Chapter 2

Two

Draxos

She slipped right through my fucking fingers.

I push into my room, making the door slam against the wall. Adrian, my mate, sits up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“I had her,” I grit out. “Twice, and she still got away.”

Adrian rubs his hand over his horns and leans against the headboard. “Are you going to try again?”

“I need her to come with me willingly.”

Adrian gets to his hands and knees, crawling to the end of the bed. He gets up on his knees and wraps his arms around my neck. My father hated when I aligned myself with Adrian because he wasn’t as powerful as me. He’s actually small for a demon, with a petite stature and shorter horns. But I couldn’t resist his pouty lips. “If anyone can convince her, it’s you.”

I settle my hands on his hips. “Like I convinced you?”

Adrian snorts. “It didn’t take much to convince me, Draxos.”

“I need to talk to Donna.” That thought makes my stomach roll. I hate talking to that dreadful woman. “You want to come with me so I don’t kill her?”

“Let me get dressed.”

I let my eyes travel down his naked body and grin. “Maybe it can wait a while.”

I lunge, knocking him back on the bed. Adrian moans when I slide across his rapidly hardening cock. His lips land on mine, hard and hungry. This is what made me keep Adrian by my side. It wasn’t just his body, or how he can suck a dick so good that it could make a grown demon cry. It’s because of the feeling I get when he touches me. Electricity shoots through my body, making everything feel heightened. That realization makes me pull back from the kiss. Adrian rubs his thumb between my brows, smoothing out the frown line. “Where did you go?”

“I dream walked her,” I admit. “When she touched me, I felt it.”

“Felt what?”

“This.” I motion between us, and understanding dawns on Adrian’s face. “There’s no fucking way.” I jump back off the bed and start pacing. “There’s no fucking way she’s my mate.”

“That changes things.” Adrian rolls from the bed and starts rummaging through the dresser. He slides boxers, sweatpants, and a shirt on. “We need to talk to her.”

“Fine,” I grouch, waiting for Adrian to get socks and shoes on. When he’s ready, he meets me at the bedroom door and slides his hand into mine. I lead him downstairs and straight to the basement, where Donna has been locked up for eleven years. The same amount of time that I’ve been locked out of the Underworld, my true home, because of the stupid witch.

I key in the code for the door, and her green eyes raise to mine from her position in the corner. Magical chains hold her down here, but I still don’t trust her. “Start talking,” I demand.

Donna smiles, and uneasiness rolls through me. “You found her.”

“You know I did. You told me where to find her.”

“What else did you find out?” Donna rises to her feet and walks as close as the chains allow. I push Adrian behind me, and she cackles when she catches the movement. “I won’t harm your mate, Draxos.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to fucking trust you. Why are you now ready to give information?”

“Because it’s time.” She wanders back over to her cot and sits on the side. “The prophecy has arrived.”

“What goddamn prophecy?” I roar, sick of her saying that and not telling me what the hell she means. We’ve searched everything for eleven years, trying to figure it out and nothing. When she cast the spell to keep us out of the Underworld, she also locked the ones who weren’t Earth side down there. Including my father and brothers. We can communicate in unconventional ways, but we don’t do it often. She added one extra element to her spell, which trapped us in demon form so we couldn’t pose as humans, forcing us to hide. The costume party gave me the perfect excuse to approach Calista. My only solace is Adrian was here with me when it happened. I wouldn’t have made it this long without going insane without him.

Donna doesn’t even react to my outburst, which serves to piss me off more. “The truth is out there, Draxos.”

“Quit talking in circles and tell me where to find it.”

“It’s right in front of you.”

“You stupid?—”

Adrian grabs my arm when I go to step forward. “If you kill her, we won’t get the answers we need. I want to go home, Draxos.” I roll my shoulders back, thankful that I brought him with me. Adrian steps around me, avoiding me trying to pull him back. “Donna, I think you started talking because you want this over with too. But we can’t do that unless you start telling us everything.”

“I’ve told you all I can. They won’t allow me to say more.”

“Who’s they?” I demand. That’s the first time she’s even mentioned that there might be someone else involved.

“The ancestors.” Donna looks up at the ceiling and smiles. She stares at it for so long that I start to get twitchy, and when she finally looks back at me, her eyes are vacant. “All you seek is within reach. Find it and break the curse.”

“Are you saying Calista breaks the curse?” Adrian asks.

“Calista is the key to everything.”

“You said Calista would have answers. You never said she breaks the curse,” I bark.

“Calista is the key,” she repeats, making me grind my teeth. “Your mate is the key.”

“You fucking knew?”

“The ancestors see everything, Draxos.”

“Wait,” Adrian says suddenly, rubbing his fingers over his forehead. “Demons can’t mate with humans.”

“That’s because she isn’t human.” Donna gives me that creepy smile again, making me want to bash her face in.

“What is she?” I ask.

“She’s a witch.”

Son of a bitch.

Getting close to Calista again is harder than ever. Adrian and I have followed her all over the city, but she’s never alone. At first, she was at her father’s, and now she’s with a petite blonde that seems to be stuck to her like glue.

“She’s really pretty,” Adrian comments after our ninth day following her. I pull him further into my shadows when he tries to get a closer look. “We can’t just stalk her like this.”

“I don’t know what else to do. I can’t get into her dreams again.” That I can’t understand. Getting in the first time was easy. I just thought about her and the beach. Now, it’s like she’s shielding herself from me.

“Is she just as beautiful up close?” Adrian asks.

“Yes,” I answer honestly. Her hair is a dark brown, and she has big, round, brown eyes. I knew I would find her there because Donna did a locator spell to find her exact location. What I didn’t expect was the reaction I had when she turned around.

“Wait,” Adrian says suddenly. “The blonde is leaving.”

We watch as Calista says goodbye to her friend, and she walks into the apartment building they’ve been moving stuff into. Her friend gets into her car and finally drives away. “We wait until nightfall and go in.” Wrapping my shadows around Adrian, I pull him even closer to my body. I keep them around us, just in case anyone would look into the alley where we’re hiding.

“Draxos,” Adrian says breathlessly.

“Yes, my love?”

“What are you doing?”

I grin against his mouth while I move some of the shadows between us, right across that delicious dick. “We have a couple of hours to kill.”

“It’s so unfair that you can use your shadows as an extra pair of hands.” I have full control over them, and they come in handy for all situations. They’re also fun to play with, which we’ve used to our full advantage.

“You weren’t complaining last night.”

“I never complain when you touch me.”

I lean back against the building, holding perfectly still when someone walks by us. They stop, feeling something is off before they shudder. Even though they can’t see us, they know something unnatural is lurking somewhere. They walk swiftly from the alley, and Adrian laughs. “That’s always funny to watch.”

I go back to caressing his cock through his pants, keeping my arms firmly around him. I don’t care if I ever get off again. Watching Adrian come a thousand times would be worth it. We stay like that until darkness finally starts to settle around us with me keeping him right on the edge. It just means he’ll be fucking feral by the time I get him home. I peck his lips, and he sighs, knowing what comes next. I grab his hand and keep us covered as we make our way to Calista’s apartment. I follow her scent until I find the right door, close my eyes, and take us inside without even touching the doorknob. Being a demon comes with many downfalls, but the upside is we get skills that humans can never dream of, like teleportation. Calista is sitting on the couch, reading a book with no idea what’s right in front of her. I have to get her attention and don’t feel bad that I’ll have to use mind control over her to keep her from screaming.

Letting my shadows fall behind me to cover Adrian, I take a step forward. “Calista,” I call out, keeping my voice calm and low. Her head slowly rises, already under my control, and she smiles. “You need to come with me.”

“Why are you still wearing your costume?” Calista’s brown eyes are glazed over, but it doesn’t hide her confusion.

“Because it isn’t a costume.”

Adrian groans quietly behind me. “I smell her now.” I look at him over my shoulder, and he’s practically salivating. Fucking great. That means he’s mated to her also, and this makes everything much more complicated. Not only are we not just kidnapping a human, we’re kidnapping a fucking witch that doesn’t even know she has powers. Maybe I shouldn’t have fucked with him outside because I can still feel his hard cock pressing against me, and it pulses the more he looks at her.

“Did you bring a friend?” Calista sets her book on the coffee table and sits forward on the couch. Her voice, even in the dreamlike state, slides over my skin like silk. With a sigh, I let the shadows fall away, exposing Adrian. Calista tilts her head to the side, taking him in. “Was there another party?”

“I need you to listen to me,” I force more of a command into my voice, and her pupils expand. “We need your help.”

“My help?” Calista’s genuine confusion bleeds through the mind control, and her brows furrow. “With what?”

“Will you come with us?” Adrian asks, stepping around me. Her body relaxes when she hears his voice, and I look at him in surprise. It seems to snap her out of my mind control, and he’s not using any at all, but she doesn’t seem scared of him. She didn’t seem scared of me either just…wary.

“Oh. I…I don’t know.” Calista’s eyes fully clear and they widen. “How did you get in here?” Now she looks scared. She starts scrambling back on the couch, but has nowhere to go. Her breathing speeds up, and she opens her mouth to scream. Calmness washes over the room, and I know Adrian is using a skill I never mastered. He can calm even the most intense situations.

“Calista,” Adrian says softly, and something about the way he says her name does something to me. He walks slowly forward and sits on the coffee table in front of her. “We aren’t here to hurt you. We just want to talk.”

“Not here,” I interrupt. Adrian gets my meaning and nods. I need to get her back to my place so we can keep an eye on her. I can’t have Calista running around telling anyone who will listen what we really are.

Calista drops back down on the cushion and stares at Adrian, taking him in. He might not be as big as me, but he’s still huge compared to her. “They look so real,” she says, slowly reaching a hand out for his horn. Adrian’s entire body goes still when she rubs her fingers across the base. Demon horns are very sensitive in every way. We can feel immense pain or pleasure through them. Adrian moans softly, and she jerks her hand back. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” he rasps, trying to keep his reaction in check. “They are real, Calista. We aren’t playing dress up.”

Calista looks between Adrian and me, realization dawning on her face. “What are you?” she whispers, goosebumps popping up on her skin. My eyes stray to her thin tank top without my permission, and I watch as her nipples tighten becoming hard peaks. I’m never going to survive this . She knows something is off with us, she’s known it since the beginning, but even then, I smelled her arousal on the beach. She was turned on by what was standing in front of her.

“We can’t talk here,” Adrian says calmly. He slowly holds his hand out and smiles. “Will you come with us now?”

“I will if you tell me what you are.”

Adrian looks at me in question, and I shrug. I just want to get out of here and back home so we can start working on this. Adrian takes a deep breath and takes her hand. Her sharp intake of breath is the only thing I need to solidify that he’s mated to her too, and that makes it much more complicated. “We’re demons.”

I watch every emotion pass over Calista’s face. Denial, confusion, and then fear. She jerks her hand away, opens her mouth to scream, and I run forward, letting my shadows cover us all. I blink, and we’re standing in my living room. Calista looks around, pale as a ghost.

Then she starts screaming.