Lazarus snarled, the sound inhuman. He roared, his body seeming to grow and contort. He shook his head from side to side like an angry bull.
He called her name…
And exploded into his demon form, throwing off the demons that had covered him. His chest heaved, light glinting off his crimson skin and glossy black horns. His huge charcoal wings were spread wide, the silver flecks shimmering and dancing across each individual feather as they moved—causing a delicious spicy breeze to surround her, ruffling her hair.
The demons only stayed back a moment then dove at him, attaching themselves to his big body. Their teeth flashed as they bit and tore at his skin and wings with their claws. He peeled them off, but he was bleeding, his beautiful wings damaged.
He didn’t seem to notice, and continued to fight in a mindless rage. The audible crunch of bone made her stomach lurch as he dispatched them one after another.
Tobias stilled beside her, releasing a shuddering breath. “His demon has taken him. It’s done. It’s over.”
She shook her head. Oh God. I can’t lose him now.
The demons still covered Lazarus, tearing at his flesh, and more tears broke free, tracking down her face.
They’re going to kill him.
Lazarus was in there. He had to be. He wasn’t gone. She refused to believe it. She’d brought him back the last time he lost control of his demon, and she could do it again. She twisted her head, and Tobias was distracted enough by what was going on in front of them that she managed to get her mouth free of his hand. At least long enough for her to call Lazarus one more time.
Lazarus stilled completely at the sound of her voice and looked down at them. “Let her go,” he roared at Tobias. He didn’t take his eyes off them as he again started methodically peeling demons from him, until he was free of them and holding back the horde with his sword.
Blood dripped from his wounded body and pooled at his feet. His nostrils flared and his chest heaved as he took a threatening step toward the edge of the pit.
He didn’t seem to be struggling against his demon. The two of them seemed to be working together to protect her.
Tobias cursed and lifted his blade to her again. Lazarus froze. This was it. She was about to die without ever telling him she loved him.
Lazarus roared, the animalistic sound ripped from his throat.
She wasn’t letting Tobias take her to Hell, no matter the cost. She wouldn’t be the cause of these creatures invading her world, or what that would mean for Lazarus.
The bowl filled with her blood was still on the floor, just out of reach. Eve found enough strength to jerk to the side and kick out. She braced for the pain that was coming, as the knife that Tobias held was forced into her flesh with the movement, sinking deep into her shoulder.
The bowl toppled over, her blood splashed out onto the stone floor, and the gate flickered and closed, faster than it came.
Agony burned through her and knocked her legs out from underneath her. Tobias’s hold on her vanished…then Lazarus was there.
A battle cry echoed around the brick walls, filled with so much hatred it lifted the hair on the back of Eve’s neck. She looked up, and Lazarus’s brothers were there. The massive males were fighting the demons that had escaped with brutal and lethal grace.
“I’ve got you,” Lazarus said, chest heaving.
He cupped her face in his large, leathery, crimson hand. He was in his demon form, but his eyes weren’t black; they were bright green. He was savagely beautiful.
His gaze dropped, zeroed in on the blood covering the front of her shirt, and he stilled. Fear, stark and violent, twisted his hard features and his eyes turned wild. “Oh, fuck.” He made an agonized sound. “Where is it? Where were you cut? Don’t leave me, sweetheart. You can’t leave me.”
Eve gripped his wide wrist. “I’m all right. I’m not going anywhere,” she choked. She didn’t think he heard her. His gaze focused solely on the growing patch of blood staining her shirt.
“Lazarus? Look at me.” He looked up, agony lining his face. “I won’t leave you. I promise I’ll never leave you.”
He shuddered, seemed to collect himself, and covered her wound with his big hand, applying pressure.
She hissed.
“You’re okay. You’re going to be okay,” he said.
She got the impression he needed to convince himself as much as her. Eve cupped his face, fighting unconsciousness. “Yes, I am, because of you. You found me.” Her voice sounded croaky, barely audible.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” he choked. She didn’t think he was aware of the tears running down his fierce and beautiful face.
“I knew you’d come for me.”
Lazarus gently kissed her lips. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“He’s getting away,” Chaos yelled.
They looked up in time to see Tobias heading for the stairs. The other knights were engaged in battle, unable to fight their way to him.
Tobias paused at the foot of the stairs and they watched as he gripped his head, his gaze sliding to Lazarus. His eyes changed, the black giving way to cool pale blue.
Lazarus sucked in a sharp breath, stiffening, and an anguished sound escaped his throat that broke Eve’s heart. Tobias spun away, stumbling as he ran up the stairs.
Eve clung to Lazarus as he lifted them from the pit. Demons surrounded them, watching them with eager, hungry eyes.
But then Lazarus’s brothers were there, cutting them back, creating a clear path.
Lazarus didn’t turn back, trusting his brothers had his back, and carried her toward the stairs as well. They moved through the house and out onto the yard. Tobias was long gone, and Lazarus took flight, still managing to fly even with his wings as damaged as they were.
Eve clung to him and she was never letting go.
Chapter 26
When Eve woke, it took several minutes for the fog of sleep to lift. She knew she was in Lazarus’s bed, in his room at the compound.
Warm.
Safe.
Home.
She lay cocooned by a mountain of pillows. The big room felt cozy with the lights dimmed. She tried to sit up, but could barely move her arms with the duvet pulled up high and tucked around her securely.
It took a moment for the confusion to clear and her memories to come flooding back. She struggled to get free of the covers again, and pain shot through her shoulder.
Lazarus?
The familiar scent of her mate surrounded her, enveloped her in warmth, and the panic subsided. He was safe.
The door cracked open and his wide shoulders filled the narrow space. With his feet bare and wearing only a pair of black jeans that sat low on his hips, she took the opportunity to search the hard planes of his bare chest, looking for any sign of injury. All that remained of the vicious wounds he’d received from the demon attack were fading pink marks, now barely visible on his smooth skin.
He carried a tray laden with food, and when he glanced up, he offered her a wide smile. “You’re awake.” He sat on the bed beside her. “You’ve been asleep so long I was getting worried. How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”
All she wanted to do was touch him, convince herself that he was unhurt, that he was really here with her, that this wasn’t just some beautiful dream. “I think so.”
“I wasn’t sure what you’d feel like. So, I, ah”—he looked down at the overflowing tray—“yeah, I got some of everything.” He looked unsure of himself, nervous.
“A drink would be good to start with.” She gave in and rested a hand on his thigh. The heat and hard muscle beneath her palm reassured her like nothing else could.
He handed her a glass of juice and studied her face, searching her gaze for what she didn’t know, but his uncertainty shone through. Her chest squeezed.
She lifted her hand to her throat. The weight of the gold disk she’d worn around her neck for weeks was noticeable in its absence. “The amulet?”
�
��Chaos found it where Tobias…where he had you…chained.” His voice had grown deeper, rougher.
“What will happen to Tobias?” she asked.
“We can’t feel him anymore. For the first time in centuries.” His jaw bunched. “Diemos wouldn’t have been happy with his failure.” His eyes met hers.
“You think he’s dead?”
Lazarus nodded.
Even after everything, she knew it hurt him. “I’m sorry.”
He squeezed her hand still resting on his thigh and cleared his throat. His eyes searched hers. “When…when I first came for you, the idea of making you mine, shit, it scared the fuck out of me. I didn’t want it, what you represented, what it meant for both of us.” The muscle in his jaw bunched. “I didn’t feel worthy of you.”
Eve shook her head. “Laz—”
“I never planned to stay once I’d made you mine. I was going to leave, Eve.”
Her pulse stuttered, raced faster. “You were?” she whispered.
Pain distorted his features. “I don’t deserve you, Eve. And truthfully, I never will. I should give you back the amulet. I should leave. Let you find someone worthy of you.” His voice was nothing but a broken growl.
She shook her head, unable to speak. She wanted to tell him she couldn’t live without him, but her throat constricted, choking off her words.
He leaned forward and stopped her distress with a hard kiss, claiming and possessive. Finally, he pulled back. “But I can’t. I won’t. I’m too selfish. I want you to be mine, Eve. My mate. Will you?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yes. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
He released a rough breath. “Really? You will?”
“Yes. I want that more than anything.”
He cupped her face in his large hands. “I’m never letting you out of my sight, not ever again.” He ran his knuckles down the uninjured side of her face. “When I saw you…Tobias’s hands on you, bleeding…” His voice broke.
She reached up and grabbed his fingers, threading them with hers. “I’m all right now.”
The pain remained, and she knew seeing Tobias like that had to have hurt him greatly. She wanted to ease his pain and she wanted…she just wanted him. She untucked the covers and pulled them back.
Lazarus frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Climb in with me.”
“Eve…”
She shook her head, stopping whatever protest he was going to make. “I don’t want to wait, Lazarus. Please, make me yours.”
His nostrils flared and the green of his eyes flickered dark then light. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my whole life.”
He stood abruptly, his hands dropping to the front of his jeans and he quickly undid them and shoved them off.
Eve sucked in a breath at the sight of him standing there naked. “You’re so beautiful,” she said.
He climbed in beside her, that big body shaking with need. “And you take my goddamn breath way, female.”
Lazarus stared into Eve’s eyes. His mate. His. He could barely believe this was happening. That he could feel this happy. That he could trust another being so fully. She held his heart and soul in her hands. This female, so beautiful inside and out, gave his existence meaning. She gave him a reason to keep fighting.
No, he never believed he deserved this, not after losing Scarlet and Tobias, but turning his back on her now was an impossibility. Leaving her was not something he could even contemplate.
One of her arms, the one not injured, curled around his neck and her fingers threaded in his hair at his nape. “I love you, Lazarus.”
His heart squeezed and burst into a rapid-fire beat at her softly spoken words. He trembled harder. “And I love you.”
He gently pressed his lips to hers and kissed her slow and deep. He was already hard and aching for her, his body demanding he take her, but he had to be gentle. Not easy with the way her thighs had spread wider, hugging his hips, her bare pussy hot and slick against his cock.
He groaned. “You’re ready for me now, aren’t you, sweetheart?”
Her hips lifted and she rubbed herself against him. “Yes. Now, Lazarus. Please.”
A growl crawled up his throat, his demon twisting and snarling, as desperate for the connection as Lazarus was. “I’m gonna take this slow, okay? You’re still recovering.”
She nodded as he pressed the head of his cock to her opening.
“Ready?” he choked out.
She bit her lip and nodded.
Lazarus kissed her then lifted to his elbows, needing to see her face when he slid home. He pressed forward, and they both moaned as he filled her. He made love to her then, both of them shaking from the beauty of it, the desperate need for one another, a need that would never wane or falter. The kind of love and connection flowing between them he’d never even dared to dream about.
It was hard, but he kept the pace slow, thrusting deep.
Oh fuck. There it was. He could see it. The thread that would bind them.
Eve gasped and her entire body bowed as a surge of power moved through her, turning her entire body into a live wire. He knew because he felt it, too. What looked like a full-body orgasm hit her and she cried out, trembling uncontrollably.
Lazarus watched in awe, clenching his fists, gripping the sheet as the link intensified.
He reached for it and grabbed on. His hips snapped forward, staying deep inside Eve. And like a tree sending out tender new roots, the connection thickened and grew, burying deep. Something wrenched deep inside him, the exquisite pleasure drawing out their bliss.
She was his, now and forever. Nothing but death could ever rip them apart, and he’d spend eternity making sure that never happened. He felt it in his heart and soul, and he embraced the euphoric sensation with open arms.
Eve was his mate.
They lay there for the longest time, just holding each other.
Finally, he lifted his head and looked into her glistening blue eyes. “Thank you.”
She touched his face, her thumb brushing over his whiskered jaw. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“You don’t realize what you’ve done, sweetheart. I’ve fought an internal battle for centuries.” He grinned. “I don’t…I don’t need to fight it anymore. My demon is finally leashed,” he whispered then swallowed hard. “Because of you, because you gave yourself to me.”
She smiled so wide his stomach clenched.
“I’d fight it again, no matter how many centuries it took, as long as I knew you were waiting for me at the other end,” he choked out.
Her eyes grew brighter. “We make a pretty good team, huh?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, we do,” he said.
She looked over his shoulder and he knew the moment she spotted it. The large bookshelf full of books, her mother’s books, worn and well-read, and precious to her. He watched as her gaze moved around the room, spotting other bits and pieces scattered about, little things. Her things.
She blinked up at him. “You got my books?”
“This is your home now. I want you to be happy here.”
She looked around, flabbergasted. “How did you get them here so fast?”
Christ, she was cute. “Wing power, baby. Fastest way to fly.” He chuckled at the way her eyes grew wider.
“Really? You did that…for me?” she said, voice raspy with emotion.
Lazarus brushed back a strand hair from her face. “I’d do anything for you. Anything.”
A tear streaked down her face and he brushed that away as well.
“Though, in this instance, I can’t take all the credit. I sent the others as well, got them to collect as much as they could carry. I’ll have the bigger stuff shipped.”
More tears slid down her cheeks. “This is…you have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I did it for purely selfish reasons. I want you to love it here. I want you to feel at home, t
o never regret—”
She pressed a finger to his lips, stopping him mid-sentence. “I can live without my things, Lazarus. At the end of the day, it’s all just stuff. God, because of you, I’ve finally found my home, the place I belong. A place I know I will always be loved and cherished. I don’t want to live without you. I can’t. I love you,” she said simply.
Something tickled his cheek and when he swiped at it, his fingers came away wet. This female, what she did to him. “I’m yours, Eve, now and forever.” His face darkened with hunger before he bent forward and kissed her again. “God, I love you so much,” he whispered against her lips.
It was her turn to wipe his tears away, and then she wrapped her arms around him.
Lazarus buried his face against her neck, breathing in his female.
His mate.
She smelled like home.
Epilogue
Three months later
Eve walked down the hall, arm linked with Meredith’s, both ready to do battle.
Meredith gave her hand a squeeze. “I can’t believe Chaos went for it. You know, since the guy’s completely allergic to fun.”
Wasn’t that the truth. But Eve had been determined, and in the end, he’d relented. The guys had been fighting a lot, especially with the way the demons in the city had been behaving. They all knew something was seriously off and Eve knew how worried they were. She just wanted a night where they could relax, laugh. “You know we have to beat Chaos now, right? At everything, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
Meredith laughed as Eve pushed open the door to the control room. “We’ll have to join forces…”
“Go long!” Kryos called and tossed a ball cross the room and out the balcony doors. Rocco sprinted after it, jumped to the railing and dove off the side, shifting into his demon form midair. His clothes disintegrated, falling from his body then he disappeared from view.
Lazarus strode over to her and tugged her into his side. Eve looked up at her grinning mate. “Um…this wasn’t the kind of games night we had in mind.”
He smirked. “No?”
Knight's Redemption (Knights of Hell Book 1) Page 25
