Life Cycle

A tiny voice way far away knew everything about this demon was an illusion to seduce her, but he was perfection. He looked perfect, he smelled perfect, and his voice was a perfect, haunting melody that would sing her to sleep.



The only thing that existed in this moment was desire. It was a desire so strong it was beginning to cause physical pain. She needed him inside her now.



“Please, Cain,” she whimpered, hating the lost, desperate tone her voice had taken.



“Oh, good. I knew you’d see things my way and beg.”



Maybe with her shields up, she could have thrown an appropriate retort or energy ball to wipe the smug look off his face. God, she hated him. But the only thing that would travel along her vocal cords and out her mouth was, “Please, fuck me.”



He chuckled. “Maybe I should toy with you a bit first. You have been quite an annoying little shit. You’ve thrown energy balls at me twice. Both times were inopportune. You made me look weak in front of my people. And now... here we are.”



Tam pushed through the haze of images of groping and body parts sliding against each other—his hypnotic, seductive voice, the eyes that occasionally flickered with fire and so much heat she thought she might combust—and said, “Eight thousand years and you still have the ego of a human.”



Cain’s eyes glowed dangerously. He pushed her back on the couch, his hand wrapped around her throat. “I could kill you the old-fashioned way.”



She shrugged—or did a bad impression of a shrug, since it was hard to do that with the way he had her positioned. He’d pulled back on the demon mojo enough for her to stop squirming against him. “I honestly don’t care what you do, Cain. But I don’t think killing me in a mundane way will work. You have to use your magic. So I guess you’re stuck fucking me, unless you want an annoying child following you around and kicking your ass. That’ll look great on your ego.”



Several things happened at once. He growled, ripped her shirt off her, sent a burst of images and desire her way, and captured her mouth in a kiss so hot she nearly melted. The onslaught was too overwhelming to fight. She was thrown down a dark hole of lust from which she didn’t think she could escape.



Her mind emptied itself of all its contents except the demon in front of her. The way he smelled, the way he felt as his hands slid over her. She couldn’t separate what was in her mind from what was actually happening. She felt drugged with him, and she never wanted to come down from the high.



Somehow, in this state, the rest of her clothes had been taken from her. Nothing could have prepared her for the feel of him inside her. The warmth of him, the arousal that came partly from what was happening and partly from the images he kept sending.



Even through the haze, knowing what he was, she felt him pulling the energy from her, the warm tingling as it moved over her body, so comforting and pleasurable and deadly. The orgasm hit her like a wave trying to pull her under, but she rode it until she was wrung out and certain she was about to die. If she’d wanted to turn back now, it would’ve been too late. She was irrevocably caught in his web, and all she could do was moan in his arms like the uncountable number of unfortunate souls before her.



But then it stopped. Cain’s weight lifted off her. It took her a moment to fight through the disorientation, the hazy mix of sexual feelings and idle thoughts about the end. As she came back to herself, she looked around, convinced someone must have interrupted them and pulled him off her. Probably Luc.



But there was no one. Only them. The demon stood a few feet away: naked, dark, and beautiful, looking at her as if she were a poisonous snake.



“Why am I still here?”



He just watched her.



Tam felt her energy growing, her life force mending itself, and with it, her anger rose. She put her shields back up, stood, and stormed toward him, flicking her hand up to form a glowing purple ball of energy as she went.



“Why, Cain? You promised me! How hard can it possibly be to kill a woman you hate?”



But he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, continuing with that inscrutable stare.



She threw the energy ball at him, but he seemed braced and ready for it. He went noncorporeal, the purple ball going through him to hit the fabric of the tent instead. A few seconds elapsed, and she created and threw another one. This time he was solid, and he did fall. He glared up at her from the ground, but he didn’t seek to restrain her.



The third energy ball she threw called in several of his demons. One gripped one of her arms, another grabbed the other. A third stood behind her and held a hand over her mouth so she couldn’t chant to protect herself.



Cain rose slowly to his feet, brushing sand off that perfect body. “Take your hands off her.” His voice was deadly, and Tam regretted throwing the magic at him. She might end up with a horrific death at his hands after all.



“But boss, she—”



He pulled one of the demons off her like he was a rag doll and growled. “I said, take your hands off her. No one touches her but me, do you understand? No feeding, no playing, no harming.”



“But she—”



“Keep arguing with me, Jackson. Find out where it leads.”



Jackson looked at the ground and took a step back from the demon. “My apologies, sir.”



The other two demons released her and backed away. Tam was too stunned to throw any more magic, and a little wiped after what had transpired between the two of them. She wished he’d put some clothes on, because residual lust still hung in the air, and now was a stupid time for that.



“Get out. All of you,” he snarled. “I don’t want a single demon in this tent unless I specifically call for one.”



Quick nods all around, and they backed out of the tent, keeping a wary eye on their leader in case he should retaliate anyway.



Tam took a step back as the demon leader stalked toward her. She held her hands up. “I’m sorry.” Was she? She wasn’t sure, but the look in his eyes was terrifying. She’d signed up for a quick end from a strong being that wouldn’t hurt—not torture. As fun as it was to kick his ass, she was outnumbered by his kind here.



His eyes weren’t on hers, they were on her arms, both of which were already forming angry bruises from the way the demons had manhandled her. He rubbed the dark marks. “Does it hurt?”



What the hell? “No, I’m fine.”



He nodded and went to put his jeans back on. Tam’s clothing had been destroyed in the fight. Noting her dilemma, he crossed to an elegant trunk and pulled out something gold and shimmery and tossed it to her.



Tam held the dress away from her as if it might bite. It was long and flowy and made of lightweight material that was the slightest bit transparent. Very sexy. She’d look like a goddess descending from Mount Olympus in it, but if he didn’t want other demons touching her, this wasn’t the outfit. “Are you freaking kidding me?” she said, still holding it like it might be coated in a deadly toxin.



“No. I am not kidding you. You wear that, and the demons here know you’re somebody else’s meal. We don’t steal from each other. It’s one of my rules. Demons don’t break my rules or they pay.”



She wanted to argue. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t killed her. “This isn’t a game. I obviously don’t trust you, but I thought you wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to kill me. This doesn’t have to be complicated.”



“Put the dress on, Tamara,” he said ignoring her lame attempt at stalling.



She didn’t know why she put it on.



Cain nodded his approval and turned to leave.



“Wait! Don’t turn your back on me. Are you really that stupid?” She had an energy ball ready to go when he turned back around.



“Are you sure this is how you want to engage with me, Tam? Do you know what my demons would have done to you if I hadn’t stopped them? They are very loyal. You don’t attack me here. Maybe in your silly human world, but not here.” He spoke without raising his voice at her. His tone was level. His eyes didn’t even glow, but they didn’t have to.



The energy ball faded and died in her hand. “You promised you’d kill me. Before you got to my house, I was going to come find you because I thought you’d do it.”



A look of surprise crossed his face, but he covered it. “And that promise still stands.” He moved toward her and stroked her cheek. “I will kill you when I tire of you. And there is nothing you can do about it. Throwing energy balls at me will only make me disinclined to put you out of your misery. Just enjoy the ride, sweetheart. You’ll die soon enough... when I get bored. Believe me, that’s never taken longer than a week. Surely you can struggle through a week of passion with me.”



Every fiber in her being screamed to kill him, not that she could. The second best option would be to seal him in a jar and bury it in the middle of his desert where no one would ever find it—an option she was considering.



“I’m not going to be your concubine.”



A smirk. “Of course you are. What other option do you have?”



Smug bastard.



“I’ll get another demon to do it.” Though any demon she asked could just do what Cain had done. Before long she’d be the demon slut with a death wish. Gross. And anyway, there were no guarantees any given demon would be strong enough. Some might be too young. Did she really want to risk starting a new cycle? Cain was a sure thing.



“They won’t do it. They’re afraid of me. You should be, too. I can do a lot more interesting things than kill you.”



He left before she could form a retort. She hated that demon.



Chapter Two



When Cain stepped outside the tent, a group had gathered, murmuring and whispering. “That witch is mine. Anybody who touches her will face imprisonment. And I’m not in the mood to make it a light sentence.”



A few throats cleared and a couple of Yes sirs filled the air.



“Good. Spread the word. Nobody touches her.” He selected two demons from the group for the first guard duty and left the city to go to the one place he always went to think: the caves that served as the dimension’s prison.



Each disobedient demon was in his own pod, the stone sealed tightly around him, starving and going mad. But anyone stumbling upon the caves wouldn’t know that.



It was silent and peaceful in the dark, twisting caves. It was a place Cain could wander to think without fear of being disturbed. No demon in his right mind came near this place. They all feared it. It was their one symbol of abject terror, much like the humans feared Hell. No one walked in willingly, except the man with the keys to the place.



Cain sat on a large rock and put his head in his hands. He shed the glamour he always wore to attract prey and ran his fingers along the scar on his forehead. He was so good at betraying and killing people, so why hadn’t he killed her?



It wasn’t a simple motivation to untangle. Part of it was jealousy—the fact that she could waltz in and demand freedom when he had no such recourse. He was stuck in this form for eternity, why shouldn’t someone else who’d made that bed lie in it? Why should she get off so easily? The witch had actively chosen this.



Another, more subtle reason pushed from beneath the surface like grass fighting through the cracks in concrete. It was a reason he didn’t want to analyze too deeply. She was two thousand years old. He might have six thousand years on her, but at some point the years blended together. It wasn’t as if he wanted to make her his mate, but if he ever wanted something like that with someone, Tam represented the only woman who could be remotely suitable. Killing her before he was sure he never wanted that didn’t seem prudent.



Human women now were such silly things. But he could feel the age on the witch in big and small ways: her nonchalance at the prospect of death, the deep wisdom in her eyes, her unconcern with her own nudity in the presence of strangers. Most women—without thrall—would have rushed to cover up if they weren’t playing the role of seductress. They couldn’t have just been there with him and the other demons and it not even occur to them that they should cover up. Tam had stood there in all her naked glory, too old to have sexual hang-ups.



She’d also been strong enough that she could fight his thrall—to some degree. That had never happened. The fact that she could make a snide remark in the middle of everything... it was hard not to respect that. How could he just snuff that out? He sighed. Within a week, I’ll be bored, then I’ll be able to do it. And if he couldn’t? He might as well seal himself in a magic bottle. Getting involved with a witch was too dangerous.



He wandered the caves, not ready to go back to town. He didn’t want to look at her or deal with demon whisperings about why he’d kept a powerful witch alive in their camp. They surely knew by now why she was here. It had to have crossed all of their minds that it was simpler and safer to kill her than to protect her. As long as it wasn’t by The Cycler’s hand, it was a clear win.



But despite the things that made him want to kill her, she’d fought with him—on his side. She’d pledged allegiance to fight with his kind and bring her coven with her. He hadn’t felt such conflicting emotions about a human in a long time, so long he thought he’d lost the ability to think of them in any terms but feeding. Disposable microwavable dinners in flesh cartons. A bit cuter, but that was the basic way he classed the species as a whole. Now he had a two-thousand-year-old, magical gourmet feast and he’d just left the table.



He needed a drink.



***



Tam posed in front of a freestanding, antique mirror. The reflection was cloudy, like old mirrors are, but she could see enough. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like the dress, but no way was she flouncing about looking like some Underworld God’s concubine. She wouldn’t give Cain the satisfaction.



And she didn’t need protecting from the other demons. She had magic. The only reason she’d been subdued by his thugs in the first place was that three had rushed her all at once right after she was depleted and disoriented from screwing Cain. Plus there was the earlier packing spell. It was a lot of energy to use all at once, ungrounded by other magic users—even with her age.