CHAPTER 1
“Father, I already explained I needed a Master’s. It’s only two more years.” Technically that wasn’t true but there was something pulling Alec Walker back to school. He’d felt it for the past three years but no matter how much he searched for that source, he couldn’t understand it.
It was as if each time he’d come close he felt whatever it was slip through his fingers. His sophomore year he’d sworn he was going crazy, yet no matter how many times he’d told himself to ignore the feeling, he continued toward…something. He just wished he could figure out what.
“We agreed to four years.” Tarek Walker, Alec’s father, stood firm before him with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’ve had that. No more. We need you here training.”
The fight to stop himself from snorting in derision wasn’t easy, but he managed not to make a sound or even roll his eyes – which admittedly, was something he’d learned from the humans he’d been around for the past four years. “Father, I’ve been doing exactly that since I was one when you started teaching me how to defend myself. Hell, by the time I was five you had me leading kids twice my age through those same moves. Do you really think I would just stop practicing?”
“It’s not the same as going against another one of us,” his father bit out, which showed just how frustrated he was.
Never had he seen Tarek Walker lose his cool. Not that he’d completely lost it, but for his father that was as close as he’d come in as long as Alec could remember. “What’s really going on?”
There had to be more to this than Alec going back to school for two more years. Maybe. The fact was his father hadn’t liked that Alec had decided to go to the University of Tennessee four years ago even though warriors were encouraged to live amongst humans for a time by going to school. Too often it was the humans they had to watch more than others of their kind.
That really almost had him snorting. Demons. That’s what the humans called them despite the fact that they looked exactly like humans. The only real difference was their abilities. Thousands of years ago, humans had deemed them ‘demons’ for both their ability to manipulate one of the elements as well as their penchant for killing by ripping their enemies throats out with their teeth.
Yeah, even Alec could admit it was a bit…gruesome. Still, demons? Really? There were no horns. And their claws and elongated teeth only showed when they were engaged in battle. He wasn’t entirely certain why their ancestors had let the humans live when they started forming hunting parties to come after their kind.
“The Council has been talking about starting a war with the humans. We need as many level heads here as possible,” Tarek finally admitted. His frustration with their governing body evident in every word he spat out, telling Alec just how serious it was.
It had Alec wondering if it was a good idea to return to school for his masters. But that pull to return was too strong. He had to go no matter what was happening at home.
“I can return with just a phone call, but I think this is too important. I’m not only a warrior but I’m their lead trainer. This degree will make a difference not only understanding human anatomy, but our ability to defeat them if a war happens.” Again, that was a total and complete lie. Their kind were way too strong to worry about something so trivial.
He probably should have studied nuclear science because weapons were the one area humans had the upper hand over them. Demons might be strong and easily healed, but not even they could survive a bomb like that. Humankind could wipe them out with just weapons of that magnitude if they knew where they lived.
“It won’t make a difference if you’re only here sometimes, son.” Alec had never seen Tarek so…defeated in all the years he’d been alive, which was just over a hundred years. In their world, he was barely an adolescent.
“I get you want to finish your degree, but…”
Alec held up his hand not wanting to hear his father’s excuses. “Stop. I get it, but there is something telling me I need to get back to school.”
That stopped Tarek in his tracks. “Why?” he asked Alec.
The thing was there was no reason why. He just knew he had to be there. If only that were enough for his father.
“I wish I could explain it, but I can’t,” Alec told him honestly. “I just know I have to get to back to school.”
Tarek glared at him for several minutes but when Alec didn’t back down in the slightest, his father closed his eyes for a moment and bowed his head. “Fine,” he bit out.
That was all Alec needed to hear. “Again, just call if you need me.”
Seconds later, he was at his truck just outside the entrance of their home, which was a cavern in the mountains of the Appalachian Trail. Not wasting any more time, he climbed into the drivers’ seat. Then he was on his way to the university.
His need to get there took everything within him not to speed. Alec just wished he knew what was drawing him back year after year.
His field of study was kinesiology, and technically there was a Master’s he’d decided to get, but the fact was it wasn’t needed. As the current lead trainer for their warriors, he’d decided it was a good degree to attain in order to understand the human anatomy they often went up against. Sort of.
It had been more prevalent when he was younger or when his father was young. Now? Most humans didn’t believe those they’d deemed as demons still existed. To the humans they were nothing but a horror story they told their children to keep them believing in some God.
The reality of their lives was that they tended to have altercations with others of their kind. There were approximately twenty enclaves like theirs. Without anyone else to battle, they tended to face off against each other. Well, certain ones of them did. Like that asshole, Brant, who excitedly pulled them into one fight after another with other enclaves.
If he had his choice, he would pit those who lived in their enclave against one another. What was he saying? He’d been trying to do that exact thing since they were kids.
It had pissed Brant off that Alec had been put in charge of training him even though Brant had been twelve and Alec had only been five. His father hadn’t said, but Alec wouldn’t have been surprised if Brant was the one behind the unrest Tarek had been worried about.
There weren’t many who could control Brant. For some reason the idiot was terrified of Alec. Then again, it wasn’t all that surprising he feared Alec. He’d been born learning how to use his powers and fight with deadly intent. No one, not even his own father, had been able to best Alec since he’d turned fifteen.
There were rumors that he’d gained the powers of the fiercest warriors in their history. He hadn’t put too much stock into that. The fact was Alec worked religiously on his techniques, which made him the best.
That said, he also didn’t dissuade the rumors. There were times when it was better to let others believe in the supernatural to give him the edge in a fight. There were times just the belief that he might have gained abilities from former warriors had stopped someone from taking him on. It saved him a lot of time as well as having guilt when he put his opponents in the hospital.
Their kind tended to heal quickly, but it wasn’t impossible for them to be hurt enough to need medical care. Alec was one of those people who could cause that to happen. He refused to apologize for it, but that hadn’t meant he didn’t regret it.
Knoxville 20 miles.
His mood elevated instantly knowing he was getting closer to his destination. Alec just hoped this time he would discover what was drawing him there.
At first, he’d thought it had been that he was able to once more live amongst the humans and away from being forced to live underground. It wasn’t always easy to never really see the sun or experience the fresh air. But he’d already gone to school for a year by then so it hadn’t exactly made sense.
Still, he’d searched every damn inch of the grounds, yet hadn’t found the source to what was attracting him there. There had been a few times he’d sworn he smelled something…enticing, yet there was nothing that had given him a clue as to what it might have been.
He was determined that year, he was going to find it. No matter what it took.
Half an hour later, he pulled in front of a home where he’d rented a room with a couple of other graduate students. He didn’t know them, but then again he’d never really known any of his roommates or suitemates in the dorms either.
Alec hadn’t been looking to make friends. What was the point? Eventually, he would return home for good. When that happened, he’d never see or talk to them. It was just easier to be friendly, yet distant.
Fortunately for him, none of those he’d lived with had cared. Well, after his freshman year. That had been a bit more awkward. One of suitemates had a huge crush on Alec. He might have been gay but Alec wasn’t stupid enough to hook up with someone he lived with.
It would have been extremely awkward because there was no way Alec was about to become involved with a human. Then again, for the most part, his enclave didn’t easily accept same sex couples either. There had been a few times he’d found someone willing to have sex, not penetrative, but they would either jerk each other off or give blow jobs, but it was always in secret.
The last thing he’d needed was to give Brant a reason to drag his life into the mud. It was hard enough to be the son of Tarek Walker, lead trainer for several hundred years. When that mantle had been passed to Alec, his life had become fodder for every gossip in the enclave.
No. It was much better to stay as far from any type of relationship, even casual. He just hoped none of his current roommates hit on him because after not having had sex for the past ten years, he was becoming desperate.