Studies in Demonolgy: the complete series

by Nichols, TJ

  No one might come for him either. He might have to find a way to live in Demonside. Miniti’s extra wide mouth for swallowing souls lingered in his mind.

  No, someone would, because his father wouldn’t want to live with the knowledge that his son had been taken. He’d pull favors to make sure Angus came back across the void, if only to have the opportunity to berate him for being so careless.

  What would he say about Angus offering his blood? Nothing good. Personal sacrifice was beneath warlocks.

  Well, he’d never wanted to be a warlock. “I got in because of my father. I come from a long line of warlocks.” Men who hadn’t cared about anything but what they could get. “I want to learn.”

  “You agree to the terms?”

  Angus nodded. “I will pay for the magic that I use… is that all?”

  Saka inclined his head. “That is all. The balancing of magic is a very simple concept. One that has been forgotten by many in Humanside.”

  All the magic used in every class, in every Warlock College was being drawn from here and not returned. While Saka’s world got drier, his world was getting colder and wetter. The warlocks weren’t working on the problem. They were causing it.

  If Saka was telling the truth about magic and the need for it to be rebalanced. It could be tricky demon lies. But Angus had no idea what Saka had to gain by lying. If the demon wanted him dead, it would’ve happened already. While he had no idea if Demonside was actually getting drier, he knew his world was in trouble, and Saka’s explanation was as good as any he’d heard. “Rebalance, then.”

  A circle snapped closed around them. Saka hadn’t even moved. The shimmery blue made Angus’s skin look paler. Saka gleamed.

  Angus wanted to reach out and touch him the way the demon was stroking him. His fingers curled by his side, but he didn’t reach out. “How does this work?”

  “We sit here until I think there is enough energy to make it worthwhile.”

  Angus frowned.

  Saka picked up the knife and nicked Angus’s arm. Blood welled, and for a moment, Angus thought he saw a shimmer as his blood spilled, and then there was nothing. Saka swept his thumb over the cut, and it stopped bleeding immediately. There had definitely been something that time, a golden heat that spread beneath his skin.

  “What was that?”

  “It’s rude to leave someone bleeding from multiple cuts so I healed it. It will be gone completely by morning. Did you see how little magic was released?”

  “I think so.” That had been the faint shimmer. “Then what is the point? There must be a more effective way.”

  Saka laughed. It wasn’t mocking. It was a dark and dangerous sound. “There is.”

  Angus waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “I thought you were going to teach me.”

  “I am. The higher the emotion, the more magic that is released. Fear is often used. Humans who come here are usually terrified.” Saka’s dark eyes held him captive.

  “I’m good at hiding it.”

  “No one is that good. You’re sitting with a demon who wants to cut you, and you aren’t trembling. You haven’t once begged for your life.”

  “Are you disappointed?” So far there hadn’t been a need for him to beg for his life. Even in Miniti’s tent, when he’d been kneeling and listening to them talk about him, it had been clear Saka wanted him alive.

  “No, quite the opposite, but it means I need to find something else.”

  “You could make me afraid.” It wouldn’t take that much. The fear he might never get home was lurking, but worrying about it wouldn’t help him. This wasn’t like any lesson he’d ever had.

  “I could, but that wouldn’t be as much fun. Tell me about the time you did sex magic.”

  Angus looked away. His cheeks heated even though he tried to ignore the embarrassment. He could feel Saka’s gaze on him. The demon’s grip on his arm. He wanted to pull away and end this, whatever this was.

  Couldn’t he take the blood and be done with it?

  But Angus had seen the barely there shimmer. There was no point in bleeding when there was so little magic being released and rebalanced. He drew in a breath. Of course a demon wasn’t going to teach like a warlock.

  “I had a boyfriend, and we experimented with some of the stuff we’d read about. He was the one who introduced me to the underground. He accused me of falling into step when I went to college.” Angus closed his eyes. The breakup had hurt. He hadn’t dated anyone over the last four months. Hadn’t even picked up.

  “And? Did it work?”

  Angus shook his head. The memory of that night was clear in his mind. They’d started so seriously. Marking out the circle and lighting candles. Even though the breakup had hurt, that memory was one of his favorites to relive when alone. He remembered the heat, the lust winding through his body and making it hard to breathe. But it hadn’t mattered because his body had been so far away. Then before they could do anything with the magic they’d been raising, they had fallen, crashed into their bodies, and all pretense of magic had been dropped. He had never wanted, needed, anything so badly. They had screwed themselves senseless. A shiver ran through him, and he was aware that his body had responded.

  The sting of the knife brought him back to the moment.

  This time his blood was shimmered more; there was more magic. He watched as it flowed over his arm and into the vial. “Why the change?”

  That he could see it, instead of just having to sense it was amazing. He wanted to practice all of the basic things he’d been taught in theory just to see what they looked like.

  “You were aroused.”

  Angus snapped his gaze up. “Pleasure.”

  What would sex magic look like?

  Saka hadn’t spoken. He didn’t need to. It was clear from the curve of his lip and the tilt of his head what he wanted.

  Temptation slid through Angus’s body. He shouldn’t want that. He shouldn’t be thinking of a demon that way. But he already was. What would it be like to kiss Saka? What would the magic look like?

  Angus reached out to brush his fingertips over the back of Saka’s hand. His skin was warm and not quite smooth.

  Saka drew in a breath, and when he exhaled, the circle expanded to the walls of the tent. That was a very big circle to hold. Angus knew he couldn’t do that even if he could see what he was doing.

  “Shall we progress?”

  Angus nodded even though he wasn’t sure what he was getting himself into. If this was his only chance to see magic forming and being used, he didn’t want to waste it. At least at home, he’d be able to remember the feel and hope for the best.

  Saka put the knife down, then slid his hand up Angus’s thigh. “I don’t want you to get scared and run away.”

  “I have nowhere to run to.” He had never been keen on outdoor activities, and fleeing a perfectly good tent town to run around the desert did not seem like a good plan.

  Saka’s hand slid higher, then eased away. Angus found himself inching closer. There must be something in the air, or maybe it was because he hadn’t had sex for months, because the last thing he wanted to do was run. He wanted to lie down and drag Saka with him. That Saka was a demon didn’t seem to matter at the moment.

  The demon’s tail traced up Angus’s arm. “Don’t fight the lust. Let it bubble and rise. I’ll let you know when it’s time to spill.”

  Angus refocused his attention. His breath was catching, and he was hard. His erection pressed against his jeans, and he was uncomfortable kneeling. Was he allowed to move?

  “What are the rules?”

  “There are no rules. This is just a little something to raise the heat in your blood so when it is spilled it is full of magic.”

  “A game, then.”

  “No, a ritual.”

  It didn’t feel like any ritual Angus had done. Not even when he’d tried this with Jim.

  “You can do what you need to, but you must listen to me since I’m the one who knows
what to do.”

  Angus unfolded his legs and rearranged his jeans.

  “You can take your clothes off if you want.”

  Angus lifted an eyebrow. His clothes would be staying on. But even as he thought it, he wondered what it would be like to sit naked and feel the warm breeze on his skin instead of sitting there sweating in his long-sleeved shirt and undershirt. He’d come from a cold, autumn evening to this place.

  He pushed off his shoes and took off his socks, then pulled off his shirt—but only because it was hot, not because he wanted to be naked. Parts of his body disagreed and thought taking what was on offer would be a great idea and that he should take off all his clothes.

  Somehow he’d ended up closer to the demon. The warnings the lecturer had drilled into him about the dangers of not controlling his demon properly seemed like lies. He was sure that some of the bigger, badder looking demons would eat him, but so would a tiger.

  No one had warned him that a demon could be attractive, or seductive. Maybe that said more about him than the demon. He must be broken.

  Saka’s hand cupped Angus’s jaw. “You are thinking too much.”

  His lips were only millimeters away, but there was no kiss. Angus closed the gap and took one. He couldn’t wait; the need was eating him up from the inside.

  There was a crackle in the air like a coming storm as their lips met. Heat rolled down Angus’s spine. He hadn’t realized how long it had been and how much he wanted to get laid. A small part of him was a little concerned about what would happen when he went home, but no one needed to know about what happened across the void.

  Saka’s tail wrapped around his wrist, while a hand slid under his shirt. Saka’s chest was bare, and Angus made the most of it, running his hand over the demon’s skin. When Saka’s tongue flicked against his lip, Angus opened his mouth. His eyes closed as he sank into the moment.

  The hairs on his arms plucked to attention. He forced his eyes open to see the magic that was building. The air seemed to be alive. There was more magic in a kiss with Saka than there had been in bed with Jim. But magic was common here.

  “Stop thinking.” Saka’s voice was soft in his ear as the demon pulled off Angus’s T-shirt.

  He didn’t resist. He had far too many clothes on, and his skin was hot. He wanted to be touched everywhere. Saka brushed a thumb over one of Angus’s nipples, before reclaiming his mouth.

  A hand or a tail traced over his hard-on. Angus was barely breathing, waiting for Saka to open his jeans.

  The cool edge of the knife sliced into his skin, but instead of a rush of pain, there was a sense of relief, as if the pressure had been building inside him. He drew back to look at the wound. His blood didn’t look like blood at that moment. It looked like liquid metal, or liquid jewels, as it trickled into the vial.

  For a moment he was disconnected from what was happening, and then, just as he was about to say something about how much blood Saka was taking, the demon placed a thumb over the cut. There was a pulling sensation as the wound closed.

  “Is that enough?” Was it too much? Would he faint if he stood? He did feel a little lightheaded. His body wasn’t sure what was going on because he was still painfully hard.

  “It is a start.”

  “A start?”

  “This is a token of your willingness to rebalance.”

  “And if I hadn’t been willing?”

  Saka’s gaze became hard. “I would have handed you off to the other mage to die.”

  Angus rocked back. He had not realized that his situation was so precarious. “I thought you had to keep me alive for twenty-four hours.”

  Saka dismissed the circle. Glass orbs around the roof glowed faintly. With another wave of his hand, the lights dimmed. Angus hadn’t even noticed them before.

  “Technically yes, but warlocks are killing demons when they aren’t supposed to.”

  “Only the ones that break through.” As the words tumbled out, Angus knew that was wrong. He couldn’t escape Demonside. No one could. Demons couldn’t be breaking through and rampaging. Why lie?

  A headache started to form as he tried to work out what was truth and what was lies. He shouldn’t believe a word a demon said, and yet what Saka said made sense. How many demons had been killed?

  How many warlocks had died here?

  Saka pressed a cup of the sweet water into his hand. He wrinkled his nose at the taste. It was too strong, but there didn’t seem to be anything else to drink.

  “Do you need time alone?” Saka gave a pointed look at Angus’s groin.

  “No,” he said too fast. He did want to be alone. He wanted to be home, but he had to get through the night first. And every time he looked at Saka, his body got entirely the wrong idea. “Is there something in the water?”

  Saka shook his head. “But I could put something in there, something that would amplify the magic.”

  “Drugs? Warlocks don’t use drugs.” Wizards did. Some thought it helped them connect with the magic.

  “You use demons instead.” There was an edge in Saka’s voice. “Eat, take care of yourself, have a rest. We will do more later.”

  More later….

  Angus looked at his arm. There were two faint lines where Saka had cut him. The wounds had continued their rapid healing as they talked. “I don’t think I like being cut.”

  “You will.” Saka brought over the bread-like food. He offered it to Angus first.

  “I don’t want to like it.”

  “It’s delicious. Pastry filled with dried fruit. Breakfast fare but my favorite to eat after working magic. Very grounding.”

  “You know what I meant.”

  Saka regarded him for a moment. “Sometimes we all do things we don’t like. I will do what is required to save my world and yours too. What are you willing to do?” He picked up the knife. “Blood, sex, and soul, Angus. The worlds need to be balanced.”

  “I cannot bleed enough for that.”

  How much magic had he just returned? One simple finding spell? A healing spell? Or maybe an hour’s worth of security for one of the big banks? He had no idea. But if the warlocks didn’t pay for the magic they used, the burden fell on someone else.

  Someone like him.

  Chapter Six

  Saka left Angus sitting in his tent. People watched as he walked away. They nodded or smiled their gratitude. While they might not have known exactly what was going on, they knew that he was taking magic from the human, and that was a good thing.

  He didn’t go far, though, and he wouldn’t leave Angus long, just long enough that he had time to breathe, take away the edge of lust, and think about what the warlocks had told him about magic.

  Saka knew that they lied; he’d learned that from his last warlock. The man had lived in fear of being discovered as a demon sympathizer. Turned out that fear had been well placed. Saka gritted his teeth. It wasn’t teaching when half the information was lies and the other half was hidden away. How could they call themselves a college?

  Perhaps not all colleges were bad—he didn’t know enough about the human world to be sure—but there had been an increase in magic use over the last few decades and less and less being returned.

  Angus was right. The blood of one warlock wasn’t going to be enough. Everyone here knew, no matter how much they were smiling.

  Slowly Saka turned around. He wove his way through the tents. He needed more from Angus but didn’t want to push too hard. They had to work together. Angus could get into places in the human world that he couldn’t, or Angus could report Saka to his teachers and Saka would find himself the next to be sacrificed for some magical working.

  Even alive Saka was the conduit for Angus to draw magic from Demonside. He hated the damage that would cause, but he had to believe that his sacrifice would be worth it. He drew in a breath. People were starting to cook their evening meal.

  If he stayed out of his tent, he’d get plenty of invitations. He never had to cook for himself. But t
onight he didn’t want company and he didn’t want to drag Angus out. He wasn’t part of the tribe and didn’t deserve to be treated like a mage.

  Saka pushed open the tent flap. Angus wasn’t sitting by the table anymore.

  If he had run….

  Saka created a ball of light in his palm to look around the dim interior. Angus was lying back on the cushions, his arm over his face and his hand down his pants. Saka watched for a moment.

  A part of him was glad he’d caused such a powerful reaction. Kissing Angus had been pleasant, and it was nice to be able to enjoy his work. Rituals were so much easier when the attraction didn’t have to be forced.

  Saka cleared his throat and noisily poured himself a drink.

  Angus startled like he’d had hot coals dropped down his pants. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Saka bit back the smile. He hadn’t been meant to. He’d wanted to see what the young warlock had got up to. “Did you need a little more time alone?”

  “No, I’m fine.” Angus did up his pants.

  Liar.

  “Sometimes if a satisfying conclusion hasn’t been reached during ritual, the body can struggle to let it happen.” He’d chosen the end point of the ritual to leave Angus waiting.

  Angus sat up and pushed his fingers through his hair. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. It would do him good to think before speaking.

  “I’m not going to be able to sleep like this.”

  It was too early to sleep. Saka sipped his water and watched the human as he struggled to come up with the right words. He’d looked very appealing lying back on the cushions feeling himself. Freckles decorated his shoulders, and red-blond hair dusted his chest. His legs had been stretched out, and his features had lost their worried pinch. It had been a very nice sight in his tent.

  “I wasn’t getting anywhere. Are you sure you didn’t put something in the water?” Angus’s frown was back.

  “Your body is reacting to the ritual. That is all.”

  In the shadows created by the ball of light, Angus’s eyes were dark. He kept glancing at the light as if expecting it to do something. It wouldn’t do anything.