Kobe Read online

  Demon Warriors 6

  Kobe

  Zion had sacrificed himself to get the Demon Warriors out of Remtin. Now who was going to save him? Resigning himself to a life of hell, Zion reluctantly accepted his fate. That was until the Demon Warrior who fascinates him beyond all reason risks everything to rescue Zion from a fate worse than death.

  Kobe was the son of the notorious Sebastian Krule, the meanest cutthroat to ever live. More than once he had felt the hand of abuse from his father. He should have turned out insane, or at the very least, cold and uncaring.

  But when he meets a demon with big blue eyes and finds out that Zion has traded his freedom for the safe passage of the Demon Warriors, Kobe sees beyond his brutal upbringing. He sees a man who is affecting Kobe in ways he had never experienced before.

  Kobe has to not only gain Zion's trust, but figure out why his father has shown up in Serenity City. There could only be one reason and Kobe is determined to be the one who walks away from their deadly reunion.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Fantasy, Paranormal

  Length: 35,234 words

  KOBE

  Demon Warriors 6

  Lynn Hagen

  EVERLASTING CLASSIC

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

  KOBE

  Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Hagen

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-145-6

  First E-book Publication: July 2013

  Cover design by Siren Publishing

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Kobe by Lynn Hagen from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Lynn Hagen’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Hagen’s right to earn a living from her work.

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  DEDICATION

  For anyone who thought they didn’t deserve any better.

  KOBE

  Demon Warriors 6

  LYNN HAGEN

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Donnchadh grabbed Kobe’s arm in a tight grip, pulling him into an alley as a group of demons came around the corner. They both pressed their backs into the brick wall, waiting for the group to pass them by.

  Kobe cursed when he saw that one of the men was Compton. That pompous bastard had tried to kill him the last time Kobe was here. He had tried to get Zion—the man he was here to rescue—to betray Kobe.

  He took a step forward, ready to kick the bastard’s ass for giving him a damn beat down when he didn’t have his demon powers, but Donny pulled him back, giving him a warning look as he shook his head back and forth.

  “I owe that bitch a few broken ribs and plenty of bruises,” he said in a hiss under his breath. Kobe now had a long scar down his arm from Compton and his little band of assholes. The only thing he wanted to do was repay the favor.

  “We are here for Zion. Not to settle a score.”

  Who said Kobe couldn’t multitask? All he wanted was five minutes alone with Compton to teach the man some fucking manners. He wouldn’t kill the guy…maybe.

  They were deep in the heart of Remtin, a city located outside of Serenity City. The inhabitants were mainly rapists and murderers. How anyone could raise a child here baffled Kobe—although it shouldn’t considering he had grown up in this shithole city. Undoubtedly, it was a place that would give any sane man nightmares.

  Fortunately for Kobe, he wasn’t sane.

  Remtin was filled with lecherous beings that lived on the streets, stealing and killing at random. Just the thought of Zion being here ate at Kobe. And although the small demon had set him up in the beginning, Zion had shown his true character when he sacrificed himself to save the Demon Warriors.

  Although he and Donny had scoured half the city, Kobe still couldn’t find where Raphael was keeping Zion. He wasn’t even sure what deal Zion had made with the demon to secure the Demon Warriors’ safe passage out of here a few days ago.

  If the guy had harmed one hair on Zion’s head, Kobe was going to eviscerate the man.

  “They’re gone.” Donny moved out of hiding as the two made their way across the street, heading toward some boarded-up buildings. The street was deserted, like it always was. There wasn’t even a soft breeze blowing as Kobe scanned the area.

  God, he hated this fucking place.

  Kobe had sworn that he would never return to Remtin. There was nothing but bad memories here. He had to fight his way through life before Panahasi had come to take him away for his training. It had been a brutal, insane, and bloody life he had once had, and Kobe wasn’t one to revisit things that gave him nightmares.

  Yet here he was again, for the second time in a matter of days.

  Donny tapped him on the shoulder and then pointed up. Kobe tilted his head back to see a guy standing on a metal fire escape and knew he wasn’t just standing there admiring the view.

  The demon was one of Raphael’s guards.

  Kobe knew using his powers to bend the guard’s mind would give him a slight headache, and if he delved too deep, he would get a migraine the likes of which a human had never before experienced.

  He had to be careful and just use the power of suggestion to get the man to go inside. If there were too many demons in the warehouse, Kobe and Donny didn’t stand a chance. They had the element of surprise on their side and he wanted to keep it that way.

  Holding up a finger to indicate they should wait, Kobe touched his temple, focusing
on the demon standing on the fire escape.

  Go inside.

  He pushed the thought into the man’s head, imagining the guy opening the door and walking into the warehouse. He could already feel a low pulse in the back of his head, but Kobe was determined to save Zion.

  Aside from his time as a Demon Warrior, Kobe had never tried to save anyone—not after that fatal night so long ago. Kobe pushed the haunted memory from his mind. It wouldn’t do to dwell on things of his past.

  Although one thing had been for certain. He had made sure that he took care of himself on the streets, especially living in Remtin. But going out of his way when the situation wasn’t an imminent threat—like saving someone from a soul-sucking demon—nope, never happened.

  Growing up, it had always been about saving his own ass and staying alive. But he couldn’t forget the debt he owed Zion. He would never forget the sacrifice the small demon had made. He had bartered to get the Demon Warriors out of Remtin. Zion had saved them all.

  And now it was Kobe’s turn to save Zion.

  Donny gave him the universal you better not fuck this up expression as he glanced from Kobe then to the man who was roughly thirty feet above them. Kobe was still the newest member of the Demon Warriors and he hated that his powers had failed once or twice.

  The Warriors constantly reminded him that he wasn’t infallible. From what Panahasi had told him, all the Demon Warriors had gone through one or two misfires with their powers…and all had taken shit for it. Guess it’s my turn since I’m the newest.

  Kobe tilted his head back and gazed up. The demon had finally walked inside. They had a small window before someone—if anyone else was there, and Kobe had a feeling there was—figured out the guard had left his post. Donny grabbed him and popped them onto the landing. The demon was pretty good at teleportation, but if he took anyone but himself, it weakened the guy.

  Kobe didn’t need Donny weak right now. Both of them needed to reserve their strengths. “Don’t do that again.”

  “Just get inside.” Donny pointed toward the door. “Hurry, before someone comes back out here.”

  With mind control, Kobe had to constantly stay with the person he was controlling or the suggestion would wear off pretty damn quick. Why couldn’t he have invisibility like Einarr, or the ability to burn this damn place to the ground like Hondo?

  Sometimes he felt like he got gypped when it came to powers.

  Easing the door open, the two of them slipped inside. Kobe instantly noticed how much chillier it was inside than outside. Goose bumps raised on his arms as he slid along the wall, watching for any demons who might be heading their way.

  He used a discretionary amount of power to feel for anyone close by. The only mind he felt was Donny’s and Kobe didn’t probe. It was forbidden for him to use his powers on the other Demon Warriors. He could cripple someone if he pushed hard enough. Donny had been the person who had trained Kobe, had become brethren to him, and the last thing he wanted to do was turn the demon into a vegetable.

  Or worse, make the man’s mind melt.

  Kobe put a hand up when he heard whispering. It wasn’t in his head, but close by. That meant they had to stay in place unless they wanted to be caught. Kobe was dying to take the bastards out, but he knew their main goal was Zion and he wasn’t going to risk a fight.

  “Raphael isn’t going to promote you,” the first whispering voice said. “He’s still pissed that you fucked up the attack on the Demon Warriors.”

  “I didn’t fuck that up. I had them good and cornered. Raphael is the one who stopped me.”

  Compton. The bastard. Oh, how Kobe wanted to turn that demon into a babbling idiot for the rest of his life. But he wasn’t going to risk the migraine, not when he was still searching for Zion. The temptation was overwhelming, but he crushed the urge deep down and concentrated.

  Donny must have felt Kobe’s hatred because he placed a hand on Kobe’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze as he thinned his lips and shook his head.

  Right, revenge was not something Kobe was supposed to practice. Not only had Donny drilled that into his head, but Panahasi as well. Turning the other cheek was not something he was used to doing.

  “You were supposed to take that Warrior out before his buddies showed up. I’m still not sure why Raphael let them go, but it shouldn’t have gotten that out of hand,” the first man said.

  Kobe would really like to see Compton try and fuck with him now. He was actually itching for the man to show his face. He knew they weren’t here for Compton, but the payback would be so sweet.

  Once the voices faded, Kobe and Donny moved further into the top floor of the warehouse. From the looks of this place, this was not Raphael’s main headquarters. This place looked like it hadn’t been used in years and there was an overpowering stench of garbage and urine.

  Just as Kobe turned a corner, he spotted Zion in the middle of a large room. He stood there with his hands bound in front of him and a leather gag tied around his mouth. The small demon didn’t attempt to move, but his big indigo eyes told Kobe that he was terrified.

  “It’s a trap,” Donny whispered. “Why would he be standing there like that, out in the open for you to extract?”

  Kobe already knew this was a setup, but he wasn’t about to walk away. Zion was pleading with his eyes for Kobe to leave. Wasn’t happening. He had come here for the small demon and he wasn’t leaving without him.

  “Are you reneging on our deal?” Raphael’s voice echoed through the empty room, bouncing off the stained and crumbling walls, but Kobe didn’t see him anywhere. “Zion has yet to repay his debt.”

  Taking a step forward, Kobe let a growl rip from his throat when Donny held him back. His eyes swept the entire room, seeing trash, broken windows, and there was only one light that was working. Zion was standing under it, as if he were the star of the show.

  But there was no Raphael.

  “Too afraid to show yourself?” Kobe challenged. He gave a mental push to get a lock on Raphael’s mind, but he couldn’t find it. That had never happened before.

  From a dark and shadowed corner, Raphael appeared. He walked casually over to Zion, rubbing the back of his knuckles along the long, silky raven strands of Zion’s hair. Kobe’s teeth nearly shattered as he ground them. Just watching Raphael touch Zion—he pushed harder into the demon’s mind, trying to tear it down, rip it apart, but there seemed to be some sort of protective wall around the man.

  But the strain of trying to get into Raphael’s mind was giving Kobe a migraine. He mentally pulled back, unwilling to weaken himself any further. He needed to reserve his strength.

  “I know your powers, Demon Warrior, and they won’t work on me.” Raphael’s hand didn’t stop at Zion’s hair. It traveled further down the man’s body, his eyes flickering over toward Kobe. “Such a sweet little demon.”

  Kobe shot forward, ready to murder the demon, but strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him down so hard he nearly crashed into the floor.

  “Don’t,” Donny warned.

  He slammed his hands into Donny’s chest, baring his teeth.

  “I’d listen to your friend,” Raphael said. “If you leave now, I will not allow anyone to harm you.” His honey-gold eyes narrowed. “That is more than you deserve for returning after I already gave you and your friends a free pass out of Remtin.”

  Kobe was fully aware of what Raphael could do. He had grown up knowing the man. Not personally, but no one lived in Remtin and didn’t know who the guy was. He pretty much ran this place. There was nothing kind or forgiving about the demon. Kobe had heard tales when he was younger about what Raphael had done to those who crossed him.

  Some said that Raphael had cut four demons into tiny pieces just because they had lagged on repaying the man their debts. Others whispered that he had unparalleled powers, equal, if not greater than the Demon Warriors.

  He had been petrified of the man growing up, even more frightened of Raphael than he was o
f the man abusing his young body. There were far worse things than death, and anytime he had seen Raphael, the man had looked sinister, deadly.

  But now that he was a grown man, standing here facing off with Raphael, ruler of Remtin, the fear was no longer there. Kobe had seen big, bad, and monstrous since joining the Demon Warriors. Hell, he had grown up with the most notorious monster of them all.

  But he had come to learn that there were things out there far worse than Raphael.

  “I’m not leaving here without Zion,” Kobe stated furiously. His gaze dropped to Zion and Kobe could see the tears welling up in the man’s eyes. He wasn’t sure if those were tears of thank-you because Kobe refused to leave without him, or if they were tears because the small man was sure Kobe was about to die.

  Whatever the case, it killed something inside Kobe to see the moisture clinging to the man’s thick, dark lashes. The small demon was shaking in his tattered clothes, and Kobe wanted to rip the binding off of the guy, getting them as far away from this place as possible.

  “The decision is up to you,” Donny said from beside him. “If you want to leave, we’ll leave. If you want to fight”—his mentor took a menacing stance—“then we dance.”

  “I’m not leaving him,” Kobe’s tone was scalpel sharp.

  Donny inclined his head as he focused his attention on Raphael. The man looked unconcerned as he stood there, his hand still skimming over Zion’s shaking form. If it was the last thing Kobe did, he was going to break the bastard’s fingers for touching the demon.