were the original demon breed, known as guardians. They were mainly mercenaries and bodyguards for the other preternaturals, since they had no dimension of their own. They weren't usually a direct threat to humans - unless one got in their way. Lucifer was a guardian, and a piss poor one at that, last Cain had heard. There were many other demon breeds with their own dimensions, but they weren't associated with the Hebrew god or earth, and they rarely had cause to cross over.
The only thing any human had to fear from Cain was the least painful death they could imagine - the most merciful exit ramp they had out of here. And yet, they wasted so much energy fearing this nebulous evil being who they thought wanted their soul. They flattered themselves.
Cain would never take a soul. At eight thousand years old, he'd never find a woman who could understand him, so why bother? He'd waited too long. There wasn't a woman alive who would give herself to him forever, knowing everything.
He shook himself out of the brief self-pity and led Duke to his individual pod. He waved a hand and it opened. "In," he commanded.
The demon started to cry. It was unsightly. "Please. It was just a stupid mistake. Twenty years is unjust."
"You're immortal. I have to spend eternity with you in my dimension. And it was direct defiance that could have harmed another of our kind and could have harmed us all if the humans had figured you out. I can't have anarchy in my realm. Don't make me ask you again, or we'll make it thirty years."
The demon went into the pod.
"It'll open automatically when your sentence is up. Use this time to think about what you've done. And pray I catch Leo quickly. The longer it takes me, the worse his punishment will be."
"You bastard. I'll end you. We will rise up and revolt!"
"Sure you will. Twenty-five years. Keep talking."
The demon fell silent and Cain waved a hand to seal him in. He needed to go help Jane. The other fugitive would have to wait until he had time to bother with him.
***
Jane sighed, feeling strong and content, cuddled in Cole's arms. They were dressed now and snuggled together on top of the collapsed tent. She had no idea how to fix it. Cole nuzzled his mark, squeezing her hard enough he would have broken something if she were human. Good thing she wasn't.
"We'll never have a pup," Cole said, his voice threaded with emotion. "I'm sure Cain won't allow us to reproduce, not after the results the last time a demon and therian reproduced. But either way, it wouldn't be a pup. I wish it didn't bother me so much, but..."
Stupid, Jane. In all the missing him and fighting and feeding, she'd forgotten a very important piece of the puzzle her mate didn't know yet. She took a deep breath and plunged in.
"Our pup is alive."
"What?" The hope in his voice almost unmade her.
"I should have told you. I was going to, and then... you know, all this happened." She gestured at the debris surrounding them.
"How do you know he's alive?"
"When I was in heaven, I had screens that I could watch you and the pup on. I begged them to let me come back to you. I needed you to know our baby was okay and you were killing yourself inside that bottle. He's being cared for by a witch and a panther therian in the Golatha Falls forest. But he needs to be with the pack."
Jane toppled to the ground as Cole got to his feet. He held out a hand to help her up. "Let's go get him."
"Not yet you aren't."
Jane looked up to see Cain standing there, an eyebrow arched in interest at the mess they'd made.
"It must have been some sex to bring down a tent. Those support poles are pretty strong," he said.
Jane felt her face heat.
"My dear, demons do not blush."
"This demon does," she said. "We have to go get the pup now."
"I said, no. I have to teach you how to curb your appetite when you can't feed from mate. You'll wear the poor wolf out, otherwise."
"I'm not opposed to that option," Cole said with a leer, making her blush deeper.
She punched him in the arm and turned back to Cain. "But my pup... "
" ... will be fine. I do wish everybody would recognize who I am and stop treating me like the wacky sidekick,"