Horror Hotel, as Wraith called Shade’s house. “Vampires, demons, and werewolves check in… and then they make out, and—”
Serena had dragged him away, whispering something in his ear that had made him let out an erotic growl, and then they were gone. As Con and Sin approached the Harrowgate, it flashed and a tank of a blood-bay stallion leaped out, scattering staff and patients. Atop the horse sat a massive male in hard leather armor. His hair was short, reddish brown, and his eyes were as black as Sin’s.
“What the hell are you doing?” Eidolon shouted, but the big male swiveled his head and focused his gaze on Sin with such intensity that Con stiffened. “Why is he looking at you like that?”
“I… ah…” She slid him a timid glance. “I sort of slept with him once.”
Con took a deep breath and tried to rein in his desire to rip out the horse guy’s throat. “Where’d you find him? EviLove.com?”
“Hey, that’s not funny. I know people who use the demon dating service.”
The entire hospital seemed to go still, watching and waiting, and what the hell was up with Sin and guys on horses anyway? “Well, who is he?”
“War.”
Con stared at her. “War. Just… War. What kind of name is that?” Nope, not jealous at all of musclebound handsome guy.
“Yeah, you know, the original War. Second Horseman of the Apocalypse?” Con nearly swallowed his f**king tongue. Everyone else in the ER scrambled backward. Even Eidolon backed up a step as the guy swung down from the horse. Christ, standing, the guy was damned near seven feet tall.
“Sin,” he said in an impossibly deep voice. He approached her, bent to kiss her cheek, and Con bristled.
“Big horse,” Con ground out. “Compensating much?”
The guy straightened, shot Con an amused smile—the fucker had some seriously white teeth—and turned back to Sin. “I need the object my brother gave you.”
“That tool with the dissolving arrows was your brother?” Sin dug the gold piece out of her pocket. “Is this it? This coin?” “Yes.” He took it, and Eidolon sucked in a strangled breath as he put two and two together. “A Seal. Gods, that’s a Seal.”
Con felt the blood drain from his face. “A broken Seal.” White horse. Bow. Holy shit. “Conquest. Your brother is Conquest.”
“His real name is Reseph,” War said, “but he’s also known as Pestilence in some interpretations of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Eidolon’s voice was stunned, toneless. “She of mixed blood who should not exist, carries with her the power to spread plague and pestilence. When battle breaks, conquest is seal’d. Isagreth 3:17, Daemonica.”
War shifted, and his leather armor squeaked loudly in the otherwise silent ER. “It’s what was engraved on the back of this Seal.” Slowly, Sin pulled her right arm out of her jacket and raised her sleeve to reveal the circular glyph that had split open so badly at Rivesta’s cabin. The scar that ran through it was an exact replica of the broken edge of the Seal. “I’m the reason it broke,” Sin rasped.
“Yes. You are what we call an agimortus, a catalyst of sorts. Your actions put into motion an event that caused my brother’s Seal to break.”
“Wait,” Con said. “So why was he trying to kill her? He was there when my house blew up… He tried to shoot her.” “We were all trying to kill her,” War said. “No offense to you, Sin, but we wanted to prevent the Seal from breaking. Contrary to a lot of religious interpretations, we’re neither good nor evil until the Seals break.”
“And then?”
“And then it’s time to bow before whatever God you believe in.”
Sin’s dainty eyebrows slammed down in a frown. “Why did Pest save me from assassins in Montana if he was trying to kill me?”
“By then, the Seal had already broken. At this point, your life or death isn’t important, but he did want you to have the coin.” “Why?”
War rubbed his thumb over the writing on the Seal. “A message to me,” he said quietly. “So, are you still planning to kill me?” Sin asked, her arm tensing under Con’s palm.
“There’s no point.” He rolled one big shoulder in a shrug, and his mouth turned up in a smile that probably made females fall all over him. “Besides, it would be a shame to kill you.” Another growl formed in Con’s chest, but Sin squeezed his hand, reminding him that she was there with Con, and she wasn’t going anywhere. Not even for muscle-bound legend guy. Asshole. “What was the final straw that broke it?” Con asked, much more nicely than he’d have liked. And that note of awe in his voice… seriously? Humiliating.
War slipped the coin into his horse’s saddlebag. “It triggered when the disease jumped species and the two warg factions began to battle each other.” He glanced at Eidolon. “Yes, we’ve kept up on everything that’s happened.”
“What can we do?” Eidolon asked. “Pray.” War mounted the horse. “And prepare your staff for mass casualties. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. If they get better.” With a jerk of the reins, he and the stallion disappeared into the Harrowgate.
Everyone stood there for a moment, frozen and silent. When the ambulance-bay doors slid open and Blaspheme and Vladlena rolled a patient in on a stretcher, everyone finally leaped into action. Everyone but Con, who stared at Sin.
“There’s never a dull moment with you, is there?”
She frowned. “Are you regretting—”
“No!” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “No. Never. Now, let’s go feed you, and then I’m going to make sure that War asshole”—freaking Horseman—“never enters your mind again.” Grinning, Sin linked arms with him. “War who?”
Yeah, War who. As Con led Sin toward the Harrowgate, he had a feeling they’d not seen the last of him.
Twenty-eight
“Are you crazy?” Sin asked Lore, as they stood in front of Eidolon’s door. He’d just outlined his plan to her, and she was about to fall over. “I know they’ve been all brotherly and stuff, but they’re never going to go for this. Never. And you’re going to feel like an idiot.”
Lore, wearing a form-fitting charcoal T-shirt, jeans, and combat boots, shrugged. “If they don’t go for it, that’s their choice, and I understand.”
“Uh-huh.” Sin jammed her fists on her leather-clad hips. “What does Idess have to say about this?” “She doesn’t know. I mean, she knows I plan to ask, but she doesn’t know I’m asking right now. I don’t want them to feel any pressure, and I don’t want her to feel bad if they refuse. She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
Sin just shook her head. Lore was in for one hell of a letdown. Their brothers had been a well of support, yes, but this… this was asking too much. Con was already inside, looking fabulous in midnight jeans and a silver button-down that set off his eyes. Everyone was there in the living room—everyone but Idess. Even Kynan and Gem had come. And seriously, how could a pregnant chick look so good in Goth gear?
Taking Con’s hand, Sin stood behind Lore, ready to be there for him when their brothers refused his request.
Runa and Shade were on the floor with their triplets, who were crawling around and playing with the dog and the ferret, who kept stealing their toys. Eidolon was in the overstuffed leather chair with Tayla on his lap, while Wraith sprawled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, his arm flung around Serena, who was holding a sleeping Stewie. “So, what’s up? What’s this favor you need?”
Everyone’s eyes were on Lore, and Sin’s heart pounded.
“Ah…” Lore shifted his weight.
“Spill, man,” Shade said.
“Yeah, that,” Lore muttered, and Sin groaned.
“What?” That from Eidolon.
“I need your sperm,” Lore blurted. Shade, who had been drinking a soda, choked. Everyone else gaped. Sin groaned again. Tact had never been one of the items in her brother’s chest of personality traits.
Finally, Runa said softly, “You want a baby.” “Yeah.” Lore looked down at the floor, and Sin’s heart broke for him. “You know I’m sterile. This half-breed shit. But Idess and I… we want a family. Since I can’t give her that, I was hoping maybe… Well, the next best thing would be a brother.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “If you don’t want to, I get it. It’s cool.”
The brothers all looked at each other. Then looked at their mates. God, Sin could have cut the tension with a knife. She gripped Lore’s hand in her empty one. “Hey, maybe we should go. Give them time—”
“No,” Tayla said. “I don’t think there’s even a question.” She smiled at Eidolon, who returned it with a crooked upturn of his lips. “If you need it, you got it.” Her smile turned very, very naughty. “But you’ll have to wait until we’re done with it. We’re going to be using it all for a while.”
Eidolon lit up, and he pulled Tayla into a crushing hug, his palm going straight to her belly before glancing at Lore. “Yeah, bro, you got it. Maybe as early as tomorrow.”
Wraith rolled his eyes at the happy couple, but after getting a nod from Serena, he turned back to Lore and drawled, “Hell, I’ll give it up.”
Shade shrugged. “Yup.”
Sin sagged against Con, relieved, happy, and awed by this incredible family. How stupid she’d been to not want to get to know them. “I have beer,” Idess called out from the hall, and when she walked into the living room, Sin could only imagine what she felt at the grins that came from all corners. “Oh,” she breathed, and cut her gaze to Lore. “You… asked…?”
Lore held out his arms, and she rushed to him, her eyes brimming with joyful tears. “Thank you,” she said, to no one in particular. “Oh, thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re heroes,” Wraith muttered, and then a bright, cocky smile lit up his face. “Oh, hey, I really am. Apocalypse, fallen angel, saved the world…”
Serena gave him a well-deserved jab in the side, and he “oofed.” Eidolon lovingly ran his hand up and down Tayla’s arm, his fingers caressing the mate dermoire etched into her skin. “Can you believe how lucky we are? Seminus demons rarely take lifemates, but here we are, all of us mated.”
“And alive,” Shade added.
“That’s a total shocker,” Wraith threw in.
Gem laughed at Wraith. “Definitely a miracle. Especially in your case, dumb-ass.” “It’s not a miracle.”
All heads whipped around to a tall, stunning male who stood in the entrance to the living room. His thick blond curtain of hair fell perfectly around broad shoulders, and his black slacks and shirt had to be custom made to so perfectly fit his gorgeous body.
“Reaver,” Shade ground out, and okay, this was the former fallen angel who had fought alongside Wraith in Israel. “I hate it when you do that.” Reaver grinned, a total panty-melter. “Why do you think I do it?”
Eidolon tucked Tayla tighter against him. “So why isn’t our situation a miracle?”
“Because it’s all fated, you silly demon. You all played roles in saving the world, and some of you have much more to do.” He shrugged. “It’s all good.”
Wraith threw a handful of popcorn at the angel. “You know I hate the cryptic shit.” Suddenly, they were all pelting Reaver with food, and while they engaged in what was probably the strangest battle between angels and demons in history, Sin pulled Con into the hall, away from the laughter and curses.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”
“Yes, you have.”
“For saving my life, maybe. But not for giving me one.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Con, thank you. I love you so much.”
Warmth radiated from him, and Sin wondered why she’d ever believed that vampires were cold. “We got a good thing here.”
“Yeah.” Sin thought about her brothers, her sisters-in-law, her new friends, and the fact that standing before her was the most perfect mate on the planet. “I can’t think of anything better.” “It could be better… someday.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what Lore was just talking about—”
“Ah… I can’t ask my brothers for sperm. ’Cuz with my egg, that’s just gross.”
Con laughed, his fangs flashing sexily. “Not them. Me.”
She patted his hand like she did with her baby nephews. “Sweetie, you’re a vampire.” “Yeah, but I’m not a stupid vampire. I sort of planned for this scenario.”
“You’ve got some little popsicles?”
“Yup. I gave E samples of everything before Luc killed me.”
Her heart gave a great thump. She’d never wanted kids. Had never even thought about wanting them. But as she stood there with the male she loved, in a house full of the family she never thought she’d have… she realized that, yeah, she did want them. Maybe not today, but she and Con had hundreds of years together, and in the meantime, she had lots of nephews to play with. Well, to look at from a distance, anyway.
“It’s funny,” she said, with a strange hitch in her voice, “but I never wanted to be tied to anyone. Never wanted to be owned or to belong to another person. But now I realize that belonging with someone is completely different. I belong with you, Con.”
Serena had dragged him away, whispering something in his ear that had made him let out an erotic growl, and then they were gone. As Con and Sin approached the Harrowgate, it flashed and a tank of a blood-bay stallion leaped out, scattering staff and patients. Atop the horse sat a massive male in hard leather armor. His hair was short, reddish brown, and his eyes were as black as Sin’s.
“What the hell are you doing?” Eidolon shouted, but the big male swiveled his head and focused his gaze on Sin with such intensity that Con stiffened. “Why is he looking at you like that?”
“I… ah…” She slid him a timid glance. “I sort of slept with him once.”
Con took a deep breath and tried to rein in his desire to rip out the horse guy’s throat. “Where’d you find him? EviLove.com?”
“Hey, that’s not funny. I know people who use the demon dating service.”
The entire hospital seemed to go still, watching and waiting, and what the hell was up with Sin and guys on horses anyway? “Well, who is he?”
“War.”
Con stared at her. “War. Just… War. What kind of name is that?” Nope, not jealous at all of musclebound handsome guy.
“Yeah, you know, the original War. Second Horseman of the Apocalypse?” Con nearly swallowed his f**king tongue. Everyone else in the ER scrambled backward. Even Eidolon backed up a step as the guy swung down from the horse. Christ, standing, the guy was damned near seven feet tall.
“Sin,” he said in an impossibly deep voice. He approached her, bent to kiss her cheek, and Con bristled.
“Big horse,” Con ground out. “Compensating much?”
The guy straightened, shot Con an amused smile—the fucker had some seriously white teeth—and turned back to Sin. “I need the object my brother gave you.”
“That tool with the dissolving arrows was your brother?” Sin dug the gold piece out of her pocket. “Is this it? This coin?” “Yes.” He took it, and Eidolon sucked in a strangled breath as he put two and two together. “A Seal. Gods, that’s a Seal.”
Con felt the blood drain from his face. “A broken Seal.” White horse. Bow. Holy shit. “Conquest. Your brother is Conquest.”
“His real name is Reseph,” War said, “but he’s also known as Pestilence in some interpretations of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Eidolon’s voice was stunned, toneless. “She of mixed blood who should not exist, carries with her the power to spread plague and pestilence. When battle breaks, conquest is seal’d. Isagreth 3:17, Daemonica.”
War shifted, and his leather armor squeaked loudly in the otherwise silent ER. “It’s what was engraved on the back of this Seal.” Slowly, Sin pulled her right arm out of her jacket and raised her sleeve to reveal the circular glyph that had split open so badly at Rivesta’s cabin. The scar that ran through it was an exact replica of the broken edge of the Seal. “I’m the reason it broke,” Sin rasped.
“Yes. You are what we call an agimortus, a catalyst of sorts. Your actions put into motion an event that caused my brother’s Seal to break.”
“Wait,” Con said. “So why was he trying to kill her? He was there when my house blew up… He tried to shoot her.” “We were all trying to kill her,” War said. “No offense to you, Sin, but we wanted to prevent the Seal from breaking. Contrary to a lot of religious interpretations, we’re neither good nor evil until the Seals break.”
“And then?”
“And then it’s time to bow before whatever God you believe in.”
Sin’s dainty eyebrows slammed down in a frown. “Why did Pest save me from assassins in Montana if he was trying to kill me?”
“By then, the Seal had already broken. At this point, your life or death isn’t important, but he did want you to have the coin.” “Why?”
War rubbed his thumb over the writing on the Seal. “A message to me,” he said quietly. “So, are you still planning to kill me?” Sin asked, her arm tensing under Con’s palm.
“There’s no point.” He rolled one big shoulder in a shrug, and his mouth turned up in a smile that probably made females fall all over him. “Besides, it would be a shame to kill you.” Another growl formed in Con’s chest, but Sin squeezed his hand, reminding him that she was there with Con, and she wasn’t going anywhere. Not even for muscle-bound legend guy. Asshole. “What was the final straw that broke it?” Con asked, much more nicely than he’d have liked. And that note of awe in his voice… seriously? Humiliating.
War slipped the coin into his horse’s saddlebag. “It triggered when the disease jumped species and the two warg factions began to battle each other.” He glanced at Eidolon. “Yes, we’ve kept up on everything that’s happened.”
“What can we do?” Eidolon asked. “Pray.” War mounted the horse. “And prepare your staff for mass casualties. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. If they get better.” With a jerk of the reins, he and the stallion disappeared into the Harrowgate.
Everyone stood there for a moment, frozen and silent. When the ambulance-bay doors slid open and Blaspheme and Vladlena rolled a patient in on a stretcher, everyone finally leaped into action. Everyone but Con, who stared at Sin.
“There’s never a dull moment with you, is there?”
She frowned. “Are you regretting—”
“No!” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “No. Never. Now, let’s go feed you, and then I’m going to make sure that War asshole”—freaking Horseman—“never enters your mind again.” Grinning, Sin linked arms with him. “War who?”
Yeah, War who. As Con led Sin toward the Harrowgate, he had a feeling they’d not seen the last of him.
Twenty-eight
“Are you crazy?” Sin asked Lore, as they stood in front of Eidolon’s door. He’d just outlined his plan to her, and she was about to fall over. “I know they’ve been all brotherly and stuff, but they’re never going to go for this. Never. And you’re going to feel like an idiot.”
Lore, wearing a form-fitting charcoal T-shirt, jeans, and combat boots, shrugged. “If they don’t go for it, that’s their choice, and I understand.”
“Uh-huh.” Sin jammed her fists on her leather-clad hips. “What does Idess have to say about this?” “She doesn’t know. I mean, she knows I plan to ask, but she doesn’t know I’m asking right now. I don’t want them to feel any pressure, and I don’t want her to feel bad if they refuse. She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
Sin just shook her head. Lore was in for one hell of a letdown. Their brothers had been a well of support, yes, but this… this was asking too much. Con was already inside, looking fabulous in midnight jeans and a silver button-down that set off his eyes. Everyone was there in the living room—everyone but Idess. Even Kynan and Gem had come. And seriously, how could a pregnant chick look so good in Goth gear?
Taking Con’s hand, Sin stood behind Lore, ready to be there for him when their brothers refused his request.
Runa and Shade were on the floor with their triplets, who were crawling around and playing with the dog and the ferret, who kept stealing their toys. Eidolon was in the overstuffed leather chair with Tayla on his lap, while Wraith sprawled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, his arm flung around Serena, who was holding a sleeping Stewie. “So, what’s up? What’s this favor you need?”
Everyone’s eyes were on Lore, and Sin’s heart pounded.
“Ah…” Lore shifted his weight.
“Spill, man,” Shade said.
“Yeah, that,” Lore muttered, and Sin groaned.
“What?” That from Eidolon.
“I need your sperm,” Lore blurted. Shade, who had been drinking a soda, choked. Everyone else gaped. Sin groaned again. Tact had never been one of the items in her brother’s chest of personality traits.
Finally, Runa said softly, “You want a baby.” “Yeah.” Lore looked down at the floor, and Sin’s heart broke for him. “You know I’m sterile. This half-breed shit. But Idess and I… we want a family. Since I can’t give her that, I was hoping maybe… Well, the next best thing would be a brother.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “If you don’t want to, I get it. It’s cool.”
The brothers all looked at each other. Then looked at their mates. God, Sin could have cut the tension with a knife. She gripped Lore’s hand in her empty one. “Hey, maybe we should go. Give them time—”
“No,” Tayla said. “I don’t think there’s even a question.” She smiled at Eidolon, who returned it with a crooked upturn of his lips. “If you need it, you got it.” Her smile turned very, very naughty. “But you’ll have to wait until we’re done with it. We’re going to be using it all for a while.”
Eidolon lit up, and he pulled Tayla into a crushing hug, his palm going straight to her belly before glancing at Lore. “Yeah, bro, you got it. Maybe as early as tomorrow.”
Wraith rolled his eyes at the happy couple, but after getting a nod from Serena, he turned back to Lore and drawled, “Hell, I’ll give it up.”
Shade shrugged. “Yup.”
Sin sagged against Con, relieved, happy, and awed by this incredible family. How stupid she’d been to not want to get to know them. “I have beer,” Idess called out from the hall, and when she walked into the living room, Sin could only imagine what she felt at the grins that came from all corners. “Oh,” she breathed, and cut her gaze to Lore. “You… asked…?”
Lore held out his arms, and she rushed to him, her eyes brimming with joyful tears. “Thank you,” she said, to no one in particular. “Oh, thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re heroes,” Wraith muttered, and then a bright, cocky smile lit up his face. “Oh, hey, I really am. Apocalypse, fallen angel, saved the world…”
Serena gave him a well-deserved jab in the side, and he “oofed.” Eidolon lovingly ran his hand up and down Tayla’s arm, his fingers caressing the mate dermoire etched into her skin. “Can you believe how lucky we are? Seminus demons rarely take lifemates, but here we are, all of us mated.”
“And alive,” Shade added.
“That’s a total shocker,” Wraith threw in.
Gem laughed at Wraith. “Definitely a miracle. Especially in your case, dumb-ass.” “It’s not a miracle.”
All heads whipped around to a tall, stunning male who stood in the entrance to the living room. His thick blond curtain of hair fell perfectly around broad shoulders, and his black slacks and shirt had to be custom made to so perfectly fit his gorgeous body.
“Reaver,” Shade ground out, and okay, this was the former fallen angel who had fought alongside Wraith in Israel. “I hate it when you do that.” Reaver grinned, a total panty-melter. “Why do you think I do it?”
Eidolon tucked Tayla tighter against him. “So why isn’t our situation a miracle?”
“Because it’s all fated, you silly demon. You all played roles in saving the world, and some of you have much more to do.” He shrugged. “It’s all good.”
Wraith threw a handful of popcorn at the angel. “You know I hate the cryptic shit.” Suddenly, they were all pelting Reaver with food, and while they engaged in what was probably the strangest battle between angels and demons in history, Sin pulled Con into the hall, away from the laughter and curses.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”
“Yes, you have.”
“For saving my life, maybe. But not for giving me one.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Con, thank you. I love you so much.”
Warmth radiated from him, and Sin wondered why she’d ever believed that vampires were cold. “We got a good thing here.”
“Yeah.” Sin thought about her brothers, her sisters-in-law, her new friends, and the fact that standing before her was the most perfect mate on the planet. “I can’t think of anything better.” “It could be better… someday.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what Lore was just talking about—”
“Ah… I can’t ask my brothers for sperm. ’Cuz with my egg, that’s just gross.”
Con laughed, his fangs flashing sexily. “Not them. Me.”
She patted his hand like she did with her baby nephews. “Sweetie, you’re a vampire.” “Yeah, but I’m not a stupid vampire. I sort of planned for this scenario.”
“You’ve got some little popsicles?”
“Yup. I gave E samples of everything before Luc killed me.”
Her heart gave a great thump. She’d never wanted kids. Had never even thought about wanting them. But as she stood there with the male she loved, in a house full of the family she never thought she’d have… she realized that, yeah, she did want them. Maybe not today, but she and Con had hundreds of years together, and in the meantime, she had lots of nephews to play with. Well, to look at from a distance, anyway.
“It’s funny,” she said, with a strange hitch in her voice, “but I never wanted to be tied to anyone. Never wanted to be owned or to belong to another person. But now I realize that belonging with someone is completely different. I belong with you, Con.”
