It was hard for him too.
Not because she was a daemon.
But because he hated seeing her hurting.
He hated feeling powerless to help her.
He had swept her into his arms, kissed her and carried her out onto the patio, into the sunlight.
Proving that she wasn’t entirely daemon.
He wasn’t sure what she was yet, but he would call her a hybrid. She was still human, with some human limitations, but she was part daemon too.
A fact she had proven last night by suddenly sprouting fangs.
Which had made dinner interesting.
She had panicked so hard, she had fallen backwards off her chair and almost tumbled down the hill on the other side of the patio. Marek had calmed her by showing her his own fangs, and it had gone down well with her.
He smiled and brushed his thumb across her fingers.
He liked having something in common too. They could both teleport. They both had fangs. They both still loved hunting vampires.
Although, Keras had ripped him a new one about that little penchant of his. He planned to dial it back and see if he could cope with no longer hunting vampires. He stared at Caterina, feeling as if he could now that she was his and had made him realise his past was just that. It was over. Now, he had a future to look forward to, and someone who loved him as much as he loved her.
Tonight, he had intended to take her out to the city, to stroll around it and maybe test some of her abilities. She had been practicing with them, and could teleport half of the times she attempted it now, and had managed to form a barrier a few times as well.
After their date, he had planned to take her to see her brother. His brothers had tried to get information out of their captive, but Guillem was proving to be as stubborn as his sister. The wraith wasn’t being cooperative at all, so two days ago, Keras had visited to ask Caterina to attempt to get her brother to talk.
Caterina had been reluctant to agree to it, and Marek knew why. She felt guilty about her part in what had happened, ashamed that she had driven Guillem to turn on her and side with their enemy, and hurt that her brother had changed so dramatically.
Marek didn’t think the change had been as dramatic as she imagined, or that all hope was lost. He had seen Guillem hesitate. There was a chance she could reach her brother.
That feeling had strengthened when she had agreed and he had taken her to see Guillem.
Rather than being motionless and distant, he had reacted in an instant to the sight of her, and Marek had caught the brief flare of relief in his eyes before he had shut down his feelings.
During their last few visits, Caterina had managed to get a handful of words out of her brother by talking about their past and happier times. Guillem hadn’t offered any information yet, but Marek was confident that he would soon, if Caterina was allowed to keep rebuilding their relationship and reminding him of better days, and that she still loved him.
She had talked about getting some photographs from her home in Barcelona to take with her to their next meeting with Guillem, and Marek had wanted to see how the male would react.
Keras had called a meeting though. His brother wanted reports. Marek didn’t really have much to offer, unless his brother wanted to know how Caterina was doing.
And how much he loved her.
He gazed at her, every inch of him aware of her.
He loved her with every fibre of his being, to the depths of his soul, and with all of his heart.
He had thought what he had felt for Airlea had been love, but it was a shadow of what he felt for Caterina. She stirred his blood, the dark possessive and protective side of him, and roused a fierce need inside him.
One he knew would never die.
She was perfect for him too.
An invaluable partner.
It wasn’t just how well they fought together that had him feeling they had been made for one another. She had revealed another side of herself when she had found him in his office one morning, and had insisted she help him. It turned out that she loved researching as much as he did.
Which was a major turn on.
He shifted, trying to get comfortable as his shorts pinched.
They had spent most of the time they hadn’t been practicing with her powers deep in research mode, uncovering everything they could about wraiths and the gates, and hunting for a possible connection between the daemons and Hellspawn.
He hadn’t dared to take her back to the mansion since she had developed one ability he wished she didn’t have. He had wanted her to spend time with his brothers now that everyone had confirmed they had no problem with her and she didn’t trigger their darker sides just as she didn’t trigger his. She didn’t feel like a daemon to them either.
He had been quick to change his mind about her attending meetings when they had landed in the mansion only for every single one of them to look at her with hunger in their eyes.
Even Keras.
It turned out she had inherited more than just the ability to see emotions and cast barriers from the succubus.
She could emit a sort of pheromone too.
One that messed with his brothers.
When he had asked her why it was happening, she had admitted with a blush she had been thinking about him. He had wanted to kiss her for that, but he had also wanted to get her the hell away from his brothers.
Valen had seconded that, labelling it as disgusting and gross. None of his brothers wanted to know when she was thinking dirty things about Marek apparently—Marek didn’t want them to know either. So, he had been training her, trying to get her to master her ability. Which had ended with several serious make out sessions.
The sun disappeared behind the horizon.
Caterina’s nose wrinkled.
Her lashes fluttered and then her eyes opened, sleepy hazel depths locking with his.
She smiled, rolled onto her back and stretched like a cat, stirring his blood.
“I was having a wonderful dream.” A hint of crimson coloured her cheeks.
Maybe that need stirring in his blood was courtesy of her. It was hard to tell when he wanted her every time he looked at her, ached for her if they were apart for even just a few minutes.
“You’re adapting well to sleeping throughout the day.” He rolled onto his side to face her.
“It’s not hard when my body wants it.”
He groaned. “My body wants something.”
She grinned, pushed him onto his back and mounted him, tearing another moan from him as she settled back on him, her tiny black shorts and cropped tank doing him in, flashing far too much skin.
He skimmed his hands up her bare thighs. “We have a meeting tonight.”
She pouted, pressed her palms to his chest, and leaned over him, giving him a view down her top, rousing that heat until it licked at him like fire, had him shifting his hands to her backside and holding her in place as he ground his hips against her.
Sparks lit her hazel irises. “I wanted to re-enact my dream.”
Marek tipped his head back into the padded seat and frowned as he groaned. “We can do that. I’m not taking you anywhere near my brothers when you want me… I might kill them.”
“Oh, well, if it will stop you from doing that.” She leaned over and kissed him.
He lifted his head, craning his neck, and claimed her mouth, seizing control of the kiss as he clutched her backside.
Frigid cold washed over him.
“Do you know there’s a daemon on your lap?”
That haughty female voice dampened his libido and had Caterina scooting backwards.
Marek tightened his grip on her hips, stopping her from escaping, and she tensed. He eased her down so she was lying beside him, her left leg mercifully draped over his hips, concealing the evidence of his arousal from the goddess towering over him.
“What do you want so badly that you’re wrecking my personal time?” Marek looked up at her, into her pale green eyes
.
Enyo preened the glossy twisted braids of her black hair, frowned and dabbed at a splotch of crimson on her left cheek. She brought her fingers away from her and frowned at them. It wasn’t the only blood on her. There were streaks of it over her black and silver armour too.
“I heard what happened with the gate.” Enyo wiped her fingers on her cloak.
Caterina gave him a look.
One Marek heeded like a sensible male.
“This is Enyo, goddess of war, sister of the real Ares. Not my brother.” He turned his gaze on the goddess again. “Look, I have a fantastic idea. Keras asked me to ask you if you have any new information for us. We could cut out the middleman and you could just talk to my brother yourself.”
That cold swirling around him turned glacial and she glared down at him.
“Doesn’t she like Keras?” Caterina whispered as she curled closer to him.
“Something like that,” he muttered.
The goddess didn’t disappear as expected.
She lingered, the black look on her face fading into one of concern.
“How is… He fought…” Enyo took a breath, looked as if she wanted to finish one of those sentences, and averted her gaze instead.
“He’s fine.” Marek wanted to say more than that, wanted to tell her that he was beginning to suspect something was seriously wrong with his brother, but he also didn’t want Keras to make another attempt at killing him. Once a century was enough for Marek. Last time he had been lucky in a way and the gate had taken the hit for him. “We need information, Enyo. The night we had to seal the gate, it wanted to be opened. We all know that gate is off-limits.”
“Have you asked Hades about it?”
“No, and that isn’t going to happen. I can’t bring up Calindria, not until we’re sure we can get her soul back.” Marek sagged against the seat and blew out his breath. “I don’t know how possible that is though. The wraith said he gave her soul to someone else, passing ownership of it to them.”
Enyo stiffened.
“What is it?” Marek sat up, moving Caterina onto his lap as he got the feeling the goddess knew something.
“Transferring ownership of a soul would be complicated. The new master would need to be more powerful than the previous one, a creature capable of holding and controlling a soul… and that narrows it down to one species.”
Marek felt as if he couldn’t breathe. He told himself not to pin any hopes on this information, that it might turn out Enyo was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. She was a goddess three times his age, who had been everywhere and seen everything. Her position as a goddess of war meant she had spent most of her life honing her knowledge of every species.
If she could only think of one species, then that had to be the one they were looking for.
She hesitated.
Sent a chill through him when she finally spoke.
“Not a daemon. I might be wrong, Marek. It is possible… I would need to look into it.”
“Tell me what species, Enyo. I can research too. I have to do something, even if it turns out to be another dead end. I need to give my brothers some hope.” Being able to tell them even just the name of a species capable of doing what the wraith had said would keep their spirits up.
It would keep them strong.
“It might also help us arm ourselves against the next threat. We all suspect whoever has her soul is involved in this plot against this world and our own.”
That had the goddess relenting, concern flittering across her face as she toyed with her braids again.
“I have not seen one in centuries, but once I met a descendant of a god of the Underworld your family knows well. Thanatos.”
The god of death who had helped his father crush the rebellions.
“Thanatos bred, seeding a demigod offspring who inherited some of his powers. In turn, that demigod created an entire breed of Hellspawn.” Enyo’s jade eyes gained a glimmer of worry. “As I said, I have not seen one in many years. Perhaps even before Calistos and Calindria were born. It is entirely possible I am wrong, but if I am not… Marek… you all need to be on your guard.”
A shiver spread down his arms and over his thighs, the graveness of her words and the concern in her eyes filling him with a sense of dread far worse than what he had experienced that day in the shower.
This one ran soul-deep.
He stared at Enyo, needing her to say it, because he wouldn’t believe the word running around his mind until she spoke it aloud, confirming his suspicions.
“Necromancers are dangerous, Marek. Never trust one. Never. They are nefarious, devious creatures, driven by a powerful need to harvest souls.”
He felt Caterina’s gaze on him but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he absorbed that, what little he knew about the elusive and rare breed of Hellspawn flying around his mind.
This required some serious research.
And he needed to tell his brothers.
“I must go.” Enyo pressed a hand to her chest. “Brother is calling. He will be furious I slipped away from the battle while he was occupied.”
Marek nodded. “Any information you can give me about this breed would be appreciated, Enyo.”
She dipped her chin and disappeared, leaving a trail of white-blue smoke where she had been.
“I don’t like her,” Caterina muttered.
Marek wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek as she glared at the vapour trail. “I’m not interested in Enyo. She is a pain in my backside. Every time she visits me to help us, Keras ends up furious with me.”
“Because they hate each other?” Caterina finally looked at him, right into his eyes.
“Quite the contrary I think.”
“So why doesn’t she go to see him. He’s the leader.” Caterina frowned at him, all the fires of the Underworld in her eyes. “I don’t like her hanging around you.”
“Someone is jealous.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, a brief one that only served to reignite the fire in his veins and remind him what they had been doing before Enyo had crashed their private party. “There’s history there. They haven’t seen each other since Keras left the Underworld. I don’t know why, but neither of them seems inclined to see each other.”
Caterina glanced back to where the goddess had stood.
“That’s odd. She was clearly worried about Keras. I would go as far as saying she was interested in him in an emotional and physical way judging by her aura. I caught flares of pink and red. I’ve figured out those colours together reveals desire.” Caterina grinned cheekily. “I can’t blame her. He is a looker.”
Marek scowled at her. “I don’t want to talk about my brother anymore, or I’ll be the one getting jealous.”
What he wanted to do was step inside with her and make love with her, but he needed to talk to his brothers about what he had just learned to make sure they would be on guard around the Hellspawn they encountered at the gates.
He teleported Caterina inside, but set her down in the bedroom and tossed her jeans and a T-shirt at her. She dressed without fuss, casually removing her tank and shorts, inflaming him without even trying as he paused to watch her.
“Stop it, or I will get kicked out of your family home again.” She pinned him with a look. “It’s hard enough controlling myself right now. I don’t need you giving me the come-get-me eyes.”
He tamped down his needs, because fitting in with his family meant a lot to her and she was making progress, beginning to feel as if she could be a part of it. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise that.
He wanted his brothers to accept and include her.
He threw on his black linens and a grey shirt, and didn’t bother with shoes. Caterina remained barefoot too. He crossed the room to her, pulled her into his arms and teleported.
He would have to send a message to the others, calling them to the meeting early.
When the darkness dissipated to reveal the TV area of the Tokyo
mansion, he scrubbed that thought.
His brothers lounged on the cream couches, watching Valen and Esher racing each other in some video game on the enormous flat-screen television. Eva and Aiko were cheering them on, squeezed next to them at either end of the couch.
On the one that stood with its back to Marek, Daimon muttered something to Ares, and Megan laughed.
Keras rose from the seat on the other side of Daimon, nearest the television, and turned to look at Marek.
His brother’s green irises darkened, blackening around the edges. He knew Enyo had visited him. Marek waited for the fallout as his brother held up his hand and the TV switched off, drawing everyone’s focus to Marek.
“Did something happen?” The storm that had been building in Keras’s eyes abated. “Did she have new information?”
Marek nodded.
Everyone stood now, and he frowned as he spotted one of his brothers was missing.
He looked at Keras.
“I thought it best Calistos remained at the gate for this meeting because I wanted to discuss what the wraith told you.”
Marek was glad his brother hadn’t included Cal. He didn’t like keeping things from their youngest brother, but he also didn’t want to hurt him. There was always a danger that hearing them talk about Calindria would be too hard on him and would cause an episode.
And right now, Cal was more susceptible to his affliction than ever.
Sealing the gate had taken more than a physical toll on Calistos. That gate had represented their sister, had been bound to her before her death, forged with her blood.
Losing it was like losing her all over again.
Or losing all hope of saving her.
Marek pushed that thought from his head and faced his brothers, because there was hope.
“Enyo believes the only breed powerful enough to take ownership of Calindria’s soul is one straight out of the Underworld, born of Thanatos.”
Keras’s black eyebrows lowered. “A necromancer?”
Marek nodded and looked at each of his brothers. “A Hellspawn.”
“Shit.” Valen tossed the controller on the couch. “Suddenly I don’t feel like playing anymore.”
Marek: Guardians of Hades Series Book 4 Page 38