Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [48]
Arik had the potential to take down the last of them, and the thought both terrified her and thrilled her. She couldn’t afford to be vulnerable to her feelings, and yet, belonging in a relationship was all she’d ever wanted.
Of course, the relationship she’d wanted so long ago was a far cry from what she wanted now.
When no one came out of the woodwork to beat Arik, he picked up the burger. His throat worked hard even before he raised it to his mouth. He took a bite, but his eyes were wild. Again, when no one popped out of thin air to torture him, he relaxed slightly and chewed. Then he took another bite. And another. He gobbled the burger like a starving dog, and when he was done, he drained the lager.
Very carefully, he set down the bottle. “This is real, isn’t it,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she whispered back.
He bowed his head, and his entire body began to tremble so hard the chair rattled on the floor. “How? How did I get out?”
“You escaped.” She wanted to go to him, to hug him tight, but he was in a fragile place right now, and she didn’t want to do anything that might send him fleeing back into his mental nightmare. “Kynan and I found you at the Erta Ale hellmouth.”
He looked up, and she was relieved to see that there was no suspicion in his expression. “How did you know to look there?”
She grinned. “Kynan interrogated some bookies, and I tortured one of your torturers.”
“Nice.” One corner of his mouth tipped up, and wow, it was great to see him smile.
She gave him a sly wink in return, becoming aware of an exhilarating buzz, a sensation inside her that rivaled what she experienced when she told a lie. Was this what people in love called butterflies?
Not that she was in love. As much as she liked to dream about having a normal, happy relationship, it just wasn’t in the cards for her.
“It was good times all around.” She gestured to his empty plate. “Want another?”
He shook his head. “I’m not used to eating much anymore. I’m pretty full.” He gazed out the window, but where he went, she couldn’t follow. “Who all knows I’m here?” His head swiveled around to her. “My sister must be going crazy—”
“No.” Her fingers tightened around the sweating beer bottle. “Eidolon and Shade came here to heal you, so your sister knows you’re okay. Kynan too.”
“So Kynan really did get those clothes for me?”
“Yes.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Fuck. Everything is so jumbled up.”
She reached for him. “Arik—”
He leaped out of the chair. “I need a minute, okay? Give me a minute alone.” He took off, weaving almost drunkenly toward the bedroom.
It wasn’t until she heard the crash that she knew something was terribly wrong.
Thirteen
Pestilence had upped his game, and his chessboard was made of human flesh, his chess pieces crafted from bone.
Thanatos and Ares had been compelled by violence and death to gate themselves to New Zealand, their brother’s newest playground. The plague of flesh-eating locusts had turned much of the country into a wasteland, and when New Zealand defense forces had gone in to try to contain the crow-sized insects, they’d been attacked by demons—demons who had, until now, been confined to Sheoul.
As Than and Ares slogged through gore and fought battle after battle, they’d made a disturbing discovery: Pestilence had saturated the southern half of New Zealand with so much blood, evil, and destruction that he’d been able to claim it in the name of Sheoul. It was now demon territory, and a major victory on Pestilence’s game board.
His next move, which Than had discovered when ~
Pestilence had unleashed an unthinkable plague, one that was turning humans into honest-to-fuck zombies. Thanatos liked The Walking Dead as much as anyone, but the real thing was nothing like fiction. This plague was Reseph’s sense of humor turned twisted in the being