The Demon Queen's Desire

Xander Phillips walked carefully through the woods. He and his partner, Paul Garrison, had been called out to track a suspected supernatural hiding in the area. There had been nine calls in the last three nights and they’d pinpointed it to the southwest corner of the wooded area near the county line. He sniffed the air. Concubus. The sweetness in the air was unmistakable, but there was a depth to it that marked it as female. They hadn’t seen one in years. As far as he knew, there had only ever been a handful in the state. If they managed to bring her in alive, the payout alone would make the job worth it. Phillips wanted to shift into his half-form and hunt, but his scent could obscure hers from his incubus partner. Keeping an eye on the canopy above him, he made his way toward the scent. The supernatural community in the rest of the country came out around the time that the state started limiting entry to humans only and hunting supernaturals five years ago. The state faced sanctions for what they were doing, but it didn’t matter, people flocked there to get away from the creatures they always thought were fiction. A rustling sound came from his left. Phillips crouched immediately, his body going still as he inhaled again to get a fix on the scent. There was something off about it. It was thicker than it should have been. It settled into his lungs and lingered, warm and distracting, making it harder to focus. He moved carefully between the trees, keeping low and light on his feet until the faint glow of a campfire came into view. The clearing ahead was small, just large enough for someone to settle in unnoticed. Near the fire lay a figure wrapped in large, mammalian wings and a blanket. Phillips felt a flicker of satisfaction. That had to be her. He pulled out his tranq gun and took aim at the space between the wings. The shot landed cleanly. He waited a moment, counting under his breath, then approached with practiced caution. “Got you,” he muttered, reaching for the body. When he got the wings open, though, he found it wasn’t a concubus. It was Paul. The world seemed to tilt as Phillips staggered back. His partner’s throat had been torn open, the wound ragged and brutal. His eyes stared up at nothing, already dull. Scratched into his stomach, deep enough to draw blood, was a single word. Traitor. The calling card of the Phantom. Phillips’ pulse spiked, every sense sharpening at once as he turned in a slow circle, scanning the trees. The quiet of the forest pressed in around him, too still, too empty. This hadn’t been a hunt. It had been a setup. He wanted to bring his partner’s body home, but if he carried the incubus in his natural form, it would only slow him down. His best bet was to run for it and bring back a team. Maybe burn the area. No one knew what the Phantom was because he was careful and no victim ever survived an attack. Phillips wanted to be the first more than anything. “Please, I’m just trying to keep my family out of the camps. I promise I’ll quit and leave the state. Don’t kill me, too,” he called out to the surrounding woods. Silence answered. He’d lied about having a family. Most of the rogues and creatures that didn’t live in pack-structured communities in the U.S. had come running when they heard the government was looking for supernaturals to hunt and track others. It paid a hell of a lot more than wandering around and trying to avoid the numerous shifter communities that would kill him on sight. A faint sound broke through the silence. Phillips snapped toward it, raising his weapon as movement caught his eye. A young woman stood partially hidden behind the trees. She looked small where she stood, her posture tight, her expression frightened. Her eyes darted between him and the clearing. He sniffed the air. Human. “Are you okay? What are you doing out here?” he asked, approaching her. “I got attacked by a… a thing. It knocked me out. Where am I? I was at the park on Jefferson, running then… What’s that?” She squeaked and pointed to Garrison’s corpse in horror. “An incubus. Don’t worry he’s dead. How long have you been awake?” “Not long. Your voice woke me. I was over there, in the trees.” She gestured weakly. “Can you help me get home? My parents are going to be worried.” Phillips hesitated. It could be a trick. He had seen enough in this job to know that appearances meant very little. He didn’t want to end up dead because he fell for some pretty bait. “Come out here and let me check you. Are you a supernatural?” The girl stepped out and shook her head. She was wearing a tight-fitting tank top, low-riding yoga pants, and jogging shoes. She folded her hands and tucked them under her chin. Her waist was so small and her hips so curvaceous, they swayed hypnotically as she walked up to him. “Is there something dangerous out here? Is that what took me? Some monster?” she whimpered. “Come this way. I’ll get you out of here. You’ll need to give a statement, but we should have you home in a couple hours. I’ll keep you safe,” Phillips promised, holding his hand out to her. The Phantom didn’t go after civilians. That much had been consistent. As a result, there were witnesses who testified that the Phantom wore a long cloak and had his face fully covered by a mask, regardless of the time of year. Witness accounts varied in terms of height and build, but all agreed that the Phantom was male. He put his arm around her shaking shoulders and held her close to him. She still smelled human. If the scent had altered even a little, he would have knocked her out. It seemed she was the real deal. Phillips started leading her to where his car was. “I’m guessing the incubus wasn’t what you were hunting,” the girl murmured with a shiver. “No. He was my partner.” “Are you human?” she asked breathily. “I’m not. Humans are hunters. We’re trackers. We help deal with the ones they can’t,” he explained. Humans rarely learned about things that didn’t affect them, like the difference between hunters and trackers. He didn’t mind. Explaining things was relaxing to him. Though he was still on guard, he wasn’t jumpy anymore. “Are you an incubus like your partner?” He chuckled. She must be nervous. “No. I’m a shapeshifter.” “Like a werewolf?” Phillips scoffed. “They aren’t the only shifters in the world you know. Just the most mainstream.” “Of course not. There are so many different types. I was just wondering if you only changed into a specific animal or different ones.” She sounded embarrassed. “I’m a ratel.” “Oh, I know that one! You’re a honey badger!” Phillips glanced at her, faintly surprised. Most humans didn’t react with anything close to interest. It was a different sort of experience being around this girl. He was starting to like it. “Most humans are afraid when they meet a strange supernatural in the wild. Especially one that changes into a violent, erratic creature,” he mumbled. “I’m trying to not focus on the possibility that something deadly is hunting us. I’m worried about freezing up and not getting to see my family again. Or getting you killed so you don’t see yours either,” she whispered shakily. “I don’t have a family. I moved here on my own a few years ago. Been too busy to date really.” Phillips sighed sadly. She snuggled closer to him as they walked to his car. They were close to getting out. He was surprised to find himself enjoying her company, even with everything that had just happened. It sucked that Garrison died, but it was the downfall of their work. Especially since Garrison was a well-known tracker who’d already outlived two other partners. He’d been living on borrowed time. They finally reached the sedan. Phillips stepped ahead to unlock it, pulling out the spare keys he kept on him. When he turned around, the girl was right in front of him. She pushed him against the car and started unbuttoning his shirt. He moved his hands to her waist and under her shirt. She moaned lightly as he caressed her breasts. His shirt opened, and she began rubbing and kissing his stomach. Her hands worked at his belt buckle and she finally got it opened. He leaned back as she looked up with dark, lustful eyes. “Don’t tell anyone. This is my thank you for your service, Mr. Honey Badger,” she breathed. “Oh, goddess,” Phillips whispered. He closed his eyes as she pulled his pants lower. Suddenly, he felt a burning pain in his abdomen. Then another as he shouted and opened his eyes again. She stood several feet away now, both hands occupied with curved blades that gleamed faintly in the low light. There was no fear left in her expression. Only calm, and something colder beneath it. “You shouldn’t have lied. I hate liars.” “I’ll kill you!” he snarled. “How? Your intestines are on the ground, honey badger. Your pants are around your ankles, and your weapon is under the car. You really should use a shoulder holster instead of an inner pants holster if you’re going to accept blow jobs from strange women in the woods.” The girl smiled as she wiped her knives off with her shirt and slipped them into their sheaths at the small of her back. The words dragged his gaze downward. She was right. His knees hit the ground hard as his strength gave out. “You’re the Phantom? Why?” “Because that’s what you people started calling me. But I kill because you walk around thinking you can do what you like, tear apart families, abduct people, put them in camps where they’re tortured and killed. All of this in the name of human supremacy. You’re traitors to your race. Then you lie so I won’t kill you? f*****g coward.” She sneered at the creature on the ground at her feet. One less asshole to get rid of. The edges of his vision darkened as she moved around him, adjusting his body with practiced efficiency. By the time she finished, it looked as though he had died reaching for his weapon. She didn’t linger. By the time the forest settled again, she was already gone. *** Madison returned to the stand of trees for her backpack. She pulled out her phone and checked it. There were three missed calls. Two from Serena, and one from Dennis Ryan. She dialed Serena. There was a screaming wail on the other end of the line and some fumbling of the phone. A deep male voice came on the line. “Madison, you need to come home quickly. Something happened,” Dennis told her. “Denny, where’s Indie? She should be with Serena until I can get there,” she said. “Mads, you need to get home. Indie can’t be here. She’s… just get home. Serena’s not doing well,” he insisted. Madison took off her tank top and brought out her wings. She ran and jumped off a little rocky outcropping. Flying was dangerous, but Serena needed her. Once she got down to where she’d parked, Madison absorbed her wings again, put her knives in the hidden compartment under her backseat, and put her backup shirt on. When she reached home, Madison couldn’t get to the warehouse her apartment was in because of the police cars. She got out of her car and ran to the police line. An officer stopped her, and she explained she lived there. He radioed to someone. After a couple minutes, Officer Lynton Leeds, Dennis’ partner, came to take her into the apartment. She could smell the blood, gunpowder, and daemon shot as they walked to the door. Her stomach dropped. They entered the apartment and Madison saw Serena sleeping with her head in Officer Ryan’s lap. He looked up at her with swollen red eyes. It confirmed what her nose had been telling her. “Indie’s dead, isn’t she Dennis?” Madison whispered. “She confronted some guys who were loitering outside the warehouse. They shot her. The security video caught a couple, but not all of them. She died before Serena and Nathan got back from their movie,” he explained. Madison felt the entire world falling away, like everything that had held her in place was suddenly gone. Indie was her sister, her best friend in the world, her protector, her rock. Without Indie, she didn’t know if she could keep going. They’d always known something could happen to her, but there was nothing they could do. She was in a dangerous line of work. The only other option had been going on suppressors and living a half-life, unable to think on her own. Indie’s partial human genetics granted her powers beyond what her demon blood gave her, and she worked in the superhuman department of the local police. Technically law enforcement, but not a cop. Pretending to be human helped keep all three of them safe. It afforded them the freedom to live outside the supernatural camps and fight their enemies. Serena sniffled in her sleep, and Madison focused. She had to go on. She had to be strong. Keeping Serena safe and alive would be her goal from now on. She was determined to protect her sister’s mate at all costs