Prologue
Orion
There’s nothing like the thrill of the hunt.
A ruthless hunter on a mission to catch deadly game. The distance between me and my target on the darkened street mattered little. After tracking him across the city, the building he entered was nothing. The shadows hid my body while my blood thrummed with adrenaline, waiting for the right time to strike.
Picking out his presence was almost too easy. A tangled mess of desires and conflicting urges practically vibrated under his skin, no doubt clouding his spirit and darkening his aura, but it called to me like a shining beacon in the night.
A sinister energy coiled around the troubled spirit. Afamiliarenergy, one I’d never forget…
Wolves hunted in packs but incubuses worked alone. We melted from the shadows without a whisper, striking with wicked hands and a seductive power none can ignore. Solitary predators who pounced in the night, leaving only memories of silver eyes and the ghost of stolen desire in the morning.
At least, our kindused tohunt this way.
Some of us still did.
The last victim… A woman with strawberry blond hair so stark against her unnaturally gray skin. No older than 30 and yet extreme wrinkles marred her hands and the skin around her eyes like somebody sucked all the life out of her with a forceful inhuman power.
That act was abhorrent. Justice demanded answers. So did I.
My goal might be almost pure, but when it came to tracking prey… old instincts died hard.
I followed my target inside, the edge of a smile dancing on my lips.
Time to hunt.
1.On the Prowl
Rob
The magical world was a lot like grade school. Don’t be fooled by mages who cradle fire in the palm of their hands and all the sex demons. Despite all the supernatural energy in the world, we were all overgrown children playing a game of dodgeball at recess.
Nobody wants to be picked last.
“Hello, boys and girls. Who’s ready for a night of Bliss?” The woman at the front smiled cheerily as her eyes turned from dark colored to stunning silver. “Think sexy thoughts and let’s see what you’re made of.”
Hell, this was so muchworsethan dodge ball. Not being picked was even less fun when wearing your tightest pants while crowded against other desperate hopefuls and being mystically evaluated by a succubus in the back alley behind an exclusive sex demon night club.
“Step forward if you’ve been charmed by a sex demon before.”
Nope, not me.
Like us mages, the sex demon brand of magic played particularly well with others. Our magics gained power by forming connections, so they were sensitive about who they partneredwith,even if their partnerships were much more temporary.
In grade school terms, I was the scrawny loser nobody wanted on their team.
“You and you.”
The silver-eyed succubus in her curve-hugging red gown barely glanced in my direction when selecting two other hopefuls. Her eyes receded back to their natural color as she stopped reading our desires. My gay, low-rent ass never learned the first thing about impressing a glamorous broad like her.
Any self-respecting person would collect the rest of their dignity and slink home or go to one of the numerous regular bars in the heart of downtown Ashvale and get wasted.
Self-respect? That was even more foreign to me than impressing women.
Ihad toget in there.
"Hey, wait!"
