Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [79]
“You can only see it because I’m letting you.” Thanatos dismounted and gave the horse a fond pat on the neck. “To me.” The stallion dissolved into a thin line of smoke, did a loop-de-loop, and then shot inside the Horseman’s gauntlet. Freaky.
Kynan’s dark brows drew together as he stared at Thanatos. “What kind of armor is that?”
“Lava beast scale.”
Jesus. Few humans had ever seen the massive demons that lived deep inside volcanoes, but they supposedly fed off the misery and death eruptions caused. Legend had it that their scale was fireproof and impenetrable by conventional weapons and that with every death its wearer dealt, it would become stronger. Arik would love to outfit a tank or APC with that shit.
They followed the Horseman across the inner bailey. An arched entrance sized for a T-Rex opened up into the keep and a chamber larger than a high school gymnasium. Against the far wall, a blazing fire burned in a hearth, and tending to it were two beings Arik thought might be vampires. In front of the hearth was a trestle table built to seat at least two dozen people, but right now there were only two… a brown-haired male in leather armor and a black-haired female in a fuchsia, blue, and yellow… muumuu? They had been concentrating on a game of chess when Ky and Arik entered, but were now casting dark, intense glares their way.
Fuck me, this is not my idea of a good time. Nope. Arik wasn’t good at negotiation. Not when it involved sensitivity and talking things out. His idea of negotiation involved firepower and who had the most and best.
In this case, the other guys had the biggest dicks. That never did sit well with Arik.
He scanned the room, taking note of the layout, exits, potential weapons. He was startled when he noticed a woman curled up in a recliner, dressed casually in jeans and a University of Missouri sweatshirt. She glanced up from the ancient-looking book she’d been reading to watch them with curiosity… nothing even close to the hostility they were getting from the other three.
The male and female at the table stood as Arik and Kynan approached.
Leather Armor Guy spoke harshly. “Your names.”
Bristling at the male’s abrupt demand, Arik gestured to Kynan. “That’s Kynan. He’s a Guardian. I’m Arik. R-XR.” He figured they didn’t need to know about his Guardian status, given that they hated The Aegis, and Arik liked his head on his shoulders.
“I’m Ares.”
Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. Arik stared at the Horseman who would be War.
Ares cocked his thumb at the female. “Our sister, Limos.”
I looked, and there before me was a black horse. Its rider was holding a pair of scales. He’d known Famine was female, but he hadn’t thought she’d be so hot.
Damn, this was real, wasn’t it? Arik was standing in a room with three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
“It’s pretty awe-inspiring, isn’t it,” came Thanatos’s deep, dry voice, and Arik blinked.
“What?”
“Your jaw was open and you were gaping like an idiot at them,” Kynan said, a little louder than he really needed to.
“Tool,” Arik said under his breath. He nodded at the seated female. “Who’s she?”
“Not your concern,” Ares said, his voice as icy and forbidding as the landscape around them.
Thanatos put a restraining hand on his brother’s shoulder, and Arik wondered how close he was to getting his ass kicked.
Limos moved closer, her flip-flops slapping the floor, her off-the-shoulder muumuu swishing around slim, shapely ankles. “You two have a lot of balls coming here.”
Kynan gestured to Arik. “He does. I’m charmed. Nothing can hurt me. Or my balls.”
“Really?” Limos came at Kynan, swung, and Ky didn’t even flinch. The female Horseman’s swing went wild, and she stumbled, nearly fell. “What the hell?”
“Told you. I can’t be harmed.”
She jammed her fists