by Anya Bast
Ashmodai was about seven feet tall and hovered in the air about four feet from the floor. Good thing the ceiling in this room was high. He didn’t have three heads, like the ancient texts said, but the one he had was frightening enough. His face was angular and his head bald. Red eyes glowed from his viciously sharp-boned skull. His chin was pointed almost to the point of caricature. His lips were thin and white. Ashmodai’s body was human looking for the most part, though it was inhumanly muscular. His large lizard’s tail swished angrily as he ceased his struggle against the magickal bonds their spell had forged and became aware of his captors. Serena stood openmouthed, thinking he couldn’t be any more horrific.
Then Ashmodai looked at her and smiled.
Her heart rammed in her chest as she glimpsed his teeth—they were all long and pointed, like a series of tiny daggers in his mouth.
Rowan was somewhere in this thing’s clutches…
Rage replaced her fear. She closed her mouth and straightened her spine. “You hurt my sister, I’ll slice you thirteen different ways before I send you back the dimension you came from, Ashmodai.”
Silence suddenly fell. Realization struck. Had she just threatened a demon with physical violence?
Ashmodai stared at her, and then flicked a long, forked tongue out to slowly lick his thin lips. “You can call me Ash, princess.”
She took a step backward and blinked. His voice was the same as the man’s who’d hassled them at Cole’s apartment building the day before. That man had also called her princess. So, he’d been playing with them. Wonderful. Her mind did a little dance as she wondered what had happened to that man he’d possessed. Had the demon burned him up? Was he dead now?
Ashmodai floated forward until the magickal chain that wrapped him stopped his progress with a jerk. “You’re the one the Cernunnos marked.” He flicked a glance at Cole.
Serena’s hand flew to her shoulder, where the stag’s teeth impressions still remained. Marked? That meant she’d been marked?
“The Cernunnos marked you,” continued Ashmodai. “That means you mean something to the Cernunnos. It’s you I want, not your sisssster,” he hissed.
Did that mean he didn’t have Rowan? If he didn’t…who did?
Cole looked at her and Serena gasped. Every muscle in his body was tense and he’d seemed to gain a couple inches and had gained bulk on his already muscular frame. His clothing was stretched to the limit. But it was his eyes that took her aback. They were completely dark, without a speck of white. She couldn’t tell if they were the dark brown of his regular eye color, or black, but slashes of green fire flickered through them like lightning on a storm-racked night.
Was Cole still anywhere in there, or was that all Cernunnos?
“Yes, I marked her,” Cole/Cernunnos murmured, watching her face. “Marked her as mine.” His voice had a strange deep resonance to it that seemed to penetrate the center of her bones. He turned to spear Ashmodai with a piercing stare. “And you will not touch her!” he roared. “You don’t belong here, Aeshma Daeva. We will cast you back to where you do belong.”
Ashmodai laughed again. “The Cernunnos doesn’t belong here, either,” he sneered. “Trapped in human flesh.” He said the word human like he talked about a cockroach.
Every cell in Cole/Cernunnos’ body seemed to quiver. Ashmodai had hit a nerve with that comment.
Ashmodai laughed. “I freed the Cernunnos from the binding cuffs the other night so he could come play with the Ashmodai. Does the Cernunnos want to play?”
Cole/Cernunnos smiled a bone-chillingly cold smile. “Sure. Let’s play.”
Without warning, Ashmodai surged violently upward. In Serena’s mind, she felt a click and a release of the magickal bonds she’d forged with Cole and Millicent to keep the demon.
Ashmodai was free.
Holy shit.
Millicent had retreated to the edge of the room. Now she surged forward and grabbed Serena’s arm just as Ashmodai lunged for her. Serena felt the brush of his claw-like hand and the rotting meat scent of his breath as he missed her, thanks to Millicent.
Serena hit the concrete floor just in time to avoid getting snatched.
An inhuman roar filled the room. Serena watched in horror as Cole/Cernunnos slammed full force into Ashmodai, hurling him back in a kind of ancient god smackdown. They hit the floor and rolled together in a big tangle, smashing into one of the long tables that lined the sides of the room.
Serena struggled to her feet, trying to force her sputtering mind into drive. Did she have any magick to counter a ferocious brawl between a demon and a god? If she did, would it be strong enough to have any kind of an impact on them?
Cole/Cernunnos and Ashmodai stood, still pummeling each other. They seemed evenly matched, but her heart squeezed painfully with every injury Cole/Cernunnos seemed to sustain.
She had to try something to break this up. Focusing inward, she pulled every bit of her power from deep within her and focused it with clear, crystalline intent. When she was satisfied she’d gained enough strength, she opened her hand in the direction of the battling couple and propelled that magickally laced intent outward toward her target.
Cole/Cernunnos and Ashmodai flew apart like they were two negatively charged particles. Ashmodai hit the far wall with a thump and then landed face-first on the floor.
Cole/Cernunnos rolled toward her and stood up shakily. He raised his hand and chanted something in some language Serena couldn’t understand.
Ashmodai rose from the ground and hovered there for a moment. He struggled, which let Serena know that whatever it was that was happening, Ashmodai wasn’t in control of it.
Cole/Cernunnos pushed his palm forward and Ashmodai kind of squished back into the concrete wall behind him. The wall itself seemed to be made almost of rubber. Back and back Ashmodai was pushed, further away from them. The wall stretched backward with him until it looked like it was stressed to the point of breaking. Ashmodai roared his displeasure and clawed at the wall, making it crumble.
Serena took a couple steps forward. “Do you have her? Do you have my sister?” she asked wildly.
He clawed at the stone wall, his long fingernails grooving it deeply and making sparks as Cole/Cernunnos pushed him back. “I don’t have your sister, witch,” he growled.
The wall seemed to swallow him whole and he was gone. The wall bounced back in place without a mark on it.
Serena stared at the wall wide-eyed, a bazillion questions swirling through her mind. Finally, she swallowed hard and glanced at Cole/Cernunnos. He stood staring at her, looking strong and intent…on her. His eyes had returned partially to normal, though they were still an unnatural green and lightning still seemed to crackle through them from time to time. He also seemed to have lost his additional size. His clothes were torn in places. Apparently Cernunnos had left the building, or at least the bulk of Cernunnos’ energy, anyway.
Serena blinked. “Are you all right?”
“I’m…okay,” he ground out. He didn’t sound okay.
She walked to him, needing to check him for wounds with her own hands. He had some scratches on his cheek and upper arm. His shirt was ripped at the shoulder and up one pant leg. She reached out to touch his face and he had her wrist in a flash, startling her. “Bad idea, Serena. Don’t touch me right now,” he said through gritted teeth.
She lowered her hand warily and stepped back. “Okay.” She had several questions on her tongue, but they all died at the look in Cole’s eyes. It was lust—raw, simple, and very strong. He looked like he’d die if couldn’t take her right this very second.
Despite everything that had just happened, Serena’s body answered that silent call. Suddenly aware of Cole on a very sexual level, her breasts felt heavy and her nipples hard. Her pussy plumped and began to grow damp. She swallowed hard and met his gaze.
Millicent came bustling up to them, breaking the spell. “I can’t believe I just saw that,” she breathed. She sounded almost…jazzed.
>
“But Ashmodai isn’t gone, is he?” Serena asked. “I mean, you didn’t send him back, did you Cole?” She couldn’t keep the note of hopefulness from her voice. That would make everything so much easier.
He shook his head. “I don’t yet have the key to unlock that passageway. I just sent him away. I threw enough magick at him to put him out of commission until tomorrow at least. I bought us some time, that’s all.”
Serena tore her gaze from Cole’s with effort and glanced at the broken table at the side of the room. “I’m sorry about that. We’ll have it repaired, Millie.”
She waved a hand. “Never mind. I needed a new one anyway.”
“I think I need to get Cole home now. He’s looking a little, er, stressed,” Serena said. Cole hadn’t taken his eyes from her once.
“Of course, dear. You go on. That was incredible. Never seen anything like that in all my days. If you need any more help, please don’t hesitate to call on me.”
“Uh. We will need you. Millicent, do you think you can research a spell that’s stronger than the one we just used? Something that will actually hold the demon?”
She bit her lip. “Come back in the morning. I’ll see what I can come up with.”
* * * * *
Cole didn’t say a word on the ride home. He didn’t say a word as they entered his apartment, or as he stripped off his clothes and took a shower. His eyes had mostly returned to normal, although they still flashed, from time to time, with rippling green fire. Serena let him be silent, though she was concerned for him.
She was also concerned for Rowan. As soon as they got to Cole’s place, she called the police department and discovered there were no new developments in her sister’s case. She gave them Cole’s phone number as an alternate to call if anything changed. Serena’s throat clamped up and she choked down a sob as she hung up the phone.
Where was Rowan tonight? Who was she with? Was she even still alive?
And if Ashmodai didn’t have her that meant another OtherKin did. Only another OtherKin could’ve concealed Rowan’s location from the locality spell she and Millicent had performed earlier.
She picked up her bag from the couch and took it into the bedroom. Steam rolled into the room from Cole’s shower. The sound of the faucets shutting off reached her ears. Hopefully a nice hot shower had fully restored Cole to his former self. She had to talk to him and she had so many questions. After a minute, Cole emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a towel wrapped around his lean hips. Water droplets glistened across the hard expanse of his chest. His hair was slicked back from a face that wore a determined expression. He stalked toward Serena with that fire in his eyes and she knew she was in trouble.
As soon as he reached her, he buried his hands in her hair and pulled her up to him for a kiss. His tongue penetrated her mouth and swept within sensually. Grabbing his forearms, she gave into the pleasure of his embrace. He was strong enough to support them both and she badly needed support right now. Seeking solace for her jumbled mind and her raw emotions, she folded herself into his arms.
She felt tears well up in her eyes and fall down her cheeks. Cole pulled away a little and ran his thumb down her skin, gathering one of her teardrops.
“My sister,” she said brokenly.
He gathered her against him and led her to a chair. He sat down, drawing her down on his lap. “I know.”
“I feel so helpless. There’s nothing I can do to help her. Not a damn thing.”
He soothingly pushed her hair away from her face. “I’d do anything to see you happy, beautiful. If there was something I could now to help your sister, I’d do it.” He rubbed his thumb over her cheek and a muscle jumped in his jaw as though he was gritting his teeth. That strange green fire arced through his eyes again.
“Your eyes. What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s the part of me that’s Cernunnos. It’s strong and wild and insatiable. The battle with Ashmodai nearly overwhelmed the part of me that’s Cole. I had to fight to stay in balance.”
“Insatiable? Insatiable for what?” she asked, already suspecting she knew the answer.
His eyes flickered completely dark green for a moment. “My mate.”
“Huh?” That wasn’t the answer she’d been expecting.
“The wildness in me needs something to ground it. I need to lay with my mate. I need a release for some of this energy within me. I can find that by immersing myself in her.”
She swallowed hard. “Who’s your mate?”
He smiled a little in an unnerving way, pushed her hair back and rubbed the marks on her shoulder. “Who do you think, Serena? I marked you.”
She pushed up from his lap and stumbled back. “You could have asked me! What if—what if I don’t want to be your mate? What if I didn’t want to be marked? What is this, the damned Middle Ages? Women have free will now, you know. We can vote now and everything.”
“You always have a choice, beautiful. I won’t force you into anything.”
She crossed her arms over her chest.
Cole stood. The green fire in his gaze intensified. “Ah, come on now. I know you feel what I feel.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you think I feel?”
He took a step forward. “That you and I have known each other a very long time. Much longer than just a few days. It’s true. I can sense it. I can feel it.”
Her jaw went slack. “What do you mean?”
“I can remember bits and pieces of all these other lives I’ve had, Serena. All these other incarnations. You’re in them all. In one capacity or another, we’ve known each other a very, very long time.”
She couldn’t deny that she felt it, too. She’d felt like she’d met him before the first time she’d seen him.
He took another step toward her, his eyes darkening a noticeable degree. “I’m holding myself back right now because you’re understandably upset about your sister. If you weren’t, you’d be sheathed around my cock right now.” Her stomach quivered at his words, at the tone of base sexuality in them. His hands were loosely fisted at his sides, as if he fought the impulse to lunge toward her.
She let her gaze travel up his body—from his strong feet to the top of his head—and she licked her lips. Maybe she should let him. She needed something to distract her from her disturbing thoughts and emotions. Cole had the ability to push every last one from her mind, at least for a little while. She could sacrifice herself to the fire that was Cole. He could take all her worries away.
So, she looked up at him and let heat show in her gaze.
He was there in a flash, burying his hands in her hair and kissing her deep. He almost knocked her right off her feet, but he held her up as he plundered her mouth. He broke away and brushed his lips across her cheekbone. “Let me have you, Serena.” His voice was strained and beseeching.
“You can have me any way you want me, Cole.”
His eyes flared brilliantly for a moment. “Strip and get on the bed, beautiful,” he told her in a barely controlled voice.
She slipped her glasses off and set them on a nearby table. Serena held his gaze as she toed off her shoes and dropped her jeans and underwear to the floor. He watched every movement with aroused fascination. Stepping back, out the puddle of her recently discarded clothing, she pulled her shirt up over her head. Now she was clad in nothing but her silky white bra. She reached around and unhooked it and let it fall to the floor.
Cole’s hungry gaze roved her flesh. His considerable cock tented the towel that covered him. He alone had the capacity of make her feel gorgeous, beloved and desired. The look in his eyes right now made her wet, made her clit plump with anticipation for whatever it was he had in store for her.
He looked up at her. “Bed,” he said hoarsely.
She crawled onto the bed and watched as he gathered four white silken ties from his dresser drawer. “Uh, Cole?”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“I do. It’s just that I’ve n
ever—”
“You did say anything, darlin’.” He strode toward her with them in his hands. “I want you bound and at my mercy.” Not waiting for her answer, he grasped her wrist, pulled it to the side and tied it to the bedpost. Without a word, he did the same to the other. He set the last two ties on the bedside table. Then he stood back, taking in the sight of her spread out and vulnerable to his whims.
She laughed a little nervously. “Do this often, do you? Got the ties all ready and everything.”
“I like to tie my women up. I like to dominate them in bed. I like to tease their bodies until they’re screaming for my cock. I like to take them in the ass. I like to talk dirty to them. I like all kinds of things.” He shed his towel and crawled onto the bed toward her. “It’s true I slept with many women before, beautiful, but now you’re the only one I want.”
Swallowing hard, she realized that she was this man’s mate…if she wanted to be. If she wanted to go down that road once more. If.
“I remember now that I’m clean, Serena. I had tests for STDs on a regular basis in the past. Unless you want to use protection, we don’t have to.”
All she could do was shake her head. Her pussy swelled with a rush of blood and heat at the thought of having no barrier separating them.
Cole parted her legs and knelt between them. His cock was huge and hard, so ready to impale her. He leaned forward and kissed her long and deep. “Ah, Serena,” he murmured. “I’m coming to be very attached to you.”
She shivered at the emotion in his voice, but couldn’t respond.
He ran his hands soothingly down her body, running his fingers over her breasts, sides and stomach. His gaze trailed his touch, leaving fire behind. “I won’t be able to be gentle with you. I can’t go slow right now. Are you sure you’re ready for me?”
Rendered mute by the needful look in his eyes, she could only nod.
He grasped the back of her knees and pushed up and out, so she was completely bared to his view. A gasp escaped her throat. She felt aroused and deliciously vulnerable.
