by Marie Harte
“The four are one,” she repeated.
“Yes. You are the angel and the mortal, the light and the power. You give us back our own mortality, for even the ethereal must go to another plane someday.”
“You’ll die.”
“Yes, and now bonded with you, I can pass on as a dragon complete.” He wore an expression that seemed impossible to believe. So much elation while looking at…her.
“Do you, I mean, you seem so, well, are you…”
“In love with you. You want the word. So you have it. I have no need to prevaricate.” He paused. “I ain’t no liar.” He grinned. “Eve says I must adapt to colloquialisms more. Thus, I love you. Period.”
“Just like that.” She stared at him in amazement and felt him flex inside her.
“Yes, sweet. Just like that.” He drew her to him and buried his face between her breasts before looking up into her eyes. “I know the desire to sink deep in you. Into your body, your heart, your soul.” He thrust in her twice more and moaned.
“You’re coming again?” She clamped tightly around him and found her own release when he pinched her clit and added that flare of blue fire that lit her up from the inside out.
“Yes. So pretty when you flood for me.” He kissed her. “We must have patience with our demon. He’s not used to the sense of acceptance we’ve known. Your mother is a good woman. Ranton a worthy Guardian.”
“And Eve.” She raised a brow, and he had the grace to glance away.
“Ah, yes. Eve. What she did for me is natural for my kind, Ella. Ranton is a possessive creature. My play with Eve did not last long.”
She rolled her eyes. “Jentaron, never mention sex with someone else when you’re still buried in your mate.”
He laughed. “Yes, dear.” He kissed her. “You realize you have called me your mate.”
“I have before.”
“But not with such belief. Is it because I have said I love you that you feel free to love me back?”
She really needed to work on her shields. “I guess. Maybe. Okay, yeah.”
He smirked and finally withdrew from her. He used magic to tidy them both—handy, that—then stood and hugged her to him. “This is why you are special. No other could go through what you have in so short a time and still acknowledge her truth.”
“My truth?”
“That without you, the world will end,” he said on a serious note. “Never ever doubt your importance to me or to the Ordinary. You, Ella, will help me tie Zelec in a bond he hopes to escape.”
“Huh?”
“And you will anchor me when the Hunger come. Without you, without your power, I would be lost.”
She grew frightened. “You will succeed, right? We’re going to beat them.”
He nodded, but the tinge of doubt she heard, buried deep inside him, told her she needed to do something to help him. And fast.
Because according to Jentaron, they had two more days. Then…the Hunger.
Chapter Ten
Zelec hated the oppression that came with deep emotion. Fear and guilt were well and good. Anger, terror, no problem. But that dreaded L word… It implied permanence, ties, rejection.
Abandonment.
He’d had enough of that. He didn’t need more to know his place.
Sure, Jentaron wanted him now. He needed Zelec’s power for the battle to come. Ella desired him, but then, all human women did. Her humanity made her susceptible, and demon that he was, he’d capitalized on it. Now he’d forced her into a mating she couldn’t get out of, and the worst part of it all was that Zelec didn’t care. He wanted her to stay.
The way he wanted Jentaron to stay.
Which made no sense. The dragon was using him. They all knew it. So why did he feel…emotion…for the pair? He was smarter than that.
Pacing around Asael’s fortress because he’d needed the familiar, Zelec thought long and hard about what this mating would do to him. As a dragon’s consort and Asael’s second-in-command, he would be a pawn fought over by two masters. Not that he considered Jentaron his boss, but a dragon king technically outranked a higher demon in any lower realm court of appeal.
“Do demons love?” Ella had asked.
It all came back to that. Love and belonging, two things he’d never had a use for. Or so he had forced himself to believe. The succubi were not believers in tender emotion. Sex fed a hunger, and they were the best at what they did. His mother had whelped him then dumped him in the plains of abandonment. Only through his inner strength had he not been devoured by the worms and goblins of Deceit Fields. A nightmare in the lower realm, the place was often used to separate the strong from the weak. Typically lesser powered creatures and unwanted young were dropped there, never to be seen again.
His mother should have held onto the son of a demon lord, and no doubt she would have had she realized the identity of his father. But Zelec had met the female years after his birth. Maternal she was not.
He’d seen loving demons and devils doting on their children. Descended human souls who cared for those in the Abyss’s dark sleep. So what had made him different? Unlovable?
Zelec had grown up depending on no one and nothing but himself. He took his pleasure when he wanted it, and he’d developed his powers at a young age, surviving any way he could. Becoming an aide to Asael had been a real coup. At less than a century in age, he’d already found a place for himself under the Lord of the Abyss.
Yet in all that time he’d never felt Asael’s love. He’d seen the Fallen try to hide his feelings for Duncan, James and Eve. After the twins’ birth, the fallen angel had become almost fatherly. Then years later with Eve’s birth, he’d become easier to be around, even acting appreciative at times for Zelec’s hard work.
But he’d never been Zelec’s father and never would be. Biological facts to the contrary, Zelec had no parents and no family. Just two mates who thought—what? That an amazing chemistry and responsibility to save their world entitled them to keep him? As what, a pet?
Annoyed, confused and doing his best to avoid interpersonal squabbles, he loitered around the keep and ran interference for the denizens of the realm too terrified to approach Asael for what they wanted.
Hours later, he received a mental summons from the boss and went inside to deal with him. “Yes, sire?”
“I take it your time with Jentaron is working out?”
Asael beating around the bush? Interesting. “Working out?” Zelec said slowly.
“Yes. Did the mating take or didn’t it? We need that dragon fully loaded for what’s coming.”
“And what is that exactly?” The word “Dad” sat on the tip of his tongue, but Zelec had no wish to meet his end before seeing the Hunger defeated.
Asael studied him, and Zelec felt the heat of that stare to his soul. “The Hunger will bring chaos to our world until nothing is left. Not blood or bone, sin or salvation. We will all be torn apart and made into confetti for their demolition party.”
“Festive, as always.”
Asael frowned.
Zelec frowned back, trying to superimpose Asael’s features onto his own. But he couldn’t. He looked nothing like the demon lord.
“I know. I don’t see it either.” Asael shrugged, and his wings fluttered like white cotton during a summer’s breeze. “Kingu can lie and cheat with the best of us, but the creator told the truth. I feel it in you now. Well, what’s left of you not tainted by a dragon and a nephilim.” Asael’s eyes brightened. “How was she, by the way? Because I sensed great power in that one.”
“She’s fine. I’ll tell her you asked about her. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
“Still a smartass.” Asael grinned. “I do like that about you, Zelec. In fact, it’s a trait you share with all my children.”
“Speaking of which, are there more Sinclairs? Forewarned
is forearmed.”
Asael chuckled. “A funny demon too. No, as far as I know, you’ve met them all. Duncan, James and Eve. Well, and their mates. Now you’re tied to all of them, aren’t you? Especially with the dragon king as your sugar daddy.”
He found Asael’s humor in poor taste.
Before Zelec could say anything that might get him killed or thrown into The Pit, Duncan Sinclair entered the chamber with his mate by his side. Zelec nodded to Sapphira but ignored Duncan. James’s identical twin was a walking case of aggravation and ego all wrapped up in the same smug face.
Sapphira nodded back, a beautiful woman who still held a radiant shine courtesy of her time above, when she’d lived in the upper realm, thinking herself a simple angel. The poor kid. She’d been born of an angel and a human and that had suited Duncan perfectly. Together, the pair had been swaying souls for hell with a ninety-eight percent efficacy rate.
“So, Dad, I hear I have a new baby brother?” Duncan gave a wide grin.
Sapphira sighed. “Duncan, behave.”
“Technically, you’re the baby,” Asael stated. “Zelec has two hundred years on you. Make sure you welcome him properly. Maybe a big family barbecue where you can have a good cry and learn to love one another.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Sapphira.
Duncan groaned. “Honey, he’s being facetious.”
“I didn’t know you knew what that meant,” Zelec said, overly polite. “That’s an awfully big word for you, isn’t it, Duncan?”
“Fuck off, boot-licker.”
“Boot-licker? That’s all you’ve got?”
Sapphira gave Zelec an apologetic smile. “Sorry. He’s been off his game lately. Dickhead or scumlord would have been better. Really, Duncan. You need help.”
Duncan flushed, and Zelec was torn between amusement and accepting the fact he had biological ties to the Sinclairs. And after so many years of babysitting the demonic siblings.
“I hear you’ve mated Jentaron?” Duncan said after a moment. “I guess we’re really working to move in on the dragons, eh, Dad?”
Asael nodded. “I hadn’t planned it, but I should have. I’ve always suspected Jentaron’s interest in my assistant. You did well, Zelec. I fully expect you to bring the nephilim to me once the Hunger is taken care of.”
“Pretty sure we can defeat the Hunger, are you?”
Asael nodded. “Kingu’s plan is solid. We’re ready to attack when they arrive. But it will only work if they’re otherwise occupied. We’ll get one shot at disarming them, so Jentaron has to hold them for us. He’ll need your power, and that of your other mate’s.”
Duncan whistled. “So the rumors are true. The dragon king took a demon and nephilim as mate. That’s a lot of firepower.”
“And it will be needed,” Sapphira added. “When I was in the upper realm, there was talk of the Hunger, though we didn’t exactly call them that. In heaven, Uriel referred to them as a plague on all existence.”
“I thought that was Asael,” Zelec taunted.
“Thank you, but no.” Asael gave him a sly wink. “I have no plans to crush all of humanity and the ethereal along with it. These ancient ones, the Hunger, they’re the end of everything. And what fun is there in ruling nothing?”
“Right. And on that note, I have to go.” Zelec could sense his mates searching for him and didn’t like the thought of Asael anywhere around them. Ella would be too vulnerable, and though Jentaron thought himself invincible, he had no idea the things Asael could do.
“You will bring me the female when this is done, won’t you?” Asael said.
“No.”
Asael stared at him. “What?”
“I said no.” Zelec ignored Duncan’s and Sapphira’s gasps. “The female is mine. The dragon is mine. Not yours to exploit. They belong to me.”
“I think you forget your place, demon.” Asael’s quiet voice had much more menace than his normal one. “You work for me.”
“I did. I quit.”
Zelec teleported before Asael could answer. Now he’d done it. Once Zelec had done his part saving the world, the Lord of the Abyss would tear his wings off and shove them down his throat. Then Asael would throw him in The Pit, just because he could.
Why did I tell him off? I should have played him, told him what he wanted to hear.
But the need to keep his mates as his own, to have someone to claim and claim him. It meant more to him than survival.
I am so fucked.
He arrived back at the dragon stronghold in his demon form, dark as night, wings outstretched, in time to see the sky on fire. It seemed redder than usual and now glowed as a portal seemed to open up above the catacombs. All around them the air grew thick with brimstone and lightning. Clouds impossibly formed in this hot and dry underground environment.
All around them dragons gathered, the legion in full plate armor, ready to fight.
“Zelec,” Ella called out. He teleported to her side, instinctively needing to protect his mate.
“Ella. Jentaron.” He brushed his wings against his mates, and his earlier confusion drowned in the warmth of togetherness flowing among them.
“The Hunger are here. Early.” Jentaron looked grim. “This is bad. I need you to link with me. Both of you.”
Ranton and Teban flew close, both massive in their dragon forms. “We’re gathering the troops,” Ranton said. “Hold them for us, brother. We’ll back you.”
Teban nodded. “I’ll stand by with our small contingent of havoc. Kihra was in talks with Myfere when they arrived.” He looked to the sky. “We’ll add to your firepower while the legion and the demon armies amass. James already went to the upper realm for help.”
“Good. But we can’t wait any longer.” Jentaron shifted into his dragon form, and to Zelec he seemed even larger than usual. “I need you both with me for this. But once I have a grip on your power, Zelec, take her far away.”
Zelec nodded. “I’ll come straight back for you.”
“You will not.” Jentaron’s eyes blazed, no longer a marbled blue and silver, now a dark red. His wings flapped and stirred a great rush of air around them. He grabbed Zelec in one clawed foot and Ella in another.
Poor Ella looked scared out of her mind. “Jentaron, let us in.”
“I will. Hold on.” The dragon king flew into the air, aiming for the portal that glimmered like a blazing supernova but acted like a black hole. The comparison seemed apt, because it felt as if the white in the sky was heavier than everything else, pulling life toward it in a rush.
Several demons screamed as they flew into the emptiness and vanished. A few imps and deceased humans followed.
Then the nightmare truly came as the first of the Hunger arrived. It had too many forms to remain static, constantly shifting from one creature to another until it settled into a mixture of several. But it formed…wrong. Bones on the outside, flesh and fur mangled, teeth on arms and claws coming out of its forehead. The thing had Jentaron’s size, and then it had Jentaron’s voice.
Ella yelled, “Jentaron, now.”
“Yes, I know.” He sounded distracted. And no wonder.
Zelec wouldn’t have been so disturbed by one such nightmare, but beyond the one Hunger, in the depths of that blaze, he felt thousands, maybe millions eager to rush through. He felt their ravenous need to consume, and when their attention settled on him, he felt the urge to obey and leave this realm.
By the blazes, they weren’t supposed to arrive yet. Kingu said we had more time to prepare. “No,” Jentaron roared and fired a shot of blue flame at the Hunger. It shrieked at him but didn’t come any closer. It remained hovering in front of the portal, blocking the rest of the others.
Jentaron kept himself alight using minimal power, but Ella had the right of it. They needed to bolster his shield, pronto.
“What do we do?” Zelec asked.
“Let me in, and I’ll open myself to you. You have to trust me, Zelec.”
“Fine. Go.” It went against his nature and was harder to do than he’d thought, but he opened himself fully, which meant letting Jentaron and Ella see the truth of what he was. Scared, needy, emotionally bereft. A powerful monster that enjoyed causing pain as much as he felt it all the time, buried deep inside.
The love he thought he had for his mates shone like a beacon though, and it was to that emotion Jentaron attached himself. Zelec paid attention to Ella’s light as well, seeing in her the same love for him and Jentaron, and her worries about her life, her sanity, the power she had no idea she had.
It shocked him and took Jentaron aback as well. A light brighter than his own, Jentaron’s and even Asael’s, shone within her.
“Hurry,” she screamed as another of the Hunger passed its brethren to draw closer to them.
Jentaron took their power and bolstered his shield, and just in time. The Hunger pounced, two on one.
“Get away, now,” Jentaron ordered and brought Zelec and Ella together in one giant hand.
Zelec teleported her away just as the Hunger smacked into Jentaron. He reappeared near Teban’s dragon legion. Zelec needed to get her far away, to keep Ella safe. But he couldn’t leave his dragon.
“Get your fighters up there,” Zelec ordered Teban, fearing for Jentaron’s safety.
“We must hold here, because if they pass, we’re lost. Jentaron will take care of the first wave of Hunger and signal us to begin.” As he spoke, his dragons amassed in a distinctive pattern on the ground. “Ranton will assist in the sky.”
Ranton and his dragons took wing, but they hovered a distance beyond Jentaron. Not close enough for Zelec’s state of mind.
“But—”
“King’s orders,” Teban said, sounding grim.
Though the majority of the Hunger had not yet engaged, it was only a matter of time. Another passed through the portal, drawing closer to the dragon king—his mate—until Jentaron roared and ripped one Hunger apart.
