Chapter 1

Bright rays of forsaken sunshine filtered through the blinds placed to keep it at bay, but it seemed nothing could prevent it from poking through the comforting darkness. Shadowed, forest eyes glared blearily at it, blinking against its harsh and merciless touch. It felt like a knife digging into her eyes and was not appreciated. A growl rumbled beneath her bed, focusing Viveka's attention away from wishing the sun to go away and she turned over, slipping to the edge of her queen-sized bed. Sliding down until her palms pressed against the soft black carpet; she slithered forward with her hips to peer underneath and lying there: a night-black wolf with gleaming red eyes.

It was Lucas Wolfang. He was a shape-shifter; a breed of demon that made their own rules and followed their own whims. Even the King of Darkness (or the Devil as he was more commonly known) held no sway over them. They were wild. Some as savage as the animals they could shift into. Though, he had often tried but with very little success. They were not creatures that had been created to be controlled. They were unpredictable and only helped out when they wanted to. Most were the cause of legends of tricksters but were a mystery even to themselves.

There were three kinds she knew of: 'morphers', 'therians' and your average (but don't let them hear you say that) shape-shifter.

Morphers were without form in their natural state. They appeared as mist, transparent gas, and even shadow but could take the form of any living creature. Any. So long as there was life, they could simply mimic it. They were the cause of the Changeling legends, often taking the young children to hell to become warriors or succubus, or sadly, to die. How was not something she liked to think about; and needless to say if she ever found: Lucas 'snuffed' them. It was hard to kill a morph, but certain scents of herbs or flowers could banish them, reveal them or contain them. Not her favourite creature.

Therians ranged across many different creatures toucher by magic and were able to take human form, or gain human intelligence and their own magic. Sometimes they started as human as well. Therians were usually beautiful, seductive but almost all caused mischief and some kind of tragic love story. Some were kind and helpful to humans, some were not. It depended on the individual. Stereotypes contained some truth of the legend, but did not hold true for all. For example, the Kitsune were known to be the most powerful, but also the most unpredictable. They could be your best friend or a cunning little devil only pretending to be; playing on your fears and doubts. There was even a spider type known for capturing unwitting men, forcing them into marriage, procuring a child and then devouring her husband. Yeah, those were freaky and the source of her arachnophobia. Arachni were extremely territorial and would utterly destroy any female that crossed into their territory; even their own daughters. There were also therians like 'selkie' and 'swan-maidens'. They were the most well known. They would shed their animal skin and play about as humans and should their skins be taken and hidden, could become rather fine wives if they did not say so themselves. But they would always be drawn to either sea or air and should they find their skins, they would immediately return and never be seen again. Such was their nature.

Shapeshifters were a little harder to categorise. Some could shift into creatures that revealed their personality. For example: 'sly as a fox', 'snake in the grass', 'strong as an ox', 'stubborn as a mule', etc. Some 'devoured' other creatures to attain its form. Lucas was both. His personality was a wolf but he had devoured a human long ago. He had a few other forms in which she could shift, but a wolf and a human were his main two. Also, he was a higher scale than morphers in the demon world as one of his parents had been a demon of some kind: he was more powerful and intelligent. Shape-shifters were highly sought after because they chose who their 'master' would be. The bond that was formed was mysterious and even they did not fully understand it. To force them to bond was almost sacrilegious, though it sadly happened and made the shapeshifter mentally unstable. Once the bond was forged, it was hell to break and always cost the shapeshifter their life. It was in their nature to find someone to bond with; it was as if a part of them was missing until they found it.

Lucas had saved her life on the eve of her thirteenth birthday at midnight. It had been during a full moon, which had made the bond between them stronger than usual.

For some reason, their souls had connected. It had surprised the hell out of her and had pissed him off. She remembered the first few months had been… tense. She could hear his thoughts as he could hear hers; they could gauge their emotions and knew when the other was in trouble. They had also accidentally shared blood at the time, which had added another notch on their bond. He could heal and temporarily grant her his abilities, which including manipulating shadow and fire. It had taken a long adjustment period and they had quickly learnt more about the other than either had been comfortable with at first. They were loner creatures, able to be social but it was not a necessary component of their lives.

Even so, as time went by they came to trust each other explicitly and could spend hours conversing without feeling uncomfortable. So, by that reckoning: her best friend was a demon.

However, that did not give him a free pass to come into her room…

"What have I told you about being in my room?" Viveka demanded, scowling at him, which probably looked weird considering she was upside down.

"I stayed to help you sleep," he replied, still in his wolf-form. He had a growling voice, like chocolate. Easy to listen to and had she been susceptible to his charms, it was very, very sexy. Luckily she did not have such hook line and sinker tendencies regarding him. Their relationship was purely platonic, though she could not deny he made for a handsome human when he so chose to take that form. And that his voice could melt chocolate... He lifted his head up from his paws and pinned her with stare she felt the need to shift away from, but did not dare give in. "You were having a nightmare. My presence helped you sleep."

She cocked her brow, "Nightmare?"

"Yes," he bowed his snout in his version of a nod whilst retaining a sarcastic note. "You were screaming. Mind you, I couldn't get much. You're improving at shielding your thoughts," he said, pinning her with a look that was almost accusing, "But you have to trust me more. We are Bonded, you and I. If I don't know what bothers you, I cannot help you."

"And if I don't want you in my head?" she retorted. "Or want your help?"

"It hurts me. And I'm not just saying that," he added at her disbelieving look and she had the decency to look appropriately contrite with her tone. "The Bond between us demands that I help you. It comes with the job description. If I don't help you, there are penalties. One of them..., is pain. I feel your pain as if it's my own. I feel your sadness in the shadow of my heart. Your joy is mine; as is your fear."

Viveka sighed and stood to her feet and changed the subject. "You don't have to stay in that form all the time."

"I prefer it," he replied stiffly as he crept out from beneath the bed and she almost winced at his cool tone. "I'll wait outside while you change. I know how you feel about being watched."

"Then why do you do it?"

Lucas grinned an evilly mischievous grin only a wolf could pull off. "You're an attractive woman. Why wouldn't I?"

All he got for his effort at humour was a cocked brow and a pillow thrown at his snout.

He wrinkled his nose then decided to shift, gaining height and a human body. With a snap of his fingers he was clothed and headed for the lounge room to wait for her.

Lucas had not expected himself to be bound to a human or at all. Most of his kind usually found their 'other' before maturity. He had found his centuries after he had fully matured as a lone wolf, but something about Viveka had drawn him to her. He could not quite say what it was exactly, but perhaps it had something to do with the age of her eyes. Those shadowy forest jewels were so old for someone so young. He remembered how she had been cornered by a hungry demon; cut adrift from her useless parents. She still had the scar on her abdomen where the demon had cut her with its claws; and on her shoulder was a bite mark. He may be a demon himself, but he did not go for children. That being said, one did not just get in the way of another demon's meal, especially one as bestial as it had been.

After the battle, he had ended up needing saving himself and he had thought he was going to die. Instead, Viveka had taken him in even as he had shifted into his more demonic form, which was mostly black fire instead of fur and fiery red eyes. He knew he was a terrifying sight, but she had not hesitated to touch him, burning herself in the process and he had remembered her grimacing at the pain... The next thing he knew he had been bonded to a human, but surprisingly, with his head on her lap he had felt as if he had come home. Something he had never felt before. There had been a period of adjustment where arguments had fired up on both sides. Both were territorial of their own space and they had learned they could not be separated for too long. The longer they were apart, the more a pressure began to on their brains until it began to get painful. The longest they could last was five days before both were in agony. Since they valued their privacy, it had been a challenging adjustment.

Then, they had begun to read each other's minds and were even able to enter their mindscapes. His was always fire and shadow in the background and he was grey. Viveka's, however was much more elaborate. She had an island surrounded by water, which fell into shadow and fire, the sky perpetual in night with a full moon. It was full of colour and there was always something happening; and she did not always appear as herself, sometimes appearing in animal form. Her mind was peaceful, but the sea would often reflect her mood. He found he could move as easily in hers as his own, and it was vice versa. They were two sides of the same coin: a moon reflecting the sun.

He was the only living creature who could honestly say that he knew her, maybe even better than herself. And she could say the same thing about him. He could not say he regretted it. His years of living without a bond had made him incredibly resistant in the beginning, but Viveka had made it easy. She was open-minded, judging an individual's actions and reactions rather than what others said. Her closest friends included a werewolf, vampire and an orc – Lucas did not count Felix, because he was an angel. And annoying.

So, it was to his greatest disappointment he ended up staring at 'Ruffles' who glared at him from atop the rim of his cup of tea. It was a strong cup of honey-sweetened earl grey, his nose told him as he flipped him the bird and headed for the couch. They had tolerated each other's presence for six years. Viveka was the only reason they had ever met. Had they seen each other on the streets, they would not have made attempts to contact each other again as one of them would be dead. Sadly, that was not the case and they were forced to coexist. Mutual dislike aside based on their personalities: one was an angel and the other a demon. There was inbred hate between the two. The fact they had not started trying to poison or throttle each other told how much Viveka actually meant to them.

"Keep staring like that, it'll freeze that way," Lucas spoke up, reclining languidly on the three-seater lounger across. He had taken his human form and in it he had black hair with short bangs to his eyes, giving him a brooding look but at the back it reached his shoulder blades. He still had his red eyes, but he usually wore dark sunglasses to hide them when out in public. Humans were such fragile creatures, adept at causing trouble. So he minimised it. He stretched, red muscle shirt accenting his well developed, carefully looked after physique. Being the well-trained canine he was, he had his shit-kicker boots on the coffee table.

"I just cleaned that," Felix replied in a drawling tone; violet eyes narrowing. The entire morning he had spent cleaning because last night, the windows had been left open: allowing the rain and wind to mess things up. He was a neat and organised person, valuing order which was the antithesis to the destructive demon that smirked at him from across the room. Lucas only shrugged in response as he browsed through the channels on the TV, causing his eye to twitch, but he sighed and decided not to start a fight. He flicked open the newspaper and proceeded to ignore the shape-shifting mutt.

Lucas took that as a win and smirked, turning his mind to what else he could do to annoy the feathered coccydynia.

This was the scene Viveka happened to walk into, her hand trailing along the wall to guide her should she forget the layout of her home or fell over. She was always so embarrassingly unbalanced after she woke, sometimes falling into walls and wanting to just dive back onto a soft surface and curl back beneath a blanket. This state did not abate until after at least four cups of coffee and a small snooze. Sometimes a shower helped. She always ended up curling underneath the spray and almost falling asleep. The fear of drowning usually kept her aware, however…

The sight before her had her looming in the doorway, blinking rapidly as her brain tried to understand what her eyes were seeing. She had not seen hallucinations before – that she knew of – but seeing Lucas and Felix in the same room without either snarling at each other was just so… weird. She smiled a little as her mind adjusted. Lucas was sitting on the lounge overlooking the TV set he had hooked them up with. He was a bit tech savvy, more so than most demons did. He had made a hobby of it, having had nothing much to do whilst he had healed when they had first met. He had the ability to hold a book and gain its contents through touch. He was a lot more intelligent than he let on; though his downfall was often his arrogance. Sometimes he monologued…

Her eyes shifted around the room, taking in the two other seats that sat either side, facing the coffee table and the TV at a comfortable angle. A bouquet of red gerberas, white roses and yellow carnations sat wilting in the middle amongst a collection of Felix's newspapers, Lucas' comics and her books right next to the remotes. On either side of the room were bookcases filled with books, DVDs and games. There was a glass door behind the lounge that led to a veranda letting in what sun it could. All in all, apart from her bedroom, the kitchen and her garage: this was her favourite place to spend a rainy day or afternoon.

Stepping inside, her eyes were drawn to the dragon ornament under the coffee table. It had been where she had placed it. Out of sight, out of mind had been the idea. It appeared that neither had worked. She crouched and gently grasped the dragon by its wings and slid it forward. She placed it on the coffee table, next to the flowers. She stared at it, and then fell into the chair beside Lucas.

"Feeling better?" he asked without looking at her.

"Much."

"Good. What's on the agenda tonight?"

Viveka shrugged, "Sit here and do nothing?"

Lucas shook his head, "Not an option."

She cocked her brow and looked at him, "You asked what's on the agenda. That's on the agenda."

He looked back with a mirrored expression, "Okay... what's on today's agenda, that's worth doing?"

Viveka sighed, "I suppose we could go see Cherry. She rang me two days ago, wishing to meet. Said she heard something that concerns me."

Lucas grinned, "Now that's interesting!" He glanced at Felix, "You coming, Bird-brain?"

"Might as well, Mongrel," Felix replied without looking up. "When we leaving?"

She glanced at the sun, wondering what time it was until she read the TV. Afternoon… how long had she slept? "Now," she said as she tucked her phone into her pocket. "By midnight, she'll be too busy."

"Does it have something to do with the fact Cherry Van Helsingr runs a Club that accepts only the Demonic and Dark?" Lucas asked dryly as he stood, grabbing his keys from the coffee table.

"That might be a possibility, yes," Viveka replied as she followed, taking the ornament with her. "Or that bat-screwing dick that keeps trying to Turn me."

Lucas laughed, "If Dracula heard you call him that, he just might."

"I prefer Bram Stoker's version of the dickhead," she muttered, scowling at the mental image of the man who had no concept of the word 'no' and 'piss off'.

"So why must we go?" Felix asked as they headed to the garage. "Wouldn't it be easier to invite her here?"

Lucas and Viveka sent the angel blank looks. "Cherry's a Vampire, Felix."

The reaction was immediate as his wings burst from his back and stared at her as if he had caught her kicking a puppy. "You've been socialising with vampires?!" he screeched, reaching a volume that made it quite clear he was a soprano. Then, he turned to Lucas with an accusatory glare that had the shifter smirking, "And you let her?!" he spat, right hand glowing where he might summon his sword.

Lucas growled at the gesture, his inner fire calling his own weapon which happened to be small, twin scythes. Instead, he growled, eyes gleaming. "Only those who aren't human get within a ten mile radius of her, Felix," he snarled as he poked the angel in the chest. Felix immediately slapped it away but Lucas was angry and he marched close into the angel's personal space. They were the same height, though Lucas was just that inch or so taller. "Give me some credit. I am her bonded, but I did have friends before I met her, you know. Unlike you, Broodsville."

As they headed towards the car, Viveka was both relieved that normality had been restored and upset it was gone. She knew that they could really get into a fight if she let it continue, and she realised that perhaps she should have let Felix know of her association with creatures labelled as 'dark'. Angels, aside from the fallen, were natural enemies to them and fights were not uncommon. There was an intense hatred on both sides, both seeking to eliminate the other – the eternal war between light and dark.

Gently, she approached Felix and placed a calming hand upon his arm, seeking his violet eyes with her green. "They're not that bad, Felix," she assured him. "Cherry is a good friend. You'll see."

"Yeah, trust me!" Lucas grinned evilly as he pressed the button to unlike his beloved baby, "You'll be pleasantly surprised!"

As the trio climbed into the Mercedes, Felix's violet eyes flashed, "I doubt it."

Well, I hope the info-vomit wasn't too much like a brain stab. I acknowledge I can be quite long winded.