A Demon's Wrath Novella: One Night with the Demon King by Alexia Praks Page A

two previous
demons. Drake, the most serious, responsible, intelligent,
innovative, powerful, and skilled of the warriors, was a year
younger than Julius.
    Gerick, the handsomest, most flirtatious
demon with an appetite for good food, fine wine, and of course,
beautiful women and young men, was a year younger than Drake. There
was, of course, another side to Gerick—seriousness and shrewdness
with an art in war strategies and his loyalty to his comrades that
was beyond compare. Leon, who was quiet, intelligent, and skilled
as a commander of the armies, was a few months younger than
Gerick.
    “Demon’s blood!” Gerick said. “He trained
with us, and we didn’t even know he was an Arthur. We all know what
will happen if Marcus becomes king. That bastard practices black
magic. We know how dark his pearl is. It will be a disaster.”
    “I’m not about to let him kill me, Gerick,”
Drake said. “I will kill him if he tries to lay his hands on me.
Though, I still have hope we can return him.”
    Julius looked doubtful at that statement.
“Once the pearl is marked black, it cannot return to its original
color, Drake.”
    Drake ignored Julius and glanced at Adam,
who looked both hurt and angry at the same time. His pale-gray eyes
were dark with emotion. It was hard to lose one’s best friend and
watch him turn against you, even though it happened many years
ago.
    Drake said, “For now, I need my pearl to be
ready. I need it to give me a bride.”
    Leon, who was sitting in a chair by the
brightly lit hearth, suggested, “Why don’t we just do another
presentation?”
    Julius gave him a dry laugh. “We all know
what happened last time.”
    Gerick nodded in agreement, his face sour as
a lemon. Leon nodded soberly.
    Their last presentation , which was of
course Julius’s cunning plan of a shortcut, was a chaotic disaster
to say the least. They’d presented about a dozen beautiful female
demons from noble families to the pearl. Most, however, couldn’t
even get into the enchanted water. They were too afraid of the
magical acid that would eat their alabaster skin. A very few
managed but couldn’t go any farther than a couple steps before they
came running out again, screaming as if death were after them.
    All five demons were silent as they pondered
on what the best course of action might be. When Gerick said, “What
if Drake is meant to have a male lover?” Adam wanted to punch him
in the face, and Leon managed to hide a chuckle.
    It wasn’t because Adam had anything against
that sexual orientation, since it was very acceptable in the Demon
Kingdom to be either way, but because that implied Drake wouldn’t
be able to have children and, therefore, no future demon king. And
that would leave them very vulnerable.
    Drake raised a brow at Gerick as he came
down the stairs. He placed the now empty silver wine goblet on the
table and said, “I know what I am, Gerick.”
    “Oh?” Gerick raised a brow at his cousin.
“The way you looked at young Brian back there at dinner…”
    Drake narrowed his eyes dangerously. Adam
and Julius looked to each other, sporting a suspicious look on
their faces. Leon raised a surprised brow.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Drake said darkly. He
himself wasn’t against male-to-male sexual orientation, nor was he
against demons and humans or angels and demons for that matter.
After all, Adam and Vera worked out just fine as a demon husband
and a human wife, even though the marriage was for political
reasons at the beginning.
    “Well, if you say so,” Gerick said. “Then
you wouldn’t mind if I—”
    Gerick didn’t even finish before Drake moved
in and grabbed his shirt collar. He pulled his cousin so close they
were eye to eye and nose to nose. Drake’s eyes were scorching like
a raging fire. “If you touch him, you’ll be sorry, Gerick.”
    Gerick got his answer. Though, he doubted
Drake understood his own action right then. Slowly, the younger
demon laughed. “And you say you