Taming the Demon - Book 1 (Completed)

Chapter 13 - Kadis

Entering Starbucks, I take a quick look around.

There she is!

She is stunning in a light yellow top. It flows around her lightly as she moves, almost ethereal like. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a loose bun with tendrils falling to frame her face. My eyes are glued to her. I didn’t realize how much I needed to see her until this moment. The pull is almost unbearable. An ache in the pit of my stomach starts to form as I try to contain the power that starts to grow in my chest. Gritting my teeth beneath my smile, I lose the battle and a wave of power bursts outs. The coffee shop goes silent. I ignore the stares and make my way towards her table.

“Jane, I’m so glad you called. I really have been looking forward to getting to know you.”

Sitting down across from her I can hear conversations start to pick up again.

Dammit! I didn’t want to do that.

“I’m glad you answered. To be perfectly honest I wasn’t sure you would.”

She blushes and looks down at her hands. I do my best and hold in my amusement. I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to say that.

The burst of power was unintentional, but it will help me to learn more about her. Archons have an aura that causes anyone around to want to tell us things. Truthful things. Deep down desires, hidden secrets, unconscious wants, even sometimes things that they may not remember. And it’s irresistible in high doses, the ultimate truth serum. All we have to do is ask the right questions and humans will tell us everything. Most times I keep it dialed down to a minimum, but that burst was heavily concentrated and I’m still struggling to push it to a lower level. I’m not sure why I’m having problems controlling it, but I would guess that it's related to my obsession with Jane. Oh well, if I can’t control it I might as well use it to my advantage. Letting go of my internal struggle, I focus on Jane once again.

“Nonsense, I don’t just give my number out to anyone. When I do, I mean it. Now, would you like to order a coffee or would you like to go grab something to eat. I’m free to do whatever you want.”

“I think a coffee is fine for now.”

I hold my arm out for her to take. As she places her hand on it, bolts of energy shot up my arm. I again grit my teeth to control myself. With just a small touch she has managed to strip away a millennia of self-control. Yet she looks so calm and cool. Does she even realize what she is doing to me? I’m starting to wonder if she does. I absently ask the girl at the counter about various drinks, but I am completely focussed on Jane. We get our coffees and head back to the table. Every small movement of hers causes me to slip just a little more out of control.

Focus! YOU are in control of  this! You NEED to focus!

“So Jane, tell me about yourself.”

I can see her struggle against the nature of my aura. Her mouth tightens into a line as she actually stops herself from saying something.

She is actually resisting! What the Helis is going on!!!!

I can almost feel her shake off the effects of the aura.

“Well, what would you like to know? Work or school?”

I am completely surprised. She did it! How?! This definitely requires more study. 

“School. Is that why you are always at the library?”

Her face lights up and she goes into how she is going to college online. Her knowledge is very robust and in depth. Her voice carries over her excitement about business and the economy. She outlines her current classes and her assignments, including one she has been struggling to finish. Over my large lifespan, I have picked up a few things here and there. As I like to say, I know a little bit about a lot of stuff. It is inevitable when you live as long as I do. So I am able to contribute to the conversation here and there quite well.

“Oh my! You must think I’m super narcissistic! All I’ve done is talk about myself and I haven’t even asked you about you.” she blurts out suddenly. A look of embarrassment crosses her face. Leaning back, I smile to myself. Most people under the effects of my aura don’t even realize how much they talk about themselves. This is turning out to be more and more perplexing.

“Don’t you worry about that, I am enjoying learning about you. But if it’ll make you feel better, ask me something.”

“Umm. Well… you know what I do at the library. What was it you were doing? It looked like you had quite a few older books out.”

Huh? 

“I was researching a question that has been burning a hole in my head for a few weeks. It was pertaining to human and demon interactions over the centuries. You see, there are many theories on human and demon contact and I needed to find out if a line of thought could be possible.”

What? That was not what I was going to say.

I can’t lie to her, but that was a little too much information.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

I am beginning to get a little uncomfortable.

Something is really wrong here. What is going on?

“I thought I did, but the more and more I research, the more I think that I may be following the wrong leads.”

“So do you do that for a living?”

I feel a pull in my head, the need to explain everything comes to the forefront of my mind. I use all my concentration to push it back.

“No. It’s more of a hobby.”

“So what do you do for work?”

I fight the compulsion to answer in full. I struggle to keep my secrets. My mouth has suddenly gone dry. The need to tell her the whole truth starts to ease off after a few moments, and I feel like I can control my answer now. I tell her a partial truth.

“Can I tell you something? I don’t want to scare you off, but I actually don’t work. I’m well off enough that I don’t have to work. I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want you to be intimidated.”

I see her demeanor change and I go into damage control.

“I see by the look on your face you have more questions. But let me try and ease your mind until we get to know each other a little better. I want to get to know you, Jane. Truth be told, you intrigue me. I don’t know why, but I would like to find out. So please, can we just forget about money. I won’t bring it up if you won’t”

Please! Please don’t run off. I need to figure out what is going on. I need to make you mine!

Archons are not telepaths, but I put everything I can into the thought.

“Okay, I’ll give it a shot. To be honest myself, I’m a little ‘intrigued’ as well.”

With those words my whole being relaxes and I start grinning. I can’t stop myself, I need to touch her. I grab her hand and spin her like we are on a dance floor. Her blouse billows out as she twirls and I snake my arm around her waist and pull her close. My body reacts with fire. She grabs my arms to steady herself.

“Thank you Jane. I promise to be the perfect gentleman.”

I reluctantly let her go, but if I don’t the patrons of the coffee shop may just get a show they didn’t bargain for.

“Well my dear, shall I walk you home?” Holding my arm out again, she takes it and I lead her out of the shop.

“Where to?”

“I live on 54th street.”

We ambled our way through a little park on the way and discuss people, business, and school. Funny, the compulsion to tell her things is gone. I ponder the incident. It is something I need to look into later. As we are walking I feel her slow down.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is it. My place.”

Jane waves at the building we are standing in front of. Wow! I completely lost track of where we were. 

“Already? Well, I guess it’s true. Time does fly when you are having fun.”

As she walks up the steps I follow closely behind. I don’t want to leave her side for a second. She turns at the top of the stairs and blushes.

“Thank you for coffee. You have no idea how I really needed it.”

Taking the initiative, I lean in and kiss her gently. Her eyes flutter closed and she lets out a small moan. Her mouth is soft and sweet and I want... No, I need to taste more. Instinct takes over and my tongue darts into her mouth. Another moan escapes her, driving me further from sanity. She opens her mouth and I take the invite. I put everything into the kiss. I need to explore every part of her. I press her body against mine. She fits perfectly. I can feel my body stirring and I pull away. I better stop now or pretty soon I might not be able to. I look down at Jane. Her mouth is pouty from the kiss, and I have to control myself from kissing her again. Her face is flushed and her eyes are half lidded. She licks her lips and a wave of pleasure runs down my body. She finally focuses on me.

“I’m sorry, I said I would be a perfect gentleman.” I tease.

Her eyes threaten to drown me. I can’t look away. The more I look, the more I see the myriad of browns that make up her eye color. Layers upon layers of different shades of brown. Who ever said brown eyes were boring, have never looked into eyes like Jane’s.

“No apologies Kadis. I really needed that too.”

I have to stop my body from jerking in surprise at her words. Who’s seducing who here? Smiling, I playfully ‘boop’ her on the nose with my finger.

“Jane, you are full of surprises. Thank you.”

I have to step away. I don’t know if I can control myself anymore. 

“When can I see you again? Tomorrow? I would like to take you out to dinner, somewhere nice.”

“Tomorrow will be perfect, Kadis. What time would you like to meet?”

“How about eight? And I can pick you up if you like.”

She stops in the door and looks back at me.

“Sure. See you tomorrow Kadis.”

“See you tomorrow, Jane.”

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I portal back home and jump straight into a cold shower. I shiver in delight at the memory of her body pressed against mine. It shouldn’t be long now. I should be able to make her mine soon and judging by her reaction to my kiss, she will be more than willing. As I dry myself off, I see the books from the Vatican Library on my desk. The euphoria of my date with Jane is fading and I start to go over some of the things that happened.

One, she resisted the full brunt of an Archon’s aura.

Two, I was struck by a similar effect.

Sitting at my desk I flip through a few of the books, quickly scanning to see if there is anything about humans or even Maji having demonic abilities. But I’ve already been through the books and I know that there is nothing in them about this. Everything that I have read so far has not mentioned anything about what is going on. Nothing is lining up! I slam the book closed. The joy of my date is gone. Frustrated I open a portal and shove the books through sending them back to the library.

I am completely baffled. She’s not Maji, I can’t believe that she made a deal with a demon for that much power or that she is that powerful of a sensitive, and I didn’t see her carrying anything that would be an artifact.

Is she a demon?!

Impossible. Demons can sense each other.

But….. maybe she is of another ‘divine’ realm. Fae and daemons may be the answer. But she still can see me without permission. Daemons and fae still need permission to see demons, and vise versa. I wouldn’t be able to see a daemon or fairy without their permission. That was one of the first Rules created after the Divine Wars. No contact without permission. But that doesn’t mean that something isn’t breaking the rules.

Energized by this new lead, I open a portal to the library that Jane likes to frequent. I know that I probably would find more information at the Vatican Library, but I can do preliminary research here. 

And if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll run into Jane.

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“The library is closing in 15 minutes.”

The announcement brings me out of my reading.

Who cares. I'm not bound by human rules. 

But now there is no chance of running into Jane.

Though I have found some literature on daemons and fae, sifting through what is truth and what is false is tedious. I don't remember the time before the Wars. No one does. Other than the knowledge that they happened and the creation and amendment of the Rules, realms chose to 'forget' each other to preserve peace. We know of each other, but we don't interact. I don't even know if I would be able to recognize a daemon or fairy if I came across one. My head hurts trying to remember if I've encountered them before. I must have. I was around for the Wars, I'm sure I fought, but I can not remember. I don’t really get the feeling that Jane is Fae or Daemon, but at this point I am not sure of anything anymore.

Exhaustion hits me like a ton of bricks. Gathering the books I did find, I head home and fall into a troubled sleep.