Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [101]
Arik raised an eyebrow. “You guys celebrate Christmas?”
“Not as a religious holiday.” Somehow, Limos had practically crawled into Arik’s lap without him noticing, and now she twisted around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But yes. Presents and parties and pretty decorations… I love it.” He loved how well she fit against him. “Reseph loved it, too. It was his favorite human holiday.”
“Nah,” Ares said. “He liked Halloween more. He lived to scare the shit out of people.”
Than shook his head. “New Year’s Eve. He planned out his party strategy months ahead of time so he could hit a big city in every time zone and get dozens of New Year’s Eves in one night.”
The Horsemen tossed around stories of Reseph’s antics, and for a few relaxed minutes, Arik got an idea of how it must have been for them before their brother’s Seal broke. And for the first time, he saw how much they had lost.
Eventually, an awkward silence fell, and Hal, the hellhound on the floor, whimpered as if feeling the strain. Finally, Ares cleared his throat and brought them back on track. “I don’t even know how to go about planning a big wedding,” he grumbled. “We did the simple beach thing with just Than and Limos.”
Cara grinned. “Limos and I will handle it. You come with me, and we’ll get you ready.” She patted Ares on the chest. “Gather your Underhers aworld General buddies, and I guarantee their mates will help out.”
“They aren’t my buddies,” he sighed, but Cara ig-nored him.
She grabbed Limos’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, Li. We’ll have a wedding by the end of the day.”
Twenty-five
“Arik, are you crazy?”
Arik smiled at his sister as she looked around Than’s place, where servants from all the Horseman households were scrambling to set things up for what promised to be a huge party.
“Maybe,” he said, and hell, it might be true. What was definitely true was the tension between Runa and him, the unspoken crap about how he’d been avoiding her calls.
“I just don’t get it.” Runa rubbed her arms through her cream Angora sweater. “Limos sent you to hell, and now you want to marry her?”
“She didn’t send me to hell. It was sort of a misunderstanding.”
Runa gave him a look that she usually reserved for when one of her triplets was misbehaving. “A misunderstanding is when your mate missed recording your favorite TV show because he was listening to a football game instead of you.” She glared over at Shade, who gave her a sheepish grin as he shoved trestle table benches around. “A misunderstanding is not when someone lands you in hell for a month.”
“That’s behind us,” he said. “This marriage is the only way to save her.” And, if it worked, himself.
“So this is a marriage of convenience? You don’t love her?” Runa sounded almost relieved, and he so wasn’t sure how to answer that.
He had fallen for Limos, but he couldn’t say it out loud. Not yet. When he said it, it would be to Limos. He might not have thought he’d ever get married, but now that he’d made the decision, he’d take it seriously, and his wife would be his partner in every way. She would be the first person to hear the important things, like how he felt about her.
“She saved my life,” he hedged. “She was prepared to make a huge sacrifice for me, and now I can do the same for her. I want this, Runa.”
His sister took a deep, long breath before turning her gaze on him. “Okay, then.” She folded herself into his arms and squeezed him tight. “I’m happy for you.”
Hugging her back, he kissed the top of her head. “I figure marriage hasn’t hurt you, so there’s hope for me, I guess.”
She pulled back to look up at him. “Wow. That’s the first time you actually sound like you approve of me and Shade.”
He snorted. “I still don’t like the bastard, but I’m not stupid. He’s good for you, and there’sed. st time yo no one I trust more to keep you safe.”
“What about you?” Runa’s voice went low and serious. “Are you safe? Will this marriage put you in