by Cynthia Eden
And, because killing his brother was always the last thing he’d wanted, Leo gave him one more chance. He slipped into the cabin.
Fire immediately appeared above Luke’s hand.
Leo tensed, wondering if his brother had tricked him—
“Relax,” Luke drawled. “I know we both can see fucking fantastically in the dark, but you missed this before, and I didn’t want you to miss it again.” He waved the fire toward the floor. A big, woven rug had been kicked aside, revealing markings on the floor. Markings that had been made—
“That’s blood,” Luke said, inhaling heavily. “And I might be a bit rusty because that is a language that I haven’t seen in a very long time, but I’m pretty sure we’re staring at a spell.”
Leo’s entire body locked down. “What kind of spell?” He’d never seen markings like those. Didn’t recognize the language. His brother could be bullshitting him but…
When Luke looked up, there was worry in his eyes. “It’s a spell to bring back the dead.”
Impossible. And Leo called his brother on that fact. “Bullshit. We both know it takes a whole lot more to bring back—”
“Not if you’re dealing with a hellhound.”
“With a what?” Now he was lost.
Luke licked his lips. “Hellhounds die, and they go back to the fire. They stay there, until they’re called again. This…this is a summoning spell. It raises them from the fire.”
“Hellhounds…” Leo couldn’t remember the last time he’d even heard of them. “They’re yours.”
“They aren’t of this earth, not really, so they’ve never answered to me.” Luke’s eyes gleamed. “These men you say that you killed…Tell me what they looked like. Exactly what they looked like.”
“I thought they were angels at first. They had wings that stretched behind them—”
Luke’s eyes closed. “Hellhounds can manifest wings anytime they want. They can also transform into the body of any beast that they want.”
He remembered the panther that he’d seen in that godforsaken basement. “Like a black panther?”
Luke’s eyes opened. “Yes, and they can take the guise of men. But they’re not really men. At their core, they’re something else.”
Leo’s temples were throbbing. “You say you’ve seen this spell before…when?”
“Centuries ago.” Luke’s voice was halting. “Right after you lost your Fate. Didn’t think it was connected, not then.”
Fucking hell. “You swear you don’t control them?” Leo wanted to believe Luke but…
“I swear on my life, I don’t control them. I haven’t sent them after you. Or after Mora. I’d hoped they were long gone from this world. They don’t just attack humans or the good paranormals…” He raked a hand through his hair. “They come after the dark, too. They feed on chaos and bloodshed. Pain gives them strength. Fear makes them nearly invulnerable.”
Not good. “When was the last time you saw them, exactly?”
Luke tilted his head as he seemed to consider the question. Then he gave a bitter laugh. “Exactly? When Atlantis fell. They sank with the city.”
Atlantis…Shit, that had been right after he left Mora. He bent down to study the markings on the floor. “Who summoned them back? If they were in the fire, who brought them back to this world?”
Luke didn’t answer.
Leo surged to his feet. “Who?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll damn well be finding out.”
Another enemy. Someone who’d been hiding in the shadows all of this time? “Maybe it was one of them,” Leo muttered as he tried to think past his rage. “There were four of them. The leader was some guy named Reever. Maybe the others died long ago—maybe Reever lived and brought them all back?”
“Maybe.” Luke didn’t look convinced. “But this spell is fresh. Someone cast it recently. Someone knew you were coming to attack, and that person wanted to be sure that the hellhounds rose again after you were gone.”
Shit. “How long until they rise?”
Luke looked back at the markings. “I need my witch. Cordelia would be able to—”
“How long?”
“I don’t fucking know! I can’t read all of this. As I said, I need my witch. I’ll get Cordelia out here. She’ll be able to tell us what’s happening. Maybe even give us an idea as to who cast the spell.” He inclined his head toward Leo. “Of course, you could also just get Fate out to this cabin. She can scry from right in the middle of this mess and see exactly what happened—and what’s going to happen. She can tell us everything we need to know.”
Fate. His heart jerked in his chest. “They targeted her before.”
“Yeah, all the more reason to get her here. She’s involved, she’s—”
“They could already be back.” The drumming of his heartbeat filled his ears. “They could already be going after her.” And he’d left her alone. He’d thought she was safe.
Oh, shit.
His wings burst from his back. In the next breath, he was hurtling straight through the cabin’s sagging ceiling and up into the night.
“Leo!” Luke bellowed after him.
But Leo didn’t stop. He had to get back to Mora. He had to make sure she was safe.
I can’t let them hurt her again.
***
“No, no, it’s okay!” Luke shouted after his asshole of a brother. “I don’t want to come with you. Really, I’m fine. I’ll just go get my witch and figure out this mess on my own.” He glowered after his brother.
Leo had flown fast and far…Fear would do that to a man, though. Twist him up. Blind him. Make him weak.
Luke glanced back down at the markings. He’d lied…a bit. That was part of who he was.
The hellhounds weren’t back, at least not yet. But he’d needed Leo to return and get close to Mora. Because we will need her.
If Luke was reading the spell right—and he was about sixty percent sure that he was—then the hellhounds wouldn’t return for a full twenty-four hours after they descended into the fire. That bought Luke and Leo a bit of time.
Time enough for Leo to get back in Fate’s good graces.
Time for Luke to try and figure out…just which enemy was gunning for the destruction of both Luke…and his brother.
Hellhounds. Fucking hellhounds.
Beasts that could never truly die.
Beasts that were going to be a serious pain in his ass.
***
Machines were beeping, the repetitive sounds filling the small hospital room. Dax was in the bed, a sheet pulled up over his chest. His eyes were closed, and his face was pale, but the terrible bruising that had marked him before was gone. His nose didn’t even look broken.
Mora eased out a slow breath. She let her senses open wide, reaching out to test and see…What are you, Dax? Are you still human?
She hadn’t made a sound, but his head suddenly turned toward her as if he’d sensed her presence. His eyes opened, and she found herself staring into a gaze that had turned bright, bright blue. An otherworldly blue.
Not human anymore. She’d wondered about that. Part of her vision had come true. She was afraid that Dax’s human side had died.
She just wasn’t sure what was left inside of him.
“Mora?” He growled her name. Even his voice was different. Rougher. Darker. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
She immediately schooled her features.
He lifted his hand. “Come closer.”
She wasn’t so sure that was the best idea. Not until she figured out what she was dealing with.
He sat up in the bed, frowning. “What’s going on?”
She looked over her shoulder. The doctor hadn’t followed her inside the room. The poor guy was probably in the hallway, having a breakdown. Mora cleared her throat. “How do you feel?”
“Pretty fantastic. And that’s weird, right?”
“Right.” She tried to smile. “Um, are you noticing anything different
about yourself?”
“Different?”
Her hand waved vaguely in the air. “Oh, you know. Enhanced hearing. Super sense of smell.”
His eyes widened.
She kept going. “The urge to bite me, drink all my blood, or maybe just rip me limb from limb?”
Now he was staring at her in shock.
“Is that a yes? Or a no?” Mora rocked back onto her heels. “It would help me enormously if you could answer my question, please.”
“I don’t want to bite you.” He shoved aside the covers and rose. The guy was just wearing one of those paper hospital gowns, so he gave her a serious peep show. “And I don’t want to rip you apart. You saved me. I want to repay you.”
Okay, that was good. “So you feel…human?”
“Uh, I am human.”
So said the man with the glowing blue eyes. Someone was going to be in for a hard new reality.
“What happened to Sammy and his goons?” Dax demanded.
“I have no idea.” She’d never actually made it into the bar.
“They’ll be coming after me again.” His hands clenched. The tattoos on his arms appeared far more vivid than they had before. “They know I can take down their entire operation.”
She needed to touch his hand. Needed to see what waited in the guy’s future. Needed to see what he was. “You should call in your DEA buddies.” She shuffled forward, making herself move. “They can help you out. You give them the intel you have on Sammy, and that will be one less problem for you.”
He nodded grimly. “I need protection. I can’t just stay here like a sitting duck.”
She reached out, steeling herself, and wrapped her fingers around his upper arm. She hoped it looked as if she were giving him a supportive squeeze but really…
His future flashed before her eyes.
Fire. Screams. Pain.
“Mora?”
She blinked. And she let him go. “Don’t w-want you to be a s-sitting duck.” Mora nodded decisively. “You should go…call the other agents. Get a pick-up out of here.”
“I’m not calling them—I can’t wait for a ride that may take hours to get here. I feel fantastic, like I said. I’ll steal some scrubs and head out on foot.”
“I-I have a truck you can use.” Not that it was her truck. “It’s outside. It’s a little tricky to get started.” I can help you hot-wire it.
He pulled her close in a quick, hard hug. “I owe you so much, Mora. One day, I will find a way to pay you back.”
No, you won’t. Because you didn’t escape death. You just delayed it for a while. She’d seen him burning. He’d just traded one brutal death scene for another. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she squeezed him back and she could have sworn that she smelled ash in the air. “Of course, you’ll pay me back. There will be plenty of time for that.” And she didn’t have tears in her eyes. Not when she hugged him.
Not when they snuck out of the hospital and he drove away in the truck.
And certainly not when she looked after him, wondering just how long he had left…until the fires consumed him.
Chapter Eleven
The taxi driver slowed near Mora’s house. “Thanks for the lift,” she told him. She shoved some cash his way.
“Miss…you sure you’re okay?”
Mora knew he was asking because of all the blood that was still on her. When you picked up a woman from the hospital and she appeared to have been gutted because of the sheer amount of blood on her clothing, well, it was only normal for a person to worry. “Never better,” she lied. Then she jumped out of the car and headed up her sidewalk.
He pulled away, the flash of his headlights momentarily illuminating her front porch.
And—
Someone’s there. Someone’s waiting.
She stopped.
The shadowy figure—the guy who’d been sitting, with his head bowed—on her doorstep—looked up at her. “You sure you’re all right?”
Leo.
“I-it’s not my blood.” She was going to throw her clothes away. Mora took a few quick steps forward. And the stupid refrain—He’s come back. He’s come back!—filled her head. “It’s Dax’s blood. I found him after you pulled him out of Sammy’s.”
Leo rose. “After I—what?”
“You saved him.” Her hands reached out to him. She wanted to hug him but…I need to ditch the bloody clothes. So she just stared up at him, feeling as if a weight had lifted from her heart. “It might not have done any good.” Might? Ha. It didn’t. “But you still tried to help him. Thank you. I owe you for that.”
“Mora…”
“Come inside, okay? I just…I want to talk.”
He nodded and relief filled her. Mora fumbled a bit and managed to unlock the door. She turned off her security system and then gestured toward the couch. “Sit for a few minutes, okay? I need to shower and change. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried toward the bathroom.
“Mora?”
She glanced back at him.
“Something has changed.” His voice was soft, confused. “What happened?”
“You did. You changed.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“You told me that you were going to make things right for me, and then you left. I didn’t know what you meant.” Be honest. “No, I didn’t believe you.”
“Because you don’t trust me. I understand. With everything that’s happened—”
“But then you went and you saved Dax. You knew I wanted to change his fate, and you got him out of Sammy’s Place.”
Leo’s face hardened. “Mora…”
“You saved him. By time I got to that club, Dax was in the bed of that truck, but he told me you were the one to rescue him. You…you went to get an angel, right?” She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You were probably trying to heal him, but it’s okay. He, um, healed himself.”
“What?”
“Whatever paranormal side he’s been hiding—that side came to the forefront and saved him. Dax said he owed you a debt, but I told him I would repay it.” She turned to fully face him, and her shoulders stiffened. “I’m letting the past go.”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand—”
“No, I do,” she cut through his words. “I understand that I’ve held on to bitterness and anger and pain until I am just sick of it. It’s eaten away at me, and I don’t want that any longer. I don’t want to live that way. You said—you said you had nothing to do with those men who attacked me.”
“I fucking swear, I didn’t.”
She gave a quick, nervous nod. “I believe you. And I also know that I don’t want to keep hating you.”
His face tightened. She saw the pain in his stare. “Baby…”
“It’s too hard to hate you.” Her hand moved to press over her chest, right over her heart. “It’s too hard in here.” Because her heart had once only beat for him. “You saved Dax, and I’m paying his debt. I’m letting the hate go. I’m starting again with you. A long, long time has passed, and we’re not the same people anymore. I’m not the same, and neither are you.”
“I would give my life for you not to hurt again.”
His life. She smiled at him and refused to let any tears fall. He was running on borrowed time right now, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She wasn’t going to tell Leo that he had only days left. And that she couldn’t keep hating him, not when he’d be gone soon. She wanted better memories of him.
Mora turned away from him and hurried into the bathroom. She shut the door with a soft click, and moments later, she was under the warm spray of the shower. She let her tears fall then. No one could see them, after all. They just mixed with the shower water on her face.
***
I didn’t save Dax. What was Mora talking about?
He’d tried to tell her the truth. Tried to say that he hadn’t seen Dax since they’d left the guy in the burned out parking lot of Resurrection.
But then…
Then Mora had stared at him with her wide, beautiful eyes. She’d offered him a new chance.
Leo wasn’t stupid enough to turn down that chance. He wanted to grab Mora and hold her tight, and never let her go. He wanted to give her anything—everything—in the entire world. He wanted to make her smile. He wanted to make her laugh. He wanted her happy.
And he was freaking lying to her.
Leo’s shoulders hunched. Everyone had always been right about him. He was such a bastard.
He heard the soft click of the bathroom door opening behind him. Then her scent reached him, that sweet, flowery scent that he’d always liked. Her footsteps were swallowed by the thick carpet, but he knew she was coming closer. He could feel her.
That was the way it had always been between them. An awareness that was physical. When she was near, his body reacted. His muscles were already tensing. His cock was swelling. His heartbeat was racing faster. It was as if he were priming himself for her.
“There’s something I want…” Her voice was husky. Seductive.
His eyes squeezed shut and his hands clenched into fists. You should tell her the truth. Stop being an asshole. With her—stop. But he heard himself say, “I’ll give you anything.” His words were rough. “What do you want?”
“I want you.”
He whipped around to face her. She stood just a few feet away, her wet hair combed away from her face. A white towel was wrapped around her body, with a knot tucked between her high, firm breasts.
“I’ve always wanted you.” She stared straight at him when she said those words.
He had to shake his head, hard, because Leo feared this was another dream. She’d said stuff like this to him before—in his dreams. And when he’d reached out to touch her, to take her, she’d vanished.
Her hands went to the top of the towel, and she pulled at the cotton fabric. The towel fell to the floor, pooling near her bare feet. His gaze immediately locked on her body. It had been so long since he’d seen her this way.
I only had dreams.
She was still perfect. Absolutely perfect. Her breasts were round and tipped with pretty pink nipples. Her stomach dipped in and her hips flared out, tempting him. Her sex…shit, it was bare. That’s new.