Lix took a long swallow before recapping his flask and returning it to his pouch. My hands gripped the table as I resisted looking under it to see if the liquid was pouring all over the floor.
“Isn’t it a little early for drinking?” Erin asked.
“It’s never too early for fun, my dear. And after yesterday…” He retrieved his flask and drank some more. “There are only four skelleins left, including me.”
“Oh, Lix.” Erin rested her hand over his.
The skeletal creature sat with his head bowed before he smiled and patted her hand with his other one. “Some of us are still on the other side of the world. We’ll see them again.”
“Of course you will,” Erin said.
I couldn’t stop myself from marveling over the closeness of their relationship. Out of all the demons I’d met, the skelleins unnerved me most. Those eye sockets may be empty, but they bored straight into me, and how could they possibly retain liquid when they were nothing but bones?
When Lix’s empty eye sockets swung toward me, I felt them examining every inch of me as Lix took another shot of alcohol. Then he turned back to Erin. “How are you both doing? We haven’t had much time to catch up.”
“We’re good,” Erin said and took Vargas’s hand when he rested it on her shoulder. “Or at least we were. Yesterday…”
Tears filled Erin’s eyes, and she wiped them hastily away. The reminder of yesterday caused my stomach to turn, and I set my remaining toast on the plate.
“Yesterday was bad,” Lix agreed. “But many of our enemies were destroyed.”
“And we do have some good news,” Erin said.
I stared at the wall while she told him about the baby, and they exchanged more hugs. I barely listened to their words as I tried to decide my next step. I had to find out how Sandy and Zanta were; as much as I dreaded the answer, I had to know it.
“I needed this good news!” Lix said as he sat again and slapped a hand on the table. “We must celebrate!”
“After the baby is born, we can celebrate. When we know everything is going to be okay.” Erin rested her hand protectively over her belly. “But not until then.”
“It’s a very healthy baby,” I said.
I didn’t realize I’d spoken the words out loud until all their eyes swung toward me. My mouth went dry, and I gulped down my coffee. I’d intended to keep my mouth shut, but sometimes the damn thing had a mind of its own.
“Sorry.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I, uh…”
I’d been trying not to look at Hawk, but now my gaze darted to him. When he clasped the hand I was digging into my knee, I was annoyed by how much his touch soothed me. I wasn’t ready to have my life hinge on the existence of someone else, but I couldn’t deny the connection between us.
“How do you know that?” Erin asked.
Instead of shoving Hawk’s hand away, my fingers entwined with his while I spoke. “Ever since I was a child, I could see a person’s soul. Unlike everyone else in this world, I know who to stay away from by looking at them. The baby inside you has a strong heart and a beautiful soul.”
Tears filled Erin’s eyes as her hand flattened over her belly. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“How… interesting,” Lix murmured as he took another drink.
“Is your ability to do that because of your demon ancestry?” Vargas asked me.
“Demons can’t see souls,” Lix said. “We don’t have souls to see, so there’s no need for such a talent. That’s a human trait, and it’s a fascinating one.”
I shifted uncomfortably when they all looked at me again.
“Did you have any abilities manifest after becoming a demon?” Vargas asked.
I removed my hand from Hawk’s and rested it on the table, palm up. I stared at it until orange sparks danced across my fingertips and a small flame sputtered to life in my palm. I jerked back when the fire went from being a couple of inches high to nearly a foot tall. It didn’t burn me, but it had never been so high before.
I recalled Zanta telling me that demons who found and bonded with their Chosen became stronger. Excitement and apprehension coiled in my stomach as I stared at the fire. If I wanted to walk away from Hawk, it might already be too late. But did I want to walk away?
I’d ask myself that question after I got to know him better, but I couldn’t answer it now. I did know I wanted the freedom to walk away if I chose to do so, and it scared me that I might not have the choice.
“This is why my team calls me Ash,” I said as I pulled myself from my troublesome thoughts. “Well, this and it’s a common nickname for my name. The ability to produce fire started after I stopped aging, and it’s how I learned I was a demon.”
Closing my hand, I smothered the flame and lifted my coffee cup. “It’s an interesting world we live in now.”
“It is,” Hawk murmured and sat back.
“My baby really has a beautiful soul?” Erin’s question came out as more of a whisper, and I realized she was scared to ask it not because she didn’t know me, but because she was anxious about her child.
“Yes,” I said and prayed nothing happened to the baby. This conversation would only make things worse if something awful occurred.
“Like its mother,” Vargas said and squeezed Erin’s shoulders.
She beamed at him with so much love it stole my breath; I hoped to have that kind of love one day. I glanced at Hawk from the corner of my eye. We were bound together by some quirky demon DNA, but could I love him?
He was a genuinely good man; he had the soul of a warrior, fought like a champion, and he could make my eyes roll back in my head and my body come apart like no other man, but love? I’d have to wait and see.
I hadn’t planned to settle down for years, especially since I was immortal now, but I also hadn’t planned on the country being torn apart and having to live with demons. Life was a series of compromises.
And at least Hawk wasn’t an asshole. Many of the demons weren’t bad, but some were complete assholes; I could have been stuck with one of them, or worse, a craeton. Maybe one day we could learn to love each other. I couldn’t imagine spending an eternity with a man who didn’t love me and who I didn’t love.
“So, my dear,” Lix said to Erin. “I have a riddle for you.”
Erin’s smile grew. “I’ve missed your riddles.”
“And I’ve missed trying to stump you.”
“Lix has been trying to stump Erin for over a year,” Hawk said to me. “The skelleins once guarded the gateway to Hell, and for us to gain access to it, we had to pass their test.”
“What was the test?” I asked.
“We had to answer three riddles. They allowed us to nominate Erin to answer for me, River, and Vargas. She was our champion and saved our asses. Since then, she has yet to get one wrong.”
“You’ll jinx me,” Erin said.
Hawk snorted. “Hardly.”
“What would have happened if you got a riddle wrong?” I asked.
“Now, nothing would happen,” Erin said. “But if I got one of the original three wrong, they were going to take a pound of flesh from each of us.”
I gulped.
“Those were the good old days,” Lix said with a sigh.
I had no idea how to respond. He sounded so forlorn about not being able to strip the flesh from others. He continued to creep me out, but the others didn’t mind that he would have skinned them.
“If we’d been demons, they would have waited for us to regenerate the flesh before asking us another riddle,” Hawk said. “But as humans, we would have died.”
“That’s, ah…” Gross, horrific, cruel! I couldn’t utter any of those words as I liked my flesh exactly where it was. “Terrifying.”
“It was,” Erin admitted.
“Now we play for fun,” Lix said. “Are you ready?” he asked Erin.
“I am,” Erin said.
“With pointed fangs, it sits in wait. With pi
ercing force it doles out fate. Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, eternally joining in a single bite. What is it?”
I pondered this as Erin sat back and crossed her legs at her ankles. Hawk gestured at my coffee mug; when I nodded, he picked it up, rose, and went to fill it. Watching the graceful movements of his body as he poured me another cup, I realized I could enjoy having him in my life.
I smiled when he returned and set the mug in front of me. “Thank you.”
I almost jumped out of my chair when he kissed the top of my head before settling beside me; there was something so natural and right in the gesture. My skin prickled as my body reacted to his nearness. Even if we ended up discovering we were opposites who barely tolerated each other, we could never deny the attraction between us. It amazed me the others couldn’t feel or sense it as my skin prickled and goose bumps broke out on my arms.
My attention was drawn back to Erin as she murmured the words to the riddle. Recalling the question, I tried to sort through the words, but a knock on the front door distracted me. Before anyone could rise to answer it, the door opened, and a voice shouted inside.
“Five minutes!”
A click sounded when the door closed again. “Corson,” Hawk said at my confused look.
I leapt to my feet. “I’ve got to get dressed.”
There was no way I could go to a meeting with the king and queen while dressed in Hawk’s clothes. I’d stopped caring about what others thought about my sex life a while ago, but I could not go before my leaders dressed in Hawk’s clothes.
“It was good talking to you and thank you for breakfast,” I said to Vargas and Erin. “Let me know the answer to that riddle when you get the chance.”
“It’s a stapler,” Erin said.
“So it is,” Lix said with a laugh.
Chapter Seventeen
Aisling
Hawk and I slipped into the hall and nearly walked into a wall of bodies. I’d changed as fast as I could, but we were still a few minutes late. Demons and humans packed the hall as the king stood on the dais at the far end. The queen held her son in her arms while she surveyed the crowd with a look that promised death to anyone who came near her child.
At her feet, her youngest brother sat with a book in his hand. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and chubby little body, Bailey looked about three and a half or four years old. Her other brother, Gage, stood by her side. His lips were clamped into a firm line, his sandy blond hair was brushed back, and his brown eyes surveyed the crowd. No older than fifteen, he looked more serious than men twice his age.
Colonel Ulrich MacIntyre also stood on the dais and to the right of the queen. The colonel oversaw the humans at this section of the wall. His graying brown hair was trimmed short, and the lines on his face appeared deeper than the last time I saw him as he stood with his shoulders back.
“I’ve called for more troops to join us here, and they should arrive tonight or tomorrow, but we can’t wait that long to go after the horsemen,” the king said.
My gaze ran over the walls and the intricate symbols etched into them. In the grand scheme of things, I was relatively new to this demon world, but the power thrumming through this building radiated through every fiber of my being and made my skin tingle.
I didn’t know if that power was supposed to be mine for the taking or if it would smash me to pieces, but I was tempted to see what my flame would be like in here. With the tension emanating from the bodies around me, someone might take my small fire as a threat and lop off my head.
“We’ll be sending troops after the horsemen tonight,” the king continued.
Hawk shifted beside me, and I stifled a small bolt of panic. He would go back into the Wilds after those things. I was supposed to go too, but after yesterday, the plan would change. They couldn’t afford to send a bunch of troops to hunt the horsemen; even with new ones arriving, they needed as many people and demons here as they could get. They were vulnerable, and if the horsemen returned with more craetons, they might not be able to fend them off again.
Would they still send me into the Wilds?
Excitement pulsed through my veins at the possibility. I didn’t have a death wish, but I was determined to help bring down the monsters who ruthlessly slaughtered so many yesterday.
Rising onto my toes, I searched for Sandy and Zanta in the crowd, but I didn’t see them. I rubbed at my chest as I reminded myself that didn’t mean they were dead. Humans and demons were still combing the field for our dead and injured. Sandy and Zanta could be there, guarding the wall, or in the clinic.
I’d look for them when we finished here.
The king pointed to someone in the crowd and waved them forward. The crowd parted to reveal Corson and Bale striding toward the dais. When the queen’s son let out a small squeak, one of the skelleins in a pretty blue dress emerged from the shadows behind the stage. The queen shook her head and held her son closer as the colonel and king walked to stand beside her.
Corson and Bale climbed onto the stage; their boots thudded across the wood as they strode over to join the couple before turning to face the crowd. Hawk clasped my hand and started to wind his way through the crowd toward the dais. He didn’t acknowledge the disgruntled grunts of those he elbowed out of his way.
We were almost to the dais when he stopped beside a demon who was at least eight feet tall with hands that could engulf my head. Each of his three eyes was a different color—the right was green, the left orange, and the one in the center of his forehead was aqua blue.
Despite the additional eye, he was handsome with his broad cheekbones. I’d seen him around town, generally with the queen, but I’d never been this close to him before, and my neck hurt from looking up at him.
“Calah,” Hawk greeted. “Lopan.”
The giant nodded a greeting while the small creature at his side grunted. Lopan was another one I’d seen around town, often near the queen, but I’d never been close to the odd-looking man with brown hair that hung in ringlets to his shoulders and deep-set chestnut eyes. The ridiculous red outfit he wore had a green belt and hat. The pink toenails on his bare, hairy feet were neatly trimmed.
He flashed a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth at me when I leaned over to peer into the black pot he carried with him. I spotted the yellow liquid within before he moved it to his other hand and glowered at me over the tip of his bulbous nose. I smiled at him in the hopes he’d relax a little, but his scowl only deepened.
Note to self: don’t look at his pot or smile at him.
A few feet away and closer to the stairs, I spotted Erin and Vargas talking with another demon.
“We have agreed,” the king said, drawing all our attention to him. “That, for now, it’s best to send only a small group after the horsemen. It could be they are trying to lead us into a trap, or they really could be fleeing. Either way, it’s best to have fewer people who can move faster in their pursuit.
“When backup arrives here, we will send more into the woods after them. Corson and Bale will lead this mission, and they will take Wren, Lix, Hawk, Caim, and Raphael with them. The rest of you will remain here to help the others in the field and to guard the wall.”
My heart plunged into my toes. Hawk would leave, and I would remain here. Unexpected longing speared my heart along with an anger that burned like acid up my esophagus. I couldn’t let him go out there without me, and I couldn’t be the one left here, desperate to hear any word about the mission.
And as much as I hated to admit it, I would be desperate. The not knowing would drive me nuts! I wasn’t exactly thrilled to discover myself bound to a man I barely knew, but I was far less excited about the idea of him out there without me. I could protect him better than anyone else.
“Come on,” Hawk said.
He led me toward the stage as Erin and Vargas climbed the steps and walked toward the royal couple. I didn’t look at the crowd as we climbed the steps, but I felt their eyes boring into me with every step we took acro
ss the stage.
“Are we going to get Magnus, Shax, and Amalia for this?” Hawk asked as we stopped in front of the others.
“There’s not enough time,” Corson said. “We’re leaving as soon as we’re ready.”
“I’d like to go,” I said, and Hawk’s hand tightened on mine. “I was supposed to leave for the Wilds on this trip.”
I was amazed my voice didn’t tremble when I spoke. I’d never been this close to the king and queen before, but I could feel their power as the king’s unnerving black eyes studied me. Then his gaze fell to the marks on my neck, and when he looked at the ones on Hawk’s flesh, his eyebrows rose.
He didn’t look at Hawk as he spoke. “If you survived the battle yesterday, then you stand a chance of surviving the Wilds.”
Uh… thanks? But this time I managed to keep my mouth shut as I didn’t think my thanks would go over well.
Then, I noticed Corson staring at Hawk, whose face was unreadable, before Hawk gave a brisk nod. I glowered at Hawk when I realized Corson would have allowed him to turn down my offer and he’d considered it. Hawk’s eyes were unapologetic when they met mine. I tried to tug my hand free of his, but he held on.
Son of a bitch. I ground my teeth together until I was sure they were going to be stubs, but I didn’t try to pull my hand free again. I wouldn’t make a scene, but I wanted to kick him.
“You can find two more demons to go with you,” the king said. “But no humans, they’ll only slow you down.”
“I’d like to go,” Gage offered.
“Absolutely not,” the queen said.
“But I’m immortal too, and I’ve been training,” he protested.
“You’re not immortal yet; you’re still growing, and you are not going.”
He glared at her, and she glared back until the king rested his hand on Gage’s shoulder. “One day, you can go, but not until you stop aging.”
Kiss of Death: Hell on Earth Series, Book 3 Page 11