Luckily for me, it wasn’t going to be an issue. When I rounded the curve in the path, Caius was leaning against the railing in the same place he had the evening before. Well, that was a relief at least. Kind of. The stony expression told me he still wasn’t happy about any of this.
“Well join the club, buddy,” I whispered under my breath. Caius’s scowl deepened and I wondered if he’d heard me.
“It’s about time, Reaper. I was beginning to wonder if you were planning to actually show up. Do you typically keep people waiting?”
I sent him a venomous look. “First of all, I actually had duties to attend to. Not everyone gets to lounge around doing whatever it is you do all day. Second of all, I had to lie to not only my best friend, but also my guide. Thirdly—”
“Is this list going to be much longer?” he snarled.
“—since you have Superman control, surely you can control your impatience. Fourthly, I’ve had an epically bad day and I’m in no mood for your attitude.”
Without waiting for him to answer, I stalked around the end of the wrought iron railing until I reached the sandy shore. Glancing up to where he still stood on the bridge, I snapped, “Well, are you coming or not?”
I’m pretty sure I heard his teeth grind together and wondered if I possessed a death wish I wasn’t aware of. Was I trying to provoke him? He finally joined me on the shore and, bonus, didn’t kill me when he did.
“I hate to assume anything with you,” Caius began, “however, I’m assuming Alaric spoke to you when you returned from your shift.”
“Yep.” I gave him a curt nod. “We’re going to the Yukon where we will search randomly for a lady who likes graves a little too much.”
Caius snorted but said nothing as we stepped forward together until we stood beneath the arching edge of the bridge. Though it wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t like we could stroll into one of the Outgoing Rooms and ask to use one of the doorways to leave. We weren’t even supposed to be together.
***
“Her temper was as endearing as it was prickly and annoying. Like watching a kitten hiss and spit. I could only hope I managed to keep my sanity.” ~Caius
Chapter 18
Midtween shimmered and undulated, slowly blurring from our sight. When the world came into focus again, a cold breeze swept past the twisted branches of a single tree that bent over until it made a lopsided natural arch, the top of which barely accommodated Caius’s height.
My anger washed away with the wind that raised goosebumps on my arms and made me shiver. As I moved away from the tree, I hugged my arms close, wishing I’d wore more layers or that my cloak was thicker. Tall, barren mountains rose all around us, their peaks hidden by dark gray clouds. Trees, a mix of pines and those in the process of turning bright yellow, grew close around the one we’d come through but didn’t extend much to the slopes. Through the branches, I caught a glimpse of a road.
“Here, this should keep you from freezing to death since you didn’t see fit to wear appropriate attire for the weather,” Caius said, pulling off his heavy, deep crimson cloak and draping it over my shoulders.
I was so much shorter than him that it dragged on the ground. The sudden warmth made me tug it closer rather than shove it back at him. A spicy, earthy scent filled my nose. I resisted the urge to lift the fabric closer to my nose in order to breathe more of it in. It was just part of the appeal of demonborn that helped lure their human prey in easier. I knew this. My human side must be what wanted to smell more of it.
“Won’t you freeze now?” I shot a glare at him standing there in his black jeans and snug black t-shirt. He had unusual tattoos inked on his forearms that I hadn’t noticed before. Half-moon in shape, they extended from wrist to elbow. A closer look made me think they weren’t tattoos; they were more like the markings his kind were born with, except those only came out with the demon in them. These were black like the rest of his ink, but were definitely natural. Strange.
“I’m half-Archdemon, Reaper,” He said in response to my question. “My body temperature already runs several degrees hotter than yours and I can regulate it if need be. I’m in no danger of freezing. It’s only autumn after all; not the depths of winter.”
Could have fooled me. Fall wasn’t supposed to be this cold with a cutting wind. I shoved my arms through the sleeves of his cloak, which were too long but I didn’t care. “Other than the imposition of dragging my body back to Midtween, why do you care if I do freeze to death?”
Caius regarded me with his liquid gold eyes. “We’re bloodbound. I have no desire to partake in the kind of pain that will visit me upon your death.”
I started walking toward the road. Caius’s dark red cloak dragged, catching on the low-growing vegetation colored in reds, deep browns, and more yellows. “Not that I particularly want to die or anything, but I’m surprised a little pain would stop you.”
“A little pain,” Caius said the words as if tasting them as he grabbed my arm and steered me away from the road so that we headed toward the forbidding mountains. He walked beside me with a predator’s grace, not even seeming to notice the way the ground began to climb steeply. “Try several years of pure, burning agony. Breaking a bond with a mortal human without taking the soul is extremely painful. I can’t take your soul, not with it…the way it is. Breaking the bond with you would make a broken bond with a pure human seem like a minor headache.”
“I wonder why that is?” My breath came out in puffs as I tried to keep up with his longer strides.
“Your soul…doesn’t have enough human in it.”
The way he kept referring to my soul made it seem like there was something more he wasn’t saying. I huffed a little, working harder to keep up with him. Though he said nothing to acknowledge my struggle, he slowed enough that I didn’t feel like I needed to start jogging.
“Yay me.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I despised this whole ‘you’re a special case’ thing. Again, I was torn between being happy to be alive and wishing Elijah had kept it in his damn pants.
Caius shot me a sharp look of surprise. “You don’t like your parentage?”
“Why would I?” Why did he think it would be something wonderful? “First a freak in the mortal world, then a freak in the immortal world. And, as if that isn’t enough, now I’m sent on this bizarre journey to find keys and a dagger like some sort of cliché ‘chosen one’ crap. Nope, don’t see anything to not like about any of that. And why do you care how I feel about my father?” I asked, shooting him a glare.
I probably should be a little nicer; he had given me his cloak, which really was wonderfully warm. It didn’t matter that he only did it to save his own skin in a roundabout way. I couldn’t bring myself to apologize, though it wasn’t his fault I wasn’t in a mood to discuss the angel who sired me.
No more than I was in a mood to discuss my mother who I loved so much only to lose too soon. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk about her, I couldn’t. It had been a little over a year and her absence hadn’t gotten any easier. I kept her locked up tight in my mind and refused to think about it.
“Don’t mistake idle curiosity for caring, Reaper.” His voice held all the warmth of the wind swirling around me as he broke into my thoughts.
Never mind, I shouldn’t apologize for anything.
Still irritated that he’d brought up my reckless angel of a father I asked, “What about you? Are you happy with your demon heritage?”
He snorted. “Why do you care?”
When it became clear he wasn’t going to answer, I threw his words back at him, “Don’t mistake idle curiosity for caring, Demon.”
He chuckled darkly, but made no other comment.
After we’d been trudging through the sometimes knee-high—to me anyway—vegetation for about an hour, slowly climbing higher up the mountain, I asked, “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”
“I do.”
Impatient, I glanced at him as he strode next to m
e. “Well?”
Caius sighed and stopped. “Inside my cloak on the left side is a pocket. There’s a map in it.”
I fished down in the deep pocket until my fingers closed on a thick piece of folded paper. After pulling it out, I unfolded the parchment. It didn’t look anything like a Rand McNally to me. In fact, it looked more like something one would find in Lord of the Rings.
Squinting as if that would help me understand it better, I turned the map on its side to see if it would make sense that way. “What am I looking at?”
With a sound of impatience, Caius righted the map. “Did Alaric tell you the riddle?”
My brain scrambled to remember the exact words. “Um…something about a lady with a jewel living in a graveyard.”
“She dwells next to a jewel in the church of a natural cemetery.” Irritation still shadowed his voice.
“Yeah, that.” I looked up from the map. “What about it?”
His long index finger pointed at the map, drawing my attention back to it. The tip of his finger rested on a spot listed as Tombstone Territorial Park. Ah, natural cemetery, Tombstone, got it. Then he slid his finger until it pointed to a mountain peak with the name Cathedral Mountain underneath. Well, okay, duh. I should have looked at a map or something before getting all worked up about it.
“Are these real places?” When I glanced up and saw his scowl, I clarified, “What I mean is, would one find these on a map in the mortal world or only on maps like this?”
“They are on both types of maps.” His scowl remained in place. “Why?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I was just trying to decide how stupid I am. Looks like I’ll be up for an award if they ever have a contest.”
“You don’t believe me?” An edge that went beyond irritation entered his voice.
I looked up at his face, startled. “Of course, I believe you. Why do you think I think I’m stupid?”
The wording made it a loaded question. Thankfully, he didn’t take the bait. When he continued to scowl without answering, I handed the map back to him. “I didn’t think to look at a map. I figured we would be running all over the place for who knows how long trying to find this woman.”
Caius refolded the map and held it out to me. “Put it back in the pocket.”
As I stuffed it back in the pocket of his cloak, he continued, “You didn’t think it prudent to do any research before setting out?”
I shrugged. “It’s not like there was a lot of time. Alaric told me about the dagger and the keys no more than an hour before I came to the bridge.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I pulled the cloak closer as the icy fingers of the wind worked to find a way under it. Looking around at the bleak but beautiful landscape, I tried to figure out where we were in relation to Cathedral Mountain.
Caius shrugged. “Only that I’m surprised Alaric didn’t give you more time to think about the information.”
He started walking again without even a glance back at me. I hurried after him, frustrated I didn’t have any choice other than to follow. I had no clue where the mountain we needed was. They all looked the same with their tops cloaked in clouds.
As we hiked, I watched the light sink slowly toward the horizon with growing worry. It was getting dark a lot earlier than I would have expected, but then we were pretty far north. Would we reach this Watcher before nightfall? I thought about asking Caius and then decided against it. I would not appear weak or worried. I was half-angel, a reaper of souls, for Charon’s sake. If I had to sleep on the ground, in the cold, with whatever wild animals populated this area then so be it.
One of the many rocks rolled out from under my foot, dumping me on the ground and eliciting a curse. I kicked the rock in frustration and scrambled to my feet. Caius hadn’t slowed or turned. In all likelihood, he wouldn’t even notice if I fell and bashed my head in until the pain from the bond breaking hit him.
As I worked to catch up on my stupid short legs, I cast a nervous glance at the trees that grew more numerous the farther we traveled. Were there wolves up here? Reaper powers or not, I didn’t want to confront a pack of meat eaters who thought I looked like their late night snack.
After about another hour, the sun finally gave up the battle and surrendered the sky to the night. The lack of light wasn’t a problem for either of us, however, the fact that my legs were giving out was. I simply couldn’t cover the same amount of ground as him, not when I took at least two strides to his one. Stupid demonborn.
One moment I was walking just fine, okay maybe stumbling a little, and the next, I flopped on the ground, my legs feeling too weak to move. Groaning, I pulled my weary limbs into a crisscross position, tucking both cloaks around me so that everything was protected from the wind.
Caius paused and looked back with a frown. I scowled at him. “You can keep going if you like. I’m not moving until morning.”
With a low growl of something between frustration and irritation, he trudged back to where I sat and gracefully lowered himself to the ground. He held his hand out between us. Flames bloomed in his palm. He turned his hand, letting the fire fall. It continued to burn, hovering a couple of inches off the ground not so much as charring the grass around it.
Stunned, I stared as the warmth from the flames filled the air, warmer than a normal fire would have been. Could all demonborn do that? “How…?”
“I’m a child of the Hells, fire is my element.”
“At least you’re useful,” I said, unwilling to let on just how much I appreciated the flames. “I don’t suppose they have a lot of chickens in the Hells?”
Confused, a frown returned to his face. “Chickens?”
“Well, since there is a lot of fire in the Hells, which makes fire an element you can use, I was hoping there would be a lot of chickens there as well. Then maybe you could conjure up some fried chicken for us to eat.”
His jaw flexed as he regarded me with a cold gaze. Okay then, fried chicken must not be a menu choice.
“Did you not bring any replenisher with you?” he said, his voice flat.
“And how would I do that? I’m not even supposed to be out here with you. I pick up replenisher when I go on shift. I can’t get it otherwise.”
“Alaric certainly sent you out unprepared. I wonder why that is.”
I rolled my eyes. “And I wonder why you keep trying to find something sinister in Alaric. Is it because of your origins that you expect foul play from everyone?”
“Did you ever consider that it’s because of your origins that you’re out here?”
“Of course it’s because of my origins,” I scoffed. “Alaric made no secret my half-angel status is the reason he chose me.”
“And…”
“And what?”
“Half-angel. That’s what they told you.” He eyed me suspiciously. “All they told you?”
“What else would they tell me?” I held my hands out to the side. “My mother was a mortal human, my father an angel with an uncontrolled libido. What else would there be?”
Caius stared at me for a long moment, his liquid gold gaze searching my face, before abruptly breaking into laughter. Deep and rich, it grated on my nerves. “What in the nine hells is so damn funny?”
Curbing the laughter, his gaze turned speculative. “I seriously begin to wonder about your side. Isn’t it my side that is supposed to be deceitful?”
If he was going to talk in stupid riddles then I was done. I wasn’t about to play games. “Whatever. Just shut up and leave me alone.”
“As you wish. Probably best anyway.” Caius turned his gaze to the flames, somehow managing to ignore me so completely I could have been alone.
I leaned over and curled up on my side, fully enveloped by the dark crimson cloak. It still seemed to radiate heat. Despite my mind’s attempt to focus on whatever information Caius alluded to, that I was apparently unaware of, exhaustion pulled me under.
I hadn’t been
asleep long before deep snarls jerked me awake.
***
“Unprepared, inexperienced, unfiltered, irritating, and unafraid to push my buttons. It’s been a long time since any other than Malik as has dared goad me in such a way.” ~Caius
Chapter 19
Through bleary eyes, I stared at the shapes closing in. Oh this was going to suck. Twisting I searched for Caius, certain he’d left me to be eaten. He hadn’t. Caius stood with his arms crossed and a murderous look in his eyes.
I turned my gaze back to the circling demons. Scuttling on six legs and looking like pony-sized armored beetles, they stared back through glowing, acid green eyes. The clacking of their mouths, beaks, whatever they were, filled the night as an icy wind swept past me tugging at the cloaks.
I held out my fist. My staff, glowing bright, appeared in my hand and I braced myself to fight…hell beetles?
Caius hadn’t moved, though the storm raging in his molten eyes made me glad he wasn’t looking at me that way. And then he morphed. The gorgeous creature that he was in his human form dissolved in less than a second and the Archdemon half of his heritage stood before me.
My hand trembled on my staff and my mouth went dry. Holy hells. I had seen young demonborn embrace their heritage before and that was scary enough. Seeing one as powerful as Caius embrace it was truly terrifying. His whole body seemed to swell with extra muscle. The golden-red tribal markings overlaid the tattoos on his upper arms and climbed his neck. Thick, sharp nails replaced his short, human looking ones. His eyes remained the same liquid gold though they glowed. His face widened, the forehead and brow area taking on an almost animal quality. A demonic animal. His mouth opened and…the wicked fangs put those of the young demonborn to shame. It wasn’t just the eye teeth, though those were the longest. All of his teeth came to sharpened points.
I blinked against a sudden dizziness before realizing I hadn’t taken a breath since his change. Sucking in air, I tried to focus on the creatures and keep Caius in my peripheral vision at the same time. Please gods, don’t ever let me be on his bad side.
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 12