He had to be close. He hadn’t been that far behind. There! He saw a flash of color ahead through the trees. A flash that disappeared into a tree. Not behind a tree. Through it.
Without thought, he leaped for that black pit in the thick trunk of an obviously ancient tree. For a second, he thought for sure someone had played a trick on him. That they’d painted what looked like an opening on the bark so he’d jump for it and knock himself out. Like the coyote from the old cartoons, always after the roadrunner. Always fucking things up.
Not this time. Brandon sailed into the darkness, then fell. And fell.
***
Lucy heard someone approaching, just as the demon opened the portal. She hoped the damn blue bitch closed the portal fast because she knew whoever was coming would follow her.
No such luck.
A heavy body hit her hard and she went down, taking the demon that’d been holding onto her arm with her.
Mist enclosed everything in a gray shroud. Where they’d landed, there was no sun. Blessed Goddess, had the demon taken her straight to Aitás?
“Lucy! Run!”
“Brandon? Brandon, oh gods, get out of here!”
But she knew he couldn’t. What little light there’d been from the portal was gone. The gate had closed.
The mist made it so hard to see. She was moving but not under her own steam. Someone was pulling her. She reached out for whoever it was and felt thick, strong forearms.
“Brandon!”
“Quiet, Lucy.” He whispered into her ear and relief poured through her body. “Don’t fight me. Stay–”
He groaned and fell away as the demon attacked him, knocking Lucy to the side and into what felt like a tree.
She had a brief moment to gasp in relief. Now she knew they weren’t in Aitás. There were no trees in Aitás. That meant there was hope.
Blessed Goddess, she no longer had her powers, but that didn’t mean she was useless. And she’d just decided she was sick of playing the helpless victim. Her eyes were used to seeing in the dark. She blinked a few times to accustom her vision and she quickly took in the scene.
At least the demon had meant to keep its part of the deal. Caeles lay bound and seemingly unconscious on the ground yards away from where Brandon and the demon now struggled with each other.
Not wanting to draw any attention, she kept low to the ground and scurried toward Caeles. She was trusting Brandon to keep the thing busy while she got to her son.
When she was sure Caeles was okay, they could join Brandon and try to get the hell out of wherever here happened to be.
Behind her, she heard fighting, flesh landing on flesh. Punishingly hard blows that elicited grunts of pain from both fighters.
She reached Caeles and started working on the rope binding his wrists and ankles. He roused just as she tossed away the ropes.
“Caeles, don’t move,” she whispered in his ear. “Don’t draw their attention.”
She knew he heard her because he stilled. His head turned slowly so he could watch the fight.
Brandon was holding his own, but Lucy could see his strength starting to flag. Her stomach gave a sickening twist as he took a blow to the face that snapped his head back.
She needed to do something before he was seriously injured. Looking down at Caeles, she saw his eyes narrowed in contemplation.
“Brandon needs a distraction, something to—”
Caeles shifted so fast she barely had the chance to understand what he was doing before he leaped to Brandon’s defense.
He’d shifted into a bear… a huge black bear with fearsome teeth and dangerous claws.
The demon didn’t respond quickly enough and Caeles caught both the demon and Brandon and they went to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.
In the misty darkness, she watched as Brandon and Caeles wrestled the demon. Brandon had spared a quick glance at Caeles, his eyes widening before he’d had to return his entire attention to the blue demon.
The demon began to thrash wildly, fists and feet flying, connecting with flesh in audible thuds. It caught Brandon in the side with a vicious kick, sending him flying in the opposite direction, away from her. When Brandon didn’t get up right away, she ran for him, keeping a wary eye on Caeles and the demon as she did.
Fear for two of the men she loved most in the world made her light-headed. Caeles seemed to be holding his own but he’d need help to win. And they had to win.
She knew they were close to Aitás. It was the only reason the demon would have brought them here. The longer they stayed, the more danger they were in of another demon coming to help.
By the time she reached Brandon, he was already shaking his head and getting back to his feet. He nodded once to her before he threw himself back into the fight.
Lucy gasped as she saw blood seeping from the back of his head. Too much blood. Godsdamn. Her hands curled into fists so tight, she swore she felt the bones crack. She could stand here no longer. She had to hit something, had to smash that demon’s face—
“Hello, Lusna.”
Lucy froze. She recognized the voice, though she hadn’t heard it in almost two thousand years. Shit. This had all become so much worse. Lucy forced herself to take a slow breath as she turned, schooling her expression into a polite greeting. “Culsu. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has. You seem… different, Sister.”
Rail-thin with negligible curves and curly, pale gray hair that reached her hips, Culsu, Lady of the Blue Gate, stepped forward. Her pale skin appeared to glow in the misty gloom, as did her silver eyes, the slimness of her body reflected in the sharp angles of her face.
Goddess Culsu had an ethereal beauty just this side of eerie. Her voice sounded sweet as spun sugar, but her ruthless personality was enough to strike fear into the heart of any sane creature.
As guardian of the gate to Aitás, Culsu made the decision as to where the newly dead ended their journey. Would they be sent to the black pits or merely into holding for the next reincarnation?
“Tukhulkha, cesasin,” Culsu ordered the demon to halt. “Call off your men as well, Lusna.”
The demon had already stepped back when she called out to Caeles and Brandon to stop.
Caeles caught Brandon back with a large paw on his shoulder when Brandon would have rushed to her side. She met his wide-eyed gaze with a calm nod then turned back to the Underworld Goddess with a forced calm. The blood running down his neck made her heart beat like a trapped bird in her chest.
“Culsu.” Lucy deliberately continued in ancient Etruscan, knowing Culsu didn’t have a firm command of English. What goddess who spent her life in the Underworld would? “Why have you sent your demons to attack me?”
The goddess’s slim, pale eyebrows curved into half moons. “I haven’t. Why would I?”
Culsu looked sincere and she had no reason to lie right now. “Then you didn’t know Charun was using the tukhulkha to kidnap goddesses back to Aitás?”
Culsu blinked, the only outward sign of her surprise. “No. Why would he?”
“Because he wants to leave Aitás.”
True bewilderment showed in her frown. “Why would he wish to do that?”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Culsu paused. “I will the next time I see him.”
“And when will that be? Have you seen him lately? Have you talked to him?”
Another pause, this time longer. “No. I haven’t seen him for centuries, but that’s not uncommon.”
“Then be careful, Sister. He’s seeking goddesses to consume for their power. He’s already taken Mlukukh. He tried to take Thesan. He sent this demon to take me.”
“And what would he do with your powers?”
“Leave Aitás.”
Culsu frowned, her eyes narrowing to slits. “But that would upset the balance.”
“I don’t believe he cares. Watch your back, Culsu. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“And so I will. Bu
t now I think you must leave. Your man is about to expire.”
With a cry, Lucy spun, just in time to see Brandon’s eyes roll back into his head as he went boneless. Shifting back into his human form, Caeles caught Brandon before he hit the ground.
“Shit. Mom, there’s a lot of blood.”
Caeles’s fear barely registered through her own. She only knew it was bad. They had to get him back to home. Back to doctors who could heal him. Back to Amity.
“Culsu, please. You must send us back.”
The goddess shook her head. “I can’t open that gate. My only power lies with the one into Aitás. The demon must take you through any other. Or you could open it yourself.” She paused and studied Lucy closely. “But you can’t, can you? Your powers are already gone. Why?”
Lucy barely heard the other goddess. She could feel Brandon slipping away from her with every second. His eyes were closed and his chest barely rose and fell.
Culsu would not allow the demon to take her into Aitás but her life wouldn’t be worth living if Brandon died.
“Lusna, what happened to your powers?”
She turned on the other goddess then, allowing all her anger and fear to show. “I gave them up for him. I don’t expect you to understand, but you must get us out of here so I can find someone to fix him. I love him, Culsu.”
The other woman merely stared at her before looking at the demon. “Take them back. She’s of no use to Charun as she is now. And tell him I want to talk to him.”
The blue demon sneered. “I’ll release her and her toys because you’re right. She’s worth nothing any longer. Just an empty shell. We’ll be seeing her back here soon enough.”
The demon walked to a huge tree, laid his hand on the trunk, and muttered a spell that brushed against Lucy’s remaining arus like a cold breeze.
Goose bumps rose on her skin as the tree disappeared and sunlight poured through. Without another word, she motioned for Caeles to bring Brandon and she pushed them into the light.
She turned back to Culsu, just before stepping through the gate. “Watch your back, Culsu. He’ll turn on you too, if you’re not careful.”
The other goddess shrugged, such a graceful movement. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Chapter 12
Brandon opened his eyes and found himself staring at the wall of his bedroom.
He immediately reached out to see if Lucy was in the bed with him and sighed when he realized she wasn’t. Where was she? Had she left him?
Sitting up, he immediately put a hand to his head, which throbbed like he’d had it bounced off the boards and the ice before taking an elbow to the face and dropping gloves with Ryan Flinn.
Of course, the NHL’s biggest bruisers were nothing compared to blue demons. He probably should be grateful his head was still attached. A headache was a small price to pay for still being alive.
But if Lucy wasn’t here, would it matter that he was still breathing? He didn’t want to live without her. She’d told him she loved him. Where was his goddess now? Had she brought him back to his apartment so she could disappear?
His heart fucking hurt at the thought. He took a deep breath in preparation for swinging his legs off the side of the bed and caught her scent. She was still here. He nearly went light-headed with relief. Or maybe that was his body telling him he needed to take it easy.
Fuck that. Lucy was here somewhere and he needed to find her. To wrap his arms around her and feel her breathing against him. He wouldn’t believe she was still here unless he actually saw her, touched her.
He sat up as carefully as he could, realizing he’d been injured pretty badly from the feel of things. Managing to get himself into an upright position after a few minutes, he planted his feet on the floor as he sat on the edge of the bed, then remained there for another couple of minutes until the room stopped spinning.
He lifted his hand to his head but pulled it away with a hiss after he barely touched the back where the throbbing was the worst. That really fucking hurt. But that was the only place that did, so he’d count himself lucky.
He was still here, awake and mostly alert, so that had to mean he was out of the woods. Right?
Ignoring the little voice in his head that told him to lie back down, he listened instead to the ache in his gut that needed Lucy to ease it. Pulling on sweats, he followed his nose straight to her.
She was on his couch, looking as if she’d sat down for a second but fell asleep without meaning to. Exhaustion showed in the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin.
But she was breathing. And here. And he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
Easing onto the cushion next to her, he gathered her into his arms and moved her onto his lap. He didn’t want to wake her but he needed to hold her against him.
He thought for a second he’d gotten away without waking her, but when she drew in a short, sharp breath, he knew she’d woken.
She moved slowly, letting her head fall back so she could lift her wide gaze up to his. “Brandon.”
“Hey, babe.”
“How do you feel?”
“Like I got beat to hell and back by a blue demon.”
Her lips curved slightly but her eyes darkened as she placed her hand on his shoulder, so gently he barely felt the weight. “That’s because you did. Amity assured me you’d be okay but you’ve been asleep for so long, I wasn’t sure…”
She shook her head as if she couldn’t finish and her eyes welled with tears.
“Hey, babe, I’m fine now, right? Yeah, I’ve got a hell of a headache, but it’s nothing a few”—or an entire bottle of—“aspirin won’t cure.”
Panic flared in her eyes. “Should I call Amity back? Maybe there’s something she missed, something she could do to—”
“Lucy.” He put his fingers over her lips, cutting her off. “I’ll be fine. Hell, I’ve hurt worse than this after a few games. As long as you tell me you’re not going anywhere, everything will be fine.”
She didn’t answer right away and a pit opened in the center of his stomach. Shit, maybe she still intended to leave, just walk out and he’d never see her again.
“I’m not good for you, Brandon. Since we’ve met, you’ve nearly lost your life three times in as many days.”
“Lucy—”
“No, just hear me out.” She shook her head, eyes so full of tears, it made his heart hurt. “I’d come to believe I’d never find a mate. And then I met you.”
Now, that sounded better. “And you knew I was perfect for you.”
And there was the smile he’d been waiting to see. “I knew you were trouble. And that if I let myself love you, I’d never want to give you up.”
Now, didn’t that just make the ache in his head ease while creating a new one lower in his body. “But you knew I was the one, didn’t you?”
Her smile faded as her eyes cleared and brightened. “I did.”
“Just like I knew you were the one for me.” He leaned closer, careful not to move too fast though the pain was nearly gone. “So where do we go from here?”
She answered right away. “You already know I’m willing to go to hell and back for you. I’ve given up immortality because I don’t want to live without you. I want to be wherever you are for however long we have together.”
His smile nearly hurt, it was that big. “Ah, babe. Right answer, because that’s exactly where I want you. Everything else, we’ll figure out. My career, your world… which side of the bed you want to sleep on every night.”
“But—”
He kissed her. Slow, soft. Not a lot of pressure. Just enough to show her he meant business. And to cut off whatever else she might be thinking.
He kissed her until her lips softened under his, and her arms wound around his shoulders. She shifted on his lap until she’d positioned her legs on either side of his and pressed her luscious body against him.
Since he wore nothing more than sweats and she wore only one o
f his Tshirts, he was relieved when his cock started to rise. At least everything still worked. And worked really well, apparently.
His hands fell to her smooth thighs, stroking along silky skin. He shouldn’t even be thinking about how good she would feel naked and rubbing against him. Her breasts against his chest, her nipples poking into his skin. Like they were now, only bare skin to bare skin.
“Brandon.” She leaned forward, her lips brushing against the curve of his ear. “You’re not in any shape for anything other than sleeping.”
“Honey, I’m up for anything you can throw at me. Including yourself.”
Her hips sank just a little closer, then close enough to rub her bare sex against his fast-hardening cock, covered only by a thin layer of cotton.
Sensation shot through his body, making him draw in a sharp breath as his hands slid up her thighs, pushing under her shirt then around to palm her perfect ass.
Lucy froze, her gaze shooting back to his. “Brandon.”
He loved to hear his name on her lips. He leaned forward for another kiss, more forceful this time as he played his tongue along the seam of her lips. She let him in with a little sigh, her eyes closing. The taste of her eased the pain in his head until it was barely noticeable. Probably because most of the blood had gathered lower in his body.
Releasing her lips, he kissed his way to her ear. He needed to be sure she heard him clearly. “I need to be inside you, Lucy. I need to know you’re here and you’re mine.”
With sure hands, he reached for his sweatpants and lifted his ass just enough to work them down and free his cock. With one hand, he held it away from his body. With the other, he grabbed her hip and pulled her down onto his erection.
Her eyes flew open as she sank onto him, her wet heat encasing him. As she took him completely inside, she cupped his face in her hands and stared directly into his eyes as he began to thrust.
“I won’t go anywhere without you, Brandon. I love you too much to lose you.”
“And I love you, Lucy. I’ll worship you for the rest of my life.”
Author’s Note
My husband is a huge hockey fan and, throughout the more than twenty years we’ve been married, his obsession has infected me.
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