Demon's Journey

Good news! There will be 30 chapters in the top tier of privilege from 1 February AND I'm having paperbacks printed that take you all the way through Zev & Sasha's Solitude. (That's the wordcount equivalent of 2 normal novels in one volume!) If you're a Top Tier Privilege reader in February, comment on the most recently published chapter anytime in the month to enter the draw for a FREE paperback! (USA only unless you want to pay horrendous shipping, sorry!) 

See you next month! (This message added after publication so you aren't charged for the words)

*****

~ SASHA ~

The bull-man thing took a single step in her direction, his eyes angry and nostrils flaring. Sasha panicked and scrambled around behind the trunk of the tree to put it between them. In order to climb it from the other side she'd have to turn her back to that thing and she couldn't… she didn't know how fast it could run and…

Suddenly, it started towards her, stalking, it's gait stiff and hands clenched to fists. Sasha swore and grabbed at the tree, the rough bark skinning her palms as she tried to climb while still watching it around the trunk, but as soon as she moved, the thing began to run.

"Zev!" she screamed. "Zev!"

"Sash?!" His voice rose in a stifled echo from among the trees off to her right.

"Zev there's a… a thing!" She grabbed one of the lower branches of the tree and tried to scramble up onto it, but it snapped and she cursed again as the rapid footsteps of that thing drew close. Panicking, she jumped to grab the rough bark of one of the thick branches, much higher.

The thing snorted again and its footsteps clattered on the rocks amongst the grass nearby, but even as Sasha scrambled, fighting and clawing to get her weight up, over the branch, she realized the tree might not be tall enough to keep her out of the reach of that thing since it could probably grab her ten or twelve feet up.

Shit. SHIT!

"Minos, what the fuck!?"

Sasha had just got her belly up and over the branch and was swinging her legs up  to straddle it so she could push up to the next branch without falling off when Zev appeared out of the trees, sprinting across the meadow.

The bull-thing slid to a halt just a few feet from the tree and swung its head around. "Zev?"

Sasha just about fell out of the tree. "He can talk?"

"Minos! What are you doing this far north?" Even running, Zev's voice was bright and excited.

"Zev?! You're back?"

Zev ran across the rest of the space between them, to throw his arms around the bull-man, both of them slapping each other's backs.

Sasha winced as she saw the bull man catch his sore side. Zev stepped out of his grip and turned his sore side away, but she noticed he didn't say anything about it. He clearly didn't want to reveal the weakness. So was this guy a friend or not?

Sasha clung to the tree branch, but didn't climb higher, waiting to see what would happen between the two men.

"What are you doing here?" Zev asked him.

"I think I should be asking you the same thing—you're back? And with the humans?" The male shifted on his feet which Sasha saw were normal, human feet, but his toes were much broader and thicker than any she'd seen before.

"She's not just any human, Minos. That's my mate."

"Your what?"

"I know, it's a long story."

They both turned to face her then, Minos gaping, while Zev beckoned for her to come down. "Don't worry, Sash. Minos is one of the good ones."

One of the good ones? So, there were bad ones?

Still cautious, Sasha swung her legs back over the branch and let herself drop, catching her balance on the uneven ground and watching them both for a second before starting slowly towards them.

Her heart raced looking at this… man? Bull? What? Minos's head looked like a huge bull's, completely with the wide, wet, black nose and nostrils that had scented her from some way off, apparently. Those wicked horns rose from either side of his skull. His eyes were so dark, until she was close they looked black, but when she reached the men, she could make out the sideways-slit pupils in the middle of deep brown eyes.

His neck was almost as thick as his shoulders and covered in the same near-black hair as his face. But the rest of him looked completely human—if a somewhat hairy, very burly human.

Minos was also completely naked.

Testicles the size of tennis balls dangled between his legs, right behind… oh dear Lord.

Sasha yanked her eyes back up to meet the man… bull… thing's gaze, heart pounding in her ears.

Was he smiling? It was hard to tell with a muzzle where the mouth should be.

"Sasha," Zev said easily as she reached them. "This is Minos. He's a good male."

Minos extended a stiff hand to shake and reflexively, Sasha looked down to put her hand in his—only to catch sight of Minos's… er… manhood.

"Great to meet you!" she squeaked, averting her eyes. "Sorry for the screaming."

The male turned to look Zev. "What's going on, Zev?" he asked seriously. "You mated a human? For real?"

"She's not one of them, Min. She's Sasha. You remember? I told you about her."

The male turned his thick head back to Sasha and looked her up and down in the exact manner she was avoiding looking at him.

"You're Sasha? The Sasha?"

"I guess so," she said nervously, glancing at Zev.

But even though Zev looked a little tense, his smile was easy. "We just took the mating ritual yesterday, Minos, you wouldn't believe it if I told you—Xar tried to take her even though he's already mated and… she killed him."

The male's eyes went wider and his lower jaw went slack, though the expression didn't seem as dramatic in his cow face. "She… what?"

"I know, she's amazing. Can you believe Xar would do that? What a betrayal to his mate—"

But Minos's entire demeanor seemed to change. His hands, hanging at his sides, clenched to fists again, and his thick, veined chest seemed to push out.

Sasha watched in horror as the male turned slowly to Zev and spoke in a deep voice that seemed almost hollow, "Your human mate killed a Chimera… and you're smiling about it?"

*****

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