(A/N: I would like to apologize for keeping you all in suspense. 'I would like to' being the keywords. But I would be lying if I said that I don't like keeping my readers in suspense. I'll let you off easy though.

Disclaimer: Did I say I owned anything? I think not.

Chapter 5: A Demon's Desire

"I don't care! I have to save Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, pulling away from Miroku.

"Inuyasha, be reasonable." The monk snapped impatiently. "You are in no condition to go after them."

"I'll heal on the way!" the half-demon growled.

"Relax, dog-breath, we'll save Kagome." Kouga said, wincing as Ayame treated his own wounds. "But we won't be of any use if we can't fight."

"I can fight! She is my mate. I have to go after her. What would you do if it was Ayame out there?"

Kouga snorted. "I never would have let her been taken."

"Kouga." Ayame growled warningly. Now was not the time.

"And Miroku," Inuyasha cried, ignoring the wolf-demon's snobby attitude, "what would you do if it was Sango? Shippo, what if it had been Souten that was out there?"

"Ok, you've made your point." Shippo remarked. "So who else is going besides me and Inuyasha?"

"Shippo?" said Souten questioningly. She didn't like the idea of her mate fighting that psychotic demon.

Shippo turned to her. "Kagome has always been there for me. Now I have to help her."

Souten gave him a worried look. "Just be careful."

Shippo smiled. "Don't worry, love, I will."

Miroku turned to Sango. "I guess we'll be going too, right?"

"Of course!" Sango cried, surprised he had to ask.

"I'm going too!" Kohaku cried.

Rin gasped. "But Kohaku!" she cried, grabbing his arm.

He turned to her. "Rin, I have to go. Onigumo is the one that started everything with Naraku. I have to be a part of his end."

"When are you going to stop blaming yourself?" Rin shouted.

Kohaku wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. "Rin, I don't blame myself for what Naraku made me do, but I have to do this. I have to see it end. I have to be a part of this when it does end."

"Daddy!" Aiko went up to him and hugged his leg.

Kohaku released his wife and picked his daughter up. "Don't worry, little one. I'll be back."

"You'll beat up the bad guy." Aiko said confidently.

He nodded. "You bet."

"And I'm coming." Kikyou declared.

""Oh no you're not!" Inuyasha cried.

"But father!"

"No buts, Kikyou. You are not ready for this."

Kikyou stamped her foot. "Mother killed Naraku when she was younger than me! I've faced demons before! I'm strong! I'll-"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING!" Inuyasha shouted. "None of you kids are."

There was immediate whining and complaining.

"Me and Kaori are demon slayers!" Ico shouted.

"Yeah, we can take care of ourselves."

"You're not my father!" Shin growled.

Ayame glared at her son. "You are not going anywhere." She said.

"Neither are you two." Said Miroku, motioning to his so and daughter.

"What?" the twins cried. They turned to Sango. "Mother!"

"Listen to your father." Said Sango.

"And don't you even think about going." Souten hissed at Toriyasu, who had opened his mouth to say something. He pouted and turned away.

Kouga snickered. "I guess you'll need my help too if you want to get through this alive."

Inuyasha growled. "I'm not going to argue with you. If you're coming, come on. The rest of you wait here."

"Father!" Kikyou cried.

"You're staying!" Inuyasha yelled. Kikyou winced from his harsh tone. Inuyasha stared at her a moment before taking a deep calming breath. "Kikyou I know you're strong, and I know you want to help, but we can't take chances this time. Besides, you should stay and take care of Lady Kaede."

They all turned to the hut that Kaede was resting in. Her injury was great, perhaps fatal. And the fact that she was in her eighties didn't help the situation. She needed all the help that she could get.

Inuyasha rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I promise I'll get her back."

Kikyou hung her head in defeat.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Kagome moaned as she climbed out of her state of unconsciousness. Damn her head hurt. What had happened? And where the hell was she? She couldn't recall. The last thing she remembered was-

"So, you're finally awake."

Kagome jumped in surprise and stepped back. She nearly fell and just managed to catch her balance. Turning around, she realized that she was up on a flat top mountain. What were they called again? A plateau? Never mind that now. How the hell did she get up here in the first place? It was way too steep to climb up or down. So how did she get here?

"Careful, my dear. You don't want to fall, do you?"

Kagome turned to the speaker. Onigumo sat a short distance away, watching her with an amused look. Suddenly everything came back to Kagome. She had been kidnapped. Onigumo, he had come for Kikyou and took her instead. And Inuyasha, he was…

"Where's Inuyasha?" she demanded. "What did you do to him?"

Onigumo shrugged. "He was pinned to a tree the last time I saw him. He's probably still alive since he's a half-breed though."

"Don't you dare call him that!" Kagome shouted.

Onigumo chuckled. "He doesn't matter anymore." He said, standing up. "You're mine now."

Kagome growled. "Sorry buddy, but I already have a mate. See."

She showed him the mating scar on her right shoulder. A demon was entitled to only one mate. This scar that marked her as Inuyasha's permanent mate, and Inuyasha's alone, forever. Everyone knew about demon mating scars. It was practically the only thing that left a scar on a demon or half-demon, eternally bonding them to the one that gave them the mark and vice versa.

"You're a demon, you should have been able to sense my mark." She said confidently.

Onigumo's expression didn't change. "Yes, I did. And what makes you think I care?"

Kagome gulped. "You should know how it works. A demon or half-demon takes only one mate for themselves, and the two bond forever, even in death."

She was actually surprised that she had to explain this stuff to him. He should know all of this, even if he had originally been a human. A demon had one mate and one mate only. However, there was the case with Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, and Sesshomaru's mother. But when Sesshomaru had been conceived, Inuyasha's father, Inutaisho, had not been mated to Sesshomaru's mother. After all, it wasn't uncommon for demons to have lovers before they were mated, but Kagome wasn't sure if this had been the case between Sesshomaru's parents. Perhaps Sesshomaru's mother had died before she and Inutaisho had been mated or maybe Inutaisho had fallen for Izayoi and left Sesshomaru's mother to be mated with Izayoi. Kagome wasn't sure, but she wondered if this was one of the reasons Sesshomaru disliked Inuyasha so much, but such conversations weren't brought up that often.

But this case was different. Kagome was already mated. Onigumo couldn't mark her, not now, not ever; whether he knew it or not.

Onigumo just laughed. "I have no intention of marking you. I know that I won't be able to either. But I will have you."

His hungry eyes looked her over. Kagome did not like that look, not at all.

"You can't. I'm taken. I-"

"My dear Kagome," Onigumo sneered, "you are forgetting that I was once human. Do you think that I would truly be like other demons? I have had the wives of men before, although, I've never had the mate of a demon or a half-breed. But I will have you just the same."

Kagome stepped back as far as she could without falling over the edge. Onigumo had her cornered. She really wished she had some arrows right now.

"You'll be disrespecting the demon's right to a mate." She warned. "You'll anger many demons with your disrespect; even if I am human and the mate of a half-demon."

Onigumo's expression didn't change. He was closing in on her. "I'll strike down any demon that comes for me. I'm sure your half-breed mate, if he survived, will surely come after you." He stopped and his eyes narrowed. "I find it strange that you would eternally bond yourself to a half-demon. I could never understand why humans and demons would mate. Demons can easily live over a thousand years. Even your half-breed of a mate will outlive you by at least half a century."

Kagome glared at him. Her own lifespan, compared to Inuyasha's, was something she had come to accept long ago, but they had wanted to be together all the same. Inuyasha knew that he could never have another mate, but he was fine with that; all he wanted was her, regardless of her lifespan. Kagome told him that she would be waiting by Heaven's gates with his mother and father when he joined them in death and then they could be together forever. In the meantime, they would take the time they had together in this life while they could. Besides, in 500 years all demons will be on the very verge of extinction, which will be a result of the great demon war, that Kagome learned from the research she did in her future time a few years ago. About 300 years from now, something, Kagome couldn't find out what, will cause a terrible war among the demons and half-demons. Afterwards, the humans will seize the opportunity to wipe out the remaining demons. The very few demons that survive, if there were even any, would be in hiding while humans dominated the Earth.

"I know he'll outlive me." She said fiercely. "And I will patiently be waiting for him in Heaven with his mother and father. But you, Onigumo, you just as evil as Naraku and his incarnations. You'll join them in Hell when you die. You're an evil monstrous creature.

Onigumo chuckled. "Why thank you."

Kagome glared at him. "I don't understand why you would choose to hurt others. Do you want to go to Hell?"

He shrugged. "You basically just told me that I'm already damned."

Kagome gulped. "There's still time to change. You can redeem yourself. Anyone can. Even Sesshomaru and Kagura changed. They're descent enough to get into Heaven; this, as a priestess, I can sense. But you, there's only one place you're going unless you stop your evil ways."

Onigumo just laughed. "That was a nice little speech, my priestess. But I have no intention of changing. So I'll have to take what I can get while I'm alive then, won't I?" In an instant, he was right in front of her, grabbing her arms. "You're mine now… my dear Kikyou."

Rage filled Kagome. "I am not Kikyou!" she cried.

She touched her hands to his chest and Onigumo was thrown backwards by a blast of spiritual energy. Kagome glared at him with pure loathing.

"I am not Kikyou! I am Kagome! And no one touches me like that!"

Onigumo slowly rose to his feet. An evil smile broke out over his face. "Good, I like it when my prey fights back. It's more exciting."

He rushed forward again and grabbed her in an iron grip. Kagome leaned back as he lowered his mouth to hers.

"Get away from me!" she shouted.

She raised her hand and slashed him across the face, using her nails rather than an open palm. Onigumo cried out and released her as he jumped back. Kagome nearly fell over in surprise. She hadn't expected him to let her go so easily. When he looked up at her she gasped. The skin on his face was all torn up from when she had scratched him. Pieces of flesh hung from her fingernails, but she didn't even notice.

"Bitch!" he growled, viscously backhanding her.

Kagome fell down. That blow was definitely going to leave a bruise. Onigumo towered over her, feeling the deep gashes on his borrowed face. These wounds would not heal, for it was not his flesh.

"Damn it! I liked this face, you wench!"

He tore the bandit's face off, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. He turned back to Kagome. If he had eyes, Kagome knew that she would have seen great anger in them.

Suddenly he turned away. "Damn it! Now I must go find another suitable face. You may have bought yourself some time, but I will be very rough with you later. Very rough. I hope it was worth it."

With that, he jumped off the edge. Kagome sat on the plateau for a minute before getting up and looking all around. The area wasn't very big, and there was no way she could climb down by herself. She was trapped. All she could do was wait for Onigumo to return, or for Inuyasha to come save her.

She prayed the latter came first.

(A/N: How was that? I really like this chapter, mostly because it allowed me to explain my theories on a few things. I promise to update extra fast if I get lots of reviews. They do encourage me.)