Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [59]
Ares ran both his hands through his hair. “I know.” His body craved release… from fighting, fucking, or both. The longer he went without getting it, the more danger he put people in. Even now, people in nearby towns on the mainland would be engaging in violence, their tempers out of control. The longer Ares went like this, the farther the violence would spread.
“I can stay here while you go to the Four Horsemen.”
That would be the smart thing. He could find a demon female who was into the rough stuff, because right now, that was the only thing that was going to bring him down.
“Damn,” he breathed. “I haven’t been this bad off since we were first cursed.” For about fifty years after they’d become Horsemen, Ares had been unable to control his demon half, and he’d gone on fierce rampages of killing and sex. It had been a dark time for them all, so dark that they rarely discussed it. Than never did.
“You need to go. Hook up with Saw or Flail. Or both.”
Ares growled. Saw and Flail were Neethul demons, sisters named after implements of torture. The Neethul were a violent, cruel race of slavers, and though they didn’t look human, they didn’t look entirely demon, either. They were beautiful, with fine elven features, and Ares could handle that.
But he didn’t want to. He wanted to handle Cara.
“Okay, yeah. I’d planned to go anyway. See if I can get any intel on Pestilence.” He stared at the bedroom door. “I’m going to check on her first.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
He had to. Had to convince himself that he didn’t want her. Make her hate him or something. Anything to ease this insane lust. It wasn’t only about his physical hungers—it was about making sure he could function. A distracted soldier was a dead soldier… but a distracted commander soon found himself in charge of nothing but an army of dead bodies. He couldn’t afford to be distracted now, not when all humanity depended on him.
“I’ll be fine,” he insisted.
“Ares…”
“Stand down.” Ares shouldered past his brother, and when Than laid a restraining hand on his biceps, Ares’s temper flared even hotter. “Get your fucking hand off me.”
Than decked him. Knocked him right into the wall. With a roar, Ares struck back, nailing his brother in the jaw. Blood exploded from Thanatos’s mouth, and his eyes glowed furious amber, but he didn’t attack.
“For fuck’s sake, Ares, I’m trying to help. You’re too far gone to see your own recklessness.” He put his hand to the back of his mouth, stared at the wetness that came away. “You might not remember the trail of death you left behind the last time you had your head up your ass like this, but I do. I followed your roadmap of destruction like a junkie after a dealer, and fuck if I’m going to do that again.”
Thanatos’s words broke through Ares’s haze of need, but only barely. Than’s draw to death bothered him, but he couldn’t help it. Large-scale death energized Than like nothing else, gave him the climax he couldn’t have in any other way.
Closing his eyes, Ares took a deep, calming breath, which was about as effective as spitting on a forest fire. “Fine. I’m out of here. Tell Limos to—”
The smoky stench of evil hit him so hard his eyes watered, and he and Than spun toward the bedroom’s twin doors. Ares blew through them, tearing one off the hinges. And stopped dead, his heart hammering like a fist against his rib cage.
The hellhound that had murdered his family was inches from Cara.
And its teeth were centimeters from her throat.
Twelve
Hellhound breath was foul.
Cara had no idea why, as she was staring at razor-sharp teeth that belonged to a beast that looked ready to eat her, she could only think about its breath.
“Back toward me, Cara.” Ares’s command came from behind her. “Slowly.”
The hound’s sinister snarl told Cara exactly what he thought of that idea, and she planted her feet so firmly on the floor that she might as well have grown roots.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Ares and Thanatos prowl along opposite walls to flank the hound. With another snarl, he snapped