by Larissa Ione
Also unsettling was the way Thanatos’s shadows flickered around him as he stared at Arik and Limos after they’d spilled the news. Arik had hoped the guy would still be at Underworld General so they could talk to the more level-headed Ares alone, but no such luck. Thanatos was healed of Pestilence’s attempt at a lobotomy and was as asshole-ish as ever.
“Married.” Than’s fists clenched and unclenched, and Arik was pretty sure he was envisioning Arik’s neck in them. “Limos, you do realize that by breaking your contract with Satan, you could piss off the one being in the underworld who can imprison you? Possibly even destroy you?”
“He won’t do that,” she said, taking Arik’s hand as they sat on the couch across from Ares and Cara. “There’s nothing Satan has ever wanted more than to see hell on earth, and destroying me would screw up a lot of apocalyptic prophecies. Prophecies that favor us as his champions during Armageddon.”
“It’s a good plan,” Ares said, and Arik held his breath in anticipation for Than’s reaction. On the way over here, Limos said that generally, if Ares saw the value of a strategy, Than fell into step.
Fortunately, she was right, and the shadows surrounding Than melted out of sight. Still, his voice was gruff when he spoke. “How will you do this? Your contract states that ‘the daughter of Lilith shall be married by the blood of an angel no more.’ What does that mean?”
Limos, in a short, flirty orange and purple sundress, leaned back against Arik, getting all cozy, and damn, it felt good. Felt right. “I asked Gethel about that. She said it’s part of angel mating ceremonies. An ‘angel no more’ will bind us with his or her blood. Can I have a margarita?”
Ares gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m out of margarita mix. And I’m assuming an ‘angel no more’ is a fallen angel?” He flung his arm around Cara, who snuggled against his chest. “Where are you going to find one of those? No True Fallen would risk pissing off Satan by marrying his fiancé off to someone else, and Pestilence killed all the Unfallen a couple of months ago.”
Limos palmed Arik’s denim-clad thigh, and naturally, Thanatos zeroed in on that, his pale eyes flaring gold. She was going to get him drowned again. “Arik’s got that one covered.”
All eyes shifted to Arik. “The contract says angel no more,” he began. “What if it doesn’t mean a fallen angel? What if it’s exactly what it says?”
“What, like someone who used to be an angel?” Than’s voice was thick with skepticism. “I’ve never heard of anyone being demoted without falling.”
Ha. Smug bastard. Arik had one up on Mr. Five Thousand-Year-Old Horseman. “I have. One of my in-laws, Idess. You might have met her at the hospital. She was Memitim, some sort of guardian angel, and she gave up her wings to be with Sin’s twin brother, Lore.”
“Interesting,” Ares murmured. “This could work. It certainly can’t hurt.”
Arik didn’t bring up just how badly it could hurt. If the marriage ceremony didn’t break Limos’s contract and Arik tried to remove her chastity belt, it could hurt a whole lot. But if it did work… he nearly groaned out loud at the visual in his head. He’d never really thought he’d get married, not when his job didn’t allow for much dating, and not when his only marriage model—his parents’—had turned him off the idea.
But he’d also come around a little after seeing how happy his sister was with Shade. And Kynan didn’t seem to be suffering in his marriage, either.
This marriage to Limos might not be happening the way he’d have chosen it, but she’d become as much an important part of his life as Runa, and marrying her was about more than saving her from a fate worse than death and saving him from demons who wanted to torture him. This was about giving himself over to someone without reservation, something he’d never been able to do.
He’d always had to hold things back from women—his past, his job, even his temper. The result was short rlt ontelationships in which he didn’t allow himself to grow attached. But Limos knew everything about him, she could definitely hold her own against him, and he’d absolutely grown attached.
“What about Pestilence?” Than asked. “Other demons might lay off you if Satan no longer needs you to speak Limos’s name, but our brother owns your soul. He’ll want you dead more than ever, if for no reason other than to see Limos suffer.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Arik met Than’s cool gaze with a steady one of his own. Arik wasn’t backing down from this. “I’ve committed to your sister and given my word. I’ll deal with Pestilence when the time comes.”
Than stared for a long moment, and then, finally, he nodded, and Arik felt like he’d passed some sort of test. “So where are we having this shindig?”
“Greece is nice this time of year,” Cara said, stroking her hand over the squirming ball of black fur next to her.
Limos kicked up her bare legs across Arik’s knees. “It is. But Than’s place is bigger, and I want a huge wedding.”
The little goat demon slipped under Thanatos’s ankle-length coat and tried to climb his leg. Smiling, he scooped up it up and tickled it under the chin. “I would have taken you for a shotgun kind of girl.”
“Funny, Than,” Limos muttered. “You’re always pointing out what a girl I am, and yeah, I want it all. A dress, a cake, and a ceremony. But we kind of have to do it fast, since everyone wants Arik dead. And also,” she said, “it’s Christmas time, and Than’s place is a winter wonderland.”
Arik raised an eyebrow. “You guys celebrate Christmas?”
“Not as a religious holiday.” Somehow, Limos had practically crawled into Arik’s lap without him noticing, and now she twisted around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But yes. Presents and parties and pretty decorations… I love it.” He loved how well she fit against him. “Reseph loved it, too. It was his favorite human holiday.”
“Nah,” Ares said. “He liked Halloween more. He lived to scare the shit out of people.”
Than shook his head. “New Year’s Eve. He planned out his party strategy months ahead of time so he could hit a big city in every time zone and get dozens of New Year’s Eves in one night.”
The Horsemen tossed around stories of Reseph’s antics, and for a few relaxed minutes, Arik got an idea of how it must have been for them before their brother’s Seal broke. And for the first time, he saw how much they had lost.
Eventually, an awkward silence fell, and Hal, the hellhound on the floor, whimpered as if feeling the strain. Finally, Ares cleared his throat and brought them back on track. “I don’t even know how to go about planning a big wedding,” he grumbled. “We did the simple beach thing with just Than and Limos.”
Cara grinned. “Limos and I will handle it. You come with me, and we’ll get you ready.” She patted Ares on the chest. “Gather your Underhers aworld General buddies, and I guarantee their mates will help out.”
“They aren’t my buddies,” he sighed, but Cara ig-nored him.
She grabbed Limos’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, Li. We’ll have a wedding by the end of the day.”
Twenty-five
“Arik, are you crazy?”
Arik smiled at his sister as she looked around Than’s place, where servants from all the Horseman households were scrambling to set things up for what promised to be a huge party.
“Maybe,” he said, and hell, it might be true. What was definitely true was the tension between Runa and him, the unspoken crap about how he’d been avoiding her calls.
“I just don’t get it.” Runa rubbed her arms through her cream Angora sweater. “Limos sent you to hell, and now you want to marry her?”
“She didn’t send me to hell. It was sort of a misunderstanding.”
Runa gave him a look that she usually reserved for when one of her triplets was misbehaving. “A misunderstanding is when your mate missed recording your favorite TV show because he was listening to a football game instead of you.” She glared over at Shade, who gave her a sheepish grin as he shoved trestle
table benches around. “A misunderstanding is not when someone lands you in hell for a month.”
“That’s behind us,” he said. “This marriage is the only way to save her.” And, if it worked, himself.
“So this is a marriage of convenience? You don’t love her?” Runa sounded almost relieved, and he so wasn’t sure how to answer that.
He had fallen for Limos, but he couldn’t say it out loud. Not yet. When he said it, it would be to Limos. He might not have thought he’d ever get married, but now that he’d made the decision, he’d take it seriously, and his wife would be his partner in every way. She would be the first person to hear the important things, like how he felt about her.
“She saved my life,” he hedged. “She was prepared to make a huge sacrifice for me, and now I can do the same for her. I want this, Runa.”
His sister took a deep, long breath before turning her gaze on him. “Okay, then.” She folded herself into his arms and squeezed him tight. “I’m happy for you.”
Hugging her back, he kissed the top of her head. “I figure marriage hasn’t hurt you, so there’s hope for me, I guess.”
She pulled back to look up at him. “Wow. That’s the first time you actually sound like you approve of me and Shade.”
He snorted. “I still don’t like the bastard, but I’m not stupid. He’s good for you, and there’sed. st time yo no one I trust more to keep you safe.”
“What about you?” Runa’s voice went low and serious. “Are you safe? Will this marriage put you in any kind of danger? If her Seal breaks—”
“If her Seal breaks, we’re all in a lot of trouble.” He smiled, hoping to reassure her. “Limos found her agimortus, and she’s keeping it on her until we can secure it somewhere it’ll be safe forever.”
That, of course, was an issue of contention between the Horsemen, the R-XR, and The Aegis. They’d all done a brief teleconference an hour ago to discuss the best course of action, and naturally, everyone thought they were the best people to safeguard Limos’s little cup.
“What about Pestilence?” she asked. “He is her brother, so what if he decides he wants to hurt her through you?”
“Stop,” he said softly. “Everything will be okay.”
He prayed he sounded more confident than he was. Runa didn’t know Arik had been soul-sucked by the asshole, and if he had his way, she never would. She was strong enough to handle it; he’d never doubt her strength. But if she knew, she’d never stop worrying, and after all she’d been through, she deserved a life free of the ugliness in his.
“What about you? Are you okay?”
She didn’t need to expand on that. She was asking if his time in hell had affected him. “I’m okay.” At her skeptical look, he rolled his eyes. “Seriously. I know I should be a drooling mess on the floor, but I think the Seminus demon who patched me up might also have patched my mind, too.” A vampire walked by, his arms loaded with a case of Dom Perignon. Damn, these Horsemen didn’t screw around, did they? “Hey, ah…”
“Don’t.” Runa stepped back. “Don’t ruin this with talk about our past.”
He hadn’t planned to, exactly, but this was related, and he swallowed against the sudden dryness in his throat. “I just wanted to say that I was sorry for avoiding you lately. What I did to you—”
“Wasn’t your fault. Stop it, okay? And don’t ask for my forgiveness, because there’s nothing to forgive.”
“Are you sure?” He glanced around the room, the way he had a hundred times since arriving, to make sure he kept track of everyone who came in and out. You could take the soldier out of the battle, but the wariness always remained. And in this case, the battle was still going on. “Did your nightmares return?”
She’d been plagued by nightmares about both their childhood and the part she’d played in their mother’s death, and regret had eaten her alive for years. Until Shade had released her from all of it.
Guilt flashed in her eyes, giving him the answer he dreaded. “Only for a night. Shade ended it.” Her lips curved into a secret smile. “Trust me, it wasn’t horrible.”
Arik held up his hand. “Okay, that’s enough. I definitely don’t want to get into TMI territoto wiry.”
“Ew. Neither do I.” She looked over at Shade, who was clomping his way toward them, looking like the Terminator in his black leather jacket, sunglasses, and big boots that cracked like gunshots on the floor. “I’m going to have him take me to Limos so we can do the girl thing to get her ready. I’ll be back for the ceremony, okay?”
He hugged her again. “Thank you for everything.”
“No,” she said softly. “Thank you. Until Shade, you were the only person who never let me down, and the only person who was ever completely honest with me. You trusted me with your secrets, and you didn’t doubt my strength when even I did. Without you, I never would have learned to trust any man. So really, it’s because of you that I’m happy.”
Shade came up next to Runa and offered his hand to Arik, who took it, and that was the first time they’d ever shaken hands.
“Good luck, man,” Shade said. “That’s one hell of a family you’re marrying into.” Shade’s voice went low. “Just never forget how much your mate’s brothers mean to her. Because I can tell you from experience that she’ll put you on the floor if you forget.”
Smiling, Runa hooked her arm around Shade’s waist. “Love you, bro.”
“Love you too,” Arik croaked.
Runa took off with Shade, leaving Arik drowning in a stew of conflict that was entirely of his own making. Because of him, Runa had learned that not all men were lying, cheating, abusive scumbags. Great. Awesome. Give him a goddamned medal.
But he had lied to her, and suddenly, no matter how much he told himself that the things he’d kept from her, his “omissions—not lies—” had been for her own good, he wasn’t sure he was convinced anymore.
* * *
Limos really liked Cara. She had since meeting the human, but after spending the day with her, she realized how truly special the female was.
They’d done a speed-shopping trip in New York City, where Limos had bought a wedding gown, shoes, jewelry, and makeup. All the while, Cara had been texting and phoning more people than Limos could keep up with, but she heard the names Sin, Tayla, Kar, Runa, Serena, Gem, and Idess bandied around. Then, by the time they went back to Ares’s place to get Limos ready, Runa and Idess were there, and Cara took off with Ares to handle something at Than’s place.
It was the first time meeting Idess, and Limos was struck by the statuesque brunette and how nice she was. Not that Limos expected her to be a bitch or anything, but angels who lost their wings tended to be a bit bitter.
Speaking of bitter, Harvester still hadn’t turned up. Neither had Reaver. Limos couldn’t let their disappearances ruin tonight, but she wished Reaver could be there for her. He hadn’t been their Watcher for long, but she’d connected with him instantly. He wasn’t like other angels, with their stuffy, formal, stick-up-the-ass-ness. Reaver was actually… fun. Hillyonight, bus time as an Unfallen seemed to have given him a stick-up-the-ass-ectomy.
“So you’re truly okay with performing the marriage ceremony?” Li asked the ex-angel as they stood in Cara’s bedroom. “You could be risking a lot.”
Idess tested the heat for the flat-iron she intended to use on Limos’s hair. “From the sounds of it, not doing it would risk even more. The world can’t afford for you to be paired up with the greatest evil to have ever existed.” She shrugged. “And besides, Arik is Runa’s brother, and I’d do anything for family. I owe the Sem brothers a lot.”
“Idess also has a very powerful father who few would tangle with.” Runa twirled Limos around to fasten the buttons on the back of the wedding dress.
Limos looked up from admiring the exquisite beadwork on the front of the floor-length gown. “Who?”
Idess grinned as she took a piece of Limos’s hair and pulled it through the flat iron. “Azagoth.”
/> “The Grim Reaper?” Limos hoped her voice didn’t sound as strangled as she thought it did. “He’s your father?”
“Yep.”
Limos and Idess could be half-sisters. Now was probably not the time to mention that, and truthfully, until Pestilence was no longer a threat—if he was ever no longer a threat—it was best to keep anyone he could hurt out of his realm of knowledge. If he learned he had another sibling, Limos wouldn’t put it past him to torture Idess for fun.
“Okay,” Limos said, needing a change of subject. “So you’re cool with this.” Her stomach fluttered as Runa came around to slip Limos’s white satin high heels on her feet. “And you, Runa?”
“Arik deserves to be happy.” Five words, but Runa said it all. She might not approve, exactly, but she’d accept this was what her brother wanted.
“He does deserve that. I’ve not met many males like him,” Limos said quietly. “Arik… he makes me want to be a better person.” Telling Arik the truth made her feel better than telling any lie ever had. “That’s so sappy, isn’t it?”
“It’s your wedding day. Sap is expected.” Runa’s smile reminded Limos of Arik. Their coloring was different, but they had the same mouth, the same shaped eyes, and the same precise, deliberate movements.
“Can I ask you something?” Limos said, and Runa shrugged. “Not to be rude, but… what are you?”
One of Runa’s eyebrows arched. “You’re thinking about my warg shift in the middle of the day?” When Limos nodded, Runa continued. “I was bitten by a werewolf and left to die. Arik found me, took me to the R-XR, and they experimented on me with a potential cure. It didn’t work, but I now have the ability to shift at will instead of only on full moons. Now, enough of monster talk.” She took a small jewelry box off the bed and opened it to reveal a pair of stunning blue topaz earrings. “Something borrowed and blue.”
