Sanctuary

He had been trapped with only one demon… Misery… and he’d still been able to feel the outside world. Being so close to freedom had lent him the hope he needed to retain his sanity. But Aurora… she had been trapped in another world with countless demons, many of them masters.

Aurora had been an innocent, white and pure. But to the demons she would have been seen as the enemy… the same enemy that hunted, persecuted, and trapped them.

Now the city was full of demons and Skye had been forced to blend in and disappear among the human populace. Along with the multitude of demons, he’d also seen a small army of demon hunters that were taking out the demon clans one at a time… usually just as they’d established a territory. There were many other demons that had already claimed a stake and were trying to lay low, attempting to blend in the same way he had.

Blending in with the humans was something Skye had learned how to do very early in his life and he’d shared that knowledge with Aurora.

When he’d first met her, he’d known they would need each other’s protection. Where as demons often mistook him for a Fallen, there was no mistaking what Aurora was… unless she learned how to suppress her true lineage.

His heart had spilled out on the ground when he returned from his vision quest to find the village and almost everyone in it gone. The human species was no stranger to war… a resilient race in its own right. There had been a few survivors that had fled the massacre to hide in the forest and it was through them that he’d learned what happened.

The villagers cried that demons had appeared among them to eat their souls… then the gods had descended from the sky to destroy the monsters… saving them even though there were many casualties from the sudden battle. Even as they mourned their dead… they were thankful the gods had saved them.

With the village completely destroyed, he and the other village warriors gathered the survivors and traveled to another village. It was on the second night of sleeping under the stars that Skye noticed a stranger among them… a little girl. No one had questioned her presence, thinking she was a refugee from another village that had fallen in the wake of the massacre… she called herself Misery.

On the third night, Misery pulled him aside and told him in explicit detail what had truly happened to his village and that the Fallen were responsible. The thing that disturbed Skye the most was that she knew he wasn’t human… no matter how much he suppressed his power. She claimed that it was his sadness that gave him away.

By the time they made it to the next settlement, Skye was in constant fear of Misery telling the humans what he really was and that same fear kept his mouth shut.

Over the next few weeks, Misery kept the villagers in a constant state of terror by playing pranks on them. Late at night, she would walk through the village in her rotted form… causing mass panic by sneaking up on those that were unfortunate enough to be caught out at night. Some of them were able to reach safety but the others weren’t so lucky.

The last straw was when three warriors who had been the best of friends their entire lives killed each other in a bloodbath that painted the entire village square red.

The villagers finally began blocking their doors at night and refusing to venture out until the sun was high in the sky. It wasn’t long before a stranger began visiting the village and purchasing goods from the market. Skye recognized what the man truly was and began to keep to himself… staying away from all the villagers and leaving Misery to her own demise.

That plan of self-preservation failed when Misery began beating on his door in the middle of the night demanding he let her in. He’d ignored the child’s voice and slipped out of his dwelling through the back exit. Skye knew the she-demon had been discovered by the stranger… a Fallen who had gotten wind of a demon in the village.

Unfortunately, Misery followed him and in turn led the Fallen directly to him. Skye took refuge in a cave and hid hoping beyond all hope that Misery didn’t find him. His heart dropped to his feet when Misery ran into the cave to hide. The Fallen must have seen his chance and placed some kind of barrier around the cave, trapping them for all eternity.

Skye shook off the memories of those agonizing centuries in the cave and continued walking casually through the streets of Los Angeles. He had nothing better to do except to simply wander through the maze of tall buildings and dark alleys. It was late, dark, and most of the humans were sleeping, save for those that thrived on the night.

Demons also roamed the streets, hungrily searching for those humans that stupidly believed the darkness was their home.

He was still astounded at the size of the city, having never seen anything like this when he’d roamed the earth centuries before. The humans whose minds he touched had lent him the knowledge he needed to understand what he was seeing. Never had he believed the human race could progress to such a level. Before his time in the cave, human dwellings had been nothing more than small huts made out of mud and straw, but now they had towers that reached into the heavens.

What frustrated him the most were that the stories surrounding demon occupation in history had been chalked up to legends, myth, and folklore. If the humans only knew their worst nightmares were reality… society would most likely crumble or they would blame their government for conducting experiments on the human genetic makeup.

Suddenly wanting to get to safety, Skye shimmered through the streets, avoiding the few pedestrians coming in and out of focus like the flashing of a strobe light.

He stopped at the mouth of a shadowy alley and looked into the darkness for a moment, then glanced over his shoulders to make sure no one would see him. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he walked into it with no hesitation. The buildings rose high around him, giving the effect of the darkness swallowing him up. It had taken some time, but he’d found a hideaway in the basement of the huge downtown library.

His gaze easily found the bars covering the basement window at ground level in the absolute darkness. Crouching down next to them, Skye peered in making sure none of the library workers were still on duty and snooping around like they had been for the past week.

Silently removing the bars, he slowly lowered himself into the deep concrete room before turning and sliding the bars back into place. He took a deep breath knowing he would be safe for another night. Turning back to the main area of the basement, he weaved his way through the almost countless rows of bookshelves that was home to some of the older volumes such as rare first editions until he came to a sitting area that hadn’t been used in who knew how long.

An old sofa sat in a small clearing in the bookshelves, the back of it pushed against a windowless wall. More shelves stood tall around it with open boxes of books sitting here and there. A single floor lamp sat next to the sofa, which Skye never bothered to turn on since night vision was one of the perks of tainted blood.

Skye had sought sanctuary here many times since his escape from the cave and so far he hadn't been disturbed. Though he didn’t need to rest that often… tonight Skye was exhausted. He’d made more than one valiant attempt to leave the city. However, someone or something had erected a barrier around it in every direction, making escape impossible. He knew there was a way out… he only had to find the key.

He wanted to rage at Misery for causing all of this since it was her fault to begin with. She was a powerful demon with the mentality of a brat. He’d been trapped in that cave with her for so long that when he finally felt freedom… he’d taken it not knowing that freedom was a lie. He wasn’t completely ungrateful though… at least this cage was bigger and the scenery was better.

Misery had made good on her plan to release the demons back into this world but he’d watched some of them try leaving as well. They had all been released from one prison or another, only to fall right into another one with what appeared to be no chance of escaping. It was almost like two worlds had collided and created a bubble.

Skye walked closer to the sofa with the plan of reading a book that he’d picked up from one of the random shelves. The library people had inadvertently helped him learn how to read, which was much easier than he’d expected. Basically, he’d touched their minds to gain knowledge and could now read the thicker books within minutes.

His perfect lips hinted at a smile when it dawned on him that it took longer to turn the pages then it took to read the stories. If he could seep knowledge from people’s minds then why couldn’t he try to do the same with the books? Laying the book on the top of the nearest box, Skye held his hand over it and closed his eyes.

Dean sat on top of a nearby bookshelf watching the hybrid with curiosity. The man’s long pale hair lifted and floated around him as if he were standing in a soft updraft. He raised a dark eyebrow when that updraft illuminated around him in amethyst color and the hybrids body swayed relaxingly. It was beautiful to watch.

Skye slowly inhaled as he drifted through the books, one moment being a pirate on the open seas and the next moment so in love with a faraway princess that he could taste her lips and feel the cloth of his pants tighten with need for her. His attention was quickly taken as he soared through the sky on a black dragon then was killed by a wizard that was more powerful than he was.

“Figures,” Skye complained as he took a step back from what was obviously the fiction section.

With a sigh, he moved to sit down and frowned when he noticed another set of clothing and a pair of sturdy black tennis shoes. Who in the world kept leaving things down here in the basement? He knew the workers came down here from time to time but he made sure none of them knew about him using the sofa and books.

Skye cursed silently when he realized his exhaustion had caused him to overlook the other presence nearby. He looked around frantically, turning full circle, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Swallowing, he slowly approached the clothing items and reached out to touch them only to quickly pull his hand away suspiciously.

Dean decided to remain invisible and see what the hybrid would do. He was a skittish one, but hell… being trapped with Misery for a few centuries would have driven a saint crazy. Dean couldn’t stand her for more than a few seconds and his patience level was pretty good… at least he thought so.

He looked down at the box of books the hybrid had just scanned and almost smirked at the classic novel about the world’s most famous vampire sitting on top. Ah, the ironies of life. He glanced back at the hybrid when he moved away from the gifts.

“Who are you?” Skye demanded feeling the hair on the back of his neck lift from someone else’s gaze. He’d felt that caress before… it was the eyes of the Fallen that had been stalking him.

“Dean,” Dean whispered, making sure not to startle him. When the silence started to stretch Dean frowned, “Unless you want to be referred to as Boy… I need a name.”

“What do you want?” Skye asked in a cold voice. His gaze darted around the room since the voice seemed to be coming from inside his head instead of a direction.

“Just to talk,” Dean shrugged even though the other man couldn’t see it. He pulled his feet up and rose into a crouch seeing the ‘fight or flight’ light shining in the hybrid’s eyes.

Skye gritted his teeth not trusting the faceless voice. “Is that all you want… really?”

”Unless you want more,” Dean’s voice was seductive as he let his gaze drift down the other man’s body without shame.

How long had this boy gone without feeling the touch of another? He was almost full blooded Fallen and a Fallen felt no bond without touch… it was just the way they were made. That’s why he had stopped Kriss from touching Tabatha too much… why it had bothered him to see them curled up in bed together. He suddenly wondered if Kriss would become jealous if the tables were turned.

“Why should I believe you?” Skye growled knowing this was not a game.

“You don’t have to,” Dean informed him realizing he was going to have to be heavy handed if he wanted to rein in the wild child. “But what alternative do you really have? Either I kill you before you grow lonely and join the other demons… or…” he smiled wickedly looking forward to the fight with anticipation.

Skye’s fear shot through the roof. He rushed for an opening between the bookshelves only to feel a pair of strong arms wrap around him from behind. The force of the hold against his momentum drove the air from his lungs and actually lifted his feet off the floor. He struggled in the hold not bothering to take a moment to catch his breath.

The arms tightened around him and he gasped loudly at the hard body pressed up against him. He suddenly had flashes of the last time he’d been this close to someone… when he and Aurora curled around each other at night to stay warm… when they held hands or gave into the hug they both needed. He could feel everything and that made him all the more frightened.

“Or… you could choose to join the Fallen,” Dean breathed into the shell of his ear.

“Fallen kill beings like me,” Skye growled gripping the arm around his chest but was unable to break the hold. “Or you toss us in a cave or hole somewhere and forget all about us,” he raged as sorrow and anger clashed within him.

Dean sighed and shook his head. It was times like this that he really wanted to beat some of his brethren over the head with his fist for their carelessness during the demon wars.

“If I’d known you were down there with that monster… I’d have saved you!” Dean hissed meaning every word. “I still want to save you.”

Skye stopped struggling but hardened his muscles to suppress the shiver that tried to rake his body. He slowly turned his head toward his captor but stilled when he felt the soft warm skin of the other man’s cheek press against his. He couldn’t stop the pain of loneliness from welling up in his eyes… the touch of this Fallen reminded him of what he’d lost in Aurora.

“Why?” Skye asked in confusion.

Dean brushed his cheek against the hybrid’s feeling the hot tear slide between them, “Because demons don’t cry… you are a Fallen. Even Misery could tell… can’t you?”

*****

Kane sighed and rolled over onto his back. Something wasn’t quite right and he turned his head to look over at Tabatha… that was when he heard it again. Frowning up at the ceiling, he closed his eyes and listened carefully. At first the sound was muffled, as though it were being heard through a mound of pillows. But slowly, the pounding became steady and strong.

His amethyst eyes snapped back open hearing the faint sound of a heartbeat in the distance.

He carefully tucked the covers around Tabatha and placed a whisper soft kiss on her forehead before sliding from the comfort of their bed. Pulling on a pair of black leather pants, he made his way through the darkness of the massive club to the security room, rubbing his eyes as he went.

As soon as he opened the door, blue light showered him causing him to blink. Kane gazed at the split screen security monitor showing him every angle outside the club, including the roof. His eyes narrowed when the rooftop cam flashed, indicating something had tripped the motion sensors… something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

Touching the screen, he brought the area by the rooftop door up to full view and tilted his head to the side. Now that was something he didn’t see every day. A beautiful woman was curled up just under the overhang on the roof and appeared to be sound asleep.

“That looks comfy… not,” Kane made a face knowing the tiny rocks in the tar had to be biting into her delicate looking skin.

Tabatha had felt Kane leave the bedroom and wondered what would pull him away from the comfort of her bed after she’d spent so many hours wearing him out.

Curious, she sat up and followed his scent to the security room. Peering through the open door, she saw he was absorbed in something on the screen and tiptoed across the room in an attempt to sneak up on him. She had almost made it close enough to reach out and touch him when his voice startled her.

“We have a visitor,” Kane smirked hearing Tabatha’s quick intake of breath.

“Damn it,” she hissed and he heard her stomp her bare foot on the soft carpet.

Kane suddenly turned around and grabbed her, hauling her against him and gracing her with a dazzling smile. “You didn’t really think you could sneak up on the boogieman, did you?” he teased, nuzzling the side of her face before stealing a kiss.

Tabatha let Kane kiss her and felt her toes curl at the passion behind it but she was dying to know about the girl that was moon-bathing on their roof. She ended the kiss quicker than Kane would have liked… at least that’s what his soft growl was telling her.

She licked his bottom lip then playfully bit it. “And just think, when I was a little girl I was afraid of the boogieman.”

The sound of a little girl crying out in fear above his grave came back to haunt him… making Kane tightened his hold on her. That little girl had been lost in the woods for days… scared and alone. The thought of what Tabatha must have gone through still had the power to make his chest hurt and knees go weak… it also stirred the darkness within him.

Tabatha felt the change in him and leaned back to stare up into amethyst eyes that were growing darker by the second. She didn’t know what she’d said to trigger it so she tried to get his attention focused back on the roof.

“I thought this place was warded against demons and humans alike… unless they are invited.” She nodded toward the monitor.

“It is,” Kane remarked then had to smile when Tabatha cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Then what’s that?” Tabatha leaned across Kane to get closer to the screen, ignoring the way Kane was taking the opportunity to caress her rear. The girl appeared to be sleeping but at the same time her body was moving slightly… as if straining away from something.

She looked lost and alone like that and Tabatha felt her heart go out to the poor girl. “What’s wrong with her?”

Kane let his hand drop and turned to see what had caught Tabatha’s interest. He recognized the symptoms of a nightmare when he saw one. “She’s dreaming love.”

Tabatha’s eyes narrowed just as the girl rolled over, “Kane look… you’re right. She’s shivering and having a nightmare. We can’t just leave her up there like that.”

“What…” Kane started and growled when Tabatha rushed out of the room. His eyes widened when he heard the front door of the club softly close. He blinked realizing she was about to scale the walls in her nightie and grinned. In a flash, he was standing below her looking up at the breathtaking sight.

“So that’s what heaven looks like,” Kane whispered with a sexy smile.

Tabatha glared down at him but realized she’d inadvertently set herself up for it. Of course, Kane wouldn’t be Kane if he didn’t have his moments of perverseness.

Chapter 4

In her dream, Aurora ran like her life depended on it. Shadows surrounded her on all sides and they were terrifying. It felt like she was running through a maze with no exit and dead ends at every corner. The terror that filled her was becoming overwhelming and she stumbled every few steps… tired of running… always running away from the powerful ones. No matter how far or how fast she ran the darkness was getting closer.

She gasped loudly and her eyes flew open in fright. The stars twinkled above her and she suddenly realized there really was something powerful getting closer to her. Fresh from the fright of the dream and her heart still racing, Aurora quickly found her feet and stared toward the edge of the roof in fear.

Exhaustion was beginning to take its toll, she was so tired… was she so wicked that even this sanctuary would not let her rest? Feeling the doorknob poke into her back, she fumbled for it and quickly opened the door. Hoping to avoid the powerful energy coming at her, she shot inside only to slam into an unyielding body and felt another strange power flare around her.

Instincts kicked into high gear and Aurora did the first thing her survival instinct told her to do… fight. With one swift kick, she sent the powerful being sailing down the long flight of stairs to the floor far below. She turned to confront whatever was directly behind her but paused in confusion, her face losing all expression when she saw a half-naked female blocking her exit.

Tabatha saw the girl’s face go blank but the look in her eyes told her everything… the girl was scared to death and ready to fight her way out of here if she needed to. Tabatha swallowed and held her hands out, palms up toward the girl in a placating gesture.

“It’s all right,” Tabatha explained. “We only want to help you.”

Aurora narrowed her eyes on the woman. Why would someone or something that powerful want to help her?

Tabatha took a step closer to the girl and held out one of her hands. “You’re safe here,” she said softly and hoped the girl believed her. However, any progress she might have just made was gone with the breeze when Kane chose that moment to come flying back up the stairs and grab the girl in a choke hold.

Her shoulders slumped and she let out a heavy sigh, “Kane please, we scared her. Let her go.”

Kane gave Tabatha a hurt look, “Love, she just kicked my ass all the way back down to the main floor. Are you seriously telling me that you’re on her side?”

“Your fangs are showing,” Tabatha glowered at him then rolled her eyes when he had the nerve to look down and make sure his pants was zipped. She gritted her teeth to keep from smiling since she couldn’t blame him for looking… after all, the black leather pants was the only thing he was wearing and the button was still unfastened.

Aurora jerked her head around and stared up at the man holding her checking for fangs. Was he a vampire like the man she’d made love to in the subway?

Kane noticed her looking up at him and couldn’t help himself. He smiled at the girl… fangs and all.

“Kane,” Tabatha exclaimed and took a step toward them only to stop when Kane pinned her with a warning glare… accompanied by a dangerous growl. “You’re so mean,” Tabatha informed him in a huff and crossed her arms over her chest.

Seeing his fangs, Aurora’s eyes lifted to his and for a second she went shock still. She remembered seeing eyes like those before… deep amethyst eyes that seemed to look into her very soul.

Now that he had the girl’s attention, Kane slowly let the smile die knowing this wasn’t a game. If it had been Tabatha coming up those stairs instead of him, the outcome would have been the same… except this girl would now be breathing through her neck.

He let his pupils enlarge, “Now then, I’ve introduced myself. It’s only fair that you do the same.”

“Vampire,” Aurora hissed and started struggling again.

Kane sighed feeling like he was trying to hold on to a snake. “No love… that would be me. The question was what you are. You’re not human… that much is obvious. If you were a demon, you’d have been writhing in pain long before breaching the barriers surrounding our home. Now I’m going to ask you one more time… who and what are you?”

Aurora’s lips thinned as she pressed them together. She’d learned as a child to never tell what she was… though the dangerous ones usually knew what she was at first sight. This man had lied to her by playing the part of vampire. She knew he wasn’t… his soul was plain as day to her, though she had to admit there was something wrong with it.

As well as she could see his soul, Aurora could also see the darkness around the edges of it and knew there was a chance of it overtaking him if he was pushed too far.