Dark Awakening (2 page)

Nic had disappeared after that. Yet, Kimi was haunted by one thing he'd said.
You know what it's like for a demon, and I can only take so much.
Did that mean if she kept after him, he would cave in? Maybe she would put on that dress and her new shoes and summon Nic anyway; then she could find out what exactly he'd meant. She had the power to call demons forth, and she'd been practicing for months, long before she'd come to the agency; so, why not? What was the worst that could happen?

Kimi immediately envisioned Nic laughing at her. She put away the final folder and slammed the drawer shut. The last thing she wanted was Nic rejecting her. She'd made it obvious she was attracted each time she'd seen him, and yet he stayed as far away as possible. And the vanishing act was an insult in itself. Everyone knew demons were free and easy when it came to sex. Nic apparently just wasn't with her.

Kimi left the file room and worked her way out of the bowels of the office building. Her stride faltered, though, when she reached the dimly lit atrium. When had darkness fallen?

Mika's warning about going out alone at night in Crimson City echoed through her head and Kimi shivered before she shook it off. Her cousin was overprotective, that was all, and it wasn't like Kimi was outside—she was in her office building. But it was summer, and for it to be this dark, it either had to be close to 9:00 p.m. or there had to be a total solar eclipse. Since the only astronomical event the news stations had been hyping was some sort of meteor shower, it had to be option one.

How had she lost nearly eight hours?

Her sleeveless black and white polka-dot dress suddenly seemed insubstantial, and Kimi wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to warm herself. "Hello?" She called.

No answer.

Maybe this was some type of test.

Kimi took a few hesitant steps forward, the tap of her low heels sounding incredibly loud in the emptiness. If this was an evaluation, one of the majo could have affected her perception of how much time had passed while she'd been filing—they had that ability—but what would they want to test her on?

The hair on her nape stood on end, and Kimi came to a halt. There was no reason to think something evil was lurking; any deserted office building this late at night would seem sinister. She reached for her comm before she remembered it was in her purse, damn it. She'd left that behind when she'd gone to file because someone had made a crack about her talking instead of working, but she wished she had it with her right now.

Lowering her hands to her sides, Kimi ran through what her dad had taught her about self-defense and chose her best options for a few of the more likely scenarios. It didn't hurt to be prepared just in case this feeling of dread was more than her imagination getting the best of her.

Illumination came from a few scattered emergency lights, and the deep shadows had her jumpy. She bit her lip. Anyone or anything could be concealed within them, and Kimi had to force her feet to move.

"Get to your cubicle," Kimi told herself. "Get your purse, and call for security to escort you to your car. Simple."

Pulse pounding, she quickened her pace, wanting to get out of here. Later, she'd laugh over how silly she was being, but that would be when she was in her apartment and safe.

Kimi was halfway across the atrium when someone stepped out of the dimness. She nearly shrieked before she recognized one of the agency's creative directors. "Brittany," she said, putting her hand over her racing heart. "You scared me."

Brittany ignored her. Turning her head to address someone hidden in the darkness behind her, the woman asked, "Is she powerful enough for your needs, Augustin?"

"Quite. She is exquisitely strong."

The man's voice was a rich baritone, and it made him sound pleasant, even attractive, but it raised goose bumps on Kimi's arms and she backed up a step.

"And as young as I promised," Brittany said.

"Beautiful as well. I'll delight in and taking her body as much as I enjoy seizing her magic."

He edged forward just far enough for Kimi to see his silhouette and she took another step back before she realized she couldn't run. She was only five and a half feet tall and this man towered over her by nearly a foot; if she attempted to flee, he'd catch her in a few strides. Fighting face-to-face gave her more options than being grabbed from the rear. Kimi shifted to balance her weight evenly.

This couldn't be happening, though. She had to be misunderstanding what was going on. Had to be. Brittany was majo; she wouldn't sell Kimi out. "Brittany? What's the deal?"

"The deal?" The woman finally looked at Kimi. "The deal, Kirstie, is that humans are falling behind, and that's only going to get worse as the alliance grows between the fangs and the dogs. I'm doing what I have to in order to ensure that I'm not among the losers."

Kimi fisted her hands, then relaxed her grip. "Kimi. My name is Kim-mee," she enunciated clearly, wanting the older woman to know exactly whom she'd betrayed. "And your explanation doesn't really tell me a whole lot."

"She is young," Augustin commented. He finally came into view.

The first thing Kimi noticed was his eyes. The irises were so pale, she couldn't guess their color in the dim light. He was a demon, then. The next thing she noticed was how obscenely handsome he was—Hollywood would love his face. He had waist-length, dark blond hair, and at both temples he had a tiny braid, each interwoven with shiny thread. Bak-Faru.

Mika's admonition to never use the name of that branch rang in her mind, and immediately on the heels of that thought came the dozens of warnings her cousin had given her about the Dark Ones. Kimi's gulp was audible in the silence.

Augustin smiled at her fear and held out his hand. "Come to me," the demon ordered.

Kimi shook her head. There was no way in hell she was going to make it easy for him. He was big, he was muscular, and he had the power of the darkest of the demon branches, but she would fight him with everything that she had.

"Excellent," he said. "The more you struggle against me, the easier it will be to wrest your magic from you."

He'd read her mind and that scared her, but not half as much as the fact that she was getting information from him and didn't think Augustin was sending it on purpose. A demon acquired a kijo's powers through sex, and he planned to rape her to get it. Like hell. She wasn't letting anyone take what was hers.

Making the decision calmed her somewhat. Kimi felt her heart begin to slow, and her respiration became deeper, more even. She'd only had a few weeks of training and hadn't used her magic yet, but she knew she could protect herself with a shield of light. Calling it forward, she surrounded herself, letting it thicken and grow until it would be impenetrable.

"Think you that such a meager defense will stop me?"

It took all her will, but she forced a smile and shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned. Her dad said if she didn't have a full house, to bluff 'em into thinking she held a royal flush. The dark demon threw back his head and laughed. Damn it, he was still picking up her thoughts.

Brittany shifted then, and Kimi looked to her, hoping the other woman was reconsidering her actions and would help her. In a glance, she knew she was on her own. So be it. Kimi had one advantage—the demon wanted her alive—and she'd exploit that as much as possible.

"Come to me," Augustin ordered once more. This time, there was a mental compulsion behind it that Kimi could feel, but it had no effect on her. The second push was far less subtle.

"I think you're out of luck," she said with a smirk.

To her great amazement, her near serenity remained even when Augustin started toward her. As he tried to grasp her left arm, she slammed his face with the heel of her right hand. She missed his nose, damn it, but she got his eye. Her action left him momentarily stunned, and she kicked out, catching him solidly in the knee with her foot. He remained standing and she kicked again, only this time he dodged the blow.

"I could prevent you from moving your arms and legs," Augustin said, "but I won't. I like it when a female fights." He smiled, his eyes so cold that Kimi shuddered.

He tried to snare her again, but she whirled—a big mistake. Her hair fell into her face, partially obscuring her view, and she fought the long tresses, trying to get them out of her way. Augustin took advantage of her difficulty and seized her wrist.

Kimi turned her arm, and with help from her opposite hand, yanked herself free of his grip. She backed away, using the time to shove her hair out of the way so she could see.

Another lunge by the demon and Kimi found herself fighting in much closer proximity to her attacker then she'd expected. She hit him in the kidney with an elbow, then rammed him on the opposite side with the other one. Her knee connected firmly with his groin and he slapped her. Hard. That froze Kimi. No one had ever hit her before.

Augustin caught her and spun her around, pinning her against his body. All she could manage was some weak backward kicks that caused no damage. He put his mouth against her skin and bit her exposed shoulder.

The pain woke her up. She knew he believed that he'd won. She struggled, twisting and writhing, trying to break his hold. And as she fought, she felt him grow hard against her. He began chanting in a language she didn't understand.

No! This wasn't happening. It wasn't.

Kimi felt someone playing with magic and she shook her head, moving her hair enough to see Brittany. The woman's eyes were half closed and she was working some kind of spell. Augustin finally noticed, too, and raised his head. "Her power is mine! You will not touch it."

Brittany ignored him and the demon took one arm from around Kimi and threw a fireball at the woman. The creative director hit the floor, her body convulsing. Before it went still, Kimi took advantage of her assailant's lack of attention to fight free.

She should be afraid, but she wasn't—there was no fear left anywhere inside her. Instead, Kimi was furious, more furious than she'd ever been in her life. First some damn demon thought he was going to rape her and take her powers; then a majo had tried to steal her magic. Enough.

When Augustin started toward her, she held her arm out, palm facing him, and directed the rage building inside her at him. What came out of her hand looked like a bolt of electricity. It affected the demon the same way. This time, he was the one who was knocked to the floor. He didn't get up.

Kimi saw he wasn't dead, only injured; she caught the movement of his chest and was relieved. It would make things easier if she'd killed him, she knew, but she wasn't quite sure how she'd feel about taking a life. Sidestepping him, she scurried to Brittany, but the other woman's life force was gone.

The demon stirred, so Kimi ran. She went to her cubicle first; she had to have her purse to get her keys to drive her car. As she yanked the bag out of her desk drawer, she realized she needed help. She didn't know what she'd done to Augustin or how exactly she'd done it, which meant she couldn't count on repeating the act when needed. She had to have someone who could help her fight a Dark One.

Mika! Mika was a demon. Gasping for breath, Kimi clawed through her purse, trying to find her comm and the number for the hotel—the number she was only supposed to use in an emergency.

She located both, but the few seconds it took made her realize she couldn't call her cousin. Mika was in Tahiti on a belated honeymoon; by the time she and Conor got back to Crimson City, Kimi would be long dead. And demons who had human blood couldn't be summoned, either. Kimi needed someone here now who was strong enough to protect her.

Nic.

It didn't matter if he were in Orcus, San Francisco, or Timbuktu, a summoning would bring him instantly to her side. All she had to do was make it to her apartment safely, find her grimoire, and call forward the demon named Nicodemus.

Nic sat at a scarred wooden table in the corner of the diner and waited for his change. Although he was restless, edgy, he was in no hurry to leave the air-conditioned building and face the oppressive West Texas night.

The place was nearly empty; he could have lingered without difficulty and he would have except his waitress had made it clear she'd like to take him home with her. It irritated him beyond measure that he wasn't interested. Darla was an alluring, curvaceous redhead, and he should have flirted in return, not discouraged her. Sex had always been easy for demons: If there was a mutual desire, they sated it; it was no different than drinking water when thirsty or eating when hungry. Things, though, had changed for him, and Nic knew exactly who was to blame: Kimi Noguchi.

Though the time he'd spent with her could be measured in minutes—a handful of meetings and several short conversations over a two month period—the bonds had begun to form. For him. They weren't fully developed, not yet, but they were strong enough that he was averse to having sex with other women.

Not that he'd been celibate these many months away from California, but his encounters had been few and far between, happening only when his need for physical release was greater than he could deny. The corners of his lips quirked up. If he did the bonding rite with Kimi, there would be no others at all. Perhaps, though, mating with those women had been for the best. He'd been very careful with each of them, and his confidence in his ability to maintain control had increased.

Nic sighed, tapped his fingers against the table and thought about the day he'd realized he couldn't have Kimi—not in the near future. It had been yet another Noguchi family party, and he'd been standing in the corner, his eyes never leaving her. His half-sister, though, had seen the way he'd been watching, and had dragged him out of the room. What she'd said still worried him.

"Stay the hell away from her, Nicodemus," Mika growled the instant the door closed behind them.

"You know what there is between Kimi and me," he countered. Demons read energy; Mika should discern it readily.

"I know," his half-sister replied, "but she's too young. Kimi won't turn twenty for another month yet. You need to give her time to grow up, to finish college, to mature."