Soldier (Emerald Isle Tigers Book 2)

by Cass Reynolds

  All too soon, he was upon her. She closed her eyes and shuddered as cool fingers caressed her face. Right now, his touch made her want to vomit, but she knew that he could change that in an instant. He could force her to want him, to beg him to take her. She would rather gouge her eyes out than beg this bastard for anything. But she was powerless against an incubus, and she knew it.

  She feel his hot breath against her neck, his lips brushing her ear and he whispered into it. “You know what I am. What I can do. How would you like it if I made you beg?”

  Silence was still her best bet, but she inched away from his touch.

  “So it’s going to be like that is it?” Zelloth chuckled, a dry and humorless sound. “All you have to do is answer my questions. I have no need for an unwilling woman, although I will admit it’s always a little more fun that way. Still though, you’re a human. Boring. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll do you the favor of throwing you back in the pit. I’m guessing you’d prefer that to my bed?”

  Mercy swallowed, hard, and considered her options. She knew that she could escape, given time and especially if her damned “guardian angel” ever decided to show his face. But she couldn’t escape if she was dead, so she better not piss this guy off too much. She had to answer.

  “What questions?”

  His face lit up in mock joy. “And lo, she speaks! You do me such great honor.”

  She almost growled at him, so fed up with his games and characters. “What do you want to know?”

  Zelloth pouted at her. “What, do you have some place to be? I assure you, you’re not going to make it.” The childish pout was replaced with an ugly sneer, showing a glimpse of the evil within. “And you know damn well what I want to know. Chase Anders. What is he to you, how is he alive, and where is he now?”

  She shook her head at him, trying not to look to obstinate. “I wasn’t lying earlier – I really don’t know anything about him. We met in the fighter’s cages, and I assumed he was dead until he showed up here tonight. I was rather surprised when he died. That wolf is out of his mind, has no strategy, and didn’t seem particularly interested in killing him. All I know is that he showed up tonight, raving on about some silly shifter magic, and told me he’d come back until he convinced me to let him free me.”

  The demon frowned distractedly, and it seemed genuine. “Yes, that wolf… he’s a problem. I should probably just kill him.” After a beat, the frown disappeared and he looked back at Mercy with a speculative gleam in his eye. “The thing is darling… I don’t believe you. No one would turn down a rescue from the Coliseum, no matter how much bravado they possessed. That being said, there’s no harm in seeing if he does come back. I think I shall throw a party. I’ll be the guest of honor of course, and you will be my newly adoring whore. Sounds fun, don’t you think?” He sneered at her again, showing a brief flash of fang.

  Mercy scrambled to think of a way out of this. He was about to turn her into one of his mindless drones. She would be unable to concentrate on anything besides an overwhelming desire to have his cock stuffed into her, every which way he pleased. “No, I really don’t think he’d be stupid enough to show up at a party. You’d be more likely to catch him if you just put me back into my cell.” She could hear the desperation in her voice, and knew Zelloth would as well.

  He breathed out into her face, emitting a sickly sweet cloud of pink smoke. Mercy held her breath for as long as she could, but the smoke forced its way in, filling her lungs. She felt woozy, disoriented, her memories trickling out of her mind. This was it. The Incubi love drug. Pretty soon she would be as horny as fuck, and Zelloth would make himself extremely available.

  She shook her head violently, trying to concentrate. Chase. She needed to focus on Chase. She summoned an image of his dark hair and laughing green eyes in her mind. She remembered him fighting in the Coliseum, a blur of muscle and steel. Then, when a fight got too tough, a beautiful tiger. Orange and black death. She clung to those memories as tightly she could.

  When the incubus put his hands on her, she kept that image in her mind. Her eyes shut tightly, she imagined it was Chase who was touching her, whispering unintelligible things. It gave her just enough power over her own faculties that when she heard Zelloth give her a command, she could ignore it. “Beg for me, Mercy.” She was restless and hot and needed a certain tiger in her bed more than anything, but nothing would make her beg this bastard.

  Eyes still shut, a vicious smile on her face, she responded. “Go fuck yourself, demon scum.”

  Chapter Six

  Chase caught his breath when he saw her. She was gorgeous, but not in a good way. In an ‘enslaved’ way that set his blood boiling.

  Zelloth had her on his arm, and the pair of them would turn heads in a room full of models. They contrasted so completely – her icy blue eyes to his flaming red orbs. Her pale blond hair to his dark locks. She was wearing a gown which was probably tailored to match her eyes. It hugged every curve, leaving little to the imagination. If that wasn’t enough, there were slits up the front and both sides of the skirt, crafted to display every inch of her legs. A corset was strapped on to the outside of the dress, enhancing her already generous cleavage. Chase was almost afraid that she was going to spill out of it, the fabric dipped so low.

  Obviously this was a trap, but hopefully he wouldn’t get himself caught. Apparently angels had some sort of illusion magic – Vesper had come along, and cloaked the both of them. The angel gave himself an upgraded outfit (and Chase had to admit that he looked very good) but the tiger got the full treatment. He now looked like a wizened old man, complete with hair coming out of his nose. Thankfully it didn’t seem to affect his actual body, so he could still move and fight just fine. Unluckily, his actual body was about three times the size of the illusion, so he was doing his best to stay away from… everyone.

  What he assumed were the elite of the city milled around the grand ballroom. He hadn’t realized that Zelloth and the Coliseum were so widely supported. It made sense though, sadly. The rich and powerful could do what they wanted – why wouldn’t they want to cheer for and bet on death matches? It was a sport that had existed for centuries.

  Chase did his best not to stare in Mercy’s direction too much. He was only one among the sea of men attempting and failing in this endeavor, but he didn’t want to give Zelloth any reason to take a closer look at him.

  Vesper was off on the other side of the room, charming an entire group of ladies. Who knew that the dirty, underfed, angsty angel could clean up so well? Chase had underestimated him, which was a mistake. People who could ooze charisma at the drop of a hat were dangerous. And the fact that Chase couldn’t even tell which persona was Vesper’s real one was especially disconcerting.

  He wandered around aimlessly, trying to come up with some plan of action. There were as many supernaturals as humans in this place; any attempt at an attack would be a disaster. Oh well. Zelloth couldn’t throw parties every night. Eventually Mercy would be unguarded. Or at the very least, Chase would be able to talk Vesper into teleporting her out of here. Stupid angel.

  He milled about for a good hour, sampling the delicious finger foods and taking in all of the guests. He was making mental notes of their faces and what names he caught – in his book, none of them could be trusted. Maybe the staff. Maybe.

  And then, everything fell apart. He was walking behind Zelloth and Mercy, and happened to glance up at just the wrong moment. Her dress was not open back, but it did have a narrow slit. She turned, and the slit gaped open, revealing a sizeable section of her back.

  Her skin was covered in fresh red welts.

  You don’t get those kinds of welts fighting – you got them from a whip.

  Chase’s mind went blank of everything but a sickly rage. Rage at the man who had the nerve to whip his mate, rage at himself for letting it happen, rage at Vesper for not teleporting her out immediately, rage at HER for putting herself in the situation, and rage at all of the worthless
people who patronized this hell hole.

  It wasn’t a conscious thing, but within ten seconds of seeing those lash marks, an enormous tiger leaped through the air, roaring, jaws open wide, aiming straight for Zelloth’s head.

  Mercy whipped around, her face filled with frustration and fear. Without missing a beat, she jabbed one finger into that tattoo. Across the room, Vesper jerked, as though slapped. Turning, his eyes narrowed, lips pursed, he opened his mouth to say something, but froze at the scene that unfolded.

  Mercy wasted no time, screaming in his direction. “Get him and get out! NOW!”

  Vesper hesitated, his eyes flicking between his best friend and the angry shifter who had managed to pin Zelloth to the ground. Mercy shouted again, her cheeks stained red. “Now dammit! I’ll be fine, just go!”

  He wasn’t completely sure that she would be fine, but Chase was definitely going to end up dead in about a minute if they didn’t get out of there. Resigned, he disappeared, reappearing instantly next to the furious beast. Wrapping one arm around the tiger’s massive neck, he popped again, and they were both gone.

  Chapter Seven

  “Get off me you… you… goddamn angel! FUCK!” Chase knew, somewhere deep down, that he shouldn’t be angry with Vesper. The angel had only done as asked. But how could he leave Mercy there? He could have grabbed her instead, left Chase. A tiger shifter could defend himself a hell of a lot better than a human could, no matter how well she fought. And she was being held by an Incubus… who knew what the bastard was doing to her, while they ran for their lives? He whirled back towards his ‘rescuer’, his anger increasing with every thought.

  “You left her there, with a goddamn sex demon! What is your problem?”

  Vesper seemed unconcerned, standing calmly in the middle of the sidewalk as though the bus was late. “She told me to.”

  “Big-fucking-whoop. She’s a woman, and a human, and you’re supposed to be her best friend! And you just teleport away, while she’s left there with a bloodthirsty crowd and the guy who now knows FOR A FACT that she’s involved with me! If you felt the need to run, fine! But you had no right to take me away from her too!”

  “Like I said – she told me to go, and to take you with me. You were there. You know this.”

  “So what, you just do whatever she tells you, no matter if it’s a good idea?” Chase paced up and down the road like a man possessed, unable to comprehend this idiot’s nonchalant attitude.

  Vesper had apparently had enough of the abuse. His hands came out of his pockets, balled into fists as his rotting wings flared out behind him. “You think you have all the answers, you stupid animal. You’ve known her a month, and you weren’t exactly going on dates. I’ve known her for twenty years. You see these?” His wings snapped out in a dramatic show, sending the disgusting feathers into a flurry of movement, “My wings look like this because of her! Because I sacrificed everything, for her! Don’t you dare stand there with your superior fucking attitude and act like I don’t care about her. You cannot even come close to the depth of feeling I have for her!”

  Chase stared at him, wheels turning. Was that what it was? Was Vesper in love with her? Was this whole thing a game to keep Chase away from her? Had they been together this whole time, and were just laughing at him behind his back? His mind filled with dark thoughts, and his pacing stopped. He balanced on the balls of his feet, subtly getting ready to attack, as he pondered the best way to murder this asshole.

  But first, he wanted answers. “So you two are together then? Could have said something.”

  Vesper stared at him, shaking his head slightly, his eyes flat. “No. God you’re such an idiot. You think that both of us would have heard your little mate speech and not volunteered the info that we’re together. I can’t even handle how stupid you are.”

  “You just said that you care more for her than I ever can, and now you call me an idiot for assuming that means you’re together? Well fine, maybe I’m an idiot, but you’re a dick. Fuck off.” Chase waved one hand in the air dismissively and headed down the shadowy road, head ducked, trying to shake off his rage. He didn’t need the angel. He’d get Mercy out himself, and then… probably leave. He had to save her, as much as he had to breathe. A shifter did not - could not - abandon his mate. He was starting to think that, though they might be destined for each other, reality was not so simple as fate.

  There was a flurry of muffled profanity from behind him, and he heard running footsteps. Apparently Vesper was not capable of fucking off. He tried to care, but he was just so tired. The angel could do what he wanted, Chase was perfectly capable of ignoring him.

  “Look, we’re not in any kind of a romantic or sexual relationship. I’m way too old for her. Stop getting your panties in a twist.”

  Just ignore him. Don’t respond. Don’t encoura – “What the hell are you talking about, too old for her? If anything you look to young for her.” Chase mentally slapped himself. So much for not responding.

  The angel heaved out a great sigh. He seemed like a dramatic dude. “I’ve known her since she was eight and I was four hundred and seventeen. She’s like a little sister to me, plus I kind of destroyed her life. So there’s that Catholic guilt you know.”

  Chase had no idea how to respond to that. Sure, he sort of knew that angels could live a long time, and had hung around even while the rest of the supernatural creatures died off. But it was one thing to vaguely know that and quite another to meet a guy who claimed to be over four centuries old. “Um. Okay. You destroyed her life?”

  “Well, I was just following orders. But yes. There was a program… basically to brainwash humans into evangelizing in the name of God. After the Blink, everything went to shit. Our human, uh, worshippers were realizing that we might not have been completely truthful about… everything. Specifically the ones we were working over, not the general masses of Christians. Anyways, we were ordered to kill them, to keep the word from getting out.” He stopped, his throat constricting.

  “…And? She’s not dead…” Chase felt like he was missing something very important.

  “No, I didn’t kill her. It may have been better if I had. Instead I killed her parents. I dropped her off with some relatives, with a note that explained. Took full responsibility – well, not personally, but I told them the angels did it. Second huge mistake.” He lapsed into silence again.

  Chase was going to strangle the man. Orphaning someone was pretty bad, but he wasn’t sure if it qualified as life ruining. This couldn’t be the whole story. “And then?”

  “Her relatives lost their minds. Started this whole campaign against Heaven. They were very public and very loud about it all. They used Mercy as a poster child for their cause. Pretty soon, another crazy organization took notice. Basically, this outfit turned human kids into xenophobic mass murderers. Trained ‘em up good, taught them to kill effectively and taught them all the best tricks to use on supernaturals. They came in, all charming, and offered to train Mercy. Her relatives signed her away in five minutes.”

  The tiger shifter shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. “So then, how are you two friends? Last I checked, you’re a supernatural. And Mercy has a reputation – she only takes contracts on humans. That doesn’t fit your narrative.”

  “Nope. They had her about five years – I think she was thirteen – and hauled in a whole family of shifters. Foxes. Five kits, oldest was about seventeen, youngest was six. They’d already killed the parents, but wanted some of the new recruits to practice on the young. Turns out, Mercy knew ‘em. They’d lived in the same neighborhood as her, played together, occasionally. She had gone to school with one of the girls. So she balked. Wouldn’t kill them. Caused a huge fuss, made a big speech about how they weren’t monsters like her trainers were trying to claim. It made her handler look really bad. So he killed all of them. Slit their throats, while they forced her to watch. She ran away that night. I’d been keeping an eye on her and saw her leave. And I decided that even t
hough I’m generally a fuck up at life, I couldn’t do worse than everyone else already had. So I landed, introduced myself, and explained that supernaturals are not all monsters. She wanted to put her skills to use, and who was I to say no? So Mercy, the scourge of human witch hunters everywhere, was born.”

  There was one crucial detail missing from this story, and Chase had a feeling it had been left out on purpose. “Did you tell her?”

  Vesper wouldn’t look at him. “No. She knows it was an angel, but…”

  That had to be a terrible burden for him to carry around. No wonder he looked gaunt and generally miserable. “So why’d you leave her?”

  The angel threw his hands up. “We’ve been over this! She told me to!”

  “Yes, but I have a hard time believing that after all that you would just let an incubus drain her.” Chase pinned him with a hard stare.

  “Eh. I don’t think he will. And I would notice if he tries.”

  Chase shook his head and resumed walking down the street. Looked like it would be up to him to get her out. Vesper followed him, leaping ahead with some weird ass hover jump. “Where are you going?”

  “Back to the Coliseum obviously. I have to get her out.”

  Chapter Eight

  The dark would have been too much for most, but luckily cats had excellent night vision. Vesper decided to be helpful for once. Probably figured that Chase would get himself killed and would no longer be able to make a nuisance of himself. Still, rather than having to try to fight his way into Zelloth’s private quarters, Chase had been conveniently teleported in. The angel immediately popped himself back out; they would have to have a conversation about that later – could the man not fight? Was he a pacifist? What? Why was he so unwilling to fight on behalf of his alleged best (and only) friend?