“You mean that you do not wish for them to witness you becoming every bit of the monster you accuse me of being. Every bit of the monster you let slide between your legs and fuck you. How many times did he come in you, Ava? How many times has he dipped into you? How many times have you been his whore when you refused to be mine?”
“This is the last time I ask nicely, Buite. Let them go, please.”
“Accept my claim.”
Ava allowed her gaze to go hard. “You can accuse me of whatever it is you think I did but I can assure you that I will never accept you or any of your kind. I have not spent my life standing against the likes of you to be any one of your whores. I thought that you might be different from the rest, Buite. I have always believed that you, unlike the others that have come after me, had a piece of you that you didn’t hand to your father. I foolishly thought the rumors I’d heard were true—that members of the Host could fight what they’d become. You’ve shown me that is not the case.”
“I will not walk away from my position of power, Ava. Not even for you.”
Ava snorted. “Damn good thing because I wouldn’t take you anyway.”
Buite’s nostrils flared as his long dark hair lifted in the sudden blast of icy wind that surrounded them. “I will show your human friends no mercy now and when I am done with them, I will deal with you. First, I’ll enjoy watching you try to protect them and yourself, Ava. I have never seen you fight against this many opponents without the others. My father said it is most amusing. Now I get to see for myself.”
“Are you so willing to sacrifice your men and whores?”
He laughed. “You are good but you are not that good, Ava. You carry no weapons and you have the support of no one. And you have not battled anything since my father gave you a taste of what he could do.”
Ava pressed her palm harder into his chest and he let go of her chin. Slowly, she turned to find Donatus staring at her with a mix of hurt and anger. She glanced at Gun and Kal. Both seemed shocked, confused by what was going on. She couldn’t blame them. “I’m sorry you walked in on this. It was never my intent to bring this here. I will leave by morning and I won’t return. You have my word.”
“Assuming you live, bitch!” Terri shouted.
Ava used that moment to send a blast of power through Buite’s body, launching it high into the air and suspending him easily. “Call them off, Buite.”
His eyes widened. “Ava, have you been holding out on me? How is that you’re doing this?”
“Let’s just say that when I almost lost my life at the command of your father I tapped into a little something special that my parents left behind.” Smiling, she put her hands in the air. “Spear.”
Instantly, a spear slightly taller than she was appeared in her outstretched hands. Keeping it high in the air, she looked into the night sky. “Fire.” The spear lit with a blaze of blue. The flames didn’t burn her or even warm her skin. Ava was shielded from her own magik and she knew it.
Buite stared down at her as wonder seemed to fill his dark eyes. “You have a direct connection with Valhalla! How can this be? Your parents kept you hidden away from all lines of your past, hoping we couldn’t link you to Odin and the Valkyries.”
Anger flashed through Ava. “And you know this how, Buite? Did you find out when your legion killed them or when you perhaps destroyed the rest of my family?”
Buite shook his head. “It was not my legion of Host that attacked that day, Ava. Had it been, I may very well be sitting on your side now. I don’t know if I could have allowed someone to harm you either. Part of me wishes to thank the warrior who saved you and another part wants his head on a platter. I have been the one pursuing you, not him. I’m the one who should be your mate, not a defector.”
He spun in the air, attempting to fight her hold on him, but Ava increased her power, keeping him in the same spot. “What I have yet to understand,” he said with struggle in his voice, “is how you don’t come across as the age you truly are. You should feel as though you are three hundred and fifty, yet you surfaced for the first time only years ago. And you smell as though you are just a child—a mere thirty years old. But my father has sworn that you are the product of an angel—one of the Powers That Be to be exact—and a Valkyrie. He has assured me that they perished by the hands of the third legion of Host and that Valhalla refused to accept you all.”
Ava laughed. “Someone lied to you, Buite.”
“So,” he tipped his head slightly, “you’re not the product of such a union?”
“Oh, I am. They lied about Valhalla. It was a safe haven for the children left in the aftermath of your kind’s wake. A wonderful man took me to Odin’s doorstep. And in Valhalla—”
“Time moves differently,” Buite finished for her. “So you truly are only thirty human years old? How is it you fought my father back, Ava? How were you strong enough to survive him?”
“I didn’t think I was. Just when I was about to call it a day and let him kill me, I looked into the eyes of my loved ones and knew that I’d never let him touch them. And when he foolishly brought my supposed mate into it, he signed up for one hell of a battle. No part of me was even slightly willing to allow harm to come to a man who sacrificed all he knew, all that he was to save my life.” She smiled and twirled the blazing spear around. “Call them off the humans or you will lose them all.”
“No.”
“Then you wish for them to die?”
Crossing his arms over his massive chest, he shook his head. “What do I care if they die? I have thousands more waiting to take their places. I simply don’t have it in me to harm you and I’m hoping they harm you enough that you lose the child you now carry.”
He knows I can’t carry a child. Ava eyed him suspiciously before turning toward Donatus. Her brow furrowed as she tried desperately to make sense of it all. Buite gave her no time to think about it all.
“Attack the humans and Ava,” he called out.
Instantly, demons rushed her. She didn’t hesitate. Ava lashed out with the spear. The second it made contact with the first demon, the creature burst into flames and screamed out as it fell to the ground. Sensing another demon moving in behind her, Ava spun fast and tried to take a wide stance. The skirt she wore prevented that.
With the flick of her finger, Ava sent her power flowing over her, changing her work clothes to a pair of black pants and a matching tank top. Never having done that before either, Ava took a tiny moment to be impressed with herself. When she looked down at the kick-ass black boots she’d given herself, she nodded. “Okay, I’ll admit it, that was cool.”
Niki and the other females had sprouted large, birdlike wings. Long talons broke free from their fingernails and their eyes went to pure red. “Kill her,” Niki ground out between fanged teeth.
“No!” Donatus shouted out as he rushed toward her.
Ava launched herself high into the air and spun in a wide circle with her blazing spear held out straight. It struck several of the Keres, instantly engulfing them in flames. As she fell, Ava tucked herself into a tiny ball and flipped over in the air once before landing on her feet.
Glancing up, she found Gun, Kal and Donatus fighting with the Host warriors. They should have fallen the moment the warriors struck out at them. They didn’t. Something struck her from behind as she stared at Donatus. Ava hit the ground and rolled onto her back to find Terri above her, talons extended and pressed to her throat.
“You are no better than us, bitch. Without your weapon you’re nothing but a scared child.”
Ava kicked up hard and fast, catching Terri in the stomach and launching her high into the air. She sprang to her feet, taking hold of her spear on the way up. A demon charged at Donatus’ back while he fought with another and Ava’s heart beat wildly. She ran at the demon full-force. “Donatus, get down!”
He dropped and Ava swung out hard with the spear, catching the demon’s neck and severing its head. It instantly burst into flames. Donatus
stood quickly and yanked her to him. Her entire body felt as though she too had gone up in flames as she leaned into him. Afraid of hurting him with the blazing spear, Ava tossed magik around Donatus, Gun and Kal, desperate to protect them from harm as much as she could.
Donatus cupped her cheeks and stared down at her. “Go, Ava. We’ll handle them and then come to you.”
Her eyes widened. “What? No. I’m not…no.” The idea of leaving him to face the demons horrified her.
“Ava, go.”
Before she realized it, she had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and her head against his chest. He felt safe, right, familiar. “I can’t leave you. I won’t leave you.”
“I promise that we’ll be fine. Go, and I’ll come to you. You have my word.”
On the verge of hysterics, Ava kicked Donatus in the shin. “Are you crazy? Why aren’t you freaking out? I want to freak out and it’s my job to kill them. I can’t believe that you guys are taking this…” She stopped in mid-sentence. “Donatus, you really are a Lost Warrior.”
He looked away from her for a moment. “I couldn’t stop the demon when you called him to you, Ava. In truth, I didn’t want to stop him. You’re my mate and I couldn’t have walked away from that.”
Ava squeezed his arm. “And a baby. We’re—”
Donatus’ mouth captured hers, cutting her off. Stunned, she stood there while his warm tongue thrust into her mouth, beckoning hers forth with the promise of pleasure. Ava didn’t attempt to fight it. She knew it was pointless. She’d fallen in love with him and there was no defense for that.
Pressing her body to his as hard as she could, Ava moaned when she felt the length of his erection against her stomach. Donatus’ hand moved to her lower back. He caressed tiny circles there that mirrored the movements of his tongue, causing her to melt in his arms.
Suddenly, Donatus jerked back fast. Ava reached for him. It wasn’t until she saw the Host warrior behind him that she realized he’d been hurt. The demon was shifted into the form of a walking wolf. The lycan ripped its clawed hand back and blood spattered on the pavement.
Time seemed to slow. She heard someone scream out and realized it was her. Donatus spun around to face the lycan, allowing Ava a firsthand look at the damage the warrior had done. A large chunk of Donatus’ back was now missing. He staggered just a bit and a fear like Ava had never known took hold of her.
“Run, Ava!” he demanded. “Run and save the baby.”
“I can’t leave you!” she screamed out as loud as she could as her power fought for complete freedom.
Gunter and Kal were suddenly next to Donatus. The three of them broke the warrior that had attacked Donatus in two. Too stunned to comment on what they’d just done, Ava just stood there, covering her mouth as she continued to stare at Donatus’ back.
Something seized hold of her, lifted her high in the air and snarled in her ear. “You, bitch. You can’t have all of them.”
The second Ava heard Niki’s voice she came to her senses as they went even higher into the air. Slamming her head back, she caught the Keres in the face, causing her to loosen her grip. As she did it, Ava realized just how high they were.
“You want me to let go, fine,” Niki said, releasing her hold on Ava.
Ava’s stomach dropped as she fell toward the earth. Ava sent a blast of energy over the Host and the Keres, carefully shielding the professors from it as she weakened the enemy.
“Ava, no!” Buite called out a second before she struck the pavement and darkness surrounded her.
Chapter Eight
Stirring slightly, Ava blinked several times, doing her best to focus even though her head felt like it was about to splinter into a million tiny pieces. Slowly, she focused in enough to see clearly. A pair of amber eyes gazed at her from under a veil of sandy blonde hair.
“Hey, sleepyhead. I was beginning to wonder if you were planning on waking up to see me while I was here,” Chloe said softy. She brushed her long, straight locks of hair out of the way and winked.
Ava couldn’t help but smile. Reaching out quickly, she caught Chloe’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “Chloe, Buite found me in less than a week. How?”
“I don’t know. None of us do. The only thing I do know is you pulled one hell of a stupid stunt.”
Ava looked Chloe up and down as they lay face-to-face on her bed and chuckled. She didn’t question how it was she’d gotten home. She knew her friend was powerful enough to assure such a thing happened. “I’m diggin’ the wings-bikini mix. Was it too much to toss some pants on?”
“Yes. I knew what you were going to do a half a second before you did it, Ava.” Chloe sat up fast and gave her a hard look. “Why in the hell would you deplete your power knowing you were falling the equivalent of fourteen stories, Ava? Are you insane? Do you have some sort of fucking death wish?”
“Okay, we need to go over the rules for angels with mouths like yours. Second, we need to go over what it is we do, Chloe. We guard the gates of the heavens and protect the innocent. Our lives mean nothing if they’re harmed. I knew the risk when I did it and I knew my odds of surviving were way better than theirs so don’t.” Ava’s chest clenched tightly. “Ohmygods—Donatus. He was hurt. A lycan Host thrust its claws through his back… The hole was huge.”
Covering her mouth with her hand, Ava choked back a sob as she looked down at her stomach. “The baby? Chloe—Donatus and the baby?”
“The baby is fine, Ava. He’s a fighter and may possibly be as stubborn as his mommy.”
Ava’s chest tightened as she bit back tears. “He?”
Chloe nodded.
“And Donatus? Call Arik now!”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “I will not call him here!”
“Chloe, please. I need him to check on Donatus. I have no way of tracking him. He does.”
“He’s a demon in the worst way, Ava.”
Ava bit her lower lip and shook her head. “He’s not evil, Chloe. Why can’t you see that?”
Chloe stood tall and extended her wings out wide. They were as wide as she was tall and at five ten, Chloe was pretty damn tall. “I see only what he’s shown me, Ava, and I think we both know that I’m not at all impressed with him. Just as I’m not impressed with Buite. But you have always let him get away with more than the others. Why is that?”
She gasped at her friend’s accusation. “I do not let Buite get away with more than the other Host leaders. I just thought…er…I thought at one time that there was a tiny spark of good in him. That’s all. Arik used to tell me stories of Host who had managed to overcome the evil that had inhabited them and I…”
The air in the room began to move without warning. Chloe face grew hard and she shook her head. “Arik should not have been permitted on Valhalla’s sacred ground. In fact, he wasn’t supposed to be there at all, Ava! Do you know that he can lead his legions into there any time he wants? How are you going to feel when we get word that he’s destroyed all the people we love, all the people we hold dear?”
Ava’s temper boiled to the edge and she had to fight to keep from screaming at Chloe. “Arik would never hurt anyone we love.”
“Really? Care to tell me why it is the man spent so many years trying to convince you to run away with him? To leave the safety of Valhalla and never look back? To leave us?”
Ava sensed something in the room with them and propped herself on her elbow, looking around slowly for them. She found no one. The feeling of someone being there didn’t go away.
“Call Arik, please. I’m not feeling quite like myself and if I even attempt to make contact with him without being able to mask my presence Lucifer and Hades will sense me instantly.”
Sitting up too quickly, Ava had to take a moment to catch her bearings. “Dammit, Chloe, call Arik, please. I need to check on Donatus.”
“No, I’m not going to let him ruin things for you. He can go find some other women to screw. His days with you are done.”
The wave
of nausea she’d been fighting struck full force. “Chloe, help me to the bathroom, now!”
“Oh gods, Ava, you’re so pale. Are you…” she stopped in mid-sentence. Her wings disappeared, leaving her human-looking but still tall and gorgeous. Chloe ran to Ava, pulling her up quickly and helping her to the bathroom.
Dropping to her knees before the toilet, Ava allowed herself to be sick. Chloe pulled her hair back and held it from her face as she stroked Ava’s forehead.
“Honey, I’m sorry I got you all worked up. You really didn’t know that you’re expecting?”
Flushing the toilet, she moved to the sink and washed her face and hands. Reaching up, she took her toothbrush and toothpaste down as she watched Chloe in the mirror. “If you ever bring Arik’s name into anything even close to what you said again I’ll throw up on you. That is sick in the worst way, Chloe. You know what? It’s so disgusting I might throw up again just because.”
“I need to go talk to the others about all this. Will you be okay alone?”
“Tell me if any of the men with me died.”
Chloe gave her a warm smile. “No. When I got there I had to practically wrestle you out of the arms of a man who didn’t want to let you go, Ava. The two men with him didn’t have much luck getting him to listen to reason either when it came to you. I finally had to knock him out cold with power to help you.”
Relief washed through Ava. She let out a soft laugh and hugged Chloe tight. “He’s alive?”
“Yes, honey, your husband is alive.”
“Husband.” Ava nodded. “Right, I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
Chloe winked. “You don’t have much of a choice. Plus, you seem a little too concerned about him to not care for him.”
“I need to know he’s okay, Chloe. I can’t explain it but I have to know. I have to see it with my own eyes or, in this case, hear it with my own ears.”
“Is he tall with a sort of stylish-looking blond hair thing going on and does he have the deepest green eyes you’ve ever seen? And does he look like all the guys at the big gods’ dances we all grew up going to? All the men you seemed to ignore making passes at you then because you were too busy drooling all over the dark-haired ones?”
Sizzling Hot Alpha Male Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 21