A Dangerous Hunger: (The Sentinel Demons) (8 page)

The next morning, Talia actually
was
sore in muscles that she hadn’t even known she had. But she didn’t care.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were an empath?” Drew asked curiously as he devoured the largest breakfast Talia had ever seen.

He’d taken her out to a cozy little place that was apparently well-known for its breakfast menu and they were currently tucked away in a quiet booth. Drew was consuming almost everything on the table with obvious abandon, everything except for her food. Lowering her eyes to occupy herself with buttering her toast, she answered, “I learned to block it. I don’t really notice it anymore.”

“Then how did you feel my pain?”

Talia had been asking herself the same question. “I don’t know. It’s strange. That’s never happened unless the entity is actually in my presence. Can it be the mate connection?”

He crammed another piece of bacon in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before answering, “Very likely. Mates like you and Kat are unknown to us, completely different from anything we’ve ever seen before. There are so many unanswered questions. I don’t like it.”

Tilting her head to look at him, she asked, “Why?”

“I want you for my mate, Talia. I intend to talk you into accepting me. But I don’t like not knowing what will happen. What if the dormant power actually hurts you? It would kill me if mating with me harmed you in any way,” he answered unhappily.

“It didn’t kill Kat. Drew, I think there’s a reason for the change in the Sentinel mates, at least for you and Zach, something bigger than just a fluke. You told me the Evils are getting more powerful, doing things they’ve never done before. I think some of the
radiants
are meant to be, that they’re part of a bigger picture. If the balance is tipping toward the Evils, then it has to be righted somehow.”

Drew shot her a surprised look. “I don’t think any of us have ever thought about it that way, except possibly Kristoff, and he’s not talking. How do you think it’s all connected?”

Talia warmed at the fact that Drew really listened to her, valued her opinions. She’d never really had anyone to talk to before who really listened without going cross-eyed from boredom when she got on one of her theories. Well…except for Pumpkin, but Talia was pretty sure her cat just tolerated her babbling. “I’m not sure, but I think it has to do with the balance of power. The gods created both the Evils and the Sentinels so there would be stasis, equal good and evil. If that harmony is lost and the power is tilting toward the Evils, there has to be something—or some people—to return everything to the former state of equilibrium.” She paused before asking excitedly , “Are there any demon prophecies?”

Drew gave her a curious look. “You believe in prophecies?”

Talia took a sip of her coffee before answering. “Obviously I believe in facts and science, but everything I’ve studied never included gods and demons, ghosts and spirits—or they were only considered to be myth. If I know that all of those things really exist, I see no reason not to believe in prophecies. I’m a scholar, Drew. I’ve seen the evidence. I can’t deny this all exists just because I’ve been taught differently. The spirits and ghosts I’ve known about since I was a child, but the demon and gods thing really shook up my world. My specialty is ancient Greek history. I looked at mythology as folklore and legends. How was I to know that they really existed?”

“And now?” Drew urged.

“Now I know they do, and I guess I’m going to have to learn to live in a bigger world.” Talia sighed. “Everything I know isn’t all black and white. I don’t know why I have the compulsions to learn about demons, but they’re very real.”

Drew studied her, his expression alarmed. “You’re still having them?”

“No,” she answered hurriedly. “I’m living with a walking, talking demon history encyclopedia,” she teased him softly. “The compulsions are gone. But I know they happened, and I know I had no control over them.”

Talia abruptly stopped talking, her body first stilling and then shuddering as she felt the presence of evil…big, bad Evils. “Incoming powerful Evils,” she warned Drew urgently, dropping her fork so fast that it landed with a loud clank on her plate.

Drew had already gotten his wallet out, ready to pay the bill. He dropped a handful of bills on the table, grabbed her hand a second later, and flashed them out of the restaurant.

Moments later, two large elder Evils with glowing red eyes arrived, eyes darting around the restaurant, their expressions frustrated that Drew and Talia had eluded them again.

Summoned by Drew, a group of warrior Sentinels appeared. Bound by a different set of rules, they were able to engage in battle, but there were casualties, and plenty of them on the Sentinel side. Although the Evils were outnumbered, they were more powerful than several warriors put together.

The elder Evils made no attempt to hide who and what they were, or the fact that they were very unhappy about losing their prey. The few customers and employees who saw the demons tried to run past the gory battle to get to the door and escape. One or two of the customers never made it.

The warrior Sentinels finally drove the two Evils back to the demon realm, but their hearts were heavy as they took their wounded and dead, and set about cleaning up the mess the Evils had made.

K
ristoff paced the goddess Athena’s enormous solarium, totally oblivious that he was destroying several of the delicate green leaves, his big body colliding with the plants as he moved back and forth across the dirt floor, frustrated. “Goran’s out of control. My warrior Sentinels all over the world are battling Evils that are slaughtering humans, and that aren’t turning to dust from breaking the rules here in the human realm. It’s not possible for them to have become powerful enough to do that,” Kristoff muttered angrily, worried about the future of his Sentinels for the first time in thousands of years.

Athena frowned thoughtfully as she saw small sections of her plants breaking apart as Kristoff plowed past them. “The balance of power is shifting in their favor, but the Sentinels will equal it again,” she answered, crossing her legs delicately beneath a crimson silk gown, sipping her tea at a small patio table as she watched the Sentinel king move restlessly through the indoor garden. “We knew this day would come, Kristoff.”

Yes. He knew. He’d always known. But damned if he knew exactly how everything was going to go down, and it irked the shit out of him. He’d been aware, since the Great War and the dawn of the Sentinels, that there would come a time when evil would tip the scales in its favor, but he didn’t have to like it. “It hasn’t been this uneven since we fought the Great War and fought back the Evils after they overran the Earth. The covenants have held.”

“The gods’ powers have slowly waned, and the Evils have the advantage now. The elders are sucking power from the
radiant
females they’ve been holding over the years, in particular one female more powerful than all the others,” Athena told Kristoff, watching him over the rim of her cup.

“I know that. Those women don’t lose their soul and die in the demon realm. They regenerate because they’re intended mates for Sentinels. And the Evils’ energy is more powerful than sucking souls from millions of humans, simply by feeding constantly from those women.” Kristoff’s big body shuddered in anger at the thought of human Sentinel
radiants
being held captive by the Evils. “Are they all like Kat and Talia?” Kristoff asked Athena, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Only one. The others are normal
radiants
,” Athena answered vaguely. “The only mates who can regenerate in the demon realm are the ones who were never mated with their Sentinel, and they’re capable of it because they still retain their power. It’s never been released.”

Kristoff cursed and stopped pacing, throwing himself into a too-small-for-his-body chair across from Athena. Dammit! Every one of those women had unknowingly made a bargain with the Evils, and he had no way to rescue them without causing a major disaster of epic proportions. If he were to try to take the women from the demon realm while they were under an Evil bargain, it would not only tip the scales of balance, but possibly destroy mankind because he’d broken a critical covenant. While the Evils’ creators were gone, the Sentinels were elementally connected to Athena, and she was still very much alive, and needed to stay that way. For a Sentinel, breaking rules in the demon realm came with a much larger penalty than death. It would stretch out to the humans, allowing the Evils to do more heinous things in the Sentinels’ realm, the human realm. “Shit. We’re so screwed,” Kristoff muttered furiously.

“No we’re not,” Athena snapped hotly. “Read the prophecies, Kristoff. Maybe we don’t know exactly how it ends, but there’s a solution, a way out.” A scroll appeared in her hand, and she handed it to Kristoff. “We just need to dust the little bastards,” she decided vehemently.

Kristoff accepted the scroll from Athena while stifling a laugh. “More television?” he asked, noticing that Athena was using contemporary American expressions more and more.

“It’s boring here.” She shrugged her delicate shoulders. “A woman does what she can to keep from going crazy from the isolation.”

Athena wasn’t exactly a woman—she was a goddess—but Kristoff wasn’t about to remind her of that. The truth was, she
was
isolated in this uninhabited area of the Olympic Peninsula and hadn’t seen another soul except him for thousands of years. “I’ll study them again,” he answered, gesturing to the scroll to make Athena feel better. He knew the prophecies by heart, but the Fates were real bitches to understand sometimes. Most of what was written could have many different meanings. “There has to be an answer.” There had better be, because he wasn’t about to see his Sentinels destroyed and the Earth ravaged as it had been when the Evils ruled the Earth. Every Sentinel had a drive to protect human life, and his was greater than the others. It was his duty, his purpose.

“My Sentinels won’t fail me, Kristoff. You won’t fail me,” she murmured, her voice not wavering.

Kristoff felt his gut clench, hoping Athena was right. The goddess had given him back his life, and he’d rather die than fail her. “No, I won’t,” he agreed, brushing off all thought of failure. It wasn’t an option. Too much relied on him and the Sentinels doing what they were created to do.

Athena worried her long, very blonde braid that hung over her shoulder, stroking the tail of it thoughtfully. “Hunter is getting very close to the edge. Send him to me,” she demanded quietly. “I can help him.”

Kristoff stared at Athena, dumbfounded. “I bound his powers. He may already be beyond saving,” he answered, his voice vibrating with sorrow. “How can he find you? And why him? You haven’t ever wanted to see another one of the Sentinels before.” Hell, if Athena could help Hunter, he was all for it. But she’d never mentioned the possibility of intervening in the past. She left all Sentinel communication to him. “He’s damaged, Athena.”

She raised a blonde eyebrow at him questioningly. “You actually think he could hurt me?”

Kristoff barked out a humorless laugh. Hell, no. Athena was a goddess, even though her powers were limited. She might look like a blonde angel, but she could kick Hunter’s ass in a heartbeat. “No,” he answered aloud. “I’m more worried about Hunter pissing you off.”

“I can hold my temper, Kristoff. I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I’m invincible, and I don’t feel the need to rule the Earth. I just want to help the Sentinels. Send him.”

His goddess had commanded, and he’d obey. “Just don’t kill him. He might be a major asshole, but he’s still one of my men,” Kristoff requested. “How will he find you? Do you want me to transport him?”

Athena shook her head. “Just give him my location, transfer the information to him. He’ll find me.”

“Would you like to give me any more clues about why you even want him here?” Kristoff already had enough things that he didn’t know. He’d really like to be clued in on why Athena wanted Hunter in her invisible palace and how the hell he was even going to get here.

“He needs to be healed. That’s all I know right now. And he needs to enter my territory willingly.”

Athena looked agitated, and Kristoff knew that she had moments when she wasn’t all-knowing, even though she was a goddess. Information came to her like it came to him…in too damn small amounts, and only when it was time. “I’ll send him.” Rising to his feet, he added, “I’ve got to go. Things are going south pretty fast.”

Athena got to her feet gracefully. “I have one more thing I have to tell you before you leave, something that might come as rather a shock,” she said gravely. “I would have told you before, but I didn’t know until today.”

“Yeah?” Kristoff answered guardedly, his voice graveled. She was a goddess and he was a demon king. He wasn’t sure what Athena could actually say to surprise him.

But he was so wrong. So very wrong. Athena managed to drop a bomb on him that knocked his whole world off its axis. He left her presence, still stunned and shaken, knowing his world would never be quite the same.

Talia landed on top of Drew in unfamiliar surroundings, her brain completely scrambled.

Obviously Drew had slowed down his transport from the restaurant enough that she was still conscious, but fast enough that she was pretty damn dizzy. She sat up slowly, her head spinning, straddling Drew as she ran a hand through her hair to push it back impatiently, moving the blinding curtain from her face.

“You okay, love?”

The husky baritone came from beneath her, and her eyes flew to Drew’s concerned face. “Yeah. I think so.” She put her hands on his chest to get her balance. “Where are we?”

“Kristoff’s house. I’m not sure my place is safe anymore.” He sat up, holding her straddled across his lap. “Kristoff’s home is warded with better security. He only leaves it open to a few of his Sentinels.”

Talia assumed the Winston brothers were three of those Sentinels allowed unrestricted access to Kristoff’s home. “Are the people in the restaurant in danger?”

“I summoned the warriors to come there as soon as you felt the presence of Evils. Rescue Sentinels are only allowed to fight in self-defense, which is why Hunter is in trouble so damn much. The warriors can engage in battle if they feel an Evil’s intent to harm. They’ll do their best to drive the Evils back to the demon realm where they belong,” Drew replied, his voice grave.

“How do you fight the Evils? Obviously you’ve had conflicts,” Talia queried curiously.

“I let them take one shot at me, and that’s all they get,” Drew answered gruffly. “Once they try to kill me or harm a human, they’re fair game.”

Somehow it didn’t seem fair that a rescue Sentinel couldn’t defend himself until an Evil attempted to behead him, and Talia told Drew just that.

“It’s the rules. Every Sentinel has a purpose and his own set of rules. We rescue humans from themselves. For the most part, rescue Sentinels are strong enough that regular Evils don’t tangle with us. But I appreciate your concern,
mo chridhe
,” he told her, amused.

“So you can summon other Sentinels?” Talia asked, still not happy that some Evil could try to behead Drew before he could defend himself.

“Only in an emergency, when another type of Sentinel is needed. An official summons can be sent to other types of Sentinels. I can’t summon one of my own kind,” Drew answered glumly. “If that were possible, I’d be summoning Hunter’s ass every minute so he’d stay out of trouble.”

He grasped her hips as she tried to slide from his body, keeping her positioned exactly where she was. “Stay,” he requested, part demanding and part pleading with her.

Talia’s head was starting to clear, but Drew’s proximity made her feel intoxicated, the masculine, musky scent of him enough to make her want him all over again. Her breath caught as her eyes met his, the light amber glow enthralling her. Her panties grew wet and she wriggled against his long, hard length, needing him possibly even more than she had the night before. Images from the previous day exploded in her mind, visions of pleasure like she’d never known before. It wasn’t just her desire for a handsome male like Drew; it was the way he made
her
feel beautiful. His intense possessiveness and protectiveness, traits she would have thought would be off-putting, were actually the sexiest things she’d ever seen. And it made her want to own him, own his desire as badly as he seemed to want hers. The fact that he needed her with a desperation that bordered on insanity was breathtaking. “C-can we stay here?” she asked nervously, watching as his face grew more and more intense.

“Yes. Kristoff would want it if we were in danger.” Drew’s voice was husky and hungry, and it didn’t look like his appetite was for a chocolate truffle. “If you don’t stop imagining those dirty little things in your head, you’re going to be experiencing them momentarily.”

His words were a dark, sensual threat, and Talia felt her entire body start to tremble with longing.

Damn. Will I ever stop wanting him the moment he’s close, the instant he touches me or looks at me?

Frankly, she doubted it. Drew emanated carnal, fierce desire when he looked at her, and Talia didn’t think there would ever be a time that she wouldn’t respond immediately to the intensity of his gaze, the way he smelled, his naughty little words. Drew Winston was everything she’d always needed, even though she’d never recognized the longing in her heart and soul for such a man until he’d opened the floodgates. And only Drew had been capable of doing it. “I waited so long for you,” she murmured, unable to keep her emotions leashed.