The Warlock Who Hungered for a Demon (18 page)

demon accomplices. What are we to do?”

“You fear using the information because an incursion there will

lead to countless deaths, not only Elden’s kids, but many others who

might be innocent of all this. You know that your friends would agree

with your opinion, but a part of you still fears what they might do if

they know, and you’re afraid of it.” Sterling pinned Rhys with a

glance. “The problem here is not that you’re torn between two

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conflicting forces. In the end, Elden wants the same thing as Soren

Wade, Byron Cunningham, Elder Yamamoto, and the others. The true

issue lies with the pixies. From their point of view, this war is

justified, and as long as they won’t be coaxed into seeing things

differently, no one will be safe.”

Sterling himself had been doing some work on that front,

discussing it with his pixie guest, Kieve. Fortunately, Kieve had

received Sterling’s suggestions well. To be true, Sterling kind of

wanted to have Kieve receive something else entirely, but he pushed

those thoughts at the back of his mind. He couldn’t afford to lust over

a potential ally, not now when there were so many lives at stake.

“So what answer is there?” Rhys asked. “Two months have passed

and our efforts to save those kids and find a solution have been for

naught.”

“The children are safe. You can tell Elden and Cassyus that. For

the moment, Kaname Yamamoto’s mother, Ayaka, is taking good

care of them. Don’t disclose their location to the Cunninghams just

yet. If we can get the pixies to come to an agreement, the forces of the

demons will crumble. Their main weakness is that different demon

races of high power hate one another with a passion, so the glue

keeping their army together is the pixie element.”

“Your Majesty, this war has been going on for so long,” Noah

argued. “Can we possibly bring them to our side?”

Sterling suppressed a sigh. “We will. We have to.”

* * * *

A few hours later, Rhys and Noah finally left the Sidhe island. As

the couple departed, Sterling headed toward his quarters. He needed

to think on how to approach this. Noah was right about one thing. The

demon pixies would be anything but receptive to his attempts for

peace, especially since the Sidhe’s involvement in their defeat was a

well-known fact.

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When he reached his rooms, he nodded at the guards posted at his

door. “Your Majesty,” one of them said, “you have a visitor. We

didn’t think…But somehow…”

“A visitor?” Sterling repeated. “Who?”

As he opened the door, his gaze fell on Kieve, who was lounging

on the settee, his traditional pixie garb revealing far too much of his

creamy skin for Sterling’s comfort. Of course. In hindsight, Sterling

realized he truly shouldn’t have asked. Only Kieve would dare to

invade the privacy of Sterling’s quarters and actually manage to

convince his guards that it was a good idea.

Kieve got up and bowed lowly. “Greetings, King Sterling.”

Sterling walked inside, aware of the eyes of the guards still

watching them. “Lord Kieve, it’s always such a pleasant surprise to

see you.”

Kieve grinned at him. “Your Majesty. I hope you don’t mind me

having taken the liberty of coming here to wait for you. We still need

to finish our game.”

It was highly inappropriate, but then, Kieve was prone to

inappropriate gestures. He seemed to have no inhibitions at all where

Sterling was concerned. “Indeed we do,” Sterling replied in a cool

voice. He’d have asked the pixie to refrain from corrupting his guards

into disobedience, but there was no point. Turning toward the guards,

he smiled when he saw their panicked expressions. They were both

loyal men, which was why Sterling had them guarding his rooms in

the first place. Even so, Kieve had somehow managed to convince

them to let him inside. “Worry not. This behavior is typical to Lord

Kieve, and I’m not going to sanction you for it. That will be all.”

“Y–Yes, Your Majesty,” one of the men stammered. They fled the

room, closing the door behind them.

Once they were gone, Sterling focused on his surprise guest. “I do

wonder how exactly you do that.”

“I have my secrets, just like you do yours,” Kieve replied.

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Sterling gestured the pixie toward the table, where the chess game

they’d started the day before awaited. As they sat down, Kieve eyed

the pieces speculatively. “Should I trust that you didn’t move any of

them?”

Sterling laughed. “You know me better than that.”

“I suppose I do,” Kieve answered, although he didn’t sound fully

convinced. Sterling didn’t blame him. No one would ever fully know

him, not until he created his mate bond, not until he could share the

burden of the all-knowing Oracle with someone. Fortunately, Kieve

changed the subject. “As I understand it, Mr. Hall and Mr. Whitaker

just left. Is everything all right with them?”

Sterling moved a pawn and nodded. “Your magic worked. He is

completely healed.”

“My guess is that’s not the only reason he came. Sometimes, I

really do hate political games.” Kieve crossed his legs and smirked as

he took one of Sterling’s pawns. “Don’t you?”

Sterling analyzed the chess board and hid a smile. Kieve was

taunting him, deliberately leaving an opening toward his king by

exposing his rook, at the same time tantalizing Sterling with his

beautiful body. On a whim, Sterling used his queen to take the rook,

studiously not paying heed to Kieve’s exposed skin. “I can’t afford to

hate politics. I’m a king.”

“Indeed.” Kieve didn’t look at the chess board as he moved his

knight, putting pressure on Sterling’s king. For a man who’d lived all

his life in a tribe in the middle of nowhere, he was incredibly talented

at this game. “But not all sovereigns love leading their countries or

nations. It depends a lot on the type of man or woman you are.”

Sterling tilted his head at Kieve and took Kieve’s knight with his

bishop. “Politics is a tool in the hands of powerful people. It is like

this chess board, and we are all pieces.”

“Which pieces are we, then?” Kieve asked. He caressed the curve

of the bishop with his fingers then swept them over Sterling’s king.

Sterling had never thought he’d be jealous of a chess piece.

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“That’s for each of us to decide.” All of a sudden, all of Sterling’s

uncertainties fled. “We can also be the mind that controls all the other

pieces.”

“Can we be that, King Sterling?” Kieve’s voice was quiet, his

expression having gone completely serious. “Can we end this game?”

Sterling almost reached out for Kieve’s hand, but kept himself

from doing so at the last moment. “We can. It’s lasted long enough.

We must end it, so we can begin another game, start over, and build

everything anew.”

As he spoke, he heard the Oracle’s voice in his mind.
“You will,

Sterling. All you have to do is believe, and be very careful. You might

find that your enemies are taking action sooner than we thought.”

Knowledge filled Sterling’s mind, and he frowned at the chess

pieces. Already making plans, he got up. “I’m afraid something has

come up. We’ll finish this another time. Please, remain in my

quarters.”

Kieve opened his mouth, obviously intending to protest, but

Sterling didn’t allow Kieve to speak. Without looking back, Sterling

left the room. Why was it that the Oracle always told him about these

things at the last moment?

Sterling berated himself for that fleeting thought. He knew all too

well that the Oracle’s eyes were not all-seeing. She read people’s

hearts and gave him a view of possible futures, but even she had her

limits. But Sterling could not consider himself a capable king if he

didn’t deal with each threat as it came to him. This time around would

be no different. For his people, for Winter, Kieve, and his own future,

he would eliminate the problem, no matter what.

* * * *

Rhys leaned against his mate, looking out the helicopter’s

window.
“So what did you think about what King Sterling said?”
he

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asked through their bond. They had a Sidhe escort with them, and he

didn’t want the two men to overhear his conversation with Noah.

“He was telling the truth regarding the children,”
Noah replied.

“I don’t think he would lie to us, not about that at least. But he has

his own interests, and we need to be wary of that.”

“That’s true.”
Rhys sighed. Even if his trust in Elden was shaken,

he still felt helpless and useless because he had not been able to find a

way out of the situation
. “I just don’t understand what the demons are

doing. What are they up to now?”

“Regrouping, probably. They want to make sure there aren’t

going to be any mistakes next time.”

“But surely they must realize that during this time, we’re doing

the same thing.”

“Are we?”
Noah arched a brow.
“We might be preparing for an

attack, but do we truly know what approach our enemies will

follow?”

Rhys shook his head, ignoring the curious glances he received

from the Sidhe escort. Noah was right. They didn’t know the demons’

plan, which was just one of the numerous reasons why Rhys couldn’t

just go ahead and reveal his communication with Elden. They had

only met once, a brief five-minute thing that had convinced Rhys into

accepting to help Elden in the first place. So right now, everything

was a mess. Rhys and Noah were running on incomplete information,

which could be more harmful than no information at all. Elden and

Cassyus still worried for their kids. In the meantime, Sterling seemed

aware of everything that was going on, but had told them to wait.

“How much longer to we have to wait?”
Rhys asked, frustrated.

“I just want everyone to be safe.”

Noah took Rhys’s hand and squeezed it.
“I know you want that,

baby, but we can’t rush this. King Sterling is right about one thing.

The situation is too delicate for it to have a simple solution.”

Rhys glanced at his mate, taking in his beloved features. He didn’t

want to think about all of this anymore. He just craved a few moments

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alone with his mate, to enjoy their connection without the cloud of

impeding war looming over them.

Noah brushed his thumb over Rhys’s lower lip, and Rhys took

advantage of the occasion to suck it into his mouth. The act drew a

groan out of Noah, and Rhys interpreted the sound as an invitation.

He climbed into Noah’s lap, aware of the gaze of the other occupants

of the helicopter, but not caring enough to actually stop touching

Noah.

He rubbed his ass against Noah’s erection, clutching his mate’s

shoulder as he rocked against the other man. Through their bond, he

could tell the warlock was considering undressing them both. Sadly,

he changed his mind at the last minute and chose to kiss Rhys instead.

Rhys would have protested since his hunger for Noah had awakened,

but the lip-lock was truly too delicious for him to deny Noah

anything.

Alas, they were snapped out of their haze when the helicopter

suddenly started moving erratically. Rhys tore his mouth away from

Noah as alarms started blaring. In the distance, a bright light

appeared, coming from the direction of the Sidhe island. With it came

a powerful force that shook the helicopter, killing its systems and

threatening to plunge the aircraft into the ocean.

Noah cast a quick spell, steadying them while the pilots struggled

to regain control of the aircraft. Rhys held on to Noah’s hand, lending

the warlock his strength. It wasn’t easy to sustain a helicopter of

several tons and keep it from crashing. Beneath them, the water

almost seemed to be shining, a beautiful, yet disquieting glow light

emanating from the waves.

Fortunately, the force soon started to retreat, something Rhys

mostly blamed on the distance between them and the Sidhe island.

The odd radiance continued to surround Sterling Tomacelli’s home,