Page 24 of A Demon’s Resolve (Demonic Tales and Adventures #3)
CHAPTER 24
“How dare he tell us to wait?” Drark, a protégé of Kyden’s, railed. “He has destroyed all we have protected. The humans may be trying to explain what we are, but the fact is, there are some who have been told the stories. It won’t be long before they find the magic that destroyed us once before. That’s assuming they haven’t been practicing all these centuries in hopes of one day finding us again.”
Aticus had been preparing for this since he’d discovered Alec had fallen in love with a human. There had been no way that should have been possible for a Sentinel unless it was meant to be. Fortunately for Alec and Kian, Aticus was a believer in fate.
More than that, he trusted their ancestors. If they created a Sentinel who was destined to fall for a human, who was Aticus to turn his back on their plan? Too bad not everyone was as enlightened as he was.
Who was he kidding? Those like Drark were in the dark ages, or at least doing their best to ensure demons were dragged back to a time when they didn’t have any humanity. Not that Aticus was going to allow them to accomplish their goal. He would fight with everything inside of him to follow the path of their first Danara and Drakarn.
“Our secret was going to have to come out eventually.” Aticus pinned each council member with a hard stare. “The fact is, we need humans, so instead of trying to place blame, we need to figure out where we go from here.”
Drark wasn’t about to back down. He was like an animal on the hunt. He scented a weakness to exploit and he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he’d taken his prey down. “Even if that is true, do you think destroying the planet was the best way to go about revealing ourselves?”
Several members agreed with Drark, even ones that had been supporting Alec and Kian when they first arrived in Tuklati. Embolden, Drark pushed even more. “I think the only way to fix this is to kill them and give their bodies to the humans to show that we won’t let that kind of behavior go unpunished.”
There was no way Aticus was going to allow that to happen. Old he might be, but Aticus was still one of the most powerful demons on Earth. It was why he was the Council Leader. He wasn’t about to let a punk like Drark think otherwise.
Aticus stared at Drark until the younger Councilman was forced to look down and away in submission. Fear rose up from Drark and a few others in the room as Aticus made sure to pin each and every member with a hard look before he told them in no uncertain terms, “This is your last warning. No harm will come to Alec or Kian. As your leader, I am ordering you drop it.”
Not completely cowed, Drark dared to test him. “Maybe you shouldn’t be our leader.”
Aticus heard the others gasp but he didn’t pay them much attention. “Are you challenging me?” His tone was casual but his stance was terrifying. His entire body crackled with electricity as he stared down his rival.
There was no doubt to anyone there, Aticus was the most powerful man in the room, in their entire race - for now. He hadn’t become their leader because he was weak. Aticus may play the elderly statesman for the crowd but he’d proven himself over and over again to those in this room.
Drark seemed to cringe at Aticus’s obvious display of power. The younger Councilman refused to back down for fear of losing what little ground he had gained in calling for Alec and Kian’s death. “Obviously, there is no way I could challenge you,” Drark admitted. “But that doesn’t mean you are right.”
Smiling at the man’s bravado, even though Drark was practically shaking in his seat, Aticus didn’t back down. “Actually, that is exactly what it means.” Turning to encompass the rest of the Council, he said, “There is more at work here than any of you know, or will know. As your leader, I have been given certain information that pertains to Alec and Kian.”
Standing, he placed his hands palms down against the table, leaning forward, making sure their attention was focused on him. “Kian and Alec are not to be touched. Is. That. Clear?”
Nods were seen as they didn’t dare speak. Knowing they got his message, Aticus swept out of the room.
It wasn’t until he’d entered his office that Aticus realized his mistake in allowing himself to be so distracted, he hadn’t even noticed he had a visitor until he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of the one person he really didn’t wish to see. Ever.
“How did you get in here, Caleb?” The scowl Aticus wore deepened when he noticed Caleb wasn’t alone. Aticus was clearly distracted if these three had managed to get into Tuklati without him knowing.
Caleb was the most dangerous of them all for he was still a hot head. Then again, most vampires were. Something about the call of human blood left them on edge, as if they were always ready to attack. Not that they needed to drink human blood to survive, but when humans had arrived on Earth, vampires hadn’t been able to resist the allure of their blood.
The other races didn’t have that particular problem. With the advent of witches, all the races had to go into hiding; it was vampires, however, who’d suffered the most. The animosity that had existed between demons and vampires had only increased tenfold, since it had been demons who had created the problem by allowing humans to have the ability to wield magic to begin with.
As dangerous as the vampire race was, demons were still stronger, but not if the others banded together to fight. Seeing Kieran, leader of shifters and Zelina, queen of the succubi, with Caleb, put Aticus on alert. At least not all of the other races were there.
Aticus knew he was lucky it was only these three. To be honest, he was a little surprised it had taken them this long to show up considering they were getting reports that the witches were in the area already looking for Tuklati.
Caleb chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, Aticus, I would have to say you had no idea we were here.” The smile Caleb wore faded as his gaze pinned Aticus. “Are you slipping, old man?”
Aticus snorted. There was no way he was answering that question. “Actually, I expected you a lot sooner than this. What took you so long?” he challenged.
This time, it was Zelina who chuckled. Her throaty laugh called to Aticus as it was meant to do. Succubi were beautiful creatures who could tempt a saint into giving up his soul for a taste of sin. Zelina was the most beautiful of the succubi and knew exactly how to wield her power over others.
She proved that by gliding across the room as only she could do. When she was pressed up along Aticus’s side, she ran her delicate hand along his arm, letting her long manicured nails lightly scrape his skin, causing goosebumps to break out all over his body.
Aticus may be an old man, but he was still a man. If he’d been human, he would have fallen to his knees and begged Zelina to make him her slave. As it was, he had to force himself not to give into that particular temptation.
“Now, now, Aticus,” Zelina purred. “You know we aren’t here to attack you. We just want to know that you’ve killed whoever was responsible for exposing us to the humans and we’ll be on our way.”
Charming as Zelina was, Aticus knew the lie for what it was. Sure, they wanted the person responsible dead, but they wouldn’t hesitate to exploit any weaknesses they might see if Aticus showed any, which he wouldn’t.
He was a demon. If necessary, he would destroy all three of them. It was the reason they were all there. They would have been smarter to have brought the other leaders if they’d thought to have a chance of killing him.
He also wasn’t about to bow to their wishes to see Alec dead. Aticus leaned his hands onto his desk and stared each leader down. There was no doubt his eyes glowed with the fire that simmered beneath his skin, but they refused to look away as they had in the past.
It caused Aticus some concern, but he wasn’t exactly worried. None of the other races had ever seen the true abilities of a demon. Well, until Alec unleashed his on the world. They should have taken the warning of a demon’s power to heart.
Aticus poured his rage into the ground beneath them, causing the ground to tremble. He made sure to keep it contained to his office. The last thing any of them needed was for humans to get another taste of destruction.
All three leader’s eyes widened in fear. It wasn’t until they finally looked away from Aticus that he drew his energy back into his body and the ground stopped its trembling. “Leave.”
At first, the three appeared like they were going to refuse. It wasn’t until they each gave a small, nearly imperceptible nod of agreement, that Aticus allowed himself to straighten.
Kieran stood from where he’d been casually slouched on the couch across the room. “We’ll go, for now. But we want your word the person responsible will die.”
Aticus lifted the corners of his mouth in a sinister smile. “That won’t be possible,” he told them honestly.
Shock appeared on each of their faces in varying degrees but it was Caleb who couldn’t control his anger and demanded, “Why in the hell not? That demon put us all in danger. We want whoever it was to pay for that.”
Aticus leveled each of them with a hard stare before telling them the truth. “Because that man will be our new Drakara and will save us all.”
All three jaws dropped at the news but Aticus didn’t care. It was time to talk with Alec and Kian, whether they were ready or not.