knew this. What was she going to ask of him? Was she going to demand that he—

  A playful caress of his arm yanked Nic from his memories. "You were a million miles away, sugar," the waitress drawled. Her voice was sultry, enticing, and he tried again to work up some interest in going home with her. It wasn't there.

  He reached for his rucksack and stood, slinging it over a shoulder. That broke her hold, but after he handed Darla a generous tip, she reached for his arm again. "You have incredible eyes," she told him. "I like—"

  One instant Darla was stroking the inside of his wrist, the next he was standing in a small room with white walls and battered furniture. He sensed a human standing behind him and it only took a second to realize he'd been summoned. His hands clenched, but Nic didn't turn—he needed to get his rage under control first.

  "Nic!"

  Though it had been months since he'd last spoken with her, he recognized her voice and forgot his anger. Immediately, he pivoted and his breath caught. Kimi Noguchi was beautiful—more than beautiful. She was only about average height for a human female, but she'd fit against him perfectly; he was certain of that. Her legs were long, her body lithe, and although her curves weren't overly generous, she was sexy. He took in her stubborn chin, imagined kissing her full lips, then began to raise his gaze to the dark brown eyes that haunted his sleep. Something, however, stopped him midway.

  Dropping his pack to the floor, Nic closed the distance between them and gently ran the backs of his fingers over the handprint on her cheek. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.

  She pulled away from his touch. "My face isn't important."

  "Someone caused you pain; nothing is more important."

  She stepped nearer, pressed her body against his, and put her arms around his waist, holding him tightly. Nic returned her embrace, hoping this wasn't another dream, that he wouldn't awake again to find himself alone, his body aching for hers. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, filling his senses with her scent. Everything about Kimi aroused him—the warmth of her skin, the swell of her breasts, even the soft sound of her respiration—and he steeped himself in her, wanting to memorize each sensation.

  "Nic," Kimi whispered, her breath tickling his ear, "I'm in trouble. Will you help me?"

  He suspected that the summoning wouldn't offer him a choice, but it didn't matter; Nic would willingly give his life to protect this woman. "Of course," he said simply.

  "You don't know what the problem is yet." Kimi leaned back far enough to meet his eyes, but she didn't release him.

  "No doubt it has something to do with the man who left his mark on your skin. Or werewolf. Or vampire." And Nic would gladly kill any such bastard for daring to cause Kimi even a moment of pain.

  "Not a man. A demon. A Dark One."

  His blood turned to ice at the thought of his woman facing a Dark One on her own. The Bak-Faru scared all other demons, most of whom refused to even use the name of that branch for fear of catching their notice. A human would be wholly at their mercy. "What happened?"

  Kimi told him, the words tripping out. Her story was nearly incoherent, but Nic didn't interrupt with questions. She was shaken and he let her talk, allowing her to share what she wanted in her own way. Her chin wobbled a couple of times, but her eyes remained dry, and when she finished, she buried her face against his throat again and clasped him firmly.

  He let the silence stand, content at this point to offer comfort. Stroking his hand over her hair, Nic felt an odd sense of satisfaction—though he'd gone to great lengths to keep his distance from her, Kimi had called him when she needed help. She must sense the connection between them even though she was human.

  "I'm glad you came to me instead of Mika," Nic said.

  "I couldn't go to her for help; she and Conor are halfway around the world and would never get here in time."

  Nic smirked at himself. He'd asked for that one. Of course Kimi would think of Mika first; the two women were close. That was why his half-sister had faced him down and demanded he keep his distance from her cousin. Proximity made the ties strengthen, and Mika knew that.

  He sighed silently. Kimi Noguchi was his vishtau mate. Humans would call her his soul mate, but that was inaccurate because this bond went far beyond. It encompassed every level of being for demons, involved an overwhelming sexual desire, and it was only with such a mate that they could conceive children. Kimi wouldn't feel it as strongly as he did because she was human, but it would affect her to some degree as well. That was what Mika had pushed to avoid for a few years longer.

  Nic's hand went still. His promise to his sister had been that he'd do his best to stay away from Kimi, and he'd kept his word; it was she who'd summoned him to her side. Which
meant all bets were off. The circumstances were lousy and Nic hated the thought of his woman in danger, but the die was cast.

  The time had come to claim his vishtau mate.

  *** *** ***

  Kimi couldn't believe Nic was holding her. She'd half expected him to push her away or walk out before she could tell him that she needed him, yet he'd done neither of those things.

  "You're really going to help me?" she asked.

  "Of course. Why would you doubt it?"

  She levered herself away from his chest so she could glare into his eyes. "Maybe because of the way you've treated me. How many times did you disappear when you saw me coming?"

  To her surprise, Nic laughed. The sound was deep, melodic, and made her tingle. He was gorgeous. Nicodemus no-last-name-because-demons-didn't-have-them was the best looking man—make that male—she'd ever seen. He was just over six feet: tall, but not too tall for her. The close-fitting jeans and black T-shirt he wore showed off his killer muscles, and Kimi wanted to run her hands over them. His dark hair was cut short enough that it stood up in places, and his eyes were laser blue—darker than most demons', but lighter than normal for a human and they were so piercing she could swear they saw deep inside her to places she'd never shown anyone.

  It was his face, though, she found most appealing. His features were rugged, and while he wasn't as pretty as the dark demon she'd fought tonight, Kimi preferred Nic's rougher looks. The slight depression in his chin made her want to lean forward and press a kiss to that spot. It wasn't a cleft—it wasn't deep enough for that—but it added character. His cheekbones were high and sharp, his eyelashes were long, and with his dark brows, his eyes stood out more. Without thinking, Kimi stroked his stubbled jaw.

  She thought she saw a flash of red in his eyes, but when she looked closer, she detected nothing out of the ordinary. Kimi lowered her hand and cleared her throat.

  "Why did you go out of your way to avoid me? You even disappeared after your mom's wedding party and no one would let me know where you were."