Just thinking about the way he’d impaled her with his large organ, how they’d moved together, the way he’d made her scream...was her response to him nothing more than a mirage brought on by his innate aphrodisiac qualities? It couldn’t only be that, because she’d felt the tug of attraction before he’d gotten near her. And on the other end of things, how had she measured up as a lover? He certainly had seemed to enjoy their sex.
“What is it?” he asked, pulling her from those naughty thoughts.
“What’s what?”
“You have been staring at me.”
Her cheeks went warm. “I was just wondering if we’re getting close. I mean, how much farther, do you think?”
“An hour, maybe more. Assuming that smoke is from the nogrun dwelling. It might not be.”
“But chances are good that it is,” Andero said. “Nogrun like to live alone, distancing themselves from one another. So if this was where we emerged when Arch focused on your sister, I would bet my chak-ta that following the smoke will lead us to her. By the way, shouldn’t we call him Arc, not Arch? Since his full name is pronounced with a hard k sound.”
The god of Samhain whirled. “I am still Archipellus to you. Only she gets to call me Arch.”
“How come?” Andero crossed his arms. “I’ve known you for many centuries. You two barely met.”
“She is different.” Archipellus spun and headed off.
“How so?” Andero shot a playful glance at Melissa, who just shrugged before following. “It’s the girl parts, isn’t it? I’ve never had any of those. You think less of me for it.”
Archipellus still strode forward with a purposeful, determined gait, but she saw a faint smile play on his lips. “She smells better, for one thing.”
They made it only a few more steps before he froze. “Everyone get under cover,” he barked. “Now.”
She looked around. “What is it?”
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward a patch of the bent trees.
“Arch, what are you doing?”
He pushed her beneath one of the bent trees and crawled in beside her. Andero followed. There wasn’t even room to sit beneath the lowest branches, so she laid down facing up. Archipellus was close enough that she could feel his body heat, and despite the problem at hand, she felt little shockwaves of chemistry flowing between them.
“What are we hiding from?” she asked.
Then she heard the screech. It was eagle-like, but more grating and drawn out. Like some sort of prehistoric bird of prey.
“This isn’t a good hiding place,” she said, glancing upward warily. “The branches aren’t nearly dense enough. It’ll see us right through them.”
“Think you can shield us?” Archipellus asked his brother.
Jorandil climbed into the branches just above them, staring down. “We will soon find out.”
“If you cannot,” Archipellus said.
“Then lunch is served,” Andero finished.
The screeching came closer, and Jorandil closed his eyes. At first Melissa thought he was afraid, but then she realized he was concentrating. The outline of his phantom wings sharpened, glimmering brighter, and spread out until they were laying over the tree like a blanket.
Another screech announced that the creature was not alone.
“It is with its mate,” Andero said. “Not good.”
“Quiet,” Archipellus said.
The creature soared overhead, its wingspan large enough to throw the group into shadow as it passed. The body was a muddy brown, the wings deathly gray. A long, sawtoothed beak and beady yellow eyes gave it the look of a monster straight from hell. It looked down, making eye contact with Melissa for a brief moment, and she sucked in a breath. Archipellus clapped his hand over her mouth and put a finger to his full lips.
It circled twice, and its mate joined in the hunt. Their eyes scanned the landscape as they did alternating figure eights, passing over the group time and again, but they didn’t seem to notice them. Jorandil’s trick was working.
So was Archipellus’s effect on her. She began squirming, feeling the heat low in her belly, and finally, she glanced down and noticed the bulge in his pants had grown longer, creeping down his thigh.
She pulled his hand away. “Stop touching me,” she said.
He tensed up. “Sorry.”
“I think they’re gone,” Andero murmured.
They waited a few more moments, checking the sky for sign of their return, before Archipellus nodded. “It is safe now I think, Jorandil.”
His pale blue eyes opened, and his wings faded. He climbed down while the rest of the group crawled out from under cover.
Melissa turned around in time to see one of the creatures swoop down in utter silence, talons extended.
“Look out!” she cried.
It grabbed Jorandil by the shoulders and lifted off. Andero jumped and grabbed his ankles, yanking hard. The creature dipped but flapped its wings harder, rising up again. Archipellus joined in, making a huge leap to get hold of Andero just as he soared upward, and with a warrior yell, he gave a vicious yank on the others. The three of them fell away. Archipellus, who was lowest, dropped easily to the ground. Andero landed and went to his knees. Jorandil cried out in agony when he was pulled free, and he landed hard, hitting his head. He rolled over several times and stopped against the three, face up and unconscious. A deep gash was noticeable along one shoulder, no doubt from the talons he’d just been torn from.
The other two men raced for him, but a shadow passed and dropped straight down. They skidded to a halt as one of the bird monsters landed in front of them, fanning its wings in a display of warning. Its squawk grated against Melissa’s skull. Archipellus and Andero drew their swords, and the god of Samhain charged first. His slash slid harmlessly off tough outer skin that looked like more of a leathery armor. Andero jabbed inward, but the thing took hold of the sword in its beak and tossed it away. It went end over end and landed with a splash in a patch of nearby swamp. A blow from its wings sent Andero tumbling backward.
Its beak still open in a bizarre grin, it turned to Archipellus, who was facing it in a battle crouch, clutching the hilt of the sword of Apollyon in both hands. The god unfurled his wings and flapped them, giving a fierce roar from deep in his chest. It was a tactic to intimidate the creature, no doubt. It worked great on Melissa, who backed off, her mouth agape. The creature responded to Archipellus in kind. When it craned its neck high, calling out, Archipellus lunged. He dove forward and stabbed the sword upward, right behind where the creature’s beak met the sensitive flesh of its throat. It crumpled, and Archipellus managed to pick himself up before becoming trapped under the fallen creature.
“Jorandil’s hurt,” Melissa said, starting forward. But the other bird sailed in and landed, putting itself between her and Archipellus. This one was smaller, but still as tall as Melissa, and with the lethal beak and sharp talons, she didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
Archipellus tugged on his sword, which had gone in at an angle through the creature’s skull. But it seemed to be stuck, and Melissa didn’t have any time to lose. The monster snapped at her, walking awkwardly forward.
Arms wrapped around it from behind, and she gasped. “Arch, be careful! Get clear!”
But the god of Samhain, his powerful biceps straining with effort, restrained the bird, who squawked and struggled to free itself. His red eyes met Melissa’s, glowing brighter, and then he closed them and tightened his grip. Andero, who had managed to stagger over to where Jorandil was moaning and trying to sit up, stared over at the sight with an expression that must have been similar to hers. Archipellus’s muscles pumped up, veins rising along the surface, while the creature appeared to wither in his clutches. The screech grew weaker, the glow in the yellow eyes fading. The skin weathered and drooped, meat wasting away until the bird looked gaunt and skeletal. With a final wheeze, it fell, and Archipellus knelt beside it, his eyes still closed, breathing hard.
“Arch,” Melissa said, rushing forward. “Are you okay?”
His eyes snapped open, focusing on her with a laser-like intensity that was bright enough to hurt. “Stay away from me.”
She stopped.
“How did you do that?” Andero asked. “How did you drain energy from a non-humanoid creature? From a being that you were not physically...penetrating?”
He was still staring at Melissa. “I imagined we were back in that hospital room. And that I hadn’t stopped.”
Her lips parted. “Incubi can do that just by fantasizing?”
“Not that I knew of,” Andero replied. “But then, he is part god.”
Her gaze traveled down to the fallen creature, its body withered and spent. This was the power Archipellus had, and without any actual penetration—no sexual contact at all. He’d killed a monster just by imagining he was thrusting inside her. She swallowed hard.
The other two men stared at him, silent, the wary tension evident in their gazes. Andero broke the moment first, clearing his throat. “Jorandil needs his wound attended before we leave.”
Jorandil shook his head. “There is no time. We should make haste. Night will come soon, and the dangers will only grow with the darkness.” He eyed Archipellus. “Is that not so, brother? We should hurry if we want to save Melissa’s sister.”
Words didn’t seem to be getting through. He was still staring at Melissa, his eyes barely blinking, roaming over her curves while every muscle in his body seemed tense. Crouched behind the dead monster as he was, she couldn’t see below his waist. But she was certain that he was hard as a rock. The incubus hadn’t had enough from merely fantasizing about sex with her. He craved more.
He rose slowly, and the thick bulge in his pants, long and ridged against his thigh, confirmed her theory. He was facing her, his fists clenched at his sides, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic flow that was sensual, mesmerizing. He was so epic, the warrior god standing over the kill he’d made to save her. So powerful and gorgeous.
He took one step closer, one small step. Something told her to steer clear, and to avoid his eyes. He was luring her in. She saw it in her mind, knew instinctively what the incubus god would do. He would hold her in his hypnotic stare while he closed the distance between them, drawing close enough to breathe his erotic power on her. Then he could do with her as he wanted. She could end up like the victim at his feet, and she wouldn’t care. Her only hope was to keep him at safe distance.
But she couldn’t seem to pull away.
So powerful. Virile. He wanted her, and she wanted him.
“Archipellus,” Jorandil said. “Brother.”
Andero moved forward. “God of Samhain. Eternal Lord and Master?” When there was no response, he barked out, “Archie!”
Something flickered in those fierce red eyes.
“The girl Bethany is alone and afraid,” Andero went on. “We must hurry to save her.”
The god sucked in a breath, and the spell seemed to shatter. She shuddered and stepped back. He swiveled on his boot heel, stalked over to the first of the two dead monsters, and pulled the sword he’d struggled to pry from the creature’s skull before as easily as if he were drawing it from a pat of softened butter. He whirled on the men. “Then let us make haste.”
He pushed past Jorandil without the slightest regard for the injured shoulder his brother was clutching. The angel let out a moan, but he squared himself and followed.
Andero wandered beside Melissa. “Perhaps it would be wise for you to fall back to the rear with me. General Archipellus isn’t quite himself right now.”
“Or too much like himself,” she said, rubbing at the goosebumps on her arms.
He walked alone, leading the group, with Andero beside her in the back. Jorandil stood between, and she got the sense that he was acting as a buffer.
While there was no discernible sun in this realm that she could see, the gray sky was dimming at the edges. The ground darkened and the terrain grew steeper, a bad combination. Andero tried to help her navigate the tougher parts, but she kept tripping. Archipellus didn’t bother to slow down on her account, either. In fact, he picked up the pace.
She veered around a spiky, painful looking plant and almost tripped on a clump of lumpy soil that moved when she stepped over it. She panicked, sidestepped, and fell. “Damn it. How many of the dirt clods around here are alive?”
“Enough to make this a poor vacation spot,” Andero said. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head and glanced at the hand that stung like fire. “Just skinned my palm. Remind me to never do this again.”
“If you would just have allowed me to perform the ritual with your sister, this would not have happened,” Archipellus said. He’d turned around several feet away, glaring down at her. “None of us would be in this place, and she would be free of suffering rather than being a prisoner in a distant world.”
Her chest tightened. “I couldn’t let you do that to her.”
“Because you were jealous and wished to take her place.”
Her mouth fell open. “Can you get over yourself? I did it to keep her from dying. That’s it.”
“Death was her wish.”
“No, it wasn’t. You think you’re so noble, going to a girl in pain and offering to take it away? You played on her vulnerabilities. Doesn’t that bother you?”
His eyes, which seemed to have faded near his usual crimson red, flashed. He whirled around and started off again. Andero helped Melissa to her feet, her glaring at the incubus’s retreating back. After a few steps, she pushed her way in front of Jorandil, who tried to take hold of her arm to stop her. She pulled away.
“It’s all right,” she said to him. “Just back off a few minutes.”
She stomped alongside Archipellus.
“Well, doesn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it what?”
“Doesn’t it bother you that you were trying to use my sister’s pain and weakness as a way to get what you wanted out of her?”
“Be clear, Melissa. If Bethany had not been near her hour of passing, I would not have gone to her. What drew me to her was not vulnerability. It was death.” He threw her a glance. “If you knew more about my duty, more about me and what I’m trying to do, you would have seen that I was offering her compassion. Freedom.”
The words jabbed at the spot in her heart that her baby sister had claimed the moment she came home from the hospital. “All I saw you offering was the chance to take something from her that she was in no fit state to offer. You were trying to take her from me.”
Archipellus stopped for a few moments. She kept going, pulling herself up along a craggy section of rocks and squinted. Tiny wisps of white curled into the air. “There. I see the smoke. We’re almost there.”
She waited while leaning against a large, flat boulder covered in moss. Archipellus came around the edge of it and pushed her back, holding her against the stone by her shoulders.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a gasp.
His eyes raked over her. “I could take you now if I wished it. I have the power to make you crave the death I could bring you.”
She started to cry out, but like before, his hand clamped over her mouth. “One caress from my breath would have you opening your legs for me right here.” He was pressed to her, pinning her there while she squirmed, but he spoke with his head turned away. His breath was aimed at the stone.
Archipellus yanked back. “Or perhaps I would wait until you slept, steal into your bed chamber in the night. You would yield and grant me access, never awakening while I weakened you night after night, until little of you was left. That is the nature of my kind. My nature, if I were to allow it to rule me in the way that you accuse me of.”
She slid away from the stone and put distance between them. “Why are you telling me this?”
“So that you will underst
and why I went to your sister.” He glanced over her shoulder.
She folded her arms to hide the fact that her hands were shaking. “Because she was weak and couldn’t fight back?”
He growled. “No. Because I do not wish to harm anyone. Guarding the realms is my duty, and I need sexual power to keep the veil between our worlds safe. I could lie to myself, take that power from anyone I choose and say it was for the good of realms. Anyone I wished, mind you. They would not resist me. But instead of draining one with a life full of possibilities ahead, I choose those whose journey on earth is at an end. Women beyond hope and in great suffering, ready to cross to the underworld.”
She shuddered. “And you kill them. The way you did that bird monster.”
He shook his head. “They are already succumbing to illness or injury, and I offer a moment of respite, a blessed release to ease their passing. Rather than cause anguish, I take it from them. Is that not better, an act more befitting the god of a holy sabbat?”
She studied his face. “I can see how you believe that.”
His eyes darkened. “But you refuse to understand that belief.”
“All I know is, you would have robbed me of Bethany’s final hours, maybe even days or weeks. You would have taken her from me before I had a chance to say goodbye.”
The others caught up to them before he could answer. Andero poked his head around the stone, his eyes wide and questioning. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Just setting a few things straight.”
Jorandil put himself between them. “Everything all right?”
“She said nothing was wrong,” Archipellus said, and he struck off toward the smoke. “Do not attempt to stir trouble where none exists.”
Archipellus: God of Samhain (A Sons of Herne romance) Page 5
