Demons (Darkness #4) (10 page)

“Mage, I ask permission to assume control of the battle tactics,” Dominicous said officially.

The guy was the Regional, for Christ sakes. He didn’t have to ask for anything, especially of an inexperienced mage. But this was a
teach Sasha how to lead session
, so I let it go.

“Yes, that would be helpful, thank you,” I replied, feeling that weird magical
presence prickling my skin. Like someone tapping me on the shoulder softly, but when I turned, all I found was empty air. It unsettled me. Whatever hovered here was not natural, whispering without sound. Blowing on my face and then disappearing.

“Okay, I’m going to feel this out. You guys should all give me some space. Last time
, my magic woke up something awful.” I let the rush of the elements fill me as the guys and gal drifted to the side, even Ann in predator mode, filling in as one of the team. Jonas, for a wonder, let her.

Dominicous gave instructions, but I didn’t hear him. I let my focus hone and my magical feelers drift out, covering the area in
a thin fog of black. I could feel the remnants of something magical lingering. Like a rope with the frayed ends singed, the magic had been cauterized. Whatever spell was weaved originally had been snuffed out.

I wandered forward, through the trees, ducking branches and brushing leaves away from my face. The unsettled feeling got stronger, my skin starting to itch. I emerged through a wall of branches and found myself in a small clearing, closed in by trees. A rough circle scar
red the trampled grass, the bent and broken blades shimmering with dew in the faint moonlight. My eyes caught a symbol edged in the thick bark of a tree at the edge of the open space.

“A good
ol’ pentagram,” I mumbled quietly. “As if that wouldn’t give it away.”

The magic here lay across the ground in a twisted blanket of decay. Spells had been laid, woven and coaxed to life, but whatever came of it had fallen apart. Fallen apart, but not disintegrated back into nature, as elements naturally did. The magic user was working with bad
juju on this one. Twenty bucks said he then moved on to experiment in a warehouse.

“Well, at least there isn’t a demon to deal with. That’s something.”

“What’s that, sweet thang?”

I started at the unfamiliar voice. To the right, a man wiped draping branches out of the way and stepped into the small clearing. I flinched as his foot stepped on the line of the circle, my mind registering that he’d interrupted a barrier, my logic late in mentioning that it wasn’t a barrier anymore.

“What are you doing here all alone?” His lust-filled notice raked down my body, blossoming fear and a crawling sensation where they lingered. “Don’t you know there are bad things that go bump in the night?”

Another man
, slightly larger and twenty pounds heavier, stepped out beside him.

“Well, that’s lucky,” the second man said, his
gaze traveling the same path. It lingered on my crotch. “I thought we would have to smoke a joint alone. Looks like we have a party.”

A sneer worked up the first man’s face. “Yes we do, and plenty to go around.”

My breath started to come out in fast pants. My fingers itched for my rape whistle. My warning butt pucker said
run!

Once again, logic was late to the party.

Sasha, you moron, you have magic, remember?

I also had
huge guys within screaming distance. Not to mention a mountain lion with a terrible sense of humor about being hit on. Yeah, I was safe. These guys, however…

I tried to quell the rising tide of panic, but a lifetime of knowing, with certainty, what happened when a woman got caught in the middle of the night, in a remote location, with two thugs that probably had arrest warrants, battered at my rational mind.
With a thumping heart, I thought about what to do first—blast them with magic, or just call for Dominicous.

Before I could settle on a course of action, though, a third giant man stepped into the clearing. This one came with corded muscle running the length of his body, was
coated with silver lines of battle scars, and had eyes brimming with undelivered death. Jonas. My butt puckered for an entirely different reason.

Jonas had just found a target for his building bad mood.

“Look, guys, this is a bad spot for you,” I warned.

“Is that right?” the nearest guy asked, stepping closer. I could see his body tightening, ready to make a grab for me.
Waiting for me to run.

“No, seriously…” I pointed at Jonas.

The larger guy in back glanced back quickly, did a sweep right past Jonas with his gaze, and came back to me with a smirk. “I fell for it. But you didn’t run... Feeling lonely tonight? We can help with that…”

Damn logic and its constant dilly-dallying. Of course they couldn’t see Jonas. I’d spent a lifetime hiding the fact that I
could.

“Right, okay, you guys—
”

The guy in the front stepped forward, cutting me off. Immediatel
y a spell found its way to my lips—I had no idea which one, but I was pretty sure it would be awful. My reflexes were fast, but never pretty.

As the words formed, the thug’s hand reaching for me, Jonas rushed into the clearing. However fast I was, he was lightning.

He snatched the thug’s hand out of the air and whipped it around. He grabbed the man’s throat and held him still while he bashed a fist into the thug’s face, all his force behind it. The man’s nose burst, blood gushing down his face.

“Ease up, Jonas. Let the cops have him,” I bleated.

His f
ace a terrifying mask of rage, Jonas reached back to let another punch fly…but hesitated. His elbow, in the air, ground to a halt. He was defending one of his own, for his Boss, and every instinct in his body said
kill.
But I’d said stop.

“
Ease up,”
I said again, injecting a whip crack of command into my words.

Like cement drying, Jonas
’ arm quivered where it had stopped. He exhaled slowly, shaking, holding his temper at bay. Following my command.

With a roar of frustration and
awesome show of strength, he picked the guy up by his neck and nuts, and bodily threw him to the side. A splash of limbs landed and tumbled within the leaves, their owner long since knocked out.

Charles stepped into the clearing, watching the last remnants of limbs tumbling. Dominicous stepped in next to me, eyes surveying the magical site.

I had just witnessed Jonas taking it easy on someone. Picking them up and throwing them ten feet was him doing the right thing… His being on my side was a blessing and a curse at the same time. I had to remember to ask Stefan if he felt the same way.

A manic grin spread across Jonas’ face
as his crazed gaze fell on the other stranger, currently standing with eyes so round they looked like golf balls. “This is your lucky day. Mage says I can’t kill you.”

Jonas heaved a sigh
, letting the last of his rage simmer down. “Well, fuck it.”

He stepped forward.
The man cowered down, throwing up his hands. I could just see his face peeping out, staring up at Jonas with wide, fear-filled eyes until a dreamy haze settled over his features. As Jonas reached him, the man had a pleasant, lust-filled smile.

“You’re not going to
—”

Even as I said it, Jonas put a hand on the man’s shoulder and pushed. The man fell to his knees, eagerly reaching for Jonas’ zipper.

“I either need to beat someone to shit, or get a load off,” Jonas growled, the anger still lurking at the base of his words.

“Okay, no, I don’t care that he was going to do that to me—tha
t’s not what we’re about—” A light touch on my shoulder stopped me.

“Your human sentimentalities between right and wrong as regards to sexual endeavors are different than ours,” Dominicous said softly. “To lead this clan, you have to understand this
clan. You stopped your protector from killing, even though it was his right since his mage was assaulted. And you could stop him now, but denying him his every instinct will make him revolt. And this male, in particular, needs no pushing on that score.”

Dominicous waited a m
oment for that to sink in.

“That man should be killed,”
he continued in a reasoning tone as the man eagerly took Jonas out of his pants. “Instead, you have spared him. Think of the charity you have shown.”

“So, wait,” Ann stepped through the trees with a sour expression. “You’re pissed because that dude was going to rape Sasha, but you’re totally fine when Jonas does it back?”

“But he likes it,” Charles countered in exasperation. “Jonas isn’t even touching the guy. Look. That guy is all over it. Seriously, humans feel like the masters of the universe the next day. Do you know how many porns feature this kinda thing? A. Lot. Let me tell you. Girls dig this whole submission thing, too, don’t say you don’t. I snooped around Ann’s room when we were in the cabins—I know what she reads.”

“You did
what?”
Ann screeched, losing her calm demeanor.

“
Reconnaissance. Romantic comedies didn’t work, so I figured I’d check out the reading material. Kinda dumb, though. If I said some of that stuff to you, you’d punch me in the head. You human women have a screw loose—even the ones that get real hairy, like you.”

“That is a valid point, Ann, regarding mind-altering in order to control for personal gain,” Dominicous said patiently, ignoring the sudden tension between Charles and Ann. “You are making it with the wrong person, however.” Dominicous looked at the pentagram on the tree. “This is the culture, right or wrong. This culture cannot be changed overnight. They have always thought themselves better than humans. They have also held a grudge, since humans are still dominant. Sasha can tell you the stigma a human carries. But these points are extremely valid, and probably need further investigation. The clan needs someone to lead the way. Slowly. Gradually.”

Ah.
Yes. Let the sore thumb in the group sort it out. That’d really help my chances of fitting in. I couldn’t help my scowl.

Well, at least some people viewed the situation logically.

“Fine.” I prevented myself from watching as the man jumped up and turned around. This had happened before, sure, but my world had been blown apart then—nothing seemed real, and I hadn’t had time to digest before more crazy happened, like
Dulcha
. I wasn’t so lamb-eyed anymore, though. Can’t change it in a day, fine. I prevented killing today, and I’d prevent this weird crap down the road.

“At least do it somewhere else!” I shouted at Jonas, losing my control. I threw Dominicous a glare as if to say, that’s a battle I plan on picking every time, culture or no.

Dominicous
nodded once, unperturbed.

“You
not going to dive in?” I heard Ann ask of Charles with an accusatory tone. “At least then you’d stop pestering me for sex. And spying.”

“I will never stop pestering you for sex, and no. Sasha makes my life hell when I do things she ha
tes. I can abstain,” Charles sniffed.

Ann scoffed behind me, but a glance revealed a small tweak in her lips. A person just couldn’t stay mad at Charles. The guy was a clown at the best of times.

“Okay,” I said softly, careful not to step into that circle. Nothing would happen, but … just in case. I traced the pentagram with my pointer finger, the deep groove in the scratchy bark giving me a pleasant tingle through my fingers.

“That’s odd,” I said, squinting through the darkness to try and make out the lines more clearly. Obviously my logic was still on hiatus. “Does anyone have a lighter or something? I can’t see a damn thing.”

“What happened to the lighter you use for your crack pipe?” Charles asked as patted his pants pockets.

“Charles, stop trying to be funny. You’re no good at it,” I retorted in a
wispy voice, feeling along the bark with my palms.

Ann stepped forward, the
kush
of her feet on the grass in the circle giving me goosebumps. She held up a lighter, her eyes always on the move.

“You smoke?” I asked as I grabbed the warm plastic.

“Nah. But I hang out with a guy that does. Ever notice that smokers never seem to have a lighter on them?”

“What guy?” Charles asked
suspiciously. “I’d hate to think you’re giving it up to someone else when you have me to choose from.”

I couldn’t see her
eyeroll, but I was sure it happened. At least he had someone new to badger besides me.

Although, Charles had a point.
Ann and I weren’t besties yet, but we were working on it, and that was something girls needed to chat about. I scribbled a mental note in my memory.

The click of the lighter echoed in the
hush of the night. Flicking light revealed that the scratch in the bark was light brown at the bottom, indicating this was a recent carving. I said as much as I glanced down at the circle. The grass had moved and shifted, as living things do, overlaying a circle that must have been drawn at least a few weeks ago.