Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [94]
“Why just Ares’s?”
“He’s the only one of us with an agimortus that is an actual person.”
He nodded. “Okay, so what does this have to do with Pestilence not dying when you stabbed him?”
An ocean-scented breeze washed over her face, and she took a moment to enjoy the whisper of wind caressing her face and teasing her hair. She’d spent a relatively small amount of time living in Sheoul, but the dark, claustrophobic experience had been carved into her very soul, and every day she spent out in the open like this was a gift, and she treated it as such.
Finally, she turned back to Arik. “I think the side-effect was that it rendered it useless to kill a Horseman. There’s just no other explanation for why it didn’t affect Pestilence at all.”
Limos could practically see Arik’s wheels spinning as he considered everything she’d told him. His powerful body was so beautiful in the moonlight, and though she ached to touch him, she sensed that he was in military mode, his mind working on a solution.
“Where did the engraving on the hilt come from?” Arik asked. “Was it always there, or was that added later?”
From death comes life.
“When we originally forged Deliverance, the Guardian who helped enchant it had a vision. Those words appeared to her, and she insisted that they be carved into the handle. That’s why Than believes that Pestilence can be turned back. He thinks that he can do something to make it happen, because Deliverance is specifically mentioned in Than’s prophecy.”
He cocked his head to the side, studying her for so long she began to fidget. “What?” she finally asked. “Do I have food on my face or something?”
He chuckled, and then sobered. “I’m just glad you told me.”
“You don’t hate me?”
The two feet of space between them closed in an instant, and he dipped his head, brushing his lips lightly over hers. “There’s your answer,” he said, stunning the hell out of her. “I think you should have told your brothers, but I get it. I’ve kept things from Runa.”
“Like?”
He exhaled slowly. “Like the fact that I sold my soul to a Charnel Apostle in order to save her life.” He squeezed his eyes shut, but doing so didn’t hide his pain from her. “She’s dealt with so much, and she carried horrible guilt with her until Shade took it.” He opened his eyes. “I can’t tell her about that either. She’d blame herself.”
“How does Shade take guilt away?” Because she could really use a dose of that magic.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” He grimaced. “There are things I do not want to think about my sister doing.”
“Oh. Sex.” Okay, so she didn’t want any of that. Not with Shade. But if Arik wanted to sex her out of her guilt, that would be another story.
“Sort of.”
Sort of? There was no such thing as TMI for her, but Arik obviously didn’t want to go certain places when it came to his sister.
“About Runa…” Now, this was a place she didn’t want to go, but for the first time in her life, she felt like she could. Like she could talk about something she’d done without the fear that she’d be hated. Arik’s reaction to the truth about her past—granted, he still didn’t know the worst of it—had given her a new confidence, and a new desire to come clean, if only to him. “There are no words in Sheoulic for ‘I’m sorry,’ ” she began. “So I grew up without them. Once, when I tried to find the right words, the person I wanted to use them on was punished. I’ve had a hard time saying them since, so please believe me when I say I’m sorry I messed with your memories. I had no right to do it.”
“No, you didn’t.” His voice was hard, but not unkind. “But I get why you did it. You wanted to protect me, just like you did when you offered to give yourself up to Satan.” His big chest expanded on a deep inhale as he reached out and caressed her cheek. “Just promise you won’t do it again.”
She smiled, even though none of this was funny. “Which one?”
“Either. That bastard can’t have you.” Growling, he