Sanctuary . Amy Blankenship

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СКАЧАТЬ last straw was when three warriors who had been the best of friends their entire lives killed each other in a bloodbath that painted the entire village square red.

      The villagers finally began blocking their doors at night and refusing to venture out until the sun was high in the sky. It wasn’t long before a stranger began visiting the village and purchasing goods from the market. Skye recognized what the man truly was and began to keep to himself… staying away from all the villagers and leaving Misery to her own demise.

      That plan of self-preservation failed when Misery began beating on his door in the middle of the night demanding he let her in. He’d ignored the child’s voice and slipped out of his dwelling through the back exit. Skye knew the she-demon had been discovered by the stranger… a Fallen who had gotten wind of a demon in the village.

      Unfortunately, Misery followed him and in turn led the Fallen directly to him. Skye took refuge in a cave and hid hoping beyond all hope that Misery didn’t find him. His heart dropped to his feet when Misery ran into the cave to hide. The Fallen must have seen his chance and placed some kind of barrier around the cave, trapping them for all eternity.

      Skye shook off the memories of those agonizing centuries in the cave and continued walking casually through the streets of Los Angeles. He had nothing better to do except to simply wander through the maze of tall buildings and dark alleys. It was late, dark, and most of the humans were sleeping, save for those that thrived on the night.

      Demons also roamed the streets, hungrily searching for those humans that stupidly believed the darkness was their home.

      He was still astounded at the size of the city, having never seen anything like this when he’d roamed the earth centuries before. The humans whose minds he touched had lent him the knowledge he needed to understand what he was seeing. Never had he believed the human race could progress to such a level. Before his time in the cave, human dwellings had been nothing more than small huts made out of mud and straw, but now they had towers that reached into the heavens.

      What frustrated him the most were that the stories surrounding demon occupation in history had been chalked up to legends, myth, and folklore. If the humans only knew their worst nightmares were reality… society would most likely crumble or they would blame their government for conducting experiments on the human genetic makeup.

      Suddenly wanting to get to safety, Skye shimmered through the streets, avoiding the few pedestrians coming in and out of focus like the flashing of a strobe light.

      He stopped at the mouth of a shadowy alley and looked into the darkness for a moment, then glanced over his shoulders to make sure no one would see him. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he walked into it with no hesitation. The buildings rose high around him, giving the effect of the darkness swallowing him up. It had taken some time, but he’d found a hideaway in the basement of the huge downtown library.

      His gaze easily found the bars covering the basement window at ground level in the absolute darkness. Crouching down next to them, Skye peered in making sure none of the library workers were still on duty and snooping around like they had been for the past week.

      Silently removing the bars, he slowly lowered himself into the deep concrete room before turning and sliding the bars back into place. He took a deep breath knowing he would be safe for another night. Turning back to the main area of the basement, he weaved his way through the almost countless rows of bookshelves that was home to some of the older volumes such as rare first editions until he came to a sitting area that hadn’t been used in who knew how long.

      An old sofa sat in a small clearing in the bookshelves, the back of it pushed against a windowless wall. More shelves stood tall around it with open boxes of books sitting here and there. A single floor lamp sat next to the sofa, which Skye never bothered to turn on since night vision was one of the perks of tainted blood.

      Skye had sought sanctuary here many times since his escape from the cave and so far he hadn't been disturbed. Though he didn’t need to rest that often… tonight Skye was exhausted. He’d made more than one valiant attempt to leave the city. However, someone or something had erected a barrier around it in every direction, making escape impossible. He knew there was a way out… he only had to find the key.

      He wanted to rage at Misery for causing all of this since it was her fault to begin with. She was a powerful demon with the mentality of a brat. He’d been trapped in that cave with her for so long that when he finally felt freedom… he’d taken it not knowing that freedom was a lie. He wasn’t completely ungrateful though… at least this cage was bigger and the scenery was better.

      Misery had made good on her plan to release the demons back into this world but he’d watched some of them try leaving as well. They had all been released from one prison or another, only to fall right into another one with what appeared to be no chance of escaping. It was almost like two worlds had collided and created a bubble.

      Skye walked closer to the sofa with the plan of reading a book that he’d picked up from one of the random shelves. The library people had inadvertently helped him learn how to read, which was much easier than he’d expected. Basically, he’d touched their minds to gain knowledge and could now read the thicker books within minutes.

      His perfect lips hinted at a smile when it dawned on him that it took longer to turn the pages then it took to read the stories. If he could seep knowledge from people’s minds then why couldn’t he try to do the same with the books? Laying the book on the top of the nearest box, Skye held his hand over it and closed his eyes.

      Dean sat on top of a nearby bookshelf watching the hybrid with curiosity. The man’s long pale hair lifted and floated around him as if he were standing in a soft updraft. He raised a dark eyebrow when that updraft illuminated around him in amethyst color and the hybrids body swayed relaxingly. It was beautiful to watch.

      Skye slowly inhaled as he drifted through the books, one moment being a pirate on the open seas and the next moment so in love with a faraway princess that he could taste her lips and feel the cloth of his pants tighten with need for her. His attention was quickly taken as he soared through the sky on a black dragon then was killed by a wizard that was more powerful than he was.

      “Figures,” Skye complained as he took a step back from what was obviously the fiction section.

      With a sigh, he moved to sit down and frowned when he noticed another set of clothing and a pair of sturdy black tennis shoes. Who in the world kept leaving things down here in the basement? He knew the workers came down here from time to time but he made sure none of them knew about him using the sofa and books.

      Skye cursed silently when he realized his exhaustion had caused him to overlook the other presence nearby. He looked around frantically, turning full circle, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Swallowing, he slowly approached the clothing items and reached out to touch them only to quickly pull his hand away suspiciously.

      Dean decided to remain invisible and see what the hybrid would do. He was a skittish one, but hell… being trapped with Misery for a few centuries would have driven a saint crazy. Dean couldn’t stand her for more than a few seconds and his patience level was pretty good… at least he thought so.

      He looked down at the box of books the hybrid had just scanned and almost smirked at the classic novel about the world’s most famous vampire sitting on top. Ah, the ironies of life. He glanced back at the hybrid when he moved away from the gifts.

      “Who are you?” Skye demanded feeling the hair on the back of his neck lift from someone else’s gaze. He’d felt that caress before… it was the eyes of the Fallen that had been stalking СКАЧАТЬ