Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [139]
Never again. Secrets and lies had nearly destroyed his relationship with her and her relationship with her brothers. Hell, they could still destroy everything. She hadn’t come back yet, and he was beginning to wonder if she would.
Kynan cursed. “You know that if you were anyone else, we’d tell you to take a hike.”
“I know. But even without all my training, demon-fighting skills, and ability to learn demon languages, I’m too valuable for either the R-XR or The Aegis to lose.”
Neither organization would want to lose an intimate insider in the Horsemen’s circle. The problem was going to be that as long as Pestilence owned his soul, Arik had to be careful where he went and who he was with. The fucker could sense him, and no way would Arik risk Pest popping in to Aegis Headquarters or some shit.
“I hate it when you’re right.” Kynan glanced at his watch. “Look, I gotta go. But we need you. We need you now more than ever. Think about it.”
Arik didn’t really need to think about it. If the pesky little Apocalypse thing hadn’t been a concern, Arik might not have considered going back, but the world needed all hands on deck right now, and he wasn’t going to turn his back on humanity.
“You’re such a dick,” Arik called out, as Kynan headed down the path toward the island’s Harrowgate. “You know what my answer is.”
Kynan didn’t turn, merely shot him the finger over his back. “I know.”
“Asshole,” Arik muttered. He rubbed his temples and braced himself for the next confrontation.
Limos. And Ares. Not only did he get to explain why he’d kept a secret from them, but he got to tell them they were going to be an aunt and uncle. Something told him this wasn’t going to be celebration-type news.
As he started for the front door, he wondered how many people would show up for his funeral.
“Hey, Arik.”
Stiffening, Arik swung around to the owner of the deep voice. “Tav? What the hell are you doing here?” The blond Sem smiled sadly, and Arik’s gut wrenched as he realized just how spot-on his last thought was. “You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
A chill slithered up Arik’s spÀp Arikine. “Why? Limos is out of her contract, so killing me is pointless.”
“The Dark Lord is pissed about that, apparently.”
“He should be. He lost out.” He’d lost big time.
Shrugging, Tavin looked Arik up and down. “You look good. Freedom agrees with you.”
“Thanks.” Okay, so it was kind of weird to have a friendly chat with the man sent to kill him. “So.”
Tavin blew out a long breath. “So.”
“How do we do this?”
“Dunno.” Tav looked genuinely perplexed, his sandy brows drawn into a deep frown over his blue eyes. “Never had to kill someone I liked before.”
“We’re quite the pair then, because I’ve never had anyone I like try to kill me.” Arik ran his hand through his hair. “This kind of sucks.”
“It’s a douche-y situation, for sure.”
Tavin reached beneath his jacket and removed a round metal disk, the edges of which looked sharp enough to remove a werewolf’s head from its body with no effort. Which was what Arik guessed was going to happen to him.
“I’m sorry about this, Arik.”
“I can’t talk you out of it, huh?”
“If I fail, bad things happen to me.” Tavin’s voice had gone monotone, which signaled a slide from friend into duty-bound soldier.
“And if you succeed, bad things happen to me.”
Arik shifted his weight and casually released the holster strap that secured the pistol at his hip. Most demons weren’t damaged by regular rounds, but he knew Sems were vulnerable to bullets. Besides, there was his old favorite saying about how firearms brought dignity to what would otherwise be just a vulgar brawl.
He was prepared to be very dignified. Not that he was opposed to vulgarity.
Tavin inclined his head, a sharp, respectful nod, and then it was on. Tavin moved like a phantom, all