Apparently that was a bad thing from the way Kobe was running. Having been orphaned at a young age, Zion wasn’t familiar with father and son relationships. Oh, who was he trying to fool? He hadn’t been orphaned. His parents had tossed him out at a young age, claiming he was more trouble than he was worth.

  For a demon to be given to the world at the age of sixty was a terrifying experience. Zion never understood what he had done wrong, and there had been no way for him to ask. Because when he tried to go back home, he found the place he had grown up in vacant.

  They had moved, leaving him to the cruel world.

  “We don’t want to see him?” Zion ventured a guess.

  “Not in this lifetime,” Kobe replied. Zion watched as Kobe rubbed his right side, his eyes haunted.

  He knew that look. It was the same expression Zion wore every time Compton had—“Why don’t we just go back to the apartment?” He didn’t feel like exploring the city any longer.

  Kobe glanced down at him and Zion could tell the man regretted ruining their good time. He gave the demon what he hoped was a kind smile—because he knew the smile didn’t reach his eyes. It never did. “It’s okay. We can go out some other time.”

  Zion flinched when Kobe raised his hand. The demon hesitated and then ran his large hand over Zion’s hair. “I’m sorry about this, short stuff.”

  He shrugged. “Shit happens.”

  What he didn’t understand was why butterflies were beating their wings furiously in his stomach from Kobe’s touch. He’d never acted that way from such a simple touch before.

  A wide smile spread across Kobe’s face. “That it does.”

  Zion slammed his eyes closed when they moved through a shadow. All of a sudden he felt dizzy and nauseous. That was the first time he had used that mode of transportation and found he didn’t like it.

  “Just breathe.” Kobe released Zion. “It takes some getting used to.”

  Using his hand to cover his mouth, Zion took in a long breath and let it out slowly. He saw that they were in Kobe’s bedroom. Or more precisely, they had come through Kobe’s closet. Zion stood there for a moment, trying to get his bearings.

  “Better?”

  Zion shook his head. He still felt like he was going to be sick.

  “Here,” Kobe said as he scooped Zion off his feet and carried him through the bedroom, “let me help you.”

  Kobe carried him into the guest bedroom and laid him on the bed. “Just relax for a moment and the dizziness should subside.” He glanced into Zion’s eyes. “Lightweight,” he teased.

  The haunted look was fading from the demon’s eyes as he stood. Whatever troubled the man was slowing ebbing away. It seemed Kobe knew how to bury crap better than Zion. That wasn’t always a good thing, but one hell of a survival tactic. If Zion wore his past on his sleeve, he wouldn’t be able to function.

  Burying the memories so deep that no one would ever find them was the best thing to do. It kept Zion from going out of his mind. “Thanks.”

  Zion watched Kobe leave the room, but he was back a moment later with a washcloth in his hand. He placed it on Zion’s forehead. “Just rest. I’ll get us something to eat.”

  Did the guy ever stop thinking about food? “I’m not real sure I should eat anything right now.” He would probably throw it up. Moving through shadows was not for him. The sick feeling was slowly fading, but the thought of eating made his stomach try to rebel.

  “I never met anyone who reacted so badly to using shadows.”

  Zion moved his legs when Kobe sat on the side of his bed. His alarms should have gone off and his mind should have been shouting to kick the man out, to get him away. This was too intimate, too close.

  But Zion found himself enjoying Kobe’s company. No one had ever taken care of him when he was sick. He had to trudge through it, like everything else. “That was the first time I used one. Maybe the next time it won’t be so bad.”

  Zion doubted it. He wasn’t looking forward to a second time. He would rather use the feet he was born with to get where he needed to go. Kobe could keep his shadows.

  “I’ve never been out of Remtin.” Zion wasn’t sure why he had just confessed that. It had nothing to do with what they were talking about.

  “Then you haven’t lived,” Kobe replied as he readjusted the cloth on Zion’s forehead. “I’ll have to take you to the human realm.” He placed his hands on his thighs. “I think you’ll really like it.”

  Zion lay there watching Kobe. The way the demon was acting toward him was something he wasn’t used to. It was confusing and wonderful in the same measure. And then the Warrior turned his pretty eyes on Zion, both gazing at each other. His heart quickened as his breath stilled. Zion suddenly felt a yearning inside of him. He wanted Kobe to hold him, to make Zion feel as if he mattered to someone.

  “I’ll let you rest.” Kobe broke the spell first, turning his head away. “Just call my name if you need anything.”

  A deep disappointment settled inside of him when Kobe got up and left the room. He stared at the closed door for the longest time. Once again Zion wondered what it would feel like to belong to the demon.

  Turning his head, Zion stared up at the ceiling and told himself to stop wishing for things that would never come to pass.

  * * * *

  Kobe sat on the floor, resting his back against the wall just outside of Zion’s door. Closing his eyes, Kobe tried to purge the image of Zion lying on the bed, staring up at him with those big blue eyes. He had wanted to see the demon naked and to know what it was like to touch his pale skin.

  If he hadn’t left when he did, Kobe just might have found out. But Zion, sweet Zion was not ready for him. He could see it when the man stared at him. Zion was still battling his own inner demons.

  He was not going to add to that.

  Pushing away from the wall, Kobe entered his bedroom, sitting on the side of his bed. His thoughts leapt from Zion to his father. How in the hell had he gotten into the city? Why was he here?

  Sebastian Krule was not someone Kobe ever wanted to see again. His father was a notorious outlaw who had no conscience. The man had killed, robbed, and had done other nefarious things that made any man who crossed his path wet himself.

  And this was the man who had raised him.

  Krule had acted as if he hated the fact that Kobe was born. In fact, he had reminded Kobe how worthless he was every time his fist connected with Kobe’s flesh. He still had scars on his right side from when his father had sliced Kobe open.

  And here Kobe thought he was a badass Warrior. He had run like a coward as soon as he had spotted the man. He hated himself for that.

  Kobe lifted his head when he smelled something light and breezy filling his apartment. He scented the air and then remembered the candle Zion had picked out. He was still baffled that the demon hadn’t gone for anything more expensive.

  It wasn’t like Kobe couldn’t afford to buy whatever Zion desired. Oddly enough, Kobe would’ve purchased the entire store if Zion would’ve asked. But all the man had wanted was one simple blue candle.

  Leaning forward so he could see past his door, Kobe watched as Zion opened the bedroom door and padded across the hall with the wet washcloth in his hand. It was refreshing to meet someone who wasn’t trying to get down Kobe’s pants or in his wallet.

  A lot of the twinks down at Diablo’s only saw his status as a Warrior, or were trying to find a sugar daddy. Kobe had tossed a few bucks at them here and there, but never stuck around after his orgasm.

  None had turned out to be his mate, so he had moved on. Kobe—like all Demon Warriors—was searching for his mate. Unfortunately, demons didn’t feel the pull like shifters did. They had to turn into sluts in order to find their mate.

  Kobe enjoyed having sex, but at the end of the night, when he was by himself in his apartment, he had felt the loneliness settle in and the yearning begin once more. What truly puzzled him was the fact that the loneliness wasn’t present when he was around Zion. He didn’t feel the need to go on the hunt for his mate.

  Something inside of him knew that he could be content with settling down with Zion.

  “Feeling better?” he asked when he saw Zion exit the bathroom.

  Zion stopped midstep and turned toward him. There was something in the man’s eyes that Kobe couldn’t decipher. “Much, thank you.”

  “The candle smells good.” Kobe stopped himself from getting up and going to the man. Zion might be in tattered clothes, but that didn’t detract from the man’s beauty. His hair was as black as raven feathers, flowing over his slight shoulders in a cascade of silky strands. His eyes were a deep, dark blue, drawing attention to his small nose and perfect lips. The man’s frame was slim, the demon standing a little over five foot six inches. Man, he was short. Kobe was six seven. But all Demon Warriors were thickly built and massive in size.

  Kobe wasn’t as muscular as the rest of the demons, but he wasn’t puny either. The largest of them was Deandre. The man strained with muscles.

  “Do you like burning them?”

  Zion glanced down at the carpet, placing the palms of his hands on his lower back. “This is the first time I ever burned one.” He nodded. “I like the fragrance.”

  He wanted to chuckle. Was he really having a conversation about candles? It was probably the oddest thing he’d ever talked about. But he liked the fact that Zion found something he enjoyed.

  When neither said anything for a moment, Zion walked back into his room and closed the door. Kobe sat there for a moment, contemplating the small man. As he thought about their dancing, how Zion felt in his arms when he carried him to his bedroom when he was sick, and the simple things the guy enjoyed, Kobe knew he wanted Zion for his own.

  Chapter Six

  Zion watched from the couch as Kobe stood in the living room talking with Panahasi. The leader had brought his two mates with him. They looked about as bored as Zion felt. It shocked him that the demon leader was mated to shifters. Zion had never met a shifter before. Remtin was mainly demons.

  Without saying a word, Zion moved from the couch and headed into his bedroom. He was shy when making new friends. Wait, had he really ever made friends with someone before? Not really. In Remtin, having friends was asking to get backstabbed.

  He also wanted to leave the room because Panahasi intimidated him. It wasn’t so much his build, but the air of danger that seemed to surround him.

  “Nice room.”

  Zion glanced over his shoulder to see Drake walking in. Something inside him rebelled at the idea of anyone coming in here. Kobe had given him this small space and Zion didn’t want anyone intruding in on it. “Can I help you?” he asked as politely as he could, although he wanted to shout for the guy to get the hell out.

  Drake made himself comfortable on Zion’s bed, furthering Zion’s anxiety that someone was coming into a space he cherished as his own. Back in Remtin, everything had been taken from him, nothing was really ever his.

  Not even his apartment. Compton would barge in, acting as if it was his right. Zion finally found some peace, something he could keep to himself. It was a silly thought, because this was Kobe’s apartment, but this little bit of space was his.

  “Bored with their meeting,” Drake said. “I had to get away.”

  Couldn’t he just have gone home? But instead of saying anything, Zion stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, his hands tucked under his armpits, wishing Drake would just go.

  “Hey, I have one of those,” Drake pushed from the bed and grabbed Zion’s candle. It wasn’t lit at the moment because Zion didn’t want to use it all up.

  “Please put that down,” he said as he hurried across the room and snatched it out of Drake’s hands. Zion was trying his best to breathe normally, to not shout. But it wasn’t easy. “You can’t steal anything from me.”

  Drake’s jaw dropped before his whiskey-colored eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck said I was going to steal anything from you?”

  “Get out!” Zion was shaking. He couldn’t understand why he was acting this way, but he wanted Drake gone.

  “What’s going on in here?” Kobe asked as he appeared in the doorway. Zion was mortified at his outburst. He stood there clutching the candle to his chest, backing up toward the window. He had just shouted at the leader’s mate. Was he going to be kicked out? Was Panahasi going to punish him like Raphael would surely do?

  “Fuck if I know,” Drake stated. “All I said was that I had a candle like that and the guy went ape shit.”

  Zion wanted to disappear behind the curtain, under the bed, or in the closet. He hated that everyone was staring at him as if he were mental. The candle might not be significant to anyone else, but to him, it was everything. Kobe had given it to him. It was his. Zion had already lost everything he had ever owned.

  He refused to have another thing taken from him.

  “Let’s go, Drake,” Panahasi said, Casey at his side. “I think Zion needs a little time to himself to gather his composure.”

  Zion turned away, glancing at the city below. He didn’t belong here. He was nothing more than a street rat. Casey and Drake probably didn’t know what it was like to live from hand to mouth. They didn’t know what it was like to lose all of their possessions. The two would never understand where Zion was coming from.

  “They’re in the living room,” Kobe said from behind him.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered as he fought not to let the tears fall. “I shouldn’t have acted that way over a candle.”

  “You had every right to defend your territory.”

  What? Kobe was defending what he had done? Zion had feared that Kobe would tear into him about talking to the leader’s mate that way. Why would the Warrior stick up for him? Turning, Zion glanced at the man. “I did?”

  Kobe took a seat on Zion’s bed, and Zion didn’t feel like he was having a panic attack. He didn’t have the urge to tell the man to get out. He wanted Kobe here.

  “Dude, no offense, but I’ve been to your apartment.”

  Zion turned away. He didn’t need Kobe making fun of him.

  “And I know from living in Remtin that you’ve had everything taken from you. It’s only natural that you defend what’s yours, protecting it from everyone else.”

  Zion was confused. From the way Kobe made it sound, it wasn’t his fault for blowing up at Drake. He was rationalizing Zion’s outburst. “Everything has been taken from me,” he admitted. Even his dignity had been ripped away from him. Compton made sure of that.

  “I gave you this room, Zion. It’s yours. No one is taking it from you or the belongings in it.”

  Now he felt foolish for the way he was hugging the candle close to him. It was nothing more than a small pillar of wax, yet when Drake touched it, Zion felt as if a child was being ripped out of his arms. How stupid was that?

  “I know what it’s like to have everything taken away,” Kobe said. “And between you and me”—Kobe glanced toward the door, his voice lowering as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him—“I would have kicked him out as soon as he set foot in here.”

  Zion’s fingers curled into the blue wax. “I didn’t want him to come in.”

  Kobe stood, reminding Zion just how tall the man was. “You don’t have to let anyone in here, including me.”

  He didn’t want Kobe to go. “I–I don’t mind you being in here.”

  Kobe waved toward the door. “Let’s go entertain our guests.”

  He really didn’t want to. Zion was perfectly content staying in his room. But he knew he couldn’t hide out there every time someone came over. It just amazed him that Kobe had referred to the guests as theirs. Setting the candle on his dresser, Zion smoothed his hands down his pants and then followed Kobe into the living room.

  “I wanted to apologize,” Drake said as he stood when Kobe and Zion entered. “My mates reminded me of something I should have never forgotten.”

  Zion was taken aback that the man was apologizing.

  “Casey and I grew up with nothing, and I should have known better than to just make myself at home with your things.”

  Kobe gave Zion a small nod. Zion stepped forward, clearing his throat. “Please ask before you enter my bedroom.” His eyes flickered over to Panahasi to see an approving look in the man’s dark eyes. Zion wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  “Don’t worry, Zion,” Casey cut in as he popped Drake on his shoulder. “I’ll teach him some manners as soon as we get home.”

  “Don’t start,” Panahasi warned the two. Zion had no idea what was going on, but he smiled at the easy way the three seemed to be with each other. He envied their relationship and wished he knew what it felt like to have someone care that deeply about him.

  “My mates and I need to take off,” the leader said to Kobe. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  Zion was glad they were alone. Even though everything seemed okay, he still felt foolish for the way he had acted.

  He still didn’t want anyone in his room, though.

  * * * *

  Panahasi walked through the underworld on his way to see the keeper. There should be no way Sebastian Krule had gotten into Serenity City. The demon had been banished over five hundred years ago.

  He believed Kobe when he said he’d seen his father. When Panahasi had gone after Kobe for his training, he had found the young demon in a brothel. Kobe had been in one of the back rooms, healing. His father had beaten him to within an inch of his life.

  As a matter of fact, he knew Kobe wasn’t going to make it. Right or wrong, Panahasi had brought Kobe back to his apartment, using his powers as Life to heal the Warrior. So much had already been taken from Kobe.

  Takeo might have had the bloodiest background, but Kobe was definitely second runner-up. Being the son of a notorious outlaw, Krule had tried to beat the boy into a man. Little did the father know that Kobe was already destined to do great things.

  What still bothered Panahasi to this day was the fact that Krule had tried to sell his son to Raphael. Kobe didn’t know and Panahasi wasn’t going to tell him. The demon already had too many nightmares from his childhood. He didn’t need any more.