Demon Warriors 4: Takeo (7 page)

“Do you know why I kidnapped Takeo to begin with?” Constantine asked as his bottomless eyes stared at Kamiko for an answer.

Kamiko refused to give him one.

“I see you are just as stubborn as your mate.”
Whatever.

Kamiko was proud to be compared to Takeo. If this smug bastard was about to kill him, Kamiko would go knowing that he loved Takeo with all his heart.

Too bad he never got the chance to tell him. That would be his only regret. He should have told the warrior that he was the very air Kamiko breathed. He wanted Constantine dead for robbing him of that opportunity.

“He was the one who had locked me away so long ago. Do you know what it’s like to live in those detention cells?” Kamiko remained quiet.

“No matter,” Constantine continued, “I will have my revenge by taking you away from the warrior. He will know what it’s like to lose everything. I made sure Takeo wouldn’t remember this place. It’s someplace I like to bring those I want to play with a little longer. And you”—Constantine ran a knuckle down Kamiko’s face, making him want to vomit at the touch—“you will be my honored guest here. I will make sure you see true horrors before you die.” The words chilled Kamiko to his bones, but he kept a stoic face.

He knew that Constantine was trying to evoke some kind of emotion from him. But Kamiko wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

He might not know how to physically fight, but there were other ways to fight, and Kamiko was fighting Constantine right now by not giving him what he wanted. He could see the irritation in the demon’s eyes from his refusal to speak.

The chains that bound his arms began to rattle, echoing in the concrete room as Kamiko shook uncontrollably. Constantine removed a long whip from the wall, pure evil showing in his eyes as he turned back around. Kamiko braced himself, refusing to close his eyes as the sound of the whip cracked through the air.

His flesh felt like it was being peeled away from his body, but Kamiko refused to cry. As badly as he wanted to scream, he kept his lips tightly closed. Kamiko held on to images of Takeo taking him, mating him, and that was what he concentrated on as Constantine continued to bleed him.

Takeo was a handsome man, gentle, kind. He had always taken his time with Kamiko, showing him things that he could only dream of. The man had made him laugh on so many occasions that Kamiko had lost count. He was glad that they had become friends before lovers, and then mates.

It gave him a chance to see the real Takeo.

Kamiko smiled as he remembered the first time he had laid eyes on Takeo. The man had entered his room from the closet, scaring the daylights out of Kamiko. But after spending the night convincing Kamiko that he meant no harm, Kamiko had let his guard down and placed his trust in the warrior.

A trust he still gave Takeo to this very day.

“You smile as I whip you?” Constantine bellowed in outrage. “I must be losing my touch.”

Kamiko turned his head, refusing to answer as he slammed his eyes closed. He knew the blows were going to come harder, faster, and he wanted to melt away from this place as he thought of his warrior.

The last thing Kamiko saw before he blacked out was the smile that always seemed to be on Takeo’s face whenever he visited.

He took that smile with him as he was swept under in the sea of unconsciousness.

* * * *

Takeo clenched his jaw as he stared at the building he had escaped from. He had all his memories now since the keeper unlocked them.

Memories Takeo wished he could have kept locked away.

He remembered the hours of torture Constantine and others had inflicted upon him. It rivaled the memories Takeo had of Baku. He wasn’t sure how he was standing here sane after remembering everything the demon had done to him, but Takeo was grateful for that small miracle.

He had tried to walk through a shadow into the building he was now staring at, but the place seemed to negate his powers. He was going to have to go in the old-fashioned way, through a door.

“Can you take us to where he held you?” Wayland asked from beside him.

Takeo remembered the way he had escaped. Finding it again would be no problem. He only hoped he found Kamiko down there.

But then again, after remembering his two-month tour here, he prayed his mate wasn’t anywhere near the underground rooms. It made his chest feel as though it were being crushed to think of Constantine or any of his men laying one hand on Kamiko’s soft skin.

“I’ll show you the way.”

“Then let’s get moving.” Wayland grunted as he raced across the compound yard. Takeo, along with Panahasi, Einarr, and Deandre, followed close behind. The warriors crept softly, placing their backs against the stone wall of the building.

“Our powers won’t work in there,” Panahasi said as he inched closer to the door. “We have to rely on brute strength from here on out.”

Takeo had plenty of that. He had enough pent-up rage to take down the entire demon realm. He was going to teach the vile demon about taking what was his. He was going to pull Constantine’s entrails through his ass as he bled him dry for even thinking about coming back for vengeance.

When a demon was tossed into the detention cells, they needed to stay there. What could be so complicated about that? He arrested them, they were locked away. They escaped, he killed them. It seemed simple enough to Takeo.

He knew deep down in his soul that Constantine wasn’t going back to the underworld. No, the demon was going to die by the time Takeo was done with him.

There was no pity in him for the evil that walked the earth.

The warriors slid into the building undetected as Takeo showed them where he had been held. The cries rang out through the hallway as they descended into the basement. The cold chill returned as Takeo quickly walked. He remembered the cold. He still felt it in his bones since the keeper had unlocked his memories of this place.

The hallways were brightly lit as they made their way to the room Takeo had been held in. It was an odd contrast to the darkness that hid behind each door. His feet started to slow as he reached the room. He was terrified of what he would find.

Was Kamiko even alive?

Takeo’s heart plummeted at the thought of never seeing those beautiful eyes smiling at him again or the feel of his mate beneath him as he claimed him over and over again. His arms ached to hold his mate once more.

“In there,” Takeo whispered as he pointed to the steel door that had held him prisoner for two godforsaken months.

“Are you ready?” Panahasi asked solemnly.

No, but Takeo wasn’t going to back down. He steeled himself for whatever was behind the door. The leader slid the bolt from out of the wall as Wayland opened the door. Takeo held his breath, praying his mate wasn’t dead as they stormed the room.

It was exactly as Takeo remembered it, right down to the rats in the corner.

But the room was empty.

Takeo could feel pure rage building up inside of him. It was a low throb that began in the pit of his stomach and slowly rose, filling him systemically until he was consumed by it. He spun on his heel and stormed out of the room, pushing past the warriors as he walked to the next room. He snatched the bolt from its resting spot and flung the door open.

His eyes settled on a man who was chained to a table. He was so bloody and bruised that he barely resembled a man at all. Takeo cocked his head and studied the bloody man, wondering who he was and what he had done to warrant such abuse.

“It’s not Kamiko,” Panahasi said from beside him. “But we need to help him.”

As selfish as it was, Takeo’s only concern at the moment was finding his mate. He watched Wayland unshackle the man and pull him from the table, carrying him out of the room and down the hall.

Takeo spun around and went to the next room, finding almost the same exact thing. Only this man was dead. What the hell kind of place was this? Takeo was starting to think that his chances of finding his mate alive were becoming very slim. Here he stood in a place most would describe as hell.

And it smelled like it, too.

“We’ll find him.” Deandre tried to reassure him, but Takeo wasn’t listening. If Kamiko were truly dead, then Takeo’s only mission in life would be to hunt Constantine down and torture him for the next one thousand years.

Killing him quickly would be too merciful.

Takeo walked to the next room, grim determination eating away at him as he flung the door open. He wasn’t sure where the torturers were, but he almost begged the gods to send them his way. Takeo had so much pent-up anguish and rage inside of him that he needed an outlet.

His eyes settled on the lump of a man that was bloodied from head to toe, his chest rising slowly, barely taking in enough air. Takeo felt his entire body spiraling out of control when he saw the short black hair. It was caked with blood, but he’d know that head of hair anywhere. He walked in some sort of fog as he entered the room.

It can’t be him. It just can’t.

A quiet sob left his lips as he stared down at Kamiko.

His skin was sliced open in so many different places that Takeo wasn’t sure where to touch him. His arms were so thin that a thick piece of rubber was stuffed between his wrist and the manacle to ensure he couldn’t slip them free. Takeo’s hand shook as he tentatively touched his mate’s arm, feeling the cooling skin beneath his fingers. Kamiko’s eyes were closed, and his dry and cracked lips were parted slightly, dried blood decorating them almost like lipstick.

“Let’s get him out of here,” Panahasi said as he pushed past Takeo and began to release the steel cuffs at Kamiko’s feet. Takeo snapped out of his haze as he released the ones at Kamiko’s wrists.

He felt like he was dying a thousand deaths as he scooted his arms beneath his mate carefully and lifted him from the cold slab of concrete he had been lying on. He vowed right then and there to hunt Constantine down and exact his revenge for what he had done to his small mate.

Prison was too good for the monster.

Carrying his mate from the cell, Takeo took extra care not to jostle him around. He knew that once his mate woke up, he was going to be in a world of pain. There had to be some way to heal him. He knew his heart couldn’t withstand a single whimper from his mate, let alone the screams he was surely going to make.

As they cleared the room and started down the brightly lit hallway, Takeo saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but it was too late. Kamiko was ripped from his arms as one of Constantine’s men tried to run away with him.

Takeo roared and then gave chase, the other warriors close behind him. He ran in front of the man, blocking his way as the other warriors stood behind the man. There was no way out. The man had no choice but to give Takeo his mate back or die.

He was going to die anyway, but Takeo kept a cool head.

“Hand him over.”

“No. If I let you take him, Constantine will make me take his place.”

Like Takeo gave a shit.

“Hand him over,” he said through gritted teeth. There was no way he was going to allow his mate to wake in his torturer’s arms. His eyes locked onto his mate as Deandre stepped closer, closing the gap from behind the man. Takeo was ready.

As Deandre wrapped his arms around the guy, Takeo leapt forward, grabbing Kamiko before he hit the ground. The wounds reopened, blood spilling onto the floor and Takeo as he held his mate tight to his chest.

Kamiko didn’t make a single sound as Takeo took off toward the exit. He had to get Kamiko somewhere safe. Takeo glanced down at the limp body in his arms before ramming the door open.

And the safest place he could be was in the warriors’ apartment building.

Kamiko came slowly awake. Every part of his body ached like nothing he ever felt before. He ached in places he never knew existed.

He stifled the groan as he became fully alert.

Keeping his eyes sealed tight, he listened to everything around him. He noticed that the stone beneath him no longer felt cold and hard, but soft and warm—the stench was also gone.

Was this a trick? Had Constantine moved him to another location?

Kamiko was afraid to open his eyes and find out the harsh truth. He heard low murmuring and knew that more than one person was close by.

The longer he lay there, the more he realized that he wouldn’t be able to stay quiet for long. The pain was becoming too much. The deep gashes in his skin felt as though someone was pouring hot liquid lava into them.

He whimpered quietly, wondering how long he would be in pain before he started healing. Never in his life had he ever felt anything like this before.

“Are you awake, little flower?”

Kamiko grabbed onto that voice and held on for dear life. Slowly, he cracked his eyelids open. Takeo hovered above him, smiling tentatively down at him. A single tear slid from Kamiko’s eye before he turned his head, regretting the move instantly as pain shot throughout his body.

“Don’t move. I have a healing salve on you. It’s going to take some time for your wounds to heal, but they’ll heal quicker this way.”

Kamiko wanted to nod, but he was afraid of the repercussion behind that action. He lay there stiff, feeling as though his skin was pulled tightly around him. “I didn’t talk. As much as he whipped me, I wouldn’t talk.”

“Oh, little flower, if it meant him not hurting you, then you should have sung to the gods,” Takeo said as he sat down on the side of the bed, his fingers whispering through Kamiko’s hair.

“Never. I would never betray you, Takeo,” Kamiko said with a conviction he felt deep in his bones.

Takeo blessed him with a smile as he ran a knuckle over his cheek. “What would you have confessed? What do you know, Kamiko?”

Kamiko shrugged, again regretting the move.

“You were very brave. I am honored to have such a brave mate.” Those words were Kamiko’s undoing. He had thought that Takeo hadn’t wanted him, was ashamed to call Kamiko
mate
. Takeo was proud of him. The tears slid down his face as he lifted a painful arm and wiped them away.