Awakening the Demon's Queen

AWAKENING THE DEMON’S QUEEN

Copyright © 2011 CALLE J. BROOKES

Published by Lost River Lit

Cover Art Designed by B.G. Lashbrooks

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Calle Jaye Brookes is first and foremost a
fiction writer. She enjoys crafting paranormal romance and romantic
suspense. She reads almost every genre except horror. In her day
job she is a fiction content editor for an epublisher that opened
in 2011. She spends most of her time juggling family life and
writing, while reminding herself that she can’t spend all of her
time in the worlds found within books. Calle Jaye loves to be
contacted by her readers at her blog
http://www.callejbrookes.com.

Chapter One

Hours of planning would culminate in just a
few moments, and Rathan Malickus felt the tension and adrenaline
coursing through his body. It had been years since he’d had any
such adventure.

“
You are sure this is who
you seek, then?” he asked of the second man waiting upon the
mountain that overlooked the small town of Dardano,
Colorado.

“
Yes.” Rand Taniss kept his
lupine eyes focused on the headlights traveling away from the town.
Only one car was visible on the small highway for many miles. That
car was their target. “Jambu said these two are the closest to the
king and his advisers.”

Rathan nodded. “Vengeance is entertaining, is
it not?”

“
That’s not what I would
call it.”

Rathan shrugged. He viewed things differently
than the once-human Rand. Demons lived for things such as
vengeance. That it wasn’t his vengeance, but Rand’s that he sought
mattered little. “Ah, but you are Lupoiux, not Demon.”

“
They are getting closer. Do
you remember what to do?” Rand smirked, alluding to the running
joke between the two about Rathan’s considerable age.

“
Please, this pitifully
simple plan of yours is nothing compared to the maneuvers I once
orchestrated.” Rathan had been a general in his father’s demonic
army until the uprising back in Galveston in 1900. He’d been a
displaced king since then. “We are stopping a car, and taking two
women hostage. What is so difficult about that?”

“
These are not human
women.”

“
Dardaptoan. Still weak
compared to my kind.” The women were of the Dardaptos race, an
ancient race that had inspired the silly human legends of vampires.
Barely stronger than humans, the Dardaptoan women were some of the
weakest in the Kind. But the Dardaptoan males, they were a worthy
foe for either Lupoiux or Demon.

It was the male family members of these women
that were the true targets of vengeance.

Two weeks earlier, Rand’s family home was
invaded, and four of his female relatives taken by Dardaptoan
males. His relatives were defenseless human women in their
twenties. They’d not stood a chance against the Dardaptoan king and
his three advisers. Rand’s two sisters were among them, and since
the Dardaptoans fed on humans there was no hope to get them back.
Rathan mourned the four women more than he’d thought he could.
They’d made him a part of their family so easily.

“
So we will meet up in three
days, then?” Rand paced in a small circle, the move so canine that
Rathan smirked again. Lupoiux werewolves were so animalistic it was
a wonder they were considered civilized at all.

“
At the retreat, yes.” The
plan was decidedly simple. They each would take one of the women,
abandon the car, and hike in different directions. They would meet
atop Taniss Mountain with their captives three days hence. In the
meantime, Rathan was free to do whatever he wished with his
captive. That was what he was truly looking forward to.

Rathan was Incubus, a sub-species of demons
who fed from two sources--women’s sexual fantasies, or sex with
women. It had been a while since he’d been given free rein to
feast.

Rathan didn’t feed from the women located on
Taniss Estate. They were all servants of Rand’s human family, or
they were that family and he had made a promise to his friend a
decade earlier to never eat from his family. He could occasionally
brush against the Taniss women in fantasies, but not full-fledged
dine.

He suddenly felt starved. “Come on, let’s do
this then.”

“
Good luck, my friend.” Rand
flashed into wolven form then lifted his auburn muzzle to the moon.
A long, undulant howl split the air before the werewolf raced
toward the highway.

Chapter Two

Kindara rested as the miles passed. Her head
hurt from the strain of the last two weeks and her daughter had
insisted on driving. Kindara hadn’t the strength to argue with the
stubborn child. Plus, Jierra was excited to be taking her first
trip away from Dardano and had wanted to drive. How could any
mother have said no?

This trip could potentially provide so much
for the Dardaptoan people that Kindara felt the anxiety close in
once again. Her people needed better medical care. They needed
antibiotics, sedatives, pain relievers, fever reducers, all of it.
For such an advanced species, they’d been unable to create even the
most rudimentary medications. Human medications just didn’t work on
the Dardaptoans.

Kindara was her tribe’s chief healer, and the
burden rested on her shoulders. A week earlier that fact had become
even more abundantly clear when her sister-in-law had been attacked
by Lupoiux wolves. With no antibiotics it had been grim. Only the
fact that Josey was a recently converted human who still possessed
human antibodies in her blood had made a difference; had she been
born Dardaptoan she probably would have died.

Kindara couldn’t let that happen to her
brother. She’d lost her own Rajni, her own mate Iavius, almost
twenty-nine years earlier. She’d not want anyone--especially her
family members--to experience that pain. She and Jierra were making
the two hundred mile drive to Denver to speak with an ancient witch
about a possible strain of antibiotics the Dardaptoans might be
able to use.

Her daughter hummed along to a human song
playing on the radio, her fingers drumming the wheel. Kindara
smiled. This girl was her life, the only reason she’d gotten past
her Rajni’s death was Jierra.

She’d been a squalling infant when Kindara’s
brother had placed the newly orphaned Jierra in her arms two years
after Iavius’s death. The child’s parents--cousins of
Kindara’s--had been killed by the same vicious monster who’d taken
Iavius. As the female head of the family, Kindara was responsible
for finding homes for any orphans. She’d found one for Jierra the
instant she’d touched her. This was her child, and always would
be.

“
You have horrible taste in
music.”

“
No, I have younger taste in
music. Who was the most popular composer in your youth?” Jierra
laughed after she asked. “Beethoven.”

“
I preferred Mozart. I heard
him play once. It was spectacular.”

“
You look pretty good for
your age, then.”

“
Don’t I, though? You’d
better watch the road.”

“
There’s no one around for
miles, Mother.” Jierra increased the speed.

“
No wild animals, then?”
Kindara asked as a howl split the night air.

“
That sounded a little
creepy.” Jierra tapped the break seconds before a large dark shape
darted in front of the car.

Jierra jerked the wheel, sending the car into
a swerve that had Kindara grasping the handle and uttering a short
prayer. Finally, the car stopped and both women dragged in
cleansing breaths.

“
Are you ok, Ji?” Kindara
put one hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Jierra had never driven a
car more than ten miles in any one direction, had never been on a
highway after dark. Had probably never seen an animal on the road
besides a cat or dog. “It happens; animals dart out all the
time.”

Jierra flipped on the interior light, and
Kindara scanned her daughter’s face. Jierra’s eyes, deep amber,
were wide and her chin trembled. Her bottom lip was tucked under
her top teeth and she swallowed repeatedly. Kindara pushed a lock
of strawberry blonde hair out of Jierra’s eyes, the gesture meant
to be soothing.

“
I don’t want to drive
anymore.”

“
Ok.” Kindara opened her
door and slid from the car. She’d feel better driving now, anyway.
She heard the other door open just as a man stepped out of the
shadows.

Kindara reflexively went into a defensive
pose. “Ji! Back in the car, now!”

Her daughter knew not to question, but Jierra
issued a short scream that had Kindara’s veins filling with ice.
The man in front of her laughed as he stepped closer.

From what Kindara could see in the darkness,
he was tall and strong. Equally as tall as her brother, Cormac, who
stood six-foot-seven. Equally as strong.

At five-foot-nine, Kindara knew she was
facing a fight.

He didn’t smell human. He didn’t smell
Dardaptoan, either. What he smelled, was evil.

****

The woman he faced was glorious, and he
didn’t need his night eyes to see it. She was below average height
for a Dardaptoan woman and slim. Pale hair surrounded a delicate
face like a halo, making her appear almost angelic in the
traditional white tunic of female Dardaptoan royalty. He laughed
again. Fitting, then, that she be taken by a demon.

She must have taken his laugh for inattention
for she sprang at him, hands raised to strike. It was pitifully
easy to deflect her. He didn’t want to hurt her, and though he
sensed she was an experienced fighter it would be easy for him to
do.

He grabbed both wrists and forced her over
the hood of the car before using his body weight to subdue her. He
cursed when sharp fangs pierced his shoulder. He twisted, harder
than he intended. Her head banged into the hood of the car. She
stilled for a moment and he wrapped the rope he’d tucked in a
pocket around her wrist.

“
Jierra! Run!” She screamed
even as she fought him. “Go! Now!”

“
She can’t,” Rathan told
her. “The Lupoiux wolf has her.”

Her struggles were more desperate now and
Rathan fought to catch her other hand.

“
Going to play with your toy
all day?” Rand’s voice came from the other side of the car. Rathan
cursed again when he realized the wolf had had much less difficulty
with his own captive.

“
Just having a bit of fun
with her.” Rathan ran one hand over the horns on his head, picking
up a trace amount of the
Mesmus
that his kind used to control difficult prey. He
covered the woman’s mouth with that hand, ensuring she got a strong
dose of the chemical. He leaned close to whisper the command to
sleep in her ear.

Her slim body went slack beneath him and he
lay atop her for a moment, relishing the feel of feminine flesh
pressed against him. He would enjoy feasting on this one. He
straightened, then pulled her over one shoulder, one hand rising to
cup a sweetly curved backside.

Rand circled the front of the women’s car,
his own burden in a similar position. Only she was awake. Rathan
got an impression of a pretty female with delicate features and
large eyes. Terrified eyes. “In three, then.”

“
Yes.” Rathan nodded. “See
you then.”

****

Rathan hiked for several hours, the woman’s
weight no real burden. He’d shifted her some time before, wrapping
her long legs around his waist and arranging her golden head on his
shoulder. She slept on, her soft breath kissing his neck with even
rhythm.

When the sun rose he began searching for a
suitable place for the two of them to spend the day. Demons
preferred the night hours, so they would sleep during the day and
continue walking the next night.

He found the spot he was looking for, a cave
that would be difficult for anyone tracking his captive to find.
And he didn’t fool himself, the Dardaptoan king would be searching
for one such as this. Would want her back. Most males would just
simply want her.

He wasn’t giving her back; at least, not
anytime soon.