The Warlock Who Hungered for a Demon (15 page)

coming intruders.

In the absence of the two powerful men, things got a little harder.

As Noah and his three companions burst into the Whitaker mansion,

he was unsurprised when more demons came to intercept them.

Keeping up the shields and attacking was very difficult, but

fortunately, Rhys and Abbott proved to be quite resourceful. In spite

of not having the fire magic of the fiends, they moved quickly and

stealthily, releasing their powers and confusing the enemy soldiers

with sexual desire. In lynx form, Corbin watched the incubi’s backs,

eliminating anyone who could attempt to get past Noah’s shield.

As time passed, it became increasingly hard for Noah to hold up

the two shields. However, he couldn’t afford to drop them because the

deeper they got into the mansion, the riskier and more difficult things

became.

“This way to the security room,” Abbott said. “We’re very close.”

Noah nodded, forcing his mind away from the pain that pierced

his skull. He’d endured far more during his disease. This was truly

nothing compared to that. They were so close now. If they managed

to take back the mansion’s defenses, they’d be able to provide

assistance and haven to the fighters outside who’d engaged the

demons’ reinforcements.

As they entered the corridor that led to the area controlling all the

systems of the house, they found themselves facing a shocking sight.

Elden stood in the center of the hallway, holding a gun to the head of

a half-unconscious Romaine Arceneau. Behind him were a group of

fiends and more pixies than even in Kieve’s tribe. It seemed the panic

room built by Abbott hadn’t been enough to hold these people off.

“Stop,” Elden ordered, “or I’ll blow his head off.”

Hurt and terror flowed off Rhys in waves. “Why are you doing

this?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, brother,” Elden said. “You and Father are free to go.

They promised they won’t hurt you as long as you stay out of this.”

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“Stay out of it?” Rhys repeated. “Are you mad? That’s my dad

you’re holding at gunpoint.”

“It can’t be helped,” Elden replied, looking haunted. “I tried. I did,

but it can’t be helped. At least let me save you.”

“This isn’t just about us,” Rhys replied. “Our family and friends

are here, held captive. And what about the imps, huh? Did you kill

them like you want to kill my dad?”

“No!” Elden replied. “It wasn’t me…Look, you have to

understand. They knew too much. There was no other way.”

Rhys couldn’t tell if Elden truly believed that or if he was trying

to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. Either way, it

seemed clear to him at this point that the imps had probably been

collateral damage in a larger ploy, a dangerous game that starred

Elden as a main player.

“Elden…Son, I know we might not be on the best of terms,”

Abbott tried to say, “but becoming part of this insane plot is not the

answer.”

A deep sigh sounded from behind Elden. “While this is quite

unnecessarily heartbreaking and all, I’m afraid I don’t have time for

it.” A tall pixie stepped forward and grabbed Romaine’s unresisting

body from Elden’s grip. “Please, my dear, let me. I wouldn’t want

you to stain your beautiful hands with blood.”

Elden obediently stepped back, gazing at the pixie in adoration.

For the first time, Noah began to understand. The pixie must be

Elden’s mate, and he had used Elden’s love for him for his own

purposes.

Noah’s mind whirled to find a spell, anything at all that would

help save Romaine’s life. But the pixies were just too many and if

Noah attempted another enchantment, his previous shields might fall.

Time seemed to slow as the pixie lifted his gun to Romaine’s

forehead.

Several things happened at the same time. In a split-second

decision, Noah gathered every lingering power he had left and sent it

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95

at the pixie, making the gun fly out of the man’s hand. Abbott

Whitaker and Corbin shot forward in an obvious attempt to reach for

Romaine before the pixie could recover. In spite of their intervention,

though, it was likely that they’d have failed had alarms not started

sounding.

Everyone turned toward the security room. Elden cursed, as did

the male pixie who was with him. “Get them,” Elden’s mate shouted.

At first, Noah thought the pixie was targeting him and his

companions, but it wasn’t so at all. Instead, several men and women

rushed back into the security room. Noah wished he could help

whoever was in there, but circumstances prevented him from doing

so. Sounds of fighting emerged from the room, but it was all over in

seconds.

Noah’s eyes widened when the door to the security area opened

again and the soldiers exited it, carrying two small boys. They placed

the two in front of Elden’s mate, who seemed to be the leader of the

group. “You fools!” the pixie shouted at the children, raising a hand

to strike them. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

In a mind-numbing development, Elden placed himself in front of

the boys, protecting them from his mate’s anger. “It’s your own fault

for bringing them here. You knew I didn’t want them in danger, and

still you dragged them into battle.”

“You’re too lax on them. You’re always babying them and

protecting them from everything they need to know. They’re always

going to make mistakes like these if you keep spoiling them.”

It seemed that the debate was an old one, which made Noah

wonder just how long Elden had been in a relationship with the pixie.

A long time, it seemed, since the older of the boys looked seven years

old, or perhaps even eight. This brought to mind another dilemma.

Just for how long had this entire thing been planned?

Answering those questions would have to wait, though. Rhys and

Abbott took advantage of the distraction provided by the children, and

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before the pixies could do anything about it, stole Romaine right from

under their noses.

Elden’s mate realized this one second too late. “What the fuck?”

Turning toward his subordinates, he glowered at them. “What in the

world are you doing, you imbeciles? Attack.”

“Wait!” Elden shouted. “My brother and my father…”

His voice was drowned out by the blasts now assaulting Noah

from every direction. It was too much, far too much. Noah couldn’t

possibly withstand this much magic. He felt like his entire being was

torn apart, but still he held on, braving the attack, putting up barrier

after barrier and stopping the fiends and the pixies from coming any

closer. He knew that if he broke his concentration even for a second,

it would be all over. “Run!” he shouted at Abbott. “Take Rhys and

everyone else and go. If I move, the spells will fall.”

He saw Rhys’s eyes widen. “No! Noah, no! You said we’d be

together forever.”

“We will,”
Noah said in Rhys’s mind.
“I’ll always be with you, no

matter what happens to me. And I’ll always love you.”

He willed Rhys to understand, to go and save himself, but Rhys

seemed decided. Leaving his father in Abbott’s hands, he came to

Noah’s side and hugged Noah’s back.
“When are you ever going to

learn that you’re everything to me?”

The purity of Rhys’s love filled Noah, giving him renewed

strength. And he felt something else there, something so very real and

true, small, but growing. At first, Noah almost thought he was

imagining it, but then, he realized that no, it was actually there. A

child, a new life, born out of Noah and Rhys’s bond. It was still

young, probably conceived during their lovemaking in the pixie tribe,

but even so, it brought Noah joy beyond belief. How could he have

been such an idiot? He would sacrifice himself for his mate any day,

but Rhys didn’t need that. He needed Noah to live, for the both of

them and for the child they had created together.

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97

Arming himself with that knowledge, Noah held on to his spell.

He just needed to stall for a while longer. Elden’s kids had dropped

the security of the building and Noah’s allies would undoubtedly send

aid. A little more time, and they’d be free. He had to endure it all, for

the sake of his mate and his unborn child.

His trust in his friends proved to be justified. Just when Noah saw

cracks starting to appear in his shields, a wave of power swept over

him and a booming voice called out. “Stop right there, pixie. You’ve

done enough damage.”

Byron. Noah breathed a sigh of relief as the attack on him

stopped. He dared to throw a gaze back and saw several werewolves

had joined Byron and Kaname. In fact, there was a pretty heavy force

there, vampires, shifters, and Sidhe all focused on one goal. Noah was

somewhat surprised to see Tucker Marrow among them since he

didn’t think Byron had contacted the Marrow pack. Perhaps Tucker

had been visiting with the Wades when Byron had called.

Either way, that didn’t really matter, since the pixies were

obviously outnumbered and at a clear disadvantage. The ghouls

seemed to have scattered when the security system had gone down

and many of the fiends positioned around the entrances had obviously

been taken out by Byron’s force. As for those here, only a handful of

pixies remained able to move, obviously older and more resilient to

Byron’s power.

Elden’s mate took one look at Byron and cursed. “Fuck. We need

to go, now.”

He grabbed Elden and draped him over his shoulder. Two other

pixies took the children, and they rushed toward the other end of the

corridor. They might not have been able to make their escape, but

then, some of the rest of Elden’s accomplices began to recover, faster

than Noah would have thought. The battle exploded once more, the

pixies holding their ground with everything they had.

But it was too late. Even if their leader had escaped, they were

fighting a losing battle. They obviously hadn’t been prepared for such

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a strong response from the Sidhe, the vampires, and the shifters, and

while their numbers had been great, they were soon overpowered.

As Byron and his forces immobilized the now-defeated pixies,

Noah retreated with his mate next to Rhys’s father. Romaine was still

in Abbott’s embrace, but his color was better and he’d recovered

consciousness. “Rhys…” A small smile appeared on the incubus’s

face. “You did good, son. And you, Noah…I don’t even know what to

tell you. The two of us had a deal, but it seems like I owe you my

life.”

“Don’t worry about that, now, Dad,” Rhys told Romaine. “Noah

is fine now. He is healed. He doesn’t have to leave me.”

Romaine blinked in shock. “Oh. That’s…That’s good, then.” He

shook his head, as if trying to physically dispel his dizziness. “Where

are the others? Where is Ysanne? Did they make it to the panic

room?”

“You knew about that?” Abbott asked.

“Olympia told us,” Romaine answered. “I stayed behind to stall

the pixies long enough so that she could get everyone to safety. Did it

work?”

Noah squeezed his mate’s waist, feeling Rhys’s need for comfort.

“We’re not sure yet, but let’s hope so,” he said to Romaine.

Romaine didn’t offer him an answer. Instead, his expression

glazed over, and then he beamed widely. “They’re fine,” he breathed

out. “They’re all in the panic room. They’re fine.”

A weight lifted off of Noah’s chest. He knew there had been

casualties today, but at the very least, the incubi had been saved. If

nothing else, the first battle of this war had been won by the good

guys.

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99

Kaname Yamamoto dropped down on the couch next to his

brother, Yakumo, rubbing his eyes. “There’s no sign of my parents. I

don’t understand any of this.”

“You didn’t manage to get anything out of those pixies?” Yakumo

inquired.

“I do know the location of some of their bases, but by now, they’ll

have been emptied. Mother and Father were, indeed, here, but beyond

that, nothing is certain.”