Dark War Chronicles Box Set One

by A. L. Kessler

  She walked out of the room and he followed, trying not to glance back at the girl. Dani leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and pegged him with a stare. He couldn't help but admire her body and the intensity in her eyes. "You said 'set loose' like someone keeps them locked away."

  "They are the demons who have gone insane, the demons locked them away. Occasionally one of them escapes. Clearly, one has escaped now." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know where to start. It's not like we can just stop and ask a demon to help. Or ask if someone has seen them."

  Danielle wiped a hand over her face.

  “Don't they teach you about these things?" Orion asked

  "Demons are a subject that is just covered briefly. As students we are taught to fear them, as Hunters we are taught not to face them alone, but the different types and mixed blood were never covered."

  He shook his head and started down the hall. "Your education is seriously lacking."

  "They change the education as they can, but there is only so much that can be done." She had to take a few long strides to catch up with him. "Where are you going?"

  Where was he going? He should tell Lucius that a blood demon was on the loose; he felt that it might have something to do with Tegan. He had felt like someone had hit him in the chest when he remembered her being attacked by one and every instinct in him was screaming to go after it, but that faded when he turned and faced Danielle. She would go hunt the creature and most likely alone. She'd be taken out easily and that thought made his power stir. He didn't want to see her lying on the concrete bleeding.

  "Orion?" she asked, her voice hesitant.

  He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm sorry, I need to talk to Lucius now that I know what it is. If one is loose in his territory there could be a reason, and he can help you and the others take it down." If Orion could convince him to. "Whatever you do, don't go after it alone. Okay?"

  "Worried about me? I'm a trained Hunter—"

  "You are trained to hunt vampires and shifters mostly. When was the last time someone from the Society went up against a demon?" He tried to keep his tone even, but they both spun around when a third voice joined them

  "Back in the 1500's was the last time a group went up against a demon. Granted, it wasn't a blood demon. I thought those were myths."

  Danielle relaxed a little when Joey walked up and joined them. "Joey, this is Orion. Orion, Joey is the Master Hunter I mentioned earlier."

  Joey turned to Orion and studied him, his brow creasing before he spoke. "You're not human."

  "Not that it's any of your business, but no, I'm not. I'm Fae."

  "Royal Sidhe to be exact." Dani added, but Orion shot her a nasty look. "Still your crown, all you have to do is take out the Queen of Blood and Darkness."

  "Which is easier said than done, we'll talk about how you know all that later." Orion crossed his arms and glared at Joey. "Master Hunter and you've never gone up against a demon."

  "They tend to stay to themselves, except I hear that they've tried to take a bigger part in this ridiculous war."

  Danielle shook her head. "It's not our war."

  "Oh no, he's right, the Hunters and the humans, they all take part in this ridiculous war.” Orion let the sarcasm drip into his voice, rolling his eyes. “But do you even know what it's about? Sure, you hunt down the rogues and those who threaten to expose the supernatural world to the rest of the humans. You infiltrated the government to get funding and help, but what do you really do in this war?"

  Joey snorted. "We protect the people that are endangered. It's all about territories. Every creature wants more and there's not enough to go around, not without becoming exposed."

  "Territory? Land?" Orion shook his head. "They should really update your books. I have to go, people to see, a woman to save." He muttered and started out.

  Danielle had no idea what Orion was going on about. She turned to Joey, whose gray eyes watched the Fae storm off. "I'm sorry Joey, he's a little on edge."

  "He's one of Lucius' people?"

  "How did you know?"

  "The way he reacted when I mentioned the war. He's close to it, not human, and in the territory. There's not a supernatural creature in this area that isn't tied to Lucius in one way or another. The vampire is smart and good at what he does." Joey shook his head. "How do you know so much about Orion?"

  She grinned. "I have files put together, how I got the information is a secret." She winked at him and ran off to find Orion. She'd rather drive him back to the coffee place than have him just poof out of the compound. She found him at the front desk checking himself out as a visitor. He seemed to have collected his composure, his smile was in place and he was flirting with the girl at the counter. A ping of jealousy hit her. Why would he put the effort into flirting with someone he didn't know or wouldn't see again when he didn't give her the time of day? She shook off the strange, overwhelming emotion and stepped up to his side. "You ready to go?"

  "Yeah, get me out of this prison." He teased and headed towards the glass doors. She followed, shaking her head. He was a mystery to her and she couldn't understand why he would work for Lucius. Of course, there probably weren’t many options left after he'd been kicked out of the Fae world.

  "Orion?" she asked, walking by him. He glanced at her and his green eyes shifted from a dark shade to a lighter one. "I want to talk to you about the Queen of Blood and Darkness."

  "Not now. I promise..." he hesitated for a moment. "Over dinner or something, okay? Not on Hunter grounds and not when I hold such a scary piece of information for Lucius."

  She saw the tension in his shoulders and knew he was uncomfortable. "Okay, did you want me to drive you back, or..."

  "I'll take myself back, I'll keep in touch with you." He disappeared before her eyes and she shook her head.

  "You temperamental pain in my ass."

  "Then why do you use him for information?" Joey asked as he stepped out of the building.

  Dani clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Because he's as close as I can get to Lucius right now."

  "That's dangerous ground."

  She nodded. "I know, Joey, I know."

  Orion went to retrieve his car first and then headed to the town home to nap. Exhaustion was starting to creep over him as the day wore on and Lucius wouldn't be awake until dusk. He walked in and was greeted by a brunette with angry hazel eyes perched behind glasses.

  "Whatever it is, I didn't do it." He sighed when she threw her hands up in the air.

  "You both are so infuriating I just want to smack you." Renee clenched her fists. "Coran won't tell me what is going on and here you are, it's almost noon and you are just getting home." Her voice raised a pitch and Orion backed up with his hands in the air.

  "I know you like to play mother hen, but really, I'm a big boy."

  The anger disappeared from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I know, it's just...after Tegan disappearing I worry when you and Coran are gone for longer than normal."

  "Coran's been spending a lot of time at the property, maybe you should start going with him. Might put your nerves at ease." He started towards the stairs.

  Renee followed him. "That's part of the problem. Coran doesn't want me there because of Lucius."

  "Okay, yeah, I can see that." He rubbed his eyes. "Look, Renee, we are doing everything we can to find Tegan. Depending on what the demons want, the war could get very heated.” He wanted to expand more, but Renee was still human. She’d turned down Lucius’ offer to change her and Coran would not be able to survive losing another mate. She needed to be protected, the less she knew the better—no matter who her mate was. “We haven't had any demands yet. On top of that, Tegan being gone tends to mess with Lucius' mood. So Coran is right, it's best for you to stay here, and that's all the information I can give you."

  She growled behind him. "That's it? How about where the hell you have been?"

  He glanced over his shoulder and realized the
re was something wrong. "There’s something else bothering you, isn't there? I can hear it in your tone and it's not like you to be so...snappy."

  With a sigh, she ran her hand through her caramel colored hair. "My parents called, my brother has disappeared off the grid. This isn't unusual since he travels, but he hasn't checked in at all."

  A bad feeling crawled through him. "Do they know where he was going when he went off grid?"

  "No. They couldn't find any e-mails with mention of more travels and he never called to tell us about his next big adventure." Her eyes clouded with worry and Orion sighed.

  "I'm sorry, Renee, I have no answers for that. Have you talked to Coran?"

  She nodded. "He says he'll find out what he can, but that can't be a lot since Pete has nothing to do with this territory."

  "Yeah, that limits our resources sometimes. Coran will take care of what he can." He reassured her. "Now as for where I was, I can't tell you that in case that it gets back to Lucius, he's likely to have my head for what I am doing." He held up a hand before she could talk. "I know you wouldn't tell him on purpose, but he has other means of getting information, most of which are painful. I don't want him to turn those things on you, especially in the mood he's in."

  She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "I don't like this world right now."

  "Just remember, when you took your vows with Coran, he did warn you about this." Orion chuckled and then pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay Renee."

  Laying her head on his chest she let out a little sniffle, and despite any efforts to hide it, Orion heard it.

  "Let me get a couple hours of sleep and I'll take you out for coffee. But I haven't slept since sometime yesterday morning and it's catching up with me." His magic stirred beneath the surface as it normally did when he was getting tired. Though he used basic magic here and there, if his primary magic got out of hand the Queen would be able to locate him and finish the job she started centuries ago. He had no desire to be under her cruel hands and power again.

  "Okay," Her mood brightened a little bit. "I'm going to study."

  Close to graduating, she had gone back to school a few years ago to get her degree in English. Though her life had changed so much, Orion was impressed with the fact that she still wanted to pursue her studies. He might even dare say the woman enjoyed them. He watched her walk down the stairs and disappear around the corner before he made his way to his bedroom.

  Markus strolled into the room and paused to talk to the demon at the door towards the end of the hall. The demon general had been generous enough to help him out with traveling between realms. Though he had other things to worry about, he needed to check on the target of his investigation and the demon's current prisoner. After she refused to give any information the first week of torture, he knew she was going to be a bit tougher to crack, but time was running out.

  The Circle was getting antsy in regards to the raising of the Father and Markus used that to his advantage to do what needed to be done. The only problem was that if the woman refused to admit what she knew, he would end up breaking every rule the Circle and the Originals had agreed on and that had consequences.

  "How is she?"

  "The same, no matter what we throw at her, she won't answer the question. It's almost as if she's gone through torture before." The demon motioned to the steel door that dampened the screams coming from within.

  Markus nodded. "She has. I did it myself centuries ago. I was impressed with the amount of damage she took back then. Seems like she's learned a thing or two since." But he needed her to crack, damn it.

  "What are you thinking? I can pull out other methods, but some of them will risk death."

  "She can't die."

  The demon nodded. "I figured you'd want to keep her alive as long as we can manage."

  "No, I mean it is impossible for her to die, unless you burn her or cut off her head, she won't die. So do your worst." If his theory was true about Tegan being a Blood Human, so were his words. He stepped towards the door. "I want in to see her."

  The demon bowed his head. "Of course." With a wave of his hand the door opened. "This is a great opportunity for us to prove who our loyalties lie with. Those of us who are old enough remember when the Father walked the Earth. He is frightening, and with the fear comes respect. We certainly don't want to stand against him."

  "So your general said, but your king hadn't been so sure."

  "Well, someone killed him a while ago. Chopped his head clean off." The demon snickered and motioned to the door. "She awaits you."

  Markus walked in and saw her hunched on the ground, her body shaking as blood poured down her back and mixed with her white hair. She looked towards him when he approached her and he had to admire the stitching that held her eyes closed. "I see the demons are also cautious of the rumors."

  She froze at his voice. "Back again?" Her voice was harsh from screaming. She coughed and spat blood; even blind she almost managed to hit his boot.

  "I'm coming to check on you, Tegan. You know you can end this by admitting to what I already know."

  Her breathing was labored and she spat more blood. He could only assume her lungs were wounded. She let out a frustrated noise. "So you can drag me to the Father? To raise him? I don't think so. I will not unleash that monster on this world. I will not betray Lucius like that."

  "Your master.” Markus spat. "You've grown disrespectful and bold over the years." He grabbed a fistful of hair and dragged her to her feet.

  Even naked and blood covered, she still tried to fight him, but her body had been riddled with wounds. "The demons can do so much worse than this. I can make your life a living hell too; replace any of those good memories with ones like this. Would you like that? Reliving old and new nightmares over and over as I rip out any warm memories you have?"

  "Go to hell."

  He dropped her and a whimper escaped her mouth. "I'll be back Tegan, and regardless of if you admit that you are a Blood Human or not, you will be feeding the Father." Consequences be damned, they needed her blood. The Circle members kept their hands clean by letting Markus do what he wanted, but if they knew that he was having a bonded human tortured in the demon realm, they would make sure he was punished for his crimes.

  He could admit that it was going a little far, but it allowed him to get back at Lucius for the past deeds, for getting to Tegan first. Stopping the demon guard, Markus caught his gaze. "How long does demon poison take to kill a human?"

  "Depends on how much they are given, but you said that she couldn't be killed."

  "I did, but it doesn't mean she won't feel the effects of it. Give her enough that it would kill a human over three days and keep an eye on her. You have an antidote if it goes too long? I need her blood clean for when I take her to the grave."

  The demon nodded. "You are giving up on her giving us the information?"

  "No, but I don't want to risk her blood being contaminated when she finally gives us the information." He would give it a little longer. He could play with her memories and make her think she already betrayed Lucius, but that would take the joy out of breaking her. No, he'd give it some more time before he took her to the Father either way. They were still waiting on the blood test from the other human to come back; that was the first step. To get the tomb opened.

  "Understood. I'll have the men get on that."

  Markus nodded and went to find the general to take him back to the human realm; he had other things to attend to. Like a party for the Circle, where they all knew he'd serve up Tegan as the main course as soon as she gave him the information. A welcome-back to her old life.

  Lucius woke with a splitting headache. Pressing a hand to his skull, he tried to figure out what was causing it. He'd fed from Coran the night before, so it couldn't be blood lust. Part of him hoped it was Tegan, anything from her, emotions, pain, cries. He would kill for anything to let him know that she was still able to feel him. Orion had been right, he needed to focus o
n what was going on in the territory, but his heart and soul ached to have his bonded human back in his arms and safe. And when she returned she was never leaving his sight again.

  Cursing, he sat up. He needed to figure out another strategy to find her and he knew who he needed to contact. The thought made him sick, but he had no other choice. He finally pulled himself out of bed and went to get ready for the night.

  When he finished, he walked into the foyer to find Jaxon standing there. "I need you to find someone for me-Kaden, the demon you met with originally to get into my territory. Take Kass with you, he'll know her and know exactly what it means to refuse my request."

  The man raised a brow. "And what request is that?"

  "That he meets with me tonight. You are to escort him here." Lucius crossed his arms. "After that I need you and Kass to inspect the territory. There is something out there killing humans, and it's not my panther."

  Jaxon nodded. "Of course, we'll be back with a full report." He walked out, nearly bumping into Orion.

  Lucius was aware that he'd been running Jaxon and Kassity ragged, but he had found out that Coran and Derrik had been going behind his back and trying to undo all his hard work with Kass. Lucius had put too much time and effort into taking her control away to make a killer. The damn female should have known better and now he was trying to keep them apart. If it became an issue, it would mean threatening the alliance that Lucius had with the wolves.

  Orion gave a small, almost sarcastic bow when he approached Lucius. Lucius moved to his throne. "I wasn't expecting a meeting tonight."

  "I know, but I have information on what is going on around the territory." Orion crossed his arms.

  Lucius rubbed his head, trying to rid it of the pain. It grew by the minute, but he needed to focus. "How are you getting all this information?"

  "It doesn't matter, the thing doing the killing is a blood demon."

  His head snapped up. "Are you sure?"

  "I saw the victims myself. I wouldn't mistake the bite and I plan on trying to spend my nights trying to hunt it down."