But he couldn’t think of anything—surrounded by Ignis demon guards, his magical bag of tricks reduced to useless powders after that nullifying spell had hit him. And it wasn’t like his cousin, Seraphina, or Hades was here right now to help him.
Just do it.
She’ll come back.
He didn’t know why he believed that so strongly, but he did.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Her golden gaze met his, serious, scared.
His fingertips grazed her cheek lightly…and her skin, it was Heaven must feel like. Soft, pliant, and warm. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the experience of it.
She screamed as his toxin burned through her skin. Her body arched, and agony flooded his system as he watched her pain. Her knees gave out and he lurched forward, catching her in his bound hands.
“Get away,” she moaned, eyes glazed from the toxin. “Or you will die, too.”
“Not going to let you suffer alone.” He didn’t know that came from, or why he was willing to stare death in the face...just as her body turned to molten lava. Flames roared around them, engulfing them both.
His world shattered.
Every thought, every experience, every second of his life was laid bare as the flames consumed them. Hers, too. He saw her childhood, her capture, her revenge.
And he reveled in it. For a heartbeat of time, he felt everything she did, and she him. Her pain, his wonder. Her desire, his lust.
And then she was gone.
No.
He crouched on the stone floor, arms empty, a pile of shimmering, gold-flecked ashes at his feet. The guards who’d been standing near them had vanished, no more than specks of grease floating in the air. They hadn’t made it. No one near them had.
Half the soldiers that had flanked the king were gone, too—had they come to try and help their comrades?
Mechanically, Godric bent down, as if to collect himself. Somehow, his pants had survived the fire. He hadn’t really thought the dragon skin would withstand it, but he’d come prepared, anyway. Asha had insisted.
How he was alive, he didn’t know.
Or rather, he did know, he just didn’t want to acknowledge what it meant.
Not if she didn’t come back.
She has to come back.
Because this wasn’t just a job anymore.
No.
This was a matter of life and death.
His life and death.
Chapter 9
Dying was a strange thing.
One moment, you were alive, usually in agony, just before darkness swept over you. Then you hovered in a gray expanse of nothing. True nothing. She’d always had to fight to try and find the light; to swim her way back to life.
But this time, this time she’d felt tethered to the world, and finding her way back had been easy. The easiest it had ever been.
Maybe that’s the true death. Never finding your way back.
She did a quick assessment: all limbs intact, her clothes gone, and her hair felt shorter.
She opened her eyes, her gaze finding the cool gray of her Mortus demon’s irises.
Mine.
The thought sprang unbidden, but it settled into her, sinking into her bones, becoming fused with every cell in her body.
Godric was her destined mate.
He’d never told her his name, but in those moments when death had claimed her, she’d learned all there was to know about her Mortus. And she’d liked what she’d seen: his cunning nature, his ruthlessness, the fact he had his own moral code. His strange sense of whimsy.
“You’re alive,” he breathed, reaching forward, as if to touch her cheek. But he stopped just before he made skin contact, his gloves gone.
She closed the distance, her hand grasping his.
There was no pain, just a sense of rightness, of completeness. Her gaze dropped to his lips. She was going to kiss him, then fuck him senseless, until her body was imprinted on his. Until he understood that he was hers. Forever.
The king’s voice burst through the room, shattering the moment. “You’re mates?”
Kara turned to the king, then stood, still holding Godric’s hand. Damn, it felt good.
Godric raised an eyebrow. “Clearly.”
“Get them!” the king shouted.
The remaining guards sprung toward them.
Kara dropped Godric’s hand, her claws slicing out. She wasn’t a fighter by nature, but she could spar with the best of them. And she had a few tricks up her sleeve. Or well, she would have, if her clothes had survived her death. Godric didn’t have any weapons either, and she moved back-to-back with him as the guards approached, the clanking of their armor menacing.
Godric dodged a fist to the face and struck out with a knife hand, slamming it against a guard’s throat. The guard was screaming before he hit the floor, the toxin doing its work. Godric killed two more in quick succession, their shrieks of pain echoing through the chamber, before he took their weapons and turned them on the other demons.
She should have felt sorry for them, she supposed; she knew now how much Mortus toxin could hurt. But she doubted she’d ever feel anything other than hatred for the Ignis.
The guards mostly focused on Godric, assuming he was the greatest threat , but one took a swing at her, a cocky grin on his face. She blocked the punch, her left arm snaking out and raking his belly open with her claws. His mouth opened in a silent scream as fire erupted from his wounds, burning him from the inside out.
He might be a fire demon, but he was no match for a Phoenix’s power.
Two more approached, wary this time. But they still underestimated her.
In a manner of moments, the remaining guards were dead.
Godric spun to her. “Fuck, that was so hot. The way you cut them up with your claws.”
She leaped at him, her arms twining around his neck, her mouth slamming against his. There was no time for finesse, for care. Their kiss was a starving thing, one born of hunger and lust and rage. Their tongues dueled, and the naked skin of her body pressed against his chest, her breasts tingling and her core growing damp, ready for him.
“Get a fucking room.”
Kara pulled away from Godric.
Fuck.
They’d forgotten about the king.
Godric looked over her shoulder. “We’re in a room.”
“Get a different room.”
“Gladly. But don’t you have a vendetta to settle?” Godric held her to him, like she weighed nothing.
It was awesome.
“My family always said that Kara was destined to be the mate of my great-great etc. father, but that she killed him before he could seal the deal, so to speak.”
She pushed herself from Godric’s arms, needing to see the Ignis demon’s face.
The king continued, staring at her, his gaze careful not to dip down below her chin. “But she can’t have been his mate, if she’s yours.”
“It was because of the prophecy,” Kara said.
“That the fire of a Phoenix would shape our line,” he murmured.
“And it has.” She shrugged. “But not in the way they imagined.”
The king laughed then, the sound twisted. “But why keep killing us?”
“Because you’re all sick fuckers who rape and hurt people. I saw enough when I was held captive that I couldn’t stand to think your family would keep doing it to others. And there were so damned many of you.”
It hadn’t all been about revenge.
Just a lot of it.
But she wasn’t about to say that to him.
“Not all of them—”
“All of them. And I didn’t kill that last one.” She jerked her thumb at her mate. “He did.”
Godric inclined his head. “He raped the wrong man’s kid.”
The Ignis demon shoved a hand through his hair. “I want you dead for what you’ve done to my family, bu
t I can see there may have been another side to the story...”
“If you swear a blood oath to leave me be, I’ll return the favor.” It was more than she’d ever been willing to give before, but she had a mate now. Things had changed.
The king stared at them both for a few seconds, as if weighing his options.
“Deal.”
Chapter 10
“Are you sure we can’t fuck first, then meet this Asha Himm?”
Damn, his mate made a persuasive argument, but Godric wasn’t about to risk pissing off Hades’ P.A.
He avoided her eyes. “I need to give her something.”
“My ashes.” Her hand reached up to her pink hair, to the chin-length locks. When she’d been reborn, they’d come back shorter than before. He didn’t know if that was normal or not.
And man, he really did want to delay seeing the crazy-ass P.A. Wanted nothing more than to strip his newly dressed mate and taste every inch of her, run his hands all over her delectable skin.
But business came first, because he had the rest of his life to enjoy Kara.
“Your ashes,” he confirmed.
“Lucky you only took a small portion.”
The blood drained from his face. “What do you mean?”
“The haircut.” She tugged on her hair. “When someone takes our ashes, it takes a part of us, too. It’s a secret. And its why we don’t sell our ashes.”
“But you said you had some...”
“From my dead family. Collected after their final deaths.”
Fuck. He was such as asshole. What if he’d collected too much when he’d swiped up the small pile after she died?
“Don’t stress,” she said. “If you’d taken too much, I could just die again, you could return some, and then I would come back whole.”
“That’s not a good solution.”
“But it is a solution.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. Fuck, he loved the feel of her pressed against him. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to it.
“I’m sorry.” It was surprising how easy those words had been to say. And he’d done it twice now. He never apologized normally. It went against his nature.
“I don’t mind a haircut. It will grow back.” She kissed him. Hungry, needy, passionate.
He groaned as he pulled away. “We have to meet her in ten minutes, and I don’t want our first time to be a quick fuck in a hotel room.”
Sure, the hotel room was hers, but that was beside the point.
She pouted then laughed. “Fine. But you better follow through. I want this curse gone.”
“Curse?”
“Oh yeah.” She sashayed away from him. “Some witch cursed me centuries ago that I could only have sex with my mate. Flirted with the wrong guy, you know how it is.”
“You’re a virgin?”
“That’s what you take away from that?” Her laugh warmed the room.
Heat rose to his cheeks. Fuck. He was blushing.
“Don’t worry, I’m only a virgin in the technical sense of the term. I have an army of battery-powered lovers, and if you don’t come good, I’ll be kicking you out to ride one of them.”
He closed the distance between them. “You’d choose a vibrator over the real deal?” He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his erection. One he’d had almost permanently since meeting her, it felt like.
She purred. “Not this time.”
He grinned. “I’d love to watch that.”
“It’s a date.”
A fist banged on the door. “Hurry the fuck up,” a deep voice shouted. “Asha is here and in the office.”
“That’s Lamar,” Kara said. “We’d better get going, or he will bust in here and I’ll have to pay for a new door.”
“We’re so moving to the Halcyon Guild,” Godric muttered.
“What? So, I can be surrounded by a bunch of assassins? I don’t think so.”
He glanced at her. “You’re mated to one.”
“True.” She tapped her chin. “Let me think about it.”
Godric’s cock got even harder, if that was possible. “Fuck, you’re sexy when you’re being contrary.”
She grinned. “I know, right?”
Epilogue
“So, you’ve got the ashes?” Asha Himm asked.
Hades’ P.A. stood just inside Lamar’s office, and had barely even waited for them to close the door before she pounced. Kara tried not to gape at the woman—beautiful wasn’t even an appropriate adjective to describe her. Long dark hair, almond-shaped eyes…
But there was something…off about her. She just didn’t know what.
Godric thinks she’s got death powers. A fact she’d learned through their mating.
Her soon-to-be-lover withdrew the small velvet pouch from a pocket and tossed it to Asha, who caught it one-handed.
She opened the bag and glanced inside, before drawing it closed. “Lovely.”
Godric glared. “You double-crossed me.”
Asha tsked. “I was ensuring the deal. I knew you’d get to her, and I knew you’d be the one to kill her. No harm done. Plus, it made it clear to the Ignis king that Kara was not meant to mate into his bloodline.”
Wait—Asha knows about the feud?
“No harm done?” Godric’s jaw clenched. “She could have died for real. And do you know how painful the Mortus touch is?”
“Nope,” the woman replied. “And I don’t intend to find out. But here we all are. Isn’t it nice?” She flicked the fingers of her free hand and the precious pouch of Kara’s ashes vanished.
She was never going to see them again.
And…she was okay with that, she realized. The price had been worth it.
“Isn’t what nice?” Godric rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Kara lived. You’re mated. Kara’s feud is over, and I have my ashes. Everyone wins.” Asha clapped her hands.
Kara’s jaw dropped. “You planned this?”
“Of course. I’m almost omniscient. And I’m a hopeless romantic.” Hades’ PA rolled her eyes.
“Almost?” Kara asked.
“It’s a work in progress.”
“But—”
Asha looked at her wrist as if she was checking the time, but she wore no watch. “My next appointment is coming up. I have to run. But it was wonderful doing business with you.”
She vanished.
“Did she just orchestrate this whole thing?” Kara demanded to Godric and the otherwise suddenly empty room.
“Yes.” He looked pissed, and sexy.
So sexy.
Kara ran a hand over her hair. “I want to hate her for letting me get captured by the king…but—”
“But…”
She laughed. Gods, how things had changed in a couple of days.
Sure, she never would have dreamed her mate could be an assassin who liked to pose his targets, but he was perfect for her. No knight in shining armor. No, just a Mortus demon in leathers with an attitude.
She batted her eyelashes at him then ran a finger down between her breasts. “Now can we fuck?”
“Hell yes.”
He rushed her, picking her up and carrying her down the hall to their room. She laughed, her joy a warm, live thing that flooded through her.
He dumped her on the bed, his hands ripping away his shirt, exposing corded muscle. “But first, let’s make love, okay?”
Now this was something—someone—worth waiting for.
She grinned. “Okay.”
About Amanda
Amanda Pillar is an USA TODAY Bestselling Author and award-winning editor who lives in Victoria, Australia, with her husband, daughter, and two cats.
Amanda has had numerous short stories published and has co-edited the fiction anthologies Voices (2008), Grants Pass (2009), The Phantom Queen Awakes (2010), Scenes from the Second Storey (2010), Ishtar (2011) and Damnation and Dames (2012). Her first solo anthology, Bloo
dstones, was published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2012. The award-winning sequel, Bloodlines, was published in October 2015.
Amanda’s first novel, Graced, was published by Momentum in 2015. The stories Captive and Survivor were also released in 2016, followed by Bitten and Ashes in 2017, and Freedom in 2020. She has also launched the Heaven’s Heart series, which will total six books, with four already out: Deadly Passion, Benevolent Passion, Winged Passion and Ascending Passion available now.
In her day job, she works as an archaeologist.
You can go here to sign up to Amanda’s mailing list for future news and free reads, or visit www.amandapillar.com for regular writing updates.
Fireproof
Emigh Cannaday
Chapter 1
I watched as Doyle struck his blade on the flint again and again without any success. His thick, meaty hands were impatient and clumsy, and beads of sweat were forming along his brow. With every smack of steel against the stone, I felt myself starting to wince. I don’t know if it was a migraine or my lack of patience. All I knew was that if he kept it up much longer, I was going to snap.
“If you keep going at that rate, you’re never going to get a fire started,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
The sky was turning dark, with an ominous cluster of clouds rolling overhead. Dusk was approaching fast, and along with it, the chill of another harsh winter night. A mournful howl echoed through the forest, soaring across the treetops before disappearing into the mist.
“Hear that, boys?” Doyle said, turning to look at me with a sneer. “This little girl thinks she can do a man’s job.”
I ignored the laughter that rang through the group of men and crouched beside the ham-fisted brute, snatching the flint and blade from him. I held them carefully, adjusting them until the edge of the blade sat in a comfortable groove of my hand, and then I struck them together repeatedly. Bright little sparks cascaded forth, peppering the tinder with tiny, hungry embers. Within a matter of seconds, the fire had caught. A thin flame danced along the shredded bark and I dropped it amongst the nest of firewood and twigs, allowing the fire to spread.
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