The heat inside the barrier was intense, but not as hot as it should have been. As in, she wasn’t melting and her skin wasn’t blistering.
“Blaine’s controlling the heat.” Jarvis grabbed her sickle then scooped her up. He cradled her against his body, squeezing tightly, as if he were relieved to feel her alive. Reina took a deep breath and let herself lean against him, taking a moment to regroup as he held her.
“Blaine can’t hold the circle for long.” Jarvis carried Reina across the carpet toward Augustus. The assassin’s soul was fainter now, and she knew he was pulling it back into his body. She had seconds left to cleave it.
Jarvis set her beside Augustus and squeezed her waist for encouragement. “Do it.”
The Godfather reached Natalie. “Hey, baby, I’ve got you. Come to me, sweetheart.”
Natalie stirred, and her eyes flickered open. “You’re okay?”
“Yeah, for you.” He bent his head and kissed her, and suddenly Natalie was kissing him back so fiercely, the pavement started to melt beneath them.
“Down, boy, down!” Trinity kicked at the Godfather’s pawing hands. “For God’s sake, wait until you can get a hotel room. Reina! Would you take out Augustus already so Blaine can drop his circle? I need to get to the plant so my mom can get us out of here.”
“Yeah—” Reina felt panic start to build. Dammit. She needed to focus. Needed to clear her head—
Jarvis took Reina’s face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Sometimes, the purest thing you can do is murder someone,” he said. “You’re doing the right thing.”
She saw the truth in his eyes and clung to it. He believed in her and in her choices. He might be a warrior who had no problem with killing, but he was ruthlessly loyal and the protector of others, and if he thought she was doing the right thing, then she saw.
She took a deep breath and accepted his support, let it settle in her heart. “You’re right, I know you’re right.” She looked at Augustus’s soul, and in the white mist, she saw the faces of all the women in her family, all the ones she’d ever loved, who had all died. They had been innocent. Natalie was innocent. And it was time for the innocent to win.
And she knew she could do it.
She grabbed the sickle from Jarvis and swung it as hard as she could. The blade hit the base of the white smoky fountain and bounced off. “Oh, no—”
“You’re almost halfway through.” Jarvis pointed to a crack in the vanilla funnel. “Hit it right there again, and it’ll be good.”
“Okay.” She gritted her teeth, tried not to think about what she was doing, and reared back to swing. And as the blade came down, she was hit with the horrifying, delightful, magnificent, self-loathing knowledge that she was going to reap her first soul.
***
The pleasure of seeing Reina achieving her goal was somewhat diminished by the raw agony in her eyes. Jarvis wasn’t used to women who so clearly felt bad about inflicting pain, death, and hell on others. Who knew that kind of anguish in a female’s eyes was such a turn on?
He was adding it to his list of “must haves” on his online dating profile after he exploded and went to the Afterlife. Assuming they had dating there. But hell. What woman could compare with the reality of Reina? Her courage, her passion, and her love for her sister? No one. Reina was it. His only moment in the sunshine, and he was going to enjoy every damn minute in her presence.
He smiled encouragingly at her, supporting her in the endeavor of her heart. “Lovely job, sweetheart.” He grabbed the soul and held it out, like a ribbon, for Reina to cut.
She took a deep breath. “Okay.” She brought the scythe down with impressive force for a woman who was so horrified by what she was about to do. The blade was inches away—
She suddenly dropped the scythe and collapsed to her knees. “Oh, my darling, Augustus! I’m so sorry I almost hurt you.”
Jarvis blinked at her abdication. “What are you doing?”
She wrapped her arms around Augustus and pressed her cheek against his chest. “Oh, sweet man, tell me you’re okay. I could never go on if I knew I stripped the world of a man of your lethal capabilities. You’re magnificent, and I cherish your spirit and the challenge you bring to my life.” She kissed his forehead. “When you recover, please let me buy you dinner.”
“Reina!” Jarvis grabbed her arm, trying to pry her off the crusty old man. What in hell’s name was going on? Yeah, she was a softy in her heart, and he’d been half-expecting her to drop the scythe, but going on a hug-fest with the scumbag made no sense. Had the man hit her with some magic spell or something? “Let go of him—”
“No!” She pushed Jarvis away and focused a loving, adoring gaze on Augustus. The kind of dotty expression one might expect when a woman looked up on a cute little puppy or a newborn baby. It was pure, unabating love. For Augustus? Jealousy ripped through him, and he unsheathed his sword, sudden rage burning through him. He recognized it as hate, and he embraced it, sending it all onto the sniveling bastard who was stealing his woman’s affection and love when all he deserved was her antipathy and—
Love? Love? “Holy crap.” There was only one being on this earth that could force Reina to love a man as despicable as Augustus. The Guardian of Love. Jarvis grabbed Reina away from Augustus and tucked her protectively against him, then vaulted to his feet. He shielded his eyes against the smoke, searching for the man he knew had to be there. “Cameron!” he yelled. “Where are you?”
Out of the flames stepped the Guardian of Love.
***
His brother had never looked so good.
And that was a very, very big problem.
Cam strode past the flames, wearing an Armani suit, slicked back hair, calf-leather shoes, and a huge ass diamond in his ear. Cam, a vegan who wore only synthetic materials so no plants or animals would be harmed in the creation of his wardrobe. Cam, the man who would spend hours stretched out in the mud so he could be one with the song of the bullfrog.
Cam was now a player. A money-grubbing sophisticate who had clearly abdicated from the lifestyle and morals that had made him worthy of protecting love.
Cameron was studying Natalie and the Godfather with great interest, and hadn’t even noticed Jarvis. Again, not an indication that his brother was in alignment with his spirit. “Cameron!”
But his brother didn’t hear him and walked closer to the dating duo, a fascinated look on his face.
“There you go,” Reina crooned to Augustus, hanging over Jarvis’s arm in an attempt to get closer to her new crush. “Your soul will be back in a minute.”
“Shit.” Reina was going to lose her chance. No way was he going to let her down. She’d worked too hard for this moment, and he was going to give it to her.
Jarvis grabbed Reina’s sickle and blasted it through Augustus’s fading soul. A deafening scream filled the air. The weapon turned silver and then disintegrated in his hand as Augustus’s soul slipped back into this body.
“Oh, no! The sickle!” Reina lunged for the particles, but they sifted through her fingers and disappeared. The sickle was gone. Utterly destroyed. Her face was stricken. “I can’t get another one. I can’t reap a soul without it.”
Oh, shit. He’d screwed up. “Reina, I’m so sorry—” Searing pain suddenly ripped through Jarvis’s body and he staggered. He looked down at the hand he’d used to wield the sickle and saw that the skin was blistering and sloughing off. “Jesus.”
“You’ve been poisoned.” Reina grabbed his hand and flipped it over so she could look at it. He expected her touch to provide relief like it always did, but there was nothing. Just more pain, and the beast within continued to get stronger. He was too far gone.
“No one can wield a Death weapon except for an authorized person,” Reina said. “It helps prevent theft and the unauthorized use of our reaping technology. Nigel! Help!”
Jarvis’s body was throbbing so much it kind of reminded him of the time Angelica had tested radioactive acid on
his skin to see what his pain threshold was. “Mother of hell.”
“I got this one covered.” Nigel burst through a break in the flames. “The doctor is in.” He glanced at Natalie in the Godfather’s arms, and his face darkened. “That girl deserves better,” he snapped.
“Nigel!” Jarvis barked. “Get your ass over here!”
Nigel jerked his gaze off the ravenous couple and crouched beside Jarvis and grabbed his hands. He frowned as he studied Jarvis’s rapidly disintegrating skin that was turning into a ghastly shade of green. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen this before.”
“He’s been infected with death.” Reina knelt beside him. “We need to get it out of him.”
“I’d agree that would be a good plan.” As Nigel began to work on him, Jarvis hunched over, struggling to contain the hell ripping through his shields, stripping him of everything sane, of everything human, of everything living. Hate began to build, filling the vacuum left behind by the death sweeping his body. “Cameron,” Jarvis gasped, his voice hoarse. “It’s time.”
Napoleon burst through the flames that were clearly a defense only against humans. Blaine was getting soft. Never the same after he’d been murdered by his own girlfriend, apparently. “There you are, you wife-stealer!” Napoleon sprinted across the clearing and shook Augustus’s limp shoulder. “Tell me where Angelica is!”
Jarvis fought for consciousness, barely aware of Reina and Nigel working him over. “Cameron,” he snapped. “For hell’s sake, it’s me. Your brother.”
Cameron’s gaze finally flicked to Jarvis. He blinked. “Jarvis?”
“Yeah, man. I’m going over the edge. Help me out.”
“Help you?” Cameron strode across the clearing in the fire and crouched before him. “You son of a bitch. You left us.”
“I sacrificed myself to save your life. Angelica wanted you.” He gritted his teeth against the fresh onslaught of pain. “Took me instead. So you could be free.”
“Free? Is that what you call it?” Cam squatted as Jarvis’s knees buckled. “Free to watch my own father go off the deep end, terrified for his favorite son? His love for you broke him. The more I tried to save him, the more he wanted to die. I was alone at age eight, you heartless bastard!”
Jarvis’s stomach began to burn. His lungs seared. He couldn’t breathe. The pain was everywhere, the fury, the self-loathing. “Dad’s dead?”
“Yes, he is, brother dear. He tried to fill his heart by finding true love. He married the most wonderful woman, and then she died, too, and that was it. Too much loss of those he loved. He killed himself.”
Jarvis grabbed his brother’s shirt and yanked him down. “Why didn’t you save him? Why didn’t you fill him with love, you son of a bitch?”
“Love was what killed him!” Cam shoved Jarvis off him. “Don’t you get it? Love broke him! Love kills, big brother. Love doesn’t save.”
Shit. How had this happened? Everything was supposed to have worked out when he protected his brother. But he’d fucked it all up. He was supposed to save and protect his family, but somehow they’d all lost without him. His dad dead? Cameron insane? Jesus.
Pain knifed though his gut and he doubled over, gripping his stomach as the hatred spewed through him. Reina set her hands on his forehead, and he fought to concentrate on the coolness of her touch, but he couldn’t access it. Things were raging too wildly inside him. Couldn’t control it.
“But my new mentor has shown me the light.” Cameron leapt to his feet and raised his arms above his head. “I accept that love kills,” he shouted. “I kill!”
Reina grabbed Cam’s arm. “Guardian of Love,” she shouted. “Save your damn brother, now!”
“No!” Cameron began to hula dance in time to the crackling of the flames that Blaine was still holding up. “Let the hate explode! Let it fill the world! It’s not going to hurt anything. Fear is what destroys the world. Love saves it. I am love, I am death, I am everything. I am world peace!”
Jarvis fought to make sense of what his brother was saying, but his mind was scattered. His brain was snapping under the onslaught. Blind hate. Mindless rage. Fighting to take him. “Cameron,” he gasped. “World peace starts with saving the earth from me.”
Reina grabbed Cam’s wrist and tugged hard. “Hey! He needs your help! Stop the hate!”
Cam flung her to the side, and Reina stumbled over her sister and the Godfather, who were still making out. She landed on her knees with a yelp of pain that eviscerated the last shred of humanity still within Jarvis.
Jarvis swore and grabbed for his sword. He ripped it out of the scabbard and had it at his brother’s throat, fury coursing his body like he’d never felt before. “Never touch her like that again.” Pain was bleeding through every pore of Jarvis’s body, he could feel the poison racing through him, but it couldn’t stop him. He was too angry. Too crazy.
Nigel moved up beside him. “Stand down, Jarvis,” he said quietly. Calmly. “Pull your shit together. You can do it.”
“Back off,” Jarvis snarled. It was too late for Nigel to save him. He would poison Nigel if his teammate tried to touch him. “Get away from me.”
“See? You fear that I’m hurting her. That’s what drives the world. Fear of loved ones dying.” Cameron grabbed the blade of Jarvis’s sword, and the sword began to glow black with hate. What the hell? His brother wasn’t taking away the anger? “Think of it, brother. What if Death came in the form of love? It becomes a gift.” Cameron held up his hands, as if he were painting a mural in the sky. “Death no longer becomes something to fear, and without fear, we have peace on earth.” He bowed. “Love’s assassin, at your service. Pleased to save the world. Launch, Friday night at midnight. Tickets are on sale for a hundred thousand per head.”
Jarvis stared at his brother, sudden realization plunging through the disabled rut of his brain. “You’re the assassin Death is launching this weekend.” Son of a bitch. Cam was the one he’d promised to help Reina find investors and victims for. He shot a sharp look at Reina, who was struggling to her feet. “Did you know this?”
“No, of course not—” She caught his glance and her face paled. “Your eyes are so black. You’ve got to stop.” She reached for Jarvis, then Augustus grabbed her ankle and hauled her back toward his carriage.
A new, lethal fury arose inside Jarvis at the sight of that bastard hurting his woman. He shoved his ranting brother aside and sprinted toward Augustus. “Leave her alone.” The snarl coming out Jarvis’s throat was foreign, a noise in the distance.
Augustus whipped out a pink star. Jarvis knocked it out of the air before it hit him. It careened across the area and smacked Cam in the chest.
Cam sucked in his breath. “Oh, dear lord, almighty! That really hurts!”
“Stop!” Napoleon leapt in front of Jarvis. “You can’t kill Augustus before I’ve found Angelica.” Napoleon hurled something small and black out at Jarvis, and amber smoke filled the air. Rich, luxurious, decadent filth that caked Jarvis’s lungs. A black magic spell?
He didn’t care. He didn’t stop. He had to find Reina. He had to prevent Augustus from taking her.
He charged forward, swinging blindly, recklessly abandoning all the strategic thought he’d been trained in. He barely heard Nigel shouting at him to cease. He scarcely felt the swing of his weapon as he thrust to where Augustus had last been.
But he felt the moment his sanity completely snapped and he became the monster he’d been fighting against his whole life.
Oh, yeah. He felt that.
Chapter 15
You know, there were times when it made a girl feel snuggly to have a man lose it at the sight of her in danger.
When that man was the Guardian of Hate and he was emerging out of a black cloud with a look on his face that said there wasn’t much left of the man, well, there wasn’t exactly time to enjoy the moment.
He jammed his sword through Augustus’s chest, and the assassin dropped Reina, stumbling as Jarvis yanked the
sword out and reared back for a second strike.
“Trinity!” Nigel tackled Jarvis from behind. “Take him with you! He’s going over the edge. We need to get him out of here.”
“I can help him.” Reina could see Nigel was losing the containment battle. Jarvis was too strong and too insane. “Go heal Cam before he dies. I’ll take care of Jarvis.”
“You can’t—”
“I can! Just help me get him to the plant.” Reina threw herself against Jarvis. He bellowed and his arms snapped around her. His grip was tight, almost smothering her, and she fought for breath even as she wrapped her arms around him. “Take us, Trin.”
“Blaine!” Trinity shouted. “Let me out!”
The wall of flames split, opening a path to the geranium. “I need to get Natalie,” Trinity said. “Can you knock them out again?”
Reina powdered the nearly copulating duo and they both passed out, the Godfather facedown on Natalie’s half-exposed breast, her hands frozen in his hair.
“Damn, girl, I’m so glad you have your mojo back.” Trinity shoved the Godfather aside and dragged Natalie across the pavement. “Hurry! The flames are getting lower. Blaine’s running out of steam.”
Jarvis hooked Reina under his arm, raised his sword, and charged Augustus. Jarvis’s skin was burning, sizzling, crackling with fire, and he hadn’t appeared to notice that Augustus no longer had Reina or that the assassin was sitting on his butt, trying to heal the sword wound. He was going for the kill anyway, and that would deprive Reina of the chance to cleave Augustus’s soul properly.
“Stop, you crazy fuck!” Nigel jumped in Jarvis’s path and braced himself for the charge. “We’re not letting you die, you bastard!”
“I’m ready. Bring him over here.” Trinity was at the geranium with Natalie.
Um, yeah, sort of hard to do when she was being carted along like arm candy on a murder mission. She punched his ribs. “Jarvis! Stop!”
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