Cadegan dove beneath the blackened waves as he sought some sort of refuge from the hell that had become his world. Hatred and bloodlust pounded through him without letup. He wanted to taste the entrails of every creature dumb enough to approach him. While he’d never been friendly, this was completely different.
He had lost all ability to feel for anyone or anything.
Opening his eyes, he breathed in the water and scent of blood that still clung to him. The giant had been his first victim.
Too bad Cordelia had run screaming before he had a chance to finish the giant off and add her to his menu. Since then, he’d flown over the countryside, looking for more food. How he loved the musical cadence of screams echoing in his ears.
Truly, there was no better sound.
Drunk on the panic he’d induced, he dove deeper into the water. This was what he’d needed. The water’s caress. The sound of his heartbeat echoing in his ears.
He froze his muscles as his instincts picked up on the sound of creatures approaching.
Curious, he tucked his legs and floated to the surface. With only his eyes out of the water, he scanned the banks until he saw Morgen’s men. Fey Adoni armor glistened in the grim, gray light. Armed with crossbows and spears, they sent out lures to flush him to the top.
Did they think him as mindless as he was soulless?
Hah! They were about to learn the truth of his kind.
“Cadegan?” Morgen called. “We are here to free you.”
Her gown was the only color in the dreary landscape. Bright bloodred, it clung to the voluptuous curves of her body. Something that brought out a new hunger inside him as she stirred his lust.
“Come to us, love. We will care for you in ways you cannot imagine.”
Tempted, he moved his gaze to the MOD on Morgen’s left-hand side.
Bracken. His uncle, who’d once tortured him at Morgen’s behest. He wanted to spear the bastard through his missing heart. But he refused to give them his location.
Especially since half her army carried nets he knew were there to capture him.
“Cadegan? Come, child. Let me care for you.”
He went perfectly still at the sound of a voice that was identical to his mother’s. For the merest instant, he was a boy again, sitting on the edge of the tower window as he counted down to the bell toll. As he looked out upon the endless land and wondered if his mother was out there, somewhere.
If she ever gave a passing thought to the child she’d left behind.
Furious, he started forward, wanting more blood.
But as he moved, the water caressed his demonkyn skin like the hand of a lover.
It caressed him like …
He struggled to remember. It was important that he recall the sensation.
’Tis nothing. Devour them!
He pulled back. Placing his hand upon his cheek, he heard the faint memory of laughter.
Gentle teasing.
Like a wombat in a cornfield.
“Josette,” he breathed as he remembered feeling something other than burning hatred and the stinging hunger for death and blood.
I will never leave you.
But she had left him. Just like everyone else.
His rage built even higher. It was true. She’d betrayed him. Abandoned him the first chance she’d had to go home.
And here he stayed. With no one and nothing.
Morgen wants you.
Nay, she did not. He was not so stupid as to be that easily fooled. She wanted to use him.
No one ever wanted to keep him.
“Cade?”
At first, he thought himself dreaming. Imagining the sound of a voice that was forever gone.
“Sweetie? Where are you?”
It was Josette. His heart pounded as a hope he despised filled his entire being.
’Tis a dodge from the Queen Bitchtress herself.
Suddenly, two dragons and two Adar Llwch Gwin swooped down to attack Morgen and her army. Exploding into action, Morgen’s forces flew to engage them.
But the moment he was alone, a slight movement on his right caught his attention. Crouched low in the shrubs was the last person he’d ever expected to see.
Josette.
She stretched her hand out toward him. “I’m here to take you home with me. Come, my lord. I won’t let anyone harm you.”
Cadegan started forward instinctively. Until he saw that she wasn’t alone. Two men were with her. His bastard brother and one he knew was related to him. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he’d always been able to feel any member of the Tuath Dé what came near.
Josette glared at them. “Do you mind? He doesn’t trust any of you.”
“Why should I trust you?” he growled low in his demonic voice.
Josette met his gaze without flinching. “Because I love you. I promised I wouldn’t let them have you and I meant it. Come home with me, Cade. Let me give you the love you deserve.”
She’s lying. ’Tis the worst sort of dodge ever handed you, lad. Don’t be an imbecile.
But he saw no deceit in her eyes. Heard no tremble in her voice.
Before he could stop himself, he was on his way to her. He expected her to scream when she saw what he looked like. Horned, winged, and foul. Even he’d glimpsed himself and thought, That can’t be right.
Yet it was. His outside now betrayed the truth of his blood. It telegraphed to the world exactly what a monster he’d been born.
Like the warrior she was, Josette didn’t flinch at his approach. He saw no condemnation in her dark eyes. Only a warmth he’d never known anywhere, other than her arms.
She again reached for him. “I’m here for you, baby.”
He pulled back. “Don’t look at me. I’m hideous.”
“There is nothing about you I find repellent.” She leaned so far forward to reach him that she almost crashed into the water.
Cadegan rushed to catch her and push her back to safety.
And the moment he felt her hand on his skin, he calmed down to that quiet serenity that eased him deep inside his soul.
She wrapped her tiny hand around his miscolored, clawed one. “Ever my hero. Thank you.”
Cadegan stared at their laced fingers. As always, her skin was the perfect porcelain blend. Soft beyond imagining. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
She shook her head. “I will never fear you.”
Before he realized what she intended, she bent down and kissed his scarred lips.
Jo tried not to think about the fact that he could tear her apart as he lifted his hand to cup her face while he kissed her. Her body went from cold to hot faster than she was prepared for. More than that, he kissed her with an untasted passion.
When he pulled back, she expected to look into reptilian eyes again.
They were again his vibrant blue. She smiled at him as she danced her gaze over his perfect, male body. He looked just as he had before.
Slowly, his eyes locked on hers, he lifted himself out of the water and neared her. Like an exhausted cat, he laid his head down in her lap and pressed her hand to his cheek.
“Me precious Josette.”
She brushed her hand through his hair. “My beautiful Cadegan.”
“I still cannot leave this place, me lady. I am forever damned here.”
“No, sweetie. I’ve come to get you. I can take you through the portal, the same way we took Illarion.”
Lifting his head, he met her gaze. “Do you swear to me?”
“Every effing day.” She rose and held her hand out to him. “Come home, Cadegan.”
He glanced to his brother, who watched them with a worried expression. “Are you here to stop us?”
Thorn shook his head. “I’m here to help.”
“And you are?” he asked the blond man beside his brother.
“I’m Styxx. They brought me along because I have Asshole Brother issues, too. Mine, as well as his goddess girlfriend, locked me in a hole for eleven thousand years. I know exactly how hard it is to trust again. And I know the hunger you have to be free of this place. Come with us, and we’ll take you to a place where you’ll never be alone again.”
“Will you be there?” he asked Josette.
“I promise I will never leave you.”
“Take me home with you, Josette. ’Tis the only place I wish to be.”
Thorn stepped back as he watched his brother, now in human form, lay his head down on her shoulder. It was the damnedest thing he’d ever seen.
One minute, Cadegan had been a full-fledged, blood-crazed demon.
The next, he was perfectly calm again. Serene, even. Acheron was right. So long as they had Jo, they had a leash for Cadegan.
But as he opened the portal and allowed them to walk through it, he knew it wasn’t this easy.
Something bad was going to happen.