“In the flesh,” he says, and his voice rolls out of him, deeper and sickly.
“Ceuthonymus?” Conley whispers at my side.
“A very dangerous creature,” I whisper back, but don’t want to say more.
“I’m guessing you managed to escape from the Underworld…”
“Well, of course, along with your…” A look I don’t understand comes over the bastard’s face. “You didn’t know I escaped.”
I frown. “No, I hadn’t heard.”
“Then, there are likely many things you don’t know. And information is power, dear child.”
“I don’t think you have any information I need.” I inch closer to the edge of his burnt circle.
“Nothing? Not even about your mother?”
I feel every muscle in my body tense. “What do you know?”
He grins, and it’s fucking creepy. “Come closer, and I’ll tell you.”
Conley’s hand is suddenly around my wrist.
I look at the phoenix. “Do you honestly think I’m that foolish?” Then, my focus is on the monster once more. “I don’t care what you know or don’t know, I’m here to do a job. To kill the creature causing so much trouble in this town.”
“Kill?” Ceuthonymus laughs. “Oh, child, I kill, not the other way around.”
Charm growls low in her throat.
“Charm,” I point to the woods behind me.
The dog hesitates, then slowly moves backward and ducks behind a tree. I can see her there in the shadows, but she stays put.
Which I’m grateful for. This guy isn’t going to go down without a fight.
“Monster,” Conley says, his voice rising. “I hope you’re ready to return to the Underworld because that’s where you’re going.”
“Go ahead, phoenix, show me what you can do.”
To my shock, the phoenix pushes off from the earth beside me and launches into the air. Ceuthonymus’s terrible grin widens, and he lifts a hand.
And I know how this will end. A handful of tiny moments came back to me from my childhood. Of when the guards would take me down those dark halls and subject me to the monsters in their cells. Of the times they took a misbehaving prisoner and threw them in that big cell deep in the prisons.
There, a terrible creature was kept. One with skin the color and texture of tar, with poxs oozing with an oily substance, and eyes that burned of lava. Smoke would rise from his lips when he spoke, and they would shove a prisoner into his cell.
Where Ceuthonymus would burn them alive.
They would force me to sit there and watch as he charred them, laughter bubbling from his throat.
And it took so little effort from him. A hand pointed. A small touch. Anything.
As I look from him to Conley, it all hits me at once, and I’m scared out of my damned mind. I’m running before I know what I’m doing, watching as the lava bubbles from Ceuthonymus’s fingertip moving through the air like a nightmare.
Black soot rose from my boots as I run across the burned space.
Conley’s gaze is focused on his opponent, but as I glance at him, I see utter confidence in his face as he watches the lava almost swimming through the air heading toward him. It hurts my heart. The phoenix might be immune to fire, but lava isn’t fire. I doubt anyone could withstand the heat that Ceuthonymus would bring.
And then my phoenix will be dead.
I’m running. Running faster than I’ve ever run in my life, but it’s still not enough. I’m ready to launch myself at that bastard Ceuthonymus, yet I know deep down I’ll never make it. The lava is closing in on Conley, just as he’s closing in on it.
So I do the only thing I can think of, I leap. But not at Ceuthonymus, at Conley. I slam into the phoenix, who is caught completely off guard, and then I feel the sting of the lava on my back. The pain the lava brings is like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my life. A scream tears from my lips, and I’m sure I’ll be all-consumed by the power of the creature, smashing into ash, before I even hit the ground.
We crash into the earth, tumbling in a pile of limbs.
I barely feel the impact, because I’m already scrambling to my feet, tears stinging my eyes as the skin of my back pulls and stretches against the burn. But I face the creature, knowing that this thing isn’t over. That this is the moment he’ll finish the job.
No one escapes Ceuthonymus.
But, he’s gone.
I stare in disbelief. My mother had told me the stories about Ceuthonymus. He was worse than any serial killer. He used his powers, not just to murder innocent people, but to ensure their deaths were slow and painful. As far as my mother knew, once he chose a target, they were done for. He never showed mercy. He never backed down.
And now, he’s gone.
It makes no sense.
“Em! Em!” Conley is there beside me, grabbing my arms.
My gaze goes to him as I fight my panic. “Where is he? He’s gone!”
“It doesn’t matter. Your back! Shit! Your back!”
I shake my head and try to go where I’d seen Ceuthonymus last, but Conley keeps me where I am. “We need to get you help.”
“No, we need to kill the monster. You can never make an enemy and leave them behind or you’ll spend your life afraid.”
“Em!”
I finally look at him. His hazel eyes are horrified. Whatever my back looks like, it must be bad. “We need to take care of your injury. Between your back and hitting the ground so hard…”
And then, it hits me. “The baby!”
His eyes widen. “Baby?”
I’m shaking, and I look down at my stomach, stepping away from him. How did I hit the ground? Was it on my stomach? Would the burn hurt my child? What the hell was I thinking? I’d gone into hunter mode, protection mode, when I should have been protecting my unborn baby.
“I need to see a doctor. I need to see Leo!”
He nods and awkwardly tries to hold me without touching my back. It’s hard, and I have to bit back a scream of pain when he brushes the sensitive skin, but he manages to get me into the air.
“Wait! Charm!”
“Who’s Charm?” he asks, and he sounds panicked.
“My dog.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy, but he takes me to Charm. And then, I’m carrying her, and he’s carrying me.
“My car is that way.” I point.
Conley laughs. “I’m not taking you to your car.”
“Then to where?” I ask, confused.
“To the others. They’ll know what to do.”
And for some reason, his words make me nervous. What in the hell will these big men do when they realize I’m carrying one of their children? And that I’m a monster?
I guess I’d be finding out.
Chapter 13
Lucas
* * *
Rokad, Narath, and I have managed to put out the fire. Smoke clouds the air, and humans have begun to come out of their dwellings to see what the fuss is about, but it’s done. We hear a firetruck in the distance and pull back to the top of a nearby building, watching in the shadows and waiting.
Somehow we managed to help this town stop a fire from spreading, but that wasn’t our goal. We wanted to catch the monster. This was Conley’s section of the city to watch. The fact that he’s nowhere to be seen is making us all nervous. Even Narath, who is always one step from killing the phoenix, seems worried, so I know it isn’t just me.
“Where could he be?” Rokad asks, and the muscles in his jaw tense.
“Maybe the culprit went to the woods? We could search there?” I suggest.
Rokad considers my words. “We give it five more minutes, then we start a search for the phoenix. But if he was just goofing around or some other shit--”
“I’ll tear his head off and use his fucking body as a puppet,” Narath snarls.
Rokad lifts a brow. “No, we’ll do pairs next time and make sure he does his job.”
“And maybe stop thre
atening to kill him every time you get mad,” I say, giving Narath a look. “You’re threats are starting to sound like the period at the end of each of your sentences.”
Narath stands to his full height, and I see Rokad glancing toward the street, checking to see if anyone might see him. My massive brother looks down at me with those cold, dark eyes of his, and I fight the urge to shiver. Narath might constantly feel the need to hurt all of us, but I’m pretty sure he won’t kill Rokad and I.
Pretty sure, but not one hundred percent sure.
“Soon I will feast on someone’s blood,” he growls.
I wince. “Okay, big fella, but let’s save it for our enemies. Conley is on our side.”
He makes an angry sound of disbelief. “The phoenix will never be on our side. When we have killed every monster, we will kill him, then all his people, then--”
“Then? Fuck, man, there’s more to life than killing.”
His entire face tightens. “Not without her.”
His words drop between us, and I look at Rokad. I raise my brows and nod toward Narath. It’s time. Rokad needs to tell him that there’s a chance that the beautiful woman doesn’t want us. That it was a one-time thing for her, and that he can’t keep obsessing over her. Rokad keeps saying he’ll have the conversation, but I think he puts it off every time he sees how just the mention of her has Narath thinking about something other than blood and violence.
Still, this obsession is going too far. For all we knew, we’d never see her again. And even though that made a strange feeling roll through my chest, it’s a possibility we have to prepare for.
“So, the thing is,” Rokad clears his throat, his face a familiar mask as he looks at Narath. “About Em, well--”
“Em!” Narath says, sounds exciting.
“Right, about Em--”
“No, Em!” he points.
Now he’s seeing her? Fuck. We really need to address this. “Have you ever heard of a one-night stand, buddy? Because that’s what we had, in her eyes, if she wanted more she would have stuck around long enough.”
“Shit!” Rokad is looking where Conley is pointing.
I lift a brow and look in that direction, then focus back on Narath and open my mouth. My brain catches up, and I jerk back in the direction, only to see Conley carrying Em in his arms. And...is she cradling a dog?
“What in the hell is this?” I mutter.
“Em!” Narath sounds like a kid on Christmas. He races to the end of the building, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.
And then, Conley lands in the middle of us.
“You’re here!” Narath exclaims, hurrying up to her, and then he freezes.
My gaze goes to the beautiful woman, and for one minute all I can think about is the fact that I’m pretty damned sure I’ve missed her as much as Narath did. I don’t think it’s because she took my virginity either. I think there’s just something about this woman that makes me crazy. Something that pulls me toward her and makes me never want to let go.
“She’s hurt,” Conley says.
And it’s like his words are a bucket of ice.
He sets her slowly down, but keeps his hands on her waist. When he does, we see her back, and a sick feeling explodes inside of me. Her skin is red in some places, black in others, and there are huge blisters. What’s more, parts of her clothes have melded with her burns, creating a horrifying vision of her skin.
“What happened?” Narath says, and his voice is terrifyingly calm.
Em answers. “We tracked down the monster. It turned out to be Ceuthonymus. Conley tried to take him down, but when I saw the beast was going to hurt him, I jumped between them. It probably wasn’t my smartest move,” she says, followed by an uncomfortable laugh.
And it all happens too fast. Narath is on top of Conley, roaring like an animal, and his fists start crashing into Conley’s face. He manages two or three blows before Rokad and I are there, trying to tear him away, but it’s like the big guy can only comprehend that Em was hurt because of the phoenix.
“Stop!” I’m shouting, begging.
We’re big. But Narath is bigger, and fucking crazy. If he can’t calm down on his own, if he’s winded up the way he gets, eventually he’s going to get to Conley. And I think he could honestly end up killing him.
“Narath!” Rokad roars, but even though he’s getting pissed, Narath is still attacking the phoenix.
“Enough!” Em shouts.
Narath hesitates, then keeps attacking.
Her voice comes out softer. “If this is what you guys are like, the baby and I will have nothing to do with you.”
Baby? It’s like the world slows down. Narath’s attack stops, and all of us are looking at the woman like she’s grown an extra head. My gaze goes down to where she’s holding a dog against her stomach, and sure enough, she looks like she has a slight baby belly.
“You’re pregnant?” Rokad asks, breathless.
She nods, glaring, then turns on her heel and starts walking toward the door to the roof.
“Wait!” I shout at the same time as Rokad.
She doesn’t wait though. She keeps going.
And then Narath’s voice comes, soft but sure. “We don’t care who the father is. We will love you and the child like our own. You and the baby are now ours. And, human, demon, whatever the father is, we’ll never ask.”
Her entire body stiffens, and she looks back at us. I see pain and confusion in her eyes. “What are you talking about. You four are the only men I’ve been with…”
The implication settles between us. She’s only been with us. Which means the baby is biologically one of ours. Even though Conley isn’t technically in our Brotherhood, any baby born to a Brotherhood of gargoyles is the whole Brotherhood’s.
I hate it when I feel tears sting my eyes. This is impossible. Phoenix babies might be more common than gargoyle babies, but they were all rare. Most gargoyles can try for hundreds of years and never have a baby of their own. If this child is ours, it’s a miracle.
“Are you sure?” Rokad asks.
Narath turns and punches him, sending our brother slamming into the roof. He roars again, and then his words seem to tear from his throat. “Don’t question her! She’ll run away again!”
“I won’t run away. I never run away from anything,” Em says. “But I’m also not going to stay around a man who can’t control his temper. That’s not safe, for me or the baby.”
She opens the roof door and hisses, before crumbling to her knees.
Narath is there in an instant. He doesn’t touch her, just falls to his knees beside her. “You’re hurt. Let us take care of you.”
Her golden eyes catch his gaze. “And when you’re angry, will you hurt me like you hurt them?”
Pain flashes in his dark eyes, and his face crumbles. “I could never hurt you or our child.”
Her mouth draws into a line, and she tries to stand. He takes her arm gently, but she tugs it away and manages to get up herself.
“We know you need our help,” Conley says. He’s on the ground, brushing blood from his lip with the back of his hand. One of his eyes almost swollen shut. “We can get you there a lot faster than a car can go, and offer protection in case Ceuthonymus comes back for you.”
There’s hesitation in her gaze as she looks from Narath to us.
“We’ll never hurt you,” Rokad promises.
She slowly puts her dog down onto the ground. And even the dog is looking at us like we’re idiots. “Okay, you can come with me, but only because I think I’m going to pass out soon. But we’re taking my car. I bought it. I earned it. And I’ll need it to keep hunting. Let’s get to the car and call Dr. Leo. She’ll know how to help me.”
“Okay,” we all agree as one, too afraid that she’ll suddenly change her mind.
“Conley,” she says the phoenix’s name tenderly. “Can you fly me down to my car? Or will Narath attack us?”
“Never,” Narath whispers, sounding hea
rtbroken.
Conley rises, looking sore, but crosses to her and gently pulls her into his arms.
She looks at me. “Will you take Charm, my dog?”
I look dog at the dog. She’s got mostly white fur with splotches of autumn color. One of her legs has an assortment of scars running over it, and she seems to hold it without putting weight on it. She is a strange kind of animal, but if she’s important to Em, she’s important to us.
Kneeling down near the dog, I call, “Charm, come here.”
The dog looks between Em and me, then slowly moves to me. I pick her up cautiously in my arms, and I swear both her and Em give me a look that promises pain if the dog isn’t safe with mes.
No worries there.
Em tells us where to find her car, and we go the long way, circling over the woods, and trying to avoid the area of the city that’s chaotic. When we get to the car, we put Em in the front seat, where she lays on her side, with Conley in the driver’s seat, and her head in his lap. Her dog is by her feet in a little bed, and she hands me her phone, where I’m squeezed in the back with my brothers.
“Call Dr. Leo, she’ll know what to do.”
And then, she promptly passes out.
Chapter 14
Empusa
* * *
Between my inhuman ability to heal and Leo’s knowledge of medicine, I was healed up in no time. Well, not no time. It was a week before I felt like myself again, and another week before the burn was healed enough to focus on hunting that bastard Ceuthonymus once more.
The phoenix and the gargoyles were strange during this time. They treated me like an animal that might run at any moment. Saying very little, if anything, but serving me like a queen. Leo had allowed us to stay at a cabin she’d inherited from her grandfather about an hour out of town. It was a little rundown, but also a perfect place for us to rest. Between the trees, the fresh air, and the three small bedrooms, I felt more at home than I had since coming to the surface.
The boys gave me the largest room with a bathroom connected to it. I was grateful for that because it seemed this baby had decided to do a new thing… play drums on my bladder. I’d never thought much of going to the bathroom, but now it seemed I always needed to go.
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