by Lynn Hagen
Demon Warriors 4
Takeo
Takeo wakes to find himself in a dark, dank cell. He doesn’t know how he got there, or even where he is. When Constantine threatens to go after Kamiko next, Takeo finds a way to escape.
He travels through the realms with only one thing on his mind—finding the man he loves and keeping him safe.
Kamiko has been with Zeus’s pack for years but never really living. His life consists of four walls that feel more like a prison than his bedroom. When Panahasi and then Takeo show up to whisk him away, trouble follows.
Raised in the city of Baku, Takeo doesn’t know how to show his love. Fighting every day just to survive has taken its toll. The love that Takeo and Kamiko have for one another is tested, and misunderstandings separate the pair as one lone elf helps the pair reunite.
But Constantine has other plans for Kamiko, and they don’t include a happily ever after.
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Fantasy, Shape-shifter Length: 35,564 words
TAKEO
Demon Warriors 4
Lynn Hagen
EVERLASTING CLASSIC
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove TAKEO
Copyright © 2012 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-380-7
First E-book Publication: February 2012
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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TAKEO
Demon Warriors 4
LYNN HAGEN
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Takeo blinked several times as his eyes finally fluttered open.
They were aching badly as he tried to focus his vision. He could tell they were swollen, because he was barely able to use them to see. He wasn’t sure where he was or how he got there, but he could feel something digging into his wrists. He glanced up to see that his hands were bound by steel manacles that were biting into his flesh. There was dried blood around his wrists and trailing down his arms, creating a strange pattern as it ended at his elbows.
Another thing he noticed right away was that wherever he was, it was cold. A deep chill settled in his bones, making him slightly shiver. Takeo glanced down through his swollen eyes to see that he was hanging naked in some dark, dank room that smelled of urine and death. There were a few rats in the corner, eating at something indiscernible.
As he glanced around, trying to focus in the dark, Takeo took in the room. It was some sort of cellar. The walls were made of concrete that had moss and fungus growing in a plethora of greens and browns and even some black. The floors had some sort of black buildup caking it, almost like a slimy film.
He pulled at his wrists only to clench his jaw in pain. His head fell back as he looked up to see that the steel had worn through his flesh, biting into his bones. He curled his fingers around the chains, trying in earnest to pull himself up to relieve some of the pressure. His shoulders felt like they were being pulled from their sockets.
It wasn’t easy. Takeo was solidly built, and his wrists were taking on a lot of weight. He saw that the chains that helped suspend him were threaded through some sort of eyebolt. It was large and thickly made. There was no way Takeo was going to be able to pull it from the ceiling.
He tilted his head to the left, wiping the sweat from his stinging eyes, eyes that could barely see his surroundings as he hung there, suspended in midair. He kicked his foot out when one of the rats scurried toward him, trying to nibble at his toe. He wasn’t going to be their next meal. The rat scurried back over to the others, ignoring Takeo for the moment.
His toes just barely touched the floor, and he knew eventually the group of vermin would set their sights on him as their main course.
He could only keep his body curled up for so long before exhaustion would set in and the rats would have their dinner.
As he glanced around the room, seeing one door made of metal and shut tightly, he focused on the last thing he remembered. He had felt a tugging in his chest and knew a soul was being taken. He and Wayland had followed that feeling until they found themselves behind King Wings where Gammy was playing with some unfortunate person, teasing him before sucking his soul out through the victim’s mouth.
Everything after that was fuzzy.
His eyes snapped to the side when he heard movement, a shuffling of some sort. His vision blurred for a moment and then slowly came back into focus. The door was slowly opening, the hinges squeaking loudly, echoing through the small room and grating on his ears.
Licking his dry, cracked lips, Takeo strained to see who it was.
His mind raced with all kinds of possibilities as the door creaked back, revealing someone Takeo had never seen before.
“Are you enjoying your accommodations?” the man asked as he stepped into the room. Takeo wasn’t sure who the man was, but it didn’t bode well when the rats ran in fear. That told Takeo he was dealing with someone very evil.
Takeo refused to utter one single word. He had learned through experience that if he stayed quiet that the other person felt compelled to fill that silence with mindless chatter. A person
could learn a lot that way.
The man’s eyes roamed over Takeo’s body, a slight grin pulling at his lips as his eyes told Takeo that the man was void of any kind of compassion. The stranger’s eyes were dark, sinister, and downright creepy as fuck. Takeo clenched his jaw, immediately regretting it as pain shot down his neck and over his shoulders.
He had a feeling his jaw was broken.
“Nevertheless, I hope you’re quite comfortable. You’ll be vacationing with us for quite some time.” Takeo kept his eyes downcast as he tried to think of a way out of this mess. Short of gnawing his own damn hands off, things were looking pretty damn grim.
“I’m surprised you don’t remember me. You’re the one who had me locked away in that godforsaken underground prison. Have you ever been there as a guest? You should try it sometime. Your mind starts to go a little mad after being in there for centuries.” Takeo glanced up quickly and then looked back down, trying his best to place the face. He knew three had escaped from the detention cells that were located in the underworld, and he knew who Gammy was. Takeo also knew who Crypt was.
Crypt was a vile creature who no one could mistake for anything other than pure evil. He was the largest being Takeo had ever seen, with powers and strength to match, but the thing had a pea for a brain.
Crypt went off of pure instinct.
But the man standing before him wasn’t Crypt or Gammy. So this had to be Constantine, Marino’s brother. Marino was a foul being. He created the drug called Liquid Wrath that creatures across every species were addicted to.
And this was his brother.
Takeo knew for a fact that Constantine was even more evil than Marino.
“Answer me!” Constantine bellowed, his voice bouncing off the four stone walls. When Takeo didn’t utter a single word, Constantine stepped closer. “I know exactly what to say to get you talking,” he whispered in a cold, malicious tone. “You have a human friend in the human realm that you are very fond of. Kamiko, right?” Takeo’s head snapped up as he pulled with all his might against the chains that bound him. “If you go near him, I’ll hunt you down and strip flesh from bone.” Takeo growled the words softly. “Slowly.” He felt a surge of immeasurable pain shoot through his jaw after speaking. Fuck, that hurt.
When Constantine gave him an acidic smile, Takeo looked away.
He had fallen for Constantine’s little game. Constantine had been provoking Takeo, and he had fallen for it. Takeo closed his eyes as he thought about his small human friend. He had done everything he could to protect the man from the world, but now Takeo wasn’t so sure he would be able to protect Kamiko from the evil that stood before him.
Constantine tsked at Takeo as he walked away, heading for the door. “I don’t think you’re in a position to threaten anyone, warrior.” The door slammed closed, and Takeo heard a large bolt slide into place. As soon as the evil bastard was gone, the rats returned. Takeo locked his jaw, the pain radiating throughout his face, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind right now was his escape and going after Kamiko.
Grabbing the chains once more, Takeo swung his body around to face the wall. He pulled himself up, planting his feet on the concrete for leverage as he let his weight fall back, applying every ounce of pressure to the eyebolt. Small particles of concrete sprinkled down on his face, stinging his already-swollen eyes.
Glancing up, Takeo saw that the bolt had moved slightly. His fingers curled around the steel chain for a better grip as he hurled his body back, tossing the full weight of his body into the action.
The eyebolt moved some more.
His eyes watered from the pain of the manacles around his wrists digging into his bones, but Takeo wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t give up. Kamiko was counting on him, whether the small man knew it or not. Constantine was the type of man to make good on his promises, and Takeo had read between the lines.
The demon was going to go after his friend.
Muscles straining, teeth gritting, Takeo plunged backward over and over again. Fresh black blood ran from his wrists in rivulets, but Takeo ignored the pain. On the last backward momentum, the eyebolt shot free of the ceiling, sending Takeo barreling toward the floor. He landed hard, the chains rattling as Takeo lay there stunned from the impact, his breath knocked from his lungs. He shook his head and quickly jumped to his feet when the rats came running toward him.
He lifted the chain, using it as a bat, swinging it toward the vermin.
Rubbing his sternum, Takeo stumbled toward the wall and then leaned against it. Now that his feet were planted firmly on the ground, he needed to find a way out of here.
Takeo had no idea how long he had been in this room, but judging from the healed wounds on his wrists, the wounds that had reopened from his strenuous exercise of freeing himself, he’d been here for a while.
He pushed away from the wall, his legs weak as he tried to walk toward the door. The muscles in his legs shook as he made it over to the large metal door and skimmed his hands over the surface, trying to find a weak spot. Takeo growled in frustration when he found none.
The hinges weren’t even on this side of the door. He had nothing to work with.
His forehead rested against the cool metal as images of Kamiko came rushing to the forefront. The man was short, diminutive, and comical at times. He was also the most handsome man Takeo had ever met. Kamiko spoke to a part of Takeo that he had thought died a long time ago.
A part of him that now craved the shorter man with every breath he took. He slapped his hand against the door, wishing he could figure a way out.
There had to be. He wasn’t going to give up. He couldn’t give up when Kamiko’s life was at stake.
Takeo turned, resting his back against the door as he scanned the sparse room. There was absolutely nothing in here that he could use.
There wasn’t even a window. His freedom lay in the door he was resting against.
He kicked his foot out, scaring away the rat that had ambled too closely. The things were disgusting.
His life had been brutal and rough, centuries of fighting and bloodshed. Before Panahasi had come to take him away for his warrior training, Takeo had lived in Baku, a city east of Serenity City, a place where they fought for everything they had. Takeo had grown up on the streets, living from hand to mouth. Although he was told by many that he was destined to be a great warrior, he still had to fight his way through life. Many had tested him, tossing him into fighting rings in filthy basements or fiery pits to see just how great a warrior he truly was.
Takeo had learned at a young age to fight or else die. He had killed many to keep his life, to survive. That was a part of who he was and a part of him that Takeo kept buried deep inside in a place no one would ever know. In Baku, it was kill or be killed, and Takeo had survived.
Kamiko was like a beacon of light that led him to the small man every time. He had an innocence that Takeo had never known. It fascinated him that someone could be so pure of heart. Evil might have touched Kamiko at one point in his life, but the man still remained pure and sweet.
Takeo couldn’t understand that concept.
Even if he took the smaller man to bed and found out that Kamiko wasn’t his mate, Takeo knew he would stay with him forever.
He had fallen in love.
Yet another concept he didn’t understand. It was foreign to him.
He had never loved anyone in his life, and no one had given him that gift either. The thought of having Kamiko all to himself scared him, but Takeo knew he could never let the man go.
Takeo took a step back when he heard footsteps approaching. He knew the only way out of these four walls was through the door—a door that had no handle or bolts on his side. Someone was going to have to enter the room in order for him to escape.
Takeo grabbed the chains in his hands, pulling them taut as he waited for whoever it was on the other side of the door to enter. He was taking no prisoners and showing no mercy. A man’s life rested in him getting o
ut of…wherever he was.
The human that held his heart needed him, and Takeo wasn’t going to fail Kamiko.
Takeo took a step back, waiting, as thoughts of Baku raced through his mind. That same adrenaline rush shot through his system as it did back then when he knew he had to fight for his survival. The bolt slid from its resting spot as whoever it was pushed the door open.
Takeo held his breath, wanting the person just a little further in the room. When a dark figure appeared, Takeo’s arms swung high in the air as the chain rattled, circling around the stranger’s throat.
The man wasn’t going down easy. Takeo’s back was slammed into the wall, the wind whooshing from his lungs for a second time today. He grunted, paying no attention to the pain that shot through his body as he tightened his grip on the steel in his hands.
He held on tightly as the man thrashed around, his hands smacking at his neck as he tried desperately to pull the chain loose.
Takeo wrapped his legs around the guy’s waist, adding extra effort as the stranger slowly went to his knees.
A loud grunt sounded, and then it was silent as the stranger slumped to the floor. Takeo pushed himself up, pulling the limp body to one corner, and then quickly ran back toward the open doorway, peeking his head around the frame.
The hallway was bright, a little too bright for his eyes. The cell he had been in was dimly lit, barely showing Takeo what had been in the room with him. He blinked a few times, trying to get his eyes to adjust as he slid out into the hallway and plastered his back against the wall.
His head snapped up when screams echoed throughout the hallway. Takeo listened closely as he raced down the stretch of linoleum, trying to find an exit.
Finding a set of stairs, Takeo ascended, creeping along quietly as the tortured and haunted screams began to fade away. He vowed to find out exactly where he was and come back for the ones crying out for help.
But for now, Takeo had to find a way to Kamiko and save him from Constantine.
As he climbed to the top of the stairs, Takeo saw a door with a push bar. He glanced around quickly and then raced for the exit.
