Beware of darkness, p.1
Beware of Darkness, page 1
Beware of Darkness
Published by Jan Stryvant
Copyright 2023 Jan Stryvant
Copyright Jan Stryvant 2023
Cover Credits: eBook Launch (http://ebooklaunch.com/)
No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without expressed, written consent from the author. The material in this story may feature graphic depictions of a sexual or adult nature and is intended for a mature audience only. All characters in this story are fictional and of the legal age of consent for any activities they engage in. Any resemblance between characters, places, or things in this story, and people living or dead, actual places, or events, is purely coincidental. It's fiction; I made it up.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be copied and given away, or copied and sold, to other people. Got that? No copying, please! If you would like to share this book with another person, it would be really nice if you purchased an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, please consider purchasing your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Jan Stryvant Books:
The Valens Legacy:
Black Friday Book 1
Perfect Strangers Book 2
Over Our Heads Book 3
Head Down Book 4
When It Falls Book 5
Stand On It Book 6
Vegas Rules Book 7
Desperate Measures Book 8
Secret Treaties Book 9
It Ain't Easy Book 10
Red Skies Book 11
Demon Days Book 12
Simple Things Book 13
Trying Times Book 14
Firestarter Book 15
Times Like These Book 16
No Regrets Book 17
Everyday, Including Holidays Book 18
Wives Tales (Anthology) Books 1 - 4
The Valens Heritage:
Mihalis Book 1
Sean Book 2
Be of Good Cheer Book 3
Troy Book 4
No Place Like Home Book 5
Ain't It The Life Book 6
Beware of Darkness Book 7
Dan's Inferno:
Cursed! Book 1
BeDeviled Book 2
Heritage Book 3
Vengeance Book 4
Shadow
Into The Dark
Table of Contents
It's Good To Be King
Day To Day
Some Call It Thursday
Any Color You Like
Back to Work
Kansas City and Points East
In Between
What Would You Do…
... If I follow you
Conversations
Dawn
Work/Life Balance
Clear My Head
To Rein-in Hell
How It Is
Afterword
Appendix - Family Tree (Children)
Appendix - Husbands & Wives
It's Good To Be King
Mihalis looked down at Raelyn, who was spread out on her back on the bed before him, her long black hair fanned out in a mess, her arms pulled up and chained to the headboard of the bed as her buxom chest heaved in time to her heavy breaths. He was holding her ankles, her legs spread to either side as he took her.
It'd been a very long night, and the room showed some of the effects of their love-play. Raelyn was definitely the most kinky of the women he slept with, and if he was going to put his child in her, he was definitely going to do everything he could to make it a memorable experience for her. For himself as well, to be honest. He loved her, same as all of her sisters, including the two he'd married.
He fanned his wings slowly. He'd figured out how to make his incubus wings appear when he was in his hybrid form, thanks to Troy's suggestion, and she was sweating so heavily, he was sure a breeze would help. Then again, he was panting like a steam engine as he worked his way back and forth. He should have figured if he was going to spend the night with her, like he had with Erin, she'd make him work all throughout it. Unlike Erin, who'd wanted to cuddle and actually sleep for a few hours.
When he finally came into her after who knows how many of her own orgasms, he let go of her ankles and fell down on top of her, taking care not to crush her. She might be Fae and possessed of a lot more strength and power than a mortal, but he was seven and a half feet of solid, fur-covered muscle. He weighted at least triple what she did.
Curling his arms around her body, both to hold her close and to keep his weight off, he spread his wings out, dropped his head to the pillow, and fell asleep.
"Hey! What!" Raelyn said, wrapping her legs around his waist and kicking his butt with her heels. "It's not sunrise yet!"
"Close enough," he mumbled. "Plus, I'd like to savor the moment."
Raelyn sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, one of her hands reaching up to scratch him between the ears. A guilty pleasure his lion quite enjoyed—himself as well, if he was being totally honest.
"Aren't you supposed to be chained?" he muttered, and he could feel her embarrassment with his empathic abilities.
"Ummm…"
"One of these days, maybe I should use something that's been enchanted against your Fae wiles." He sighed, cuddled her a little closer, and rumbled happily as she wrapped herself a little tighter around him.
"So am I?" she asked a little nervously.
"You've been pregnant for the last two hours," Mihalis whispered.
"Then why didn't you stop?"
"Because someone didn't want me to…"
"Ummm…" He could tell she was definitely embarrassed now.
"…and that someone was me ."
He would've laughed as she flicked his ear with a finger and positively glowered with embarrassment, but he was far too tired and fell asleep.
Mihalis yawned and carefully unwrapped himself from Raelyn, who was still clinging to him. He put his hands on the bed, arched his back, and stretched, shifting into his incubus aspect as he did so. Putting an arm around Raelyn, who was yawning now, he sat back on his knees, pulling her with him. Opening her eyes, she smiled at him, and they spent the next few minutes kissing as she unwrapped her legs from around his waist.
"So I finally get to be a mother," Raelyn said, sighing happily.
"And I get to be a father."
"You're already a father, Michael."
Mihalis looked down into Raelyn's eyes again. "Don't think this means anything less to me because of Erin. Or that if we ever do this again, it won't mean just as much to me again."
"One of those 'lion' things?" She teased.
Mihalis shrugged. "Maybe? Probably? I don't even try to make excuses anymore. This is just who and what I am, and if my wives are okay with it, I'm not going to question it or waste any time feeling guilty over it."
"And when do they get theirs?"
"When they ask for it," Mihalis said grinning.
"They get a say?"
"Course they do. Talin had them work out an order."
"She did?"
"Well, she wanted to be sure she and Caitin were available to come here and help when you and the others were hampered due to your pregnancies. Kerrie also offered to help with running the restaurant, as well, so they're going to be last."
Raelyn laughed. "It figures. She always was the responsible one."
"That's why she's my senior wife," Mihalis said, smiling back at her. "I think once we've got all the town guards up and running, and everything here is solidly under my control, Taeria's going to be making her demands clearly known."
"Ah. So when do Brianna and Bree get theirs?"
"Soon. I know my uncle is going to want help with his campaign again shortly, so I'm hoping before that."
"Well, let's get cleaned up. I got work here in a few."
"Yes, Dear," Mihalis teased and gave her another kiss.
Walking out into the main room, Mihalis went over and gave his grandmother Louise a hug. "Morning, Mom!" Then he grabbed Shaylee and hugged her. "Morning, Mom !" he said and grinned at her. She blushed and smacked him in the arm while Louise giggled.
"You've been waiting for weeks to do that, haven't you?" Shaylee said while trying to frown.
"Guilty as charged! Besides, it'll keep Sampson from feeling like he has to whack me one for hugging one of his women."
Shaylee snorted. "Yeah, I've seen how he acts around anybody who makes a pass at me or Lou there." Shaylee suddenly smiled brightly. "By the two queens, I do love that lion."
"So, staying for breakfast?" Louise asked him.
Mihalis shook his head and laughed. "Just because they let me stay the night doesn't mean they're not back at home tapping their feet and waiting for me to show up."
"Oh, the abuse you must take!" Louise said with a laugh of her own.
"Yup! Just lucky I guess! Say hi to Sampson for me, wherever he is."
"I'm in the kitchen, cooking!" Sampson yelled from the back, and Mihalis looked at Shaylee, surprised.
"It was Raelyn's turn to cook," Shaylee told him, "though I honestly think he enjoys it."
"Yes, your grandfather's learned himself a few things over all those many, many years," Louise said in a loud voice.
"You know, it's your own grave you're digging!" Sampson called back, and both women laughed. Mihalis just shook his head. This was apparently a side of his grandmother and Sam
"And I thought Dad and the moms were bad," Mihalis said. Stopping only to give Erin and Bree a hug, as they were out in the dining area, he left.
Stretching as he stood just outside the front door, he looked around. The local street vendors were all setting up their stalls for the day's business. He'd need to check with Cinnamon and maybe make a few discrete inquiries regarding how the increased taxes were affecting them. Or better yet, get Biggs on it.
He thought about that as he headed back to the Auction House. He needed to figure out a profitable way to get Biggs more involved in the economics of the town, then if things went south, Biggs would have an incentive to get after him to fix it. Maybe he could 'silent partner' in a few vending stalls, so the town council wouldn't know, and he'd have a more direct line to how much they were getting squeezed? The idea had merit, and Biggs could deal with running them. Something to…
He felt the sudden spike in emotions before he even saw movement and jumped up and to the left without a moment's hesitation, using his wings to carry him an extra fifteen feet to the side—well away from where he'd been a moment ago—as the ground where he'd been standing suddenly cracked and glazed over from some sort of magical fire attack.
Throwing up his frameworks, he tapped into the lion power pool, and pushed out a shield spell in less time than it took to think about it.
"Everyone! Clear the area so you don't get hurt!" he yelled, pushing a fair bit of his incubus' Persuasion skill into his voice. He didn't think his attackers would be affected, but they'd be left without the cover of the crowd as everyone else fled.
Drawing his sword, he kept his wings fanned out slightly to help him track his opponents, and scanned the street as it quickly became deserted. Another spell came at him, and rather than absorb it, he cast a deflection and sent it straight up in the air, where it fizzled out with nothing to target on. Backtracking the spell, however, he saw his first opponent, a dark elf who was dropping a wand and reaching for another one.
Mihalis hit him with a fire lance, and then jumped to his left again, figuring he'd been stationary for too long. Sure enough, an arrow of all things suddenly sprouted from the wall just behind where he'd been standing. Charging forward, he brought his right wing around to act as a shield as he shifted his katana to his left hand, and the wall exploded where the arrow had hit it.
Two flankers moved in to attack him, one from either side, as he continued to look for the bowman, and the dark elf with the wands fell to the ground as he continued to burn brightly. Drawing his pistol with his free hand, Mihalis shot the burning dark elf in the head while he rolled around, trying to put out the flames, his own eyes continuing to scan for the archer.
The flanker on the right hacked at the wing he was using as a shield, and Mihalis was forced to engage the one to the left with his sword. Taking a skip-step to the left, he lunged at the dark elf, and crossing swords, he quickly engaged him as another arrow just missed him.
"Fuck this!" he swore. Casting a mass deflection spell, he dropped his incubus aspect, turned full on to the one he'd just crossed swords with, and attacked him with his full might and speed. The dark elf's eyes went wide as he suddenly found himself overwhelmed with the ferocity of the attack, and he backpedaled quickly, but he wasn't fast enough. Mihalis ran him through the heart, then ripping his sword out to the side and laying the dark elf's chest cavity open, he spun and lunged at the other elf, who was trying to close and stab him in the back. As that elf brought his blade around in a parry, Mihalis did a mag-dump with the pistol in his right hand. Whatever shield the dark elf had up, by the tenth round, it wasn't holding up anymore.
By the nineteenth round, when the slide of the CZ P-09 locked open, he'd fallen to the ground and was no longer moving. Casting a mass dispel, Mihalis holstered the empty pistol and spotted the bowman as they took another shot, which he deflected with his sword.
"Surrender and you get to live!" Mihalis called out as he moved closer to engage.
"I will never surrender to one such as you!" a woman's voice called out as she dropped her bow and drew a sword much like the one he was wielding.
"What, don't like men?" Mihalis teased.
"You bring back the old ways! The banned ways!" she said, frowning as she stepped forward to engage.
"Oh, please." Mihalis sighed, rolling his eyes as he crossed blades with her. "I'm a lion, I can do whatever I damn well please." He frowned a moment then. "House Uunregarten, I presume?"
"That has no bearing on this fight!"
"Oh," Mihalis said as he shifted into this hybrid form, looking down at her as she took a step back, "but it does ," he growled.
She came at him fast and furious, dancing as she attacked. He recognized the style immediately, as it was same as his mother, Cali, had taught him. Moving to the balls of his feet, he joined her dance, drawing a dagger with his right hand. Thrust, counter-thrust, parry, dodge, deflect, clash, turn, thrust again, dodge, deflect, all while circling and moving the other back or drawing them forward. She was good, he'd grant her that.
But his mother was better.
And his mother hadn't been able to beat him in over a year.
When he forced her back into an alley, he saw the surprise in her eyes as she tried to change the dance and work away from him, but he was having none of it. She frowned then and over-extended herself in an almost suicidal attempt to run him through. The only reason it wasn't suicidal was because he didn't drive his advantage home and kill her.
The surprise in her eyes was clear when she realized he hadn't killed her.
"I'm taking you as a prize," Mihalis growled with an evil grin.
He saw the fear in her eyes as she went kamikaze on him, throwing everything she had at him, no longer trying to protect herself as the fear of what he would do to her when he captured her sank in. But her panic was hurting her skill, and when he came across with a particularly hard parry, taking her with the flat of his blade on the wrist, she lost her sword, and reversing her grip on her own dagger, she moved to drive it into her own heart.
He grabbed the hand and stopped her as he dropped his own weapons, then with a twist of her arm, he forced her to drop it.
"No!" she gasped, looking up into his leonine eyes.
"Oh, yes," he growled.
"I will die before I submit to you!"
Grabbing her neck with his other hand, he squeezed slowly, choking her out.
" That would be a waste of talent."
She thrashed around a moment, but by then, he'd shifted his grip enough to cut off the blood to her head, causing her to pass out. The moment she was out, he quickly stripped her naked, using his dagger to cut off her clothing, then removed every ring, necklace, earring, or other piece of jewelry he could find. Rolling her onto her belly, he bound her hands, then her wrists, then her arms, using the remains of the clothing he'd cut off her. That done, he gagged her, blindfolded her, then bound her ankles, calves, and thighs.
Only then did he shift back to his dark elf form, invoke his incubus aspect, and take the time to gather up his weapons, as well as hers. He made sure to get her bow, then he picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and resumed his trip home. When she started to thrash again, he smacked her on the ass.
"You lost, and no, I'm not offering you back to Uunregarten for any kind of exchange. Welcome to House Valens."
If he'd thought she'd been struggling before, she really went wild when he said that!
"Oh, knock it off, I'm not adding you to my pride," he grumbled. "Seriously, you lost, with honor I might add. So you're not going to be tortured, or raped, or any of that."
Walking up the front steps of the Auction House, he nodded to the two råge who guarded the doors and went inside.
"Umm, I thought you didn't sell people?" a man said to him as he went by. Mihalis could see he had a glamour on him, but he was too tired to find out what kind of supernatural creature he was.
"She's not for sale. She's just some kinky dark elf I picked up in a bar last night."
He almost laughed at the indignant sound that came out of the gag as the 'man' chuckled and walked away. Going into the back, he carefully laid her on the floor and took the time to look over his latest prize. To be completely honest, she was a very attractive woman.
