Mate to the Demon Kings by Lacey Carter Andersen

3

Sharen stood before the portal,Soul Chalk in her hand. The busy room had grown silent, and most of the people had come to gather around her. The seven-foot demon stone, made of a massive block of stone darker than any dark found on Earth, towered in front of her, radiating danger.

Riverly stood at her side, tablet computer in her hand. She gestured to the screen. “The Hunters have marked this realm too dangerous to enter. They found five demons, just recently.” She spoke the words softly and adjusted her glasses when she was done speaking, before looking meekly toward Sharen.

“Five god damn demons,” Kade hissed. “We couldn’t have found a more dangerous realm to enter.”

Sharen spun to face him, biting down a string of curses. All eyes were on her, and most of the people looked frightened. “A realm with five demons means there are five people we can save.”

“And what if they don’t want to be saved?” Kade’s big arms were crossed over his chest, his eyes filled with anger.

“They’ll want to be saved,” one demon said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

Kade’s angry gaze swung to the man. “Didn’t you think she was a hunter trying to trick you when you met her? Didn’t you nearly kill her?”

The demon’s cheeks turned bright red. “But she convinced me to believe her. She’ll convince these demons too.”

Sharen stood up taller, looking out at the three dozen or so faces that stared back at her. Each time she went through the portal it brought hope to the Rebellion. It moved them towards their goal to save as many innocent demons as possible.

If she didn’t go, the hope of the Rebellion died with her.

None of the demons were capable of crossing back over without being torn to pieces, and the other magical creatures refused to go to a place they weren’t trained to survive in. They couldn’t wield the same magic she could in the demon realm, and they weren’t about to risk their lives in such a dangerous place.

That left only her, and they needed to know they could count on her.

Sharen hid her own emotions behind a smirk. “If you guys think I’m afraid, think again. This war won’t be won in a day. It’ll take time. But I’m more than willing to save demons one trip to the demon realm at a time. And before we know it, they’ll all be saved.”

The room suddenly swelled with emotions. Her people looked relieved, hopeful. Their faith filled her with a rush of strength. I can do this. But first…

She moved down the steps with absolute certainty, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a light kiss on Kade’s lips. His eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t give him a chance to respond. “I love you, but you’ve got to trust me that I’ll be okay.”

His features gentled. “I’ll try.”

She smiled, winked at him, and climbed back up the steps. As frustrating as her demon could be, she knew he was just worried about her. She didn’t want to step through the stone without making sure they were okay. Her cause might be important to her, but nothing was more important than her husbands.

Now, time to focus!

Turning to the demon stone, she drew a doorway carefully onto it and scribbled the name of the realm over the top. Instantly, the realm opened and swirling waves of grey moved into the doorway she’d drawn, beckoning her to enter.

“Sharen!”

She looked back.

Ryder had come to stand beside Kade. And both her demons looked concerned.

But Ryder simply nodded and said, “Be safe.”

She held his gaze. “I will.”

Riverly, her assistant, handed her a splicer. Sharen gripped the handle on the half-circular blade, took a deep breath, and stepped through. The horrible sensation of stepping through realms filled her. She was blazing hot, freezing cold, squished into nothing, pulled too far.

And then she came out into the demon realm.

It took her a second to find her bearings. But when she did, she took a deep breath. Three painfully hot suns bore down on the white desert that stretched around her in all directions. Small white plants, like cacti or stunted trees, dotted the landscape. She only spotted a few caves in the hilly landscape, but knew from her past trips that there were likely many, many more concealed all around her.

Meaning, there’s a lot of places to hide. Danger could come from any direction.

Her pulse sped up. As a hunter, things had been so different. She’d been the leader of a team. As much as she hated it, there was something a hell of a lot safer about travelling into such a dangerous place with a team rather than alone.

For years, she’d hovered by the portal, as protocol dictated. All leaders stayed in the safest position, because they were over the age of twenty-one and could be possessed by a demon. Their younger students were put in the more dangerous positions, since they could be killed, but demons couldn’t use their bodies.

Now, however, she didn’t have the luxury of hovering safely by the portal. She had to be careful, but she also had to take risks she never would have before.

Clenching her splicer more tightly, she called her magic to the weapon. It was a simple spell, meant to stun but not kill. It spilled out of her, sending a tickling sensation along her skin. The spell made her weapon glow green, but the light was the brightest along the sharp edge of the blade that curved just above her knuckles.

Magic and weaponry at its finest.

She took a deep breath. I’m ready.

“Demons!” she shouted, feeling sweat run down her spine.

Moving forward, she continued to shout, waiting and hoping, but she saw no one.

When she was as far from the portal as she felt comfortable, she paused and scanned the horizon. Her shoulders sank. Either the hunters' map had been wrong, there weren’t demons in this realm, or the demons had already left. Either way, they were gone.

Turning around, she started back toward the portal before she froze. Five demons had melded out of nothing and now blocked her escape.

Shit!

“Hello,” she called, her heart hammering. “I’m Sharen, and I’ve come to help you.”

The five beings were massive, like many of the demons. Their white horns stood out from their heads with sharp points and their dark red skin glistened under the lights of the suns. None of them returned her greeting.

Keep trying. “I’m with the Rebellion. We are dedicated to saving demons from the demon realm and fighting against the hunters and the angels.”

One of the demons, a man with dark hair and pale eyes, cocked his head. “You’re also a hunter.”

“I was a hunter. I’ve turned my back on them now.”

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” He grinned, a cold replica of a smile that left her with no doubt as to where he stood. He would not be an easy one to sway. “It would be easy for you to lead us through the portal where we’ll arrive at Earth weak and unable to use our powers. We would be easy prey for you and your buddies to exterminate in one fell swoop and send us straight down to the lowest level of the demon realm.”

“This is not a—“

He stepped closer, menace in his every movement. “Do you have any idea how many years we spent in darkness crawling from those miserable pits? You think we’ll risk it all to trust you?”

Her legs trembled. “Others have come before you, and they were scared too. They had to take the risk to trust me. Yes, there is a portal behind you, but if you try to exit without me, you’ll be torn to pieces." She could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn't buying her story, but the others seemed to waver, so she continued. "You have to ask yourselves, is it worth the risk? Would you really rather spend another year crawling up through the realms to reach Earth, or will you take a chance with me?”

His pale eyes narrowed. “Or one of us could simply possess you.” He looked to his compatriots and they seemed to swell as one. She had no hope of fighting all five of them.

She swallowed hard, reminding herself that he could do just that. “My team is waiting for me on the other side. You’ll never survive it."

He smiled. “You’d be surprised how well I can convince them that I’m you, especially if my life depends upon it.”

Sharen took a deep breath and tried again. “You’re making a mistake. If you cross over with me, my team is waiting to help you. We’ll hide you from your enemies and get you established on Earth.”

He shrugged. “I’d rather do all that in a nice, comfortable human body.” He gestured toward her. “Bring her to me; she’s mine!”

Fuck.

The demons raced toward her. She struck one with her magic, sending him flying back onto the ground. She had time to strike one more before they were upon her.

One swung at her, but she ducked. The next kicked toward her and she used her blade to slice his leg. But her movements…they were slow. Human.

This is the fucking moment my extra strength and speed fail me? This has to be a joke!

The demon she struck cried out, jumping back. The other two demons circled her as she held her splicer out in front of her.

“You don’t need to do this,” she panted. “This isn’t a trap.”

One of the demons leapt at her. She sliced him across the face and he stumbled back, swearing.

“Listen to me," she whispered. “I just want to help you.”

Suddenly, there was shouting behind her. The two demons she fought sprang further from her, terror in their eyes.

Glancing behind her, Sharen felt her stomach flip. A team of hunters was coming toward them, and she recognized their leader.

Rorde, my former student.

Rorde was an asshole sorcerer who she couldn’t stand, even when she taught him. He stood in the center of the other hunters, his dark hair perfectly neat. His black-as-coal eyes were nothing more than two dark pools, and his awful mouth was curled into a smile.

“Ready to die, bitch?” he shouted, gesturing for the students around him to continue forward. "Teach her how we repay traitors of humanity, boys!"

She wanted to kill the bastard right there and then, but she wouldn’t be able to kill him and protect the demons.

If we don’t get out of here now, we’re done for. If the hunters kill me, my people will never know what happened to me. My demons will suffer and the war will be lost.

Turning, she beckoned to the demons in front of her. “Last chance. Come with me.”

Their gazes said it all. They wanted her body, not her help.

One of them reached for her, but she struck it with her magic and slammed her splicer into the face of the other one. Both of them hit the ground, unmoving.

Racing past them, she barreled toward the portal. Only one demon remained in her path, and she was determined to get him out of her way, one way or another.

“Come with me!” she shouted.

He looked between her and the hunters. “Yeah, right…”

Her splicer heated in her hand as she sent her magic blasting out at him, but he avoided her spell, moving with the grace and agility of a shifter. When she reached him, she gritted her teeth, ready to fight for her life.

Even without my extra strength and speed.

Something hit the back of her leg, a spell that sent fire burning through her clothes and onto her flesh. She screamed and fell, just feet in front of the demon.

She saw a flash of his red flesh and then his hands closed around her throat. He pressed until he forced his body into hers. She fought him with every ounce of her being, but he overpowered her.

Her body stood, but she had no control over it. The demon turned her to look back at the hunters racing toward them. He raised a hand, flipping them off.

No!She struggled harder inside herself, but she was trapped, unable to even move her lips to scream.

“Stop fighting it,” he whispered. “This is your new life. You’d better get used to it.”

Turning back to the portal, he stepped through.