The Devil’s Nightmare

It is summer in Detroit, and while the days may be
hot, the nights are cold with fear as the body count
keeps on rising.

Brad knows that he’s not the most conventional of
Wardens.  Not  only  is  he  a  dork  in  a  warrior’s
body,  but  he  has  a  crush  on  a  vampire.  But  who
can blame him? The vampire in question is Jonas.
The  only  problem  is  Jonas  wants  nothing  to  do
with Brad and keeps pushing him away.

Jonas knows Brad is attracted to him, and he

returns the feelings, but he knows now is not the
time for romance. Things are more dangerous than
ever for the Wardens. Will Jonas break and give
into his attraction? Or is Brad destined for
heartbreak?

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

The Devil’s Nightmare

ISBN: 978-1-77111-628-2

Cover art by Martine Jardin

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Chapter One

s a Warden, Brad was stronger than most
humans, destined from birth to fight the evils

in the world. To protect mankind. To stand up and
be brave in the face of terror. To defeat the
undefeatable. Yet that night, he’d been taken
down by a mere Ewok.

Okay, technically it had been a spud demon

and not an Ewok, but they both looked exactly the
same. So who could blame Brad for wanting to pet
it instead of fighting it? How was he to know that
the  thing  was  faster  than  lightning?  Before  he
could  say  oh-shit-what-have-I-done-now,  the
thing  had  taken  the  laces  from  his  boots,  kicked
him in the nuts, then busted his nose.

To add to his miserable experience, the thing

had run off, its fluffy ass wiggling the whole way,
before Brad could get the thing and give it some
payback.

It had even let out a cute little giggle during its

escape and said, “I got the Warden. Yes, I did.”

So there Brad was, bleeding from the nose,

boots flopping away as he walked back into the

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Warden  compound.  He’d  wanted  to  go  directly
home,  but  his  Guardian  Janice  had  quashed  that
idea.  She’d  had  the  audacity  to  say  that  Brad
needed  some  extra  training  lessons.  Just  because
Brad had made one mistake.

Okay, maybe it was more than one. There had

been the previous night when he’d played ride the
hellhound. Although that had been for fun, and he
had killed the thing after he’d had his fun. But
Janice had still been pissed.

Then there was the time when he’d played

whack-a-kubold with his sword. But like with the
hellhound, he offed them when he’d been done
with his game. Still, Janice had gotten angry and
told him that he lacked discipline.

As if! Brad got the job done. He just wasn’t a

stick  in  the  mud  like  some  of  the  other  Wardens
and  all  of  the  Guardians.  In  his  opinion,  the
problem was Janice. She just needed to get a sense
a  humor.  She  was  so  serious  all  the  damn  time.
Brad wondered if she ever smiled at all.

“I still can’t believe that you let that thing get

the better of you,” she said as she walked into the
training room.

“You saw how cute he was. He fooled me,”

Brad retorted.

Since his nose was a mess, cute came out as tute

and fooled as ooled, but Brad thought he still got
his point across. He heard a titter of laughter and

The Devil’s Nightmare

saw that the twin Wardens, Sasha and Haven,
were there, having a good old time at his expense.
Brad gave them the finger. It might not have been
the most mature response, but it wasn’t exactly his
best moment anyhow. So why not go all the way?

“That still doesn’t excuse you for letting down

your guard. Spud demons may look cute, but they
have been known to kill. He could have ripped
your face off if he wanted to. The only reason he
didn’t is because he must have liked you,” Janice
surmised.

Brad touched his nose and winced. “If this is

the spud demon’s way of flirting, they really need
to work on their A game, because I’m not
impressed at all. What makes you think it liked
me?”

“Because it took your laces. It wanted

something with your scent on it to take back to its
nest. That means it will be out looking for you
again.”

Brad threw his hands in the air. “Great! Just

what I need. A furry little menace that has a boner
for me.”

“Well, you started it by trying to pet it.”
“Just because it was cute in a fuzzy, adorable

way, not in a I-want-to-fuck-you kind of way.”

Janice gave him a sideways glance. “To a spud

demon, there is no difference. If you ever bothered
to do your research like I tell you to, you’d know

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that.”

“I’m not Ari. I don’t spend all my free time

going through ancient texts and reading about
every creature in history. I do have a life.”

“Video game and gay clubs don’t count as a

life.”

“They do to me.”
Janice reached up, grabbed him by the ear, and

pulled him down. “You will learn some discipline.
Even if I have to beat it into you.”

“Ouch, Janice! That hurts.”
“Good, it’s supposed to. Now, let’s get to

training.”

“Can I at least clean up a bit? I’m a mess,” Brad

complained.

“Too bad. Work around it.”
“Have I told you that you’re mean?”
“Every day,” she deadpanned.
Picking up a bo staff, she threw it his way.

Brad’s Warden instincts kicked in, and he  caught
it  just  in  time  before  it  hit  him  in  his  already
battered  face.  Janice  grabbed  another  one,  then
they began to spar.

Brad was already sore from his encounter with

the spud demon, plus it wasn’t easy to move with
his lace-less boots, but he managed to parry most
of her advances. The ones she did get in hurt like
hell, though. Before he knew it, Brad was aching
in his ribs, hips, and ass.

The Devil’s Nightmare

Meanwhile, Haven and Sasha continued to

laugh at his expense. Brad paused long enough to
ask, “Don’t you have your own duties to attend
to?”

“Nope, we’re off for tonight,” Sasha said.
Or at least Brad thought it was Sasha, as Brad

could never tell the two blonds apart. He shot
them a dirty look, only to take a blow to the head
courtesy of Janice.

“Pay attention to me, not them,” she

admonished.

“Well, it’s kind of hard when they’re both

sitting there sounding like a pair of werejackals.”
Brad rubbed at the aching spot now left on his
noggin.

“Let their Guardians worry about them. Trust

me, they’re more in need of a good beat-down
than you.”

At least that made Brad feel a bit better. He

wasn’t as bad as the twins, so he wasn’t the lowest
on  the  rung  of  the  Warden’s  ladder.  Of  course,
that  wasn’t  saying  much  since  Haven  and  Sasha
pretty  much  sucked  at  everything.  Half  the  time
when  they  went  out  as  a  group,  the  Wardens
spent  their  time  getting  the  pair  out  of  trouble.
More than once, Brad had been tempted to ask the
Oracle  if  there  had  been  a  mistake  and  the  two
really weren’t Wardens after all. They could have
been  switched  at  birth  or  something.  Things  like

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that happened all the time.

The grueling training session lasted for another

hour. Sweat began to pour down Brad’s body,
mixing in with the blood that already covered his
face. He knew he probably looked like hell, but he
didn’t dare stop to wipe it away for fear of giving
Janice an opening.

While she got in quite a few blows, he got in his

fair share, too. Even though he knew it shouldn’t
have, it gave him some grim satisfaction to see her
wince in pain. It seemed only fair that she hurt
some too, after all she’d put him through that
night.

Finally, she raised a hand. “Okay, we’re done

for the night.”

Brad lowered his bo staff. His breath was

coming  out  in  great  heaves,  and  his  body  ached
from  head  to  toe.  All  he  wanted  to  do  was  go
home,  take  a  hot  shower,  then  curl  under  his
blankets  and  forget  this  whole  day  had  ever
happened.

The front door to the compound opened, and

Brad’s  day  went  from  worse  to  worser,  and  yes,
that  was  a  word,  damn  it.  The  man  of  Brad’s
dreams  just  had  to  walk  in  at  the  moment  when
Brad looked like shit on a stick.

Jonas. Damn it all. Why did he have to come

now? Brad licked his swollen lips as he eyed the
vampire up and down. With ebony skin, muscles

The Devil’s Nightmare

that were just made to be licked, and hair that was
cut  in  a  short  military  style,  he  was  hotter  than
hell.  And  here  Brad  was,  looking  like  he’d  just
stumbled  off  the  set  of  The  Walking  Dead  as  a
zombie, not one of the good-looking leads.

Brad tried to wipe at his face only to find that

the blood had crusted over. Wonderful, the one
guy that Brad wanted to impress had to be there,
and Brad looked like a dork. Could things get any
worse?

Why yes, they could, because Kamden chose

that moment to make an appearance, too. Brad let
out a groan. By the Oracle, how he hated that
Warden. Kamden was an asshole to the zillionenth
degree. He was sure to make a big deal of Brad’s
appearance.

“What in the hell happened to you, Brad? Did

you fall face-first into a wood chipper?” Kamden
asked, ever the predictable one.

“Is that the best you could come up with?

You’re really off your game today,” Brad shot
back.

He turned and made a beeline for the

bathroom. Going straight  to the sink, he let out a
moan.  It  was  even  worse  than  he’d  thought.  His
nose  was  swollen  to  twice  its  normal  size,  and
there  was  dried,  crusted  blood  covering  the
bottom  part  of  his  face.  He  even  had  dried  snot
and a booger. Booger! Like he was some toddler.

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Brad didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or do

both. Instead, he turned on the faucet and began
to scrub at his face. It hurt like hell, but there was
no way in heck he was going back out there
looking like that.

By the time he was done, he looked a little

better. His nose still was swollen, making him
appear like Mr. Magoo, but at least the blood and
crud were gone. There was still some blood on the
front of his uniform, but since it was black, it was
hard to see. He could toss it in the washer when he
got home.

He turned around to walk out and bumped into

the Oracle when she suddenly popped into the
room. Brad let out a loud yell of surprise, then
recovered, putting a hand to his beating chest.

As always when she appeared, she wore

flowing white robes and about twenty pounds of
blond, curly hair. She smiled at him, then reached
out and touched his nose. He felt a bit of heat, and
then he could breathe normally again.

“Did you just heal me?” he asked.
“Yes, why do you act so surprised?” she asked.
“Well, you normally don’t come here just to

heal our minor scrapes and bumps.”

“Oh, that’s not why I’m here. That was just a

freebie,” she said flippantly.

“Then why are you here, in the men’s room of

all places?” Brad asked.

The Devil’s Nightmare

Instead of answering him, she waved her hand

over his boots. New laces appeared.

“Before you ask, those aren’t your old ones. The

spud demon refused to give them up. He has it
bad for you. If I were you, Brad, I would keep an
eye out, that thing is out for your ass and not in a
good way.” She then had the audacity to laugh at
him. “Well, maybe good for him, but certainly not
for you.”

“How can you find this funny?” he asked.
“How can you not?” she countered, leaning

against a counter for support.

“You came all the way here to make fun of

me?”

She waved a hand in front of her face. “Oh, no,

I have a very important message for all you Night
Wardens. I just couldn’t resist ribbing you some. I
mean, come on, you have a fuzzy, cute demon
who wants your body. How can I let that go
without comment?”

“Yet everybody says I’m the immature one,”

Brad said.

She took him by the arm and led him out to the

main training room. “I didn’t mean to hurt your
feelings, Brad, I know you’ve had a bad day. I
shouldn’t have laughed at you. It’s just so hard not
to, sometimes. Don’t tell the others, but you’re one
of my favorites.”

“I’ll bet you say that to all the Night Wardens,”

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Brad deadpanned.

“No, I’m serious. You really are.”
While Brad wasn’t sure if he believed her or

not, it still gave him a heady sense of pride to
know that he might possibly be one of the Oracle’s
favorites. If Janice were only there to hear. Maybe
then she wouldn’t be such a jerk all the time.

They went out to the main training room and

were  met  with  several  gasps.  The  Oracle  always
got  that  kind  of  reaction.  Adam,  Brad’s  older
brother and the leader of the Night Wardens, even
came out of the office to meet her. Before long, all
of  the  Night  Wardens  and  their  Guardians  were
standing in a circle around her.

“What brings you here today, Oracle,” Adam

said in a respectful voice.

She smiled at him. “First of all, I wanted to tell

you what a wonderful job you’ve been doing
leading the Night Wardens. I knew that my choice
was wise in picking you, and you’ve proven me
right.”

Adam bowed his head. “Thank you, Oracle.”
Brad mouthed, kiss up to Adam.
The Oracle continued. “I talked to those who

are higher up than me, and I managed to convince
them to give you all a pay raise, considering the
added danger that all of you are facing.”

When she said the number, Brad’s mouth

opened in shock. It was more than twice what they

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had currently been making. He was so excited. He
could finally buy name-brand soup and shampoo
for the first time in his life.

“Oh, and there is one more thing,” she added.
Brad froze, there was something about the glint

in her eyes that told him that he wasn’t going to
like what she had to say.

“You’re all immortal now.”
Brad relaxed. Well, that wasn’t so bad after all.

He was going to have to deal with Kamden for the
rest of time, but he would learn to deal with the
jerk. Just as that thought registered in his mind,
the most intense pain in Brad’s life hit him. Going
down to his knees, he began to scream.

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Chapter Two

onas watched in horror as Brad crumpled to the
ground and began to yell in agony. Running

over, Jonas knelt by Brad’s side and looked up at
the Oracle.

“What did you do to them?” he demanded in a

harsh voice.

She gave him a sad look. “You know better than

anybody that to become immortal comes with a
price. Don’t worry, the pain will be over soon, and
they will be back to normal.”

Jonas glanced down at Brad. His eyes were

rolled  back  into  his  head,  and  his  skin  had  taken
on an ashen pallor. Sweat had broken out over his
body.  Without  even  meaning  to  do  it,  Jonas
brushed  back  a  lock  of  Brad’s  brown  hair.  The
piece  that  usually  hung  over  his  flashing  brown-
eyed gaze.

“Isn’t there some way you can lessen their

pain?” Jonas asked.

He didn’t want to give away that the only one

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he was really concerned about was Brad. For some
insane reason, ever since he’d come to help out the
Night  Wardens,  Jonas  had  been  drawn  to  Brad.
Yes,  he  might  be  annoying  at  times,  with  his
flippant,  don’t-give-a-shit  attitude,  but  there  was
something  about  him  that  made  Jonas  want  him.
Which was odd, since Jonas hadn’t been attracted
to anybody since his wife had been murdered by
Pure Born vampires years ago.

“Don’t you think if there was, I would do it?

The Night Wardens are like children to me,” the
Oracle said.

“Why make them immortal now? They never

have been in the past,” Jonas demanded.

“Aside from the fact that they’re all gay?” she

asked in a duh voice.

“Yes.”
“These were the ones that were foretold about

in the prophecy. They will be the last of the Night
Wardens because they are the best that have ever
been produced.”

When Jonas looked over at the twins with

doubt in his mind, she added, “Yes, even them.
Believe it or not.”

“But why make the Guardians immortal, too?”

Jonas asked.

“Because they are also the best of the best. Plus,

it’s hard for a Night Warden to adapt to a new
Guardian. So, it was thought best to keep them

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with the same one.”

Gradually, the screaming began to die down,

and the men and women began to slowly get up to
their hands and knees or sitting positions. None of
them looked ready to stand yet.

Brad sat up and wobbled a bit. Jonas reached

over and helped stabilize him by placing a hand
on his shoulder.

“How do you feel?” Jonas asked.
“Like the Oracle just zapped my ass with one

major spell,” Brad slurred.

“Are you still in pain?”
“Yeah, it feels as if a pack of hellhounds ran

over me, backed up, and ran over me again, then
vomited on me for good measure,” Brad said.

Jonas had to chuckle. Only Brad could make a

joke at a time like this. Brad wobbled a bit more,
before he seemed to find his bearings and slowly
got to his feet.

“With all due respect, Oracle, that kind of stung

a bit,” Brad said.

“Show some respect,” Adam hissed.
It gave Jonas some satisfaction to see that Adam

was still on his knees. In fact, all the other Night
Wardens were. They all liked to think that Brad
was the fuckup of the group, yet he was the only
one with the strength to stand after having the shit
knocked out of him.

Jonas wanted to point that out, but then that

The Devil’s Nightmare

might  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  had
developed  some  attachment  to  Brad.  While  Jonas
had  only  been  with  the  Wardens  a  short  time,
even  he  knew  that  was  a  big  no-no.  Wardens
fought  vampires.  They  sure  as  hell  didn’t  get
involved with them.

Sure, Jonas had seen the looks Brad had tossed

his way. He’d have to be a fool not to have. But
Brad had never acted on them. To Jonas, that sent
a clear message. You may be hot, but there is no way

that I’ll ever touch a vampire.

Once again, Jonas felt tainted. He’d never asked

to be a vampire. The choice had been taken out of
his hands when his sire, Corbin, had killed Jonas’
family  and  turned  Jonas.  After  that,  he’d  made
Jonas his  slave. It had only been when Jonas had
escaped  and  joined  up  with  the  Drone  Vampires
that he had been free.

That was until he had been captured again. But

at least that stint had been brief. That’s when he’d
met one of the other Night Wardens. So when the
Drone Vampires had decided to send one of their
own to help out the Wardens, they had thought
Jonas would be the best choice since he already
had an inside connection.

The last thing Jonas had expected was to take a

single look at one of the Night Wardens and fall
head-over-heels for him. But as soon as he’d seen
Brad, Jonas was a goner. With his floppy brown

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hair and mischievous grin, Brad was irresistible.
Add in his tough warrior’s body, and he was sheer
perfection.

The other Night Wardens and their Guardians

started  to  slowly  get  to  their  feet.  The  youngest
Warden,  Teddy,  fell  back  on  his  butt  but  quickly
scrambled  back  to  his  feet  again  with  the  help  of
Kamden of all people. And here Jonas had pegged
the  guy  as  a  jerk.  He’d  have  thought  Kamden
would  push  Teddy  back  down  as  soon  as  aid  a
fellow Warden.

“I’m sorry about the pain, guys, but it had to be

done to make you immortal. You have to make a
sacrifice for such a great gift,” the Oracle
explained.

“You couldn’t have warned us first?” Brad

asked.

“No, it was more fun this way,” she said, a glint

of anger in her eyes.

For the first time ever, Jonas got a view of the

bad side of the Oracle. The one that the Wardens
always whispered about. Jonas had even heard
that she had once killed a Guardian with a blink of
her eyes.

Brad quickly bowed his head. “Sorry, Oracle. I

meant no disrespect.”

She walked over until she was just inches in

front of him. Jonas could feel the power emanating
from her. It was all Jonas could do not to grab onto

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Brad and put his body between Brad and the
Oracle. As it was, Jonas took a few steps closer to
Brad in a protective manner.

“While I love your carefree manner, you need

to start taking things more seriously, Brad,” the
Oracle said. “A great danger is coming to the city,
and you will need all your wits about you to
defeat it.”

“What does that mean, Oracle?” Brad asked, his

voice even and serious for once.

“I wish I could tell you more, but even I have

rules that I must follow. Just know this. It will take
all of you working together to defeat it. It will be
your biggest test yet.”

With those words, she vanished.
“Great, she drops that bombshell on us, then

pulls a rabbit and disappears,” Brad grumbled.

“Be careful, she can still hear you, and you

already pissed her off enough for one day,” Adam
warned.

Brad didn’t say anything, but he did look

around with fear in his eyes. If the situation hadn’t
been so dire, Jonas might have been tempted to
laugh. Brad could be comical even without trying
to be.

“Do you think it’s true? Are we really

immortal?” Ari asked, as he touched his own
chest.

“I would say yes. Your Oracle doesn’t strike me

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as the type to lie. Although I would still watch out
for your head. Even immortals can’t survive a
decapitation,” Jonas warned.

“How would you know,” Kamden challenged.
“Because vampires are immortal,” Brad said in

a duh voice.

“Oh, right. I guess I never thought of that. The

fang-banger would know about things like that.”

“Don’t call him that,” Brad snapped.
“Why not? It’s what he is.” Kamden shrugged.
“Because the term is derogatory and mean.

That’s why. Damn it, why do you have to be such
an asshole all the time?” Brad asked.

Jonas put a hand on Brad’s shoulder, trying

hard not to notice how much he enjoyed just the
simple touch. “Easy. I’ve been called much worse.
I don’t care what he thinks, anyway. You heard
the Oracle, you all need to get along and not fight
with each other.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t need to deal with

Kamden on a daily basis, so that’s easy for her to
say. If she had to spend more than five minutes in
his presence, she would zap his ass for sure,” Brad
said.

“Maybe that’s true, but I know you can be more

patient,” Jonas soothed.

To his great shock, the tension left Brad’s body,

and he nodded. “Okay, but only because you
asked. Otherwise, I would have gone after his

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ass.”

Adam clapped his hands together to get

everybody’s attention. “Okay, I think we’ve all
had it for the night. Let’s all go home and meet
back here tomorrow for patrol duties.”

The Night Wardens and Guardians all began to

trickle away. Brad started to turn, but Jonas
stopped him by grabbing him on the arm. “Don’t
let them get to you.”

“Who?” Brad asked.
“All the doubters. I’ve seen you fight. You’re

damn good at what you do.”

Brad gave a wry grin. “You seem to be the only

one who thinks so.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve seen a lot more action than

these guys, so I know what I’m talking about.
You’re a good warrior. You just need to get some
confidence in yourself.”

Brad looked up at Jonas from under the fringe

of his brown hair. “Thanks, that means a lot to
me.”

Brad then walked away. Jonas couldn’t help but

watch him the entire way. It wasn’t until Brad had
left the building that Jonas moved. He gathered
his stuff and walked out into the cool night air.
Getting into his car, he made the short trip to his
rundown apartment.

Once there, he showered and got dressed for

bed. After making sure the sun-blocking drapes

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were  securely  in  place,  he  got  into  bed  and  fired
up  his  computer.  He’d  only  been  on  it  a  few
moments  when  he  got  a  blinging  sound  that  let
him  know  that  somebody  from  the  Drone
compound was calling him.

Hitting the button, he was pleasantly surprised

to see Toni’s face pop on the screen. The blonde
had been his friend for years. As a fellow slave of
Corbin’s, they had made their escape together and
joined up with the same Drone clan. She was like
the sister he’d never had.

“Hey, what are you calling me for?” Jonas

asked.

She smiled at him. “Maybe I wanted to see how

you were doing?”

“I know you better than that. We may be good

friends, but you’ve never been the chatty type. The
only reason you would be calling me is if
something big is up. So what is it?”

She frowned. “You always did know me too

well. Okay, I wanted to warn you and the Night
Wardens that tomorrow night the Drones will be
attacking Detroit.”

Jonas’ heart skipped a beat. At the moment, the

city was under control by the Pure Born vampires.
Which  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  city  had
been  going  to  shit.  The  Pure  Borns  only  cared
about  themselves  and  had  pretty  much  let  the
other  paranormal  creatures  run  rampant.  It  had

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made it harder for the Night Wardens to do their
job, because they had been left to pick up the
slack. If the Drones were to come back, they could
help out the Night Wardens a lot.

The only problem was, the Pure Borns weren’t

going to give up the city without a fight. So the
city was going to be one clusterfuck tomorrow
night.

“I’m sure the Night Wardens will help you in

any way possible,” Jonas said.

“No, that’s just it. You need to keep them as far

away from the action as possible. The last thing
we want is for one of them to get killed. We don’t
need an angry Oracle on our ass,” Toni replied.

Jonas almost told her that the Wardens were

now  immortal,  but  something  held  him  back.  It
was  as  if  he  knew  that  what  had  happened  that
night was a secret that he had been privy to, and
he  couldn’t  share  it  even  with  his  good  friend.
While  he’d  only  been  with  the  Wardens  a  brief
time, he didn’t feel right in betraying their trust.

“Fine, but I’ll have to tell them what’s going on.

They’ll be sure to notice the increase in activity,”
Jonas said.

“Okay, do what you have to, but just keep them

out of our way. The last thing we need is some
humans mucking things up.”

“You do realize that they aren’t mere humans.

They fight better than most of the Drones in the

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clan.”

Toni made a tsking noise. “I seriously doubt

that.”

“I’m serious. These guys are some tough

warriors.”

“They’re still only humans.”
“Humans who were gifted with enhanced

speed and strength,” Jonas pointed out.

“Even if that is the case, they still are no match

for Pure Borns, so keep them out of the line of fire,
okay?”

Jonas felt himself getting a bit ticked off at his

old  friend.  Here  she  was  judging  Brad  and  the
others,  and  she  had  never  seen  them  in  battle.
Jonas had, and he knew that they could more than
hold  their  own  when  it  came  to  just  about
anything out there.

He still gave a nod of his head. “Fine, I’ll find

another way to keep them occupied. Are you
happy?”

“Just giddy. I have to go into a battle tomorrow

where I may die or worse lose my mate. This isn’t
going to be an easy battle. We only have a fifty
percent chance of winning it, and we know it.”
She let out a sigh.

Jonas’ heart went out to her. He wished he

could  be  there  to  help,  but  at  the  moment,  his
duties  lay  with  the  Night  Wardens,  and  he
wouldn’t  desert  them  now.  Especially  with  this

The Devil’s Nightmare

new  development  coming  up.  If  the  Pure  Borns
did  win,  they  would  tighten  things  down  on  the
city  more  than  ever,  and  things  would  be  harder
for all of them.

“Be careful out there,” Jonas said.
He loved Toni, and it would kill Jonas if

anything were to happen to her.

“I will be. You know that.”
“Call me as soon as the battle is over, and let

me know what happened,” he ordered.

“I will,” she promised.
She then blew a kiss at the screen before it went

blank. Jonas stared at it for the longest time as he
wondered how things could have gotten so
complicated in the matter of one day.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Three

s Brad walked into the Warden’s compound
the next evening, he couldn’t help but

wonder  why  he  didn’t  feel  any  differently.  He
would  think  that  now  that  he  was  immortal,  he
would  have  a  sense  of  super  strength  or
something.  Or  at  least  feel  like  he  was  made  of
steel. But all he felt was nada. He just felt like the
same  old,  dorky  Brad.  Which  was  kind  of  a
letdown  considering  all  the  pain  he’d  gone
through the night before.

When he came into the main fighting room, he

found the Wardens and the Guardians were
already in a heated argument. Brad frowned, how
rude of them to start all the fun without him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.
“The Drones are attacking Detroit tonight and

trying to take the city back,” Adam informed him.

Brad rubbed his hands together. “Cool! When

does the fun start?”

“That’s just it. According to Jonas, they don’t

The Devil’s Nightmare

want us involved in it at all. They gave us orders
to stand low and keep out of it.”

Brad frowned. That didn’t sound like fun at all.

“But why? We can help them.”

“To them, we’re humans, thus we’re on the

bottom of the food chain,” Ari said in disgust.

Ari had his own issues with vamps since he’d

been kept as a blood slave for years, so Brad could
see  where  his  disgust  was  coming  from.  As  for
Brad,  he  felt  bone-crushing  disappointment.  Is
that  what  Jonas  thought  of  him?  If  so,  was  that
why the vampire had never made a move on him?
Did  he  think  that  Brad  was  too  beneath  him  to
even  fuck?  The  thought  made  Brad’s  stomach
clench in humiliation.

“But we’re not just normal humans, we’re

Wardens,” Brad argued.

“I tried to tell Toni that, but she wouldn’t hear

of  it,”  Jonas  said.  He  ran  a  hand  over  his  short
hair.  “I’m  sorry,  guys,  I  really  tried  to  fight  on
your  behalf,  but  they  weren’t  listening  to  it.  I’m
just as mad about this as you are.”

Haven came running up and tugged on Adam’s

arm, and they both went running to the front of
the building. Brad barely paid them any attention,
because he was too fixated on the fact that Jonas
had actually stood up for them. Maybe there was
some hope, after all.

“So what are we supposed to do, stay here and

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twiddle our thumbs while the city goes up in
flames?” Brad asked.

“That’s what the Drones want you to do,” Jonas

said.

“And what if we don’t listen?” Brad challenged.
Jonas gave Brad a smile that made Brad’s

insides go all gooey. “How did I know that you
would be a troublemaker when it came to this?”

“Because trouble is my middle name.”
“Somehow I don’t have any problem believing

that. It’s probably even on your birth certificate.”

“No, but I have it tattooed on my ass.” Brad

slapped his butt. “Ya wanna see?”

He knew that he shouldn’t be flirting with the

vampire this much in front of the others, but Brad
couldn’t help himself. After all, it was Jonas, and
Brad wanted the man so bad that he could almost
taste it. If he could have, he would have climbed
the man and conquered him at the moment.

“I’ll pass for right now, thank you. But don’t

think I won’t take you up on that offer later on,”
Jonas shot back.

Brad was so shocked that, for the first time in

his life, he was actually speechless.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times

before he came up with a comment, “Name the
time and place, and I’ll be there. I’ll even bring the
lube.”

Several snickers met that statement, but Brad

The Devil’s Nightmare

didn’t care. All that mattered to him was the way
Jonas’  eyes  darkened  with  desire.  There  wasn’t  a
hint  of  disgust  there.  So  Jonas  didn’t  have  a
problem  with  Brad  being  human  after  all.  Then
what  had  been  holding  him  back  all  this  time?
Brad was determined to get to the bottom of it, if
for nothing else, so they could move past it. That
way  he  could  finally  get  Jonas  right  where  he
wanted him, in bed and on top of him.

Adam came running back. “We need to get

going.”

“But I thought we were supposed to stay out of

trouble tonight,” Ari said.

“This has nothing to do with the Drones. A

gnome was just outside, and he had an interesting
story to tell me.”

“A gnome?” Brad echoed.
“Yes, and before you ask, he did have a red,

pointy hat on.”

“Did he try to offer you a deal on a hotel or

plane flight?” Brad fired back.

“No, but he did tell me that there was

something funky going on at a warehouse a mile
from here.”

“Funky, how?” Janice asked.
Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I tried to get

more information out of him, but the little guy ran
off before I could. He was scared as hell, I can tell
you that.”

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The Wardens began to arm up, and they all got

ready  to  go  out.  Since  it  was  only  a  mile  away,
they  decided  to  walk  rather  than  drive.  As  they
did,  they  could  hear  the  echoes  of  gunfire  and
explosions going off in the distance. It would seem
that  the  battle  between  the  vampires  was  in  high
gear. Brad prayed that the Drones won. If the Pure
Borns continued to run the city then the Wardens
would be working harder than ever to keep things
under control.

They finally reached the warehouse. Even from

the outside, Brad could tell that  something  hinky
was  going  on  inside.  Call  it  Warden  intuition  or
whatever,  but  just  looking  at  the  hull  of  the  big,
rundown building sent chills down his spine.

It was quiet—too quiet. The only sounds were

the  distant  booms  of  the  battle  far  off  and  the
Warden  and  Guardian’s  breathing.  That  didn’t
make Brad feel any safer. If anything, it made him
feel  a  greater  sense  of  danger.  He  pulled  out  his
gun  and  held  it  tightly  in  the  palm  of  his  hand,
trying  to  ignore  the  fact  that  his  palms  were
sweaty.

They slowly entered the warehouse, one by

one. It took Brad’s eyes a few moments to adjust to
the darkness, but once they did, he instantly
wished that they hadn’t. The horror that lay before
him was that great.

What looked like some kind of cocoon

The Devil’s Nightmare

wrapping covered the entire interior of the inside
of the building. Encased within the netting were
numerous human bodies. While it was hard to tell
because the webbing was so thick, most of them
looked to be homeless or other transmits.

“What the hell?” Brad exclaimed.
“Are they alive?” one of the twins asked.
“They look like they’re still breathing,” Rev

said, getting close enough to really look at one.

Jonas shook his head. “I don’t sense their hearts

beating.”

“Then how can they still be taking in breaths?”

Adam asked.

Jonas went up close to one of them and then

quickly stepped back, a curse slipping out from
between his lips. “There’re things alive inside
them.”

“What do you mean?” Brad asked.
His heart began to beat a little faster, because if

it was what he thought, it was just beyond gross.
And horrified didn’t even go far enough to convey
what he felt at the moment.

“Something is using these bodies as incubators

for its spawn,” Jonas said.

“What kind of creature does that?” Adam

asked.

All gazes turned to Ari. He was the brains of

the group and the one who knew just about
everything there was to know about paranormal

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creatures. The guy spent hours poring over books
and the internet, studying the crap. It was his
favorite hobby.

Ari swallowed hard. “I would need to see one

of the young to know for sure.”

“How in the hell are we supposed to do that?”

Kamden asked.

“One of us is going to have to open one of the

bodies, so we can look at what’s inside,” Adam
said grimly.

When everybody hesitated, Brad let out a sigh

and  pulled  out  his  long  sword.  It  took  some
hacking,  since  the  cocoon  material  was  thick,  but
he  managed  to  get  through.  It  felt  wrong  cutting
into a human, but Brad reminded himself the guy
was  already  dead.  Soon  he  had  the  gut  sliced
open.

Instead of blood and entrails spilling out,

several golf ball-sized creatures came skittering
out. They reminded Brad of hermit crabs on crack,
only these guys were more hideous. They were
black and had red glowing eyes. They also were as
grumpy as hell.

Without pausing, they turned on the Wardens

and  attacked.  The  Wardens  responded  by
shooting and stomping on them with their  boots.
Brad crushed one under his boot, cringing when it
let  out  a  big  crunching  sound.  The  suckers  had
one hell of a hard shell.

The Devil’s Nightmare

“Leave at least one of them alive so I can study

it,” Ari pleaded.

All the Wardens gave him an are-you-fucking-me

look, before they continued their stomping-fest.
Somehow, Brad didn’t know where or how, Ari
managed to produce a jar. He scooped up one of
the creatures and secured it.

“Okay, you can kill the rest,” Ari said.
Once they had all the critters dead, the

Wardens and the Guardians took some photos,
then got the hell out of there. They all met out
front and looked back at the building in horror.

“What do we do now?” Jonas asked. “We can’t

just leave them there to harvest.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not

cutting  open  each  body  and  stomping  all  the
babies,  either.  Once  was  more  than  enough  for
me,”  Brad  said  as  he  looked  down  at  his  gore-
covered boots.

Gah! It was going to take forever to get them

clean.  He  didn’t  have  a  spare  set  either.  So  there
was no choice but to spic-and-span them. It was a
good  thing  the  compound  had  rubber  gloves,
because there was no  way he was going to touch
that crap with his bare hands. Not even on a bet.

Adam looked up at the building for a moment,

and Brad knew he was thinking over the possible
solutions in his mind. Finally, he said, “Burn it.”

Well, that worked, but it was a bit drastic for

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the  normally  laid-back  Adam.  Then  again  there
was  no  other  option,  and  it  wasn’t  like  there
weren’t a hundred fires already raging in the city,
thanks  to  the  battle  going  on  with  the  vampires.
What was one more?

“No, better yet. Blow the fucking thing up,”

Adam growled.

Now Brad was really shocked. He never let

them play with explosives. But then again, they
didn’t want to leave any bit of those creatures
behind, and blowing them to tiny bits was the best
way to make sure didn’t that happened.

Brad nodded and pulled out a couple of

grenades.  He  lobbed  them  inside  the  building  at
the  same  time  Rev  threw  in  a  couple  of  his.  The
group  ran  for  cover  just  in  time  before  the
building exploded.

Brad’s ears rang from the sound as debris

rained down. He watched it, not even wanting to
know what kind of grossness was mixed in. All he
did know was that they had just saved the city
from an invasion of a whole bunch of giant what-
ever-they-weres.

They all slowly got up. Brad looked around to

make sure that Jonas was okay. He was relieved to
see the vampire was a bit dusty but otherwise
uninjured. Everybody else seemed to be okay too.
Even Kamden, who only seemed to be pissed that
there was a tear in his uniform.

The Devil’s Nightmare

“Poor baby, maybe if you’re good, your

mommy will sew it up for you,” Brad said.

It was a lasting joke amongst the Wardens

because  Kamden  did  still  live  with  his  mother.
Kamden  flipped  him  off.  He  cursed  Brad  out,
using  some  words  that  Brad  didn’t  even  know.
And he’d always thought he was the king of foul
language.

“Enough, both of you,” Adam said. “We need

to get back to the compound so Ari can begin to
analyze this thing. It has a mother somewhere out
there, and we have to find out where she is and
eliminate her.”

That thought sobered Brad right away. Just the

thought  of  a  big  one  of  those  things  being  loose
sent  shivers  down  his  back.  He  thought  back  to
what  the  Oracle  had  said.  Was  that  the  big
challenge  that  they  were  about  to  face.  It  sure
sounded  like  it  to  him.  He  couldn’t  think  of
anything worse.

He looked over at Ari’s jar, which held the baby

creature. It was hissing and scratching at the glass.
Brad let out a shudder. Just how big did they get?
Was it possible for the small group of Wardens to
take it down? Sure, they were immortal now, but
that didn’t matter if she gobbled them up.

A loud boom sounded, reminding him of the

other battle taking place in the city. He looked at
Jonas and wondered how the vampire must feel,

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knowing that his friends were out there, fighting
and possibly dying. It had to be hard on him.

“I’m sure they’re going to be okay,” Brad said.
“Who?” Jonas asked.
“Your fellow clan members. I have a feeling

they’re going to win this one.”

“I just wish I could be there for them,” Jonas

said.

“Instead, you’re stuck with us.”
Jonas gave Brad a soft smile. “It’s not all bad

being stuck with you. There are some perks.”

“Such as?”
Brad knew he was fishing, but he had to know

if Jonas really did like him or if Brad had just been
imagining things.

“I get to see you every day. That’s a definite

benefit in my book.”

“Why, Jonas, are you flirting with me?” Brad

asked with a tilt of his head.

“I would be, but we both know that a vampire

and a Warden could never be together.”

“Says who,” Brad demanded.
If that was all that was keeping Jonas back, then

Brad was going to put a stop to those thoughts
right away. If his brother could bend the rules and
be with a fellow Warden, then Brad could have his
vampire, damn it!

“I think it’s pretty much a given,” Jonas said.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not very good

The Devil’s Nightmare

at following the rules.”

Jonas’ eyes flared with desire. “You better

watch it, Warden, you may start something that
you can’t stop.”

“Who says that I would ever want it to stop?”

Brad returned.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Four

s soon as Jonas got back to the Warden
compound, he went to the bathroom and

splashed some cold water on his face. What in the
hell  had  he  been  thinking  when  he’d  come  on  to
Brad  like  that?  He  had  all  but  thrown  himself  at
the  Warden.  Worse  yet,  the  Warden  had  been
there with arms open wide to catch him.

Sure, Jonas had known that Brad was attracted

to him, but never in his wildest dreams had he
ever imagined that Brad would be bold enough to
act on them.

Jonas began to pace. Come on! What was he

thinking? Of course, Brad would be bold enough
to act on them. Brad was reckless with a capital R
and E. The Warden never did things halfway, and
he never did the expected. That’s what got him in
trouble all the time. And this time, he was taking
Jonas with him. What’s worse, Jonas had all but
jumped on the ride with a whip-dee-doo.

Meanwhile, his friends could be out there dying

The Devil’s Nightmare

or worse, being recaptured by the Pure Borns.
Jonas’ mind was such a mess he didn’t know what
end was up right now. He kept looking at his cell
phone, hoping for a call from Toni or one of the
others to let him know that things were okay, but
so far, it had remained silent.

Outside, though, the sounds of the battle

continued on. It was all Jonas could do not to run
out  and  check  for  himself  that  the  others  were
okay. But he knew his duties now belonged with
the  Wardens,  and  his  place  was  to  stay  at  the
compound.  It  was  so  frustrating  though,  that  he
wanted to punch something.

Knowing that he couldn’t avoid the others any

longer,  Jonas  left  the  bathroom  and  went  out  to
join  them.  They  were  all  surrounding  Ari,  who
was  at  the  computer.  He  had  the  jar  with  the
creature in it. The specimen didn’t look too happy
in  its  new  home.  It  kept  spitting  and  bouncing
against the side of the jar.

“Be good, Venom,” Ari admonished.
“You named it,” Brad said. “You know that’s

never a good idea. That’s how you get attached to
them.”

Ari gave him a jaded glare. “It’s not like it’s

going to live that long outside of its host. So it
won’t be around for me to get attached to.”

A shiver went down Jonas’ spine when Ari said

host. It reminded Jonas of all those poor people

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and  how  they’d  looked  like  they  were  breathing
because  they  had  so  many  of  those  things
bubbling  in  their  corpses.  If  Jonas  lived  to  be  a
thousand,  he’d  never  forget  that  sight.  He  was
sure he would have nightmares about it.

“I think I got it,” Ari finally said. He then sat

back in his chair and said, “Oooooh…this isn’t
good.”

“What is it?”
“Not it—she. As in Deumos. She supposedly

feeds on human corpses, that is, after she eats the
humans’ souls.”

“Well, doesn’t she sound just lovely,” Brad

drawled. “Just the kind of gal you want to take
home to meet Mom.”

* * * *

Not that Brad really had a mother to take anybody
home to meet. His own mother wanted nothing to
do with him or his brother. She wanted nothing to
do  with  the  Wardens’  ways  and  wanted  them  as
far  away  from  her  as  possible.  Which  was
probably best in the long run. Women who stood
by  their  Warden  men  tended  to  end  up  dead
pretty quick. But didn’t mean Brad wasn’t hurt by
it.  It  also  didn’t  mean  that  she  couldn’t  send  a
birthday or holiday card a time or two.

“We have another problem,” Ari said.

The Devil’s Nightmare

“What’s that?” Adam asked.
As Adam talked, he kept running his hand up

and down Ari’s back. Brad tried not to feel jealous
over the intimacy the two shared, but he couldn’t
help but feel a twinge of envy. It must be nice to
have  somebody  there to  share  problems  with.  To
not  feel  so  alone  all  the  time.  Now  that  his  Dad
had  taken  an  extended  vacation,  and  Adam  had
Ari,  Brad  had  been  feeling  a  bit  of  a  third  wheel
lately. It sucked, too.

“I think we’ve only found one of her many

nests,” Ari said grimly.

“You mean to tell us that there are more of

those horror houses out there?” Rev exclaimed, his
face growing pale.

Brad shared Rev’s horror. To think of there

being even one other place out there was bad
enough, but many sent shivers down Brad’s spine.
Worse yet, it was going to be their job to find these
hell holes and eliminate them. Oh yay, the fun of
being a Warden. It never stopped giving.

“How are we going to find them all?” Brad

asked.

“We will have to break up in groups and go out

on patrol. We’ll search every damn warehouse
and empty building in the city if we have to,”
Adam said.

“With World War V going on out there?” Brad

asked.

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Even as he spoke, another round of gunfire

sounded from outside, reminding them all of the
battle that was currently taking place beyond their
door.

“Besides, do you know how many empty

buildings there are in Detroit?” Kamden added.
“This city is full of them. It’s going to take us
forever.”

“Then we’ll have a full job ahead of us. Who

knows,  we  may  even  get  lucky  enough  and  find
Deumos  herself.  Then  we  can  end  this  right
away,”  Adam  said  in  a  don’t-even-think-about-
arguing-with-me voice.

Brad took in a deep breath. While he hated to

admit it, Adam was right, and he was the leader of
the  Wardens,  so  his  word  was  God  within  the
doors  of  the  compound.  As  such,  Brad  had  no
choice  but  to  obey  him.  He  realized  that  he  was
acting  no  better  than  Kamden,  and  he  needed  to
set a better example in front of the other Wardens.

Brad gave a respectful bow of his head. “Of

course, you’re right. We’ll do whatever you want.
When do you want us to start?”

Adam blinked a couple of times, as if shocked

that  Brad  had  cowed  so  easily,  before  he  said,  “I
think  tomorrow  may  be  best.  Tonight,  we  better
lay low until things cool down with the vampires.
The  last  thing  we  need  is  for  one  of  us  to  get
caught in the crosshairs of their war.”

The Devil’s Nightmare

“That’s a wise choice,” Brad agreed.
“Everybody get washed up and use the rest of

tonight to get some training done. You’re going to
need it for what we’re about to be facing,” Adam
ordered.

Brad looked around for Janice, but for once, she

was nowhere to be found. Giving a shrug, he did
what had become his favorite hobby, Jonas-
drooling. He found the vampire staring out one of
the few windows of the compound.

Going up to him, Brad asked, “Any word from

your friends?”

“No, not a word, and I’m beginning to get

worried,” Jonas replied.

Jonas had a mug in his hand, and it held blood.

Brad knew that ever since he’d come to live with
the Wardens, the vampire had been living off
bagged blood. Brad wondered if it was as good as
coming from a live source.

“I’m sure they’re just too busy at the moment to

call you. Being in a battle doesn’t leave much time
for texting and such,” Brad assured him.

“I hope you’re right.”
“I have a question for you.”
Jonas gave a half chuckle. “You’re always full

of questions, aren’t you?”

“I guess so. I was wondering, is living off the

bagged blood as good as getting it from a live
donor?”

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“No, but I can make do.”
Brad reached up and felt his own neck. “If you

want, you can feed from me. I don’t mind.”

Jonas gave him a sideways glance. “Do you

have any idea what you’re offering me? Wardens’
blood is potent and very addictive to vampires. I
could lose control of myself.”

“You wouldn’t drain me dry. I trust you.”
Brad did, too. He knew deep down that Jonas

would never hurt him. He didn’t know how, but
he had a gut feeling that Jonas would rather die
than see any harm come to him. As a Warden,
Brad had been trained to go with his gut feelings.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. A vampire’s

bite can be a very potent aphrodisiac. I’m already
on edge whenever you’re near me. If I were to bite
you, I may just lose control and claim you,” Jonas
said in a husky voice.

Desire shot through Brad as he licked his lips.

“Who said I wanted you to keep control at all?”

Taking Jonas by the hand, Brad led him to a

nearby bathroom. Locking the door behind them,
Brad leaned against the wall. Undoing the top two
buttons of his uniform shirt, Brad pulled apart the
halves of his collar and bared his neck.

“Take what you need. I’m offering it up freely

to you, Jonas.”

“Didn’t you just hear a word of what I said to

you out there? Are you crazy?” Jonas said.

The Devil’s Nightmare

Even as he said those words, Brad noted how

the vampire’s fangs descended and the way his
eyes flared with desire. Oh yeah, Jonas might be
arguing, but he wanted this. Just as badly as Brad
did.

“Yes, but I still want you to do it,” Brad said.
“It’s reckless and against all the rules I agreed

to follow when I came here,” Jonas argued even as
he took a step forward.

“You heard the Oracle, we’re coming against

something big. You’re going to need to be at full
strength when that happens. You won’t be if you
continue to live off that bagged stuff. Now get to
sucking already.”

Jonas moved forward until he had Brad’s body

pinned against his. “I shouldn’t.”

“But you will, and we both know it.”
Brad barely got those words out before Jonas

struck, his fangs sinking into Brad’s neck. At first,
it hurt like hell, but soon the pain was followed by
the most intense pleasure that Brad had ever felt
in his entire life. It coursed through his body and
went straight to his cock, making it so hard that it
ached for relief.

“Oh, fuck, that’s good,” Brad said with a moan.
Jonas took in a deep drag, and it felt as if he

was sucking on Brad’s cock. Brad shuddered as he
grabbed onto Jonas’ large biceps for support.
Otherwise, he would have fallen into a puddle on

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the floor.

“Jonas, please, I need you to fuck me,” Brad

begged.

He knew he was coming off as a whore, but he

was  beyond  caring  at  that  point.  He  just  needed
some  release.  When  Jonas  reached  between  them
and  began  to  undo  Brad’s  pants,  Brad  almost
cheered in happiness.

After he had Brad’s cock free, Jonas undid his

own pants and took out his dick. He then grabbed
them both in one of his large hands and began to
jack them off together.

It wasn’t as good as a straight off fucking, but

Brad  would  take  it  for  now,  surly  more  was  to
come—right?  Jonas  continued  to  suck  on  Brad’s
neck  as  he  stroked  them  off.  Never  in  Brad’s  life
had he felt such bliss.

Brad started to babble out a string of words, not

even knowing what he was saying. He thought
that maybe he was encouraging Jonas on, but he
couldn’t be for sure. Brad was too out of his mind
with lust to be certain of much anything. All that
he could concentrate on was finding his release.

Finally, it came. The hardest orgasm of Brad’s

life slammed into him. He shouted as stream after
stream of cum pumped out of his cock. Dimly, he
could hear Jonas coming too, but Brad was
floating too high to be aware of much.

He came down just as Jonas was licking the

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wounds  closed  on  his  neck.  Brad  was  panting
hard.  His  chest  worked  so  hard  that  it  actually
hurt a bit. Jonas turned around to wash his hands
clean at the sink. He then came back and carefully
tucked Brad’s cock back into his pants and zipped
him  up.  Afterward,  Jonas  got  his  own  clothing
back  in  order.  The  entire  time  not  a  word  was
exchanged  between  them.  Brad  couldn’t  help  but
feel  but  let  down.  That  was  it?  Just  a  quick hand
job and nothing more? Never before had Brad felt
so dirty and used.

Finally, Brad couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“You aren’t having any regrets, are you?”

Jonas’ expression grew soft as he ran the back

of his knuckles down Brad’s cheek. “No, I’m not
regretting anything.”

“Then how come you didn’t fuck me. You just

jacked me off like I was some cheap hookup in a
back alley,” Brad said.

He tried not to let on how much that had hurt,

but it had—big time. He’d all but begged Jonas to
take him, and the vampire had refused him. Brad
felt humiliated and rejected at the same time. He
couldn’t remember a time when he had felt so
low.

“Because I would have claimed you, and then

we would have been stuck together forever. Is that
what you really want?”

Brad batted away Jonas’ hand as raw anger

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went through him. “What you mean to say is, you
don’t know if that’s what you really want, isn’t it?”

Jonas’ brows drew together in confusion.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I know how you vampires think. I’m just a

human, so I’m not high enough on the food chain
for you. I’m nothing more than a meal to you, and
that’s all I’ll ever be.”

Jonas shook his head. “That’s not true, Brad,

and you know it. You mean much more to me
than that.”

“If that were the case, then you would have

claimed me instead of jacking me off like some
cheap rent boy.”

Before Jonas had a chance to answer, Brad

stormed  out  of  the  bathroom  and  left  the
compound.  He  didn’t  even  stop  to  see  if  Janice
was  there.  If  she  wanted  to  train,  then  she  could
do it by herself. Brad had enough of the Wardens,
Guardians, vampires, and creepy creatures for the
night. All he wanted to do was go home and crawl
under  the  blankets  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  Hell,
he  might  even  stay  there  for  two  nights.  He’d
make  them  drag  his  lazy  ass  back  to  the
compound for all he cared.

A scratching sound to the left caught his

attention. Instantly on alert, he put his hand on the
butt of his gun. When he saw nothing, he began to
think that maybe somebody was playing a joke on

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him.

“I swear, Sasha and Haven, if you’re fucking

with me, now is not the night. I’m not in the mood
for your shit,” Brad snapped.

Those words had barely left his lips before

something jumped out of the darkness and took
him down. Brad’s last conscious thought was, well
shit, this isn’t good.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Five

t wasn’t until the next evening when Jonas first
got up that he finally got the call that he’d been

waiting for.

As soon as he saw Toni’s name on the caller

display, he answered, “What happened?”

“We won, Jonas! Detroit is ours again!” she

yelled into the phone.

Jonas let out a whoop of delight, before asking,

“Did any of our friends die?”

“No, but we did have a lot of casualties on our

side. Not as many as the Pure Borns did, though.
Snuggles even got into the battle and helped us.”

Snuggles was a sea serpent who happened to

live in the Detroit River. Yeah, the city was a
strange place. But that didn’t make Jonas love it
any less. He was glad to call it home again.

“So why did it take you so long to call me?”

Jonas asked with mock anger.

“Sorry, we had a lot of cleanup to do. This was

the first time I had a chance to get away.”

The Devil’s Nightmare

“I was worried about you, and Brenden, too.”
“We’re both fine. Thanks to Brenden and his

team, who created some new awesome super-
weapon, we were able to kick some major ass.”

Jonas laughed. That sounded like Brenden. The

kid had enough smarts for all of them combined.
It was scary how the kid’s mind worked.

“I do have one question for you, though.” Toni

asked.

“What would that be?”
“There was an explosion several miles away

from the battle site. You wouldn’t happen to know
anything about that, would you?”

Jonas tightened his grip on the phone. The

Drones would have to pick up on that one. “I wish
I could tell you, but it’s Warden business, and I’m
sworn to secrecy.”

“Damn it! How did I know that you would tell

me that? Is it something bad?”

“Not bad enough that the Wardens can’t handle

it.”

Or at least Jonas hoped not, or else the whole

city would be in trouble, the Drones included. But
he had to hold onto his confidence that the
Wardens would be able to find and neutralize
Deumos before things got out of control.

“Okay, but if you guys get in over your heads,

know you can call on us for help at any time,”
Toni said. “We’re back in town and ready to kick

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some ass. Or rather, we will be once we get done
attacking the VRF headquarters.”

“So you’re going for the top-dogs this time?”

Jonas said, his gut clenching in fear.

The VRF, or Vampire Regulation Force as they

were  called,  were  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with.
They  were  also  dangerous  as  hell.  Jonas  should
know since they were the ones who had kept him
as  a  slave,  not  once,  but  twice.  To  them,  torture
was a fine art form, and they were true masters.

Toni’s voice tightened with anger. “Yes, we’re

ending this for good this time. We’re done living
in fear of those bastards.”

Jonas could see her point, but that didn’t mean

he wasn’t any less worried about her or the others.
What they were about to do was very dangerous.

“Just promise me you’ll be very careful,” he

said.

“You know I will. Remember, you were the one

who trained me. I’m good at what I do,” Toni said.

She paused for a moment then said, “You seem

sad today. Why is that?”

“I hurt somebody who means a lot to me, and I

don’t know how to fix it,” Jonas admitted.

“Usually saying sorry is the first step in the

right direction.”

Jonas sighed. “Somehow I don’t think that’s

going to be enough for him.”

Toni paused for a few beats. “Him? Since when

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have you been into guys?”

“Since I saw him. There’s something about him

that…I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Calls to you?” Toni prompted.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Because that’s how it was with my mate.”
“That’s just it, though, he can’t be my mate.

He’s a Warden, and I’m a vampire. It would never
work out.”

“Jonas, there have been a lot more

unconventional pairings that have worked out just
fine. You would be amazed what happens when
you let your heart lead the way.”

Jonas snorted. “This coming from the person

that said that Wardens are mere humans and
beneath us.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just didn’t want

them to get hurt in our battle. That’s different,”
she clarified.

“It doesn’t matter either way. I messed up so

bad last night I doubt he’ll ever talk to me again.”
Jonas let out a sigh as he remembered the anger in
Brad’s gaze.

She gave him an encouraging laugh. “You’d be

amazed at what people are willing to forgive.
Don’t count him out just yet.”

“I highly doubt it, but I’ll still give it a try.”
“Do it. You may be surprised. I have to go now.

They’re calling a meeting, and I can’t miss it. I’ll

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call you in a couple of days to see how things
worked out. Bye.”

“Love you.” Jonas hung up the phone and

tossed it on the bed.

He let out a moan as he realized it was time to

go  to  the  compound.  That  meant  that  he  would
have to face Brad. Jonas knew he had been in the
wrong,  and  he  had  some  major  groveling  to  do.
He  only  hoped  that  Brad  was  in  the  mood  to
accept it.

Jonas got dressed and made the drive to the

compound, all the way rehearsing his apology in
his head. So far, none of them had come close
enough to being up to par.

Jonas parked in his usual spot and walked in.

He looked around for Brad but saw that neither
the Warden nor his Guardian had shown up yet.
Which was funny since Adam and Ari were there,
and they usually drove in together.

Jonas went up to Adam. “Where’s Brad?”
Adam shrugged. “He never came home last

night. I figured he went to one of his clubs and
went home with one of his flavors of the week.”

Jealousy surged through Jonas. Had Brad left

the compound and sought refuge in the arms of
another man? The thought of somebody else
touching Brad made Jonas see red.

“You really are a bigger idiot than I thought,”

Kamden broke in.

The Devil’s Nightmare

“Excuse me, did you just call me an idiot?”

Adam asked angrily.

“No, I called you a big idiot. Get it right,”

Kamden snapped back.

“Do I need to remind you who the leader is

here?” Adam asked.

“If you’re going to be a leader then you need to

act like it, and I mean to all of us. That includes
Brad,” Kamden retorted.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?” By

this point, Adam was getting red in the face.

“You guide all of us, but you still treat him like

he’s  your  petulant  little  brother  who’s  nothing
more  than  a  fuckup.  If  you  ever  stopped  long
enough  to  get  your  head  out  of  your  ass,  you
would have noticed that there is no way that Brad
would have gone out for a hookup last night.”

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “And

just why is that.”

Kamden pointed to Jonas. “Ever since he has

come here, Brad hasn’t gone to one club. He hasn’t
looked  at  another  guy,  either.  The  only  one  he’s
interested  in  is  Jonas.  So  if  Brad  is  missing,  it’s
because something bad has happened to him, and
now  he’s  been  gone  for  twelve  hours  and
nothing’s been done about it because of you.”

The whole room fell silent as every gaze turned

to Adam. Jonas slowly saw the horror dawn on
Adam’s face.

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Stepping closer to Adam, Jonas grabbed him by

the front of his shirt and pulled the Warden off his
feet. “If anything happens to Brad, so help me by
the Oracle, I’ll take it out on your ass.”

“I’m so sorry. I would never want any harm to

come to him,” Adam said. “I fucked up big time.
I’m man enough to admit it.”

Jonas let him go. “I believe you only because I

know how much you love him. Otherwise, I’d be
ripping you to shreds right now.”

“And I’d deserve it,” Adam agreed.

“Everybody arm up, we need to search for him
now!”

“Janice is gone, too,” one of the twins said.
“Do you think she had anything to do with it?”

Jonas asked. It wouldn’t be the first time a
Guardian had turned on the Warden.

“No, I don’t think so,” Adam said. “But I do

think that she’s with Brad. If we find him, we’ll
find her.”

The Wardens armed up and went outside. They

found their first clue in a cluster of bushes. They
were crushed and bent as if a fight had taken place
there. Ari bent over and picked up something.

“What if Deumos has taken him?” Jonas

worried, his heart beating with dread.

“It wasn’t Deumos, but it was something that

was almost as bad,” Ari said.

He then held up a piece of broken bootlace.

The Devil’s Nightmare

* * * *

Brad worked hard at the ropes that were binding
his hands behind his back, but they refused to
give. The same went for the ones that were
constricting his ankles together.

Looking at the pack of spud demons who were

clambering around, Brad yelled, “Come on, guys!
This has gone too far! Let us go!”

“Shhh….you’ll only antagonize them further,”

Janice hissed.

She was already sporting a nice-sized bruise on

her forehead and a bloody lip, thanks to the fluff-
balls. That had come when she had tried to reach
out to Brad when they had first been captured. It
would seem they didn’t take kindly to her
touching the future groom of their little wedding
ceremony.

“Good, maybe then they will kill me before that

thing tries to have sex with me,” Brad shivered at
the thought of getting his freak on with a spud
demon. He might be kinky, but he had never
gotten the whole furry scene.

“If we wait, maybe the Wardens will get here in

time before that happens,” Janice said in a low
voice.

Brad rolled his eyes. “If they’re even looking for

us. Knowing my brother, he probably thinks I

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went home with some random hookup and
doesn’t even know that I’m missing.”

“Well, you have been known to do that in the

past,” she pointed out.

“I used to do that. I haven’t in months. Not that

anybody has bothered to notice. I’ve been trying
to clean up my act, but everybody sees me as the
same old Brad.”

“Maybe that’s because you still sometimes act

like the same old Brad.”

Brad gave the best shrug he could, given that

his hands were tied behind his back. “I’m trying,
but some habits are hard to break. It’s not like I
can completely change overnight. It would help if
you guys could cut me some slack, though.”

“I’m trying to, Brad, you just don’t make it easy

sometimes.”

“I know,” Brad admitted. “However this goes

down, know that you’re a good Guardian, and I’m
glad that I had you.”

“Well, believe it or not, I was glad that you’re

my Warden. I wouldn’t trade you away for any of
the others,” she replied.

Brad was so shocked he blinked a few times.

“Really? You’re not saying that because you feel
sorry for me since I’m about to be getting funky
with a spud demon?”

She let out a small laugh. “No, believe it or not,

I happen to think you show great potential. Plus,

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even though you may be annoying at times,
you’re also entertaining. I never know what I’m
going to get when I go on patrol with you.”

“Can I confess something to you?”
“Sure, you know you can tell me anything. I’m

your Guardian, I would never betray your trust.”

“I’m afraid right now.” Brad let out a bitter

laugh. “Can you believe that? I’m supposed to be
some big-ass, bad warrior, and I’m terrified of a
bunch of Ewoks. How low can I fall?”

“Well, seeing what they have planned for you, I

don’t blame you.”

The spud demons had a small fire in the center

of their dwelling, which to Brad looked to be a
cave of sorts. They began to chant and dance in a
circle around it.

“Well, that can’t be good for me. It looks like

they’re getting the ceremony ready. Shit, they
didn’t even give me time to register at Target or
anything. It’s kind of rude of them if you ask me.”

“It really is. They didn’t give you time to send

out invites to your friends and family. Adam is
going to be so upset when he hears that he didn’t
get to be best man,” Janice said.

Brad turned to her. “Was that just a joke I heard

coming from you of all people? I thought I would
never live to see the day that you smiled, let alone
made a funny.”

“Hey, I figured you could use a good laugh

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right now.”

There was a loud sound from the opening of

the cave, and suddenly, all the Wardens and
Guardians were there. Even Jonas had come
along. Brad let out a whoop of delight that ended
in a cry of distress when the spud demons began
to attack.

He had forgotten how fast those little suckers

could be. Fortunately, the Wardens were prepared
for that. They parried the attack just as quickly.
The spud demons began to hiss and spit when
they realized that the Wardens weren’t going to be
so easily defeated.

Jonas came running up and undid the bindings

on Brad’s ankles and wrists, while Ari took care of
Janice.

“Are you okay?” Jonas asked.
“Do you even care?” Brad asked.
Yeah, he was still mad. It took more than a

kidnapping and a near shot-gun marriage to make
him forget what had gone down the night before.
Jonas cupped Brad’s chin and brushed their lips
together.

“Of course, I care,” he said.
Brad narrowed his eyes. “You just stole that

kiss. I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

“I didn’t think that you would. I know I have

some groveling yet to do. But let’s get you out of
here first, okay? Then we can talk.”

The Devil’s Nightmare

“Okay, but only because I don’t want to get

raped by an Ewok. That’s the only reason I’m
leaving with you,” Brad pointed out.

Jonas helped him to his feet. “It’s a strange

reason, but I’ll take it for now.”

Brad’s spud demon began to run away but not

before it stopped and pointed at Brad, “This not
over, Warden. You is mine!”

“No, he’s not. He’s mine,” Jonas yelled, before

he hissed and bared his fangs.

The spud demon let out a squeak then it

jumped and ran away. Its big feet made flopping
noises on the cave floor as it ran. Brad turned to
Jonas. “Can we just get the hell out of here and
forget that this ever happened?”

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Six

s soon as Brad got back to the Warden’s
compound, the first thing he did was jump

into  the  shower  and  wash  every  bit  of  spud
demon  stench  off  him.  Once  he  had  rinsed  and
repeated numerous times, he got out and put on a
fresh  uniform.  Only  then  did  he  feel  ready  to  go
out and face the others.

He expected to be faced with laughter, so when

he found Adam out there alone, Brad was a bit
shocked. Brad stopped and looked around. But as
far as he could tell, they were the only ones in the
compound. Even Ari was gone.

“Where did everybody go?” Brad asked.
“They’re out on patrol,” Adam said.
“Even Janice?”
“I gave her the rest of the night off.”
Brad could tell by the way his brother kept

running his hands through his hair that something
was bothering him. Brad felt himself stiffen up.
Was Adam going to read him the riot act for being

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caught by the spud demons? Or worse, was he
going to relieve him of his duties?

“I owe you an apology,” Adam said.
Huh? That was the last thing that Brad had been

expecting. He even shook his head a bit to make
sure his hearing wasn’t off.

“Did you just apologize to me?” he asked.
Adam nodded. “I should have realized a lot

sooner that you were missing. If it weren’t for
Kamden telling me off and telling me what an
idiot I was, I would have never realized that you
had been taken.”

Brad grew confused, “Wait, it was Kamden

who realized I was missing and not you?”

“I just thought that you were out with one of

your guys again.”

Anger surged through Brad. “So when I didn’t

come home last night, you didn’t think twice
about it, even though I haven’t done that kind of
thing in months?”

“Well, come on, Brad, you have to admit you

do make a habit of pulling that act.”

“I could have been killed, and you would have

never noticed the difference,” Brad shot back. “But
then again, I could have been gone for days, and
you wouldn’t have noticed.”

Adam took a step forward. “What is that

supposed to mean?”

“Let’s stop pretending. I’m nothing more than

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an embarrassment to you. Just like Dad was. You
would love nothing more than for me to disappear
forever.”

“That’s not true at all.”
Brad let out a bitter laugh. “Isn’t it? Because

from where I stand, that’s exactly the way it looks.
Mom doesn’t want me. Dad doesn’t want me. You
don’t want me. Jonas doesn’t…”

Brad cut off, clamping his lips together as he

realized what he almost revealed. Anyway, he
needed to shut his mouth completely. He knew he
was acting the part of a petulant brat. He had been
for the past couple of days. It had almost ended up
getting him in big trouble and his Guardian killed.

Now it was Brad who ran a hand through his

hair. “Janice was right. I need to fucking grow up.
Because of my fuckups, I could have gotten her
killed tonight.”

“You had no way of knowing that a spud

demon would have fixated that way on you,”
Adam said.

“But, if I hadn’t have tried to goof off and pet it

in  the  first  place,  then  it  wouldn’t  have  ever
noticed  me.  Then  I  go  off  on  you  because  I  have
Mommy  and  Daddy  issues.  I’m  twenty-five,  I
should be past that point by now.”

“Maybe, but you took Dad’s leaving pretty

hard.”

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have. I’m a full-grown

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man, not some fifteen year old kid that still needs
his daddy to lead him around.”

“That still doesn’t excuse me not knowing that

you were missing,” Adam said.

Brad held up a finger. “No, it doesn’t. I’m still

pissed at you about that one. It hurts that you
didn’t realize that I was gone until Kamden, of all
people, pointed it out.”

“How long before you’re going to let me live

this one down?” Adam sighed.

“It’s going to take a while,” Brad admitted.
“Do you at least forgive me?”
“Of course I forgive you. You’re my brother.

But  that  doesn’t  mean  I’m  going  to  be  able  to
forget that it happened. Do you realize how close I
was  to  getting  raped  by  that  thing?  Just  put
yourself  in  my  place  for  a  second.  Plus,  my
Guardian  was  hurt  in  the  process.  That’s  two
biggies that are going to be hard to get by.”

“I guess you do have a point there. I would

have trouble getting past them, too. I just hope
that we can get by them eventually.”

Brad kicked at the floor with his boot. “Do you

think that spud demon will come after me again?”

“I don’t know. It seemed pretty determined. I

do have one question, though.”

Oh boy, something about Adam’s tone told

Brad that he wasn’t going to like what said
question was going to be.

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“Shoot.”
“What’s going on between you and Jonas?

Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you two
have been acting together. Plus, I didn’t miss what
he yelled at the spud demon tonight, either.”

Brad frowned. “There’s nothing going on

between us. Jonas has made it pretty clear that he
doesn’t want to have anything to do with a
human.”

“You could have fooled me. When he found out

that  you  were  missing  today,  he  went  ballistic.
Plus, he all but claimed you in front of that spud
demon.  Not  only  that,  but  you’re  more  than  just
some  mere  human.  You’re  a  Warden.  And
immortal now. So I would say that puts you a step
up on the food chain.”

“You could have surprised me. I basically

threw myself at him, and he treated me like dirt,”
Brad confessed.

Okay, maybe there was no basically about it, but

there was only so much that he was going to share
with his brother.

Adam frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Jonas.

Besides, he kissed you back at the cave.”

True… and Jonas had said he had some

groveling  to  do  too,  but  were  those  just  words?
Gah!  Brad  was  so  confused.  He  wished  he  knew
where  he  stood  as  far  as  the  vampire  was
concerned. He did know one thing  for certain, as

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soon as he saw Jonas again, the two of them
needed to have a little chat. Maybe then Brad
could get some concrete answers.

“Do you want to go on patrol?” Brad asked.
“Are you sure you’re up to it? You’ve had a

rough night. Nobody would blame you for taking
the rest of it off.”

Brad shook his head. “I’m too antsy to stay still.

I need to be doing something to keep my mind
occupied.”

Adam shrugged. “Okay, let’s gather some

weapons and go out.”

They suited up and went outside. As they

walked  down  the  streets,  Brad  could  see  the
massive  damage  left  behind  from  the  battle.  Not
that Detroit had exactly looked like a gem before,
but  it  still  saddened  him  to  see  it  in  even  worse
condition.

A few of the paranormal bars were starting to

open  up  again,  now  that  the  Pure  Borns  were
gone. Not that Brad ever hung out in them. Even
he  had  his  standards.  Most  of  those  places  were
dirty  and  rundown.  Plus,  as  a  Warden,  showing
his face in one of them would be signing his own
death  warrant.  The  Wardens  weren’t  exactly
popular among the paranormal crowd.

“Wow, it must have been one hell of a battle,”

Brad remarked.

He eyed up one building that was riddled with

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bullet holes. Many others had been burned to the
ground  and  were  still  smoking  a  bit.  The  Detroit
Fire  Department  must  have  been  working  hard
through  the  day  to  get  them  all  under  control.
Brad hoped that none of the EMS responders had
been hurt in the chaos. The last thing any Warden
wanted  was  for  an  innocent  to  be  hurt  due  to
paranormal  activity.  It  was  the  reason  why
Wardens had been made in the first place.

“Yeah, they weren’t exactly discreet about it,

either. There is no way that the humans didn’t
catch wind of all this activity,” Adam said.

His brother didn’t look happy about it. It was a

code among paranormals to keep their existence a
secret. The Wardens liked it that way, too. It made
their job all the easier. That way they didn’t have
to deal with humans trying to go all Buffy and play
hero and get in the Wardens’ way.

“Maybe they wore masks or something,” Brad

teased.

“Yeah, even if they did, I don’t think it helped.”

Adam kicked at a piece of brick, his face full of
annoyance.

“It may not have gone down like you would

have liked, but it had to happen. You have to
admit that with the Pure Borns running the show,
this city was going to shit,” Brad pointed out.

Adam let out a sigh. “You’re right. I just wish

they could have done it without drawing so much

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attention to themselves.”

“Honestly, I don’t think there was any other

way  that  this  could  have  gone  down.  We  both
know  that  there  was  no  way  that  the  Pure  Borns
were  going  to  give  up  the  city  without  a  huge
fight. So that’s what the Drones gave them.”

Adam stopped and studied Brad. “You know

what? When you stop being a wiseass long
enough, you’re actually pretty smart.”

“Well, just don’t let it get around. I have a

reputation to protect.”

“I’ll make sure to keep your secret safe.” Adam

laughed.

They were passing a flop house when they

heard a scream. Adam and Brad both froze as they
looked up at it. Another scream sounded from
within it. This one much loud and edged with
terror.

Using hand signals that only the Wardens

knew, Adam said, let’s go inside and see what’s

happening. Watch your back.

Brad nodded. Something told him that

whatever was inside was bad. And it wasn’t just
because of the screams, either. Sasha yelled that
way whenever he spotted a spider.

No, it was that same gut feeling of his. Brad

wished it would go away, because he was getting
it way too much lately. Damn it, were they ever
going to get a nice peaceful night?

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He and Adam went up the rickety stairs and

turned  to  either  side  at  the  top.  They  had  their
guns out and at the ready. Brad peeked his head
inside,  but  all  he  saw  were  stained  mattresses,
empty  food  containers,  and  used  syringes
covering the floor.

The scream came again, this time deeper inside

the house. Brad let out a sigh. It looked like they
were going to have to go inside the dump. He’d
just cleaned his boots, too. At this rate, he was
going to have to invest in a second set.

Adam took the lead, not that Brad expected any

less. Not only was he the big brother, but he was
the leader of the Wardens. Both roles would make
him feel protective of Brad.

As they walked inside, Brad was hit with the

strong  stench  of  decay.  His  stomach  clenched  in
fear.  Only  a  demon  could  give  off  a  rank  smell
that strong. A shiver went through his body as he
wondered  if  it  was  Deumos.  If  so,  they  were
screwed, because the Oracle had said that it would
take  all  of  the  Wardens  to  beat  her.  Right  at  the
moment, it was just him and Adam.

The screaming had stopped, leaving behind an

ominous silence. Then, just as quickly, the air
filled with sucking sounds. Brad shuddered, he
didn’t even want to think what that was all about.

They entered the back room and saw a huge

version of Ari’s pet, Venom. The beast had to be at

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least ten feet tall, and it had eight legs. It wore a
bright, yellow crown on its head, but otherwise it
was nude except for the hard, black shell that
covered its body.

The she-demon, and that’s what it was, because

Brad had no doubt it was Deumos, was currently
hovering  over  a  body.  When  Brad  saw  that  she
had  her  mouth  over  some  poor,  dead  woman’s
corpse  and  was  sucking  out  her  guts,  he  almost
lost his dinner.

“That is just so wrong,” Brad whispered.
The demon jerked back and looked up at the

Wardens. Oops, looked like she had excellent
hearing. Her mouth was covered in blood and
gore, and her bright red eyes shone with fury.

“How dare you interrupt my meal,” she asked,

her voice all gravelly and garbled, like she wasn’t
used to using the human language.

“We heard the screams and realized we didn’t

get an invite to the party. I’m sure you meant to
include us, and the invitation just got lost in the
mail,” Brad snarked.

“Are you the ones who killed my babies?” she

shrieked.

Before Brad and Adam could deny or confirm,

she attacked, her legs scurrying across the floor at
an alarming rate. Brad and Adam fired at her
several times, but their bullets just bounced off her
shell.

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Well, fuck, that wasn’t fair. Her whole body

was a bullet-protective vest. No wonder the Oracle
had warned that the demon was going to be hard
to take down. Deumos was basically invincible.

She got to Brad first. Using one of her legs, she

swung out and hit him in the chest. Brad grunted
as pain exploded in his body. He sailed through
the air and hit a nearby wall before he slid down
into an undignified puddle.

Next she went after Adam, hitting him, too. He

went down just as hard. Not ones to give up, they
both climbed to their feet and brought out their
long swords. They were about to attack again, but
all of the sudden, Deumos vanished right before
their eyes.

“What in the hell? How did she do that?” Brad

asked.

His chest still like hell, and his back didn’t feel

much better. He already knew he was going to be
sporting a nice set of bruises. Adam was rubbing
his chest, too, showing that he wasn’t going to be
any better off.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it happen before.

But then again, we haven’t fought a demon that’s
been that high of a level,” Adam said.

“How are we supposed to kill her if we can’t

keep her around long enough to die?” Brad asked.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Adam said

grimly.

The Devil’s Nightmare

Chapter Seven

s Jonas went on patrol, he was in awe of the
sheer amount of damage the battle had done

to the city. As a former Detroit City police officer,
a part of him couldn’t help but feel dismayed over
seeing his old stomping grounds being
disrespected so much.

“Soooo…” Kamden said, breaking the silence.
Jonas had the honor of being stuck with

Kamden and his Guardian James for the evening.
Lucky him.

“So, what?” Jonas asked.
He wondered how mad the Wardens would be

if  Jonas  came  back  empty-handed  and  Kamden-
less.  It  was  no  secret  that  he  was  the  least-liked
Warden, so Jonas didn’t think that there would be
that  much  of  an  outcry.  The  guy  could  annoy  a
fruit fly, his personality was so grating.

“Were you serious back at the spud demons’

lair when you said that Brad was yours?” Kamden
prompted.

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“It’s really none of your business,” Jonas

snapped.

The last person he was going to talk about his

love life with was Kamden. The guy had a mouth
on him that was bigger than the Grand Canyon. If
Jonas told him anything, the rest of the group
would know about it within a half hour tops.

“Well, you see, it kind of is. I was going to ask

Brad out,” Kamden said.

Jonas began to shake with rage. Just the thought

of Kamden touching Brad made him want to rip
Kamden’s arms off. Jonas let out a low growl.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave

Brad alone,” Jonas snarled.

Kamden took a step back and held his hands up

in the whoa gesture. “Okay, so things are getting
serious between you two. I’ll keep my distance
then.”

“Who said they were getting serious?” Jonas

said.

While he’d liked to think that maybe they were

heading that way, he wasn’t so sure after the way
he’d treated Brad the previous night. The Warden
still had yet to say whether or not he’d forgiven
Jonas. Until then, Jonas wanted to keep any
information regarding him and Brad low-key.

“You just did. First, when you went off on

Adam. Then, when you yelled at the spud demon,
and now when you just got all possessive over

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him. For a second there, I thought you were going
to take my head off and play hacky sack with it.”

Jonas decided to get the subject off of him fast.

“What makes you think that Brad would say yes
to you anyhow? He hasn’t made it a secret that
you’re not exactly his favorite person.”

“I know.” Kamden sighed. “But one can hope.

First, I lose Ari to Adam, and now I’m going to
lose Brad to you. I can never win. The only ones
who seem interested in me are the twins, and not
even I’m willing to go that far.”

“Why? They’re not that bad,” Jonas said,

coming to their defense.

“I’m not exactly into three-person relationships,

and they’ve already made it clear that they’re a
package deal. One of them is bad enough, but can
you manage having to deal with an eternity of
both of them? I’d rather be hitched to Brad’s spud
demon.”

Jonas’ gut grew tight at the mere thought of

spending more than ten minutes alone with the
pair, let alone years and years. Yeah, he could see
where Kamden was coming from. That still didn’t
mean he could have Brad, though.

“Sorry to hear about your plight, but hands off

on Brad,” Jonas said firmly.

Kamden let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll leave him

alone.”

They were silent for a minute, before Jonas

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finally broke it. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?”
“Why are you such a jerk all the time? If you

acted the way you are now, the Wardens would be
much quicker to accept you.”

Kamden got a haunted expression on his face.

“Let’s just say I didn’t have a peaches and cream
past and leave it at that. I still carry a lot of
baggage, and I have issues that I’m dealing with. It
makes me lash out a lot. I try and stop myself from
doing it, but I lose control. I feel bad about it after,
but by then, it’s too late to take it back.”

“Well, I’m glad you lashed out today.

Otherwise, we would have never gotten to Brad in
time.”

“You really like him a lot. Don’t you?” Kamden

said with a grin.

“Let’s put it this way, if you tried to put the

moves on him, I would have to rip you to pieces,”
Jonas deadpanned.

“I thought as much.”
They approached an isolated, abandoned

factory when Kamden stopped and cocked his
head to the side. He put his hand on the butt of his
gun as the smile faded from his face, to be
replaced with a grim look.

“What is it?” Jonas asked.
“I’m getting a hinky vibe from this place. Just

like I did the other day when we were outside of

The Devil’s Nightmare

that warehouse,” Kamden said.

“We should go back and report it to the

Wardens,” James spoke up.

Kamden’s Guardian had done little to impress

Jonas. A small man with balding hair and a whip
thin body, he spoke little and seemed to offer
Kamden nada in the way of guidance.

Kamden gave James a look of disgust. “No,

we’re going in to see what’s inside. True Wardens
don’t go running at the first sign of danger.”

“But what if there is something dangerous in

there?” James whined.

Kamden gave him a condescending grin. “Then

Jonas and I will be there to protect you. That is, if
we’re not killed first.”

For once, Jonas didn’t blame Kamden for his

sharp  tongue.  James  was  being  a  coward,  and  in
their  line  of  work,  there  was  no  place  for  that.
Wardens  and  Guardians  were  supposed  to  be
bravest of the brave.

They walked inside, and Jonas’ gut did a nose

dive. Damn it if Kamden hadn’t been right. Just
like before at the warehouse, this building was
coated with the same cocoon material, and it had
numerous bodies embedded within it.

Jonas went over to one, and like before, even

though  it  appeared  to  be  breathing,  it  was  only
because  of  the  spawn  moving  around  inside  it.
There  was  no  blood  flowing  or  heartbeat

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detectable within the body.

“Damn, this is sick,” Kamden said, his eyes

wide as he gazed around the room.

“Yeah, I agree. This is one of the most

disgusting things I’ve ever seen,” Jonas said.

There had to be at least two dozen bodies in the

room.  It  made  Jonas  wonder  how  many  other
dwellings  around  the  city  were  just  like  this  one.
How  many  other  humans  had  fallen  victim  to
Deumos, and how many more would before they
stopped  her?  Jonas  now  knew  how  heavy  of  a
weight  it  must  feel  to  be  a  Warden  and  to  know
that  they  were  the  only  ones  who  stood  between
the horrors of the night and the innocents.

“Seriously, this is a scene straight out of hell.

No, I take that back, it’s worse than I imagine hell
to be. This is hell’s nightmare come to life,”
Kamden reached out to touch some of the
webbing, his hand shaking a bit.

“Can’t we just get out of here?” James whined.

“What if Deumos comes back and finds us here?”

“Then we fight her, dumb ass,” Kamden

snapped. “Grow a spine, will you?”

Jonas found himself nodding in agreement.

What did the Guardian expect them to do, run
away, crying like a bunch of scared school boys or
something? This was their damn job, and they had
to do it.

Jonas and Kamden went around the room,

The Devil’s Nightmare

snapping photos at various angles. Once they
were done, Kamden asked, “Now what do we do?
Should we blow it up like last time?”

“I think we should leave that up to Adam. Let

me call him and see,” Jonas said.

When he rang up the leader and got no answer,

Jonas was confused. Adam always answered his
phone. Something big must be going down.

“He’s not picking up,” Jonas said.
“That’s not good,” Kamden replied, echoing

Jonas’ concerns.

“So then we’ll just leave and forget that we ever

saw this place,” James said firmly.

“No, we can’t leave those things here to hatch

or be born or whatever it is they do when they’re
done cooking,” Kamden said. “We need to kill
them now.”

“That means that we’ll have to blow up the

building without alerting Adam ahead of time. He
might not like it,” Jonas warned.

Kamden pressed his lips in a firm line. “Don’t

worry. I’ll take the heat on this one. Let’s just get it
done.”

James put a hand on Kamden’s arm. “You can’t

go off on your own without getting orders from
your leader.”

“My leader is AWOL right now, and I need to

make a judgment call, so I’m doing it. Whether
you like it or not,” Kamden said coldly.

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“As your Guardian, I have to advise you

against it.”

“As my Guardian, you’re such a chicken shit,

you’d advise me from getting out of bed in the
morning if you could.” Kamden snorted. Kamden
pulled out a couple of grenades and said, “Let’s
just get this done and get back to the compound so
we can check up on Adam. After what happened
to Brad, we can’t be too safe.”

Jonas agreed. The last thing they needed was

another missing Warden, especially one who was
their leader. Things had already been chaotic
enough over the past couple of days as it was.

Jonas grabbed James and all but carried the

Guardian out of the factory as Kamden stayed
behind to throw the grenades. Jonas took cover
behind a dumpster. A few minutes later, Kamden
joined him. Seconds later the building exploded.

“That’s sure to piss Deumos off big time,”

James said.

“Good, maybe then she’ll know we’re not

playing around,” Jonas snarled.

“Maybe it will make her mad enough to go

back to Hell and start leaving the humans around
here alone,” Kamden added. “Or at the very least,
it will draw her out, so we can kill her.”

“What makes you think you can kill her so

easily? She’s a high level demon, and you’re just a
bunch of humans in fancy dressing,” James

The Devil’s Nightmare

demanded.

Jonas looked at him strangely. That didn’t

sound  to  him  like  the  way  a  Guardian  should  be
talking. He certainly hadn’t heard any of the other
Guardians  talk  that  way  to  their  Wardens.
Kamden,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  resigned  to
the argument. He let out a sigh.

“I know, but we try our best, James. What more

can we do?” Kamden asked.

Jonas wanted to throttle the Guardian, then slap

some  sense  into  Kamden.  Wardens  weren’t  mere
humans.  They  were  chosen  from  birth  and
specially gifted by the Oracle herself. For James to
make  them  seem  any  less  was  a  great  sign  of
disrespect to every oath he’d ever taken and a slap
in the Wardens’ face.

“Why are you listening to this asshole?” Jonas

demanded.

“Because he’s my Guardian. The Oracle

wouldn’t have paired me up with him if he didn’t
know what he was talking about,” Kamden said.

“You question authority at every turn, yet you

blindly follow this idiot and let him make you
think less of you?” Jonas fumed. “I don’t believe
it.”

“What did you just call me?” James demanded.
“An idiot, and if you’re smart, you won’t say

one more word or else you’ll be a dead idiot,”
Jonas warned.

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“Let’s stop the fighting, please?” Kamden said.

“We need to go back to the compound and check
on Adam.”

“Okay, but that’s the only reason why I’m

letting this go for now. I plan on having a long
conversation with Adam about your Guardian,”
Jonas said.

They made their way back to the compound.

Not  much  was  said  during  the  walk.  For  once,
Kamden kept his mouth shut, and James probably
knew that he was already on Jonas’ last nerve. As
for  Jonas,  he  was  fuming.  No  wonder  Kamden
acted  the  way  he  did.  With  him  always  getting
such  negative  messages  from  his  Guardian,  they
were  lucky  the  guy  was  stable  at  all.  If  Jonas
thought he could get away with it, he’d beat some
of the stupid out of James.

As they walked into the compound, Jonas was

relieved to see Adam and Brad. They appeared as
if they had just arrived as well, and were both
limping a bit.

“What in the hell happened to you two? We

tried to call and couldn’t get ahold of you, Adam,”
Jonas asked.

“We had a little run-in with Deumos,” Adam

said.

Horror filled Jonas at the thought of Brad facing

off against such a powerful demon with only
Adam as his backup. “And you lived to talk about

The Devil’s Nightmare

it?”

“Yeah, that’s just it. She was kicking our asses

and could have easily killed us, but she pulled a
vanishing act and left,” Brad said.

He lifted his shirt and Jonas’ stomach clenched

when  he  saw  the  mass  of  bruises  marring  Brad’s
creamy  skin.  He  grew  weak  in  the  knees  as  he
realized  how  close  he’d  come  to  losing  Brad  for
the second time that night.

“You are nothing but trouble. I swear I’m going

to have to handcuff you to the bed to keep you
safe,” Jonas said.

Brad flashed a wicked grin. “You wouldn’t be

the first one who’s tried that. I’ll warn you now.
I’m damn good at picking those locks.”

“Agh! TMI!” the Oracle said as she popped into

the middle of the room.

They all jumped in shock before Adam

recovered and bowed his head. “What brings you
here, Oracle?”

“Not what—who?” Her eyes grew stormy with

anger as she turned to James. “Is there something
you want to share with the group? And before you
try and deny it, remember that I already know the
truth.”

James opened and closed his mouth a few times

before he grew deathly pale. “I had no choice. He
was proving to be too much of a distraction to
Kamden. I needed to get rid of him. Besides, he

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was such a screw up, it’s not like anybody would
have missed him anyways.”

“What is he talking about?” Adam asked.
“James, here, helped the spud demons capture

Brad,” the Oracle informed them.

“I’ll kill him,” Jonas roared.
“Too late,” the Oracle said.
She snapped her fingers, and James fell to the

ground dead. They all let out gasps of shock.

“That’s not the only reason I killed him, though.

I know what kind of garbage he’s been filling
Kamden’s mind with. It’s high time that it
stopped. Don’t you think so, Jonas?”

Confused, Jonas said, “Why are you asking me

this?”

“Because as of today, you are Kamden’s new

Guardian. Welcome to the club, baby. You’re now
an official member.”

The Devil’s Nightmare

Chapter Eight

n unwanted surge of jealousy went through
Brad at the Oracle’s words. Jonas wasn’t

supposed to be Kamden’s Guardian. The vampire
belonged to Brad, damn it! Brad let out a huff of
irritation. Could this evening get any worse?

“I have worse news for you all,” the Oracle

said.

Brad reminded himself never to ask that

question again, because whenever he did, things
always did seem to get worse. He put a hand to
his aching side and waited her out.

“Deumos has been hard at work, and there are

several other places where she has laid her spawn.
It is imperative that you find them all and
eliminate them before the spawn come of age. If
not, the city will become overrun, and Detroit will
be no more. It is up to you and you alone to stop
this from happening.”

“Just how many places are we talking about?”

Ari asked.

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“At least a dozen, maybe more. Since Deumos

is a high level demon, my readings on her are a bit
hazy,” the Oracle admitted.

Well, if that wasn’t great. Not only did they

have a huge job ahead of them, but they were
going into it half blind. Brad didn’t know whether
to go into fits of hysterical laughter or bang his
head against the wall.

“Do you at least know why she pulled a

disappearing act on us today?” Brad asked. “I
mean wouldn’t it have made sense for her to take
us out since we pose a threat to her?”

“My guess is she doesn’t think you really are a

threat to her, and she wants to take you out all at
once,” the Oracle surmised.

Ouch! That one kind of hurt the ego a bit. Well,

Brad and the others would have to show her how
wrong she was.

“So do you think she knows we’re immortal?”

Adam asked.

“My guess is no. Or else she would have been

more  afraid  of  you  today.  She  still  sees  you  as
nothing  more  than  humans.  So  at  least  we  have
that to our advantage for now. But word will soon
get out. I know James told the spud demons. I’m
hoping  that  they  don’t  go  around  and  tell
Deumos.”

“I never did like James. He was not a good

Guardian,” Janice said.

The Devil’s Nightmare

“I wish that the powers would have let me

foretell what kind of person he was going to turn
out to be. If they had, I would never have paired
him  with  Kamden.”  The  Oracle  went  over  to
Kamden  and  cupped  his  cheek.  “You  have  been
through so much, and you hide it under so many
layers of hate. If you would only open up,  you’d
be amazed at the amount of love that would come
your way.”

For once, Kamden didn’t say anything. He just

gave a short, jerky nod of his head. For a shocking
moment, Brad thought that Kamden might have
even teared up. But Brad had to be imagining
things, because there was no way that Kamden got
emotional over anything.

“Do you know why he hated me so much?”

Kamden finally asked, his voice thick with
emotion. “I can see why the rest of the guys didn’t
like me, but I thought I would at least have an ally
in my Guardian.”

The Oracle gave Kamden a tender smile. “He

hated  not  just  you,  but  all  the  Wardens  and  the
Guardians.  Now  that  my  eyes  have  been  open,  I
can  see  that.  He  was  the  one  who  told  Deumos
that  Brad  and  Adam  were  alone  today.  He’d
hoped that the demon would take them both out,
thus  cutting  off  the  head  of  the  Night  Wardens
and leaving them leaderless and weak.”

“I can see taking out Adam, but what do I have

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to do with it?” Brad asked. “Why try to off me
too.”

She gazed at him. “Surely even you know that

if Adam were to fall, the Wardens would look to
you to lead them. Why do you think Janice pushes
you so hard? You are essentially second-in-
command.”

All of the sudden, the weight of the burden fell

on Brad’s shoulders. “And what if I don’t want
it?”

“As Stew’s second son, you have no choice,”

she replied.

“So he just takes off and leaves us with all the

dirty work.” Brad kicked at a nearby wall.

“He didn’t leave. I relieved him of his duties,”

the Oracle reminded Brad.

“Well, you can just relieve me too, because I

don’t want them,” Brad snapped.

“Brad, you’re all the Wardens have.”
Brad paused as he realized he was once again

acting  like  a  child.  He  put  his  hands  on  his  hips
and  gave  a  nod.  He  could  do  this.  His  days  of
acting like a child were behind him. If the incident
with  the  spud  demons  hadn’t  wised  him  up  to
that, his conversation with Adam sure had.

“Okay, Oracle. I take the position with great

honor and thank you. I promise to make you
proud of me,” Brad said.

He couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn

The Devil’s Nightmare

he saw a glint of pride in Jonas’ eye. Brad felt a
heat come to his face as he looked at the ground.
He had to remind himself that he was angry at the
vampire and not supposed to care what he
thought. But some old habits were hard to break.

“I knew you would come around,” she said, her

lips curving up into a smile.

She then popped out of the room, taking James’

body with her. Well, at least she hadn’t left them
with the cleanup. That was mighty nice of her. She
could have made them dig and bury. There was
no bigger bummer than that.

Adam went up to Kamden. “Why didn’t you

come to me sooner and tell me how your
Guardian was treating you?”

Kamden shrugged. “At first, I thought that’s

how it was with all Wardens and Guardians. Then
by the time I realized it wasn’t, I knew how much
you guys hated me, so I didn’t think you’d care. I
figured you’d side with him.”

Adam got a hurt look on his face—a hurt that

Brad echoed. “Kamden, we may not get along, but
we are all brothers at heart, we would always side
with you, no matter what. We would have looked
out for you.”

“Why should I believe that? Nobody ever cared

enough about me before,” Kamden said in a soft
voice.

“That was before you were of age and became a

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full-fledged Warden. Now you have all of us,”
Brad said. “And with Jonas as your Guardian, you
better watch out. Not only is he going to work you
ten times harder than James ever did, but he’ll
squash anybody who messes with you.”

“You got that right,” Jonas added. “Just ask

Toni and Brenden how grueling my training
tactics can be.”

“Who are Toni and Brenden?” Kamden asked.
“Two of the vampires who are responsible for

the destruction of this city.”

Kamden’s eyes grew a bit wider. “If that’s the

case, then let the training begin.”

The pair began to walk away, but not before

Jonas turned and pointed at Brad. “You and I need
to talk before you leave tonight, and I’m not
taking no for an answer.”

Instead of giving a smartass remark like he

usually would have, Brad just nodded. “Okay,
that sounds good to me. I’ll catch you before you
leave.”

Jonas seemed shocked that Brad didn’t zip off

with one of his one-liners, but he nodded and
went off with Kamden. Soon, he had the Warden
hard at work and sweating it out. Satisfied that the
issue was taken care of, Brad turned to Adam.

“We need to get a map of the city pinned to the

wall and see if we can figure out a pattern that
Deumos is following. Maybe then we can set a

The Devil’s Nightmare

trap for her,” Brad said.

Adam nodded. “It sounds like a good plan to

me.”

Soon they had a map of the city of Detroit

behind them. They used red push pins to
represent the nest sites and a blue one to represent
the site where Brad and Adam had their run-in
with Deumos.

“You know, we should keep this map up even

after we defeat Deumos. We can use different
colors to represent different paranormals,” Brad
suggested. “That way we can decide what areas of
the city need more of our attention.”

“I never thought of that, but it’s a great idea. It

would help us not to waste our time patrolling
areas that are dormant, too. It would save us a lot
of aggravation.”

“You really think it’s a good idea? You’re not

saying that to make me feel better?” Brad asked.

He hoped that Adam wasn’t leading him on,

because he felt bad for the whole spud demon
incident. Brad wanted compliments because he
was doing a good job. Not because he had almost
been married off to an Ewok.

Adam looked him square in the face. “No, I

think you had a very valid, good idea. I wouldn’t
have told you so otherwise. I don’t bullshit when
it comes to stuff like this. It’s too important.”

The twins came running in, their Guardians

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following.

“We just found another nest,” Haven said.
“We tried to call you, but you didn’t answer,”

Sasha finished.

“It must have been about the same time Jonas

and  Kamden  found  theirs,”  Adam  surmised.
“That’s  when  you  and  I  were  fighting  Deumos.  I
was too busy to answer my phone then. It’s a little
hard  to keep up a chat  while you’re getting your
ass  handed  to  you.  What  did  you  guys  do  when
you found the nest?”

Sasha gave a wicked grin. “We blew it up.”
Haven was quick to add. “Don’t worry, though,

it was in a secluded area, and we made sure that
no humans were around.”

“Good, you did the right thing. How many

corpses do you think were inside the nest before
you blew it up?” Brad asked.

“At least two dozen.” Haven handed over a

small camera. “We took pictures. You can look
them over if you want to.”

“You guys did a great job,” Adam said. “What

was the location of the nest?”

“An old warehouse on the shore of the Detroit

River,” Sasha replied.

“Can you point it out to me?” Brad asked.
As soon as Sasha did, Brad put a red push pin

in it. Brad stood back, hoping to see a pattern, but
try as he might, it all looked random to him. He

The Devil’s Nightmare

felt a wave of frustration, as if he was on the tip of
some discovery, yet it continued to elude him.

Jonas came in. “I need to leave now since the

sun will be coming up soon. Brad, will you walk
me home, so we can have that talk?”

Brad tore his attention away from the map.

“Sure, no problem.”

“Make sure you text me as soon as you get

there,” Adam ordered.

“Will do. The last thing I want is to end up

spending another day tied up in the spud demons’
lair. It smells like wet dog in there,” Brad said as
he began to leave the office.

He and Jonas walked outside. For the longest

time,  nothing  was  said  as  they  continued  down
the  war-torn  streets.  Finally,  Jonas  said,  “I  owe
you  an  apology.  I  never  meant  for  you  to  think
that I didn’t want you. Nor did I want you to think
that  I  thought less of you because you’re human.
Neither  one  of  them  could  be  further  from  the
truth.”

“I’ll admit it hurt,” Brad said. “But I should

have given you time to explain. It was childish of
me to go off on you like that. So we were both
wrong.”

By then, they were at Jonas’ apartment. It

wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods and at one
time had been Ari’s place.

Jonas jerked his head toward the door. “Why

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don’t we go inside and talk? We can start over
again if you want.”

Brad let out a small laugh. “That sounds like a

good idea to me.”

They walked up the steps, Brad wrinkling his

nose at the stench of old cooking, cigarette smoke,
and  pot  wafting  from  the  other  rooms.  It  was
going  to  be  good  once  they  got  their  pay  raises,
and  they  could  get  some  better  living
arrangements.  The  only  reason  why  Brad’s  place
was  any  better  was  because  there  were  three  of
them  living  there,  and  they  could  split  the  rent
three  ways.  Otherwise,  he’d  be  living  in  a  dump
like this, too.

Once they got inside, Jonas shut the door,

locked it, then grabbed Brad by the waist. Hauling
him closer, Jonas slanted their lips together and
gave Brad the kiss of his life. Brad moaned as he
felt Jonas’ tongue slide in to explore and taste.

Wanting to do some tongue play of his own,

Brad licked at Jonas’ fangs, delighting when he
earned a groan from the vampire. Wow, it would
seem that the fangs were an erogenous zone with
vamps. Who would have known it? Encouraged,
Brad did it again, this time reaching down to cup
Jonas through his pants. Oh yeah, no doubt about
it, Jonas was turned on big time.

And by that, Brad meant big. Jonas felt huge.

Brad was no small timer, but even unclothed, he

The Devil’s Nightmare

knew he wasn’t going to be able to measure up to
Jonas. Brad couldn’t wait to get his hands on that
cock. Or his mouth for that matter.

“Are you going to bite me again?” Brad asked

once Jonas let him up for air.

“If I do, I may claim you. Do you know what

that means?” Jonas asked seriously.

“It means that you will bite me so deeply that

I’ll scar and never heal. It will mark us as mates
forever. That forever we will be bound as mates
and will never be with another,” Brad stated.

There were certain things that he did know

about the paranormals. Vampires, for instance.
Once Jonas had come to live with them, Brad had
read up on everything he could about them. Jonas
had become an obsession with him.

“Do you still want me to bite you?” Jonas

asked.

“Yes, more than anything I’ve ever wanted in

my entire life.” Brad held up his phone. “Just let
me text Adam and let him know that I won’t be
home tonight.”

Brad texted his brother, then tossed the phone

aside. Taking off his shirt, Brad said, “Come,
Jonas, make me yours forever.”

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Nine

onas stared at Brad, not believing that the
Warden was so openly offering himself up.

Never  in  his  dreams  had  Jonas  dared  to  believe
that  Brad  would  be  willing  to  be  his  mate.  First,
there  was  the  age  difference.  Then  there  was  the
whole vampire vs. Warden thing. Of course, Jonas
was  now  a  Guardian—and  who  saw  that
coming?—which  made  him  part  of  the  club.  But
Jonas  had  a  feeling  that  even  if  he  hadn’t  been
made  Kamden’s  Guardian,  Brad  would  still  be
offering himself up.

“Finish stripping,” Jonas ordered, his voice a bit

garbled due to the fact that his fangs had already
descended with the need for sex and feeding.

Brad did, his movements a bit clumsy, because

he  had  to  struggle  to  get  his  boots  off.  Once  he
was finished, Jonas took a moment to look his fill.
He’d  never  thought  he’d  be  able  to  find  a  man
attractive,  but  damn  did  Brad  look  good  enough
to eat.

The Devil’s Nightmare

He was toned in all the right places, his muscles

pronounced from all the hours of working out and
training.  His  cock  was  just  the  right  size,  not  too
big,  but  not  too  small,  either.  It  was  curled  up
toward  his  taunt  stomach,  a  drop  of  pre-cum
collecting at the tip.

“Do I measure up for you?” Brad finally asked

with a nervous laugh.

It was only then that Jonas realized just how

long he’d been staring at Brad.

“You look perfect. I couldn’t ask for better,”

Jonas said.

Jonas then began to strip off his clothing. Since

before that night he hadn’t been Warden or
Guardian, he still wore the all black clothing the
Drones wore. Once he got them off, Jonas walked
over to Brad and dropped to his knees in front of
the Warden.

“I’ve been dying to do this from the day I met

you. All I need is a little taste,” Jonas said.

“Just make sure to watch your fangs. I’m

thinking it would hurt to get nicked by one of
those down there,” Brad said with a nervous
chuckle.

Jones licked away the wetness at the tip before

he  carefully  sucked  Brad  inside,  all  the  while
making  sure  not  to  let  his  fangs  hit  the  sensitive
flesh of Brad’s dick. Brad let out a moan, his head
falling  back  as  his  eyelids  fluttered  shut.  Jonas

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burned the image into his mind. He wanted to
remember it forever, because it was nothing short
of beautiful.

Pulling back, Jonas set a slow rhythm. Like he

said  before,  he  only  wanted  a  little  taste.  He  had
no  plans  on  making  Brad  come  yet  or  anything.
He  wanted  to  drag  out  the  encounter.  After
waiting so long for the moment, Jonas wanted it to
be  special.  He  owed  it  to  Brad  after  the
emotionless  handjob  in  the  bathroom  at  the
compound.

Jonas only sucked Brad off for a few minutes

before he pulled back and said, “Lie down on the
bed.”

Brad threw back the covers then climbed on the

bed, giving Jonas a view of his ass. It was so
glorious looking that Jonas couldn’t resist reaching
out to touch the rounded globes.

Brad looked over his shoulder. “You keep that

up, and I’m never going to lie down.”

“Change of plans,” Jonas said.
He then separated the halves and began to lick

at Brad’s hole. Brad let out a gasp as he closed his
eyes, his face a perfect picture of bliss. “Damn,
you’re just full of surprises tonight.”

Jonas let out a dark chuckle as he continued to

lick and nip at Brad’s hole. The sheer reaction he
was getting from Brad made all the work worth it.
Brad began to do that babble thing of his again as

The Devil’s Nightmare

he rocked back against Jonas’ mouth. Brad even
began to tremble a bit, and darn it all if that didn’t
make Jonas feel like a man.

Still licking away, Jonas slid one finger inside,

watching as Brad’s body sucked him in. Brad let
out a long moan, but there was no pain behind it,
only pleasure. Using his spit as lube, Jonas worked
the finger in and out a few times before adding a
second.

Knowing that he would need more than spit for

Brad  to  take  his  cock,  Jonas  reached  over  and
grabbed  the  lube  from  his  nightstand  before
adding three fingers. He then slicked up his cock
and  slowly  thrust  it  inside  Brad.  Brad  braced  his
hands  and  knees  tighter  on  the  bed  as  he  arched
his  back,  a  loud  cry  of  pleasure  passing  his  lips.
But he never uttered a word of complaint.

Jonas still gave Brad a moment to adjust before

he  moved.  He  started  out  slowly.  But  that  didn’t
last long. Brad’s body was too hot—too tight, and
Jonas  soon  felt  his  control  shattering.  Gazing
down  at  Brad’s  throat,  Jonas  honed  in  on  the
Warden’s jugular.

Letting out a roar, Jonas struck hard, his fangs

sinking into the Brad’s flesh. Brad let out a scream
that soon morphed into a moan. As soon as Brad’s
blood  hit  Jonas’  mouth,  he  couldn’t  hold  himself
back.  He  bit  in  deeper,  leaving  behind  the  marks
that  would  never  heal.  The  ones  that  would

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forever mark Brad as his mate.

Jonas could both hear and smell as Brad came,

the  salty  tang  of  cum  filling  the  air  as  Brad’s  ass
clamped  down  on  Jonas’  cock.  Jonas  took  in
another  drag  of  blood,  and  his  own  orgasm  hit
him  hard.  Throwing  back  his  head,  he  yelled
Brad’s  name  so  loud  that  the  entire  apartment
complex probably heard it.

Once he had unloaded all he had within him,

Jonas leaned down and gently licked the bite
wounds closed. He then pulled out of Brad, before
placing a kiss on the nape of his neck.

“You’re mine forever now. Mate.”
“Yours,” Brad confirmed, his breaths coming

out as panting.

The next evening when Jonas walked with Brad

into the Warden compound, Jonas swore he could
hear a pin drop it grew so silent. Every gaze
turned to stare at them, and everybody got an I-
know-what-you’ve-been-doing look on their faces.

Jonas lifted the corner of one side of his mouth.

“So you all know we’re a couple now. Get over it
and get back to your jobs. There’s no need to make
a big deal about it.”

“A vampire and a Warden. Who would have

thought it?” one of the twins said.

“No, a Guardian and a Warden,” Adam

clarified. “As of last night, the Oracle named Jonas

The Devil’s Nightmare

as Kamden’s new Guardian.”

“What happened to James?” Teddy asked.
“He found out the hard way what happens

when you piss off the Oracle,” Ari said.

Teddy grew pale. “Wow, I never did like the

guy anyway. He gave me the creeps, and he was
always making passes at me.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?”

Adam demanded.

Teddy gave a small shrug. “I didn’t want to

rock the boat so to speak. Plus, it wasn’t anything I
couldn’t handle myself. I just told him to back
off.”

“And did he?” Adam asked.
“No, but I made sure that I was never alone

with him,” Teddy replied. “I had it handled.”

“You still should have come to me. I would

have made him leave you alone,” Adam said,
anger flashing in his eyes.

Jonas knew the rage wasn’t directed at Teddy,

but  rather  at  James.  It  made  Jonas  wonder  what
other  things  the  Guardian  had  done.  How  much
other damage he might have been responsible for.
It  kinda  made  Jonas  wish  that  the  guy  was  alive
again, just so they could kill him once more.

“That does remind me. Jonas, you need to come

with me,” Adam said. “Since you’re now a
Guardian, you have to dress like one.”

Adam led him to the locker room and handed

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100

him a uniform. It was much like the padded, black
uniform and cape that the Wardens wore, only the
Guardians’  were  brown  in  color.  It  did  have  the
same silver triquetra pin with the ruby stone in the
center. Jonas couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride
as he put it in place. While he had been happy to
be  part  of  the  Drone  clan,  here  he  felt  as  if  he’d
earned  his  place.  He  was  honored  to  be  amongst
an elite group of warriors.

When he walked back out, Brad’s eyes grew

wide. “You look fantastic in the uniform. You
want to go back home for a while?”

Jonas laughed. Although they had made love

several times the night before, only Brad could get
horny again just from looking at a uniform. “As
much as I would love to, I have a lot of work to do
with Kamden.”

“Yeah, the poor guy is a wreck. I thought all

this time he was just being an asshole. Now I feel
bad for him.”

“Hopefully, things will get better for him with

me in charge,” Jonas said.

Brad gave him an encouraging smile. “I know

they will.”

“Well, I’m going to go work with him some

before it’s time to go out on patrol.”

“That sounds great. I have some things I need

to talk to Adam about,” Brad said.

“I guess you do.” Jonas chuckled.

The Devil’s Nightmare

101

He gave Brad a kiss then ran off.

* * * *

Brad  let  out  a  deep  breath  as  he  watched  Jonas
leave.  Brad  then  turned  and  went  into  his
brother’s  office.  There  was  no  use  in  putting  off
the  big  talk.  Might  as  well  get  it  done  and  over
with and see what the fallout was going to be.

Brad walked up to the office door and knocked

before entering. He found Adam staring at the
map, a frown on his face.

“There has to be a pattern some place, but for

the life of me, I can’t figure it out,” Adam said.

“I know. I feel the same way. But that’s not

what I came in here to talk to you about.”

“I had a feeling that was the case as soon as I

saw you and Jonas walk in here together. There
was no mistaking the possessive way he was
holding your hand,” Adam said.

“We were kind of obvious, huh?” Brad replied,

a heat coming over his face.

“You could put it that way.”
“The thing is, we did more than just sleep with

each other.”

Adam tore his gaze from the map. “What do

you mean?”

Instead of answering his brother outright, Brad

lowered the collar of his shirt to show off the scars

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102

on his neck.

Adam stared at them for a few moments before

he said, “You mated with him? Just after sleeping
with him one time?”

“Jonas and I have known each other a long

time. We didn’t go into this blind. We care about
each other a lot and want to spend the rest of our
lives together,” Brad defended.

“You do know that’s a long time now that

you’re both immortal?”

“You and Ari are immortal, too. Does that

change how you feel about him?” Brad
challenged.

Adam paused before he said, “No, it doesn’t. So

do you love him?”

“With all of my life. He’s the one for me, Adam.

I’ve never been more certain of anything in my
life.”

“So I guess this means you’ll be moving out

then?”

“Jonas and I haven’t discussed that, but he

doesn’t strike me as the type who wouldn’t want
his  mate  living  with  him.  So,  yeah,  I  think  I’ll  be
packing  my  stuff.  But  we’ll  be  upgrading  our
living  conditions.  The  place  he’s  at  now  is  a
dump.”

“Why do you think I wanted Ari out of there,”

Adam grunted.

“So are you okay with this?” Brad asked.

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103

“Yeah, Jonas may be a vampire, but he’s a great

guy. What’s more, he’s good for you.”

Brad let out a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you

would say that.”

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “And

what would you have said had I not approved?”

“To get bent. I love him, and nothing could stop

me from being with him,” Brad answered
truthfully.

Brad thought back to how great Jonas had

looked in his uniform with the Night Wardens
triquetra pin on him, and Brad couldn’t help but
feel a sense of pride over his mate.

Then Brad glance at the map again, and it hit

him  with  sickening  reality.  No,  it  couldn’t  be
possible.  Deumos  couldn’t  be  that  blatant  and
bold. Yet, the more he stared at it, the more sense
it  made.  Grabbing  a  pencil,  he  drew  a  crude
triquetra, and it lined up perfectly with where the
nests had been that they’d found so far.

“Adam, you want to take a look at this?” Brad

called.

Adam came over, and as his studied the map,

his face went pale. “Son of a bitch. She’s a ballsy
one, I’ll give her that.”

“What do you want to bet that home base for

her is where the ruby is?”

“I don’t need to bet…I know.”
“So do we attack her now, or do we wait to

Stephani Hecht

104

make sure that my theory is right?’’ Brad asked.

“I think our best plan of action would be to

send  out  patrols  on  the  patterns  where  we  think
she may have nests. Not only may it help us find
out what makes her tick and where she may have
some  weak  spots,  but  it  can  confirm  our  theory.
But  I  have  a  sinking  feeling  that  you’re  right  on
this one. Call in the others.”

Brad stuck his head out the door and let out a

loud whistle. “We need all of you in here now.”

It was a tight squeeze, but they managed. Once

they explained their theory, Rev asked, “Why not
just go in and kill her and get it over with now?”

“You haven’t gone against her. We have. Her

outer  shell  is  impenetrable.  Our  bullets  just
bounced off it like it was nothing. We need to find
her  weak  spot.  The  best  way  is  to  catch  more  of
her young and study them. There has to be a way
to  kill  her,  we  just  haven’t  found  it  yet,”  Adam
stated.

“Oh, goodie, more pets for Ari,” Kamden

drawled.

“This time you don’t get to name them,” Brad

warned.

“Fine, I promise not to get too attached this

time.” Ari pouted.

“You really need to buy him a puppy or a

kitten. Just because he’s a Warden doesn’t mean
that he shouldn’t have a normal pet,” Kamden

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105

said.

“I’ll take that into consideration,” Adam said,

pinching the bridge of his nose.

Brad knew better. Before the week was out, Ari

would be the proud owner of a cat or a dog. Adam
doted on Ari and always gave him whatever he
wanted. To say that Ari had Adam wrapped
around his little finger was a vast understatement.

Adam took a deep breath. “Okay, everybody

weapon up and let’s start patrolling. Keep close to
the area we marked. If Brad is right, we should
find plenty of nests. If you find any of them, you
know what to do.”

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106

Chapter Ten

onas and Kamden made their way to their
assigned area. For once, Kamden seemed full of

questions,  and  Jonas  was  more  than  happy  to
answer  them.  It  would  seem  that  his  former
Guardian  had  taught  him  little  in  the  way  of
vampires.

“So, there are two different types of vampires?”

Kamden asked.

“Yes, there are those who are Pure Born. Then

there are Drone Vampires; those are the ones who
were humans at one time and were converted to
vampires.”

“And you’re a Drone vampire. Right?”
“Yes, I was turned ten years ago when I was

thirty-five years old. It was by the same man that
massacred my family. He then forced me to be his
slave for several years before I worked up the
courage to leave him,” Jonas’ gut clenched at the
memories of those dark days.

“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?”

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107

Kamden hedged.

“You want to know why I would work for the

very same man who murdered my family, don’t
you?”

“Well…yes. Not to diss you, but I would have

told him hell no.”

“I did so at first , but then I grew close to some

of the other slaves. Corbin threatened that he
would harm them if I didn’t do his bidding. To
protect them, I did as he asked.”

Kamden kicked a stray stone. “That just sucks.

How did you manage to get away from him?”

“One day, he hurt one of the slaves I cared a lot

for. So the slave’s sister and I made a break for it.
We managed to get away and joined up with a
friendly Drone clan. I was with them until I came
here.”

“Do you miss your friends at the Drone clan?”

Kamden asked.

“Yes, all the time, but I’ve made friends here

that I care about, too.”

Kamden grinned. “Especially Brad.”
“I’ll admit, finding Brad was a bit of a surprise.

After losing my wife, I never thought I would find
anybody that I could care that much for again.
Brad is really special to me.”

“Well, I’m glad for you two.”
“Thanks.”
Kamden stopped and put a hand on Jonas’

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108

chest. “You see that old housing development up
there. The one that’s been condemned?”

Jonas looked up. To him, it just looked like

another of the many empty dwellings in Detroit.
The sides were covered in graffiti and most of the
windows were broken out.

“I think we need to check it out,” Kamden said

in a firm voice.

Given how the Wardens seemed to have a

feeling whenever a nest was near, Jonas nodded
and got his gun out. “Lead the way. I’ve got your
back.”

They walked up the large stone steps leading

the  way  into  the  complex.  With  each  step  they
took,  Jonas’  heart  beat  harder.  While  Wardens
might  have  hinky  feelings  of  their  own,  so  did
Jonas, and every one of his was telling them they
were going into a bad situation.

When they walked inside a huge lobby, Jonas

wasn’t  shocked  to  see  the  now  all-too-familiar
cocoon  material  webbing  covering  the  walls.  The
ceiling  was  vaulted  and  went  up  several  stories,
and he could see that it went all the way up to the
top.  So  did  the  bodies,  making  for  a  macabre
scene.

“This has to be the worst one yet,” Kamden

said with a shudder.

Jonas nodded. “This has to be the worst I’ve

ever seen period, and I’ve seen some fucked up

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109

shit in my time.”

“I’ll call it in. Then we can get rid of this place,”

Kamden said. “It shouldn’t be too hard, since the
buildings on either side of it are basically dust. I
do wonder how long we’re going to get away with
blowing up shit before the PD gets on our asses.”

“Don’t worry about that. Adam has some

connections that Stew left. Once Adam contacted
them and explained the situation, they were more
than happy with the way we are handling things.
They don’t want these creatures loose on the city
any more than we do,” Jonas explained.

“I guess that makes sense.”
Kamden was reaching up to touch his ear com

when a giant ripping sound filled the air. Jonas
looked up in time to see several large, black bodies
falling from the sky. They landed on the ground,
and Jonas nearly retched when he realized they
were newly hatched demons.

They looked like Venom had but were about

twice the size. They were also twice as mean.
Jonas tried to shoot one, but his bullet just skidded
off its body, like it supposedly had off Deumos.

Shit. This. Was. Not. Good. At. All.
Jonas grabbed Kamden by the arm and led him

into a nearby apartment. The first one had more
cocooning in it. Jonas cursed and went to a second
one. He let out a whoop when he found it empty.
Shutting the rickety door, Jonas locked it and

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110

hoped it would be enough.

Outside, he could hear more ripping sounds as

more of the demons were born. The skittering of
feet grew louder, and it all seemed to be coming
toward their door.

“What do we do?” Kamden asked with wide

eyes.

“We call the others and hope they come in

time,” Jonas said.

Jonas made the call. When he finished, he

looked  over  to  find  that  Kamden  had  a  grim
expression  on  his  face.  Jonas’  stomach  dropped,
and  something  told  him  he  wasn’t  going  to  like
what the Warden had to say.

“Jonas, if they don’t get here in time, you know

what we’re going to have to do. We have to blow
the  building  up  with  us  inside  it.  We  can’t  let
those  things  get  loose  on  the  city.  Even  if  that
means  we  have  to  sacrifice  ourselves  in  the
process,” Kamden said.

Never before had Jonas thought he’d admire

Kamden more. But damn it all, did it have to
involve Jonas dying?

* * * *

Brad ran as fast as he could toward Jonas’ location.
He had to hand it to Janice. For being so small, she
managed to meet him stride for stride. She was his

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111

Guardian, and she didn’t let him down.

They arrived at the housing complex at the

same time all the others did. Brad was panting for
breath, but that didn’t stop him from trying to
storm up the steps. It was only when Adam and
Rev both grabbed him by the arms and stayed him
that he pulled back.

“What in the hell are you guys doing? Jonas is

in there, and he needs me,” Brad said.

“We know, but we have to go in with a plan. If

we go in blind, we’re going to be stuck in the same
position he’s in. Then we’ll be no good to each
other,” Adam reasoned.

Ari went over and peeked in. “Ugh! That’s just

gross. The things are ripping their way out of the
bodies and falling from the sky.”

“Are you going to name them all?” Rev

drawled.

“There are too many to even begin to, plus they

all look the same. I would never be able to tell
them apart.”

“Jonas said that our bullets would be no good

on them, so how are we supposed to kill them?”
Brad asked as he paced back and forth.

“Well, one just landed on its back and another

one attacked it by eating its stomach,” Ari
observed.

The whole group grew silent as they stared at

him. Of course, the stomach! Why hadn’t they

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112

thought of that sooner? Every creature had a
weakness, and Deumos’ was her stomach. The
shelling must not extend to there.

Adam got a savage grin of his face as he took

out his gun. “Who wants to go inside and play flip
a demon?”

They walked inside of what had to be the most

terror-filled  scene  in  history.  The  lobby  wall  was
covered  with  ripped  open  corpses,  and  the  floor
was  littered  with  demons  and  body  parts.  Brad
wondered, not for the first time, why he was born
to play this gig.

Putting that out of his mind, he used his boot to

flip  one  of  the  demons  over.  It  let  out  a  hiss  of
displeasure.  Brad  cut  it  short  when  he  shot  it  in
the  stomach.  Just  as  they  had  been  hoping,  the
thing splattered and guts went flying everywhere.
It was messy, but it got the job done.

They continued to flip and shoot, working their

way to the room that Jonas and Kamden were in.
Brad was the first one there. He pounded on the
door. “We’re here. Open up and join the party.”

Jonas opened the door, and Brad threw himself

into the vampire’s arms. “Oh my God. I thought
we had lost you for good. Don’t you ever scare me
like that again.”

They kept their reunion brief since they were

getting surrounded by Deumos’ young, and the
last thing they wanted was to be boxed in by the

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113

no-so-little buggers.

Brad yelled, “Flip them over, and aim for the

stomach. That’s their weakness.”

Kamden’s eyes grew wide. “I love it. We found

a way to kill them.”

He flipped one over and shot it, letting out a

whoop of delight when it died. “We can win this
after all.”

“Let’s get our way out of here and blow this

thing up. There is no way we can shoot them all,”
Adam said.

They began to make their way to the door,

flipping  and  shooting  as  they  went.  By  the  time
they  got  there,  the  bottoms  of  their  pants  were
covered  in  gore.  Brad  didn’t  want  to  think  about
how  many  times  he  was  going  to  have  to  wash
them to get them fully clean. It was beyond gross.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they

made it to the bottom of the stairs and bolted the
door shut behind them. Since the building was so
large,  they  had  to  set  up  larger  explosives.  Once
that  was  complete,  they  got  the  hell  out  of  there
and  were  well  down  the  street  before they  heard
the  building  go  up  behind  them,  taking  all  of
Deumos’ newly born young with it. Brad let out a
sigh. That had been a close one.

He grabbed onto Jonas’ hand. He didn’t want to

think about how close he’d come to losing his
mate that day. Just the thought of it started to

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114

make Brad tremble with fear.

Jonas put an arm around Brad’s shoulder. “It’s

okay. I’m fine now. You guys got there in time.
I’m alive and fine. That’s all that matters.”

They met back at the compound and settled

into the main training room. Kamden appeared to
be  okay,  but  Janice  stayed  close  to  his  side  and
kept running a hand up and down his back. Brad
didn’t  mind  that  his  Guardian  was  watching  out
for another Warden. From what he’d heard about
Kamden’s  past,  the  Guardian  was  in  some
desperate  need  of  mothering.  Janice  could  be
tough at times, but she was the perfect one for the
job.

Adam brought out an easel that had the map on

it. He then had the Guardians and Wardens report
on the nests they had eliminated that evening. As
they did, Brad would put a pin in its place. By the
time he was finished, there was no doubt about it.
The pattern was that of a triquetra.

A chill went through Brad. While he knew deep

down  that  he’d  been  right,  this  confirmed  it.  He
didn’t know whether to be happy  that his theory
had  been  right,  or  pissed  that  Deumos  had
disrespected them that way. In the end, his anger
won out.

How dare she come on their turf and show

them up this way. It was as if she was flaunting
that she thought they were no threat toward her.

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115

What a bitch. Little did she know that they now
knew her weakness, and they planned on using it
against her.

She might think that she had drawn them into

her little trap, but they were coming prepared, and
they  were  Wardens.  They  weren’t  some  mere
human  beings  to  be  treated  like  they  were
nothing.  They  were  quicker,  stronger,  and  now
they  were  immortal.  Something  that  she  hadn’t
counted on. So they weren’t going to be so easily
killed.

Adam looked just as mad as Brad. “I say let’s

go get her now. Let’s finish this up and get her off
our turf. Maybe then the next demon will think
twice before it comes here and make trouble for
us.”

The Wardens let out a chorus of cheers. They all

then replenished their ammo and left the building.
Their destination—Deumos’ lair.

They went on foot. Anybody who passed by

would have thought that they were passing some
strange street gang or something. Any paranormal
would  have  run  the  other  way  in  horror.  It  was
clear  that  the  group  of  Wardens  and  Guardians
were  pissed,  and  they  were  out  for  blood  that
night.

Brad and Adam led the group. It seemed only

right since they were first- and second- in-
command. Their Guardians were right behind

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116

them. Brad was aware of Jonas’ position at his
back, and it gave him comfort to know that his
mate was so close by him.

After around fifteen minutes, they arrived at

Deumos’ lair. It had at one time been a clothing
store but was now empty. Well, it had been before
Deumos had taken over. Brad and Adam looked
at each other as they decided what their next move
should be.

“Do I knock and tell her that we have her Girl

Scout cookie order?” Brad asked.

“Somehow I don’t see that working,” Adam

drawled.

“Why not? Everybody loves the Thin Mints.”
“I’m betting that Deumos doesn’t.”
“Okay, then I guess we’ll just have to be rude

and go in without knocking,” Brad said.

They walked inside, the others following them.

Brad wasn’t surprised to find that the walls were
covered  with  the  cocoon  material  and  more
bodies.  He  was  dismayed  to  see  that  the  bodies
were  ripped  open,  showing  that  the  young  had
already been born.

Shit, that just sucked for them. If the young

were  still  around,  that  would  mean  that  they’d
have more to fight against. Now he was beginning
to  understand  why  the  Oracle  said  it  would  take
all  of  them  to  defeat  Deumos.  It  looked  like  they
had one hell of a fight on their hands.

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117

Chapter Eleven

he sound of scurrying feet was their only
warning before Deumos came out of the

shadows.  She  was  surrounded  by  several  of  her
young  and  looked  just  as  ugly  as  ever.  Man,  she
hadn’t  only  been  beaten  with  the  ugly  stick,  she
had  been  bludgeoned  with  the  thing,  and  then  it
had  been  crammed  down  her  throat  for  good
measure.  Had  she  been  a  contestant  on  the
Bachelor,  there  would  have  been  no  rose  coming
her way, that’s for sure.

“Night Wardens, I’ve been waiting for you,”

she said in that sick, gravelly voice of hers.

“Yeah, sorry we took so long. We’ve been busy

blowing up all your nests,” Brad shot back.

She let out an ear-piercing shriek. It was so loud

Brad was sure it was going to break his skull. He
shook it off, even though it still left him with a bad
headache. Wow, it looked like they pissed her off.
Good, that made them even, because she had
ticked Brad off by showing her ugly mug in his

Stephani Hecht

118

turf.

“I’ll kill you all for that,” she vowed.
“Not if we kill you first,” Adam said calmly.
She laughed, showing off several rows of rotten

teeth. “You didn’t have much luck with that last
time.”

“Last time there were only two of us. Now you

have to face all the Night Wardens and their
Guardians. I don’t think you’re going to like the
outcome this time,” Adam promised.

“Babies, attack these intruders,” Deumos

ordered her young.

The small demons moved in on the Wardens.

When the Wardens began to do the flip and shoot
maneuver, Brad could have sworn he saw a look
of horror pass over Deumos’ face. He knew then
that she hadn’t counted on them finding out about
her weak spot.

Ha! Gotcha! Now, what are you going to do? Not so

cocky now, are you?

Deumos must have really been worried about

her  young  because  she  entered  the  battle.
Swinging  out  an  arm,  she  hit  Teddy  in  the  side.
The  Warden  went  flying  across  the  room  and
through the glass front window. When he got up
and  jumped  back  through  the  opening  to  rejoin
the  battle,  another  look  of  terror  went  over
Deumos’ ugly face.

Oh, did we forget to tell you that we’re immortal

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119

now, too? Our bad.

The battle seemed to go on forever, Brad and

the others killing off the young, all the while
dodging Deumos’ blows. For while the hits might
not kill them, they did still hurt like hell.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, most of

the young were killed off. Leaving the rest of the
Wardens to take care of them, Brad looked over at
Kamden.

“You ready to end this for good?”
Kamden nodded. “Am I ever.”
They pulled out their long swords and took a

running  start  at  Deumos.  She  was  distracted  by
the  other  Wardens  and  didn’t  even  see  the  pair
coming.  Once  Brad  and  Kamden  were  close
enough,  they  went  down  on  their  knees  and  slid
under Deumos.

Raising up their swords, they sliced open her

belly  from  end  to  end.  Blood,  guts,  and  gore
splattered  down  on  them.  By  the  time  they
reached  the  other  end  of  her,  Brad  and  Kamden
were a mess.

Deumos turned to them, let out another one of

the migraine-inducing screams before she fell
down to the ground. She gave a few more
shudders, and then she stilled.

Brad and Kamden both stood there, their

breathing coming out in great pants as they
waited to see if Deumos would rise again. When

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120

she remained still, Brad let out a sigh of relief.
They’d done it. It’d taken all of them, just as the
Oracle had foretold, but they had finally defeated
Deumos once and for all. Now, the city was safe.

The remaining young let out shrieks of despair

at  the  sight  of  their  dead  mother.  The  Wardens
quickly  dispatched them. While Brad felt a kinda
bad  for  the  little  guys,  he  knew  that  they  would
grow up to be like Deumos, and they needed to be
killed  off  before  innocents  died  because  of  the
demons.

It was only after that was done, that Adam said,

“Burn this place, and let’s go back to the
compound. It looks like at least two of us could
use a good shower.”

Brad took the longest shower in his entire life.

He didn’t think he would ever feel clean in his life
again.  He  had  Deumos  goo  in  places  he  didn’t
even want to think about. But he was too happy to
even care. All that mattered to him was that they
had  been  successful  and  hadn’t  lost  any  of  their
men  in  the  process.  More  than  that,  the  city  was
safe again. No more humans were going to die at
the  hands  of  Deumos.  The  Night  Wardens  had
done  their  duty,  and  that  was  something  to  be
proud of.

When he and Kamden came out from their

showers, Brad wasn’t overly surprised to find that

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121

the  Oracle  was  there.  She  always  liked  to  come
and  praise  them  when  they  had  a  successful
mission. While she did have a dark side to her, her
good  side  was  much  stronger,  and  she  doted  on
her Wardens.

She was sitting on top of one of the desks and

was joking around with the Wardens and
Guardians. Her laughter was like a magical tune.
But then everything about her had an unworldly,
fairylike quality to it. It sort of made Brad wish
that she was his mother.

As if sensing his thoughts and she probably

did, since she could read minds, she turned to him
and gave him a gentle smile. Brad found himself
returning it.

“She’s one great lady, isn’t she,” Kamden said.
“Yeah, she is. We’re lucky to have her on our

side,” Brad agreed.

The Oracle beckoned them to come closer, and

Brad and Kamden obeyed. They joined the rest of
the group and formed a semi-circle around the
Oracle.

“I am so proud of all of you today,” she said.

“You worked together and defeated one of the
most powerful demons in Hell. You have done the
Night Warden name proud, and this day will go
down in history.”

“Thank you, Oracle,” Adam said.
“No, thank you. Thanks to you, countless

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122

innocent have been saved,” she replied. “I am
proud to be your Oracle.”

Brad moved closer to Jonas. The vampire put

his arms around Brad. Not caring that they had an
audience, Brad allowed himself to sink in the
embrace. After the night they’d had, it felt good to
be in his mate’s arms. If Brad had his way, they
wouldn’t be moving any time soon.

The Oracle looked over at the pair and gave

them a wink before continuing, “But I’m afraid
that this will be only the first of many tests for the
Night Wardens. I see many more challenges lying
ahead for you. I hope that you will be ready for
them.”

“We will be,” Adam promised her.
“Somehow I don’t doubt that,” she replied with

a smile. “In the meantime, I’ve heard of an
apartment that’s just gone on the market. It’s in a
much better neighborhood than Jonas lives in
now. While it only has one bedroom, I don’t think
that will be a problem. It’s just a couple of blocks
from here.”

She then rattled off the address before she

disappeared.

Brad looked up at Jonas, “What do you say?

Should we check it out?”

“I know we should. I want the man I love by

my side at all times.”

Brad grinned. “You love me?”

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123

“Of course, I do. Otherwise, I would have never

mated with you.”

“I love you, too.”
As Brad snuggled deeper into Jonas’ embrace,

he  thought  that  things  couldn’t  be  better.  They
had saved the city, he’d gotten his guy, and now
he  was  not  going  to  have  to  live  in  a  rat-hole.
Whatever  came  up  next,  he  could  beat.  Just  so
long as he had Jonas by his side.

About the Author

Stephani  Hecht  is  a  happily  married  mother  of
two.  Born  and  raised  in  Michigan,  she  loves  all
things  about  the  state,  from  the  frigid  winters  to
the  Detroit  Red  Wings  hockey  team.  Go  Wings!
You  can  usually  find  her  snuggled  up  to  her
laptop, creating her next book.

Contact her at: Email Address:

stephani@stephanihecht.com Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht
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?ref=profile&id=110935385
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