Eternal Rider

“I don’t want to live like that. In a bed, with some strange demon channeling energy into me? That’s not life, and you know it.” She pressed the tip of the knife into her skin, and a trickle of blood dripped down her rib cage. “Do it.”

Ares was an expert at this. Had this been anyone else, he could shove the blade home and the victim would be dead before he knew what hit him.

But Cara would know. She would suffer. And he’d have to watch, knowing he’d caused it. Knowing he could do nothing about it.

Rearing up, he released the dagger. “Not yet. I can’t. I can’t do it. I need… a minute.”

“Ares!”

In a near panic, he scrambled off the bed, opened the door, and fled out into the hall. Didn’t matter that he was na**d—he had no hang-ups, and his staff had seen him nude often enough. He heard thumping around in the bedroom, heard the telltale sounds of clothes ruffling. Cara was going to come after him. Dammit. He strode into the great room, cursing the return of the senses that tuned him in to global strife, and turned to the fireplace. It wasn’t lit, was cold and empty, like his chest cavity.

The empty feeling was nothing new, given that it had been that way his entire life. Hell, even when he’d had a family, had believed he was human, there had been something missing. And then Cara came into his life, and the cavern inside him had filled up. So he supposed it made sense that the sensation of emptiness was now so much more pronounced. Before, it had been normal. But now he knew what being warm felt like, and he was no longer used to the cold.

“Ares.” Cara’s voice was soft behind him. As she moved closer, all those battle vibrations melted away, and instead of feeling as if he wasn’t whole without them… he felt at peace. The realization struck him like a blow. When he was with her, he didn’t lose abilities… he gained peace.

How was he going to survive without her?

He didn’t move as she padded up to him and plastered her body against his back, wrapping her arms around his waist. She’d brought him a towel, which she draped over his hips, and he would have smiled at her thoughtfulness if he wasn’t on the verge of breaking down.

Her cheek rested on his shoulder blade, and her hot breath fanned over his skin.

This was so right. So terribly right. And it was all going to be gone soon.

“My lord?”

“What, Vulgrim?” His voice was harsher than he intended, but he had only minutes left with Cara, and he didn’t want one second taken from him.

“An Aegi is here to see you. He says he may have a cure for Cara.”

Afraid to hope, but his heart doing a backflip all the same, Ares wrapped the towel around his waist. With more calm than he felt, he turned, tucking Cara behind him. Vulgrim moved aside to reveal a man flanked by two of his guards.

“This is highly unusual,” Ares said. “Who are you… wait… I saw you outside the Yorkshire headquarters.”

The man nodded. “My name is David. Kynan and Arik were busy, so they sent me.”

“Sent you? Why?” His eyes narrowed. “How did you get here?”

“Reaver.” David opened his fist, and the Ramreels on either side of him reached for their weapons. He gulped, and very slowly held out his palm. “We found this in our archives. It was in a box marked with the agimortus symbol. We think that the agimortus can be transferred to this device and contained.”

Ares scowled, but at the same time, his heart leaped. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“We hadn’t either. We don’t know much about it. We were hoping you would know what to do with it. In any case, it’s better off in your hands than ours.”

Ares nodded to Vulgrim, who took the object from David and brought it over. He placed it in Ares’s hand. It was round, metallic, about the size of a golf ball. He didn’t recognize the etchings on it… some kind of demonic language, he thought. But why would there be demonic symbols on something meant to contain an agimortus—

Fuck!

He flicked his hand to hurl it to the floor, but it burst open, shooting tiny needles into his skin. The familiar burning sensation of being bitten by a hellhound shot up his arm and into his body. Every muscle and joint locked up, but his mind spun, and he tried to warn Cara, to tell her to run, but the poison was already affecting his mouth and tongue.

“Ares!” Her panic rang loud in her voice, and then the sounds of battle rang out even louder.

The two Ramreels pounded the human, knocking him to the ground as Vulgrim made a shield of himself in front of Ares and Cara. “Take the human to the dungeon,” Vulgrim snarled. “Find out what’s happening outside!”

But Ares knew. Pestilence was out there, and the only thing he could do now was pray that Than and Limos had arrived.

Cara’s hand closed around his, warm and comforting.

He should have killed her when he had the chance. God help him, he should have. Now she was going to suffer at Pestilence’s hand, and all because he was too weak to let go of the woman he loved. Everything he’d always believed, that loving someone made you weak, was true.

Limos and Than ran toward the house, the sound of Vulgrim’s shout hitting them as they’d stepped out of their individual portals.

“We’re too late,” Than barked.

Dammit! Limos had wanted to give Ares and Cara some time together, so they’d followed up on Thanatos’s lead regarding Pestilence’s whereabouts. They hadn’t found him, but they’d found one of his minions who had been all too gleeful about some plan Pestilence had to retrieve Deliverance from Ares.

She and Than had come straight here, but by the sound of things, they hadn’t been fast enough.

They burst through the front door and ran into the great room, where Ares was frozen in front of the fireplace, Vulgrim standing protectively in front of him, and Cara looking fierce despite the fact that she was pale, gaunt, and probably on the verge of collapse.

“He’s been poisoned with hellhound venom,” Vulgrim grunted. “My boys took the male responsible downstairs.”

“I heard a horse,” Cara said. “But I don’t know where. Outside, I think.” A crash of broken glass had Limos wheeling toward the hallway. “The dagger!” Cara started after Li, but Thanatos grabbed her.

Limos sprinted to the bedroom, drew short when she saw Pestilence standing there in his armor, Deliverance in his fist.

“Ah, Limos. So good to see you.” He frowned. “Sort of. Your presence ruins my plan to kill Cara, but hey, she’s near death anyway.”

Disgust bubbled up, completely destroying all the leftover happy-happy-joy-joy sentiments about him she’d held on to. Like Thanatos, she wanted to believe that there was some good left in the creature standing before her, but unlike Than, she knew they couldn’t bank on it. “Just so you know, I fully support the idea of ramming that dagger into your black heart.”

“Really?” Pestilence hefted the dagger in his palm, feeling its weight. “I saw the Dark Lord the other day. He asked about you.”

Limos snorted. “Did you tell him to go f**k himself?”

“I told him how you can’t wait to spread your legs for him.”

“Never.”

“You can’t fight him, sister. And once your Seal is broken, you won’t want to. But either way, he’ll take you. He’s getting impatient. He wants children.”

She shuddered, unable to imagine carrying Satan’s spawn in her belly. “You always swore you’d protect me from that fate. How a little thing like a broken Seal has changed you.”

His laughter grated on every nerve. “It isn’t the Seal. I’d have left you to your fate even if my Seal hadn’t broken once I learned what a lying, scheming bitch you were.” She stiffened as he leaned in, brushed his lips across her ear. “I know your secret.”

“You’ve always known that The Aegis didn’t lose Deliverance. You helped me cover the whole thing up.” After he’d rescued her from The Aegis’s grip, she’d fessed up, and he’d helped her do some creative rearranging of Aegi memories and promised to keep her secret from their brothers.

Thing was, she’d lied to Reseph, too. Even he hadn’t known the true reason she’d stolen the dagger.

“But now I know why you stole it,” he said, and her gut knotted. “But that’s not the secret I’m talking about. I’m talking about the other one. The big one.”

Her breath left her, her muscles went rubbery, and her blood congealed in her veins. When Pestilence stepped into his Harrowgate and disappeared, she nearly crumpled on legs that wouldn’t work anymore.

He knew. Dear God, he knew.

And if he spilled her secret to Thanatos and Ares, she’d lose everything.

Twenty-five

Cara’s legs gave out. She’d tried to stay on her feet as the battle raged around them, but as Ares’s muscles began to twitch as though thawing, hers turned to mush. She hit the floor hard, and instantly, Vulgrim lifted her into his furry arms.

“Cara,” Ares rasped.

Vulgrim shifted her close to Ares, and she reached out to cup his cheek. He quieted, though his eyes gleamed with pain.

Thanatos, who had remained in the great room to defend them, cursed when Limos returned, her expression troubled.

“Reseph has the dagger.”

“Dammit,” Thanatos snarled. “Ares, you were supposed to—” He cut himself off when he looked over at Cara, and she finished the sentence for him.

“Kill me. We’re both well aware of that. And it isn’t easy on either one of us, so I’d appreciate it if you kept your damned mouth shut.”

Limos’s violet eyes shot wide, and she casually sidled up to Thanatos as if thinking she’d need to restrain him. Several tense heartbeats passed. A rumble came up from deep in Ares’s chest, and dark shadows passed over Thanatos’s face. Finally, Thanatos’s lips quirked into a half-smile.