Eternal Rider

by Larissa Ione

  “Thinking about how lucky I am.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” He lifted his head, feeling nervous and weird and flustered. Definitely not like him, but since meeting Cara, he’d felt a lot of things he wasn’t used to. “This has been the best month of my life.” Even though they were still seeking Limos’s agimortus while putting out Pestilence’s fires all over the globe, he and Cara had made this island their paradise, their sanctuary.

  And Cara had turned his life upside down in the best way possible.

  “I’ve never been this happy,” Cara murmured.

  “Good. Because I have something to ask you.” His mouth was so dry he barely got that last part out. Before she could say anything, he dropped to one knee. “I always thought this was a stupid custom, but I want to do it. I want to honor your time and traditions.”

  Her hand came up to her mouth, and her eyes glistened, and he hoped to hell it wasn’t because she was horrified or upset.

  He flipped the box open with his thumb. “Will you marry me?”

  Cara’s sharp breath filled him with terror. Absolute, mind-numbing terror. He’d rather be bitten by one of her hellhounds than have her say no.

  “Ares… oh, that’s a beautiful ring.”

  It was a three-carat diamond set into the only thing he had of his human mother’s—a bronze band he’d had coated in platinum to strengthen it while keeping the original, uneven character. “I can get a different setting, or a bigger stone—”

  “No.” She sank to her knees to face him. “It’s perfect.”

  He swallowed. “Is that a yes?”

  She threw her arms around him and planted a big one on his lips. “Yes. Absolutely yes!”

  “Thank you, God,” he breathed, as she pulled back just enough to allow him to take the ring from the box and slip it onto her finger. It fit perfectly and looked right on her. So right.

  Cara wiggled her fingers, admiring the diamond as it glinted in the golden sunlight. Then she gave him a smile infused with sinfulness. “How secluded is this cove?”

  “Very.”

  “Then make love to me.”

  “So demanding,” he murmured, but he pushed aside her shoulder strap and licked her there, intending to work his way down.

  “I can be demanding,” she sighed, “when I know what I want.”

  “And what you want is me.”

  She pushed her dress down, exposing her breasts, and his breath caught. He doubted that would ever stop. “Here’s your answer.”

  “Good answer.” He groaned when she cupped his cock through his cargos.

  “It’ll always be my answer.”

  “Mine, too.” He framed her face in his hands and held her with his gaze. “Cara, you maneuvered your way into my life. My heart. I always believed that love crippled a warrior, but I fought harder for you than I’ve fought for anything else. You made me stronger. You conquered me, and now I want it all with you.”

  She gave him a naughty smile. “Checkmate. I win.”

  “Always.” He was lost to her.

  And he’d never been so happy to concede a battle.

  Half angel, half demon… She’s not for just any man.

  Please turn this page for a preview of

  Immortal Rider

  Available in December 2011.

  One

  Arik Wagner had to hand it to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; they threw one hell of a party.

  Three of them, did, anyway. The fourth, whose name had been Reseph before his Seal broke and he became Pestilence, had been laying low since his defeat at the hands of his siblings a month earlier. The asshole and his demon army were regrouping, no doubt, but for now, everyone was breathing a sigh of relief.

  Hence the party, which was part celebration for the victory, and part engagement party for Ares, also known as War, second Horseman of the Apocalypse, and his fiancée, Cara. Everyone who’d survived the battle had been invited to Ares’s Greek mansion, and Ares had also extended an invitation to the Underworld General staff, so most of Arik’s demon in-laws were here.

  Thanatos, the fourth Horseman—who would be Death when his Seal broke—bumped into Arik as he dove for a football someone had tossed from across the huge great room. “Watch it, asshole,” Arik muttered.

  “What’s the matter, human?” Thanatos punched him in the shoulder with the ball hard enough to make Arik step back. “Ping-Pong more your speed?”

  Arik shot Kynan Morgan, an old Army buddy who was now in charge of The Aegis, an ancient demon-slaying organization, a you-ready-to-go-or-what look, and Ky, who was deep in conversation with Ares, held up his finger. He and Arik had intended to stay no more than ten minutes, since Ky wanted to be with his wife, Gem, and their new baby. That was more than fine with Arik.

  If Arik spent another minute inside with these supernatural, superior asshats, he was going to slit his own throat. Also, if Limos, the drop-dead-gorgeous female Horseman, caught him leering at her one more time, she’d likely slit his throat for him.

  No one seemed to be paying any attention to him, so he strolled out of the house and into the cool night air. He’d always liked Greece, had visited a couple of times on military assignments. The food was good, the weather perfect, and the people weren’t assholes to Americans. Sure, the Greeks had a high concentration of demons living among them, but some of the oldest countries did. Demons, being extremely long-lived, if not immortal, had a tendency to stay in the places they knew well.

  They really weren’t all that adventurous. Pussies.

  He parked himself on a stone bench overlooking the sea. He could feel the piggy eyes of Ares’s Ramreel demon guards on him, but he ignored them and looked up into the heavens. The stars were bright tonight, their lights glittering against the pitch black sky. He smelled Limos before he heard her; the scent of coconut drifted in on a breeze and made his blood pump a little faster. Coconuts had never turned him on before, but then, the smell had never been attached to a red-hot female with hair the color of the midnight sky, either.

  “What are you doing?” Her soft, feminine voice was at odds with the warrior he knew she was, and he wondered how she sounded in bed. Did she hold on to her female side, or did she play rough, dominant, letting the fighter in her take over?

  “Just needed some fresh air.”

  “Why?”

  Because you were making me crazy. “Just did.”

  “Wanna fight?”

  He blinked. “What?”

  She came around in front of him. Her knees touched his, and her Hawaiian dress, violet, to match her eyes, swirled around her shapely ankles, flapping at his boots. “I sense agitation in you. Want to let some out? A little hand-to-hand?”

  Jesus. Okay, yeah, she might sense some tension in him, but it wasn’t because he wanted to draw blood. He wanted to get naked, and the weird thing was, he imagined getting that way with her. All he’d have to do would be to fist that dress, hike it up over her hips, and he’d be at eye level with her most private place. Would she let him go down on her? What would she taste like? Did that coconut scent permeate everything? Because he fucking loved coconut.

  Somehow, he scrounged up enough self-control to put his hands on her waist and set her aside so he could stand. “I don’t want to let anything out.” Except my dick. She’d probably kill him if she knew what he was thinking.

  He started for the house, because he was going to drag Kynan out of there if he had to, but naturally, Limos would have none of that. These Horsemen seemed to have a huge sense of entitlement.

  “Stop.” She grabbed his elbow and swung him around. “I’ll let you throw the first punch,” she cajoled, with a waggle of raven brows.

  He leaned down and stared her in the eyes. “I don’t hit girls.”

  It was the wrong thing to say… which was why he said it. Half a second later, he found himself flat on his back, with her flip-flopped foot on his neck. “See,” she said brightly, “that is why I was offerin
g to give you the first throw. At least this time I didn’t break your ribs.”

  “Wow,” he said. “Do you emasculate all the men, or am I special?”

  Her sensual lips curved into an amused smile. “Oh, you’re special, but I wouldn’t take that as a compliment.”

  “I can see up your dress.” It wasn’t true, but the way her eyes went wide, and she started to sputter… totally worth the way she scrambled to gather her dress and squash his windpipe a little more. He brought his hands up to grasp her ankle, his intention to lift it to give him some room to breathe, but her skin was so soft he ended up just lingering like that.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped, and he smiled.

  “Nothing.” He smoothed his thumb up and down the side of her leg, in the sensitive place where the ankle met the calf. Her muscles were firm, her skin silky, and man, he wanted to slide his hands up more. But he had her where he wanted her—off guard. Now to take it one step further…

  “You,” he purred, “are a HILF.”

  “A what?”

  “Horseman I’d like to fuck.”

  With a yank, he tugged her leg out from under her, and at the same time, he twisted so she came down on top of him instead of on the ground, breaking her fall. She looked so startled, so utterly disbelieving that he’d bested her, that she lay motionless on his chest, mouth open, staring at him.

  God, she was gorgeous. And that mouth… made to make a man beg for mercy. So he kissed her. Didn’t even realize he’d done it until his lips were on hers. He hadn’t thought she could be any more shocked, but her eyebrows shot up so far it would have been comical if he hadn’t been rocking his head up to put them into a more serious kiss. That was the thing about him—no half-measures. He might not have realized he was kissing her, but once he did? He was taking it as far as she’d let him go.

  Command and conquer.

  For a brief, sweet moment, she kissed him back. Her lips softened and her tongue met his, hesitantly, as though she wasn’t sure what she was doing but wanted to take what she could as fast as she could. And then, his world turned upside down.

  Limos reared back, and with what he was pretty sure was all her strength, she slammed her fist into his cheek. Pain spiderwebbed across his face, along every bone, through every tooth. He’d been tasting her, and now he was tasting his own blood.

  “What the hell?” he shouted… or at least, he tried to shout. His words were mushy, thanks to his mashed lips, cut tongue, and, likely, badly fractured jaw and cheekbones. He heard something more like, “Nut da bell.”

  “You kissed me.” She backed away so fast she lost her flip-flops. “You fucking bastard, you kissed me!”

  Son-of-a—

  All around him, the ground began to rumble, and then there were giant, spiny arms punching up out of the dirt. Hands seized him, a dozen maybe. Agony wrenched through him as his limbs were twisted and pulled, and his skin was shredded.

  Consciousness became a fluid thing, something he couldn’t quite reach. His vision went dark, but his ears still worked, and before they shut down, he heard Limos’s panicked voice, but what she said made no sense.

  “Don’t say my name, Arik. No matter what they do to you, don’t speak my name!”

  Limos was utterly frozen, terrified in a way she had never, ever been. And given that she was five thousand years old, that was saying something.

  Her brothers and Kynan charged out of the house, weapons drawn, and then they skidded to a halt.

  “Jesus Christ,” Kynan shouted. “What the fuck? Arik!”

  “Limos!” Thanatos tugged her against him, and she realized she’d been moving toward the behemoths that had grabbed Arik and were dragging him down into the earth.

  “He kissed me.” She said the same thing over and over, her voice a high-pitched, terrified wail.

  Wordlessly, Ares produced a blade, and in one smooth motion, launched it at Arik. Limos’s first instinct was to stop him, but the blade was already in the air, on a course for Arik’s heart.

  The whistle of an arrow cut the night, and Ares’s dagger shattered. Pestilence, his ice-blue eyes glowing in the light of the moon, stood near the cliff, his bow in hand, a satisfied smile on his face. “You’ll thank me later, sis.”

  Thanatos roared in fury, and a black, furry blur streaked past them both. Before Hal, Cara’s hellhound protector, reached Pestilence, he opened a portable Harrowgate and stepped through it.

  He was gone, and when Limos turned back to Arik, he was gone, too. The only sign that he’d been there was blood in the sand.

  “What the fuck just happened?” Kynan rounded on Ares. “Why did you try to kill him, you cocksucker?”

  Limos couldn’t speak. Funny how she’d been screaming incoherently, but now she couldn’t dredge up a single word. Ares, for his part, stayed calm despite the fact that Kynan had called him a cocksucker and was now fisting his shirt and snarling in his face.

  “He kissed Limos,” Ares said, his voice rough as sandpaper. Maybe he wasn’t as calm as she thought. “She wasn’t allowed to give her affections to a male in any way.”

  Kynan released Ares to turn his murderous glare on Limos. “Explain.”

  There were still no words. None. The night, which she’d always hated because it reminded her so much of Sheoul, closed in on her. How could Arik have done that? How dare he think it was okay to kiss her, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? And how long could she go on blaming him, when she had wanted it just as badly?

  “Goddammit, someone fucking answer me!”

  “We told you that Limos is to become Satan’s bride,” Thanatos said. “But not until her Seal breaks, she’s captured in Sheoul, or until she does something to make him jealous.”

  “Okay,” Kynan growled, “so the big guy is jealous. Why is she still here but Arik is gone?”

  “Because it’s not that simple. The Dark Lord can’t have her until the male who incited the jealousy utters her name while in agony.”

  Kynan swallowed loud enough for her to hear. “So he’s still alive? Where?”

  “Hell,” Limos rasped. “Arik is in hell.”

  Glossary

  The Aegis— Society of human warriors dedicated to protecting the world from evil. See: Guardians, Regent, Sigil.

  Agimortus— A trigger for the breaking of the Horsemen’s Seals. An agimortus can be identified as a symbol engraved or branded upon the host person or object. Three kinds of agimorti have been identified, and may take the form of a person, an object, or an event.

  Daemonica— The demon bible and basis for dozens of demon religions. Its prophesies regarding the Apocalypse, should they come to pass, will ensure that the Four Horsemen fight on the side of evil.

  Fallen angel— Believed to be evil by most humans, fallen angels can be grouped into two categories: True Fallen and Unfallen. Unfallen angels have been cast from Heaven and are earthbound, living a life in which they are neither truly good nor truly evil. In this state, they can, rarely, earn their way back into Heaven. Or they can choose to enter Sheoul, the demon realm, in order to complete their fall and become True Fallens, taking their places as demons at Satan’s side.

  Guardians— Warriors for The Aegis, trained in combat techniques, weapons, and magic. Upon induction into The Aegis, all Guardians are presented with an enchanted piece of jewelry bearing the Aegis shield, which, among other things, allows for night vision and the ability to see through demon invisibility enchantments.

  Harrowgate— Vertical portals, invisible to humans, which demons use to travel between locations on Earth and Sheoul. A very few beings can summon their own, personal Harrowgates.

  Khote— An invisibility spell that allows the caster to move among humans without being seen or, usually, heard.

  Marked Sentinel— A human charmed by angels and tasked with protecting a vital artifact. Sentinels are immortal and immune to harm. Only angels (fallen included) can injure or kill a Sentinel. Their existence is a closely gua
rded secret.

  Quantamun— A state of superaccelerated existence on a plane that allows some supernatural beings to travel among humans. Humans, unaware of what moves within their world, appear frozen in time to those inside the quantamun. This differs from the khote in that the khote operates real time and is a spell rather than a plane of existence.

  Regent— Head(s) of local Aegis cells.

  Sheoul— Demon realm. Located deep in the bowels of the earth, accessible only by Harrowgates and hellmouths.

  Sheoul-gra— A holding tank for demon souls. The place where demon souls go until they can be reborn or kept in torturous limbo.

  Sheoulic— Universal demon language spoken by all, though many species speak their own language.

  Sigil— Board of twelve humans known as Elders, who serve as the supreme leaders of The Aegis. Based in Berlin, they oversee all Aegis cells worldwide.

  Ter’taceo— Demons who can pass as human, either because their species is naturally human in appearance or because they can shapeshift into human form.

  Watchers— Individuals assigned to keep an eye on the Four Horsemen. As part of the agreement forged during the original negotiations between angels and demons that led to Ares, Reseph, Limos, and Thanatos being cursed to spearhead the Apocalypse, one Watcher is an angel, the other is a fallen angel. Neither Watcher may directly assist any Horseman’s efforts to either start or stop Armageddon, but they can lend a hand behind the scenes. Doing so, however, may have them walking a fine line, that, to cross, could prove worse than fatal.

  Table of Contents

  Front Cover Image

  Welcome

  Acknowledgments

  A Preview of Immortal Rider

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six