Chapter 1:

Intruding

Noir ran through Thorne's domain. The truce he'd once had with the Devil's heir had been broken the instant he had assisted his Guardian and the Key escape from him. Since his awakening, one person after another kept getting in his way. It was time all his enemies finally perished. The universe would soon be his to control.

For the thousandth time, he scolded himself for leaving Azura behind. His pride hadn't allowed him to ask for her assistance, however. Even though he knew Thorne and his servants would most likely prove a match even for him, he'd die before asking for help, even from his sister and lover.

He paused at a corner and looked behind him. Lost them. Maybe Thorne's servants weren't so tough after all. He should've known. No one could stand against him. Then again, Thorne himself would know of his presence here soon, if he didn't already. He probably did. Thorne was notorious for playing games. Something they had in common.

He moved around the corner and pulled up short as a massive demon blocked his path. Noir just looked him over fearlessly. "And I thought I had ugly demons."

The demon growled angrily and rushed him. Noir summoned his sword to him, cutting the demon through it's abdomen before cutting off it's head. He dissolved the sword and kept moving. Sometimes it sucked to be so powerful. No challenge. But hey. Powerful. He'd deal with it.

As he ran through the hallway, he cut down more demons that came at him. He was nearing the right wing he was looking for. The item he sought was supposed to be more useful than even that half-jackal dream-hunter bitch. With it's powers, the pantheon's would not only fall to him, but be under his command. His powers would also be fully restored.

Noir spun away from a demon's sword suddenly. The demon had appeared out of nowhere, and yet still he'd missed. Battle was about instincts. Dodge even the blows you can't see. Use your senses, outmaneuver them, and then…. He cut the demon down and it fell dead at his feet.

As always, he felt not even a twinge at causing death. No remorse, no guilt. Just pleasure, satisfaction. It lasted only a moment though. He wanted more blood on his hands. He started running again.

The reason he'd always preferred torture to killing was prolonged emotions. Killing ended the pleasure, the high. Tortured prolonged it. So did sex, but that was getting rapidly boring, to be honest. Azura always tested his patience during sex, and others wore out his patience before sex.

Doing evil, causing pain and suffering, it was the only thing that made him feel anything. He needed it. In a way, he could sympathize with the Skoti. When you felt nothing, anything that made you feel something was desired.

The question was, would he ever find anything that would give him lasting pleasure, lasting satisfaction?

Probably not.

OTHER SIDE OF THORNE'S PALACE

Cian jerked awake as soon as Thorne burst into his room, not that it was much of one. No furniture, no decorations, and a shabby ass sheet that he called a bed. He did have a door though. Thorne should learn to use it.

The fact he didn't get blasted just for the thought told him his master was preoccupied. With what, he had no idea. Though Cian technically counted as one of his Hellchasers, he was in reality an assassin. Due to what he was, he was more powerful than even Thorne himself. Unfortunately, due to one woman's vanity he'd been unable to hurt the bastard since his birth. Anyway, that was the reason Thorne sent him after his very few major enemies that no one else, not even Thorne, could handle.

He manifested black jeans on himself and stood up. "What can I do for you, Your Lowness?"

Thorne glared at him. "Caution your tongue, you little worm. I have bigger problems right now, but who says I can't rip out later?"

Cian adopted a mock innocent pose. He gave an innocent little smile and folded his hands in front of him. He waited for his orders.

Thorne sighed heavily. "Knock it off. We have an intruder."

Cian nodded slowly. "I take it you can't handle whoever it is yourself? Or are you just a lazy bastard?"

Thorne looked like he wanted to blast him into smithereens. His red eyes nearly boiled with rage. He'd heard that Thorne's eyes were not always an angry red, but he only ever saw the furious crimson color. Maybe that was because Thorne's mood around him was perpetually ticked off.

"It's Noir," Thorne said with a highly controlled voice.

Cian got it now. Noir. He'd never seen the primary god himself. He'd heard a lot though, and nothing good either. He also knew that aside from Thorne's own father, Noir was his master's greatest enemy. If he was here, he was planning hell.

Cian felt an urge to groan. Noir was supposed to be even more irritable than Thorne. More evil, more temperamental, more insane, more treacherous…. Basically Thorne's worst qualities on steroids. Great….

He rubbed his forehead. "Where is he?"

"Send him back," Thorne told him sternly. "No killing him. And you break something valuable I'll kick your ass." He teleported Cian away.

Cian looked around. He was in a hallway in Thorne's domain, alone. Send him back…. If he wasn't mistaken, Noir also lived in Asmodeus, in that big-ass fucking dark palace far in the distance from theirs, though if he was wrong, someone was about to get a random visitor. Where the hell was Noir anyway? Was he just supposed to wait? Damn Thorne….

Cian faced the long hallway as suddenly multiple demons, all Thorne's, suddenly appeared, facing away from him. An instant later, a figure in dark crimson armor suddenly appeared, brandishing a sword. The demons all attacked him at once. The figure, presumably Noir, cut through them all with a little too much ease. He was like a hurricane. He moved so fast that Cian's highly advanced eyes could tell that remarkably not a drop of blood stained his armor; he'd be out of the way before the splatter touched him. He summoned his sword as Noir reached him, blocking his sword with his own.

Noir raised an eyebrow in surprise. This one was different than the others. Power rolled off him in waves that matched his own. Power he recognized, but couldn't place. The man himself he didn't recognize at all.

"I'm surprised you were able to block me," Noir said to him.

The man didn't answer, seeming surprised that Noir had actually bothered to address him. Noir looked him over. They were nearly the same height, though he noticed with satisfaction that the man was slightly shorter than him. He was lean but still muscular. That was highly apparent as he didn't wear a shirt. Black jeans that seemed made for him were the only thing he wore, along with black boots. Medium-brown hair framed a face of perfection as it fell around his shoulders. That was nice, as red-heads and blondes irritated him.

Noir raised an eyebrow. He actually didn't want to kill this one. Not until he had him, anyway. Gender had never mattered to him. To some immortals it didn't. When you lived with demons – most of them slimy, scaly or just plain ugly – you took what you could get. Hell, his primary lover was his own sister.

Cian was slightly uncomfortable as he looked at the heat in Noir's eyes. He recognized lust when he saw it. He wasn't stupid or blind, he knew he was attractive, but usually only women or female demons looked at him like that. In fact, he'd never seen a man or male demon look at him like that. What made him more uncomfortable was the hardening of his own cock.

Cian had never noticed anyone before in that way. Woman or man, neither had made him feel desire, not once. That was probably because he hated nearly everyone he came across. But he knew the drill that most followed. Men were attracted to women and vice versa. He also knew that this whole thing would be classified as gay. As the first one he was attracted to was another man, did that make him gay or bisexual?

He was an idiot. It made him foolish and possibly suicidal. Noir was not only his master's second-greatest enemy, but he wasn't allowed to have a relationship anyway. Merely sexual or otherwise, or Thorne would geld his ass.

"Are you going to speak?" Noir spoke up again.

Cian paused at hearing his voice again. The sound actually made him harder. He had the sexiest voice he'd ever heard. He pushed the thought away. "You need to leave this domain. Now," he responded.

Noir laughed. "Are you going to make me leave?"

"Thorne's orders," he responded.

Noir scoffed at that. "Being as he entered my domain without invite and cost me my plans, he's out of luck. What's your name?"

Cian started to respond to the first part of that, when the last part dawned on him. He growled. "Why?" Knowing someone's name gave one power. He already had to deal with Thorne's crap, he didn't need Noir on top of it.

Noir suddenly knocked his sword aside with one swift move, then moved to grab him. But then froze when Thorne himself suddenly appeared, calling out Noir's name. Noir turned to him. "Thorne. What do you want for this one?"

Thorne turned immediately suspicious. "What do you want him for?"

Noir smirked. "That's none of your business."

Thorne growled deep in his throat. "You're not getting what you came for. Or him. My forces have grown to stop you. Go."

Cian watched Noir closely, who just smirked and disappeared. Thorne gave him a look. "What?"

Thorne growled again. "I told you to send him back. Not flirt with him."

Cian was genuinely confused. "Flirt? I wasn't—" Thorne teleported away. "Bastard." He made an aggravated sound, returning to his room.