Elijah. Jacquelyn Frank
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THERE WAS NO CONTROL IN THAT MOMENT
She was first flushed, and then chilled. She was terrified, but craving. She was seeping liquid heat, and locking up in solid awareness. The contradictions battered her from the inside out and she felt wildly, deliciously out of control of it all.
The warrior felt the female’s heart pounding madly beneath him. She was aroused. He felt a tremor shimmer through her and he was pressed with the urge to rub himself up against her supple body. It made no impression on him that he was still weak and wounded. He was blind to everything but the sensations and the desires of his instinctive thoughts.
Elijah was no stranger to women—he enjoyed them immensely, in fact—but this was something quite remarkable. Never had he reacted so strongly, so quickly, to a female before. Except, perhaps, one other time. But he had refused to acknowledge it then for what it was, excusing it as part of the heat of battle. The very idea of it had been utterly appalling because the woman in question had been—
That was when recognition finally set in.
Elijah’s eyes went pale, just as the rest of him did, as he finally realized exactly who it was he held pinned beneath this body. Who it was he was feeling this outrageous craving for. And who it was that was responding with an inconceivable reciprocation of heat and interest.
“Siena,” he hissed, his hand finally leaving her throat to reveal the gold and moonstone collar she wore.
Also by Jacquelyn Frank
JACOB: The Nightwalkers
GIDEON: The Nightwalkers
And coming soon:
DAMIEN: The Nightwalkers
Published by Zebra Books
ELIJAH
THE NIGHTWALKERS
JACQUELYN FRANK
ZEBRA BOOKS
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
For my rabid fangirls:
Ange, Alaska
Denise, Dragoneen
Jabberwookie, Jennifer
Lasair, Lila
Magic, Nephilim
Serena, Shoshana
Stacy, Stella
Thatch, Treca
Vickie and
Renee (who is also my bestest childhood friend)
As well as everyone else who has helped me through all my ups, downs, ins and outs this year.
Eye candy, anyone?!?
Also,
For my very own stalker, Amy,
This one’s for you guys!!!
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
PROLOGUE
Whosoever wishes to know the fate of Demonkind must consult these prophecies…
…as magic once more threatens the time, as the peace of the Demon yaws toward insanity…
…it will come to pass that in this great age things will return to the focus of purity that Demonkind must always strive for. Here will come the meaning and purpose of our strictest laws, that no uncorrupted human shall be harmed, that peaceful coexistence between races shall become paramount…
—Excerpts from The Lost Demon Prophecy
…it is therefore forbidden for any of Demonkind to mate with creatures who are not their equals, not of their nature, not of their strength and power. Those lesser creatures are ours to protect from ourselves, not to be violated in impure sexual abomination. This is the law and the will of nature. The dog does not lie with the cat; the cat does not lie with the mouse. Whosoever breaks this sacred trust must suffer under the hand of the law…
—Excerpts from The Original Scroll of Destruction
Elijah fell to his knees, clutching at his chest as warmth spread between his fingers, staining them and his white shirt a bright crimson. He looked down at the blossoming picture of his life’s essence spreading over the material, almost with the fascination given to the sprawling, artistic circlets of a tie-dyed shirt.
The warrior Demon was astounded.
He had been injured repeatedly over his centuries-long lifetime. He was certainly no stranger to it. Everything from mystical electricity to wicked blades made of the brutal, burning iron that was so toxic to his kind had cut into him in one way or another over the ages. Some wounds had been serious enough to leave scars in spite of his remarkable innate healing powers, some had not. But never had he been injured in a way he would consider a truly mortal wound. Mortal to others was not mortal to him. Mortal to the average Demon was also not mortal to him, if only because of his stubborn refusal to succumb to something so passé as death.
However, in this case it was not simply because a hole was torn through his chest and very near the vital workings of his heart that his life was threatened, but because he was in the middle of nowhere, too weak to call for help, and surrounded back and front by enemies. Even if he could somehow find the stamina to survive this rending intrusion into his body, these enemies would not let him live any longer than they wanted him to.
Elijah was immediately furious with himself for ending up in this predicament. He was Captain of the Demon warriors, the elite army at the beck and call of the great Demon King. He was the most skilled fighter of all Demonkind, a Nightwalker race renowned for its awesome abilities in battle. He had lived all the centuries of his life honing his craft, learning everything there was to know about battle, war, and the weapons and strategy required for success in those situations. Jacob, the Demon Enforcer, and his liege lord, Noah, the Demon King, were the only ones he would have considered his equals in battle prowess. He was not supposed to be so stupid as to fall into even the best laid traps, nor capable of being bested once caught by said trap.
Even without training, at their hearts all Demons were essentially battle-ready beasts. He believed that—it was a personal philosophy—and he strongly felt that no matter how heavy the veneer of civilization within their race, or within the individual, there were instincts that could not ever be denied. Sure, Demons looked human, although taller and tanner than average, but they were considered extraordinarily attractive when in human circles. Elijah knew this was because the elemental and animal genetics within them allowed for heightened pheromones that called out to the opposite sex, a predatory sense of awareness that exuded attractive danger, and the extraordinary