Dark Promise by M. L. Guida

mated with sirens, elves and nymphs.”
    He was either totally insane or she was, but then again, she was in the Underworld, not Earth. Probably, every mythical creature lived here. “I’ve been plopped into a Lord of the Rings saga. Next you’ll tell me demons mate with Orcs. Oh, that’s right. You guys are the Orcs.”
    “Hardly.”
    “The cop, he’s a demon too? Waiting to snatch some unsuspecting woman?”
    “Aiden?”
    “Is that his name?”
    “Aiden Blackstone is not a Dragon Demon. He’s a Kachina.”
    He was screwing with her. Had to be. “Okay, you’ve lost me. He turns into a doll?”
    Eric chuckled. “Not quite. His kind lives in our Red Fiery Mountains. He’s a spirit. An Angak, the healing and protective male.”
    “The protective overbearing male I get. He’s on Earth why?”
    “Aiden’s only part spirit. His other half is human. His father made love with a woman and got her pregnant when he visited Earth. When Aiden was nine years old, his mother died so his father brought him back here and raised him. Last I heard, he and his father had a falling out so Aiden split.”
    “Great. A half spirit, half human cop alive and well in Frisco, Colorado.” She grabbed strands of her hair and braided it. Anything to hang on to reality. “I’m the only human?”
    “Yes.”
    “If I believe you…”
    He stood straighter and looked less than amused.
    Did he think she’d swallow this fantasy tale? “Do the sirens, elves or nymphs demons snatched from other worlds detest being here too?”
    She walked to the window. Were other female creatures locked in towers like her? Maybe they could work together and find a way to escape. “You make it sound so barbaric,” she said.
    “For us it is,” Eric said. “Divorce is so common in the human world and here it’s unheard of.”
    His husky voice grabbed her attention. Passion filled his smoldering eyes. Her heart pounding and her breath quickening, an urge to kiss him filled her, but she stayed where she was, too afraid to move, too afraid to stay.
    “If one mate dies, the other withers and dies soon afterward.”
    The ferocity of their mating struck her. The enormity of it chilled her bones and stirred her blood. “I’m having a hard time believing demons do this. Demons possess people.”
    “Those demons are fallen angels and ruled by Satan. We're not descended from angels. We are our own race. There are many demon breeds in the Underworld. North of us is the kingdom of the Chimera Demons. To the south of us is the kingdom of the Komodo Demons. We are the Dragon Demons.”
    She struggled to sort out what he was telling her, since her freedom appeared to depend on it. “I've heard of dragons in Greek mythology, but dragon demons?”
    “Our ancestors lived in the Ancient Caves faraway from here. They mated with a dragon and our race was born. We can fly, breathe fire, control the weather in the Underworld and do what you humans call magic. Our magic is connected to the Golden Tree. The higher the lineage, the more magical power we possess.”
    “Meaning?”
    “I’m a prince.”
    “So, you’re very powerful?” Any minute the man could cast a spell on her and force her to do something against her will. She had to leave the Underworld. She didn’t want to be a slave, not able to make her own decisions.
    “My magic is strong here, but with the tree dying, my magic is turning from light to dark so I don’t dare use it.”
    “What about your father?”
    His face turned grim. “He’s lost. Gone feral. His magic is now dark. He's almost insane.”
    “He wasn’t always…evil?”
    “No, he wasn’t.”
    The nightstand clock ticked. Soft footsteps echoed outside the bedroom door. Cassandra wanted to flee, but with demons who could fly, breath fire and do magic, what chance did she have? She needed to warn people back home, but if no one believed her about seeing ghosts or the Wraith, how could she convince them that Dragon Demons were about to