"Well, that's one less problem." He thought a minute. "I wonder if I should find out how much those two know about magic."

  "Why's that?"

  "Maybe send them down to Cynthia to work at her whorehouse, to help keep an eye on things? I mean, a fair number of the women working there are djinn, so they wouldn't stand out, right?"

  "Aren't they a bit too young for that?"

  "I used to think I was too young for this." He sighed. "I guess I should check on the coffee shop and Cynthia."

  "Sure you want to do that, Mike?"

  "Why not?" he asked with a curious frown.

  "Cynthia will most definitely want you to have your way with her, and after three days shut up in bed with your wives, I'd think you'd want a break!" Cinnamon said, laughing.

  "Actually, I came really close to dragging Beri off." He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't pay her enough attention. Same for Tamerin."

  "Tamerin's been availing herself of the many soldiers employed here by House Valens."

  "She has?" he said, not sure whether he should frown or not.

  "Not unlike your sisters!" Cinnamon said and winked.

  "What about Ruxton's security? Are they still coming 'round?"

  "Often enough."

  "Anybody learn anything interesting about them?"

  "Other than they like you and are so happy you moved in and brought along a bunch of succubi?" Cinnamon chuckled. "No. As far as they're concerned, now that you pushed most of the djevels out of here, this place has become a lot safer, and their lives easier. They're making friends with your guards, and even the gate guards."

  "Oh? How's that going?"

  "Seeing as they're all pretty much mercenaries? Pretty good. Sampson hasn't had to step in that much. Mostly they report to me, and I handle things."

  "Maybe instead of checking up on Cynthia, I'll head over to HoJo's and check up on Shaylee, Grandma, and the girls."

  "So what's with the horns, anyway?"

  "Huh?"

  "On your head?"

  Mihalis put his hand up on his head and felt them. "Oh, right. I'm not sure. I think they're because of the power I'm getting from the djevels? Keairra told me the original 'cubi had horns instead of those little wings we get. She asked me if I could make 'em go away."

  "Can you?"

  He shrugged. "I haven't tried yet."

  "Well, they definitely give you a more demonic look than the wings do. I'd say to leave 'em out whenever you're being Prince Michael. Helps you look the part."

  "Like I didn't already?" he grumbled.

  Cinnamon grinned. "Not to me!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe I should see if I can manifest a set for if I have to deal with djevels in the future, might help."

  "Couldn't hurt. Later, Cinn."

  "Later!"

  Heading back outside, he decided to take the long way around to HoJo's and stretch his legs a bit. Saturday had been… he all but laughed. It had been easy . Well, maybe getting there hadn't been, but the last part of taking the oath? He'd built up all this worry, this fear, and it was over so fast, it'd been almost like whiplash. He didn't just own the city now, he owned all Ennakoida's territory. Soon he'd own everything south, all the way down to the border!

  Hell, he could end up owning all of the DEZ? Then what? Go visit Germany? Mongolia? Too bad he couldn't just order them all to drop dead. He'd solve the entire problem overnight if he could do that!

  Still, it was annoying, having all of them out there. Having to deal with all their shit. He wasn't sure he could really understand it, all of it. How had they become so powerful? So feared? Was it solely by their numbers? Or was he looking at it the wrong way because they couldn't do to him, or any of the lycans, what they could so easily do to humans?

  He wondered if he could've beaten Ennakoida in personal combat? He knew SJ had killed a lord, and SJ had admitted to him it'd been tough. SJ hadn't faced Talt, because he honestly didn't believe he could have won, and Dad had warned him against it. Only the First had ever fought a prince one-on-one, and it'd taken him days.

  He remembered Adam, then. Adam had led a group against a prince, and while he'd died, the group had killed it.

  And now he , Mihalis, he was a prince? Keairra, and then his mom had all but kicked his ass around the mountain the other night!

  For some reason, the whole thing made him angry again. He wasn't sure why—he'd enjoyed the fight, it'd helped him blow off some steam—but if princes were supposed to be so damn powerful, why the hell wasn't he? Was it because as a lion he couldn't use all the power he was getting from his vassals? Or was it simply because he was too young still?

  Dad had said more than once that when he'd first started fighting, he'd sucked at it, and it was really hard for him to win against even a rage demon or a betrayer. Mihalis had beaten the former and probably could beat the later, but he knew from all the times he'd sparred or trained with his father that his dad could kick his ass.

  By the time he got to HoJo's, he was in a decidedly foul mood, and angry to boot.

  "What's got you all riled up?" Shaylee asked as he came inside.

  "Damned if I know," he grumbled.

  "And where'd those horns come from?"

  "Where do you think?" he said with a frown and got a strange look out of her.

  Mihalis sighed. "The oath thing?" he said, lowering his voice. "It made a few… changes."

  "That doesn't give you an excuse to act rude, Michael," she warned.

  He started to open his mouth to retort, then stopped. Turning around, he walked out of HoJo's, and dropped down to sit on the high curb that was there to keep the vendors from setting up against the wall.

  Because he was pissed! He was damn near furious. If he'd said anything, anything at all, his wives would be upset with him, probably angry, and what did he do? Why?

  "Okay, why are you giving Shaylee trouble?" Sampson asked, coming outside and walking over to him.

  "I'm not," Mihalis growled.

  "That's not what she said," Sampson said, looking down at him.

  "She said I was being rude, so I stepped outside. She did not say I was causing trouble!" Mihalis retorted angrily.

  "Don't take that tone of voice with me, Michael," Sampson warned.

  "I'm not taking any 'tone' of voice," he growled. "I'm just…" He fumed. Jumping to his feet, he started walking off.

  Until Sampson grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

  "Don't go walking off on—"

  Mihalis punched him right in the face, staggering him back.

  Sampson came right back at him, blocked his next punch, and hit him in the face, knocking him back. Using his wings to keep his balance, Mihalis came back at Sampson, and punched him in the face, or tried to. He was hitting him maybe one every four or five times, while Sampson was hitting him a lot more than that.

  He was just about to take it up to the next level when he heard his grandmother yell.

  "Michael! Sampson! You boys stop that this minute!"

  Mihalis froze.

  " What the fuck am I doing ?" he said to himself

  " What the fuck are you doing ?" his lion asked, equally baffled.

  " Don't put this all on me! I didn't hear you telling me to stop! "

  "Mihalis!" Louise yelled, breaking him out of it. He could see Samson was standing there, getting ready to hit him again.

  " I'm out ," Mihalis said and shifted

  Louise and Sampson both looked surprised as Mihalis shifted into his lion form with a shake of his head.

  "Inside!" Louise said in a voice that didn't brook any insubordination.

  Mihalis all but slunk back into the inn.

  "You too, Sampson!"

  "But…"

  " No buts !"

  Mihalis' lion would have snickered at that, but he was a bit too worried about getting yelled at again.

  Louise pointed to a corner away from the few people in the restaurant, and going over there, he dropped down onto his butt and sat. Louise put down a chair and pointed Sampson into it.

  "Now what the hell was going on outside?" she asked the two of them in a low voice.

  "I don't know," Sampson said, holding his hands up. "I was talking to him, he jumped up to walk away, and the next thing I know, he punched me in the face."

  "You did grab Mike's shoulder," his lion said.

  "Uh-oh," Sampson said, and sat up, looking concerned.

  "Why'd you do that?" Louise said, looking at Sampson.

  "Because he was acting like an ass and a brat for some reason. But that's no longer important."

  "Why not?"

  "Because Mike and his beast just split."

  "What?" Louise said, looking at Mihalis as he sat there.

  "You know that oath we took from that djevel?" Mihalis' beast said.

  "Yes?"

  "We get power from it. A constant stream. Mike's been throttling it, but it's having an effect on both of us. And, well, apparently it affects dark elves more than lions, and it's been making him angry, very angry."

  "Is that why you two split?" Sampson asked.

  "He's feeling very guilty over losing control and not being able to control his anger. It's… he said it's insidious. So he's… not exactly gone, but he's in the backseat, as it were, and pretty much done with everything right now."

  "Why's he angry?" Louise asked.

  "Djevels are aggressive, lustful, evil, and angry. He spent the last few days getting the first two out. The evil doesn't have a hold on either of us. The anger… it… He's just not used to dealing with anger."

  "So it got the better of him." Sampson sighed.

  "He's ashamed." Mihalis' lion ducked its head in a nod.

  "Well, he should be," Louise said, making both Sampson and Mihalis' eyes go wide.

  "What?" she said, looking at the two of them. "Just because it's insidious, or came with the oath, or any of that, it's not an excuse. His mother and father raised him better than that, and he knows it. At least he finally figured it out, but you should've asked for help, Michael, and I don't want to hear any excuses." She turned to Sampson. "Who would have the best handle on helping him with this?"

  "Jolene, maybe? Tantric witches are all about emotions."

  "Natalie's here. Go get her, tell her what happened, and see what she advises."

  "What about him?" Sampson asked, and pointed at Mihalis. "I know he did that whole 'Nega-lion' thing, but I think it'd be better if he was out of sight for now."

  "I'll deal with that; now go!"

  "Yes, Dear," Sampson said and went.

  "Mihalis?"

  "Yes, Grandma?"

  "Into the back; are you going to refuse to do anything all day?"

  "He's unsure."

  "Why is he unsure?"

  "Because he's still pretty damn angry, and mad at himself for losing control. This, this isn't easy for either of us. It just has less of an effect on me as a lion than me as a dark elf."

  Louise sighed. "There are times you're too stubborn for your own good—not unlike your father."

  #

  "Prince Bratsch!" Kedesrat said, coming into the room and prostrating himself before Bratsch, who was looking over at Lord Basun's response to his latest entreaty.

  "Rise, Kedesrat. What would seem to be the problem?"

  "Lord Ennakoida has sworn himself to another!"

  Bratsch stopped what he was doing and looked over at Kedesrat.

  "He swore himself to another? What lord would Ennakoida possibly swear himself to? He's as powerful now as Lord Basun! Why would he do such a thing!"

  "That's just it, My Prince! Lord Ennakoida swore himself to a prince!"

  "A prince? What prince? There are no princes here other than me!"

  "They have named him as Prince Michael, and he took Lord Ennakoida's oath several days ago, My Prince!"

  "Where did this Prince Michael come from?"

  "You have heard of the winged demons that have been plaguing Lord Kova and even Lord Basun?"

  "Yes, you know I have, what of them?"

  "The claim is they came here from our home long, long ago. Everyone thought they had been wiped out, but apparently not only have some survived, they were too powerful for the lions to kill. And now, the most powerful one of all has taken Lord Ennakoida's oath!"

  Prince Bratsch swore. "He's done what ?"

  "Taken his oath, My Prince! But it gets worse!"

  "How could it possibly get any worse?" Prince Bratsch asked angrily.

  "He's gathering up Prince Talt's surviving lords, as well as Lord Kova, and he means to take their oaths!"

  "What of Lords Basun and Kontrabas?"

  "I can only guess that in time he will take theirs as well."

  Bratsch fumed silently as he thought about that. He was weak, still. He only had two lords, Pauke, who'd sworn to him as soon as he'd ascended to princehood, and Neticīgs, a former biskop he'd raised up to take over his old role from when he'd been a lord.

  Lord Ennakoida was a lot more powerful than Bratsch was—part of the reason he'd been able to resist Talt as long as he had—and if this… this usurper was going to be swearing Hjul and Forrude, both of whom hated him for having eaten their prince, that would make him much more powerful than him. Especially if he got Kova. Kova might be weak, but a prince with four lords was more powerful than one with only two!

  If he could get Basun to swear, Kontrabas would follow, he did not doubt. That would put him on parity, he was sure. But Basun was having ideas of his own, and Prince Bratsch was not yet strong enough to do anything about that. Perhaps if he could gather up more of the unsworn biskops and their underlings, he could promote one of them to lord and organize the others below it?

  Another lord would go a long way towards strengthening him.

  Shaking his head, he growled angrily, then looked back at Kedesrat.

  "Find out all you can about this Prince Michael. This changes things."

  "Yes, My Prince!" Kedesrat said, getting up and hurriedly leaving the room. He hadn't mentioned to Prince Bratsch that the rumors had made this new prince out to be stronger than Prince Talt had been, as he felt sharing such a thing was both unwise and unhealthy, no matter how much Prince Bratsch valued him.

  Troubled times lay ahead, of that he was sure!

  End of 'Beware of Darkness', Book 7 in the Valens Heritage

  (Please Remember to Leave a Review!)

  Afterword

  Hello, all, and welcome to the seventh book in the Valens' Heritage series, and the fourth one about Mihalis. I do hope you've enjoyed it, and as for what's going to befall Mihalis next? Well, I think we all can't wait to see that, can we?

  Currently, the next book I'm planning to work on should be the fifth one about Mihalis. But first I need to finish the sequel to Summer's End —the mass-market paperback version of which should be out in December (2023).

  I do have more planned in this series, and I also have two new series planned, including one I'm hoping Baen will publish (they liked the outlines, so now I just gotta write 'em!)

  Now! As always, if you enjoyed the story, please leave a review, or at least rate it. I'd appreciate a positive review (4 or 5 stars), but I'll take what you feel it deserves.

  So! Let the shilling commence!

  As you know, I also write under the name John Van Stry, and have a few things going on there as well. The main difference is, those titles tend towards FTB, and some of them have Harem aspects; they're not all Harem. If you haven't looked at it, you might appreciate my Portals of Infinity series. It's currently at 11 books.

  And of course, ten days from finishing this, I have Summer's End coming out in the bookstores with Baen Books!

  Some Recommendations:

  Some other people I enjoy reading in this genre, and you might, as well:

  William D. Arand (aka Randi Darren) – Please check him out; he's good. I've been a big fan of William's since I discovered his work. It was kind of a funny moment for me when I found out he was a fan of my stuff, as well. I'm honestly beginning to suspect that he can't write a bad story, because every book he writes is just so much better than the one before. I just finished Swing Shift , and it was great. You should really buy his books.

  Blaise Corvin – The Delvers books are really a lot of fun and very much worth it. When I first came across his Delvers LLC books, I almost felt kind of jealous, because I was like 'why didn't I think of that?' I do think if you like my stuff, you'll like his as well, so check it out! And definitely give the Nora Hazard book a try ( Mitigating Risk is the first one), I'm reading it now and really enjoying it.

  Michael-Scott Earle – Yes! Michael-Scott IS back, he's just not on Amazon anymore. If you want to find him and read his works again, please go here: https://www.michaelscottearle.com/books-1

  Now that he's finished Lion Quest, I guess I don't need to bribe him anymore. Please check him out, and if you can, support him. He's another great author.

  Hondo Jinx – I'm a big fan of Power Mage . Lots of action, lots of fun. I love that his main character is a former bull rider. Those guys are crazy!

  Daniel Schinhofen – another great author you should consider checking out as well.

  Logan Jacobs – I just discovered his series Werepanther , and yeah, lovin' it.

  Eric Vall – I haven't mentioned him before, and that's my bad. Been reading Apocalyptic Pirates lately, great premise, another fun series.

  There's a fair bit of others I enjoy, but they're not 'harem' writers, or 'men's adventure' writers, and as I figure that's why you're here, I won't mention them. But they're all good people and great writers.

  If you're into Harem type fiction, you may also want to check out this group on Facebook to see who else is writing it that you might like: https://www.facebook.com/groups/haremlit/

  Again, thank you for your support and for buying my books.

  My Amazon Author's webpage:

  https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Stryvant/e/B06ZY7L62L/

  Occasional announcements at:

  https://stryvant.blogspot.com/