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“I don’t know, brother. But for now, we have to stay level.”

Now there was hypocrisy at its finest, given how Ares had stormed into Limos’s bedroom, hoping she’d arm up and give him a good battle. Fortunately, she’d mated a decent, honorable male who had talked some sense into Ares.

The veins in Than’s temples throbbed, and his voice scraped gravel. “I’m not sure I can do that right now.”

Shit. That left them with only one option; brace for impact. “Cara said everyone’s gone. It’s just your vamps, so you don’t have to worry if you go nuclear. I’ll make sure my Ramreels and Cara’s hounds are gone too.”

Than nodded, and Ares knew better than to stick around. He found Cara and headed outside to open a gate. It really sucked how their run of their rugood luck had turned to utter disaster. And as he glanced back at Thanatos, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the disasters were just beginning.

They found Hekili in the cellar, and Limos, who had seen every atrocity possible, who had grown desensitized to violence, reeled in shock. He truly had been butchered as if he were a cow in a slaughterhouse, and she had no doubt he’d been alive when the cutting began.

She didn’t know if she’d have reacted the same way to his gruesome death before she’d let Arik into her life, but it didn’t matter. The fact was that she’d liked the warg, had trusted him, and he’d died because of her.

He’d died in part because of her lies… lies she’d tried to protect by killing Sartael. And by killing Sartael, she’d enraged Lucifer, who would stop at nothing to hurt her and everyone around her.

Arik tried to pull her into his arms as they stood in the dark, dank cellar beneath her kitchen, and there was nothing she wanted more.

But she avoided his embrace, certain she’d lose her resolve if he caged her in his strong arms.

“Limos?”

“Don’t.” She darted up the steps and blew through the kitchen and out the front door. Arik followed, but she wouldn’t let him close. “Don’t touch me.”

He stood in the light of the moon, his dogtags glinting on his bare chest as if beckoning her. They’d been her comfort when he’d been in Sheoul, and now she hoped they’d be his. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“I made a huge mistake, Arik.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to hold herself together. Funny how she’d calmly dressed in shorts and a tank top after being told about Hekili, but now she was ready to come apart at the seams. “I’ve let what I want to be, a woman, a wife, a mother, overshadow what I need to be.”

“What are you talking about?” He moved forward, his bare feet sinking in the sand, but she stepped back.

“I’ve been a fool, hoping for what I can never have. I’m a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Half demon, half angel. All warrior who is meant for nothing but fighting.”

The lean angle of his jaw became a knife blade as his expression grew fierce. “You are all of those things and more. You are a beautiful woman, a wife, and we’ll make you a mother. Until then, we’ll fight together—”

“No.” She bit back a cry at what he’d just said. She wanted those things so much, but it was just a fantasy. “We won’t. It’s over, Arik. Divorce isn’t possible for us, but separation is.”

His head rocked back as if she’d slapped him. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do. You’re in danger because of me. You’ll always be in danger. If not from Pestilence, then from Lucifer. They’ll kill you to hurt me. I can to me.ze="t live with that, Arik. I won’t.”

“Dammit, Limos, it’s my choice to be with you. I’m willing to live with the danger.”

Of course he was. He was braver than anyone she’d ever met. But he was mortal, and bravery got more men killed than cowardice.

“I’m not.”

He ground his teeth so hard she could hear the scrape of enamel. “I don’t care. We’re married. That means I don’t walk away at the first little fight we have. And trust me, this barely counts as a fight. Get drunk, beat the shit out of everyone around you, and tell me you fucked a few neighbors, and then we