Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [131]
Fuck!
He flicked his hand to hurl it to the floor, but it burst open, shooting tiny needles into his skin. The familiar burning sensation of being bitten by a hellhound shot up his arm and into his body. Every muscle and joint locked up, but his mind spun, and he tried to warn Cara, to tell her to run, but the poison was already affecting his mouth and tongue.
“Ares!” Her panic rang loud in her voice, and then the sounds of battle rang out even louder.
The two Ramreels pounded the human, knocking him to the ground as Vulgrim made a shield of himself in front of Ares and Cara. “Take the human to the dungeon,” Vulgrim snarled. “Find out what’s happening outside!”
But Ares knew. Pestilence was out there, and the only thing he could do now was pray that Than and Limos had arrived.
Cara’s hand closed around his, warm and comforting.
He should have killed her when he had the chance. God help him, he should have. Now she was going to suffer at Pestilence’s hand, and all because he was too weak to let go of the woman he loved. Everything he’d always believed, that loving someone made you weak, was true.
Limos and Than ran toward the house, the sound of Vulgrim’s shout hitting them as they’d stepped out of their individual portals.
“We’re too late,” Than barked.
Dammit! Limos had wanted to give Ares and Cara some time together, so they’d followed up on Thanatos’s lead regarding Pestilence’s whereabouts. They hadn’t found him, but they’d found one of his minions who had been all too gleeful about some plan Pestilence had to retrieve Deliverance from Ares.
She and Than had come straight here, but by the sound of things, they hadn’t been fast enough.
They burst through the front door and ran into the great room, where Ares was frozen in front of the fireplace, Vulgrim standing protectively in front of him, and Cara looking fierce despite the fact that she was pale, gaunt, and probably on the verge of collapse.
“He’s been poisoned with hellhound venom,” Vulgrim grunted. “My boys took the male responsible downstairs.”
“I heard a horse,” Cara said. “But I don’t know where. Outside, I think.” A crash of broken glass had Limos wheeling toward the hallway. “The dagger!” Cara started after Li, but Thanatos grabbed her.
Limos sprinted to the bedroom, drew short when she saw Pestilence standing there in his armor, Deliverance in his fist.
“Ah, Limos. So good to see you.” He frowned. “Sort of. Your presence ruins my plan to kill Cara, but hey, she’s near death anyway.”
Disgust bubbled up, completely destroying all the leftover happy-happy-joy-joy sentiments about him she’d held on to. Like Thanatos, she wanted to believe that there was some good left in the creature standing before her, but unlike Than, she knew they couldn’t bank on it. “Just so you know, I fully support the idea of ramming that dagger into your black heart.”
“Really?” Pestilence hefted the dagger in his palm, feeling its weight. “I saw the Dark Lord the other day. He asked about you.”
Limos snorted. “Did you tell him to go fuck himself?”
“I told him how you can’t wait to spread your legs for him.”
“Never.”
“You can’t fight him, sister. And once your Seal is broken, you won’t want to. But either way, he’ll take you. He’s getting impatient. He wants children.”
She shuddered, unable to imagine carrying Satan’s spawn in her belly. “You always swore you’d protect me from that fate. How a little thing like a broken Seal has changed you.”
His laughter grated on every nerve. “It isn’t the Seal. I’d have left you to your fate even if my Seal hadn’t broken once I learned what a lying, scheming bitch you were.” She stiffened as he leaned in, brushed his lips across her ear. “I know your secret.”
“You’ve always known that The Aegis didn’t lose Deliverance. You helped me cover the whole thing up.” After he’d rescued her from The Aegis’s grip, she’d fessed up, and he’d helped her do some creative rearranging of Aegi memories and promised