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Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Are you saying I owe you? You want me to work off all your torture?”

“What? No. Jesus, you’re cynical. I’m saying that I’m a stubborn son of a bitch, and I’m not going to let those skin-peeling, razor-slicing, ass-raping bastards win. I wanted you then, and I want you now. You saved my life and you nursed me back to health. I can’t be angry anymore.”

Don’t,” she rasped. “Don’t make me better than I am.”

What the hell did that mean? He was about to ask, when twin flashes lit up the area. Instinctively, he wheeled in front of Limos as two huge, armored males popped out of summoned Harrowgates. Ares and Thanatos looked at him, looked at Limos, and sized up the situation in less time than it took an M-16 bullet to strike a target at thirty yards.

In all the time Arik was in the torture chamber, he suspected he’d die.

This time, he knew he was dead.

Fifteen

Ares and Thanatos moved before Limos could blink. In a coordinated swoop, Thanatos grabbed Arik while Ares blocked her. She couldn’t see beyond Ares’s broad shoulders, but she heard growls, grunts, and then a splash.

“Dammit!” Swiping her fingers over her throat, she armored up, covering her nakedness, and slammed Ares out of the way. He grabbed her, but she kneed him hard enough in the groin for him to loosen his grip. She used the split second advantage to lunge for Thanatos, who held a struggling, splashing Arik under water.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “You’re killing him.”

Than’s eyes glowed with golden death. “Yes.”

Shit. Once Than went into killing mode, he was nearly unstoppable. There was no time to reason with him, so she tackled him, grabbing him around the waist and knocking him off balance. It was enough for Arik to get his head above water for a deep, choked breath, but then Thanatos was back at his task, brushing off Limos as if she were no more than a pesky fly.

Ares came at her, and she was done being nice. In an instant, she drew her sword and swung it in a broad arc. Her aim was perfect, and the reverberation from the impact of metal meeting the flesh and bone in Than’s neck jolted her arms. Blood sprayed, coating the sword, turning the water around them red. Thanatos yelped, releasing Arik to slap his hands over the gushing wound.

She ignored his curses and Ares’s shouts of “What the hell, Limos?” and hauled Arik up from the water. He surfaced, gasping for air, relief and furyhe alternating in his expression.

“You jackasses!” she snapped, and then found herself holding Arik back from trying to take a piece out of Than as her brother fought to keep from bleeding out. Oh, her strike wouldn’t kill Than even if he did bleed out, but it would take a good day for him to regenerate. “Arik can’t be allowed to die. You know that!”

Ares snarled, his hand poised over his sword, his furious gaze fixed on Arik. “What was he doing to you?”

“Nothing I didn’t want.” Ares’s hand dropped to the hilt, and Limos, who never panicked… panicked.

“Didn’t Than tell you?” She turned to Than, who still looked murderous. “You know we can’t kill him, you fool.”

“Why not?” Ares asked.

“Yeah,” Arik rasped. “Why not? Not that I’m complaining.”

Than settled down as logic finally wrestled his death haze into compliance. “Pestilence fouled him.”

Well, that was a groaner. Thanatos had never had a knack for diplomacy or tact.

“What?” Arik climbed onto the shore, where he sat, arms across his raised knees. “What do you mean, Pestilence fouled me?”

Limos braced herself for his reaction. “He drank your blood,” she said. “And he made you drink his.”

“I don’t remember any of that. How do you know?”

“He told me. After I found you.”

“Okay, that’s gross and I want to puke, maybe right after I cut his fucking head off, but what does this have to do with not killing me?”

Thanatos peeled his hand away from his throat, which had partially healed and was oozing now instead of spurting. “Pestilence bound your soul to him.”

Arik leaped to his feet. “He what?”

“When you die,” Limos explained, “your soul will belong to him.” Hopefully,