Chapter 4

Chandra rubbed her forehead and stared ahead of her. The building tilted, to the right, to the left. After a moment, it halted. She surveyed her environment focused on the shadowy alleyway.

“Follow me. I’ve caught its scent.”

Too afraid to do otherwise, she trailed behind the demon hunter, all the while her stomach quivered. Just thinking about the trip and landing to the street had her legs trembling.

She glanced at his back. The shirt stretched across his shoulders, molding the wide ripples of his muscles. She gazed at the brown leather pants that encased his thighs.

Whew. He was so hot.

She licked her lips and imagined how he would look naked on her bed, in the shower… anywhere.

Esha, Corna, and Tina giggled in unison. “We find him sexy too.”

The sudden sound of childlike voices startled Chandra out of her musing. She had forgotten about her guides. Since the moment they appeared to her, they shared her mind, revealing their opinions and naughty thoughts.

They laughed again. “We don’t blame you. If we were human, we would be distracted too. So when are you going to mate with him?”

“Mate?” Chandra said; the pitch of her voice rose.

“Shhhh,” the hunter snapped in a whisper. “The demon’s hearing is strong. We must be quiet.”

She stared at him at the back of his head. From the moment she’d crashed into him, he was nothing but an overbearing ass. She didn’t even know his name.

“His name is Danyun.”

Startled, Chandra paused for a second before she resumed walking. Hearing her guides both felt weird and comforting at the same time. “How do you know?” Chandra whispered.

Danyun glanced over his shoulder, his eyes pinning her with a look of irritation that filled Chandra with disappointment. By his pissed off expression, she doubted they would ever get beyond first name bases.

The guides giggled. “You don’t have to speak. We can read your mind.”

Chandra shook her head. Now they tell me, she thought to herself. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Even in her mind, the question she asked them sounded sharp.

“Because you never asked us.”

“How do you know his name?”

Their laughter twinkled in Chandra’s mind. “Silly. We are your guides. We know everything about the present.”

Chandra looked at the firm tendons of Danyun’s back, moving as he increased his pace. Every swing of his arms contracted his biceps. His hair fell past his shoulder. Several green and purple braids intertwined with his straight blond strands.

Her fingers itched to touch them, to feel their texture. Uncomfortable about her sudden desire, she looked away and stumbled.

“Do not linger, witch. Keep up.” His voice came out harsher than before.

“Stop calling me that.”

Chandra slammed into him. Stars danced in her vision. She wobbled, yet long fingers steadied her, holding her waist. Her gaze rose until it clashed with his. His dark purple eyes seemed to shoot out electrical charges. They burned with tempered anger. “I told you to be quiet.”

“I…” She licked her lips.

His hands dropped to his sides. “You make as much noise as a Canbury dragon.” He walked past her and headed in the direction of a narrow alleyway. “Pray that we find the demon first before he feasts. If we don’t, he will gain much power.”

Chandra trailed after him, stomping her feet behind him. She opened her mouth, ready to give him a piece of her mind until a figure caught her eyes.

The silhouette of what appeared to be a man leaned against a building wall. For some unexplainable reason she halted. She stared at the shadowy form until her eyes adjusted to the darkness and more details emerged.

The man thrust his hips upward, back and forth, almost in a dance. But as Chandra glanced at his lower region, she realized her assumption had been a false one.

His pants encircled his ankles. A woman dressed in a short, strapless top and a skirt gathered around her hips, kneeled in between his legs. The bobbing motion of her head alluded to the act she performed on the man’s anatomy.

Chandra gasped.

The woman on the floor turned her head. Her eyes glittered, reflecting so much evil, it sent shiver all over Chandra’s body.

Finally, the truth hit her.

Demons did exist.

#

Without thought, Danyun called forth his sword. It materialized into the curve of his palm. “Stay behind me, witch. And whatever you do, don’t look at the demon.” He advanced toward the possessed woman. “Release the human.”

A long, grey tongue swiped along the man’s sexual organ. Once. Twice.

Danyun cringed.

She chuckled, amusement twinkling in her glowing eyes.

Danyun was familiar with the sound. For centuries, he’d heard it tormenting him, daring him to catch it. Today he would end the taunting sound.

The demon’s fingers gripped the man’s thighs. He appeared to be lost in desire, but Danyun knew better, knew the sign of the Gauldor’s feeding. Soon it would drain all of his life force.

Fueled with determination, Danyun ran toward the couple, his hand tightening around the hilt of the sword.

This time, I will vanquish the beast.

As Danyun closed the space between him and the woman, a white dimmed light, surrounded the man. The human’s soul. It flickered for a moment, then disappeared, leaving him with a glazed expression.

The possessed woman stood. She flipped her pinkish, reddish hair over her shoulder where it swooshed across her nape. With a queer lift of her lips, she caressed the man’s pale face.

Just before Danyun touched her, she snapped the man’s neck. Without any hesitations, Danyun plunged the blade into her heart.

The Gauldor smirked. “You’re too late.” Blood dripped from the corners of her mouth. “Should have been quicker, my dear boy.” Tut-tutting, the redhead sent him a seductive smile. “You haven’t won this battle, yet.”

Danyun pulled his sword out of her chest. The woman’s body exploded, releasing a black cloudy mass into the air.

For the love of all the gods, he committed the ultimate novice mistake. He missed hitting the core of the demon’s soul. The process of giving the human oral sex had given the demon enough power to shield itself. Danyun should have anticipated the creature would escape. On the wings of his current thought, he realized the demon would need another host. And the nearest available body was the witch.

A powerful witch who didn’t know how to protect her spirit from possession.

He swirled toward Chandra. “Run!”

Chandra stared at the approaching mass as if it held her mesmerized. The multicolored orbs swirled around her at a quick pace, hitting her several times but she stayed frozen in a trance.

Danyun watched helpless as the demon’s spirit jumped into her body.

“Ahhhh... This is much better.” A deep eerie voice spoke the words out of Chandra’s mouth. “Hmmmm… a novice witch.” She swatted at the orbs. “Move away from me, you pesky pixies or I will eat you.”

The lights fled, flying behind Danyun.

Fury flowed through his blood as he advanced toward the demon. “Release her.”

“Or what?” The demon laughed. “She can provide me with enough nourishment for centuries. The last time I fed off a witch, she was an old crone. Her energy lasted no more than two days.” It stared at Chandra’s arms. “But this one will do nicely.” It brushed her fingers over her hips and her breasts. “I like her youth, and she is shapely in all the right places.”

Danyun’s cock twitched. Appalled by his sudden arousal, he paused.

“I see you noticed her figure, too.”

He growled, trying to ignore the pulsing in between his legs. “Let her go.”

“You are going to have to kill me—or should I say her. But you won’t, will you? You can’t afford to harm a hair on her head, especially if you want to go home.”

Danyun took a threatening step forward.

“Uh. Uh. Uh.” The demon shook her finger. “You don’t want to take a chance that I will kill her instead.”

“What do you want?”

“My freedom to roam this planet at my leisure, without your interference.”

“Impossible.”

“Then, the witch dies.”

The orbs danced around Danyun, beeping and humming in an erratic motion.

In her natural voice, the witch shouted, “Chandra.”Her eyes widened, and she shook her head.

Then, the demon voice spoke. “What?”

“My name is Chandra.” An orange glow emanated from her body, growing in intensity until she threw her head back and a roar expelled from her lips.

The black mass raced out of her body as if she expelled a toxin. It floated up into the sky, to speed away and disappear into the dark clouds above.

Chandra’s eyes rolled up, exposing only the white optic globes. She tumbled to her knees. Just before she dropped to the ground, Danyun reached her side and scooped her into his arms.