by Laura Kaye
He hadn’t slept this deeply in ages. And it was all because of Brynn. She was the light to all the dark that warred inside him. Practically, he knew he should feel bad about what happened. She relied on him to save her life and probably believed she was indebted to him. He couldn’t bring himself to regret anything that happened between them. Brynn made him experience things he’d never felt before, things he never expected to feel.
Like hope. For the first time in a long time, he saw a glimmer of hope.
Now all he had to do was figure out exactly how Mammon was communicating with her, see if he could use it to find a weakness, and figure out a way to kill him.
Easier said than done.
Demons were unable to kill their own parents. Apparently, that was nature’s way of ensuring demon offspring didn’t do the parents in. Too bad nature never gave a fuck about how those parents treated their children.
That was the thing that sucked the most about this whole mess. If it had been any other man, Keegan would have stopped him. Nothing would get in his way. But he’d never been able to defeat his father, no matter how hard he’d tried. Now that he was older and stronger, if he had the rest of his brothers to help him, they might stand a chance against Mammon. But the way things were now…
“Shit,” he muttered.
One thing was certain.
He would fight until the bitter end.
Chapter Twenty-one
Taeg waited impatiently for Ronin to exit the terminal at Cairo International Airport. “Come on, come on,” he muttered, glancing at his watch. Not like they were in any particular hurry. He just wanted to get the hell out of there so they could figure out what they were going to do.
“Finally,” he said as Ronin walked out of the terminal area, a weary look on his face.
“We can’t all just teleport,” Ronin said.
Taeg grunted. It wasn’t like he could blame Ronin for being on edge. They all were.
They hopped into a taxicab outside the airport.
“I hate the fucking morning,” Taeg grumbled. It was way too damn early.
Ronin fought back a yawn. “Yeah, me, too.”
“Humph.” After a moment’s silence, Taeg said, “We had to switch hotels, since Mammon tracked us to the one we were staying at before.”
“Do you have any clue how he did it?”
Taeg shrugged. “Beats me, bro.”
“I don’t understand.” Ronin rested his head against his seat and closed his eyes. “I mean, why would Mammon go to the trouble of planting a demoness at the hotel bar to lure Dagan and drug him insensible?”
“Because he wanted to keep us occupied trying to find our missing brother while his goons snatched the book out from under our noses.”
“Yeah, but why not just order her to kill him while she had him? Our deaths seem to be his overall intent, so why not?”
Taeg let out a deep sigh. “He’s fucking with us, that’s why.”
Ronin shook his head, a look of distaste crossing his face. “I really hate him.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, man.”
Ronin lifted his head to look at him, one eyebrow arched in question. “Preaching to the choir?”
“What? It’s a human phrase I learned,” Taeg answered defensively.
Ronin chuckled. “You sure are taking to Earth, man. Like a fish to water.”
“Fuck off.” But Taeg couldn’t help his grin as he turned to look out the window. Things couldn’t be that bad yet if Ronin still had enough of a sense of humor to rib him about his colloquialisms. “I like it here.”
“I do, too,” Ronin said. “Have you heard from Keegan?”
Taeg’s light mood faded as quickly as it had come. “Not a word. Tracked the GPS on his phone to the side of the freeway on the outskirts of New Orleans. He must have tossed it on their way out of town.”
“I don’t blame him. We tried to kill his girl.”
That pissed Taeg off, mostly because it made him feel so damned guilty. “He knew that we might have to.”
“I know, man. I know.”
Taeg’s anger and guilt faded under the calming influence of Ronin’s ability.
“I hate it when you do that,” he said.
“Yeah, I know that, too.”
The taxicab pulled up to their Cairo hotel. Taeg dragged himself out of the car and led Ronin through the lush lobby and up to their top-level suite. Dagan and Cresso already waited for them in the large sitting room.
Ronin glanced around the space. “This is…gaudy.”
Taeg let his gaze drift over the muted animal-print rug and couch, gilded coffee table, and two-tone metallic entertainment center housing the fifty-eight-inch LCD television. “This is the finest in Egyptian luxury, bro. Enjoy it.”
Cresso chuckled from where he sat in a striped armchair. “Is the Council springing for all this?”
Taeg let out an amused snort. “Yup.”
Cresso rose and crossed the room to clap Ronin on the shoulder. “Good to see you, man.”
“You, too.” Ronin’s gaze moved to Dagan, who sat in a chair that matched Cresso’s. “And you, too, little brother. Glad to see you’re still in one piece.”
Dagan colored at the obvious references to his run-in with the demoness. “Fuck off.”
Ronin chuckled as he took a seat on the large, elegant couch. “Speaking of the Council, anyone contact them?”
“No,” Taeg said as he sat next to Ronin, “and screw them, anyway. They won’t lift a finger for us, so they don’t deserve to know squat.”
Cresso nodded with a casual lift of his brow. “Don’t blame you for feeling that way, man.”
Dagan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped. “So, what now?”
“Exactly,” Taeg grumbled.
“Are we going to go after the girl?” Cresso asked.
“No.” If Keegan had chosen to risk it all for Brynn, then Taeg would respect that. His duty was to his brother. He should have remembered that before, when Keegan was practically begging for his help on that damned New Orleans rooftop. If he had, Keegan would have been here with them now. Instead, he’d been forced to run and hide from the very people who loved him the most. And they really could use Keegan now.
“We’re going after the book.”
Three sets of eyes jerked in Taeg’s direction.
“Serious?” Dagan finally asked him.
“Serious as cancer. Ha, that one’s for you, Ronin.”
“How do you plan on getting it?” Ronin asked him.
“Since we’ve been a little busy, Cresso’s been keeping an eye on Memphis for us.”
Cresso nodded and jumped in. “Mammon’s workers cleared out of Memphis right after he found it. Most of them were sent home. But a number of them went back over to the Valley of the Kings. They’ve been setting up an elaborate system of tents out there.”
“What?” Ronin lobbed a confused glance in Cresso’s direction. “What the hell for?”
“Think about it, man,” Taeg said. “Mammon’s already got the book. All he needs is Brynn and he’ll become the ultimate ruler of this world. The king.”
Dagan chuckled dryly. “Mammon’s got the biggest ego of anyone I know. He would find it fitting to begin his rule on Earth at the Valley of the Kings, right underneath one of this world’s greatest wonders.”
“Plus, let’s not forget how many stiffs must be buried out there. Perfect place to raise an army of the dead.” Taeg shook his head. His bastard of a father had always been a clever one, he’d give him that.
“You think he’s planning on permanently taking over the whole site?” Ronin laughed and leaned forward in his seat. “That’s ambitious, even for him. I can’t see him bedding down in one of the dusty old pyramids.”
“Hence the tents,” Taeg said. “Knowing him, they’re probably heated. He’ll have enough workers there to cart his necessities in.”
“In other words, all of his luxury item
s,” Dagan said with a smirk.
Taeg snorted. Dagan was right, no doubt. “He’s probably planning on building something more permanent once he takes over. Hell, he might even plan on knocking down all the damned pyramids and building a massive monument to himself.”
Cresso rubbed his chin, letting out a little chuckle. “That does sound like your father.”
“He’ll have guards set up all around the site,” Taeg continued. “Demons, of course. The regular guards were likely paid off when he first started digging in the Valley.”
“Shit.” Ronin rose and paced throughout the room. “So how can we get to the book? Odds are, Mammon will already have wards in place to prevent anyone from flashing in and out of the site.”
Taeg cast a pointed look at Ronin. “Don’t forget we’ve got a set of wings.”
Ronin’s glance was dry. “How could I forget? They’re mine, after all.”
“Yeah, well, you could support my weight. We could get as close as possible to the place. Then Cresso and Dagan could cause a distraction while we fly in.”
Ronin’s eyes widened. “What about the rayamaras? He’s bound to have them all over the place.”
“That’s what the distraction is for,” Taeg said. “We’ll do it at night, too, when we’re less likely to be spotted.”
Ronin stared down for a long moment, then sighed. “Once we get in?”
“We find the book. My bet is that it will be wherever Mammon is.”
“We can’t fight him,” Ronin said. “Not if we expect to win.”
“You don’t have to fight him,” Dagan said. “Just get the book away from him somehow. If you can do it quickly enough, you could fly yourself and Taeg out of there before he can stop you.”
“A lot of ifs to this plan,” Ronin noted.
Yeah, and didn’t Taeg know it. “I won’t lie to you, to any of you. It’s risky as all get-out. But what are our other options? We can either keep trying to find Keegan so we can kill his girl, or we can do nothing. If we do nothing, the Council will find out soon enough that Keegan’s gone. They’ll take him out, too. You know they will.”
“Only if they can find him,” Ronin said.
Taeg shook his head. “Now that he’s gone into hiding, he’s got no money. Nowhere to go. Brynn’s surely not used to living like that. How long do you think they’ll last out there?”
“You’re right,” Dagan agreed.
“When would we plan on doing this?” Ronin asked.
Yeah, that was the kicker. Taeg took a breath. “Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Cresso asked. “Why so soon?”
“The longer we wait, the more time Mammon has to get his resources in order, to figure out the weak spots in his security. Our best bet is to do it right away, while he’s still setting things up over there.”
“Good point,” Dagan said.
Taeg leaned forward. “Keegan’s never asked us for anything, never dared to want anything for himself. He deserves a chance at happiness. The odds are slim, but maybe we can give it to him.”
Dagan shrugged. “I’m in.”
Ronin nodded with a deep sigh. “I’m behind you, too. But Taeg, it’s practically a suicide mission.”
“I know.” But he was going to do it anyway.
There was a long moment of silence before Cresso spoke up. “Hell, I’ve lived long enough. Count me in.”
“Thanks, man.” Taeg gave Cresso a grateful nod. “Really.”
“Eh, your dad’s an ass. I’d love to help take him down. As a matter of fact, I’ve got some thoughts on how we can cause a distraction…”
…
One good smack was all it took to bring the insolent demoness to the ground.
“I told you, only one-thousand-thread-count sheets on the bed.”
The demoness rubbed her cheek and gave him a fearful look. “But my Lord, they are—”
“They are not!” Mammon shouted. He turned to pace about the large, luxurious tent that had been set up for him. Truly, he was growing impatient with this whole scene.
The demoness scrambled to her feet. For one moment he thought she would slink away, but then she stiffened her spine and addressed him again. “I checked the label myself. These are what you asked for.”
Mammon stared at her in mute amazement as fury fueled his veins in a fiery flood. No one ever dared talk back to him…not if they expected to live, that was. In fact, he almost admired her for her bravery. Almost.
Quick as a shot, he sped across the room and grabbed the demoness by her throat. She croaked in protest and closed her fingers over his in an effort to pry them away, but her strength was no match for his own. With a squeeze and a jerk, he twisted her neck, severing the tendons. He released her and she fell to the ground, sightless eyes staring up toward the tent’s ceiling.
His murderous rage faded as he examined the body of the demoness. He hadn’t taken her head, but the damage was so extensive that he wasn’t sure she would be coming back from this one. Pity. Now they would have to find a replacement for her.
“Guard,” he yelled. When one of his men, a brute boarg demon, entered the tent, he pointed at the demoness’s body. “Take her out, and those bed linens as well. Make sure someone returns with the correct bedding or it will be your head.”
The boarg demon gulped. “Yes, Lord.”
Mammon barely noticed as he gathered the body and linens, and then scurried away. He was too busy rethinking the wisdom of his decision to move his operations to the Valley. Even though this tent was the fanciest of its kind, more akin to a luxury cabin than a mere tent, the hotel suite had been so much more lavish. But it was only fitting that he begin his reign over Earth in such a powerful place. The message it would send to the world was a strong one. He would be the first king of all the Earth.
The only problem was that he’d expected it to happen already. Keegan had thrown a serious wrench in his plans by taking off with the heir, and he was truly annoyed about that.
“He’ll pay,” he muttered.
He was willing to admit that some small part of him had held out hope his sons would return to him once he began his rule over Earth. After all, he’d spent so much time cultivating them, breeding them for their specific abilities. He’d sired other half-blood children, of course…too many to count. The female offspring he’d automatically discounted. He’d needed strong sons, not weak women. But none of his sons had been as promising as those four, which was why he’d chosen them to come live with him. A few of the offspring he’d kept track of over the years had seemed equally strong, but they had been less than perfect for other reasons. Like the half-breed vampire. He shuddered at the memory of the child’s cold, observant eyes. Even though it had been an infant, Mammon could tell it would one day become too difficult to control. But he’d never expected that of Keegan, Ronin, Taeg, or Dagan.
The simple fact was that Mammon had thought he would be able to mold in his image the four sons he’d collected, to use their abilities for his benefit. They would have been his ultimate weapons. That they had betrayed him, slipping away in the night and seeking protection as employees of the Council, still infuriated him. If there was one thing he regretted, it was losing control the night they’d fled. He’d almost killed two of them. But they shouldn’t have left him. They were his sons. If it hadn’t behooved him at the time to continue his role as adviser to the Council, he would have collected them straightaway, and damn the consequences. Yet he hadn’t been ready to do that then.
And now…now they were as good as dead to him. All was not lost, however. Once he took the place of the Council, he would simply make more. His position would allow him to garner the most gifted females of each species. And this next time, he would take a firmer hand to ensure that his sons never questioned their loyalty to him. Clearly he’d been far too lenient on his sons.
“Damnation.” He stalked over to the small, elegantly decorated dining table that had been set up in one corner of the massive tent
and furiously swept all the expensive china off it. The dishes clattered to the floor, shattering into tiny bits.
Being a scientist, as well as a former adviser to the Council, had certainly had its upside. He’d discovered during one of his Earth assignments that demons possessed the ability to communicate telepathically with humans through their dreams, a process he’d termed dreamscaping. How easy it had been to withhold that information from the Council, which made it a potential tool—one he’d used on Brynn. But he hadn’t been able to dreamscape with her since the night she’d fled with Keegan, and now it was as if she slept too deeply for him to reach her.
Even though she’d likely already realized she had been communicating with him through her dreams, he still wanted to visit with her. Humans could be so amazingly foolish when it came to inadvertently imparting information in their sleep.
No matter. He would find her sooner or later. Or he would find a way to make her come to him.
Mammon strode out of his tent, ignoring the guards that snapped to attention as he sought a good view of the Great Pyramid. When he was king, he would use his slaves to build a monument ten times larger than this. It would become the symbol for his might, an object that struck fear in the hearts of all Otherworlders. Because they would know that, unless they obeyed his every command, he’d be coming for them, too. Eventually they would come to thrive under his rule. They would realize that, unlike the Council, he knew best.
Mammon smiled.
It wouldn’t be long now. Whether she knew it or not, Brynn was as good as his.
Chapter Twenty-two
When Brynn awoke, she was lying in bed alone. But the door to the bedroom was open, and Keegan’s whistled tune carried all the way from downstairs. He sounded happy. Arching her back into a deep stretch, she let out a wide grin. She could relate.
Her achy muscles protested when she sat up. Lord, she was tender.
Keegan had felt badly about the way he had made love to her last night. He thought he’d been too rough with her, no matter her assurances to the contrary. In fact, he’d only become convinced otherwise after she’d thrown him onto his back and straddled him this morning, riding him so hard that they’d both almost passed out.