“You’re the key.” He rolled off the bed and strutted to the desk on the far side of the luxurious room, obviously uninhibited by the fact that he was naked. “The key to overthrowing Lucifer.”
Her? How could she be the key? “Why do you want to overthrow him?” She sat up, clutching the sheet tightly, scanning the room for her clothes. Her heart cracked at the thought of having had sex with that monster.
No. She’d been raped.
But it sounded as though they’d had sex before. Many times, in fact. Had she been his mate? Nothing clicked about him. Nothing felt familiar.
“Why would I want to overthrow Lucifer?” He laughed. “He’s shortsighted. Following the rules some ancient deity laid down millennia ago. It’s time for new management.” Pario dug through the bottom desk drawer and pulled forth a wand of some kind. “This is the first of seven items that will help us on our quest. And what’s buried in your pretty little head will get me the rest of them.”
He held up the foreign object and nodded. That had to be the Thata Justin, Theo, and Sadie had been after. This loser had it the whole time.
“You have only one of the seven?”
“Three. But this one was the prize that got me Theophilus so I could get you.” His tongue slithered along his bottom lip, and he grinned. “Lots of demons lined up to skewer that Gatekeeper. Had to hold quite a few of them back from beheading him.” He chuckled. “Though I did let them cut his neck until only a thread stayed intact.”
The torture Theo must have endured. The pain. Yes. She’d definitely made the right decision.
“You would have had fun watching it, Dyre. You—”
“Bullshit.”
“True. You never did have the stomach for torture.” Shaking his head, he settled the Thata back into the drawer. “You made a pretty pathetic demon. So needy and always wanting to be close to someone. Weak.”
“Sounds like I hold some cards now, though.”
“True. You ended up being worth more than we could have ever imagined.” His gaze hungrily swept over her.
Spying her clothes in the corner, she inched off the bed and scooted toward them. Pario watched her with a careful eye.
“Don’t bother dressing. You’ll be bare the better part of the day and evening.”
She almost puked but kept going. “I’m thinking no to that, buddy. Sorry.”
He zoomed to her and grabbed her upper arms. The sheet fell, leaving her fully exposed to this crazed animal. The anger pulsed out of him and into her gut, souring it. She fought his hold, but he was relentless in his restraint.
He wore nothing to hide his arousal, either. “I like it when you sass me.”
Crushing a stinging kiss to her already-bruised mouth, he held her in place. She squirmed, but he was an immovable force of nature. No, not nature, he was an immovable force of evil, ferocious in his exploration of her mouth.
She bit down, and he moaned, the sound radiating through her bones. Damn it, he liked that. Don’t fight, Yvonne. He wants that. It gives him power.
But she couldn’t sit here and be violated. No. She was Justin’s. No one else’s. But that was a dream now. He was gone. She’d never see him again, would she?
Pario whipped her around and grabbed her waist.
His hot body came at her from behind. Pain seared down her shoulder as Pario’s fangs pierced the skin.
Block it out, Yvonne. Think of Justin. See only him. Instantly retreating into her mind, she focused on her Mate’s ocean-blue eyes. His different smiles. She mostly liked the flirting one, but the sexy one, the content one, and the playful one flashed along her mind’s eye. She’d caused a few of those over the weeks they’d been together. Yes. That’d get her through anything she’d have to endure.
Knowing he was alive and safe trumped any horror she’d face in this private hell.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“How’s Theophilus?” Halena asked as she walked into the kitchen.
Sadie shook her head. “Says he’s fine, like the stoic Gatekeeper he is, but I know differently.”
Sick to his stomach, Justin shoved his sandwich away. It’d been two days, and Theo had yet to fully recover. Meanwhile, Yvonne was suffering unimaginable torture for all he knew. And since the tracking device hadn’t activated, they had to assume it was found and removed, or it didn’t work wherever she was.
“What’s happening?” Dasha asked Sadie as she patted Justin’s shoulder.
She’d been so comforting, genuinely concerned and helpful.
“His wounds are about fully healed now, but the nightmares are overwhelming, and he’s not talking to me about it.” Sadie descended onto a chair on the other side of Justin. “I’ve never seen him like this.”
“PTSD. Even Gatekeepers can get that, it seems.” Halena strode to the sink and ran water over her cup. “He’ll snap out of it.”
But Justin needed him to snap out of it sooner. Yvonne had been in Hades for forty-nine hours. What was she having to endure? His body ached to hold her. Having never made love to her resonated deep within him.
He still had his Ahavah Mark, but felt nothing of her. Not even a blip.
“Justin. You mind talking to him?” Sadie rested her hand on his. “You’re his Companion. Maybe—”
He hopped to his feet. “I’m on it.”
Theo’s Mate should have been able to break through anything because of their innate connection. It worried him that things were progressing so slowly. Then again, Theo had been with the demons for weeks. The torture must have been monumental.
Yet the demons hadn’t beheaded him. It’d all been planned to get Yvonne. He was sure of it but couldn’t figure out why. What was their end game?
He knocked on the door to Theo and Sadie’s bedroom, then cracked it open. “Brother?”
“Yeah.”
Even Theo’s voice sounded weak. Justin walked in, then clicked the door shut behind him. Theo stood at the open bay windows, eyes closed and arms wide. Justin sidled up next to him and looked outside.
Bright blue sky. Something that hadn’t happened much here in Paris over the past few days. But it still felt overcast and gray to Justin. Until Yvonne was home, every day would have a dark cloud over it.
“I need to return to the States. There is much upheaval since I’ve been gone,” Theo said, his eyes still closed.
“You ready for that?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
Theo eyed him for a brief second, then faced the window again. He tucked his arms over his chest.
“What happened down there?” Justin was almost scared to hear the answer, because what if they were doing the same to Yvonne?
“Unspeakable things. I don’t wish to think on them.” He drew in a deep breath. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”
Justin clenched his jaw. Thank you, Yvonne, for your sacrifice.
“You gave up your Mate for me.” Theo gripped his brother’s shoulder. “That takes more strength than I will ever possess.”
Emotion choked Justin.
“I vow to do everything in my power to get your Mate back.”
“But if we go back to the States…”
“Despite the tortures they delved on me, I was not without my wits, brother.” A grin curved the corner of Theo’s still-cracked lips. “They have a compound in the earthly realm.”
“How is that even possible? You would have detected a splice, let alone demons living there. Hell, Halena would have detected something.”
“As you know, we only monitor those who escape from Hades once sent there.” Theo stalked to the bed and sat.
He still looked thin, tired, despite two days with his Mate. Justin turned and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for him to continue.
“There is a horde of demons that can fly under my radar.”
“The new ones that haven’t been vanquished to Hades yet.”
“And they’ve built quite a team on earth, it seems. One not
yet detected by Lucifer from what I understand.”
“Led by…?”
“I believe Aggie was part of it, but since his demise, I’m not sure. I heard the name Pario several times. Many of the sadists torturing me often referred to him as if he ran things.”
“Anything about the Artifacts?”
“I overheard some speak of having two of them, though I can’t gauge when I heard that. Maybe a week ago? Two?”
“Shit.”
“The Thata, the map, and the raid on the so-called cave that had the Artifacts were all part of a plan.”
“To get you and, in turn, get Yvonne.”
Theo nodded. “I’m sorry, brother, but Yvonne, or Dyre as they know her, is who they’ve wanted the whole time.”
“Why? She’d been on her own for two weeks before I found her. How had she evaded them?”
“Not sure on that one. There were several times I was unconscious, or just had to mentally retreat, so I missed some of the demon chatter.”
The pain he must have endured. The agony. It kicked Justin’s gut like a bat. “I’m sorry, brother.”
Theo waved him off.
“No. Your wife senses your turmoil.” He sat beside Theo. “Feels it. Remember, you’re no longer one. You can’t hide it from her.”
“I will not allow her to know what I endured. It’s too much for her.”
“It’s too much for you. Besides you, she’s the strongest Shomrei I’ve ever seen. The Great One designed us to have a second half. They’re there to hold us up when we can’t. And we are to hold them up when they can’t.”
“Never thought I’d hear anything close to words of wisdom about Mates coming from you, Justin.”
“Things have changed.” For centuries, Justin had rejected the idea of one female for him, but now he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
Theo dragged in a deep breath. “You didn’t mate Yvonne all the time she’d been here. Why?”
“I was an idiot.”
“Because she’d been a demon?”
“I didn’t trust The Great One,” Justin whispered.
“There’s hope for you yet, considering what you just told me.”
He’d been a jerk. Going with any and every woman he could to try to push the inevitable out of his mind. Out of his heart.
Then he finally finds his Mate, and she turns out to be a demon with no memory of being a demon.
“She might have been a demon once, Justin, but her heart is pure. She never would have sacrificed herself otherwise.” Theo nailed him with a stare. “They spoke of her punishment.”
Justin jumped up from the bed and strode to the window, unsure he could take hearing what she’d had to endure as punishment for helping Sadie.
“First time the Hades Council of Archdemons doled out that punishment in nearly a millennium.” Theo paused and Justin turned. “High treason. Normally punished by eternal fire, but they made an example of her.”
Oh, Great One.
“Eight weeks of torture, much like I experienced, by what my torturers said. But the banishment from Hades was the part that hasn’t been done in a thousand years.”
“Go on.”
“As a human, Yvonne was an empath, needing to touch people to connect. She fed off it. Had a heart of gold, for lack of a better phrase. Which I can imagine is true from what Sadie has told me about her.”
“Then how’d she become a demon? Humans have to choose that.”
“I don’t know, but remember, demons deceive. Something must have forced her into the decision.” Theo scrubbed his face and glanced at the door. “My Mate grows nervous for me.”
“I shouldn’t keep you from her.” Justin moved to the door.
“No. Wait.” Theo stood to full height. “Yvonne lived twenty years as a human—an empath. A human geared toward emotions. Feelings. Yearning to help people and to be loved. She felt everything so passionately. Turns out that followed her into her demonic state as well. As much as it can, considering the human becomes inhuman.”
“She’s so strong.” Justin buried his fingers in his hair and pulled.
“They often called her the worst demon ever. Laughed at her constant need to be with someone. To touch their hand or arm. To make love.”
Justin’s gut twitched.
“She helped Sadie with the hopes that she’d banish Aggie to Hades for eternity, and he wouldn’t leave her anymore. Aggie knew some of Yvonne’s humanity and played on that. Fed into it. Even called her Yvonne sometimes. Despite how demented and sadistic Aggie was, Yvonne—er—Dyre still sought out comfort from others. Wanted to be with other demons since she wasn’t topside anymore. What better way to punish her than by making her touch lethal?”
“To keep her isolated. Alone. Everything she didn’t want.” He glanced at Theo. “Did you banish her to Hades?”
He shook his head. “A demon Hunter did, and she’d never resurfaced. I would have remembered.”
True. Theo didn’t forget a demon he vanquished with his Mavet dagger.
Theo grasped Justin’s arm. “They could have just thrown her into eternal fire or isolation in Hades as punishment for her crime, but she’d always craved being on earth to be with people, to touch them, so Lucifer and the Council upped the ante.”
“So, they banished her from Hades.” Justin grinded his teeth. “And she’s no longer a demon.”
“No. She’s something…else.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“You’re awfully quiet.” Pario cupped the nape of Yvonne’s neck.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” She pushed the demon away as they walked down a darkened hallway. It didn’t feel as though she was in Hades, though. No steaming granite reaching for the orange sky or smells of sulfur as Justin had described to her.
“I thought you’d be more appreciative that we were taking an outing today.”
Pario had kept her locked up in that bedroom doing unspeakable things to her body for five days. Her only refuge was when she retreated to the far ends of her mind to concentrate on Justin.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I figure it’s about time to bring you back, woman. The real you.” Pario steered her around the corner by the elbow.
Such a possessive prick, always holding on to her as if he owned her. Well, he did, basically. She’d been an even trade for Theo. For Justin.
A smaller demon approached. He had jet-black hair and was rail thin, but his eyes flared an evil, eerie black. “Pario.” The demon dipped his head.
The twerp stood a little more than a foot from them, just out of Yvonne’s reach. Would he fry if she touched him? Was it true that Pario had found a way around it? Or was her power gone? She hadn’t found one living thing in Pario’s room to test her powers.
“Is everything ready?” Pario asked.
Again the demon nodded, and he stepped out of their way. Yvonne snatched his hand before he could get too far.
A pained expression contorted his face, and a gurgle bubbled from his chest.
Then he was dust.
Pario yanked her to him. “Damn it.”
She saw the anger boiling. There’d be a price to pay for that, but it was worth it to know she still had her power.
That might allow her a chance to escape.
After she got her hands on the three Artifacts for the Gatekeepers.
Pario collared her neck and hurled her against the wall. It crumbled beneath the force with which the back of her head met the hard surface.
“You will not touch anyone. You hear me?”
She grinned as a dark humor rose in her chest. A grumble rolled through her stomach, and she laughed. The voice didn’t sound like hers, but she felt the tremble in her throat.
“But touching is what I do best. What I love to do most. You told me that.” She moved into his arousal. “My killing that demon turned you on, I see.”
Fangs slid from his upper lip. She’d seen those up close and personal thes
e days she’d been sequestered with him. Each time they made her want to puke, but she bit it back.
Play the role, Yvonne.
“Want me to do it again?” She glanced up the hallway. It was barren with dark, undecorated, gray walls. No people walking around. No sounds. Where the hell were they?
“The witch’s power must be great if Dyre is already coming back; we haven’t even gone in the room yet.”
“Where are we?”
He pressed a bruising kiss to her lips. “We’re visiting a powerful friend who will restore you to your true nature.”
Demon.
“For good.”
…
“Are you sure we shouldn’t bring Halena in for this? She’s a powerful sword to have,” Justin asked as he paced the plush carpet of the living room at the American compound.
“Once we have the location of the demon compound and confirm Yvonne is there, we’ll get Halena and a few friends together.”
The plasma TV showed an epic car chase from one of his favorite movies, but he couldn’t care less. “I’ve scanned the net, scoured any contact I’ve ever had in the demonic and human world, and found nothing.”
“I’ve been searching online, too,” Dasha said, pushing up from the couch. “No tracking device activity, either. It’s like they freaking vanished.”
“Halena’s on it as well.”
“Theo,” Justin said a little louder than he’d planned. “We need to hurry.” It killed him to imagine what Yvonne was suffering.
“We’re moving as fast as we can, brother.” Theo jerked. “Shit. A splice.”
That was the third one since they’d returned to America. All the distractions weren’t helping Justin’s temper one bit. If Halena would have come with them, she could handle some of these interruptions so he and Theo could focus on finding Yvonne.
“Let me come.” Justin stepped forward. “I need to kick some ass.”
“You do, indeed.”
A stabbing pain in his neck nearly floored him. He reached out for Theo to stay upright, and Theo grabbed his shoulders. “Justin?”
Slicing agony stole his breath. Thunder clapped deep in his mind, and a tidal wave of needles ripped his skin to shreds. His knees buckled, and the carpeted floor met them with a thud. A vise clamped around his lungs, only allowing air through in short gasps. Not nearly enough to stave off the blackness creeping in.
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