Ares gave a sharp nod. “I believe Pestilence is torturing Guardians to get it.”
Kynan cursed. “That explains our missing Guardians.”
“He delivered one of the bodies to me this night. I’ll have Reaver take it to you.”
“Thank you.” Kynan inclined his head. “If there’s nothing else, we’ll get to work.”
Arik and Kynan strode out of the keep. The second the heavy wooden door closed, Arik hugged his ribs and groaned. “Fuck, that bitch is strong.”
Kynan’s mouth twitched in mild amusement. “You know how to pick ’em.” He slapped Arik on the shoulder. “Since I have to knock you out to move through the Harrowgate, I’ll take you to Underworld General. Eidolon can heal you.”
The idea of letting a demon fix him made him ill, but he was in too much pain to argue. Besides, Shade, Eidolon’s brother, had already healed him once. Saved his life, in fact. And the damned demon never let him forget.
“Let’s do it.”
Sixteen
After Kynan and Arik left, Cara took a seat at the table, and one of the vampires—holy crap, vampires!—brought her a ham sandwich and hot tea. Free of orc-weed, he assured, when she asked. She still had the leather-bound book Ares had given her before they left his place, A Guided Tour of Sheoul, which, though apparently written by a reasonably articulate, intelligent demon, was seriously creepy. But she was learning a lot, even if, so far, she hadn’t found anything that might help her understand hellhounds or the agimortus.
As she nibbled at the sandwich, she listened to Ares and his siblings argue about The Aegis, hellhounds, daggers, Pestilence, fallen angels… they were all over the place, like marbles on glass. And even though Cara was in the middle of it all, she felt like a serious outsider.
“You guys can feel free to ask my opinion,” she called out.
Ares strode over and pushed the uneaten portion of the sandwich closer to her. “We haven’t had to include anyone else in any decisions in a long time.” It wasn’t much of an apology, but from Ares, it was a lot.
She glanced at his brother and sister, who were pretending—badly—to not listen. “Look,” she said, lowering her voice, “I’m sorry for earlier. You’ve been trying to protect me, and I insulted you.”
Flickering light from the fire played on Ares’s face, throwing shadows in the hollows of his cheeks, and the flames danced in the black of his eyes. “You despise violence and those capable of it, don’t you?”
Cara sipped her tea to buy time. How could she explain that what she despised was what she was capable of. “Yes,” she said simply, because nothing else would come.
His hand dropped to his scabbard, his long fingers stroking his sword’s pommel like a lover, and the agimortus, which had been tingling already, kicked up a notch. “You despise me.”
“Not you.” She liked him too much. Even now, her skin was tightening as if his fingers were caressing her instead of the sword. “I despise killing.”
The sound of grinding molars joined the crackle of the fire, and then he drilled her with a stare so fierce she recoiled. “Tell me about the person you killed. Was it an accident?”
Whoa. He was as subtle as tank. “Y-syes.”
“Self-defense?”
Her heart skittered in an erratic rhythm. “Yes.”
“Then stop punishing yourself and everyone else who does what they have to do.”
So easy for him to say. He’d had thousands of years to stop punishing himself. If he ever had. “How many people have you killed?”
“Tens of thousands. And not all in self-defense.” His eyes held her captive, when she would have stumbled backward. “Yeah, you’re shocked. I’m a warrior, Cara. So go ahead and look at me with contempt, but you’ll thank God that I’m there when the werewolf is at the door. Because I’ll kill it, and I’ll never regret it. You can sit back and be appalled, but at least you’ll be alive, your hands will be free of blood, and it’ll be because of me.”
He wheeled away, but she snagged his armored elbow. The leather was surprisingly soft, and she wondered how it was supposed to protect him. “Wait.”
His entire body went taut. “I live to serve,” he said sarcastically, and God, that was it, wasn’t it? No one had ever treated him as anything but a warrior, so how was he supposed to see himself as anything different?
“You’re right,” she admitted. “And I appreciate what you’re doing for me. I don’t mean to judge you, but I see more in you than a killing machine.”
“How nice for you,” he said. “But you’re wrong. I can’t afford to be anything else.”
Her heart bled for him, that he believed that about himself. “Yes, you can.”
He laughed, as if what she’d said was beyond ludicrous. “Are you going to give me life lessons? What the fuck does a human with the lifespan of a gnat know about a five-thousand year-old demon?”
“What is your problem?” She shot him an irritated glare. “Why do you have such contempt for humans?”
“They die.” He bit out the words viciously. “You love them, and then they die. That’s what’s going to happen to you, Cara. You’re going to die, and then I’m going to—” He snapped his mouth shut so hard she heard the crack of teeth.
“You’re going to what?” The question tangled on her tongue, because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to hear.
His gaze skipped away. “I’m going to go evil.”
His answer chafed, for some reason. Had she wanted him to say he’d be sad? Ridiculous. But… okay, yes, she did. She wanted someone to be sad she was dead. The mark on her chest buzzed as her anger sparked. Ares spun around again, but oh, hell, no. She wasn’t finished with him yet.
Impulsively, she shoved him. Hard. Right into the wall. “You do not get to walk away from me like that. Not again. This is my life we’re talking about. I’m not a delicate little flower, nor am I a child. I’m a woman with no family and stuck in a strange world, so even if you have to pretend to care whether I live or die, that’s what I want. And if I want to have sex, it’s not your place to tell me I can’t handle it. And—”
“Cara.”
“—How dare you discount my experience—”
“Cara.”
“What?”
Ares just stared at her in the silence. Slowly, she turned her head, heat blooming in her cheeks at the sight of Limos and Than watching her, both wide-eyed.
“Cara?”
Groaning, she turned back to Ares, her tirade coming back to her in crystal clarity. His eyes gestured to the floor. She looked. Ares’s feet weren’t on the ground. With a gasp, she looked up, and holy shit… she was holding him against the wall and off the floor. Releasing him, she leaped backward, and he dropped to his feet.
“I guess the agimortus does make you stronger.” His words were spoken with a certain grim approval.
“I don’t understand. You said it was killing me.”
“It is. But you’re drawing on Hal in the meantime.” There was a brittle silence. “And me.”
She frowned. “You?”
There was a resigned note in his voice that she didn’t understand. “When I’m close to you, it drains me. It’s why my armor goes soft. And why I can’t sense jack shit when you’re around.” He closed the distance between them, his hands coming down on her shoulders. “And why I feel things I shouldn’t.”
She swallowed against the sudden dryness in her mouth. “Like?”
“Like guilt for putting you in this position. Like wanting to keep you safe for more reasons than just because I’ll go evil if I don’t. Like lust that makes me want to throw you down and take you until we’re both too tired to move. And like I’m a fucking idiot for feeling all of that.”
Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. And Limos and Thanatos were still staring. Fortunately, a blond man materialized in the room and rescued them all from a whole lot of awkwardness. Cara thought she must be getting used to the weirdness, because she barely even blin
ked. Nope, she was just thankful for his timing.
Limos squealed in delight and threw herself into his arms. The man’s grin lit up the entire room. And was he… glowing?
“Who is he?”
“Reaver.” Ares raised his hand in greeting. “He’s an angel.”
“Fallen?”
“Nope. A real live Heavenly angel.”
Well, there was something you didn’t see every day. She wasn’t sure what she expected an angel to look like, but she’d always pictured them wearing white. Not Reaver. He looked as if he’d stepped out of a modeling shoot for GQ. His black slacks and gray shirt couldn’t fit better over broad shoulders that tapered to a slim waist and long legs, and he sported a gold watch that even from here looked as if it cost more money than she’d made in her entire life.
Limos beamed up at Reaver, who returned the expression of affection. “Does Limos always greet him like that?” Cara asked.
“Yes,” Ares grunted. “He indulges her, for some reason.”
“Ares.” Reaver separated himself from Limos. “I stopped by your place. Saw Pestilence’s handiwork. I was concerned.”
“Aw, Reavie-weavie is worried about us,” Limos chirped, and the angel rolled his sapphire eyes.
“I took what was left of the Guardian’s body to The Aegis,” Reaver said, and Cara was suddenly very glad Ares and Limos had kept her from witnessing the scene in Ares’s backyard. “Did you accomplish anything in your meeting with Kynan and Arik?”
Limos, looking proud of herself, bobbed her head excitedly. “I broke Arik’s ribs.”
Reaver exhaled on a deep sigh. “Anything else?”
“They’re going to research the dagger and Limos’s bowl,” Thanatos said. “And they’re going to arrange for the release of the hellhound…” He drifted off, his stare going blank.
“Than?” Limos grabbed his wrist. “Than! What is it?”
Thanatos swayed, and his eyes sparked with an unholy fire. “Death. So… much… death.” He reached out as if trying to grab hold of something.
A gate opened, and then he was gone. Just… gone. As if he’d been sucked into the light against his will.
Alarmed, Cara stepped back. “What just happened?”
Ares’s next breath came out on a hiss. “Thanatos is drawn to large-scale death—if it’s big or sudden enough, he’s taken against his will.”
“A battle?” Limos’s armor snapped into place, Transformers-style. When Ares remained silent, Limos whacked her forehead with her palm. “Right. Insensitive much? You can’t sense anything with Cara around. I’ll track him down.” She opened a gate and was gone.
“How can she track him?” Cara asked.
“We can land our gate in the last place our brother or sister’s gate opened. And no, we can no longer track Pestilence.” He gestured for Cara to return to her seat. “I need to call Vulgrim.” He fished his cell phone from his pocket as Reaver sank down at the table across from her.
“So. How are you doing?”
“Um… fine?”
“You don’t seem surprised to be talking to an angel.”
“I’m sitting in a room with the second Horseman of the Apocalypse.” She’d made out with the second Horseman of the Apocalypse.
“Good point.” His shrewd gaze flickered over her, and she got the feeling he was looking right inside her. “How much of your situation have they explained to you?”
“You mean, that my death will bring about the end of the world, and I probably only have a few days to live if we don’t find a fallen angel?”
Reaver dragged his hand through his hair. “Yeah. That. Do you know that even if you’re able to transfer the agimortus to a fallen angel, you’re still bonded to a hellhound? Which means you’re stuck in our world? You can’t exactly go back to living with humans when your dog is the size of a hippo and is capable of eating your neighbors.”
“He doesn’t have to live with me, does he?”
“No, but you can’t predict when he’ll pop in to see you. The bond is powerful. He won’t want to be far from you.”
Okay, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. There was no point, not when she barely knew what was going to happen in the next hour, let alone the next week or next month. Reaver reached out and absently toyed with one of the pieces on the chessboard.
“Ares will take care of you. But keep in mind that he is a Horseman. If his Seal breaks, he will be the very definition of evil. And even now, he has an inborn need to win any challenge, no matter how minor, and no matter what the cost.”
She’d noticed his competitive nature, for sure. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that he doesn’t have a sense of fair play.” Reaver flicked his fingers and leveled all the chess pieces. “He follows no rules, because to him, the end result is what matters—not how you get there.”
A tremor of unease went through her. “And you’re telling me this, why?”
“Because you need to be prepared to do the same. If you want to survive, you may need to make sacrifices and do things you never thought you’d do. Things that go against everything you’ve ever believed.” His tone was dark, ominous, all the more frightening because it came from a being she had always associated with a soft… goodness. As if he knew what she was thinking, he took her hand. “Angels are warriors, and some of us, like me, are what you might think of as Special Ops. We play on the side of good, but make no mistake—we are soldiers, and we’ll do what we have to in order to win.”
“You… kill?”
“There is very little we won’t do in the fight against evil.”
She swallowed. “So you have no rules either?”
Reaver’s sudden laughter had a deep, uplifting bell-tone quality to it. “We have rules. Oh, we have lots of rules.”
Ares approached, and Reaver shot her a wink as he stood. “Kynan texted the coordinates to the hellhound. We can go as soon as I hear from Li or Than.”
“I’m being summoned anyway,” Reaver said. “I’ll be in touch.” He punched Ares in the shoulder, and in the next instant, was gone.
Cara blinked, feeling a little loopy, as though she’d just gotten off a carnival ride. “I have to say… he’s not what I expected of an angel.”
Ares laughed. She loved it when he did that. “What did you expect?”
“That maybe they’d be a little more… rigid. Or righteous.”
Ares snorted. “He’s not like other angels. They all have superiority complexes and sticks up their holy asses. Reaver’s different. Probably because he spent some time as a fallen angel.”
“Really? He fell? And he was able to go back?”
“An angel can fall, but if he doesn’t enter Sheoul, he can be redeemed. But once a fallen angel enters Sheoul, he becomes irreversibly evil. Reaver earned his way back into Heaven by helping save the world not long ago.”
Not long ago? She wasn’t even going to ask.
One of those gate things opened up behind him, and a massive black horse leaped out—but it was like no horse Cara had ever seen. Its eyes glowed red, its teeth were more like fangs, and its hooves scorched the floor. Limos, her armor splashed with blood, was in the saddle, expertly guiding the stallion with her knees. Gone was the ultrafeminine beach-girl, and suddenly, Cara saw the warrior she was.
“Get Cara out of here,” she yelled. “Than’s coming.”
Ares took Cara’s hand in his and tugged her against his hard body. “What happened?”
“Reseph. Fucking asshole started a plague in Slovenia that’s mowing people down by the thousands, almost instantaneously.” Her stallion danced beneath her, as agitated as its master. “Something else is going on in that area. I can sense need and desperation, but I can’t pinpoint it.”
“I’ve felt something similar,” Ares said gravely, and Cara wondered if that was why he’d been wound so tight. Then again, he seemed like the type that was always a bowstring waiting to be released. “Was Pestilence there?”
<
br /> “And Harvester. She was feeding on the dying.” Limos’s eyes flashed like hot amethysts. “Reseph was—” Her gaze flickered to Cara. “It was bad.”
Cara looked between the two. “Who is Harvester?”
“Our other Watcher. Reaver’s evil counterpart.” Limos made a sound of disgust. “She’s a major bitch.”
Another gate opened, and Thanatos, on his dun horse, stormed through. Jesus, he looked like something out of a horror movie… teeth bared, nostrils flaring, veins bulging in his throat and temple. The shadows that sometimes surrounded him had taken form, were circling, mouths gaping. One broke from the pack and shot toward her with an earsplitting screech.
Ares threw out his hand, opened a gate, and dragged her through it. She now understood why Thanatos was Death.
He’d had murder in his eyes.
The place Ares instinctively fled to when he needed a quick escape was his island. Specifically, the cliff where he’d taken Cara the first time he’d grabbed her.
“What was that all about?” Cara took a step back from the cliff, her eyes wild as she looked down at the rocks below.
Ares moved closer to the edge, putting his body between it and Cara. “When Thanatos is exposed to mass-casualty, he… changes.”
“Like how violence excites you?” She inhaled harshly. “Sorry.”
Shit. Not a comfortable conversation. “Yeah. Like that. He needs to kill.”
“What are those shadows?”
Ares looked out over the water, focusing on a fishing boat. That was the difference between him and Cara: He got up in danger’s grille but looked beyond. She backed away from danger but kept her eyes on it. “They’re souls.”
“As in… souls?”
“His armor collects them. Every time he kills a demon, human, or animal, the soul is sucked into his armor.”
Her horror penetrated his own softened armor. “Oh, my God. They’re trapped with him?”
“For a time. When he gets angry or goes into battle, or if he calls them out, they have a shot at freedom, but only if they kill something.”