The Warlock Who Hungered for a Demon (2 page)

cronies entering the cell. A gust of pure, fresh emotions struck Rhys,

bringing with them an unexpected wave of strength.

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Rhys struggled to focus his vision and, to his surprise, actually

succeeded. A dark-haired man walked toward him and knelt by his

side. “Dear gods,” the man murmured. “What did he do to you?”

For a few seconds, Rhys thought he’d fallen into a dream. The

new arrival was a vision, everything Rhys had ever desired in a man.

Muscular, but not thick or heavy, he moved with a feline grace that

would have rivaled that of any shifter in the world. His smoky gray

eyes held a storm of emotions that awoke Rhys’s every instinct.

Rhys reached out to him, hissing as he touched the other man’s

skin. The contact was electric. Unlike the artificial lust he’d

experienced in the warlock guard’s presence, this was his own need

and desire, combined with a clear response coming from the stranger.

On instinct, Rhys released his incubus powers, summoning the

man to him. The guy groaned. “Please, baby, don’t do that now. I

need to focus, and I can’t with you distracting me.”

It hurt to be called a distraction, but Rhys could feel what the man

truly wanted. Rhys’s anus clenched in response to the deep desire he

felt coming from the man. He opened his mouth to whisper something

appropriately seductive, but he never got the chance. The stranger

swept his tongue over Rhys’s lips, pain and anger mixing with the

lust. “Hush now,” he said. “You’re not in any condition for sexual

acrobatics, but I’ll give you what you want.”

Soft lips pressed against his, the kiss echoing through Rhys like

thunder, lightning, hail, sandstorm, and at the same time, as gentle as

a spring breeze. It was a force of nature, sating Rhys’s hunger and

whetting it, making him lust for more.

Rhys tried to wrap his arms around the man’s neck, but there were

still shackles around his wrists and chains binding him against the

floor, leaving him immobilized. The realization brought to mind his

situation, but still, when the stranger broke their kiss, he whimpered

in distress, not caring about anything except exploring the attraction

between them.

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11

However, the other man seemed tense. Rhys sensed his new

friend’s frustration and apprehension, and as he struggled to identify

the cause, Rhys realized that the sound of approaching footsteps

echoed outside. He panicked, knowing all too well that if the man was

found here, he would be killed. “You have to go,” he told the stranger.

“You can’t be discovered here.”

“Fuck,” the man cursed under his breath. “I can’t just leave you.”

“You can’t rescue me if you get killed,” Rhys replied. “Besides,

you’ve already helped me. Now go.”

With clear reluctance, the stranger got up. “Wait for me, all right?

I’ll get you out. I promise.”

Rhys nodded, oddly believing the man. Even if his body craved

the stranger like he’d never desired anyone in his life, he found that

just their brief lip-lock had given him the strength to withstand

whatever Tyrell decided to throw his way.

After brushing one last kiss against Rhys’s lips, the man slipped

out of the cell. Rhys heard the door lock again and fell back down on

the floor. He almost thought it had all been a dream, but the power of

the emotion still buzzing through Rhys was undeniable and the

stranger’s scent still invaded Rhys’s nostrils. With a gasp, Rhys

realized he didn’t even know the man’s name. How could he have

forgotten to ask?

But he could not linger on that problem now. For the first time,

the door opened, this time revealing a couple of guards who carried

several unconscious men. Rhys fought to suppress his dismay as he

noticed the men in question were wolf-shifters he knew, Brody

Williams-Wade and Anson Wright. They were still alive, but badly

injured.

In spite of the horror coursing through him, Rhys pretended to be

unconscious as well. The fuel of the stranger’s emotion had given him

much-needed strength, but it wouldn’t hold out for long. He had to

appear completely inconspicuous and not draw attention to himself.

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Rhys guessed there were probably other prisoners because he felt

more guards moving in the cells around them. Brody and his group

must have come to rescue Rhys, but they’d been ambushed just like

Rhys had been.

Rhys’s only hope now lay in the magnificent stranger who could

easily be a figment of his imagination. Fortunately, the guards didn’t

pay any heed to Rhys, and after binding Brody and Anson to the

walls, they left. Rhys’s thoughts went to his unexpected friend. He

was no longer the only one who needed to be saved. There were other

people here, people with families, mates, and children. Surely, fate

couldn’t be so cruel as to allow them all to die.

He didn’t know how long he waited. It could have been seconds,

hours, or years. Time flowed differently when he had the threat of

impending death looming above him. And then, an explosion shook

the house, startling Rhys out of his pain-induced daze. The scent of

smoke reached him, and he realized in horror that fire was consuming

what had once been Tyrell Hall’s coven.

Just as Rhys thought all hope was lost, the door burst open once

more, and the stranger ran inside. His gray eyes blazed, and an

incantation escaped his lips. Rhys gaped as the chains fell from his

wrists, releasing him. A warlock. His new friend was a warlock.

The feeling of urgency he sensed coming from the man kept him

from asking any questions, though. “I need to keep the fire in check,”

the man said. “It’s spreading too quickly. We’ll never manage to get

everyone out.”

Rhys nodded and gestured the man to sit down. “We can do it

together.”

He might be weak, but just the stranger’s proximity strengthened

him. As the warlock held him close, Rhys focused every power he

had left, feeding it into the man’s body. And as their magic entwined,

Rhys knew without a doubt that from this moment on, so would their

lives be bonded together for the rest of eternity.

The Warlock Who Hungered for a Demon

13

“There must be some mistake.” Rhys shook his head, not wanting

to believe what his father was telling him. “Demons have not made

contact with us in centuries.”

“It’s no mistake,” the older incubus replied, giving Rhys a

narrow-eyed look. “I’ve read over the information Kaname

Yamamoto provided and done my own inquiries. Understand, I can’t

be certain, but if you want my honest opinion, I think demons have

indeed come out of the woodwork and awakened the older

Yamamotos.”

Rhys groaned, burying his face in his hands. What his father was

telling him made sense. Demon magic was erratic and intense, and

combined with that of vampires, it could easily lead to unbalancing

the minds of the former vampire elders. Still, this was the last thing

they needed right now. Rhys had been hoping for at least a couple of

days of free time to untangle the threads of his own messed-up life,

but apparently, that was too much to ask for.

Shaking his head, Rhys gazed at his father once more. “Any clue

as to why they’d even want that?”

The older incubus’s fingers tapped a rhythm on the desk surface

as he replied. “Well, as you know, Rhys, there are many individual

species of demons and they each have different motives, purposes,

and behaviors. I honestly don’t see imps or gremlins doing anything

like this. They don’t have the power or the organization, though they

might be attracted to the chaos such a plan would provide. However,

the fiends have always been ambitious and the ghouls thrive on

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suffering of any type. Personally, I’m praying that it won’t be the

ghouls since you know what happened last time they took over.”

Rhys nodded, suppressing a shudder. Ghouls were known to have

the ability to spread disease, like incubi could induce arousal. They

had run rampant during the time of the Black Plague. But they were

more inclined to take advantage of humankind, rather than

paranormal races, not to mention Rhys wasn’t sure they had the

power to awaken a vampire from the sleep of the dead.

“At any rate,” the other man continued, “we will be arranging an

expedition to investigate this further.”

For the moment, nothing was certain, but this was definitely

information Rhys needed to share with the vampire elder. “All right,

Father,” he told the older incubus. “I’ll tell Kaname Yamamoto. If

ghouls or any other demons are behind this, he needs to know so that

he can protect himself and his people.”

His father waved him off. “You do that, Rhys. And while you’re

at it, have a chat with that warlock of yours. You two are driving me

crazy with your hesitation to make a simple choice. As I see it, there’s

only one clear outcome to this situation, so you should hurry up and

get there already.”

Rhys couldn’t help it. He smiled. He knew his father had never

truly found his soul mate, and while he cared about Rhys’s

stepmother, it wasn’t true love, not that special, unique one that

existed between mates. Even so, the older incubus had been very

encouraging, going so far as to give Rhys advice on how to seduce the

warlock.

“You know it’s not that easy,” he replied. “Noah…” He sighed,

just uttering the other man’s name making deep emotions bubble

inside him. “Noah is special.”

“I’m sure he is, if he can reduce my eldest to a quivering mess.

Now go. I need you focused if we’re going to deal with this, and you

haven’t been feeding well in recent weeks. I wish for you to be in

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15

charge of this expedition, but the way things are going…I won’t have

it, you hear me?”

“Yes, Father.” Rhys fought back his dismay, no longer amused in

the slightest. His parent was right, of course, but Rhys couldn’t bring

himself to touch anyone who wasn’t Noah. Unfortunately, the

warlock didn’t want him, not like that. They were friends, and nothing

more. Rhys cared about Noah too much to force him into a

relationship the warlock didn’t want.

His father looked skeptical, but nevertheless, let Rhys go. Rhys

fled the older incubus’s office, his mind and body already demanding

Noah’s presence. Fortunately, Noah seemed to have some sort of

sixth sense as to when Rhys needed him, as Rhys ran straight into the

warlock.

“Is everything all right, Rhys?” Noah inquired, his tone

concerned.

Rhys nodded, then changed his mind and shook his head. His soul

ached just at being with Noah and acknowledging the fact that he’d

never get the chance to taste Noah’s lips again, to fully experience

Noah’s touch. Shaking himself, he focused on explaining the situation

to his friend. “Father said he suspects demons might be behind the

awakening of the elder Yamamotos. We’re looking into what breed

could have done it, but for the moment, I need to call Kaname

Yamamoto.”

“Just a second.” Noah stopped him. “There’s more to it than that,

isn’t it? Abbott is angry with me.”

Rhys winced at his friend’s reference to his father. Truly, it

sometimes seemed that Noah was an incubus as well since he had an

almost uncanny knack in grasping Rhys’s states of mind and

emotions. “Not with you,” he replied. “With me.”

“Because you haven’t been feeding.” Noah’s gaze pierced Rhys

like a dagger. The warlock pulled Rhys out of the corridor and into a

nearby empty room. Even through the material of Rhys’s shirt,

Noah’s touch burned Rhys, and he almost hissed. It was both a relief

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and a terrible loss when Noah released him. “You have to stop this,

Rhys. You’ve lost weight, and you refuse to do anything about it.

How much longer do you think you can keep going?”

“I’m trying to find a solution that works for me,” Rhys answered.

“Don’t worry so much. I’ll be fine.”

Noah gripped Rhys’s chin and forced Rhys to meet his gaze. “But