He grinned, lowering himself onto his elbow so he could still peer down at her. Fingering a lock of her red hair, he said, “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
She smiled demurely. “Very well.” Then her eyes turned worried, and she frowned. “Until you nearly smothered me. What were you dreaming about?”
He wasn’t shocked that she had picked up on the nightmare. He’d woken up many times to his own screams, but it worried him that he might have hurt her. “Are you alright?” he asked, scanning her body for any obvious signs of trauma.
“Fine.” She smiled again. “But I want to know what you were dreaming about. What made you so upset?”
Erias shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t like thinking about it, much less talking about it. It was his private torment. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Cheyenne watched as Erias got up and searched the room for his clothes. She appreciated the view, but she was worried. She could feel the wall he’d erected between them like a tangible force, and she wanted that wall down. Now.
“Erias.” She sat up, clutching the sheets to her chest. “Talk to me.”
Busily pulling his pants on, Erias chose to ignore her request. Instead, he put on a bright smile then went over and kissed her lips briefly. “How about some breakfast?”
“How about you tell me about your dream,” she challenged. Pulling back the blankets, she patted the mattress in invitation.
Reluctantly, Erias sat down next to her. “There’s not much to tell. Just a bad dream. Everyone has them. So, what would you like to eat? I can order some strawberries and pancakes. Coffee, maybe? Or Gretchen makes these mean little—”
“Sounds great”—Cheyenne cut him off—“but I’d rather you level with me, then we can eat.”
Erias sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get out of this. Cheyenne was feisty and he had a feeling she was used to getting her way.
“It was nine-hundred years ago,” he began, “that my village was destroyed, and with it, everyone I loved.”
Cheyenne listened intently, her thoughts racing at the things he said that were too astonishing for words. And it wasn’t just the fact that he was talking about ancient history here. No, it was also the unspeakable horrors that he was reliving. She could feel the pain, the anguish in his words, and they spoke to the pain in her own heart from the scars left behind by her mother’s death.
It broke her heart to imagine the nightmare he spoke of. And to think that he lived it again every night? She couldn’t imagine how he managed to face it without going mad. Maybe that was why he was so angry all the time. As far as she was concerned, he was doing fairly well. He hadn’t gone Jack the Ripper yet, to her knowledge anyway. Lesser minds would have snapped long ago, maybe killed themselves or someone else by now just to escape it all.
She admired his strength. He wasn’t just a good-looking face and hard body. He had substance. And she found that quality very endearing.
Erias’s head was in turmoil. As he spoke, all he could think about, see, was his Helena and Emile. He wanted to rage and pillage, to exact revenge on those vile creatures all over again, but all the vengeance in the world hadn’t healed his heart or made what happened alright.
He had to stop talking before he spilled every gory detail and sent Cheyenne running for the hills, or the mountain, as the case may be.
“And I’ve been guarding The Gate ever since.” He turned his head to look at her, seeing the grief in her own eyes that she felt for his loss. He reached out and stroked her cheek. “Now do you see why it is so important that you and your team stay off of that mountain? If The Gate opens all hell is going to break loose, literally, and you will be right in the heart of it.”
Cheyenne nodded, her chest tightening at everything she was still struggling to process. Erias’s life story was horrid, and she felt incredibly remorseful even though she had no hand in it, but she was also devastated. All that hard work, the time, the money it took to follow this lead, for nothing.
“My whole life has been nothing but one disappointment after another,” she accused no one in particular. “We have been from one side of the globe to the other chasing myths only now to find out that we were actually right, and we can’t even pursue it without ending the world!” She slapped her hands on the bed in frustration. “What are the guys going to say when I tell them? I’ll be lucky if they don’t toss me in a padded cell and throw away the key.”
Erias shifted so he could look at her fully in the eyes. “Listen to me, Cheyenne, you can’t tell them. The more people that know, the worse it’s going to be to keep this a secret. No one can know about what’s up there. No one.”
Cheyenne stared at him in confusion. “Then what am I supposed to tell them, that I had a change of heart? Never mind, guys, I changed my mind. Let’s go home!” She shook her head. “I can’t do that. Don’t ask me to lie to my friends.”
“Then don’t,” he insisted. “Just do what I do and tell them a partial truth.” She raised a delicate brow. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s called omission, and it’s saved my life and my sanity more times than I’d care to count.” He pulled her closer, tucking her under his arm. “Trust me, the less they know, the better. You’ll be protecting them, Cheyenne.”
She could definitely see his reasoning. If those demons—she was still trying to get used to the idea that they really existed—ever got out, the devastation would be unparalleled. And she wasn’t eager to be the cause of the end of the world.
“Okay. I won’t tell them. I don’t know what I’m going to say, but I’ll come up with something,” she assured him.
“Good.” Erias grinned, pulling her to him and slanting his mouth over hers. Her lips parted, accepting him in without hesitation, and he rewarded her by plundering her mouth.
But he didn’t want to spoil her. Pulling away abruptly, Erias leapt from the bed and pulled her up with him. “Time to eat,” he announced, laughing at her crestfallen expression. “Hop in the shower and I’ll join you after I order breakfast.”
Nodding, Cheyenne grabbed her robe, prepared to pull it on, when Erias yanked it from her fingers. “You won’t be needing that.” She grinned, then, naked as the day she was born, slowly walked into the bathroom, flashing him a devious smile as she eased the door closed.
Erias growled low in his throat. The woman was a tease, and he was going to punish her accordingly as soon as he was finished making his call. He’d love her, then he’d feed her, then he’d love her again. After putting in the order for their food, he headed for the bathroom, pulling off his jeans as he went.
Pushing the door open, he could just make out Cheyenne’s voluptuous curves through the thick blanket of steam, and got the sneaking suspicion that he might never get enough of his woman.
His woman. The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. She was his woman. It had taken over nine-hundred years, but he’d finally found someone that made him feel the way that Helena had made him feel.
Like he was home.
Grinning like a mad man, Erias pulled back the shower door and stepped inside, pulled Cheyenne into his arms and proceeded to make love to her.
A terrible, ear piercing screech ripped Cheyenne out of her dreams and into a scene best fit for the big screen.
Dressed in a flowing, sheer white chignon, a woman of exquisite beauty was tearing at the blankets that covered her and Erias. A wild flurry of fluffy feathers floated calmly through the air catching in her buttery blond waves.
Who the hell was this lady?
Looking to Erias, who wore a look of absolute horror, she got the sudden sinking feeling of what this picture meant.
She slapped him hard across the face. “You’re married?”
“What?” Erias scowled at her absurdity.
“I knew it! You asshole!” Springing from the bed, she grabbed the remaining blanket and wrapped it around her then tore off to the bathroom, leaving Erias fully exposed to the irate female.
He cou
ldn’t believe his eyes. How had she known? But then his questioned was answered as soon as he thought it.
“Behr told me that you were shacking up with a human,” Persephone hissed. “I can’t believe you would do this to me.”
If he didn’t already know that she was heartless, Erias would have sworn that she was about to cry. As it was, he just wanted this nightmare to be over.
No matter who she was married to, Persephone was one hell of a jealous creature. He never could understand her fascination with the men of the Brotherhood, and even less her total obsession with him. It was almost as if she thought he belonged to her and should worship the ground she walked on.
As if.
He couldn’t stand the bitch. She was moody, egotistical, violent, prone to emotional outbursts of violence, possessive, violent, inconsiderate, violent, thoughtless, and oh yeah, violent.
She and her “Angel” were made for each other.
Thrashing her fists against the bare mattress, her hair whipping around like a hardcore head banger, she screamed and roared until she was spent. Turning a hateful glare on him, she curled her lip in an ugly snarl. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? Nothing!” Shooting off the floor, Persephone stood over him with fire in her eyes and looking every bit the fallen angel she was. She drove the heel of her white stiletto into his chest.
“What do you want me to say, Seph? A man has needs,” he said coolly, folding his hands behind his head.
The best way to deal with Persephone was to placate her. Make her think that she was number one in everything. Even though she thrived on their little cat and mouse game, she always expected to be the only important thing in his life.
In all their lives, but mostly his.
Her screwed up face slowly smoothed out, showing the infallible beauty residing underneath. It was a false beauty, though, because beneath it all, she was one of the ugliest people he had ever known.
Crouching down over him, Persephone toyed with the crisp, short hairs dusting his chest. “So, she’s just another one of your play things then?”
He wanted to tell her the truth, which was no, Cheyenne—the woman who was currently holed up in the bathroom probably crying her eyes out and regretting every second they had shared together—was much more than just a play thing to him. In fact, h was pretty sure he was in love with her.
He loved the way she smiled at him, her determination and wit, and he loved that she wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. Few people could do that. Just thinking about her made him stiff with need.
“You know me, Seph,” he hedged. “I’ve never been one for the serious stuff.”
She eyed him speculatively. “Yes, I do know you.” Seeming to accept his explanation, she ran her finger over his lips, down his chin, his chest, then his stomach before reaching between them and taking his now ridged length into her hand.
Thinking she was the cause of his arousal, she growled with satisfaction that she could still make him respond, then gave him a quick jerk before releasing him.
“I hope there will be no hard feelings between you and Behr,” she told him, walking around the room, toeing the mess of feathers coating the carpet.
“Naw, we’re cool,” he lied. Behr was so dead. Just wait until he found the bastard. He was going to wrap his hands around his neck and squeeze until his eyeballs popped out. Then he was going to rip that blasted goatee from his face with his teeth. He wanted blood. He wanted vengeance. And every part of his body screamed for it. Demanded it.
And he was going to give it.
“Wonderful. You two have been such good friends. I’d hate to be the one who came between you.”
Sure she would. He couldn’t really see her losing sleep over it, unless of course, one of them killed the other. Then she would be royally pissed.
Maimed, disemboweled she could do. That stuff was child’s play. With a snap of her fingers, she could make it as if it had never happened.
Unless she wanted them to suffer a while. Then she could leave them to regenerate, and that was a bitch.
He knew from experience.
“I hope you understand me though, Erias, and why I can’t take any chances.”
“What are you talking about, Seph?” Sitting at full attention now, Erias narrowed his eyes on her. He knew that tone. She was up to something, and he was sure that whatever it was; he wasn’t going to like it.
“I’m talking about the fact that, even though I can appreciate that you have needs, I can’t have you getting distracted, not at a time like this.”
Cheyenne suddenly appeared in the room beside her, bewildered, the sheet still wrapped around her. “What is going on?” she asked, both angry and terrified.
She had been listening to their conversation through the thin door and knew enough to surmise that they weren’t married, but also heard enough to know that there was more to their relationship than just work.
Then suddenly she was standing in the middle of the room wondering how she’d gotten there.
An aura of incredible power emanated off of the woman he called Seph, and when she turned her green eyes on her, Cheyenne felt such malice directed at her that her first instinct was to run and hide.
Except her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.
Looking toward Erias, she pleaded silently for him to explain what was happening but was met with such cold disconnect that it sent a shiver running through her.
She was on her own.
“We’re going to have a little girl time while Erias here takes care of his duties,” Persephone said sweetly.
Cheyenne felt an instant mistrust. This woman was not right, and she was definitely not going anywhere with her.
“Yeah, thanks, but I have things to do, so I’ll just be—”
“What?” Persephone cut her off. “You’ll just be climbing my mountain and releasing my husband’s staff? I don’t think so.”
“I don’t even—”
“Leave her out of this, Seph,” Erias bellowed. Crossing the room with no care that he was completely unclothed, he went to stand in front of Persephone. He needed to try and distract her. To make her believe that Cheyenne wasn’t a threat.
“She means nothing. She knows nothing.” He ignored Cheyenne’s gasp of pain at the words that stabbed deep. His own heart clenching, he resisted the urge to pull her into his arms and smooth away the hurt he’d caused. Stepping closer, he began caressing Persephone’s arms. “She’s just a pitiless human. We could just wipe her and move on. Easy.”
“Wait a minute,” Cheyenne said, a bit panicked. They both looked at her, a united front. “What exactly are you planning to wipe?”
A cruel smile twisted on Persephone’s thin lips. “I can see where you may be right.” She turned back to Erias. “But as Angel always says, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Before he could move an inch or try to sway her to listen, she disappeared, taking Cheyenne with her.
Chapter 17
Pounding his face into the floor felt amazing. Erias simply couldn’t get enough. The need for blood to be spilled was overtaking him, and he could feel himself losing control.
Oh who was he kidding? He had lost control ages ago, but he had lost his mind the second Persephone had taken off with Cheyenne to gods only knew where.
“Okay, buddy,” a gruff voice said, approaching him from behind. “That’s enough. I think you’ve had your fill.”
Grabbing him around the arms, two men pulled him off of the unfortunate man. Drunk and covered in the man’s blood, Erias wrenched his arms free from the bouncer’s harsh grasp and stumbled back.
“Keep your fucking hands off of me!” he bellowed. Completely outraged, he lunged at the man again as he tried to stand. The men caught him about the waist and hauled him towards the door.
“You’re out of here, bud,” the burly one on his right said as he shoved open the heavy wooden door.
> With a great deal of force, they tossed him out onto the snow-covered ground. They slammed the door closed behind him with a loud thud, the metal knockers jingling against the force. He wanted to laugh. Did they really think that was enough to keep him out?
Hardly.
Closing his eyes, he tried to flash himself back into his room. It didn’t work.
What the hell?
He tried it again only to find himself still sitting in the cold hard snow that was slowly saturating his jeans. He hated the cold.
This had to have something to do with his drunken state, but then he had always been a heavy drinker, and it hadn’t affected him quite like this before. Besides, he’d only had a couple of of whiskey and a few beers tonight. Where was the problem in that?
Standing, he banged his fist into the door to express his pissed-offness then trudged around the building to the back where he knew there was a service door.
He’d made friendly with a couple of locals some time ago, and he knew the boy who managed the shipments. Tommy was a young lad and the son of a family he had known for generations. They alone knew the truth of his existence.
It happened about three hundred years ago in the forest at the outskirts of town. He had been fighting a Coli demon, one of the nastiest of their kind. With blue skin and long, razor-sharp teeth, the Coli demons prayed on the weakest of the humans in the darkest of the night. Which generally meant they ate small children and the elderly, but their preference was for babies.
The more innocent they were the tastier.
The Coli had just opened up his side with its sharp black talons and was about to take another swipe at him, when a shotgun blast blew his arm clear off. Erias wasn’t sure what to make of it, but with his side gaping and blood pouring freely painting the serene snow covered grounds red, he couldn’t do much.
Luckily, for the human, the Coli ran off to tend to his wounds. They were cowards at their finest and weren’t used to meeting with opposition. Unfortunately, for him, he was left to deal with the aftermath.
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