Demon's Dream

Copyright © 2013 Laura Hawks

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Cover design by Kristy Charbonneau

Edited by Ambrosia Arts

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Liam. As always, being a dear friend and giving me encouragement to continue to writing as well as discussing ideas has been very important to me and I can never thank you enough for being a part of my life. Love you no matter where in the world you are.

I would also like to thank Anthony, who has not only given me encouragement but believes in me so much and is the person who picks me up when I’m down. Letting me try those scenes or phrases out on you makes you my perfect accomplice... always. Thanks for always being there and for serving our country as a Marine! Love you tons.

I would also like to thank Mark aka Slim. Your belief in me and the encouragement as well as running some stuff by you has been more help than you will never know. Thanks, babe. Luv ya.

I would also like to thank Dennis who has stood by me through thick and thin. You have been there when I needed to vent or just when I need to chill. Thanks for being a part of my life and being so important in it. Love you lots.

I would also like to thank my mother. She has had a rough time the last few years, yet still has found time to encourage me in many ways. Making you proud Mom, the best I know how. Love you forever.

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends, family and new found fans who were excited to have a sequel for Demon’s Kiss and who loved my first book so much, I was thrilled to sit down and write the second book. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing. ~ Laura Hawks

Prologue

Dzihibai’Manido paced the hall. He wasn’t a happy camper at the moment and if given the chance he would rip the Guardian into a thousand pieces for putting him in this position. He wouldn’t be in this mess if not for the fact that Jes’Sakkid owned his soul and made Mani do his bidding. Or for the fact that he was unable to locate the custodian of the stone before she disappeared off his internal radar. He detested that he had
failed his mission. Worse, he hated that he had to report to Jes with the news of his inadequacy to complete his assignment.

The instructions had been simple enough. The gem had resurfaced, sending out a subsonic frequency in all directions of the world letting preternatural beings know of its existence. Jes called Mani in to travel the world in search of gem, to find it and bring it back. No big deal for a spirit of his caliber to locate such a powerful stone. Yet, he was unsuccessful in discovering it. Mani had narrowed down the area of the desired object on several occasions but every time he approached its position, the readings would disappear.

The thundering footsteps down the hall broke Mani’s revelry. The heavy iron door slammed open as Jes’Sakkid entered his study. Normally, Jes would enjoy entering this inner sanctum but today was another matter. He was furious and he wanted to kill something, anything, to appease this hunger for violence that readily flowed through him.

Jes knew the Gem of Avarice had been released even if temporarily, the moment it occurred. It was a significant stone that contained the ability to increase the power of the one that wielded it a hundred fold. He was readily aware that it was protected by one Guardian from a family of which one member within each generation served as its custodian. It was only when the location was moved or tampered with did the stone resonate with vibrations among the ethos of space and time. Jes wanted it. Desperately! It would allow him the freedom he had desired for centuries from a curse which plagued his kind and most of all, plagued him. The curse of ruling over demonkin.

Jes glared at Mani, his eyes a deep red with his anger. The spirit demon cowered under the scrutiny.

“Explain!”

Mani stammered, “The demon who had hunted for it, Xon, only had a part of it. Turns out there are two parts to the gem and only when they are together does the full ability kick in. What we were feeling was only part of the stone calling for its other half. I found the remains of Xon in the jungles of South America. His head had been removed. I can only assume that the custodian for the gem has the stone safely hidden again.”

“You
assume!
Don’t be more than the ass I would otherwise accredit you for. You have disappointed me. I don’t condone failure. However, while you have
bumbled
your way trying to find my desire, I have had others keep their ears open. What I have heard being whispered is not comforting. Not in the least.”

Jes moved around the richly decorated room to his chair. Placing his elbows on the desk, he steepled his fingers and sat quietly for a moment as he watched Mani nervously shift from foot to foot. After a few moments, Jes opened one of his palms and a beautifully ornate box appeared upon it. Placing the box on his desk, he and flipped the lid open. Inside was a sparkling iridescent stone nestled on green satin lining. Jes looked at Mani all the while as he hovered the glowing piece into the air, untouched physically. Holding his hand above it, Jes starred at Mani.

“Punishment for your ineptitude is required. I won’t kill you and leave you wandering the earth forever in anguish. I will, however, remind you of why you service me and what will become of you shall you fail me again.”

Jes slowly closed his fist and the stone dangling under his appendage seemed to dim in its intensity. Mani felt the pain sear throughout his body. Screaming, he fell to his knees. The agony spread from his heart to behind his eyes as his soul was being tortured in front of him. Jes grinned in satisfaction as he watched the demon spirit gasp with tormented distress. Only when Mani was sweating profusely, pale and whimpering did Jes release the stone under his clenched fist and willed it to lower back into its box. Closing the lid gently, he returned his gaze to the wretched creature before him.

“The stone is in the Hell Realm, under the watchful eye of the judge. He is training the Guardian of the stone but personally I think he might actually have found his heart and cares for the wench. You might be able to use this to get her to release it to you. Regardless, I expect you to take care of the matter post haste and return the gem in its entirety to me within the month. For if you fail, I will crush your soul to oblivion.”

Despite his residual pain, Mani struggled to his feet. “The
judge?
It. It is forbidden to go into his home.”

“Do I need to remind you that if you succeed, the Hell Realm will belong to me and as such you would be safe? Or that as a spirit, you’re one of a very few that can enter his residence without his knowledge? Do you think I called you for this assignment cause of your good looks?
No!
I need your special talents. Don’t confuse what little use you might have for actual care on your behalf. Complete your mission. Get me that stone. Kill the Guardian. Or suffer damnation for all eternity.” Jes yawned. “The choice is yours. Now be gone.”

Jes waved his hand and Mani disappeared. Mentally willing the soul box back to the safe, Jes pondered the situation. Although he wasn’t happy he had lost the earlier opportunity of the artifact, getting the judge
and
the Guardian out of the way was an even better advantage for him.
Yes. Better than I could ever hope for and their deaths will not be on my hands.

Chapter One

Azamel stood in the doorway, watching as Clarissa slept. Every day for the past week he had stood and watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful, so relaxed and so beautiful. Her long, curly, blond locks fanned across the pillow. She had a small, heart-shaped face with eyes that were almost almond contoured. Her long dark lashes rested against her milky white skin as they hid from his immediate sight emerald eyes that were beyond amazing in the intenseness of the depth of their color. More than anything though, she had an inner quality that radiated throughout her very being, an exquisiteness that he had never encountered before in the centuries which he lived. She was perfection. Yet, though he loved her, he knew deep in his soul he couldn’t keep her. The knowledge ate at him, pulled at his very depth of being with a pain he didn’t think existed until now.

For centuries his heart was cold and uncaring. He truly didn’t think he had any feelings. Women were a convenience, nothing more, an outlet for his carnal needs as few and far between as they may have been. In truth, he had been with women who were as lovely as Clarissa, yet none of them touched the empty void within his heart like she had when she entered his life.

A month ago, he sensed the power of the stone that she served as Guardian for. More than that though, he sensed a renegade demon hunting for the abilities the magical item would provide. Mel had been hunting the demon named Xon as a result of Xon’s crimes against the innocent. Xon had a penchant of being sadistic, cruel and enjoying the pain of others, which he made extremely clear with each human he tortured before he killed and ate them, cannibal style. No, Xon needed to be judged. However, his crimes would have only given him a life sentence of reciprocating torture. Going after the Gem of Avarice upped the stakes in Mel finding him before Xon could get his claws on such a powerful artifact.

To accomplish his objective, Azamel realized his greatest chance would be teaming up with the one who could sense the stone best. A young woman who inherited the position she now carried with strength and purpose of protecting the gem from those who attempted obtain it and the abilities it would offer. In the process, he became intrigued with the golden haired werewolf who lay on the guest bed before him.

Clarissa had found a way to touch his heart and warm it. She wormed herself inside his cold demeanor, made him feel and worse,
care
about another. He had shut himself off from his emotions eons ago. Being betrayed over and over again is enough to break any man from wanting to be exposed to such rawness of inner turmoil. Especially when they only used it against him, tore him down more and relished in his demise and humiliation.

Clarissa had already discovered his one secret. A hidden room he used when the beast inside was too strong to contain and had to be released. She had pushed him too far one day and he would have killed her if given half the chance. Instead, he had sworn to protect her and her innocence, so he retreated to his secluded, concealed asylum deep within the bowels of his dungeons. Leave it to a wolf to use her senses to track him down as his cries rang through the entire realm. The beast inside tore through every muscle, sinew, vein and bone he had in his body as the demon clawed his way out to illicit the most pain from its host. For days he was nothing but a pile of mush on the stone floor as blood ran, dried and ran again. The creature raged within the stone walls protected from ever departing the room and thereby protecting humanity from its wrath.

She
found him though. Using her wolf nose and her advanced hearing, she found his secret piece of the world. Fuck if she hadn’t spent days outside the door, neither eating nor sleeping but waiting for him to emerge and help him back to the suite he gave her while she was a guest in his home. She nursed him and comforted him. He was a demon of hell, spawn of untold horrors yet she never left his side. He had never seen anyone care for him out of the goodness of their heart. To be honest, he was unsure how to deal with it, or handle her. That one act of care and concern broke him, touched a part of him he never believed existed or if it had, he was sure he quelled eons ago.

He had given in then whether due to his own weakness or her soul, he allowed himself to feel for her, want her and even admit to himself that he needed her. He was a fool, however, to believe it would ever last. He would have to finish training her. He needed to prepare her for a world that would hunt her for all eternity as a result of the secret she carried. He had to teach her to prevent the gem she protected from falling into anyone’s hands and thereby gain the power that could destroy the world.

Mel was about to turn and leave the room when he noticed her emerald orbs focused on him and he smiled softly at her. “I was about to let you continue to sleep but since you’re awake, breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes. See you then?”

Clarissa blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes before rubbing them. Yawning, she stretched before turning her attention back to him. He still took her breath away. Dark hair and haunting pale blue eyes. An aquiline nose above a strong, slightly whiskered jaw. His shoulders were wide and his body ripped. He leaned against the doorway in pants only and her eyes roamed his tawny chest and well-muscled biceps. She could still taste his skin on her tongue from having sex just hours ago. She could still feel his narrow hips pressed against her heated body. She held her hand out to him, enticing him to go to her as a wicked smile played across her lips. “Would you rather not have breakfast in bed?”

Mel swallowed past the lump in his throat, suddenly feeling his pants constrict around him. He would give anything to climb back under the covers with her. He actually gave it some serious consideration. However, he had work to do, demons to prosecute, minions to chastise or follow up on, hellish paperwork that continued to build relentlessly and gave true meaning to his hell. Plus he had to finish her training.

He was about to say fuck it all and rejoin her when Shara knocked lightly on the door. Making sure Clarissa’s nudeness was covered discreetly, he opened the door to face his assistant, giving her a wry look.

“Your nine a.m. appointment is here.” She held out a cup of his sustenance. Mel took the container, swirling the dark liquid gently.

“Send Clarissa some breakfast and make sure I’m not disturbed with them.”

Quickly he swallowed his nourishment, thrusting the goblet back to Shara. Without a backwards glance, he stormed out of the room, flashing on a black button-down dress shirt and pants as he headed towards his reception area.

The receiving chamber was fairly isolated with no windows and one door which served as a portal to and from the realm. Inside, there was a long wooden table with eight lavish red and gold chairs. In front of the fireplace, two wing-backed blue chairs and a matching blue couch on the opposite side appeared. Winged gargoyle skeletons flanked either side of the fireplace mantle each holding a sconce that provided the light for the otherwise dim interior.

Mel strode into the room as he took in his visitors. This definitely wasn’t good. To see the Protector of Humanity, Nanaboojoo along with the God of Chaos, Coyote and his brother, God of the Malignant Man, Jes’Sakkid all together did not bode well for the Demon Basher, Judge and Executioner. It usually meant there was a demon who threatened humanity who had gone undetected by Mel long enough to threaten the world. Had Azamel been so caught up with Xon and chasing after the stone with Clarissa that he overlooked another potential threat?