A Demon's Promise Read online

  About This Book

  I’m a normal girl. Sort of. I have a few weird quirks, but for the most part, I’m just your average chick about to head off to college. Two nights before I’m supposed to leave, though, I’m attacked. By creatures that can’t possibly be real. Such things of the night have always lived in my abundant imagination—but in real life? No way.

  Next thing I know, Mom’s waking me up at the butt-crack of dawn so we can hit the road early. She acts like we can’t get out of this city fast enough, but won’t explain. I know we have family secrets. I know she’s been guarding them from me for a long time. But as life grows weirder, I think it’s time for me to know them, with or without her help.

  I’ve barely started my covert investigation, though, when I meet Tristan Knight. He’s gorgeous, smart and talented in so many ways, it’s seriously unfair. And he enjoys hanging out with me. Suddenly, I forget all about our enigmatic family and retreat behind my façade of normalcy. At least, until I discover he’s not normal either. Finally, the secrets begin to unravel.

  From what I’m told, Tristan and I together means hope and promise to my family’s secret society, the angels’ army on Earth, and to the future of mankind. But our relationship also incites a dangerous pursuit by our enemy: Satan’s minions and Tristan’s creators. Yeah, that Satan. After all, apparently Tristan and I are a match made in Heaven—and in Hell.

  Recommended Read by Midwest Book Review, RT Book Reviews, and USAToday

  "An exciting and fascinating fantasy of demons and angels, highly recommended." - Midwest Book Review

  "Keeps the reader spellbound to the end, eager to discover what comes next." - The Charlotte Sun

  "A fantastic epic love story. The paranormal Romeo & Juliet." - Ex Libris Book Reviews

  A Demon’s Promise

  Kristie Cook

  Contents

  Books by Kristie Cook

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Glossary & Cast

  A Demon’s Promise Playlist

  About the Author

  Connect With Me Online

  Acknowledgments

  An Excerpt

  An Angel’s Purpose

  Books by Kristie Cook

  Books by Kristie Cook

  Soul Savers

  A Demon’s Promise

  An Angel’s Purpose

  Dangerous Devotion

  Dark Power

  Sacred Wrath

  Unholy Torment

  Fractured Faith

  Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella

  Awakened Angel: A Soul Savers Novella

  Prophecy of the Wolves: (A Soul Savers Tie-In Novella)

  Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes

  Havenwood Falls

  Forget You Not

  Lose You Not

  Break Me Not

  The Collector: Awakening

  The Winged & the Wicked (with T.V. Hahn)

  Savage Salvation (Sin & Silk)

  Sun & Moon Academy Book One: Fall Semester

  Havenwood Falls Short Story Anthology 2018

  Havenwood Falls Short Story Anthology 2019

  Book Of Phoenix

  The Space Between

  The Space Beyond

  The Space Within

  Original Material Copyright © 2009, 2010 by Kristie Cook

  New Material Copyright © 2011, 2015, 2020 by Kristie Cook

  All rights reserved.

  Published by

  Ang’dora Productions, LLC

  5621 Strand Blvd, Suite 210

  Naples, FL 34110

  Ang’dora Productions and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ang’dora Productions, LLC

  Cover design by Lily Rowserein at https://rowserein.pb.design/

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the owner of this book.

  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition July 2010

  Second Edition August 2011, Updated November 2015

  Third Edition June 2020

  For Shawn, Zakary, Austin and Nathan Cook

  And Chrissi Jackson

  Dear Reader,

  When Promise, the original title of this book, was first released in 2010, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to see if anyone besides myself and a few close friends would love it as much as we did. And people did! But there were a few things I’d removed from the original drafts that really nagged at me, almost as if Alexis was saying, “That’s not quite how it happened and you know it.” So I updated it in 2011, the second edition, but she still wasn’t happy. So we did more in 2015 and gave it a new cover and title, A Demon’s Promise. Now, in 2020, to keep up with the times and ever-changing market, the series covers have gone through another makeover. The 2015 story remains, but I’ve officially made it a third edition. I’ve also added a glossary at the end, which I’ll add to throughout the series, and a playlist.

  What you hold in your hands now is the story as the author intended.

  Sort of. You see, what I really intended was for Promise and Purpose (now titled An Angel’s Purpose) to be read as one book. I originally wrote them as one, and for a variety of reasons, I had to split it. I still think they should be read together, as if they were one book. I think of A Demon’s Promise as the prologue to the series or, even more so, as An Angel’s Purpose Part I.

  If you only read A Demon’s Promise, you’re getting only half the story—just the romantic beginning. You miss the second half and the true ending, which is the springboard for the rest of the series, where the love story evolves beyond first love to lasting love between husband and wife, expanding to love of family, love of all humanity . . . and beyond.

  So my hope is that you pick up An Angel’s Purpose as soon as you can and read the two together, as I truly intended. You’ll find a link directly to it at the end of this book. But I thank you for starting here, with A Demon’s Promise, and for giving me, and Alexis, a chance.

  Happy reading!

  Much love,

  Kristie Cook

  Chapter 1

  The sensation of being watched clung to me like a spider web, invisible threads bristling the back of my neck and down my spine. I brushed my fingers across my shoulders, as if I could drag the feeling off and flick it away.

  It was ridiculous, of course. Not just ridiculous to think I could pull the sensation off so easily, as if it really was the strand of a web, but it was even more absurd to feel it in the first place. Except when accidents launched my freak-flag high, there was nothing stare-worthy about me. And right now, said flag was tucked safely out of sight.

  Yet the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at the feeling as I visited my favorite Washington, D.C., monuments for likely the last time. I sat on the stone steps of one and gazed over the Potomac River, enjoying the peace just before sunset. Well, trying to enjoy it anyway.

  I blamed the ominous feeling on my unruly imagination, with it being twilight and the sky looking so foreboding. It provided the perfect backdrop for one of my stories. The sun hung low—an eerie, orange ball glowing behind a shroud of haze, a column of steel-blue cloud rising around it, threatening to snuff it out. I envisioned something not-quite-human watching from the shadows, waiting to begin its hunt under the cover of darkness, and I imagined the kickass heroine who also watched, ready to protect the human population.

  That’s all it is, my fascination with mythical creatures getting the best of me, I told myself. Uh-huh. Right.

  Surrendering hope for a peaceful farewell, I hurried to the closest Metro station. The feeling of being followed stuck with me on the train ride home, but at my stop across the river in Arlington, I forgot the sinister sensation. A group of teens a few years younger than me and dressed in all black stood near the top of the escalator as I stepped off. I’d witnessed before their favorite summer activity: harassing people exiting the Metro station. I usually took the elevator to circumvent them, but had been too distracted tonight. When I saw the elderly couple they heckled now, I purposely walked right by them, distracting them, as expected.

  “Hey, there’s the freak who heals,” one of them said loudly to the others. “It’s s’posed to be really sick to watch.”

  “Hey, freak, got any tricks to sh
ow us?” another called.

  I gave them a sideways glance, acknowledging the boys and diverting their attention completely from the senior citizens. They were so predictable. Focused all on me, they continued their jeers, and although I’d asked for them, they still stung. But I’d brought this on myself—I’d been a klutz with the Bunsen burner in Chemistry, and my lab partner saw my skin heal almost instantly. One of those times the freak-flag came out. Being able to heal might have been cool if it weren’t for the way people reacted. Kids hassled me about it every day the last two months before graduation, but if I didn’t let them get to me, they were usually just annoying. Usually.

  I hadn’t expected these guys to follow me.

  My pace picked up as I walked through the bright commercial district and turned down the street for home four blocks away. Night had crept its way in during my ride from downtown to the suburbs, and except for a few streetlights, darkness blanketed the residential area. Footsteps behind me echoed my own. I quickened my pace, hoping they’d give up. Two more days. That’s all. Just two more days, and we’re out of here.

  “C’mon, we just wanna know if it’s true.” The boy’s pubescent voice cracked twice as he spoke.

  “Yeah, just show us. It doesn’t hurt, right?”

  I glanced over my shoulder. Three boys followed me, and I caught the glint of a blade in one of their hands. Their plan to satisfy their curiosity—slice me open and watch the wound heal—made my stomach clench. What is wrong with people? Of course, it hurts! Bungalow-style homes lined the street, each with an empty front porch. Not a single person sat outside on this summer’s evening. No one to witness whatever was about to go down. My heartbeat notched up, pumping adrenaline through my veins.

  Pop!

  Crack!

  Complete darkness suddenly engulfed the street. The streetlights along the entire block had blacked out at the sounds. I inhaled sharply while halting mid-stride, and the footsteps behind me ceased, too.

  “What the hell?” Surprise and fear filled the boy’s question.

  A couple had appeared out of nowhere, three houses down, standing in the middle of the street. The cloudy night made it too dark to see their features, and I could only tell their genders by their shapes. The woman’s high-heeled shoes clicked on the pavement as they walked toward me. The man, big and burly, pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to the woman. Without breaking stride, he took off one shoe and then the other, leaving him with only pants. What the . . . ?

  I considered my options. The woman and her half-naked companion blocked my way home, but I couldn’t just raise my chin and hustle past them, pretending they meant no harm. Because I knew they did, and instinct told me the self-defense moves I’d learned would do little good against them, especially him. Which meant I stood trapped between the boys with the knife and the bizarre couple. My gut told me the knife was less threatening.

  “Boo!” The woman cackled as the boys took off running. As she and the man closed in on me, the alarms screamed in my head.

  Evil! Bad! Run! Go!

  My sixth sense had never been so frightened, but I couldn’t move. Dread, and morbid curiosity, paralyzed my body. My heart hammered against my ribs.

  The couple stopped their advance several yards away. The woman studied me as if assessing a rare animal, while the man lifted his face to the sky, his whole body trembling. My gaze darted upward to follow his to the thin, gauzy clouds sliding across a full moon. The woman cackled again, the sound of pure evil. Real fear sucked the air from my lungs.

  “Alexis, at last,” the woman said, her voice raspy, like a pack-a-day smoker’s. “We’ll get such a nice reward for you.”

  My ears pricked. “Do I know you?”

  She grinned, a wicked glint in her eyes. “Not yet.”

  Or ever, if I can help it.

  I turned and ran. My pulse throbbed in my head as breaths tore through my chest. My mind couldn’t focus, couldn’t make sense of this strange couple and what they wanted with me, but my body kept moving. The bright lights of the commercial area I’d left minutes ago beaconed me to their safety.

  The woman abruptly appeared in front of me before I was halfway down the street. The shock sent me hurling to the ground, and my head smacked hard against the pavement. Stars shot across my eyes. My hands burned from asphalt scrapes. Fighting the blackness trying to swallow my vision, I rolled onto my side, gasping for breath. A sticky wetness pooled under my temple. Why is this happening?

  My eyes rolled up to the woman, who now pointed what looked like a stick at me. Her lips moved silently as she waved a pattern in the air, and I suddenly felt pinned to the ground, my muscles unable to move though nothing visible restrained me. Panic flailed below the surface of my paralyzed body, making my breaths quick and shallow. I was done for. They could do anything they wanted with me now. There was no escape.

  My vision faltered. Now two women stood over me, two sticks pointed at me. Two moons wavered behind them. I didn’t know if fear or the head injury caused everything to slide apart and together again, but I squeezed my eyes shut to make it stop.

  But I couldn’t close my ears, couldn’t block out the spine-tingling gnarl. My eyes popped open with terror, expecting to see a wild beast, but the feral sound came from the man. His eyes rolled back in his head, showing only whites. His hands clenched into fists. His muscles strained, the veins protruding like ropes along the bulges, and his body shook violently until the edges of his shape became a blur.

  “I can’t hold it,” he growled.

  “Then don’t,” the woman said. “Don’t fight it. It’s time!”

  A ripping sound tore through the night as the man lurched forward, his skin shredding. A gelatinous liquid spurt out of him like an exploding jar of jelly. His pants tore into ribbons as his body lengthened and grew. The shape of his limbs transformed. His face elongated, his nose and mouth becoming a . . . Holy crap! A snout! I gasped, a scream stuck in my throat. By the time his front . . . legs . . . hit the ground, fur covered his body. He was no longer man. He was— A freakin’ wolf?

  The beast moved closer, a low growl in its throat. Its stench of decaying corpses and rotting leaves overwhelmed my hypersensitive sense of smell, the sharp but sweet odor gagging me and forcing me to breathe through my mouth.

  Pop! Another woman appeared, again out of nowhere, with pale skin and white hair that shimmered in the moonlight.

  “I smell blood,” she said, her voice a flutter of wind chimes, as she made a wide circle around me. “Mmm . . . delicious blood.”

  The scrapes on my hands had already healed, but not the cut on my head. It must have been deep enough for a normal person to need stitches. For me, it could take ten minutes to heal. So my blood was still fresh.

  I could only smell the wolf’s rancid odor as it hovered over me.

  “Back off, mutt,” the white-blonde snarled as she stepped closer. “This is too important for the likes of you.”

  “How dare you!” Stick-woman accused. “We had her first.”

  “Alexis is mine. Always mine!”

  What the hell? What do they want with me? Cold fear slid down my spine, and my fight-or-flight instinct kicked into high gear, though I could do neither. I couldn’t so much as twitch a muscle.