A Demon's Dark Embrace: An Elite Guards Novel

A Demon’s Dark Embrace

The Elite Guards

By

Amelia Hutchins

A Demon’s Dark Embrace

Copyright © November 10, 2015 by Amelia Hutchins

Kindle Edition

This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book both in its entirety and in portions is the sole property of

Amelia Hutchins

A Demon’s Dark Embrace
Copyright ©
2015
by Amelia Hutchins. 

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.  No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re selling this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to company from which it was obtained from and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The unauthorized reproduction of or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright, infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in Federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

ISBN-10: 0997005505

Cover Art Design:  Vera DC Digital Art & Photography

Cover Art Illustrations:  Vera DC Digital Art & Photography

Copyright ©November 10,2015Amelia Hutchins

Edited by:
E & F Indie Services

Copy Editor: Gina Tobin

Published by: Amelia Hutchins

Also by Amelia Hutchins

The Fae Chronicles

Fighting Destiny

Taunting Destiny

Escaping Destiny

Seducing Destiny

The Elite Guards

A Demon’s Dark Embrace

A Guardian’s Diary

Darkest Before Dawn

Dedication

This book is for my mother.

You’ve shown me that in every storm, there’s sure to be a rainbow afterwards. That learning to dance in the rain is a glorious feeling that will free your soul from many burdens. And for teaching me that there is nothing so bad that a good song and dancing cannot fix.

For my husband, for standing beside me no matter how stressful things can get, or how crazy I may be.

For the fans of these stories, for understanding that I am human and that my family’s needs always have to come first.

To Gina, thanks for sticking through this journey with me, even when we don’t agree, we always make it through it together. There’s not another I would prefer to be with me through this. Your undying love for these characters is amazing.

Tomorrow is not promised to us. Start dancing in the rain and look for your rainbow through the storm clouds. Once you find it, don’t ever let it go.

Warning!

This book is intended for mature and adult audiences.

A Demon’s Dark Embrace is the first book in The Elite Guards Series. This is a companion series to The Fae Chronicles Series; Reading The Fae Chronicles is not absolutely required to enjoy The Elite Guards Series, however you will have a much greater enjoyment of it if you do. The first book of The Fae Chronicles Series is Fighting Destiny and it can be found with reputable book sellers for your convenience.

A Demon’s Dark Embrace tells the behind the scenes story that the reader did not see in Seducing Destiny and then some! Just like The Fae Chronicles Series: If you prefer adorable and sparkly Fairies, Demons and Vampires…look elsewhere.

This story is told in narrative format rather than the first person. The story is dark, gritty, tear jerking, panty soaking, edge of seat grabbing, and does have some questionable scenes that more sensitive readers may not enjoy. It does contain hot asshole alphas that seduce and wreck sensibilities. Explicit language is used liberally as is the use of magic in acts of naughtiness. The author strongly advises buying batteries or securing a willing victim to your bed while reading this book. (Handcuffs are optional.) Side effects include, but are not limited to: lip biting and/ or chewing, screaming at the author, wet panties, unexplained leaking from the eyes, or other parts of the body. Some people may experience strange attachment to characters, and may scream for the next book in the series immediately after reading. If you experience one or more of these symptoms, do not seek a health care professional. Thank the author and wait for the next book in the series. (Stalking the author is normal behavior. Rest assured she has already started the next in the series.)

Chapter One

Ristan watched the Guild, his eyes scanning the area around it and those damned doors. Doors that were meant to keep creatures like him out, but failed to. The Guild never worried about Demons, though they would be terrified if they really knew what creatures like him could do. Not these fuckers; they were more worried about the Fae, which he also was.

Half-Fae, as if that mattered lately; his Demon half tended to be more prominent, but when combined with who his father was, it was fifty-fifty as to which half was more powerful or barbaric.

He tipped up his second bottle of Pepto-Bismol and downed its contents. With an air of nonchalance, he watched as Witches and Warlocks came and left the Guild, all oblivious to what was really going on around them. Or maybe they just pretended to be unaware of everything.

Not even five yards away sat a dark-haired Fae, his green-gold eyes inhuman as he watched one of the librarians move towards the steps, her lithe frame barely discernible through the outfit she wore. A block away from the Guild was a Bás Mall, a creature that could skin a Human while leaving them alive. The pain of their skinning would feed the nasty beastie for months.

It amazed him how the Guilds were oblivious to the real monsters in this world, sitting right under their noses, and yet they sought to police those who fed mostly from sex. As if both parties in that situation weren’t reaping a benefit? He turned his eyes back to the Guild, waiting for the old man to exit those doors and escort him in.

He’d been doing this for a few weeks and it hadn’t made entering the Guild any easier. The Guild was heavily warded against the Fae castes, such as the High Fae, Vampires, and Shifters. Long ago, he had discovered that it hadn’t been spelled against his breed of Demon, and he had been trawling under their noses ever since, using an invisibility glamour. Now that he was going into the Guild daily with Alden’s knowledge, he could get away with a simple glamour to disguise his features. Using this disguise had quite a few advantages, and no one had questioned him or his right to be within the walls of the Guild. Of course, they saw him as ‘Justin,’ a tall, muscular, blonde, Guild Enforcer with blue-gray eyes. One who was doing research for the New Orleans Guild as a form of punishment, and was reporting directly to Alden.

Having a Guild Elder backing your story helped immensely.

Alden exited the building, his eyes scanning the area and stopping briefly on both of the Fae that Ristan had just noted. He was surprised that the Elder had seen the Bás Mall, as those creatures usually took on the glamour of an attractive Human to disguise themselves from the Guild, as well as to attract victims. It was just one of many reasons that this was a man that Ristan had come to respect over the past couple of months. His eyes followed Alden as he slowly made his way to the bench Ristan was sitting on.

“Justin,” he said cordially, his blue eyes sharp as he took in the discarded bottles of the pink stuff. “Bad morning?”

“Not any worse than any other morning that I have to pass through those doors,” Ristan belched softly as he brought his fist up to softly tap his chest where another pain from indigestion was trapped. “Maintaining glamour all day and putting up with the Guild’s sanctimonious bullshit gives me a sour stomach. Sometimes I miss just being able to wander around the Guild, invisible to those idiots who think they’re smarter than us.”

“Takes a toll on you, I suspect,” Alden said as he sat on the bench and let his eyes wander to the Bás Mall, or Skinners, as he and his brothers called them. “Fucking monsters are out today,” he acknowledged with an almost imperceptible tip of his head.

“Glad you noticed,” Ristan replied with a cross look and a snarky grin on his lips.

“You’re not a monster, trust me. I’ve seen them things up close and personal; those are real monsters.”

“And yet the Guild focuses on the ones paying attention to pussy,” Ristan remarked crudely.

“If we were all dead-set on bedding your women, would you not take offense?” Alden asked with no malice buried in the question, only genuine curiosity.

“Point taken, old man,” Ristan said with a nod of his head. “I just think there are bigger fish that need to be put down, or fried. You know, those Skinners taste amazing when you’re in a pinch and need a substitute for meat. Add some sauce and they’re not half bad. I personally enjoy them with Tabasco Sauce,” Ristan said with a small grin.

“Good to know,” Alden said, but the look on his face said otherwise as it twisted with a smile and a soft shake of his head at Ristan’s culinary options. Alden looked over his disguise, as he did every time they were about to enter the Guild. Ristan was dressed in a black long-sleeve Henley shirt with black cargo pants; typical for an Enforcer to wear during the winter months. The Guild Elder’s eyes narrowed at the black Doc Martens he wore.

“Feeling a bit rebellious today?” Alden chided.

Ristan shrugged it off.

“They’re shit-kickers.”

“That may be, but you know how the Guild feels about…”

“Personality, individualism, thinking…got it.” Ristan interrupted impatiently. He flicked a finger as if he were removing lint, and the boots changed to steel toe boots that were more in line with what the rest of the Enforcers would be wearing. “So, what’s the plan for today?” Ristan asked quietly.

“Olivia pulled more of the boxes containing items recently obtained in raids on Fae houses and brothels.”

“Fae don’t run brothels; Humans do. They just know good business. Selling your cock for an endless supply of money and food is just smart. No harm done in those places, not if we know about them. We take care of our own, even the sick dogs that need to be put down,” Ristan replied as he set his eyes back to the Skinner. “They know Faery is in trouble; like sheep jumping the fence because a wolf is slaughtering the herd.”

“I’m not sure many would consider that thing a sheep,” Alden said, his eye on the same monster Ristan was tracking.

“I’ll be right back,” Ristan said, his inner Demon growling with the upcoming kill. Normally he’d leave it alone, but this one was using compulsion to lure a child into a nearby alley. Visiting Tèrra and having a snack or a little fun was fine as long as death wasn’t involved in the equation. Killing Humans, much less children, was against the Horde King’s laws. Seeing that the Horde King was Ristan’s half-brother, he had a pretty good understanding of how Ryder would feel about what the Bás Mall was doing right now.

Ristan entered the dark alley, his eyes scanning the area before he finally let the glamour fade, revealing his true form. His hair fell just past his shoulder blades, and his blackish-blue hair was muted from lack of regular feeding. His silver and black patterned eyes saw more than most Fae, which, unfortunately, was a blessing and a curse.

He heard the kid scream and glamoured his Guild-issued sword into one with a serrated edge to make a lasting impression. He slowly moved in further, the garbage piled up on each side of the alley making his nose itch with the need to plug it. Another scream, but this one was closer than the last.

The kid came rushing at Ristan, almost plowing him over in the poor thing’s haste to get away from the monster which had probably exposed the oozing pustules that would cover its skin when his true self was exposed.

“Run kid, now,” Ristan growled as his skin reddened and his fangs descended, making his Demon parentage more obvious. “I said,
fucking run
!” he shouted harshly when the kid fell to the ground and scurried backwards. He smiled coldly at the kid.

“M-m-monster!” the kid screamed, turning a pasty color and stammering over his words as he scooted back using his hands to crab-walk.

“I am; now run, before I take you back to the one you just ran from,” he growled, knowing it would get the kid moving. He hated scaring kids. They were innocents in a war they had no business being in. He waited until he was sure the kid was running before he moved on to the monster.

“You shouldn’t have left Faery,” he said as he approached the Skinner. It was a mess of a thing, with nasty boils that openly oozed pus. Its teeth were jagged and razor sharp, perfect for skinning their prey. “You know the rules of the Horde.”

The Skinner was shorter than Ristan; whereas he was just less than seven feet tall, it barely came up to his nose. Where he was slim and graceful, it wouldn’t be. He held the sword at his side in a non-menacing pose, knowing this thing wouldn’t be leaving the alley alive.

“I hold no ties to the newly-crowned king, no allegiance to the whelp,” the Skinner sneered.

“No?” Ristan asked, knowing this creature had no idea who the hell he was.

“No; why would a Demon care who the hell I answer to?” it hissed, splattering spittle with each word it spoke.

This creature was no threat to him; it was a threat to the Humans if he was hunting in the open. It was definitely breaking the laws of the Horde King, and that in itself was an invitation for trouble. If one could get away with doing so, more would follow its lead.

“I don’t,” Ristan said as he swiftly brought the blade up and severed the creature’s head from its body before it could react. Ristan heard a commotion and swore as he quickly glamoured on the face that wasn’t his, and formed his body to do the same.

He turned in time to find Olivia, one of the librarian’s from the Guild, standing with the boy at the entrance of the alley, her arm protectively around the kid’s slim shoulders.

A crowd was growing and he swore again, his eyes searching for Alden, only to sense the man’s presence behind him, his own weapon drawn and covered in some kind of ooze. The ooze had more than likely come from the same monster. He watched as the monster toppled from his feet, unaware that he’d lost his head. The headless body hit the ground with a sick thud that brought a smile to Ristan’s mouth.

“Good job, Justin,” Alden announced loudly, his hand slapping Ristan a little harder than he should have on the shoulder. “Great teamwork taking down that thing, but the other one sifted. It’s all right, we’ll get him eventually. Those kinds are always coming back for more.”

“Right,” Ristan said roughly, his eyes on the little redhead that was looking at him like he’d just saved the fucking world.

“We should get back, Justin,” Alden offered, and Ristan agreed.

He smiled and nodded to the kid, who watched the two men as they emerged from the alley. His young eyes moved from Alden to Ristan and back again. He couldn’t see the Demon who’d just saved his ass, just the Guild Enforcer who returned victorious from killing one monster and chasing the other one off.

“Let’s do this,” Ristan said, confirming his glamour was fully in place. His eyes skimmed the crowd, finding the male Fae with the green-gold eyes. In Ristan’s eyes was a silent warning, which made the Fae turn and run.

This day already fucking sucked, and it was about to get even worse. He followed Alden as he made his way through the gawking bystanders and trailed him up the steps of the Spokane Guild.