by Larissa Ione
“Fucking vapor wraith!” Con grabbed Sin, yanking her off her feet to snatch her out of the way of the beast’s snapping jaws in the nick of time.
Ares hated vapor wraiths. They could be bound to Harrowgates, and while a single beast couldn’t screw much with Ares and his siblings, the three more that materialized, each progressively larger than the first twelve-footer, could put a hurting on them if they tried to get out through the gate.
And he didn’t have to attempt to throw his own portable gate to know that Pestilence had neutralized that ability.
Swarms of demons rushed them from all sides, including from above.
“Watch the arrows!” Than shouted, even as he knocked one out of the air with his sword.
No doubt the tips were coated with hellhound saliva.
“Get me to Hal—” Cara cut off as a raptor horror, a man-sized, eyeless thing with bat wings, swept down and nearly knocked her out of the saddle. Ares caught her by the wrist, tried to haul her back up, but an ax caught Battle in the chest. He screamed, reared up, and Cara plummeted to the ground.
“Cara!”
“Go,” she gasped. “I’ll get to Hal.” Her gaze shifted. “Behind you!”
He twisted around in time to barely avoid being skewered by a sword twice the size of his, wielded by a troll. And yet, in the middle of the battle taking place, everything went slow motion, and he locked gazes with Cara.
Go, she mouthed. I love you.
He tried to say it back, but all that came out was, “Get to Hal!”
Cara’s life was more important than his feelings.
* * *
“Get to Hal!” Ares had shouted, but he didn’t need to. Cara was desperate to get to the hound, whose cries rose above even the shriek and thunder of hundreds, maybe thousands, of demons.
Ares said Hal would be kept in the pits by the same symbols that had imprisoned him in the cage Sestiel had put him in. All she had to do was destroy the symbols, and Hal would be free.
Crawling, she avoided being chopped in half by a huge ax blade. The creature wound up for another swing, but Kynan took its head off with something that looked like a sharp Frisbee. Blood showered her, a gruesome rain of blackish-crimson that splashed into her mouth and nearly made her vomit. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it…
Adrenaline gave her waning strength a much-needed boost as she scrambled on her hands and knees beneath the feet of some horrible winged thing, and then rolled between the legs of another. On either side of her, Ares and Thanatos fought, shielding her from the worst of the horde. In front of her, Wraith cleared the way. Like Kynan, nothing touched him. If she hadn’t been so busy trying to avoid being skewered, she’d have been fascinated by the way things would swing at the two men, but at the last minute, the enemy would stumble or fall, or something else would randomly strike them down.
When she reached the pit, her heart stopped. Huge ivory spikes lined the twenty-foot-deep hole, all angled inward to keep Hal—and any other creature that got tossed in—from getting out. Blood, both dried and fresh, splattered the walls and pooled on the dirt floor. Dear God, it was barbaric. She’d love to shove the scumbags who’d done this in the pit with Hal and see how they liked being torn apart.
Except… Hal wasn’t in any condition to fight.
He lay against the wall, his panting, labored breaths spraying pink froth. His tail thumped once, and then he went back to just trying to survive.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Get me down there.” She grabbed Wraith’s pant leg. “Get me down there.”
The demon scooped her up, and in one easy, nimble leap, sailed over the spikes to land, feather-lightly, in the pit. Hal growled, but it was a feeble attempt, the sound fading to a whimper, and her heart broke.
Still in Wraith’s arms, she gestured to the stone walls, which were covered in strange markings. “We’ve got to destroy them.”
“Those aren’t containment markings.” Wraith whirled so fast she shrieked. He hurled a morning star upward, and a batlike demon that had been diving into the pit tumbled in the air and landed in a heap at Wraith’s feet. “Bastard.”
“I hate this place,” she muttered.
“Ditto.” Wraith turned back to Hal. “His collar. It’s got the containment symbols on it.”
“Put me down. You watch my back.”
Wraith eased her to the floor. On her first step, she wobbled. On the second, her legs gave out. Wraith caught her before she hit the ground. Very gently, he placed her next to Hal.
“Hey, buddy,” she murmured. Hal licked her hand without lifting his head.
With the rumble of battle going on above her, and even inside the pit as demons leaped in but were dispatched by Wraith before they landed, she worked the collar. Her vision blurred with tears, and her fingers shook, all of which made for painfully slow progress as she manipulated the mechanisms on the series of tiny pins that held the collar in place. Removal had to be excruciating, but Hal took it like a trouper. When the last one popped free, the collar fell to the ground.
Hal didn’t move. His chest rose and fell in uneven fits and starts, and Cara realized that her own breathing had become shallow and raspy. The world spun and tilted as she wrapped herself around Hal and gave in to the exhaustion that rode her hard.
She was going to die in a pit of evil, wasn’t she? This… sucked.
“Wraith.” Her mouth was as dry as the hot air here, and she had to pause to work up some saliva so she could talk. “Help the others. Need the dagger.”
“Not without you two.” Palming a bone from some long-dead creature, he scratched out the markings on the walls. When every one of them was gone, the spikes at the top of the pit retracted.
“Let’s get topside before demons make a run on this place.”
Fear was a spike right in her heart. Wraith’s scenario would be a disaster. He might be untouchable, but he’d be overrun, and it would only take one demon to slip past him for Cara and Hal to be toast.
Wraith scooped them both up, grunting under their combined weight, and then he leaped, landing once again in a smooth crouch. Even though her energy and thought processes were flagging, she assessed the situation in a heartbeat.
With the exception of Kynan, everyone who had come to fight for the home team was bathed in blood, and a lot of it was their own. Their clothes—or armor—were torn, bashed, or broken.
The fighting raged, but as Wraith placed Cara and Hal on the ground, Ares was right there, and everyone else closed ranks, forming a protective circle around Hal and Cara even as they continued to fight. The demon horde, despite all the bloody, broken bodies on the ground, didn’t seem to have thinned at all.
“Cease!” The demons all froze as Pestilence rode through the masses, smashing demons who weren’t quick enough to get out of his way. “I call a five-minute truce.” He inclined his head at Ares. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.” He gestured in the direction of the Harrowgate.
“Hey there, Horsemen!”
Cara folded her legs under her and cradled Hal’s head in her lap as she squinted into the smoky darkness. A massive man with a dark blue mohawk broke through the ocean of creatures. He might have been handsome, if not for the extreme paleness of his skin, which revealed a pattern of black veins beneath. Protruding from his bare back were a set of black, leathery wings, which extended to his calves. She had no idea what kind of pants he was wearing, but they were silvery, form-fitting, and they kept shifting, as though they were constantly rearranging themselves on his body.
Demons bowed and fell to their knees as he passed, and the ones in front of him knocked into each other and fell all over themselves to get out of his way. If his smile was any indication, he was getting a kick out of it.
Thanatos’s split lips stretched into a big grin. “Hades. It’s about fucking time.”
Hades? The Hades?
“Fuck off.” Hades ran his palm up his hairless chest. “Try negotiating with Azagoth to stop the floo
d of souls into Sheoul-gra so you can take a break, and see how long it takes you.”
Wraith bent over and whispered in her ear, “Azagoth is the Grim Reaper. I’m kind of related to him. How cool is that?”
Kynan shoved his stang into a holster. “You’re such a name-dropper.”
“Why are you here?” Ares wiped blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. “Tell me you’re not working with Pestilence.”
“That’s the thanks I get?” He spun around. “Guess you don’t need me.”
“Hades, stop being a baby.” Limos leveled a grave look at Ares, one that even had Battle stilling, though his muscles twitched. “He’s here because you said to call in favors. Cara needed a favor.”
Ares’s entire body jerked. “Oh, hell. I didn’t… think of that.”
“Think of what?” Cara craned her neck to look up at him.
Hades turned around, his wings spreading and folding again with a soft whoosh. “You are human. If you die in Sheoul, your soul will be trapped here forever. I’m here to escort your soul aboveground.”
Oh, God. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “It’s my good deed for the millennium. And Limos promised to send me Baskin-Robbins.”
“Time’s up,” Pestilence shouted. “And did I mention my secret weapon? No? Ah, well, I’m forgetful sometimes.” He swept his arm in a dramatic gesture, and out of the sky, three dozen winged men dropped in front of Pestilence’s horse.
“Fuck,” Wraith breathed. “Fallen angels.”
“Well,” Kynan said grimly, “you said you wanted to fight.”
“I don’t understand.” Cara peeled her eyes away from one of the winged newcomers—Zhreziel, whose expression said he had an ax to grind, and probably on the Horsemen’s bones.
“The only beings that can harm me and Wraith are angels. Which includes the fallen variety.”
“And they’re hard as fuck to kill, unless you’re another angel. Or a Horseman. Even better, Pestilence probably knows about our charmed status, thanks to David.” Wraith’s fangs flashed. “Man, if I get killed, not even the fact that David is Serena’s brother is going to save him from her.” For some reason, he smiled at that. “My mate can be a total badass. It’s so hot.”
“Okay, boys.” Pestilence’s grating voice rang out. “Kill the human and the mutt, and let’s get this Apocalypse started!”
Thanatos released his souls, and they screeched as they shot toward the evil army. As if rejuvenated by the brief break, the demons swarmed, more vicious than ever. It was a nightmare of teeth, claws, and weapons. Helplessness splintered what bravery Cara held in her reserves, and somehow Ares knew. He tossed her a dagger, a last-resort weapon to be sure, but at least she had something with which she could strike a blow to any demon that made it through the wall of her defenders.
Assuming she had the strength to use it.
Everyone, including Hades—who made demons explode with a mere touch—fought hard, but one by one, the horses went down, and the Horsemen were crushed under the wave of monsters. Despair and fear became the air Cara breathed, so thick she couldn’t even scream when the rain of blows fell on Cara and Hal. Wraith and Kynan leaped on top of them, shielded them with their bodies, but somehow, blades found their way through the pile.
Pain ripped into her, as razor sharp as the weapons piercing her flesh and organs. Deep inside, a weird tugging sensation grabbed at her, and she felt as if she was being peeled like a banana. When the realization hit her, she cried out.
The tugging and peeling was her soul trying to leave her body.
Snarls rang out. Screams. Warm blood splashed on her face. A weight came off her as Wraith and Kynan pushed away. Ares. Where was Ares?
“Holy shit,” Kynan murmured. “Damn.”
Cara couldn’t move, could barely breathe as she lay on her side in a fetal position, wrapped around Hal. She figured she had about five breaths’ worth of life remaining, but dammit, she was going to watch the end come. With effort, she opened the one eye that still functioned, though it felt as if her eyelid was made of steel wool. Through uneven blurs and blood, she saw massive black paws. Teeth. Red, glowing eyes.
Hellhounds.
“There has to be thousands of them,” Wraith said.
The forest of black legs milled and parted. Something massive moved toward them, and before Cara could even blink, a monstrous, three-headed hellhound stood before them, easily twice as big as the largest of the others.
“Hey, Cerberus,” Hades said.
“Cerberus?” Kynan gasped.
“Yeah.” Hades scrubbed his hand over his mohawk. “This can’t be good.”
“And why is that?”
“He hates me for binding him to Sheoul-gra. He only gets to leave when I do. He’s probably here to rip me to shreds. Again.”
The beast shouldered aside Hades, and finally, Cara caught sight of Ares. His armor was mangled, his left hand mashed, and his legs impossibly broken, but he was using his one good hand to drag himself to Cara. She wanted to cry, but that tugging sensation had overcome her, and tears, it seemed, stayed with the body, not the soul.
Ares pulled himself against her as everyone else moved to block Cerberus, who was on a path directly for her and Hal.
Cerberus’s three heads snarled as one.
“S’okay.” Cara’s voice was reed-thin, barely there, but apparently it was enough, because everyone shifted, allowing Cerberus to pass.
The big beast sniffed at her, and then one of the heads licked Hal. Hal opened his eyes, and a single word came to her. Grandfather. He hadn’t said it to her, but somehow, she intercepted the transmission to the three-headed hound.
One of the heads turned to her, its crimson eyes glowing. You are reoush, beast-healer. Rare. You will not die.
Not dying didn’t seem like an option. She sucked in a gurgling breath… and it didn’t leave her. Blackness swallowed her whole even as she felt the warm stroke of a tongue over her lips.
Twenty-seven
Cara wasn’t sure what happened. All she knew was that she’d come wide awake in Ares’s arms, Hal was bouncing around in the demon remains and happily tossing things like arms and legs into the air, while off in the distance, other hellhounds were… she squinted, and then wished she hadn’t. Ares wasn’t kidding when he said hellhounds liked their prey a little too much. Swallowing sourly, she jerked her gaze away from the hellhound playground to see medical people in scrubs patching up the home team.
Eidolon and Shade were doing the glow-thing to Sin, while Con held her hand, his own wounds so extensive Cara was surprised he was sitting up without help. Kynan was patching up Wraith, who kept yelling obscenities, and some black-haired guy Con had called Luc was trying, unsuccessfully, to work on Ares.
Ares, who kept shoving the guy away even as he spoke gently to Cara. “You’re awake. Thank God, you’re awake.”
“Where…” She cleared her throat to rid it of the scratchiness that made her voice sound as if she hadn’t used it in decades. “Where are the demons? Pestilence?” She frowned. “Cerberus. Or did I dream it all?” Even as she said it, she knew she hadn’t dreamed it.
“The hellhounds broke Pestilence’s army. He had to retreat. Cerberus and most of the hounds gave chase. Shade brought help from Underworld General.”
“How am I alive?” And damn, she felt really freaking great, too. As if she’d been plugged into a battery the size of Mount Everest.
“It seems,” Ares said, “that you received Hell’s Kiss from the hellhound king.”
Okay, that was… significant, she was guessing. Tail wagging, Hal romped over. All of us. You belong to all of us now. All bonded to you. Except for those bonded to others. You are reoush, our healer.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh, wow.”
Ares’s eyes bored into her. “What is it?”
“It um… seems that I’m bonded to all of them. They’ve adopted me as their official physician of sorts.”
Luc froze as he reached into the medic bag next to him. “All hellhounds?”
“As in, every hellhound in existence?” Ares added.
“That’s what Hal says.”
“Holy shit.” Limos’s voice came from behind Ares, but Cara couldn’t twist around to see her. “That would make you—”
“Immortal.” Ares blew out a long, shaky breath. “You’re immortal.”
“It’s beyond that.” Hades strolled over, picked up what Cara thought might be the leg of some creature, and tossed it for Hal. “Fetch!” He turned to Cara as Hal bounded off. “Any injury you sustain would be spread evenly throughout the hellhound population, so you’ll heal instantly. Only Cerberus himself… and God… can kill you now.” He frowned. “I can’t believe that fucker did that. He never does that. I asked him to do it to my girlfriend once, and he refused. Ripped my arm off.” He snorted. “Course, she fucked me over later anyway. The bitch.”
This was all so strange, and yet, it was all becoming normal. “Wait, why would they need a healer, if I’m bonded to them? An injured hound would take energy from me, right?”
Hades shook his head. “Cerberus’s bond doesn’t work that way. It’s against natural law to alter an entire species. You reap the benefits of taking from them, and they get you as a healer.”
Didn’t seem like a fair tradeoff to her, but she wasn’t going to complain. “Ares, are you okay? Your legs…”
“They’re fine. Eidolon gave me a quick zap when he first got here, and I’m regenerating to heal the rest. So I really don’t need any medical help.” The last bit was aimed at Luc, who gave Ares the finger.
Hiding a smile, Cara reached for Ares’s hand… and noticed that Battle wasn’t on his arm. Instant alarm lanced her. “The horses. How are the horses?”
“They could use your help,” Ares said softly.
“You should have told me!” She leaped to her feet, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to contain her gasp of horror. Now she understood why Ares had held her the way he had, angled away from the animals.
The carnage was… unbelievable. Thanatos was kneeling next to Styx, who was a mass of bone erupting from muscle. His legs were twisted in awkward angles, and he had so many blades and arrows sticking out of him that he looked like a porcupine.