Chapter 3
Rykr’s Home, Earth
Rykr soared over moonlit seas, his wings pushing through the cool currents as he tried to get his dick to calm down. That was its natural state when he tortured himself with the sight of the mate he couldn’t fucking claim. At least his usual torment fell into the deepest recesses of his mind when the lust took hold. It was a reprieve of one form of hell for another.
He’d mastered the ability to push back the pain of his curse. The agony he’d suffered as a boy no longer ruled the fully grown male, but his cock’s reaction was something different.
He gritted his teeth against the frustration and teleported out of flight, reforming thousands of miles away on the patio of his secluded home. It was a haven in the thick jungle canopy of his private island, a place that was perfect for him, with all the secrecy and comfort he sought. Only his parents and grandparents knew where he could be found.
It took every ounce of will not to go back to Slake.
With a thought, he retracted his wings. Standing barefoot and shirtless, he ran a hand over his face. It was her tattoos that nearly killed him every damned time he saw her. She never hid the markings that caressed her silky arm. They were out for all to see.
For him to see.
They always set him on fire because they were his. The flowers and vines were a replica of the ones he’d given her the last time they saw each other. She’d marked her body with a fucking tribute to him. She wanted him to come for her, but he fucking couldn’t.
Instead, he allowed her to believe he was honoring the ridiculous demand she’d made when he was a kid. She couldn’t know the truth because if she found out he’d been cursed, she’d want to fight his demons with him. She’d risk herself. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that his little protector would do anything for him, including handing over her soul to be shredded to pieces by the fiends inside him.
He shook his head and absently ran a hand over his neck, along the mark of the demons. He could see it clearly in his mind. Four circles entwined together with four sets of horns at north, south, east and west. He hated that mark and despised what it meant. He’d been hunting for answers on how to end its hold for nearly a decade.
He had one clue. There was a mortal who might have answers to his problem, but the bastard seemed to have dropped off the face of the planet the same week Rykr had been cursed. He didn’t believe in coincidence. There were far too many mysteries surrounding the human who bore the same mark he did, the same symbol that marked the medallion he’d found in Hell Realm when he was fifteen. Right before Lucy had turned twenty.
After nearly a decade of searching ancient tomes and the magical archives of both his mother’s and father’s worlds for any answers on how to free himself, it was his cousin Niall who’d come across images of the human coming out of a burning building during the end of the world. That symbol wasn’t in any of the old texts anywhere. Even Hades and Aphrodite hadn’t seen it. Worse, neither Deity had all that much information on the demons themselves. Their origin was more ancient than the Gods, but they’d somehow been ensnared by Artemis during her reign of blood and death millennia ago.
Before he made it to the doors of his place, he felt a rising hum of power. He turned in time to see his father reforming on his patio. He raised an eyebrow at the male who looked so much like him, including a goodly number of tattoos, though his father’s were mainly limited to his arms, whereas Rykr’s were over the majority of his body.
“What is it?” He was instantly alert; his father rarely showed up without warning.
“You need to take a look at a surveillance video that’s in your email. Everyone is fine, but there’s a problem.”
A bone-wrenching chill ran through him. “What happened?”
“Your mystery man, David, resurfaced.” His father was visibly furious. “At Slake. Not long ago.”
“Lucy? Ophelia?” His voice boomed.
“Your grandfather is there now. They’re fine and being escorted to the manor until we figure this the fuck out.” His father was pacing as Rykr’s vision flickered to red. He wanted blood. The male had been near his mate, near the females of his fucking family. “He left you a note.”
Rykr’s muscles vibrated with the need to hurt something, to slam his fist through the patio wall.
“She’s fine, Rykr. Lucy is safe. None of them saw the male. He appeared after Lucy and Ophelia walked in the private entrance. The bastard did make sure to appear in front of the camera. He looked directly at the lens before leaving you his message and teleporting away.”
Every cell in his body vibrated with the need to get to her, to see for himself that she was safe.
They’d thought David was mortal. Rykr was sure he had been. He’d seen David’s baby pictures and uncovered every last detail of the male’s life.
“The note?” He couldn’t speak more than he had to. The urge to protect her was too strong. If he didn’t get his shit together first, he’d send them both into the mating frenzy. He wouldn’t be able to keep his damned hands off her. Not right now.
“A location,” his father growled, “and no one is going there until we tell everyone what the fuck is going on. Your secret was your own until now.”
He wouldn’t argue that. “Who knows?”
“Your grandfather only divulged that there was a threat. They’re all demanding to know what the hell is going on.”
Rykr snarled. “No one tells Lucy but me.”
“That’s why I’m here. You need to do it quickly. We’re giving you only the time it takes to tell her, and then the Guardians all have to know.”
A muscle was ticking at his father’s jaw. As a Guardian, the male hadn’t had an easy time keeping Rykr’s secret. It had been something his father, Pothos, had hated from the start. More people knew than Rykr liked, but they’d all been forced to vow to keep it a secret. Vows were strong in their world, especially if blood was involved. He’d been a bastard to insist on his father’s promise never to divulge his secret to those he’d fought beside for millennia, but it had been necessary. The Guardians were a family. If one knew, they all would, and he’d done everything he could to shield Lucy from this.
It was all about to crash down around him. Those vows were null now that there was a potential threat to others. The fact that David Severain had shown up where Lucy and the other girls had been was a threat.
His fists balled at his sides. “Where is she?” he demanded. His father and the others were buying him time, but not much. This was one of his worst nightmares—this and the one where he never earned his freedom from the fiends.
“The video file?” his father asked.
“I’ll look at it after. And I want that note.”
“I’ll give it to you after everyone knows. Lucy’s at the manor with the others.”
Rykr forced back his raging fury in order to think. He needed to speak with her somewhere their scents wouldn’t linger, preferably in a place with no soft surfaces to lay her out on. This wasn’t going to be easy, but as long as he kept his hands off her, she’d be safe.
“I need you to tell her to meet me at her parents’ lake.”
“Gregoire will lose his mind if she leaves the manor.” Lucy’s father was protective as hell.
“I don’t care,” he said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t meeting her there with all the others. They needed privacy. Her parents’ lake was safe and secluded in the mountains of the Immortal Realm, and he’d be there before she arrived. He’d keep her safe from even himself.
He looked pointedly at his father. “Are you telling everyone together, or will the Guardians learn the details first?”
His father’s gaze hardened. Pothos understood what he was getting at, but that didn’t mean he liked it. “I can have Drake tell the Guardians first.”
“Good. Tell her after they head into the war room.” Mates were always in the meetings, so Lucy’s mother would be with Gregoire. His father had enough telepathic ability to send her that message. Rykr couldn’t take risks like that with Lucy. Any connection he made would draw them toward a mating bond they couldn’t complete.
Not until he was free of the demons.