Daemon Uprising Read online

  Racine looked up and smiled. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.” His gaze shot to Kiernan. “Both of you.”

  The Euadaemon’s shoulders shrugged as he motioned for Racine to continue. The head of the council invited them to sit with a nod. Kiernan took the offer, making himself comfortable in one of the plush large chairs facing the desk. She chose to stand.

  “We’ve got a problem with a Kako,” Racine said.

  Kiernan snorted. “What else is new?”

  The older Daemon shot him a dark look. “He’s gathering recruits.”

  All humor left Kiernan’s face. He shot up in his seat. She watched him tense, his body going eerily still. “Kakos are solitary. They never group up.”

  “Well, this one has found a way to get others to follow him.”

  “Who is he?” she asked, hands clenching into tight fists at her sides. His identity really didn’t matter. She would find him and kill him, but the question provided answers, information to make hunting easier.

  Racine’s gaze moved to her. “He calls himself The Dark One, but his real name is Stryden.”

  He pushed a folder across the desk. Kiernan opened it and perused the contents. Tabitha inched forward to look over her fellow Enforcer’s shoulder. It contained the dossier of the Kakodaemon Stryden, all previous addresses, aliases, known victims, and a photo. Short dirty blond hair complemented a long square face. His eyes were narrow and beady, dangerous-looking eyes. He seemed like an average guy, one who wouldn’t stand out too much in a crowd. Not too handsome, but not repulsive either, the perfect background blender, which made the job harder.

  “How many followers?” Kiernan glanced up. His calm tone belied the apprehension she saw stiffen his body.

  Tabitha didn’t blame him. One Kako was hard enough to take down. A group of them would be almost unstoppable. The power of a human soul being too tantalizing to share had always worked in the council’s favor. Kakos did not like sharing and, therefore, did not make great hunting pals. The fact some Kakos had found a way to get around the possessiveness and share was a frightening thought.

  Racine stood and walked over to the small side bar the library housed. He poured himself a drink, offering one to them. Kiernan accepted. She declined.

  “At the moment, he has three followers. That we know of.” Racine handed Kiernan a drink and leaned against the front of his desk. He took a healthy sip before continuing. “Alec and Brone, brothers from Alaska. And Shanna from New Orleans. All three are very young. Not one of them over two hundred.”

  Two hundred years was nothing when you lived an eon, the average lifespan of a Daemon.

  “Any idea as to how Stryden got these three to follow him?”

  Racine finished his drink before replying. “No solid information so far, but we have a few leads.” His dark gaze darted from her to Kiernan. “That’s where you two come in.”

  Time to take down the baddies. She straightened, noticing from the corner of her eye Kiernan did as well. Duty time. They were ready for whatever their leader handed out. The council chose their Enforcers carefully. All considered it a privilege to serve as an Enforcer, and each member of the team performed his or her job with pride. Even Kiernan, with his laid-back attitude, got down to business when called for action.

  “I need you two to dig up everything you can on this group. Ask around, find them, follow them, figure out what they’re up to.” Racine paused, glancing down at his empty glass, a scowl darkening his expression. “And how we can stop them.”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  Though she agreed with Kiernan’s sentiment, she still wondered why the two of them were teamed up. They had never worked together before, and her animosity for the Euadaemon was no secret around headquarters. Not one to stay silent, she voiced her query.

  “Any reason you picked us specifically?”

  The Euadaemon leader arched an eyebrow. “You have a problem with your assignment, Tabitha?”

  “I think she has more of a problem with her partner than the assignment.” Kiernan chuckled from his seat. “Right, Tabby Cat?”

  Her jaw clenched back a retort. She did not want to go off on this man in front of Racine. He was not only her boss, but also a father figure. Lord knew her father had no intention of fulfilling his role. Silently, she congratulated herself for restraining from knocking Kiernan upside the head and instead addressed her boss.

  “No problem. Just wondering if there were specific reasons we were the right team for the job.”

  He inclined his head. “Actually, there are.”

  Walking back to the sidebar, he poured another drink. It must be serious; she had never seen the council head have more than one drink during a meeting.

  “Stryden and his followers have been working the club goers and homeless downtown. Tabitha, you are the best we have at recon, and since you live in the heart of the city, you know it better than anyone.”

  Her head tipped in agreement. Truth. Her apartment sat in the middle of downtown Denver. She lived there for almost ten years now. She knew the city like the back of her hand.

  “And Kiernan?” She knew her voice sounded a bit hostile, but she couldn’t help herself. The Daemon just rubbed her the wrong way.

  Racine’s gaze darted to Kiernan and back. “He’s your protection.”

  Kiernan choked on a laugh. Oh, he would think it funny. She found nothing humorous about this. White-hot flames of rage burned deep inside her chest. He thought she needed protection? A babysitter for the weak little female human, was that it? Hadn’t she proved over the years she could hold her own? The lack of confidence stung.

  “My what?”

  “Tabitha…” Racine’s voice held a note of warning, but she was too far gone to notice.

  “My protection? What the hell?” She felt her body seething with anger. “I have been an Enforcer for ten years, Racine. I don’t need any freaking protection, especially from some lazy, self-absorbed ass who thinks the world revolves around him!”

  Said self-absorbed ass scoffed. “Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think of me, Tabby Cat.”

  She wheeled on him, eyes blazing. “Stop calling me that!”

  “Tabitha Culver, that is enough,” Racine bellowed. The glasses on the side bar rattled. He was really good at bellowing.

  She held her tongue, turning to face her boss and mentor. Racine was a fair man—Daemon to be completely accurate—but when he raised his voice everyone listened. He had a darker side she had heard of and never wanted to see.

  Racine’s anger quickly faded. His face softened. “I realize how long you have been with us, Tabitha, and do not misunderstand: I have no doubts in your ability as an Enforcer. But in this situation, it is four against one. Four very powerful Kakodaemons against one very strong, but vulnerable human. I do not want to lose one of my best Enforcers. Kiernan is there to help you, not babysit.”

  Swallowing her anger, and shame, she nodded in acceptance. Racine was right. She needed someone to back her up, dealing with multiple Kakos. Any Enforcer would. It just irked her it had to be Kiernan. Even now, the Daemon sat there with a shit-eating grin on his face. He enjoyed her frustration.

  Well, he better enjoy it while he could. Two could play this game. She knew just as well as he did how to piss someone off, and if anyone deserved a little of what he gave, Kiernan did.

  Chapter 3

  Kiernan enjoyed the angry flush creeping up Tabitha’s face. He didn’t really know why he enjoyed torturing her so much. Maybe because she was so uptight. He liked trying to make her lose her cool, act like the human she was. Or maybe he enjoyed teasing her because she was incredibly sexy when she got angry.

  Probably a bit of both.

  He had no idea Racine planned to assign him to work this case with her, not that she would ever believe him, but he was suddenly very glad of the boss man’s choice. He’d had a thing for Tabitha Culver ever since he first met her years ago.

  He’d j
ust come back from a mission in Europe, a heavy surge of Kakos surfacing in northern Spain. The bloody assignment almost turned him toward retirement. Then he’d seen her. Tabitha. A tiny fragile human taking down monsters with the strength to snap her in two like a toothpick, and not even breaking a sweat. Over the years, he had seen her take down Kakos, Vamps, Werewolves, and even a Warlock. She was one tough woman, beautiful, too.

  Even for a human she was small, but that only seemed to fuel her to fight harder. Her chocolate-brown eyes in a small heart-shaped face complete with a sharp nose and the most kissable lips creation had ever bestowed upon any living creature. But her dark brown hair captured him the most. The hair always pulled into a no-nonsense ponytail plagued his dreams worse than any Kako he had ever fought. He longed to pull all that glorious hair free one day and let those locks spill over his chest as he took her in his arms.

  He spent many wasted hours dreaming about Tabitha Culver. Much to his dismay, the woman hated him. The reason remained unknown. She never shared it with him, even when angry.

  Monsters, the likes of which would make most creatures on Earth tremble in their shoes and call for their mothers, had no effect on him. He stood in front of them and laughed as he cut them down. But this tiny human woman made words stick in his throat and his heart stutter with trepidation. So, of course, the only mature thing to do was to tease her mercilessly. Daemons might be stronger than humans, didn’t make them smarter.

  He turned his attention back to Racine as the Euadaemon leader returned to sit behind his desk.

  “You two will start your search first thing tomorrow, and I want daily updates. When you find Stryden, I want to know. Immediately.” Racine glanced from Kiernan to Tabitha. “Understood?”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Racine’s gaze fell back to the books in front of him. “Good. You may go now.” He waved them away with the flick of his hand.

  Tabitha turned abruptly, practically racing for the door. She went through, her footsteps echoing down the hall, before Kiernan even left his seat. As he started to pull the door closed behind him, Racine’s low voice made him pause.

  “Keep her safe, Kiernan.”

  He glanced back into the room. Racine no longer studied his books. His eyes held worry and weariness. Kiernan did not like seeing those things in his friend’s eyes.

  “She doesn’t always realize her limitations,” Racine said.

  He knew that all too well. Many times over the years, he had seen the small human do things he wanted to strangle her for. The woman gave him heart attacks constantly with the risks she took.

  “I will protect her with my life.”

  A rare smile curved his old friend’s lips. “I know.”

  So Racine knew about his little crush. He wasn’t surprised. The Enforcer leader was one of the smartest beings Kiernan had ever met. He had a sneaky suspicion his boss, and friend, had done him a little favor. Tabitha had always gone out of her way to avoid Kiernan. Now she had to spend time with him. Racine was one of the slyest beings Kiernan had ever met, and right now, that was his favorite thing about the guy.

  “And I’d knock it off with the nickname,” Racine continued, giving another rare smile. “She looked like she wanted to kill you.”

  He didn’t know exactly why he started calling her Tabby Cat. It just seemed to fit her. She was soft, but could turn on you in an instant, claws extended. Something no one else called her. He liked that. A sort of claiming, a thing he had with her no one else did. He knew it annoyed her, just another reason he kept up the nickname, but she hadn’t killed him yet for it, so Tabby Cat it was and would always be.

  He nodded to his leader, shutting the door. A glance down the hall showed Tabitha leaving. She gave Bucky a hug, one of the only people he had ever seen her show affection toward. Cool, dark eyes glanced his way before heading out the door, sending him a glare. If looks could kill, he’d be a goner.

  He smiled. She could be as angry as she wanted, but by the end of this thing he knew two things were going to happen. One, they would find and take down those Kako scumbags. Two, he would pry Tabitha Culver out of that stuffy shell and into his bed.

  Chapter 4

  Last night had been a dream, a horrible, horrible dream. She killed the Kako last night and went straight home to bed. No visit to council headquarters. No meeting with Racine where he told her she had to partner with Kiernan to find a Kako with a god-complex and three idiots stupid enough to believe him. That’s right, just some nasty dream brought on by a bad meatball sandwich.

  Then why did Kiernan stand outside her apartment building?

  Dammit.

  Why couldn’t he just let her live in delusions for a little bit longer? The sun hadn’t even gone down yet. Prime Kako hunting time did not start for another couple of hours.

  Dammit!

  How did he even know where she lived? Racine probably told him. Bastard. Though, Kiernan would have to know where to find her since they now worked together. And she would have to know where he lived as well. The thought of being inside Kiernan’s home sent shivers up her spine. Whether good or bad shivers, she didn’t know and, truthfully, didn’t want to find out.

  Throwing a light jacket on over her black t-shirt and jeans—spring in Colorado varied from warm to snow. It paid to be prepared—Tabitha headed out of her apartment to the waiting Euadaemon below.

  “You’re early.”

  She walked past him toward the lower downtown area or LODO, as the locals said. Racine suggested they start looking in the highly populated areas. LODO was about as populated as it got on a weekend. Bars and clubs aplenty opened to the masses and the predators.

  Kiernan fell in step beside her. “Early bird catches the worm.”

  “Easy to catch when you are the worm,” she muttered under her breath.

  “Stop with the flattery, or I might think you actually like me, Tabby Cat.”

  Stupid Daemon hearing.

  She held her tongue as they walked along the cracked sidewalk. The city really needed to do something about the sidewalks. She nearly did a face plant the other night chasing a Kako down the street. At the moment, cracked walkways were the least of her concern, but better to dwell on them than the daunting task ahead.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  Kiernan shrugged his shoulders, his long black dustcoat moving effortlessly with his body. “Don’t know.”

  She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, her mouth falling open. “You don’t have a plan?”

  He paused, a few paces in front of her and turned, a little smirk tilting the corners of his mouth. “Naw. I figured you’d have one.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Of course, she had a plan. She always had a plan, but Kiernan called her this morning telling her they needed to check out the LODO district. She assumed that meant he had a plan. Well, that should teach her for assuming. She guessed the saying was true about being an ass and all.

  The stupid Daemon’s grin turned broader. “You do, don’t you, Tabby Cat?”

  Her fist shot out, connecting with his impossibly solid arm. Stupid idea. Now her hand burned with pain. Did the guy eat the iron after he pumped it?

  His eyes widened in surprise, or amusement, she really couldn’t tell, but it made her grit her teeth all the same. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

  He simply chuckled in response.

  “Do you even know where we are going?”

  Apparently, the annoyance in her voice made him laugh, but she shot him a look that squelched it.

  “New club in the LODO district. It’s called the Basement. The theme is darkness.”

  Kakodaemons loved the dark. Since Daemons were gifted with night vision, along with strength, long life spans, and those handy wings, darkness did not hinder them. The Basement was the perfect Kako feeding ground, with hundreds of people, darkness, and loud music to cover the screams. Sometimes, she thought her race just plain stupid.
r />   They walked along in silence. Tabitha started detailing the plan in her mind now that she knew their destination. She always had a plan pertaining to everything she did. Even in grade school, she made lists every morning. Daily lists scheduling everything she needed to do. Planning was essential to her routine.

  Her mother had tried to get her to relax, go with the flow a little more. Her father had laughed. He called her his little list maker. Every morning, he asked to see her list, then took great care in perusing it, pretending it was the schedule for the President of the United States instead of a five-year-old little girl. He’d smile, kiss her head and tell her to keep making lists.

  “A plan is always a good thing, kiddo. Let’s you know where you’re going in life.”

  That was back when he cared. Everything had changed when Tabitha’s mother left. No more smiles, no more kisses and no laughter, only bitterness and resentment. All of it aimed toward her. Even after he had Krista and remarried, the anger for his first daughter remained. Anger, simply, for being the child of the woman who had left him. Left them both.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  Kiernan’s deep voice startled her out of her thoughts. She scowled at him, mostly because of her anger at being caught reminiscing. She hated thinking of the past. It held nothing but bad memories.

  “Talk to the bartender.”

  The annoyingly sexy Daemon gave her a dubious look. “Talk to the bartender?”

  “Yup.”

  “And that’s it?”

  She ignored the disbelief in his voice. Let him think what he wanted, she knew what she was doing. As a human, her assignments for the council were recon based. She battled a fair number of Kakos and other supernaturals in her time with the Enforcers, but her real skills lay in strategy. Making plans, finding out information—no one did it better than Tabitha Culver.

  “Bartenders are the big brother of the night scenes. They hear and see everything.”