Destined for Time (22 page)

“Take a seat Clarissa,” I told her indicating the chairs
around the dining room table.

Suddenly my dick was rock hard and I noticed that every eye
in the room was burning with lust and trained on Clarissa. It was a knee-jerk
reaction to danger for sex demons. Usually, if something wanted to fuck you, it
wouldn’t kill you. It wouldn’t protect her this time though. No matter how hot
she made my body, nothing would make me lose focus on finding Angela and her
daughter.

Grabbing Clarissa’s arm I dragged her across the room and
pushed her down into a chair. Getting right in her face I whispered, “Do you
know what happens to a sex demon that can no longer incite lust in her victims
when she is locked away from anyone who might find her attractive naturally?”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted.

“I’ve seen it Clarissa,” I continued in a low voice. “As a
Guardian I have been trained in torture techniques used on just about every
race or species you could think of. I know exactly how to remove the gland in
your body that produces the pheromones you are currently pushing out to make my
dick so hard I could hammer nails with it.

Have you ever seen a sex demon wither away, starving to
death from lack of exposure to lust. It’s a long, agonizing process and it can
be prolonged indefinitely. All I’d have to do is let someone rape you every so
often. Someone who truly enjoys raping females while they scream and struggle,
while they beg. You wouldn’t be able to help it. You’d absorb his lust and it
would be just enough to keep you alive, but not enough to give you any real
strength or energy.”

I pulled back and stood over her. “Is that what you want me
to do to you Clarissa?”

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and shook her
head.

“Then tell me what you know about Angela and Rachel, now,
before I lose what little patience I have left.”

“Danarius has Rachel in Solaria,” She said then looked down
away from me.

“Solaria is a big place Clarissa, be more specific.”

“I have a ring that opens a portal to his exact location.”

She was still looking down and a sick feeling rolled through
me as I realized why. “Where is Angela, Clarissa?”

I heard her sniffling but she didn’t answer. Grabbing her
chin I jerked her eyes up to mine. “Who has Angela, Clarissa?”

“Adan,” she sobbed and pain lanced through my heart.

Of course it had to be Adan. He was a power hungry lunatic
that should have been banished by the Elders centuries ago. I’d long suspected
that he only got away with his cruel games because certain corrupt Elders were
actually using him to do their dirty work.

“Where?” I snapped at Clarissa.

“I don’t know where he’s taken her. You have to believe me
Rook,” she pleaded.

Looking in her face I believed her. There was too much fear
in her eyes for her to be lying to me. Releasing my hold on Clarissa I backed
away and racked my brain trying to determine where Adan might take Angela.

“Doyle, take Clarissa and secure her in a cell then come
straight back here,” Dragon ordered.

“Solomon, could you do a locator spell to find Angela?” I
asked as Doyle and Clarissa left the room.

“Possibly, do you have anything of hers that she feels strongly
about, something that is important to her?”

I remembered thinking how nice it was that she didn’t seem
to put much value on material possessions when I looked around her home. Then
it came to me. “Her badge is in the bedroom. Would that do?”

Solomon nodded, “That’s perfect.”

“Choices, choices, which one is right? Darkness reigns,
where once was light.”
Claire’s voice was clear and strong from the other
side of the room.

When my eyes met Claire’s I understood what she was trying
to tell me. Solaria was once the home of the solar demons. The trees there
actually dripped sunlight until war broke out and the night dwelling demons
destroyed Solaria’s source of power. The world was plunged into darkness and
overrun by demons from the dark worlds. Garrek had been the last known solar
demon to survive the war and with his death they were most likely extinct.

I shook my head. “How can I leave her knowing who has her?”

Her steady gaze did not waver.
“The heart will pull, the
mind will bend. If you give in, all will end.”

Again I understood. Claire had hundreds of visions every
day, but when they came with golden tear drops they had the potential to affect
millions of lives. What was one person’s suffering when millions of lives might
hang in the balance?

If that one person was the other half of your soul?
Everything.

“I won’t order you to come with me, but I am going to
Solaria,” Dragon informed me. “If there’s any chance this will lead to Travali
then I need to see it through.”

The blood bonds that tied me to Dragon came to life,
compelling me to follow him into danger. But even without them, I knew which
path I had to follow. Claire’s vision was focused on me, which meant at some
point my presence would be important, and if I wasn’t there, all would be lost
- just as the prophecy predicted.

In all the centuries I had lived, I had never had to make a
more difficult, a more heart wrenching decision. But I knew from the depths of
my soul that it was the only choice I could make. “Then we will see it through
together,” I told Dragon, fisting my hand over my heart as I bowed to him.

He came forward and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I know
how difficult this is for you. The trackers are still searching for Angela and
Solomon can start working on that locator spell as soon as he’s finished
opening a portal into Solaria.”

I glanced at Solomon, who I was sure understood what was
happening even though he hadn’t been here when Claire recited the entire
prophecy.

He inclined his head and promised, “I will do everything in
my power to find her for you.”

With that decision made we began planning our attack.
Whatever Travali had been up to, Danarius gave us the impression it would take
an army to stop him. We would go in with a small group but the rest of our
troops would be ready for a full scale invasion if needed.

Thoughts of Angela and what she might be going through
plagued my mind, but I couldn’t let them distract me. That was a sure way to
get myself and everyone who counted on me killed. So after one last prayer to
the Goddess for her safety I pushed all thoughts of the woman I loved out of my
mind and focused on the upcoming battle.

Our group of ten warriors including me and Dragon moved
silently through the portal into the dark forest of Solaria. The trees appeared
lifeless with no leaves or fruit but I knew they still held sunlight deep in
their cores, which made them powerful weapons that could be deadly if used
against vampires, or any other night dwelling demons. Contrary to popular
belief, wooden stakes normally had no real effect on vampires. But if the wood
happened to come from Solaria, even the smallest twig would turn them to a pile
of ash when driven into their hearts.

We made our way through the thick underbrush in the pitch
black to a torch lit path. As we came into the light I remained close to Dragon
since I lacked the ability to wrap myself in shadows. After a few hundred feet
we started seeing bodies. Some were human, others were demons, all had been left
where they fell without their heads attached. The trail of bodies continued to
a small castle on the hill.

When we crossed the drawbridge, then passed through the
gatehouse into the courtyard I expected to meet some resistance. Instead we
found more headless bodies illuminated by torchlight. I glanced at Dragon but
he only shrugged so we pressed on. We made it all the way into the great hall
before we encountered a living being, and once we did, I wished we hadn’t.

“Ah, so good of you to join us,” Danarius said from where he
sat on an elaborate throne at the far end of the room.

Rachel was on her knees in front of him wearing nothing but
a pair of high heels. Her head was moving up and down and it was obvious what
she was doing. I wanted to take her away from him again but I held my position
next to Dragon as the rest of our group fanned out around the room and kept
watch behind us, guarding our exit.

“I do apologize for the trail of bodies, but they can’t be
easily erased by your Guardian like breadcrumbs could have been,” Danarius told
Dragon. “My men were given instructions to take their heads the instant they
saw Rachel coming down the path but not before.”

So the bodies were for me. All those lives I would have
saved if I had turned back time to make sure Rachel never left the resort. I
snorted. It was gruesome, but clever. If we had discovered Rachel’s
disappearance in time I might have sentenced myself to an eternity of pain and
suffering. As it was though, there was no way I could have gone back far enough
to prevent her abduction.

Danarius groaned and I took a deep, calming breath. Rachel’s
head never stopped moving but I noticed this time she was quietly whimpering.
So he hadn’t taken over her mind. She was completely aware of everything going
on around her, and it sounded like she was terrified.

“Dragon...” I started.

“Before you make any moves, I think you should take a look
around the room,” Danarius suggested.

Vampires materialized out of the shadows at evenly spaced
intervals. They held humans before them with long blades poised to slit their
throats on command.

“Half of them have orders to execute their humans when I
reach climax in the kitten’s mouth,” Danarius explained. “The other half will
wait for me to release her into your care. If your Guardian does anything to
prevent those two events from taking place he will no doubt save the lives of
these pathetic souls.” The last was said with mocking smirk in my direction.

Our laws were designed to prevent time demons from altering
time and saving lives that were meant to be lost. If I used my powers to end
this now, I could argue that those lives were only in danger because of me and
my abilities in the first place. That it wasn’t a higher power deciding their
fates, but a conniving vampire instead. But I knew, like Danarius probably did,
that some of the Elders feared me and how much my powers had grown over the
years. And that was before Angela came into the picture. Something like this
would give them just the excuse they needed to get rid of me while they still
could.

“Is all this really necessary Danarius?” Dragon finally
asked.

“This kitten owes me what I paid her for. Your Guardian
ended her last attempt before she could complete our transaction. When she is
finished we will move on to new business.”

When Danarius let his head fall back and placed his hands on
the sides of Rachel’s head I was glad Angela wasn’t here to witness this.
Rachel continued working his cock with her hands and mouth, sobbing quietly.
Danarius held his climax back and it seemed to take an eternity before he
finally shoved himself to the back of her throat and convulsed with his orgasm.

Half the humans dropped to the floor with their heads nearly
severed from their bodies.

Rachel lifted her head and Danarius leaned down to whisper
something in her ear. After a moment she turned to face us and went up on her
knees with her back to Danarius. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and black
makeup and I wanted nothing more than to make all her pain and fear go away.
Behind her Danarius zipped and buttoned his pants after tucking himself back
inside.

“It’s a shame you won’t let me keep her,” Danarius said as
he moved forward with his legs bracketing Rachel’s small form. “She follows
direction so well, and she learns very quickly.”

He whispered something in her ear again and she started
caressing her own body. I took a step towards them and Danarius grinned. “Patience
Rook. I’ll give her to you in a moment.” His focus moved to Dragon and he said,
“In a few minutes I will be returning to the realm of humans.”

Rachel’s hands had been massaging her breasts but now they
moved lower with her fingers teasing her clit. Her head lolled back and she
moaned as Danarius slid his hands over her breasts and up along her throat.

I did not like this at all, and not only because it was
degrading for Rachel. Danarius was up to something, but I couldn’t figure out
what.

“Make sure you visit the king before you leave, I hear he
has some fine horses in his stables,” Danarius said as one of his hands
continued up Rachel’s throat to caress her cheek. “It’s time for you to go back
home with the Guardian now Rachel.”

Everything happened so fast I almost missed what Danarius
did. The instant Danarius finished speaking three things happened. The other
half of the humans fell to the ground as Danarius rose to his feet pulling
Rachel with him. It was the third thing that I barely noticed however. As he
stood he tipped a vial of clear liquid between Rachel’s lips. When her head
snapped forward with lust burning in her eyes there was no doubt what the
liquid had been.

“No...” I shouted as I went for Danarius, but he shoved
Rachel off the dais and disappeared through a portal before I could reach him.

I barely caught Rachel before she crashed to the floor. And
when she landed in my arms she immediately tried to pull my lips down to hers
while her body undulated against mine.

I had never felt such white hot rage in all my life. There
was no cure for humans addicted to Oblivion. Rachel’s life was essentially
over. Lust was the only thing that would ever consume her thoughts again. I
couldn’t fix this without saving all those humans that lay just feet away,
their blood pooling on the floor. If I could sacrifice myself to save Rachel I
would. But the Elders would make sure everything happened exactly the same way
if I tried to reset time.

A scream of pure rage and frustration tore out of my throat
and someone pulled Rachel away from me and restrained her. How could I have
failed Angela and now Rachel so thoroughly? I’d spent my entire life protecting
people but when it came to the people who matter the most I was completely
useless. I screamed again, and again, letting everything out before I finally
collapsed to my knees and fell quiet.

Several minutes later Dragon approached me. “Rachel has been
taken back to the resort. Someone will keep her comfortable until we can find a
way to help her.”

“There is no way to help her Dragon,” I said as I came to my
feet feeling completely numb inside.

“Perhaps, but it never hurts to hope.”

Not believing there was any reason to hope I asked, “So what
are you thinking, we check out Garrek’s family home next?”

Dragon nodded. “His father
was
the king. I’ve already
sent for the troops and since the royal castle is on the other side of this
world Solomon is opening another portal.”

I started heading for the exit when Dragon said, “It’s not
your fault Rook. You did everything you could with the way your hands were
tied.”

Without looking back at him I stopped and asked, “Do you
think Angela will understand that if we ever get her back? Even if she says she
understands, do you think she won’t blame me deep down for not protecting her
and her daughter?”

“I think Angela loves you and she knows that you would give
your life for her or Rachel if there was even the smallest chance it would save
them. She will not hold this against you, because you are not responsible for
what happened.”

There was no need to respond. We would never see eye to eye
on this. I had failed Angela and Rachel, but as we headed to the next portal I
vowed I would not fail again. I would stay by Dragon’s side while we hunted
Travali and even if I didn’t make it back, I would make damned sure he did.