“Okay! I get it. Stay back, ask nicely. Just get on with it already.”
He didn’t. He remained in place. “When you see him, do not be afraid. I will not allow anything bad to happen to you.”
“Yeah, and tomorrow I’ll count to infinity. Twice. If you don’t move this along, I’m going to snap.”
Reyes peered over at Lucien, who was watching him with a hard expression. “Stay with her. Please.”
At that, Danika growled. He didn’t think she was angry that he wanted her guarded and didn’t trust her to take care of herself. She truly had reached the breaking point and needed answers.
Lucien nodded.
Reyes pivoted away from them. More than he wanted to take his next breath, he wanted to look at Danika, to reassure her, comfort her. Hold her. But one glance at her, and he would not be able to stop himself from doing all of those things. He would not be able to leave her.
Fisting a blade in one hand and the cell key in the other, he unlocked the door. The hinges creaked as the metal parted. Creaked again as he closed the door. Aeron crouched against the far wall, steeped in shadows. He ceased mumbling the moment he spied Reyes.
Reyes studied his friend, hoping to find signs of the warrior he’d once been, not the monster he’d become. Eyes—still dilated and hungry. Teeth—still sharpened and bared. Still a monster, then, but also a man Reyes loved. The tattoos that covered Aeron from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet were familiar.
Reyes didn’t know why Aeron had tattooed himself with colorful depictions of things he probably wished he’d never done: killing, mutilating, destroying. Reyes had never asked, and Aeron had never volunteered the information. Some things were simply too painful to talk about. That he knew very well.
“Leave,” Aeron barked.
The command was not slurred or layered with the voice of his demon, and Reyes blinked in surprise. Had the warrior’s bloodlust faded, even slightly?
“You are lucid now, I see.” A glance at the bound man’s wrists, and Reyes saw that they were mostly healed. “You were crazed when Lucien and I appeared in the cave. I’m sorry if I hurt you trying to get you here.”
“Free me. I have a job to do.”
“Two weeks ago, you were grateful to be restrained. You hated what you’d been ordered to do and begged me to kill you.”
“Grateful no longer.” Aeron shifted, his legs inching closer to his chest. “Those women need to die.”
No, the bloodlust had not left him. “So they still live? All four?” Tension radiated from Danika and enveloped him. There was distance between them, yes, but still he felt that blistering tension.
Guilt flashed in Aeron’s eyes. Guilt—both beautiful and terrible. Beautiful because it meant Aeron was still inside that mind, still fighting. Terrible because it probably meant one—or more—of the women were already dead.
Reyes’s skin pulled tight against his bones, and he held back a disappointed groan. He’d desperately yearned for good news. Now, he could only pray there was a survivor. “Aeron. Tell me about the women.”
Silence.
“Please,” he said, ready to beg if necessary.
Again, silence.
No, not silence, he realized a moment later. In the background, there was a soft but menacing growl.
“Answer him!” Danika shouted.
Aeron stilled, even stopped breathing. His eyes glazed over, glowing with crimson rage that overshadowed any hint of guilt. Then, without warning, he sprang forward. His wings popped from the slits in his back, black gossamer that ripped away the remaining tatters of his shirt and expanded across the entire cell. Their razor-sharp points scratched at the walls.
Reyes held his ground. Aeron wanted to lash out, so he would allow Aeron to lash out at him. Better him than Danika.
The chain around Aeron’s neck jerked taut, placing the warrior inches from Reyes’s face. So close a sulfur-laced breeze caressed him. He’d been so near hell, he would reek of its scent for days. Reyes almost wished his demon had not remembered how to get there, allowing him to bury Aeron in the first place.
“Girl,” Aeron shouted. His hands snaked around Reyes’s neck and squeezed tight. “Want her.”
“Mine,” Reyes managed to push past his lips. “Tell me about her family.”
“Die!”
“Tell me.”
He heard Danika gasp. Thought he heard Lucien shout a terse warning.
“Tell me.” The plea was barely audible. He dropped his knife, unwilling to use it on his friend to save himself, and clutched Aeron’s wrists. If this was needed to get answers out of Aeron, this he would allow.
But all too soon, the feeling of Aeron’s hands squeezing tighter and tighter, harder and harder, became too good. The pain was too intoxicating. His demon purred happily.
More.
“She must die,” Aeron snarled.
“She’s…innocent.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Once it would have.” Before Reyes could add anything else, his mind fogged, dizziness rushing through him like the ocean to the shore.
You have to protect Danika. As he pried Aeron’s hands off him, his windpipe shattered, a thousand needle pricks in his throat. Oxygen could not get through. Blood laced with the bone shards and swept them into his stomach; along the way, they cut everything they encountered.
This was going to kill him. For a little while, anyway.
His eyes closed in bliss, but his mind screamed in denial.
“HELP HIM!” Danika shouted to Lucien. She gripped the prison’s bars, cold all the way to her soul. Colder than ever before. Right now, she couldn’t see Reyes. Not even a glimpse. Aeron, the bastard, had him wrapped in those lethal black wings. “Help him.” None of her instructors had prepared her for demons attacking other demons, and she didn’t know what to do. “Please.”
“He’ll survive.” Lucien withdrew a gun from the waist of his pants, checked the magazine.
“No one could survive that,” she said, eyeing the weapon. Her first thought was that he meant to shoot her. Her second, that he would have done so already if that had been his plan.
“Aeron, let him go,” Lucien called.
“No!” the warrior roared.
A moment passed. Lucien stiffened, muttered, “What is that thing?” and withdrew a bullet from his pocket. He slid the lethal ball into the gun’s chamber.
Danika was shaking violently, couldn’t stop. “What if you accidentally hit Reyes?” She wanted Reyes…what? Alive, yes. Unhurt, definitely. He had protected her two weeks ago, had taken the brunt of Aeron’s rage today, and now she would protect him. At the moment, he was her only lifeline. At least, that’s what she told herself. That had to be the reason he suddenly mattered to her.
“As I said, he’ll survive.”
Would he, though? He was immortal, he was a demon, but was he completely immune to strangulation and bullets? Every time she’d seen Reyes, he’d been cut and bleeding. Clearly, he could be injured. And what if Aeron attempted to cut off his head while he was incapacitated? Stefano had told her that decapitation was the surest way to kill an immortal permanently. Tacking on that “surest” meant there were other ways to kill them.
Her wild gaze locked on Aeron, who most likely still had a death grip on Reyes. The enraged warrior was unmoving now, head bowed, no sound emerging from him. Oh, God. What did that mean? “Just—just let me distract him. I’ll get him away from Reyes, then you can shoot Aeron.”
Hinges creaked as she opened the barred door.
Lucien grabbed her arm, stopping her. “The gun isn’t for Aeron.” He motioned to a corner of the cell with a tilt of his chin.
Danika followed the line of his vision. There, in the corner, was a thin, waist-high…thing. Her eyes widened in shock. Green scales covered its naked body. Its teeth were long like sabers, saliva dripping from them, and its ears were pointed. Bright red eyes glowed as Aeron’s had glowed just before he’d atta
cked Reyes.
“To my knowledge, I didn’t flash the creature here,” Lucien said. “It is not our friend.”
What was it? And why did she feel as though she’d seen it before? Watched it? Frowned in confusion over its antics?
“Demon,” Lucien said as though she’d asked aloud. Maybe she had. Lucien aimed the gun.
“Don’t shoot near Reyes,” she said on a rush of air.
Lucien looked at her in surprise, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was defending her captor. “I’ll be careful.”
Aeron’s body began shaking again, nearly convulsing. He once more began growling like an animal at mealtime. What was he doing? She released the bars and her nails bit into her palms. Sweat poured down her back, even though she trembled from that shivering cold.
Standing here, doing nothing, she felt utterly helpless.
Boom.
Danika’s ears rang. Underneath the ringing, however, she could make out an eerie laugh. Alarmed, she watched the creature bound around the cell walls and even crawl along the ceiling.
“Play, play. Thisss fun.”
I’ve seen this before, she thought again. But how? Her nightmares? Her eyes widened. Yes, of course. She constantly dreamed of demons and hell, so it stood to reason she might have visualized a creature such as this.
Lucien added another bullet, fired again.
More laughter.
Aeron straightened. Blood poured from his mouth and stained his hands. Catching her first glimpse of Reyes since Aeron had begun choking him, Danika covered her gaping mouth with the back of her hand. He was slumped on the ground, motionless, his neck…flat.
Should be happy, should be happy.
But she wasn’t. Tears were burning her eyes. She should hate this man for everything he’d done to her. Should, should, should. The word meant nothing to her at the moment. Bending down, she curled her fingers around one of the blades she’d stolen, not caring that her theft was now revealed.
Aeron had to die, and she had to kill him. It was as simple as that. He was a crazed murderer. He had hurt Reyes—not dead, he couldn’t be dead—and he wanted to hurt her. Worse, he’d probably harmed her grandmother. It was clear her family would never be safe as long as he lived. Yes, he needed to die. Now or never.
Determined, she finally stepped into the cell. Lucien was too busy following the demon with the barrel of his gun to notice. She moved forward tentatively. Aeron’s narrowed gaze locked on her and tracked her every movement.
“Legion,” Aeron said. “Need you.”
The scaled creature jumped onto his shoulders and held tight. “Me here.” Bony fingers caressed Aeron’s scalp. Words Danika didn’t understand were whispered into Aeron’s ear. Soft words, gentle.
Aeron’s body relaxed, his muscles no longer clenched for attack. The red in his eyes faded.
Lucien paused outside the cell. “Danika,” he said.
“Get Reyes out of here. His body can’t take any more damage.” Danika continued to inch forward. When she reached Reyes, she crouched beside him. Her gaze never left Aeron as she placed a finger on Reyes’s neck, hoping to feel a pulse.
She didn’t.
Don’t panic. He was too vital, too strong to die here, like this. Wasn’t he? He desperately needed medical attention. “Lucien. For God’s sake, come get him.”
“He’s fine, and I am unwilling to lose focus with the demon unfettered.”
Damn it! She couldn’t leave him here. Truly, any more damage and there would be nothing left of him. Save Reyes or question/try to hurt Aeron? She didn’t have to think about it. She latched on to Reyes’s shoulders, knife flat—she would not release it—and tried to drag him. When Reyes was out of range, she could attack Aeron without fear for him. But Reyes’s large body proved to be too heavy and she only made it a foot before stopping to catch her breath.
Aeron straightened, his knees bending to accept his weight, his hands curling to strike. Any minute, and he would attack.
“He was your friend,” she said, pushing back to her feet to haul Reyes another few inches.
“But you are not,” Aeron replied.
“No, I’m not.”
He grinned, wicked, eerie. “Do you wish to hurt me, little human?”
“Yes.” No reason to lie. The truth blazed in her eyes, she was sure. “I wish to destroy you.”
“Try.”
“So you’ll feel better about what you plan to do to me? No, thanks. Not while Reyes needs help. But once he’s out of the cell, you’re mine.”
For some reason, the conversation seemed to calm him as much as the little creature still whispering in his ear. “Do I scare you?”
“You? Scare me? Never again.” Another inch. A few more, and she’d have Reyes’s shoulders out the door.
“Why don’t you come for me, then?”
“The difference between us is that I care about someone else more than I care about my own wishes.”
He lost his grin in a hurry. “You cannot care for Reyes.”
She didn’t want to, knew she shouldn’t. But…Footsteps suddenly echoed behind her, saving her from trying to form a reply.
“The others are coming.” Finally Lucien opted to help. He approached her, gripped the base of her neck before she could protest his touch. One second she was holding Reyes, the next she was inside Reyes’s bedroom.
Dizziness assaulted her. When Lucien released her, she realized she couldn’t stand on her own. She toppled over, her knees hitting the floor. She cringed at the action, but was too wired to feel the jolt. “What the hell did you do to me?”
“Stay here,” Lucien said.
As she fought to stand, she glared up at him. “I don’t—”
Without another word, he disappeared, leaving her gaping. Bastard! She couldn’t, wouldn’t, leave Reyes down there with that…that…animal. Should have killed the beast when you had the chance. Determined to return, she lumbered toward the front door. She tripped over a pair of boots and barely managed to stay upright.
“I told you to stay put.”
Spinning, experiencing another wave of dizziness, Danika released a startled gasp. Lucien had appeared once more, stoic, uncompromising. He was cradling Reyes in his arms as he strode to the bed. Gently, he laid the still-motionless warrior on the mattress. The springs creaked.
Danika rushed to Reyes’s side.
“Take care of him,” Lucien uttered, a warning in his tone.
“I—will.” The last was said on a sigh. He had disappeared again.
Almost afraid to look, she slowly turned her head. Her eyes landed on Reyes, and her stomach twisted. There were so many sides to him: captor, savior, demon, man. But he was still such a mystery to her, this being who had both threatened her life and saved it. And here he was, defeated. His throat was smashed, his Adam’s apple smooth and discolored.
His chest was utterly still.
The tears that had stung her eyes so often this day now ran freely down her cheeks. How could someone so strong have been—Through the watery haze, she thought she saw his chest move, thought she saw his decimated throat constrict. Please! Let that be real.
Her hand fluttered to his heart, the beat frantic against her palm. A wheeze filled her ears, and it was a glorious noise.
He was alive!
Crying out, she fell to her knees. She clutched at his hand, felt his fingers give a weak squeeze. The strength of her relief was appalling. Unwelcome. Because it meant she would never be able to betray this man. This demon. Not now, not later. Aeron, yes. Sabin, yes. But not him, never him. Not even to save her family. “I’m here, Reyes.”
His eyelids cracked open.
“Don’t try to talk. Just know that I’m here. I’ll take care of you.” Only problem was, she had no real medical training and didn’t know what to do. She choked back a pained laugh. She’d been in this situation once before. Ashlyn had been sick. Bargaining for her mom, sister and grandmother’s lives, she’d lied, told
Reyes she was a healer, and doctored Ashlyn as best she could.
Ashlyn had come out okay. Would Reyes?
Dark irises came into full view. They weren’t flooded with pain; they were glazed with…pleasure? Surely not. Their gazes collided a moment before he closed his eyes again. Her lungs deflated on a sigh.
Reyes’s lips moved, but no sound emerged from them.
“You’re hurting yourself,” she said. “I told you not to talk. We’ll—”
“Don’t go back to Aeron without me,” he managed to get out, the words savage. “Promise.” His hand clutched at her. “Protect you.”
Again, he wanted to protect her. Little wonder he’d battered down her defenses and reduced her to a devoted puppy. “I promise.”
CHAPTER TEN
REYES AWOKE GRADUALLY, his senses already on alert thanks to several oddities.
One, there was a weight on his chest. Warm, so warm, and soft. He was used to waking unfettered, a little cold. Two, the scent of thunderstorms and angel-skies filled his nose, sultry and erotic. It was a scent he craved with every fiber of his being, but one that was dangerous to his peace of mind. Three, he never wanted to leave this paradise.
Pain did not agree.
Pain was prowling the cage of Reyes’s mind, roaring. Roaring so loudly Reyes covered his ears. The weight on his chest shifted to the side, taking with it that delicious warmth and softness.
The roaring increased in volume, and he cringed.
“You okay?”
The voice of an angel, a perfect match for the scent. Danika. The roaring became a broken mewling, her rich timbre soothing the beast.
What was it about her? What made her so different from the other women he’d known?
Ashlyn had alleviated Maddox’s torment. Anya had renewed Lucien’s desire to love. Both women had accepted the warriors for who and what they were. Danika enhanced Reyes’s pain and drove him crazy. She would never accept him. But even if a miracle happened and she could, he would never be able to bed her, thereby allowing Pain to sink its claws inside her. Change her.
As a couple, they were hopeless.
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