by Larissa Ione
“What else?”
“Pestilence has put out a call to all demons… anyone who brings him the head of an Aegi is promised a place at his side after the Apocalypse, and he’s also started quietly paying a bounty for hellhound ears. That’s all I know. I swear it.”
Than released her and flipped over again. “Good. Now finish.” He had some recon to do.
Twenty-three
Ares stepped out of the Harrowgate into the emergency department at Underworld General Hospital, a facility run by demons to care for underworld creatures. Ares used to think it was crazy, but now he was pretty damned glad it existed.
His boots cracked on the obsidian floor as he crossed to the triage desk, where a sleek, catlike Trillah demon was shuffling papers. She sniffed the air and frowned as he approached. “Human?”
“Yes. She needs help. I want Eidolon.”
“He’s busy—”
“Get me the doctor, because if this human dies, I’m going to turn into your worst nightmare.”
She hissed. “This hospital is protected by an antiviolence spell, so your threats are meaningless—”
“I’m not bound by antiviolence spells,” he roared. “Get. Eidolon.”
“Threatening my staff will get you nothing.” The calm voice came from behind him, and he wheeled around to the very demon doctor he’d been demanding to see.
“It wasn’t a threat. If Cara dies, my Seal breaks. You get what I’m saying?”
Eidolon met Ares’s gaze with a sharp, assessing stare few dared to give him, and Ares admitted to a grudging respect for the guy. This was Eidolon’s turf, and he had to do what it took to keep the place safe. Right now, that meant saving Cara’s life, and he knew that. The doctor, who looked as human as Ares, gestured to a nurse and immediately, two people—shapeshifters of some sort—rushed over and guided Ares to a cubicle.
Ares placed Cara gently on the exam table.
“What happened?” Eidolon snapped on some gloves, and the tribal tat that ran from his fingertips all the way to his neck began to glow. Seminus demons, a rare breed of incubi, possessed abilities that were somehow tied to their arm glyphs. Ares just hoped that whatever Eidolon’s gift was, it would be enough to keep Cara alive.
“She’s dying.” Eidolon nodded as he checked her airway and breathing as one of the shapeshifters, a blonde whose name tag identified her as Vladlena, took Cara’s pulse as the other listened to her heart. “Cara bears my agimortus, and it’s killing her. Her death will break my Seal.”
Frowning, Eidolon looked up. “But you said that if Sin had died, Pestilence’s Seal wouldn’t break.”
“Different kind of agimortus.” Ares gripped Cara’s hand. “And you should know that she’s bonded to a hellhound.”
Eidolon paused as he reached for a pair of shears. “Interesting. Where’s the hellhound?”
“I don’t know.”
“So the animal could be injured?” Eidolon sliced Cara’s blouse up the middle, and a terrible, possessive pain rent Ares apart. Everyone froze, and he must have made some hellacious noise, because they were staring at him as if he’d just bitten the horns off a Croix viper.
“Ah… sorry.” He clenched his fists at his sides, hoping that would keep them from striking out. This was weird, though; he’d never been so possessive of a female in his life. “I’m not usually… it’s just…” God, he was never a stuttering fool, either.
“It’s okay,” Eidolon said wryly. “We get the don’t-touch-my-mate thing around here.”
“She’s not my mate.” Sure, he’d thought of her as his, but the word “mate” implied permanence. Something he and Cara wouldn’t have.
“Riiight.” Eidolon nodded sagely, but real quick Ares figured out that the demon was being a sarcastic ass. “So you always tell doctors you’re going to rip their heads off and decorate your mantel with them then?”
He’d said that? Jesus. Okay, he needed to clear his head, and fast. “Just do what you have to do.”
Very slowly, Eidolon peeled open Cara’s shirt, and Ares started to hyperventilate. Didn’t matter that the guy was a medical professional. He was looking at Ares’s woman. His… mate. Fuck.
He concentrated on stroking Cara’s hand with his thumb, concentrated on not going all serial killer on everyone in the room. And it only got worse when Eidolon cut off her pants.
“She’s got a lot of abrasions and contusions,” Eidolon said, as he palpated her belly.
“Yeah.” Ares’s voice was scratchy. Wrecked. “She was… she took a beating.” And fuck-oh-fuck, the agimortus had lightened more, was the pale pink of a healing scar.
Eidolon fingered one of the bruises, and his tattoo lit up. The bruise shrank and lightened, but Eidolon cursed. “That should have healed it completely.” He stripped off his gloves. “She doesn’t seem to have any serious injuries, but I’ll call in my brother. Shade can check her organ functions.” He covered her with a sheet. “I’ll be right back.”
The other staff members left with the doctor, leaving Ares alone with Cara. He didn’t release her hand—wouldn’t release it. “Cara? Sweetheart? Wake up.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, but didn’t open. “What happened?” Her voice was weak, barely there, and Ares wanted to both shout with excitement that at least she was awake, and scream with frustration that she sounded awful.
“You passed out. We’re in a hospital. Cara, listen to me. I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have walked away from you like that. I was being selfish, and you didn’t deserve it.”
Her eyes opened, and he hoped that all his years of military conditioning kept his shock from showing on his face. They were sunken, bloodshot, and the beautiful clear blue-green had gone murky, from sea-colored to something resembling a bog. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I saw Hal. He was in a pit. There was blood. A lot of it. And… fighting.”
“Shh.” Ares squeezed her hand. “We’ll get him. You need to rest. Conserve your energy.”
She was going to argue; he knew it. But Eidolon returned with a demon in a black paramedic uniform, one who resembled Eidolon so closely that Ares knew the guy was his brother.
“This is Shade,” Eidolon said, and nodded at Cara. “Can he examine you?”
She slid Ares a glance, clearly unsure about all of this. He couldn’t blame her. Human hospitals were unpleasant enough, but this one, with its black floors, gray walls covered with incantations scrawled in blood, and chains hanging from the ceiling, went well beyond unpleasant and right into disturbing. That was before you looked into the staff made up of demons, vampires, and shapeshifters.
“It’s okay, Cara. These are good guys.”
Utter trust eased her expression, and kicked him in the gut. “Okay, then.” She offered Shade a trembly smile. “Do it.”
Shade brushed back his shoulder-length dark hair and gently took her wrist. The markings on his right arm lit up, and his brow furrowed in concentration. Within a few seconds, Cara’s color had started to come back, her cheeks pinking up, her lips plumping, and even her eyes had returned to normal. By the time Shade released her, she looked almost as healthy as she had when he’d first met her.
“What did you do?” Cara’s voice was full of wonder as she looked down at her arms and hands.
“I can optimize bodily functions.” He met Ares’s gaze. “If you hadn’t brought her in, she’d have been dead within the hour.”
Ares swallowed. Hard. “And now?”
“Maybe we should talk outside.”
“No.” Cara eyed each of them in turn. “It’s my life, and I deserve to know what’s going on.”
Shade shrugged. “Then I’ll tell you that your organs are failing. It’s as if you’ve got the plumbing of a hundred-and-fifty-year-old human. I was able to get everything working well again, but it’s like you’re a slow drain. I filled up the sink, but the plug’s broken, so you’re still leaking.”
“How much time?” she asked, and thank God she had, becau
se Ares hadn’t found the strength to do it.
“Six hours. Give or take an hour.” Shade jammed his hands in his pockets. “I can probably buy you another hour if I repeat what I just did, but after that…”
After that, Cara died, and Ares turned into the world’s worst nightmare.
“We won’t give up,” Eidolon said. “We have the best staff and best researchers around. We’ll look for a solution. Hit the call button if you need us.” He left with Shade just as Limos and Thanatos arrived.
Limos waited until the two demons were out of earshot to talk. “I got a text from Kynan. No details, but he’s on his way now. And Than might have a lead on where Pestilence is gathering his people. If we can find him, we might find the hellhound.”
Cara struggled to sit up. “We have to help him.”
“The good news,” Ares said, as if any of this was good, “is that the boost Shade gave you will affect Hal, too. You bought him some time.”
Near the triage desk, the Harrowgate flashed, and Kynan stepped out. In one hand he had a pink, frilly bag covered in teddy bears, and in his other hand was a leather-wrapped parcel. He strode over to Ares and planted the package in Ares’s hand. “The dagger.”
Ares exhaled in a relieved rush, but he couldn’t let himself get excited. They still had to find Pestilence, and they only had six hours to do it. “Thanks.”
Kynan cleared his throat. “How’s Cara doing?”
Dying. “We’re taking care of her.” The generic answer was all Ares could muster.
As Kynan shifted his weight, the rattle of a baby toy was very out of place. New life meeting impending death. “We’ve intercepted disturbing underworld chatter. The demons searching for Cara are talking about Satan’s bride. Is she part of some prophecy we don’t know about?”
Cara grabbed Ares’s arm. “Is this true? Is there something you haven’t told me?”
There was a lot Ares hadn’t told her, but this wasn’t one of those things. “You aren’t Satan’s bride.”
“How do you know?” Kynan asked.
“Because I am.” Limos adjusted the orange flower in her hair. “I mean, not right this second. We haven’t gotten all tux and gowns and reserved a church or anything.”
Kynan made the bag rattle again. It was the sound of family, and Ares’s mouth went desert sand. “How?”
“It’s none of your concern,” she said lightly, which was deceptive, because the lighter Li got, the deadlier she could be. “I’m doing my best to prevent it, and that’s all you need to know.”
Kynan inclined his head. “Fair enough.” He glanced at Cara and then back to Ares and lowered his voice. “I really need to speak with you privately.”
The urgency in the human’s eyes told Ares to listen. They stepped out of the room, Than and Li on his heels. All around them, doctors and nurses were scrambling to handle an influx of some kind of emergency coming through the sliding ambulance bay doors. And standing about forty feet away, her dark gaze focused on Ares, was Harvester. Bruises and burns marred her features—clearly, the battle with Reaver had been a fierce one. She remained focused but silent, apparently content to fulfill her role as Watcher. Since Reaver couldn’t enter the demon hospital, anything she learned here would have to be shared with him before she could make use of it.
“Make it quick,” Ares said.
“There was a scroll with the dagger.” Kynan held out a rolled parchment, which Li grabbed. “The dagger was stolen from the Templars—”
“By who?” Than interrupted, and Li fumbled the scroll.
“That’s unclear. But when The Aegis recovered it, they enhanced it. It’ll still kill a Horseman, but it can also neutralize your agimortus.”
Dread made Ares’s heart pound against his rib cage. “What do you mean, neutralize?”
“I mean that if you plunge the dagger into your bearer’s heart, you’ll neutralize it,” Kynan said. “You’ll kill the host, but your Seal won’t break.”
Ares lost his ability to breathe. He now had a way to save the world—temporarily at least—but it wasn’t acceptable. At all.
“Heads up, Aegi,” Than said. “Pestilence put a price on dead Guardians. Watch your necks.”
“Your brother is such an asshole.” Kynan shifted his gaze to Ares. “I’ll be in touch. Don’t let us down.” Kynan strode away, leaving Ares with a churning stomach as he looked over to Harvester, but the fallen angel was gone.
Numbly, he walked back into the room. His hand shook around the dagger, and he hated himself for it. Damn, the thing weighed more than he remembered. Kynan might as well have handed him an anvil. Limos and Thanatos closed in, staring at it as if it were a viper.
“We’re not using that on Reseph,” Than said, and Ares’s hand jerked so hard he nearly dropped the weapon as he rounded on his brother.
“Damn you, Thanatos. This is my decision. He fucked with my woman, and I will do what I have to do.” So much for the “She’s not my mate” bullshit Eidolon had called him on. He’d fought against his feelings, but every general worth his salt knew when it was time to lay down arms and surrender. It was time.
Than’s expression was somber, his voice as subdued as Ares had ever heard it. “Does that include killing the human?”
“Limos,” Ares said, in a voice as cold as the winters where Thanatos lived. “Get him out of here before… just get him out of here.”
Li dragged their brother out of the room, but not before Than had cast Ares an apologetic glance. Despite Ares’s anger, he knew his brother wasn’t being a dick. Reseph had been their brother for five thousand years. They’d known the human for a few days. The math added up to saving the family if they could.
Ares would probably feel the same if the situation were reversed. And, though Ares’s strategic mind was scrambled this close to Cara, even he understood that there was risk in trying to end Pestilence. Cara… no risk.
Except to Ares.
“Ares.” He took a deep, bracing breath and turned to Cara. Her gorgeous eyes were those of a warrior, and far too full of knowledge. “What did Thanatos mean by ‘killing the human’?”
Ares had never wanted to beat his brother more than he did right then. Pain sliced through his hand; he’d gripped the dagger so hard that it had cut through the leather and into his skin.
“Ares. Tell me.”
Tension flared in the sudden silence. “There’s a way out of this,” he began, as he twined his fingers with hers. “There’s a way to ensure my Seal can’t be broken until one of the others is. If I kill you with this dagger, my Seal remains intact, and Pestilence will have no way to turn me.”
“Until another Seal breaks.” Cara didn’t hesitate. “Kill me.”
Ares stepped back. “No,” he whispered desperately. “I can’t.”
“You have to.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “You know you do. Ares, I’m dying. It’s happening. You have a chance to stop the Apocalypse, or at least delay it while you find a way to stop your brother.”
“Cara…”
“But not here. Take me home. And make love to me one last time.”
“Yeah,” he croaked. “Yeah.”
* * *
Pestilence was seriously pissed off. Funny how, when he’d been Reseph, he’d rarely gotten angry. Oh, no one wanted to be around when he finally did blow his stack, but it didn’t happen often. Reseph had been such a… insert something wimpy here, because Pestilence was too pissed off to come up with anything clever or even crass.
He looked down at the bodies at his feet—three of his minions who had allowed Ares and the human whore to escape. One of them had dared blame Pestilence… he was missing a few organs, unlike the others, who had merely suffered broken necks.
“The best leaders don’t terrorize their underlings.” Harvester nudged one of the bodies with her foot while looking pointedly at Pestilence. “Ares always had the respect of his army. And their loyalty.”
Steam built in his skull at her
taunt. Fucking Harvester. Fucking Ares. How he wanted both of them to suffer. For now, though, he would have to be patient. Casually, he pushed off the post he was leaning against and stared at the bloody battle taking place in the pit below. The hellhound pup was ripping into a khnive, a creature about the size of the hound, but resembling a skinned opossum. The khnive’s claws raked the hellhound, tearing a massive gash in its side. It was a blow delivered in desperation, and the khnive gave a final, gasping breath as it bled out through a gaping throat wound.
“Don’t give the hound time to heal. Throw something else in there. Something big.”
At his side, David, his Aegis spy-slash-gofer, nodded, his glazed eyes bouncing in his head. “Yes, my lord.”
Pestilence rolled the vial of saliva they’d extracted from the hellhound between his palms. “Have you arranged for the venom delivery device?”
David dug a small metal ball out of his pocket. “The warlock assured me that once it’s filled with the hound’s saliva, it will be a potent weapon against your brother.”
That was the first bit of good news he’d had in weeks. “Any chatter from The Aegis?”
“Deliverance has been found.”
Sucking in a harsh breath, Pestilence swung around. “Are you certain?”
“I overheard my father talking about it.”
“It’s true,” Harvester said. “And it has been modified by The Aegis. If Ares uses it to kill Cara, all hope for breaking his Seal is gone.”
A trickle of sweat dripped down Pestilence’s temple. “How long have you known about this modification?”
“Centuries. But it was forbidden to tell you until it was found.”
Of course. Fucking Watcher rules. And now, if Ares killed Cara with the damned thing, it could be months, even years before he was able to break Limos’s or Than’s Seals, since he hadn’t found Limos’s yet, and Than seemed determined to hold on to his.
Pestilence needed that dagger.
Still rolling the vial in his palm, he carefully considered his options, and a plan began to form in his mind. “David, when I found you, you were pathetic. Hoping The Aegis would forgive you, that your father would love you again. You know that won’t happen. You know you belong here with me, and that with me, you will receive rewards you never dreamed possible.”
