Gabriel gritted his teeth as another arrow was pulled free. He didn’t understand the demon boy. One minute, he was the enemy. The next, the half breed tried to help him.
“You saved me. No one else cares if I live, Gabriel.” The soft words were filled with unshed tears. Gabriel twisted to see the boy, whose face was stormy with emotions. The child met his gaze, and he felt the connection again. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he wouldn’t leave the demon boy behind.
“Hurry, boy,” he said. ”We have souls to claim and demons to hunt.”
“You won’t die-dead?”
“Not this night.”
“I’ll protect you if they come back.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow as Death did when he said something foolish to her. The half-breed was powerful yet showed no capacity for control. He suspected the boy could kill him accidentally with another of those bursts. The half breed was quiet, concentrating on the arrows. Gabriel bore the pain in silence.
“Done, Gabriel,” the half-breed said and sat back, a frown on his face. Gabriel rolled with a grimace. His body worked, but he hurt and was weaker than he preferred.
“What are you called?” he asked as he pushed himself up.
“Rhyn.”
“Rhyn,” he echoed. ”Is that not demon for flower?”
The boy’s eyes narrowed in response. Gabriel snorted and limped onto the road.
“C’mon, boy. We have souls to fetch.”
“Do you think we’ll be friends for all time?” Rhyn asked and fell into step beside him.
“Eternity’s a long time, Rhyn,” he said.
“Yes, but there are a lot of souls we can hunt.”
“You’ll have to learn to fight like I do. Rhyn,” he said suddenly and stopped to look down at the demon boy. ”You can’t come with me to the underworld. Death won’t allow that.”
Rhyn gazed up at him, hurt in his eyes. The boy belonged in the Immortal world. Gabriel’s thoughts went to the Immortals he’d met when they bought death warrants from Death that he carried out. Soon after taking him to the underworld, Death had pushed him into a brutal series of assassinations to harden him against human emotion. He’d wiped out entire cities at her command, and killed children as young as Rhyn when paid by Immortals to do so. He didn’t care for most of the Immortals, but there was one who’d gone so far as to thank him for his service and buy him a new dagger.
The air around Rhyn shimmered as his hurt turned to anger. The demon boy gathered his power to strike. Gabriel ruffled his hair as he had his brother’s, amused by his companion.
“I might know someone who can help,” he said and began walking again. “First, we’ll hunt.”
Rhyn released the breath he’d been holding. ”I trust you, Gabriel.”
“You ever take a soul from a human?”
“No.”
“I’ll teach you how.”
As they walked in silence down the road, Gabriel had the uncanny sense his fate was now tied to that of the creature he’d saved.
* * *
The Rhyn Trilogy by Lizzy Ford
Book One: Katie’s Hellion
Book Two: Katie’s Hope
Book Three: Rhyn’s Redemption, Coming March 2012
Lizzy Ford is the author of the paranormal romance Damian/War of Gods series and the Rhyn Trilogy. She writes to keep the people in her head from killing her.
http://www.guerrillawordfare.com/
The Indie Eclective
The Indie Eclective is:
Heather Marie Adkins
Julia Crane
Lizzy Ford
Talia Jager
P.J. Jones
Shéa MacLeod
M. Edward McNally
Alan Nayes
Jack Wallen
Thanks for reading! Please visit our website to learn more about us.
http://indie-eclective.com
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