Demon's Alter-Ego Ch. 01-04

Hello Friends,

Welcome to the continuation of Dove and her demons. For anyone new who wants to delve into her world here are a few words:

Probably beneficial to read the first two books before this one, I don't do a lot of re-hashing.

I'm not the best at writing erotica, but I do what I can because this is an erotica site.

It's in first person and I don't post unless I'm finished with the story.

For anyone returning:

Sorry, this one is just a bit more of a cliff hanger than the other two

No offense taken if you don't like the plot, characters, or writing style. We all have our preferences.

As always, Enjoy this story and all the others on the site!

CHAPTER 1

Having my power completely snapped and rewired from a deranged angel slash demon did not make my little moments of happiness happy anymore. My brain was in a fog and I couldn't seem to do any magic. I meditated, I railed, I cried and still I couldn't quite figure out what was left of me. Little holes and strained connections filled my entire being like a lace doily, making my magic feel strange and unfamiliar. I did my best to push on through the days, knowing it was Oldavai I was feeling come and go just outside my house's borders. Eventually I knew I would have to convince myself to step outside.

With a goal in mind, I noshed on dry cereal and crackers since the house wasn't filled with much else when I emptied it of perishables before I left. Last winter I travelled to the world that birthed the demons who used to fill my days with their presence. That winter changed everything.

My life was supposed to be simple, get warrant, kill demon. This livelihood was secure since I was an offshoot of humans that seemed to be intrinsically connected to demons. This meant we had extra abilities to combat them. The Division for Supernatural and Human Affairs decided to use us as their personal demon police. I had concluded that they were trying to regulate a species they had no clue about. Or maybe they did know and were just trying their best.

I had been a demon hunter for close to 8 years and was nearing my thirtieth birthday. I wasn't the best, but I'd like to think I wasn't the worst. Some of my colleagues might disagree on that second part. Mainly because I took full advantage of a law giving hunters the option of binding with demons instead of killing them. It had been the past year that I was granted several hard truths. One, I still blamed myself for my mother's death. Two, I took oddball chances, some said stupid. Three, I'd kill, but was even more determined not to kill. None of these made for a great demon hunter. Like I said, I'm adequate.

I was thinking about the demon Icelander, Taurin, as I squished the small nozzle on the cheese can. He loved this atrocious yellow stuff. My lips quirked as I remembered him drawing pictures half on the cracker, half on the plate. Once, when he finally acknowledged my amused stare, he swiped up some of the food stuff and sucked it off his finger while giving me his come-hither look. I had snorted and walked away from his laughter.

Oh gods, I loved that demon. The thought startled me with a cracker poised at my lips. Oh shit, I loved that demon.

I slowly placed the cracker in my mouth, chewing while my thoughts strayed to the demon dragon, Ezra. I'd been with him longer and our bond was different than mine with Taurin's. I ached for him big time. I had come to rely on him to listen when I needed to vent, sought him out for comfort, and simply missed his non-judgment. Although I never wanted to leave him alone in his sanctuary, something changed between us last winter and I wasn't sure what that meant to our relationship. The longer I had to think about our time together the more I wondered if what I ached for may no longer be possible after realizing how much he hid from me.

He was more. More than he ever showed me. And still I knew that there were hidden depths to his personality and power that I couldn't fathom. Our dynamic had changed, as much as it had between Taurin and I. Because even my love for Taurin didn't change that fact that the Elemental that was part of him made him just as scary as Ezra. Maybe ignorance is bliss, but it will still get you killed and yet, somehow, I survived those two.

I ventured outside for a hike to clear away my melancholy thoughts. The boundary a witch placed around my property kept the trees from encroaching, so it wasn't until I was on the trail proper that I could enjoy the cooler climes of their shade. Since I still hadn't figured out how to protect myself magically I carried my knives strapped to my body. Their weight was a comfort I missed lately.

Oldavai's vibration got stronger the closer he approached, and I decided to turn. As I waited, I felt his push of demon move through me. I raised an eyebrow at his human slow approach, "I'm used to you just showing up out of nowhere."

He shrugged, "Don't want to. Not so many emotions here for me to sift through."

"What do you mean?"

He stopped scant inches from my body, "I'm telling you my secrets, Dove."

I couldn't stop my shocked look. "Seriously!?"

He nodded, "Yes. I move through emotions, past and present. I catch you... through emotions. It's as simple and complicated as that. It's what incubi and succubae do and it's what Ezra was trying to figure out the workings of so very long ago." He grinned and I saw his sharp canine's flash.

I tightened my lips in a grimace and turned to continue up the trail. He stepped up and paced me. I looked over and he gave me his own considering look. His warm blond hair was pulled in a messy knot directly on top of his head, wisps flowing around his face. That hair was nothing in length or color to the real thing. Even his skin color was different when he was an incubus. It wasn't any color of humanity; it was a golden glow of sunrise. When he let his other self shine through, and shine it did, Oldavai had the equivalent of golden glitter everywhere. It was something that annoyed me most, his amusement with showering me in it.

I gave a quick gaze into his amber eyes. "Any other secrets you're going to tell me?"

Oldavai threw an arm out abruptly in front of my chest causing me to stumble. His grasp on my biceps was rough as he turned me to face him and my eyes narrowed in response. The angry tone of his voice washed over me, "I think it's your turn to tell me yours. I stayed within steps of your home waiting for you to succumb to me because you knew I was out there. Not always, I admit, but then again you are the one who made me Shorn's lap dog. And now, I am within inches of you and there is absolutely no fight in you not to get closer to me."

He gave me an expectant look and I replied with a nonchalant shrug, "How do you know I'm not fighting your magic? How do you know that even now I'm not waiting in anticipation," I moved in closer, placing my lips a breath from his, "for you to kiss me? To throw me on the ground and screw me senseless?"

He chuckled behind his lips and backed his face away from mine, "Cliché as it may sound, I'm older than you." He paused and said with emphasis, "And I know what you're feeling."

I gave my own huff and pulled away, shaking my arms to get his grip off me, "Back up before I punch you in the kidney." I shook my head in frustration and confusion at myself. This relationship I had with the incubus was fucked all ways to heaven and hell.

He relaxed his stance, and we started walking before I spoke up again. "Can you still feel me? I mean as a demon hunter, that part that always compels your kind to be close."

His expression of astonishment looked genuine to me.

"Of course! Why would I not?"

"Does Laci, the woman you turned into your ultimate love slave, still feel that way?"

"You mean does she still feel like a demon hunter?"

I kicked some rocks off to the side of the trail, my gaze lingering over the bright green of ferns in the moist soil. "Yeah."

My peripheral vision caught him shaking his head in the negative, "No, she's a vampire now. Whatever connection she had to us is gone." He made a short contemplating noise, "Well, it's there, it's just different." We looked at each other, "I suppose it's exactly the way a vampire is, dead."

"Then how is she still in love with you?"

"You're procrastinating, Dove. And what I did to her had nothing to do with the demon side of me and everything to do with the incubus. I don't know how it survived after she died." He grinned wickedly at me then, "It's definitely to my advantage though."

"Not if it led up to making you Shorn's lap dog," I said with sweet vindictiveness.

This made him laugh quietly. A beautiful smile played on his face as we slowly walked uphill. "Now, you tell me what happened and where Taurin and Ezra are."

"They are home and I am home and there is nothing more to say about it."

That familiar noise of negative he made had me sucking in my breath harshly as all the memories came back of his weight pressing me down on a mattress, handcuffed to its bed frame. I could feel the phantom press of his mouth on me and I my face crinkled up briefly.

"You'll always remember me," he said, interpreting my emotions correctly.

I stayed focused on the incline in front of us and mumbled with spite, "Anyone touched by an incubus does. You're all the same."

He chuckled softly and whispered, "I've missed my sweet viper."

"I'm not your anything," I whispered back, not looking at him.

There was no acknowledgment of my words.

We reached a lookout cleared away for hikers and I walked to the guard rails to take in the natural beauty spread before me. Another deep breath and I decided to tell him. There really wasn't any reason not to. He made us inexplicably tied forever when he had nerve jarring, non-consensual sex with me. Those were the consequences from the power he shoved and chained into me. I didn't have that piece of us right now, but I knew I would have to get it back.

This meant he was going to always have an intimately personal awareness of me, just as Ezra and Taurin did. At least I think they still did. I was so disjointed inside right now I couldn't really determine what my magic was telling me.

I kept my focus riveted on the evergreens below me as I spoke, "There was an angel."

"I imagine a very particular, determined angel."

My surprise showed in the quickness of my turn, "You knew about him?!"

He didn't walk closer to me, just crossed his arms, "Of course I do." He rocked on his feet, "The same way I knew what Ezra was doing before any of my brothers."

I exclaimed, "How did you know and not Ezra?!"

Oldavai laughed out loud, the sound echoing, "Of course he did."

"He lied to me." I instantly felt hurt.

Oldavai shook his head, "Ezra likes facts. Whatever question you asked of him was not concise enough. I take it Ezra's reign of terror lasted longer than our angel brother though."

I gave him a look of annoyance, "How would I know? I wasn't born during Ezra's stark, raving mad doctor phase."

Oldavai threw his head back and laughed again. "You're not paying attention if you think Ezra stopped being, as you put it, stark, raving mad. The longer we live the more we are." He shook his head with a smirk still on his face, "Did you kill the angel?"

I shrugged, "I think so."

My answer caused his smirk to leave his face, "You don't know?"

"Oldavai," I said in warning.

His voice raised in anger, "You never leave until you know your kill is confirmed."

"Oldavai," I said his name, trying to get his attention. He glared and paced away from me. I quirked my lips in agitation, "You're right. I couldn't though."

"Why?" He asked sharply.

I barked back to him, "I emptied an entire clip of Haelithic bullets into him and his wings, chanted the power restraint on him, then shoved him off a canyon cliff. What, 2000, 4000 feet up? No. I didn't go down to see if he was dead. End of story."

I watched his hand rub the metal rail back and forth, revealing more of his agitation.

"Remind me never to get you mad at me."

My arms raised in disbelief, "WHAT?! I am mad at you... you...fucker! Literally. Fucker."

He didn't say anything to that, just crossed his arms and rocked on his feet slightly, blowing out a huge sigh which had me thinking of Ezra.

"What are you thinking now? You're sad and angry."

"Oh, stop it! I was just thinking about Ezra."

There was silence between us as he turned to face me, his hip against the rail. Finally, he broke the uncomfortable quiet. "What did that angel do to you, Dove, that you asked me if I still felt the demon to demon hunter connection, that my magic no longer causes you to strain to get physically closer to me?"

"He played surgeon. Cut. Re-sewed. The equivalent of him taking my organs out, cutting them into pieces, and placing them where they never belonged in the first place." I felt the stirring of tears in my eyes and blinked them away, angry at their appearance.

"Ohhh," he drawled out the word.

I raised my eyebrow and peeked a look at him, "What do you mean, 'ohhh'?"

His gaze never left mine, "Ezra told you about the attempted eradication of demon hunters." It wasn't a question.

"Ezra did that to demon hunters?" My voice broke in sorrow. Could I forgive him?

Oldavai laughed in dismay, "Don't think your kind are special. Ezra did that to anyone he could lay his hands on. He played with all of us for a very long time and I have a feeling your angel boy just skimmed the surface of torture."

"Oh." My morals were shouting at me. "How long have you known Ezra?"

Oldavai shrugged, "I've been around. Longer than your Taurin, longer than Shorn."

"You're not the same age as Ezra."

He gave me a look, "I could be."

I shook my head and smiled because I knew Ezra was older, "Nope." I popped the end of my word confidently.

"That doesn't seem like something Ezra would waste time to mention."

I laughed now, "The look on your face! You think you know everything and you don't," I chuckled again and gave him my own stare of arrogance, "but I do."

There was a smile in his words as he spoke, "I'm intrigued. You best be careful, or I will steal you away."

I toed the ground and wagged the heel of my right foot, "You can't steal me from them. You leave a trail of pixie dust."

He laughed again, "True." With that statement his hand shot out quicker than I could block and caressed down my hair.

"You didn't!"

His pointed canines showed with his smile this time. I glared and put a hand up to where his was just seconds ago. "You fucking didn't!"

"I did. You should be honored. I have never shown such favor so often and so blatantly on anyone."

I closed my eyes as I placed my left hand in front of my face.

"Open your eyes, Dove."

I did, not because he told me, but because I couldn't not look. Yup. He did. Gold glitter covered my palm and fingers. I huffed in exasperation, "This stuff takes forever to come off."

"That's because I will it so. As I said, 'so blatantly'." He nodded his head back towards the way we came, "Come, we still have much to discuss."

I followed because he was right, and it was the whole reason I was interacting with him anyway.

We walked in a comfortable silence until we reached my house. His light touch on my arm stopped me, "Am I invited?"

"What are you, a vampire?" I grunted in disgust.

He snorted, "No, I just pass as one." He gave me a toothy grin, showing off his predator teeth at me.

I squinted my eyes at him, "Fine. I will invite you in if you tell me the real reason you have those." I waved my hand at his mouth.

He smiled indulgently at me, "In case that is the wish of someone I seduce. And more importantly, we use them for tree nymphs."

I looked pointedly at him.

"Fine," he said imitating my voice. "To get to tree nymphs you have to go through their tree."

My eyes widened as I stared at him in disbelief, "So, you're like a beaver." I couldn't stop laughter from shining out of my eyes.

He narrowed his stare at me, "No, Dove. I am not like a beaver."

I watched his throat move in an irritated swallow before he continued, "Biting the spirit of the tree is a direct link into their physical form and they step out directly into my hands. Malleable putty, so I can do whatever I want. Remember that when you irk me."

I ignored his threat and poked the bear. "You must really want to come in if you're willing for me to imagine you gnawing a tree like a beaver," I said as I ran up the porch steps to get away from him.

Only it didn't work.

He was in front of me, and I slammed into a rock-hard chest just before I made it to the door. "Geesh, no sense of humor," I muttered as his hand came to hold my head in place.

"It left me centuries ago," came his scary reply. He tugged lightly on my hair signaling his intent that I lift my head and look at him. I did, but with the bonus of my blade pricking his side.

"When I bite you with these, I can make it can hurt worse than that knife you hold against me or the most enjoyable orgasm you've ever had. Now, with your intent, please allow me entrance."

I nervously licked my lips, starting to regret my decision. "Maybe I don't want you to come in anymore."

He placed his finger on my lips, "Uh huh. You know you can't go back on a deal with a demon, Dove." He shook his head and smiled, "Dire consequences and all that."

I did, they and their magic got super pissy when you promised something and didn't follow through. Gads, what a masochist I was. It hit me with clarity that my trainer, MacKenzie, was right. I invited destruction directly into my life and I was still doing it. I groaned at my stupidity and looked deep into those sparking amber eyes. I thought about what Ila said, I had the most powerful demons surrounding me and I was on the bottom rung when it came to being a demon hunter.

"You don't really need my permission, do you?"

His face stayed serious, "I do when it's Ezra."

I paused for a moment and then forced bravado into the sweetest tone I could conjure, "Please, won't you come in and destroy my life?"

In the most gentlemanly voice imaginable he replied, "Yes, thank you." He curled his fingers around the knob, twisted it, and broke the lock. The door swung open with his light nudge.

His grip on my hair turned into a caress as he bent down to be on the same plane as my cheek. The warm breath on the shell of my ear made me shiver with some indecipherable emotion pouring through me, "One day you will beg for everything I can give you."

My fists clenched as Oldavai lifted his head and made a motion for me to go first... into my own home, damn it! I walked in and still he was in front of me. I slammed the door in anger, glaring at him in front of the empty fireplace. I heard him plainly as I sheathed my dagger.

"Eros."

The word was filled with anxiety.

CHAPTER 2

I didn't say anything. When a demon of Oldavai's age shows that particular emotion I know it's something bad. Just the way I knew it was something bad when Ezra let his own dismay show through when I agreed to go to his home. I almost died by dragon that time.

So, I waited and watched as Oldavai bowed his head and placed his hand on the mantel.

"Dove, can you guess why I was so insistent about getting in here?" He stretched his other arm back and held one finger up, "Don't answer. I know you don't know because I am the first incubus you have ever encountered. First," this time he did look back at me and stared determinately, "and the only, on my word, the only incubus for you." He turned fully around to face me and crossed his arms. "And the last demon."

One of my eyebrows shot up at his emphasis, but I kept my mouth shut, feeling curiosity override my irritability over his domineering display.