CHAPTER 21
By Saturday, Kian was almost sad their alone time was coming to an end. His friends would be returning on Sunday and regular life would take over. Would that mean Alec would go back to telling him they couldn’t be together?
He hoped not. At the same time, he refused to bring up what he’d told Kian on that mountain. Try as he might, he was having a difficult time wrapping his brain around the fact that humans weren’t the only sentient beings on the planet. Although, that was easier to cope with than the thought of being kept from Alec because of what he was.
So Kian didn’t dwell on it, choosing to focus on just being with Alec. They spent hours walking the various paths around the mostly empty campus hand in hand. His heat kept him warm as they talked.
As hard as they’d tried to stay away from the topic of their future, curiosity had begun to creep into Kian’s thoughts as he wondered what it was like to be a demon. “What I don’t understand is if it’s so dangerous for you to be involved with a human, why are you going to school with them?” Kian visibly winced when the question regarding what had been an unspoken taboo topic poured from him.
Thankfully, Alec hadn’t tensed up. Kian had half expected him to find an excuse to push him away again, not answering the question as if he were merely asking about the weather.
“I am a Sentinel,” Alec admitted, as if that explained everything. Kian gave him a quizzical raise of his eyebrow. Laughing, Alec continued. “Basically I am…a soldier, I guess would be the best way to describe it. My job is to protect humans.”
That made no sense to him. “I don’t get it. Why would demons need to protect us? And from whom? Based on what you said on that mountain, I would think demons were more of a threat than whoever you’re protecting us from.”
Alec’s gaze held his and suddenly Kian understood. “You’re protecting us from other demons, aren’t you?”
Slowly, Alec nodded. “There are some demons who are the epitome of evil. They crave the need to destroy others. Humans aren’t their only victims. They also attack other paranormals. We do our best to protect them, too, but they rarely want our help.”
Alec started them walking again. They had taken a couple of dozen steps when he sighed in resignation. “A normal human isn’t capable of stopping a demon.” He gave a small humorless laugh. “Any paranormal, really. The other races have their own version of our sentinels and often work together in order to take one of us down.”
The more information Alec shared, the more Kian began to understand why he felt they couldn’t be together. He just wasn’t sure he could accept it.
“So why send you to college?” It was something that had been on his mind since Alec had admitted what he was. “Why have you lived with humans when you’re such a danger to us?”
Alec shook his head. “I’m not a danger to humans, Kian.” He stopped Kian, lifting his chin until their eyes met. “Just you.” His hands dug into his upper arms. “You’re like a drug that I can’t get enough of.”
There was a part of Kian that should be afraid, but he wasn’t. Every word Alec had spoken was exactly as he’d felt. No matter how hard Kian had tried, he could not stay away.
They stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. His heart beat erratically when Alec lowered his head. Rising up onto his toes, he sank into the kiss.
Sparks flared between them, but Kian hardly noticed compared to the intense feeling of Alec’s mouth against his. Strong arms wrapped around Kian, tugging him closer to that hard body, but it wasn’t close enough. Kian wasn’t sure there was such a thing.
He wanted to crawl inside Alec, to be a part of him in the most basic of ways. Every cell in his body cried out for the need to merge with him in a way that even after having sex hadn’t quite satisfied.
A shrill whistle broke through the haze of desire that had been consuming him. Alec reluctantly stepped back as they heard someone call out, “Nice show.”
Alec once more took his hand and moved them along the sidewalk. It had taken several minutes for Kian to gain any kind of composure. Even then, he was at a loss for what to say when all he wanted to do was beg him for another kiss. Better yet, to go back to bed where he could at least feel Alec inside of him.
It was a struggle, but Kian finally was able to gain a modicum of control over the chaotic emotions. “You never explained why you are here, on campus, attending classes.”
“To be a Sentinel, it is important that I understand the human way of life.” Alec squeezed his hand as he added, “There is no better way to learn than to live amongst them. Also, I am learning to protect demons from humans.”
Confused, Kian’s footsteps slowed. “Why would humans be dangerous? You just said humans are too weak when it comes to the other races. What could we possibly do?”
“It isn’t the typical human we have to worry about. It’s witches,” he said.
No fucking way had he just said that. “Witches? Are you serious?” Why he found it hard to believe after learning that there were other races beside humans, Kian wasn’t certain. It was moments like that one when he considered pinching himself, sure he must have been in some sort of dream.
“Yes, they are very real,” Alec assured her. “Not to mention dangerous.”
“But how? They can’t possibly be able to do the things you can.” Right? Not that he knew all Alec’s abilities, but he was fairly certain no human could walk through fire.
Alec snorted. “They have magic.” There was a lot of anger and resentment in his tone.
“What about the other races?” Kian asked. “Can they kill you?”
Alec nodded. “Not easily as we are still stronger.” His lips quirked up into a smile. “Not to mention we control the elements, giving us a definite advantage.”
Wow. There was nothing to say, except Kian was…well, stunned. Who would have thought he would be having this conversation?
“But as we’ve learned through the centuries, humans are far more resilient than we give them credit for.” A scowl twisted those lips he’d been kissing a few minutes ago. “If they can’t win on their own, they find a way to cheat. In this case, they figured out a way to use witchcraft.”
“How is that cheating?” Kian challenged. “Seems to me, you have abilities we don’t, so how is leveling the playing field considered not fair?”
“Fair?” Alec laughed. “If they stripped us of our powers and fought us, that would be fair, but that’s not what happens. They not only strip our powers…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to get into the details. It’s a sore point for us.” He gave a huff of frustration. “Most of the time we don’t even know they’re there before it’s too late. Why do you think we’ve been hiding out for the last two thousand years?”
None of this made much sense to him. Then again, Kian was still having difficulty wrapping his head around the fact that there were other beings than humans roaming the earth.
“But how did they do it? How did humans develop magic?” Had he really just asked that question? There was no way this was real. Kian had to be in some sort of bizarre dream.
“Does it matter?” Alec said harshly. Heat poured from Alec more than usual. Kian glanced over at him to see the deep furrows between his brows and set jaw. If Kian hadn’t already realized he was angry, Alec’s tone gave it away.
“They become intent on killing anyone not like them. Their fear couldn’t be reasoned with. It didn’t matter if one of our kind was someone who could harm them or not, they killed us without prejudice.” His voice broke. “Even babies weren’t left alone.”
Sickened at the thought of anyone willingly hurting a child, Kian started to walk again. His brain raced with all Alec had told him. Was it possible what Kian really needed was a mental institution? How could any of this be real?
Without any warning, Alec yanked Kian behind him, half hiding him. In the next instant, a man materialized out of thin air. Gasping in surprise, Kian felt the warning pressure of Alec’s hand on him warning him to stay quiet.
“Hello, Father.”