“You know it can be pleasurable.” He makes a noise of frustration. “Funny, but I’m not getting that from you. Your village must be small and backward. Did your mother not tell you about men and about sex?”
“It’s small, but it certainly isn’t backward. And yes, of course she did. She warned me that most men were governed by their cocks. That their brains are between their legs.” I make the mistake of looking between his legs. I know that Rage is big down there. I’m not sure why that would turn a woman on. I’m sure it would just hurt more. I quickly look up. I’ve been staring at his crotch for too long. “I have to say, in my experience, I think she was right. At least, I thought so before I met you. Maybe not all men are governed by what’s between their legs.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“She told me never to fall in love. She explained that sex was dangerous. Really, really dangerous…because sex can lead to love. I needed to be careful who I slept with. I needed to keep that in the forefront of my mind. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, so much as bearable…I guess. I know it can be…good…it can be great.” I don’t know that at all. It never felt great with Gaire. I’ve watched movies, though. I’ve read magazines. They can’t all have been wrong.
“Just not in your experience?” he seems angry.
“I thought it was me,” I whisper. “That I was the problem. I pretended to…um…like it.”
“Holy fucking shit!” Rage walks away. He squeezes the back of his neck.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything! I can’t be the one to have sex with you. Are you sure there’s no other way? Surely there—” He stops there because I am shaking my head.
“How did you even fall in love with a guy like that?” Rage looks shocked and angry. He’s brimming with emotion.
“It wasn’t all bad. Especially to begin with. He has a sense of humor, can tell a story, and is quite handsome. I was so taken with him,” I say. “I told you, I’m from a small village. Our pack lives there among the humans, who suspect what we are but don’t know for sure.” I feel nostalgic talking about home. “Life was simple. Peaceful…extremely boring.” I laugh softly. What I wouldn’t give to be bored out of my mind again. “Many of the folks living in Llangrannog never leave. It’s difficult when you grow up with a handful of people. I certainly didn’t see any of them as a potential mate. There were a few human suitors in town.” I laugh. “I have a few brothers, which didn’t make it easy. They scared off any potential boyfriends. I was twenty-three and had never even dated. I wanted to see the world. I was easy pickings when Gaire blew into town one day. He swept me off my feet. My mam warned me. I remember telling her that I was leaving with Gaire.” I recall that day like it was yesterday. I tell Rage what happened. I owe him that much since I pulled him into all of this mess. I go into my own head, back into the last, as I explain what happened.
“There you are,” my mam said, coming up behind me. “You’re going to catch the death of ye,” she chides, pulling her coat more firmly around herself.
I look back over the ocean. I’m standing on the edge of the cliffs. It’s beautiful out here at this time of the day. What am I saying? It’s beautiful no matter what the time. The sun is setting over the horizon. The air is crisp. I’m asking myself if I’m making the right decision. The way my heart is beating so loudly in my chest is telling me that I am. I have to hold back a smile.
“I saw that your bags are packed,” Mam says.
“Please don’t try to stop me,” I whisper. My words are carried away with the wind. I know if I can get my mam on my side, that my father will agree to let me go as well.
“You’re a grown woman,” she says. “Capable of making your own decisions. I do have to warn you about a couple of things.”
“You’ve warned me before, Mam.”
“Gaire isn’t a hellhound.”
“I know that,” I counter. “If the stories are true, it shouldn’t matter. He doesn’t have to be a hellhound, just as long as he loves me back.”
“You’re already speaking of love.” Mam shakes her head. “I worry for you, child.”
“I don’t love him.”
“Yet. You don’t love him yet. If you leave with this man, you will fall in love with him,” she warns.
I shake my head. “I won’t. Not unless I’m sure he loves me back.”
“It’s dangerous. Guard your heart. He’s a Huntsman. I’ve heard all about Hunters.”
“He isn’t like that. Gaire is different. He wants to spend time with me. He likes me. It isn’t just a hellhound that he’s after. He wants a partner at his side.” I can’t hold back the smile. It’s splitting my face wide open.
“One he can control. One who will do his bidding.”
“Gaire is sweet. You’ve met him. You’ve laughed at his jokes. I caught you blushing last night at dinner.” I saw the way Mam looked at him.
Mam smiles and pushes her hands into her coat pockets. It’s starting to get dark. The temperature is dropping fast. I see her cheeks turning red. Plumes of white come out of our mouths as we breathe out, when we speak. “He’s a good-looking man, for sure. I’ll give him that. Looks don’t mean much, and neither do words, Nia. This Gaire has a good way with words. He knows how to charm and just what to say. It doesn’t mean that you can trust him. Words are nothing. It’s actions that count.”
“Gaire hasn’t lied about who he is, what he is. I want to go with him. I want to see the world.”
“Know that he will do everything to make you fall in love with him.”
I feel my cheeks heat. It’s true, but not for the same reasons as Mam thinks. Gaire kissed me earlier today. It was wonderful. Everything I thought a kiss could be…albeit a little rough. My cheeks heat even more at the thought of his hands on my breasts. “I know that, Mam. I will guard my heart.”
“It’s easier said than done. Maybe we protected you too well.” She looks wistful.
“I’m not going to fall for the first man who looks my way. The first man to tell me I’m beautiful.”
“Your Tad tells you you’re beautiful all the time.”
I laugh. “That’s because he’s my father. I can’t be here anymore. I’m suffocating, Mam. My brothers are too much.”
“I’m with you there.” She smiles. “You need to be careful. You don’t want to end up with a master.”
My eyes go wide. Children are often warned against monsters of all kinds. Grown-ups tell tales of terrible beings to scare little kids. We hellhound shifters are warned against having a master. Of becoming slaves. Those are our bedtime horror stories. Only they’re not fiction. It can only happen if a hellhound falls in love with someone who doesn’t love them back. For whatever reason, it’s worse when a hellhound falls in love with someone from a different species.
“Your mother warned you,” Rage says, folding his arms.
I nod, “I left with Gaire the next day. I went with him on his adventures. That’s what they were at first. Adventures. I shared his bed every night.” My cheeks heat. “He treated me well.”
Rage grunts. He doesn’t look like he believes that part.
“He did. I was his, and he was mine. It took a while for me to realize that Gaire wasn’t really mine…only, by then, I was his. That’s when he changed.”
“More like his true colors came out.”
I nod. “He wanted me to kill for him. He wanted to bring other women into our bed. And worse! He…he’s despicable. I hate him!” A lump has lodged itself into my throat.
“When you refused his demands, he shackled you to one of the entrances to the Underworld?” His eyes widen like he can’t quite believe it.
I nod. “He gave me a choice to either do everything he wanted me to do, or to sit and rot at the gates. He was trying to break me. Gaire always planned on returning at some point so that he could take full control of me.”
“It took guts to stand up to him.”
“I couldn’t do those things.
I…just couldn’t.” I don’t tell him that I almost gave in a time or two. That the pain was almost too much to take. That I very nearly broke down. It would have meant becoming evil. Becoming something I despise. As dramatic as it sounds, I would rather die!
“I’m not a nice guy,” Rage says. He turns away, heading to the window, where he looks out over a garden that is mostly lawn.
“You’re too hard on yourself.” He forgets that I’ve looked into his eyes.
He turns, looking pained. His eyes are so dark. “That’s not true. You’ve only known me for a week, Nia. A week is nothing. You’ve been hurt and mistreated. I would give you more of the same.”
“I don’t believe you.” My voice is soft.
“It’s not that I don’t…want to help you. Sex…with you…is more appealing than you know, but…” He makes a noise of frustration, turning back to the window. “I’m not the right person, and you’re going to have to trust me on that one.” He looks my way. “I think we should ask Jarrod. I think he’ll jump at the chance to—”
“You do realize that whoever has sex with me is going to become number one on Gaire’s hitlist.” I sit on the edge of the bed.
Rage curses. “I hadn’t thought of that. I should have thought of it.” He curses again, louder this time. “There has to be another way. He can’t be as strong as you say.”
“He is!” I practically yell. “It’s important that you know – it’s suspected that Gaire is the bastard son of Hades.”
“A demigod,” Rage mutters to himself. I can see that his mind is racing.
“Yes, but unlike Night and Death, there is no balance with him. His mother was human. He doesn’t have dragon blood or the blood of a goddess to tone him down. He’s pure evil.”
“It would explain his ability to be as charming as he is cunning and malicious. It would also explain why he’s so strong.”
I nod. “He can move between realms with an ease that is terrifying. He doesn’t tire. Gaire is also able to make himself invisible.”
“What?”
I swallow thickly. “I’m afraid so.”
“How do you fight something you can’t see?”
“Exactly! You can’t see him coming. If you try to run, he can follow you anywhere. The only consolation is that being invisible drains him if he uses it for too long. He doesn’t like to use that particular skill too much. So there is a small weakness there. Thing is, being invisible is so effective, he doesn’t have to use it more than once.”
“We need to let Tri know about all of this.”
I nod. “I probably should have let one of those men take care of it for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to…” I swallow thickly, “let any of them touch me.” I shudder with revulsion. “They were mostly from the Underworld. Demons, and things that used to be men. Think zombie. Some of them were more like animals than humans. Terrifying creatures with barbed cocks. I would sooner take my chances with Gaire than sleep with any of them. I probably wouldn’t have survived a coupling.”
Rage is breathing hard. He looks disgusted. His eyes are dark and narrowed. In spite of the grim memories my words revive, my heart beats faster at the thought of Rage touching me. I feel a tightening in my belly. I feel the need to squeeze my thighs together. I get this ache. I never felt this way with Gaire. I didn’t mind the intimacy, but I preferred the cuddling and kissing after way more.
“We’ll figure this out,” he says. “You shouldn’t have to sleep with anyone.”
“There is no other way, and we’re running out of time.” I sound panicked. Blood rushes through my veins. I’m putting good men in harm’s way. There’s a part of me that knows I should leave, but where would I go? What would I do? “He’s hunting me now…as we speak.”
Rage’s phone starts to ring, startling me. I’m on edge. He silences the device. “We should get Death involved. He would know what to do. I’m sure he can give us information you—”
“No!” A punch of adrenaline goes through me. “He’s Gaire’s half-brother, and I told you, he’s not to be trusted.”
“Can we set a trap for Gaire?”
“What kind of trap?” I don’t think Rage gets it. “There’s only one other way. That’s if you release all of your powers when you go up against Gaire. Give him everything you’ve got.”
I watch the blood drain from his face. Then his eyes harden. “Innocent people die when I lose control…because that’s what you’re asking me to do. Lose control. I can’t! I won’t! Not to save you or anyone…not for anything.”
“I understand.” I sigh softly. “I think I should go now.”
“Go?” He frowns. “Where to?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I’m being silly. There’s nowhere to run to. Thing is, if I stay, Rage and Tri will get hurt. More than just hurt. Gaire will kill them when he finds us. I don’t want their blood on my hands. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“It does matter! You asked me to help you. I agreed. Let me help you,” he says to me.
“There are two ways you can help me. Have sex with me or let your powers loose on Gaire when he arrives here.”
Rage’s phone rings again. He makes a noise of frustration and declines the call.
“If you aren’t willing to do either, then I should leave.”
“Where will you go? What will happen to you?”
“I don’t know where I’ll go. I’ll just have to keep running in the hopes that Gaire doesn’t find me, because if he does…” My heart is pounding. My hands feel clammy.
“What will happen if he captures you?”
I swallow thickly. “I would have to eventually give in and follow Gaire’s terrible orders, or…I would have to kill myself.”
“That’s drastic.”
“I don’t want to die, but I also don’t want to hunt and kill innocent people. Finding souls who are destined for the Underworld is one thing. I was fine with that. We’re not exactly talking about model citizens here. Gaire enjoys the torturing and killing a little too much. He has a particular appetite for human women. I don’t want to be a part of any of that. I won’t!” I say, feeling my eyes prickle, so I blink a couple of times. Crying won’t help. “I also can’t stand by and watch you get yourself killed.”
His phone rings a third time. He looks down. “No one ever phones me. This is the same number trying me for a third time.” He picks up. “Yes!”
“Hi, is this Mr. Rage?”
“Yes,” he says.
I recognize the voice. “It’s Gretchen from the Newfolk Animal Shelter. Someone just arrived claiming that the Doberman belongs to him. He had pictures to prove it. I have to say, the dog looked very much like your Mochyn.”
“I ran into him,” Rage says. “He’s mistaken. The dog doesn’t belong to him.”
Gretchen breathes out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear it. I didn’t like him much. He gave me a bad feeling.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Gretchen. I appreciate it.”
“I gave him your number,” she says. “I take it he called.”
“Yes,” Rage is frowning heavily, “it’s all sorted out.”
“Oh, good.” They say their goodbyes.
My heart is going nuts. He’s on our trail. “It won’t be long before he finds me.” I jump to my feet.
12
Rage
I watch all the blood drain from Nia’s face. She jumps up and starts walking.
“Where are you going?” I ask, following.
“I need to leave.”
“Don’t you mean ‘we’?” There was a time not so long ago I would have been thrilled to see the back of her. I would have pushed her away. I’m not feeling any kind of relief or happiness now.
She shakes her head. “No, I mean just me. You stay here. You can tell Gaire that you got rid of me. Make something up. You can possibly delay him for me?” She glances back over her shoulder. I see fear in her eyes. I can scent it on her.
It makes my
blood fucking boil just thinking about what that asshole did to this beautiful woman. She’s petrified.
“Gaire is a demigod. Tri and I can take him. I’ll take him on my own.”
“Not if you hold back. You’re going to get hurt. He’ll kill you, Rage.”
“What’s going on?” Tri asks as we walk into the living room. “That was quick…too quick.” I see him sniff the air. Asshole’s brain automatically goes to sex.
“I’m leaving.” Nia pulls in a breath. “Rage is staying here with you.”
“What happened to having sex with one of us? I thought you— Holy shit!” Tri’s eyes widen, and he gets this look. My shirt lands at my feet.
My shirt.
Wait. What?
It’s the shirt I gave Nia to wear. Which means… I turn to her as she starts to pull down the sweatpants. I punch Trident in the face. The pervert is ogling her.
“Stop.” I grab the shirt. “Wait…don’t.” But she’s already shifting into her dog form. The back door leading to the patio is open. Taking long, graceful strides, she bounds outside past the huge-ass pool onto the lawn.
Trident is groaning. I hear him clamber to his feet. His nose trickles the tiniest bit of blood. I should have punched the fucker harder.
Nia – in her dog form – stops in her tracks. I see her hackles go up at the same time as I see him. Gaire. He appears seemingly out of thin air. “Shit!” I mutter.
“Is that him?” Tri asks, wiping blood off his top lip.
“Yes.”
Tri shrugs. “He doesn’t look like much.”
“Don’t be fooled. He’s the son of Hades and can make himself invisible.” I quickly fill Trident in on the most important areas of concern.
“Oh…shit!” Tri mutters.
Gaire says something to Nia. He is commanding her to go to him. I see her body stiffen. He commands her again, this time pointing at the ground in front of him. She lifts her head in clear defiance. The hairs on her back are standing straight up. She snarls at him. Then she falls onto the grass; her body is convulsing. Her eyes have rolled back. Her tongue is lolling from her mouth. She’s whimpering. The sound grates on my every nerve.
Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods Book 7) Page 8
