A Warrior's Quest Read online

  She had had little time to take Aureliana on something as trivial as explorations. And the damned Wolf god had refused her requests, stating only that a girl Dardaptoan would be in too much danger in this place.

  Danger from what, Aureliana would like to know.

  Hadn’t she protected herself against more than two dozen Lupoiux?

  At least by learning of this realm what she could, she would be doing something to protect the goddess’s—and Jierra’s—babes’ futures. It would be a legacy she could leave them.

  She would leave nothing else behind but the sword still strapped to her hip.

  Perhaps, by the time she passed on, her brother Aodhan and his Rajni Mallory would have had a child? Or perhaps Marous, or Clavion, or their other fourteen brothers would have found their Rajnis and made children?

  Perhaps she would have some time with the next generation of Adrastos’?

  Somehow she doubted that would happen.

  She wasn’t even certain she’d live until next week. Something was about to happen around here. Something involving her.

  Chapter Three

  He saw the girl warrior enter the room, and he smiled at the way his heart increased. It always had when he faced a challenge. And this woman was challenge for any man. Of whatever color blood, not just red. Even green blooded creatures such as him would see her for what she was.

  A fighter. Beautiful.

  She was paler than he remembered, thinner. Worry hit him briefly. Had she not recovered, then? She had first been wounded at his hand, then a few months later had been used as an exhibition of fighting by a rogue band of wolves. She’d been bruised and battered by the male animals for entertainment. Did her injuries still plague her?

  Would she be strong enough for the future she now faced? Hadn’t his sister-in-law told him how fragile the females of her Kind actually were? Would he face the added burden of protecting her from her own weaknesses?

  It was a Herculean task set before him to care for this female. But he was the head of warriors for his people; even Rathan did not claim such a distinction. Rathan was Incubus demon fully. They shared a father but not a mother. Ren himself was both Incubus demon and Warrior demon. The best of both breeds, the blood of the strongest of each flowed in his body.

  None could protect such a fragile flower as this but him.

  She had yet to see him and he liked that. He wanted to study her, determine what about her it was that had him breaking his vow to only offer consort to those of his Kind. Just to look at her wasn’t to get him the answers he sought.

  She was small compared to the warrior women he knew. They were often six and a half feet tall to his seven and a half feet plus height. The girl Dardaptoan was probably just under six feet or so. And thin for his tastes. He far preferred strong, stout women capable of holding their own with him.

  He would break this female were he to touch her. Why hadn’t he realized that before? Had he ever, in two thousand years on the world, been with a female as small as she?

  He did not think so.

  He scowled at her.

  She looked up.

  He was too far away to see the full extent of her emotions on her face, but surprise was evident right away.

  He started across the lobby toward her.

  ***

  Aureliana tried not to let her conflicting emotions surface for the big beast to see. He was still purple of all things. Purple.

  Her Rajni had the Warrior demon ability to turn his skin any color for camouflage. Was it wrong for her to be a bit weirded out by such a thing?

  Belnus said something to her, but Auri missed it. Why was the demon here? Had something happened to Kindara or her babe? Someone else? Bronwen? He breath caught and she started walking toward him. Why would it have to be him here? She had just gotten past the point where she missed him at night, though he had never held her more than the few times he’d carried her when she’d been injured.

  But he was her Rajni and her soul cried out for him. It probably would forever. She could not stop that. She forced herself not to reach for him. Instead she met his gaze with a cool one of her own. “Why are you here?”

  “I have come to fetch you, female.”

  “And I have no say in the matter? Who sent you?” It could really only be two people, Kindara or her demon. “Is Kindara well? The babe?”

  “My nephew grows extremely strong.” He nodded his head, full of arrogance. “It is his mother who wishes for you. I believe she may be homesick, and with her daughter gone as well. She asks for you for mere comfort in this time of hers. So, I have been sent to fetch you.”

  He’d said the one thing designed to get her instant compliance. “We can leave tonight.”

  “Nonsense. I doubt you have yet eaten, and I need sustenance, as well. If we were to leave now we would arrive in Relaklonos too late even for a simple meal. They are on a different time pattern than Levia, remember?”

  She hadn’t, but it didn’t matter. At least this was something she wanted. She hadn’t been banished to Levia for punishment—had chosen to go to help Jierra adjust to her new life. But Jierra was happy and settled, and fast becoming the right-hand woman of none other than a goddess.

  Jierra didn’t need Aureliana anymore.

  But apparently Kindara did.

  “So we eat. First light, we head to Relaklonos.”

  She wasn’t so thrilled to be going back to the demon realm. She’d had two experiences there, and neither had been safe and secure for her. Canon fire and slavers did not a happy Aureliana make. That was for sure.

  But her best friend waited. That was all the draw she needed.

  The next morning she was knocking on the demon’s door at first light. He opened the door and greeted her with a not-so-friendly expression.

  Apparently her Rajni did not wake easily. Unlike her.

  Proof yet again that something had gone haywire with the goddess at Aureliana’s birth four hundred years ago. Why else would the goddess have paired her with a creature that apparently slept naked…in the purple?

  Would she live long enough to ever get used to that particular skill of his?

  “Does Cerridwen turn colors, as well?” His daughter was a tiny little princess that Aureliana already adored.

  “No. This is something only those Warrior males are capable of. No female has ever managed it. Or so go the legends.”

  “So not surprising. Women warriors can do the same as men, in my world.” They couldn’t. But hopefully he didn’t know that. There was only one female warrior in the Dardaptoan Kind that she knew of. The fact that only she had become strong enough, fast enough, and skilled enough to carry the distinction of warrior set her apart from the rest of her people, and she knew it.

  And that was why the damned Beansidhe had noticed her to begin with.

  Chapter Four

  She was looking at him strangely, those damned odd yellow eyes of hers appraising. He’d always hated when she looked at him just like that.

  He’d always felt like he was lacking in something when she stared like that. Felt like a bug, or something even lower. Something unworthy of her.

  Which was a ridiculous thought, anyway. He didn’t want her. Not really.

  He preferred women who wanted him in return, not one who looked at him that way. “Go away, female. It is far too early for you to be bedeviling me.”

  “We’re going to Relaklonos now. Get your things.” She pushed past him into his room. “I prefer not to dawdle all day. Besides, Kindara is waiting.”

  “Woman, I was up late speaking with the wolf. I just found my bed two hours ago. Return to your room, I will fetch you there.” He tried not to growl at this female, best friend to his sister-in-law. He’d come to greatly admire and like Kindara in the time she had been with his brother. Alienating this girl would only serve to upset Kindara. He would not do that.

  But dammit, he hated when people woke him.

  “You can sleep once we g
et to Relaklonos. I need to get out of here.”

  “That’s the truth.” He wrapped his hands around her arms, and lifted her. He bounced her across the thick mattress. “I do not wake friendly, unless you are an attractive female with whom I’ve a previous acquaintance.”

  He followed her down, using his much larger body to hold hers in place. She fought and squirmed, but he’d expected no less from a self-proclaimed warrior girl. “You do not come to a Warrior’s room so early in the morn. Especially one whose father was king of Incubi. I might not need to feed the way my brother does, but dammit, female; you would make a delicious little snack.” He kissed her, hard. Rough. Taking from her exactly what he’d threatened.

  She tasted sweet, just like he knew she would. He’d offered her a consort bargain once before and she’d turned him down. Turned him down, son of the Incubus king.

  He took that ire out on her mouth now.

  Her hands were against his chest, small, inconsequential to him. She could not dislodge him, even if she tried.

  He pulled away from her mouth, then bit the area right beneath her left ear. She squealed. He growled at her to be silent. She was not getting out of his bed until he told her she could.

  She’d brought this on, storming into his room with him only half awake. She had to know her actions would have a cost. She was old enough to understand that, though she was but an eighth his age.

  He pulled the tunic she wore loose—it was the kind with buttons that slid open easily when touched by a man’s big hands. Had she worn the tunic for anyone in particular? She was not mated—the wolf Taniss had explained Dardaptoan mating to him months ago—but that didn’t mean some male had not captured her attention.

  That had him growing even angrier. She had turned him down, but accepted attention from a mere Dardaptoan man?

  He bit through the thin elastic of her bra with his demon teeth. She squealed again, pushing on his shoulders. “Get off me, you barbarian, or I’ll rip your head off your shoulders.”

  “I’m not a barbarian. I’m an incubus half-breed, and you are very very tasty.” He proved his theory by closing his lips around one rose nipple. He sucked, hard, until she was squealing again. He cupped her free breast and squeezed, rolling the nipple through his fingers with deliberation. “I can have you any time that I want. Especially if you put yourself in my reach. Do you understand?”

  He didn’t wait for her answer, but he also couldn’t resist the opportunity right in front of him. He leaned down and kissed her breast again. She just tasted too damned good not to.

  ***

  Aureliana wanted to fight him. This was definitely not something she needed now. No matter how much her body was crying out for her Rajni.

  He was still freaking purple. She couldn’t want him. It was just a trick of him being incubus. Hadn’t Kindara told her that Rathan was the hottest thing she’d ever seen? Why wouldn’t his brother have at least half that power?

  “Let me go.” She pushed against him, trying to ignore what his mouth was doing. Demon teeth were sharp, pointed, but somehow she didn’t mind. She arched her back, pushing her breast deeper into his mouth. Damn him.

  “Perhaps, little girl, you have rethought your stance on consorting with one such as me. I can guarantee you will love what I will do to you.” His hand slipped into the waistband of her trousers, toyed with the silk garment she wore beneath. Aureliana yelped and tried squeezing her legs closed. All that did was bring her body into closer contact with his hand.

  His eyes darkened when he looked up at her. “Take these off. Let me feast upon you.”

  No, no, no. If she did that she would never regain her soul. She knew that. Had known that from the moment she awoke in Relaklonos that first day, and knew she had met her Rajni. Met him in a big, hard-hearted, arrogant, and unloving demon prince. “Let me go. Before I start screaming.”

  “Stubborn female. You would enjoy it. I can promise you that.”

  But he rolled off of her. Aureliana grabbed her vestis and pulled it over her shoulders. Her bra was ruined; she’d have to get another from her suite and hope she didn’t pass anyone in the hallway.

  He was staring at her while she righted her clothing. She stared right back. “Don’t do that again. Or it will be you who feels my sword.”

  His hands were ruthless, rough, when they yanked her from the bed. He growled in her ear. Nipped her there, hard. But his words were cold. “Remember, pet, I do not take kindly to threats.”

  Chapter Five

  Aureliana hugged Kindara and barely resisted the urge to cling. Only that there would be questions kept her emotions in check. Kindara looked well.

  Better than she had in a long, long time. Her belly was rounded significantly now, her pregnancy close to eight months along.

  But it was the glow in her eyes that reassured Aureliana the most.

  Kindara was happy again. And that was all that mattered. Kindara’s first questions were for her daughter and grandchildren. Aureliana pointed to a bag that had accompanied her through the portal key. “Pictures. Probably a thousand.”

  “We’ll look at them in a little bit.” Kindara led the way up the regal staircase that bisected the main hall of Rathan’s family home. “First, let’s get you settled. I’m sure Rathan and Ren can carry your bags up in a few minutes.”

  Kindara sent a meaningful look at her demon, and Rathan nodded. He smiled charmingly at Aureliana. They understood each other, Rathan and Aureliana. And both loved Kindara; that made her and the demon life-long allies.

  But the demon’s brother...Renakletos was a totally different story.

  She’d hightailed it back to her room, feeling more like a coward than she ever had in four hundred years. She had run from only two things in her life—the Beansidhe, and now the male who should mean the most to her.

  What did that say about her?

  She had stayed in her suite until he’d sent a servant to fetch her, like a weak, useless female of old. She’d felt it prudent to stay as far away from the big bastard as she could get.

  Look what had happened the first time they were alone. He had been so...so...so insistent, so forceful. And Aureliana hadn’t cared in the least. At first.

  It was when she remembered the possible repercussions of what he had been doing to her that she’d started to mind.

  So she’d pushed her Rajni away, even when her body was saying to hold him close. To make little half-demon/half-Dardaptoan babes.

  That thought had her eyes closing momentarily, just outside the room Kindara indicated was hers.

  She would not think of children, would not grieve the babes she would never have. That way held only madness. She would content herself during her remaining time with the babes of Jierra, and if she was living after its birth, Kindara’s little demon spawn.

  It would be all she would have. And she would be happy with that.

  “Is young Bronwen well?” Theo’s little sister had faced quite an ordeal the last time she’d been in Relaklonos, and had yet to fully recover.

  She’d pretty much been hiding from the world—the worlds—ever since. She refused to return to Dardanos. How could Aureliana blame her? The girl had gone completely blind during her captivity at the hands of one of the Warrior kings from the next kingdom.

  Aureliana had not forgotten that, or that Bronwen’s family was owed a strong blood debt by that Warrior king.

  But would little Bronwen ever claim it? Probably not.

  “She is adjusting. The loss of her sight brought with it the loss of her artistic gifts—for now. She is reeling from that, as well. And we still do not know what happened to her with that monster.”

  “Did he hurt her?” Bronwen was soft, young, and tenderhearted.

  “I think he did, but she won’t say. And Danae is equally close-mouthed about it.” Kindara’s sister-in-law, Rathan’s full sister Danae, had been taken captive by the Warrior king’s twin brother when she had been sent as emissary to his kingdom
to ask for help. She had been ransomed at the same time as Bronwen and was in much better health then Bronie. With one notable exception—she now carried one of the Warrior kings’ heir in her belly. Rathan had been ready to declare war, but Kindara and Danae had talked him out of it.

  “How is Danae?” Aureliana had met the girl on several occasions and liked her quite a bit. Her babe was just as far along now as Kindara’s with probably just a few days difference.

  “She stays close to Bronie, extremely protective, yet oddly dependent on her. It worries me at times. For both of them. And neither leave the castle. Too frightened.”

  “And the twin Warrior kings?”

  “Negotiations. And whenever they are in this building, Danae and Bronwen hide. Ren and Rathan and the two kings cannot agree on anything that is to be done. I’m afraid it may well be a small war before everything is resolved.”

  Poor Bronwen and poor Danae. And damn the Warrior bastards responsible. If they had just left the girls alone, everyone would have been fine.

  But warrior demons wanted what they wanted, and they never stopped until they got it. She’d seen that firsthand. “Hopefully it will not come to that. Or Bronwen and Danae can go to Levia where they’ll be safe. Why have they not already?”

  “The Warrior kings made it part of their agreement to negotiate and not immediately declare war. They will lose a war—Rathan’s forces are three times as big—but they are determined Warrior males.”

  “And what is it that they want?”

  “Danae and Bronwen. But they are terrified of the Warrior kings. I don’t see this resolving itself easily.”

  “They are not taking Bronwen.” Her hand landed on the handle of her sword. Bronwen was as dear to her as her own child would have been. If Bronwen didn’t want to go with the Warrior king, she wouldn’t. It was just that simple for Aureliana. “She will be sent home long before that happens.”