To Summon a Demon (5 page)

The Fae broke into groups, like a well-trained regiment. The first wave of three came at him in a rush. No one spoke. The silence in the clearing was broken only by the rush of wind through the canopy of leaves and the babble of the creek on the other side. It was as if all the other forest creatures realized violence was afoot and crawled into their lairs to wait out the battle.

Gaap swung his right arm in an arc. Their gazes were so intent on the sweep of his knife hand, they ignored his left.

In quick succession with small jerks of his wrist, he launched the iron throwing stars into their guts. Although iron could be deadly to the Fae, a very precise hit was needed in order to stop them permanently. Blood from their wounds spurted onto the ground and into the air. The red lifeforce flowed around the bodies and slicked the ground.

The first wave fell.

The second group paused their attack.

In the instant they checked on their comrades, Gaap removed five poisoned darts from the pocket of his clock. He cursed the fact that he’d only had the few iron stars. The Fae would tread more carefully now that the first wave was down, and their wariness would make them harder to kill.

An unearthly yell distracted him as Lili charged the third line of defense. With her arm raised above her head, she raced toward the third wave with a wicked look of hatred etched on her face.

Surprise made him hesitate, which cost him.

The bulky leader of the second wave had a trick of his own. He used an electric shock pulse to pierce the spot where Gaap’s tunic met his breeches.

Extremely difficult area to target and hit accurately.

The jolt of electricity momentarily fried his entire magickal system, rendering him null for precious seconds and cutting down his time to counterattack effectively.

If he didn’t dispose of these Fae assholes quickly, he was going to be unconscious while his body repaired. He threw the first dart.

And hit the intended target, the leader of wave two.

His preternatural ability to sense danger kicked in and instinctively he tossed the next dart up.

The Fae hanging from the branch above him fell on top of the pile of his first attackers.

In a glance, he assessed their situation. From behind, Lili had stabbed one of wave three through the heart. Her blade was stuck in the Fae’s back and as she tugged ineffectively at its handle, another Fae crept up behind her with another electrical pulse weapon. While the electrical pulse would only incapacitate Gaap, it would kill Lili.

Gaap threw the remaining three darts in quick succession, nailing the final two of the second wave and one of the third.

“Lili,” he shouted. She looked up frantically, her booted foot was planted on the Fae’s shoulder and her hands tugged on the hilt of her knife. “Duck.”

She obeyed and dropped to the ground as Gaap launched himself toward the remaining assassin.

The Fae tried to adjust his trajectory but he’d been aiming for Lili and couldn’t correct fast enough. Gaap’s booted feet struck the male in the chest and rammed him to the ground. Gaap barrel-rolled over his shoulder and came up facing the final assassin.

Blood ran down his breeches from the nicks of their weapons. He could only hope the damn Fae hadn’t struck anything vital. He reached into the pocket of his cloak and realized that the remainder of his weapons had fallen out when he’d launched himself to save Lili.

Pretty damn stupid to be defeated this way.

“Who sent you?”

The Fae sneered, taking his time as he stalked toward Gaap with a look of total disgust on his face. Gaap saw Lili rise from behind the Fae and push the hair from her face.

“We will return you to the depths of Hell where you belong.” The remaining Fir Bolg raised his arm to deliver the death strike.

And Gaap subtly shifted so he could leap out of the way.

But before Gaap could move, a look of complete surprise replaced the sneer. Eyebrows raised, mouth rounded in an O, the Fae assassin fell forward and landed on the soft dewy grass of the clearing with a thud.

A jeweled dagger, precisely thrown to maximize damage, protruded from the Fae’s back.

Lili swayed. Her hair was a tangle of curls and a smear of blood desecrated one pale cheek. Her gaze was glassy as she stared at the jeweled hilt of her knife sticking out of the Fae’s back.

Gaap stared down at the dead assassin. “Not today.”

Blood stained the ground and ran in rivulets through the once serene clearing.

Lili’s brain refused to process what had just happened. Gods, she wanted to fall to the ground and throw up. The coppery scent of blood and rolling waves of violence still lingered. Even the forest animals continued to stay quiet.

“Oh my Gods, you’re bleeding.” Lili glanced around frantically. They really needed to get out of here before someone else attacked.

The thick metallic scent filled her nostrils and made breathing difficult. She ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her cloak. Her favorite cloak. But she realized after the first group attacked that the assault had not been random. Those Fae had come here for Gaap. And she had lead him right into the clearing.

A question nagged at her.

How had they known? Or were they just waiting for someone to appear?

The way the final one had spoken. The one she’d--

“We need to get out of here before they awake.”

“Awake?”

“They aren’t dead.” He glanced at a couple of their attackers. “Not all of them anyway.”

They weren’t dead?

He leaned down and grasped the hilt of the jeweled dagger that had been a present from Brian right before he’d died. Back when her obsession with weapons had been merely an idiosyncrasy rather than a necessary tool for survival.

Gaap wiped the bloody blade on the grass and then tucked the dagger into a belt loop. He scooped up the throwing stars and secreted them away in another concealed pocket.

Lili ran up to Gaap. He tensed in a way that told her he was bracing for attack. From her. “You don’t--I wouldn’t--”

She was at a loss as to what to say. But she knew better than to get too close to him. She’d watched him destroy his attackers and he’d barely moved. She handed him the wadded strip of cloth. “Press it against the wound until I can get you stitched up.”

Gaap looked around as if expecting someone to come out of the woods. But nothing happened.

Finally, he closed his fingers around the smooth cloth and tucked the pad between the waistband of his breeches and his skin.

“Let’s go.” He limped back toward her cottage.

Lili followed, hyper-aware that she’d led him straight into this attack. And she understood that he believed she’d known the Fae would be there.

Adrenaline propelled her legs to move. Even with his injury, Gaap outpaced Lili, keeping to her side so that she remained in his field of vision.

“In front of me,” he growled.

As she moved in front of him, he glanced around as if searching for something or someone.

“Do you think there are more coming?” she asked hesitantly. The adrenaline that helped her keep her head when they were first attacked suddenly overwhelmed her system.

Her arms, legs, and hands began to shake.

Lili fisted her hands, ready to defend them. This time, she would be prepared.

She swung her head from side to side, searching for a threat. With each step, the blade strapped to her thigh called for her to wield it.

Gaap didn’t answer, just made haste back to her cottage. When they reached the gate to her tiny yard, he paused and executed a hard, assessing sweep of her yard. All she wanted was to get inside the safe haven of her home. Lili reached for the latch on the gate, but his hand stopped her.

Blood coated his skin and his fingers, clenched around two separate knives, were white beneath the red.

Everything looked fine to her. The curtain over the sink was still spread wide and the glow from her fireplace cast shadows and light over her meager existence.

But Lili knew he was looking for threats.

“You first,” he commanded.

“You think there’s someone inside?” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice. Shit. So much for the tough girl who’d taken out a Fae.

“Only one way to find out.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the front door.

Lili unlocked the door quickly and pushed the heavy oak door open. The homey surroundings of her cottage wrapped around her like a blanket of comfort and warmth. “It’s clear.”

Gaap staggered into her home.

Lili glanced at his makeshift compress. His blood had soaked through the thick padding. He was hurt worse than she’d realized. “Oh my Gods.”

Gaap collapsed into the single chair at the table. A fine sheen of sweat coated his face. “Got any thread?”

Of course she did, just not the kind that was usually used to stitch up wounds.

Lili bustled around heating water to disinfect her needles and pulling out the thickest thread she had. She set a glass of water in front of him. With the blood he lost, he needed to replace fluids.

“Drink.”

He stared suspiciously at the glass. “You first.”

“You really think I’m trying to poison you?” She propped her fists on her hips, her earlier feelings of worry were lost in a haze of disbelief.

His face was a hard mask.

“For the Gods sake.” She gulped down the glass of water. The liquid hit her parched throat and made her realize how absolutely dehydrated she was as well. She poured another glass and swallowed the contents before re-filling the glass and slamming it down on the table in front of him. “Satisfied?”

“For now.” He gave her a strange, intense look and drank. The muscles in his throat contracted as he swallowed. He set the glass down on the table and picked up the knife he’d pressed against her just the other evening. “Sew me up.”

Lili gulped. She’d never sewn flesh before.

She loosened the laces on his breeches, trying to ignore the impressive bulge of his cock. She’d read that adrenaline could cause this kind of reaction but she’d never seen it herself.

Gaap peeled off the bloodied tunic.

Suddenly all of the fear she had suppressed while fighting dumped into her system and shocked her hormones awake. He was so big. The muscles of his biceps flexed as he kept a wary eye on her.

The hollow in the pit of her stomach expanded as her mouth dried and her heartbeat increased.

Suddenly images from the other night flashed through her mind. The strength in his arms as he’d held her up, pressed her against that rock, and pounded into her.

She stroked the rippled muscles of Gaap’s stomach. The power there entranced her and she marveled at the slickness of his skin. The gash along his stomach dispelled any carnal thoughts as he hissed in pain. “Are you okay?”

“Just sew.”

“Spread your legs.” Lili gulped. She knelt down between his legs, using his thighs to brace herself. With difficulty she focused on his wound and set about sewing up his skin and ignored the reality that she was pressing the tip of her needle in and out of flesh.

As Lili looked up from the gruesome task, Gaap was flipping through the ancient book she’d discovered right after her assault by the Fae.

“So this is how you found me.” Gaap’s voice was deceptively low and his concentration

remained on the illuminated pages.

“Yes.” Lili swallowed convulsively. The book had been quite educational.Although he had definitely not behaved according to the tenets the author had written. “You certainly aren’t acting the way the book said you would.”

A smile quirked his mouth. “So tell me, how should I behave?”

“You’re supposed to want sex with me,” she said grumpily. Instead she was using his skin for quilt workand he was reading a book. One taste and she’d been hooked.

The author even cautioned against becoming obsessed with a sex Demon.

Ridiculous. Lili would never become obsessed. Hadn’t she lived without sex for ten long years?

“Who said I won’t demand sex with you?” he replied silkily.

Her insides thrummed at the velvet-coated threat in his words. Beneath the heavy folds of her cloak, her nipples tightened and her core softened at the overwhelming sensuality he exuded.

He growled.

Growled! The primitive primal sound rumbled through her body, and she was more turned on than ever. Her breath caught and her attention snagged on the growing bulge against the placket of his breeches.

As Lili tied off the thread, her mind drifted to their sexual encounter.

“You should, ah....” She’d forgotten what she was about to say. Gods, that bulge was huge. Her channel wept for the opportunity to welcome him back into her body. He should lay with her.

“Lie down.”

He stared at her steadily, intently.

What should he do? Right. The bed. Blood loss. “On the bed. You lost...blood.”

Her throat convulsed as she thought of him in her bed. The longing that accompanied that thought made her yearn for the pleasure of his touch. Yearn for the completion of sex.

He stared at her. Finally he stood. He towered over her, his lithe and muscular body dwarfing hers, even though she stood taller than most men.

The unfamiliar sensation made her weak in the knees.

He kept the knives in his hands as he shuffled to the bed and sat down heavily. “Where did you get the book?”

“Ah, found it at a bookstore.” Her gaze was trapped by the thickening length of his cock.

“Seems rather convenient.”

Lili brought her attention back to his face. She’d thought the same. But for once, something was finally going her way. She’d been amazed that she’d found a book on how to summon a Demon so easily.

She wasn’t sure of his meaning was except that she was sure it wasn’t good. "Are you accusing me of something?”

The more she thought about it, the madder she got. “Because if you are, just come out and say it.”

Anger bubbled up inside her as the results of the events of the last few days built into a crescendo. The tension in the room rocketed to new heights. But she refused to back down. The temper she’d lost when she’d been scared out of her mind came roaring back. Especially when she saw the blood, his blood, leaking into the nooks and crannies of her skin as easily as the fear for him had leaked into her heart.