He had come here, to Archangel, to ask Loren for help with some matter? No wonder he hadn’t killed any of the hunters, but still. It was highly unusual for a demon to approach him directly about such a thing. Normally, they would send their messenger to the elf council and they would deal with negotiations between the two species, and come to some form of agreement.
Unless.
Loren moved a step closer and stared at the huge demon before him. He spoke English, had three subordinates standing behind him, all with their heads bowed, and had the audacity to speak to Loren directly as though they were equals.
A demon king.
Red eyes didn’t give him much to go on though. Several of the demon species had red eyes when enraged, although this demon’s eyes had failed to change back to a different colour. They had merely darkened to a deeper shade of crimson. What king was he?
Loren glanced at Bleu to see if his second in command had figured it out. Bleu mouthed the elvish word for three.
The Third King.
Loren knew little about him. He had become king long after Loren had gone to war with Vail. If rumours were to be believed, Kordula had killed the previous king of the Third Realm, placing this male into power.
Were they working together after all? Was this all a trick?
Why else would this demon appear now, asking for his assistance, rather than working through the normal channels?
The male huffed and plucked the bolts from his left shoulder and arm, gritting his teeth as they pulled free of his flesh.
Their clang as they hit the floor cut through the silence.
“I will help you in return for a favour. I need your men at the battlefield. I need to settle a war in my kingdom.” The demon crushed the last bolt in his huge fist.
Help him? Loren frowned. Did the demon mean to help him with his battle against Vail in exchange for Loren leading his army to war with his enemy?
Loren shook his head. “I have no interest in your demonomachy. The elves have no reason to join your fight.”
One of the males behind the demon king moved forwards, an uneasy edge to his dark red eyes as he looked beyond Loren. He spoke to his leader in the demon tongue, a language that Loren had mastered many millennia ago.
His words sent a chill sliding down Loren’s spine and turned his blood to icy sludge in his veins.
“We were too early. The female has not yet been taken.”
Loren spun on the spot to face Olivia and reached for her at the same time, but he was too slow.
Vail appeared behind her, his armour covering all but his vivid purple eyes, his helmet matching the crown of spikes that Loren wore, and grabbed her around the waist. Loren swung his blade, aiming for his brother’s head, but it cut through empty air as his brother disappeared.
Loren bellowed in rage, his fangs punching long from his gums and his ears growing pointed, flattening against the sides of his head beneath his helmet. He turned on the demon king and roared as he attacked, catching the male off guard.
The tip of his blade sliced across the demon’s broad chest and the other three demons rushed Loren, colliding hard with him and almost taking him down. Bleu leaped into the fray, his dark sword a black slashing arc as it cut down the back of one of the demons, sending him to the floor. Loren thrust forwards with his clawed left hand, using a powerful blast of telekinesis to throw the remaining two demons off him. One hit the ceiling, punching a hole in the plaster tiles, and the other flew across the room, slamming into the wall.
The demon king growled at him, his eyes flashing dangerously and his horns growing, curling around in front of his pointed ears.
Loren discarded his blade and flexed his claws.
The huge male’s dark short claws grew in response to the threat, becoming deadly talons.
“Do not do this,” the demon snarled and hunkered down, preparing himself to attack even as he spoke words that said he wanted to avoid a fight. “I swear on the life of my future fated one that I am not allied to your brother and had no part in this.”
Loren reined his fury in on hearing those words, clawing back control over his ragged emotions and his dark hunger to shed blood.
A demon would never make such a vow lightly.
They valued their eternal mate just as the fae did. His soul cried out for Olivia and he reached for her with his senses, needing to feel she was safe and discover her location so he could rescue her from Vail and Kordula before it was too late.
Cold emptiness greeted him. The other end of the link was gone, severed. His brother’s female had concealed Olivia, just as she had somehow clouded the link between him and Vail.
Bleu moved beside him, flanking him with Sable.
The demon closest to them picked himself up off the floor and grunted as he reached around behind him, touching the wound slashing down his muscular bare back. The two other demons were pulling themselves together too, all of them casting dark angry looks in Loren and Bleu’s direction.