I’m one of the Powers. My duty is to be on guard for demonic attacks and protect the byways between Heaven and Hell. I’ve never had any reason to doubt my work, to question my purpose, until him…
Tristan Mori is his name, and he’s a chef. From the moment I lay eyes on him, I know he is to be mine.
Who am I to claim such a thing?
I am…
Demuri
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Chapter One
Demuri Consdine stared out over the vastness that was before him. A gentle wind blew, ruffling his hair and more. He shifted his weight, the spear in his hand familiar yet almost uncomfortable.
More and more he’d been drawn down to Earth, intrigued by the goings on of the humans. Not that he was neglecting his duties, not at all. But still, he wanted to learn a bit more about them. Figure out their oddities and why they were as they were.
Now, however, he was enjoying the solitude this spot provided him. Below him moved thick clouds that hid the sharp peaks of the mountains that didn’t reach as high as the perch where he lingered.
He knew that when he sank below the clouds he would be presented with waters of the clearest blue, grasses of iridescent green. Closing his eyes, he allowed his body to fall forward. For the briefest of moments, he didn’t do a damn thing, just fell. The air rushing by him, no longer gentle, but nearly violent as it slammed into him.
At the last minute, he spread his wings and had instant control of his fall, gliding easily over the water to the earth where he settled with ease. Wings settling, he secured his shield and spear so they were hidden from most eyes.
Not that a winged man wouldn’t be cause for alarm to people here, but he was in a place that people didn’t frequent. This wasn’t an area that they could get to you.
Brother? Where are you?
Earth.He sent the response to his fellow Power and brother, Danijel.
What reason do you have for going there?
No reason other than I am intrigued by the goings on of humans.
They are nothing.
We’re there to guide and protect them. How can you think of them as nothing?He allowed his fingers to grace over the tops of the tall grasses as he moved through the untouched meadow.
My job is to keep the pathway safe, keep evil out. Not protect humans. That belongs to the angels and Archangels. I am a warrior.
Which is someone who protects.
Where are you, specifically?
A land they call Tibet. Do you have need of me?
Yes. There is rumor of demon activity in a place called Kansas.
I’ll meet you there.
He spread his wings as soon as he ended the conversation and took to the air with one single powerful beat of his wings. He’d never been to this Kansas but he knew how to get there. His connection to his brothers all allowed them to know where they needed to go. The flight was long but he didn’t care, he was needed. He would be there.
Demuri landed beside his brother in complete silence. Nothing alerted to the world around them when he arrived. Danijel didn’t start, but he’d known how close he was. Danijel was the strongest of the Powers although they were close in ability. He’d been one the longest and their group tended to look to him for guidance and leadership, if it was needed.
His brother stood there, sun shining down on his dark skin, yet still hadn’t any sweat on it, despite the fact they were there in the middle of the day. Currently his brother had braids that alternated dark and light hair and a goatee.
Personally, he sported a close cut beard and moustache, and he couldn’t ignore the simple fact, that he felt a bit winded after the long flight. He’d pushed it needing to be at his brother’s side.
Brother.
Danijel nodded once but didn’t speak. Demuri didn’t force him to say anything—not that he could—and instead followed his gaze to a small farmhouse in the distance. For a moment he looked. It wasn’t the house, no, it was an area before it.
A portal.
To the Powers, demon portals showed an ugly rust hue that boiled and bubbled the closer they were to spewing out creatures from the underworld to reign havoc on the land. Humans could stand on them and not know what lay beneath their feet. Only a few could sense it around them. He’d not seen any of them in centuries with the power to sense the portals.
Most humans now were fixated on small devices in their hands and never once took in the beauty they’d been given around them.
How long has it been like this?
With no more than a mere thought, he called his spear forth, gripping it in his left hand.
Not yet, brother. This has been this way for days now, never changing.
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t put his weapon away. His job was to protect the byways between Heaven and Hell. That meant keeping demons where they belonged, down in Hell.
How does it just remain like that? In all my years I’ve never known one to be actively dormant.
This I am unsure of. I need to check around and close it. There is a human inside. I need you to make sure he doesn’t come out. He’s alone.
And you don’t want to put him to sleep as the demons can access the weaker humans when they are resting to get in to this realm without use of the portals we’re looking at now.
Danijel turned his head and gazed at him, those golden eyes, marks of the Powers, hard and unforgiving. With a ripple, he moved his wings, those incredible silver wings that no other member of the Powers had and lifted himself to hover easily over the ground.
If he must sleep, protect him.
An odd statement from his brother but one he accepted. Danijel didn’t have use for humans on the whole. He merely wished to complete his job and move on to the next place where there was trouble. That and train.
He tracked his brother’s movement across the ground. Every so often he got to see his sibling’s weapon of choice. A chain. He and the rest of the Powers used spears, but Danijel had a chain that he used to fight with. His skill unmatched. He was also well versed in using a spear, but his weapon of choice was the chain.
With an easy beat of his own wings, he too rose in the air, unconcerned if he should be spotted. Around humans he used his power to conceal himself from their gazes. He wasn’t one of the angels they needed to see.
Before the house, he settled with no more than a simple brush of air along the ground. Spear still in hand and ready, he checked the structure for signs of tainting. It wouldn’t do for him to walk into a trap either.
Finding none, he walked through the wall, into the home of this human and instantly was hit with two things. An incredible aroma of food that actually made him hungry and an emotion he’d never experienced before but had heard others speak of. Lust.
In the kitchen stood a man, in blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, cooking. Thick brown hair cut short on the sides and in the back was longer on top and Demuri had this urge to touch it, touch him.An urge so powerful he’d taken three steps toward him before he even realized he’d done so.
Hissing, he drew back. The man paused and lifted his head, peering directly at him yet unseeing. Blue eyes slammed him, that same shade as the amazing lake in Tibet he’d just flown over, the purest blue he’d seen. A line of dark scruff followed the chiseled jaw.
“Are you here to kill me?”
The man’s question fell from his mouth, and Demuri realized he’d released his power at keeping himself hidden. Another first for him.
