With a scream of outrage, she kicked the angel in the chest. He stumbled backward only a few steps. She spun, reaching for Micah. Her voice must have snapped him out of his pained, weakened stupor, because, as two angels dragged him down the hall, farther and farther away from her, he blinked open his swollen eyes.
When he spied the distance between them, he roared. Loud and long and ragged, but only she seemed to hear him. No one else paid him any attention, no one else cringed. As she elbowed her way to him, the angels attempted to grab her. She twisted and squirmed for freedom.
All the while, Micah fought his captors. Soon, the two holding him werent enough. Soon, she wasnt pegged as the biggest threat. The angels turned their attention to the warrior, all but one needed to subdue him.
Haidee! Haidee!
Before she could reach him, the one that had remained behind caught her, strong arms banding around her and squeezing tight. Breathing became a thing of the past. Still. Her struggles never ceased.
Micahs didnt either, she noted as she was at last carted out of the hall. Ill come back for you, she screamed. I swear Ill come back.
CHAPTER SEVEN
STRIDER FUCKING hurt.
He hurt everywhere but especially his gut. Maybe because Ex had sliced him open from hip to hip, spine to navel. The angels had had to stuff his insides back, well, inside. Theyd even stitched him up and tended his feverish, sweat-drenched body for three solid days.
He would have healed sooner if hed won the fight with Amun and Ex like a big boy. But he hadnt. Hed lost. And so his pain had been magnified a thousandfold, and hed been too weak to do a damn thing about it. Talk about humiliating!
Now he was still bed-bound and propped against pillows, but at least he was awake and aware. His demon was silent, too afraid to poke his head from the shadows of Striders mind and lose another challenge until theyd recuperated sufficiently.
Torin sat in a chair in the far corner, and Zacharel, the black-haired angel Lysander had left in charge, leaned against one of the metal posters of Striders bed. Both were watching him, waiting. Clearly impatient.
Could a guy not suffer in peace?
This room was supposed to be his sanctuary, his private escape, but hed opened his eyes a little while ago to find Torin pacing beside himand not out of concern, the curious bastard. Zacharel had been exactly as he was now. Unmoving, gaze penetrating.
What happened? Zacharel asked. His voice mesmerized even as it repelled. The undertones were lilting, almost meltingand yeah, it was still embarrassing as shit the way Strider reacted to these angelic beingsbut everything else about that voice was cold, uncaring, detached.
Like his eyes. A vivid jade-green, they should have been welcoming, should have reminded Strider of summer. Or hell, even of Torins wicked sense of humor. Instead, those eyes were green ice. There was nothing inside them. No emotion of any kind. Not good, not bad, just a spiraling abyss of emptiness.
Strider had met some freaky immortals over the centuries, had thought hed seen everything, but this oneno. There were none like him. Nothing fazed him. Strider had a feeling he could stab the angel in the heart and Zacharel would merely glance down before continuing on with whatever hed been doing.
Demon. Concentrate. What happened? Zacharel again, and he didnt raise his voice in the slightest. See? Emotionless.
For gods sake, Strider, Torin snapped. Open your damn mouth and form some words. While youre at it, stop staring at the angel like hes a tasty treat. Not so emotionless.
Striders cheeks warmed with a flush. Hed leave the tasty treat comment alone since he was too foggy to come up with a decent response. And no, Zacharel didnt react to it.
I went to the girls room. She wasnt there, but I saw where shed peeled back the wallpaper and found an old doorway that led into Amuns bedroom. She barred it. So I went to his door, but shed barred it, too. That one I kicked in. And hed expected to find Amun headless. Or, at the very least, Haidee under the dark influence of Amuns new demons.
The rage hed felt at the prospectthe despair. And yet, neither had compared to the jealousy hed experienced when hed discovered the truth. A jealousy that had shamed him. One, he couldnt be attracted to Ex. Two, Amun was his friend. He should have sheltered him from the temptresss wiles.
And? Torin prompted, exasperated.
And he was awake, lucid. At least for a little while. Until Strider had approached the girl. Then Amun the Demonically Insane had returned. Surprisingly, the black phantoms were gone and stayed gone. He didnt mention that Amun had been on top of Ex, with his hand down her pants, his face aflame with pleasure.
Hers had been, too. So much pleasure.
She hadnt fought the warrior. She had encouraged him, begged for more. A trick, Strider had thought. Surely she had planned to lure Amun into a false sense of security and then strike.
But when Strider had approached her, determined to stop her from hurting his friend, Amun had attacked him. And when Strider had tried to defend himself, Ex had attacked him. To aid Amun.
What the fuck, man? He hadnt understood at the time; hed been too busy trying not to die. Now he thought he got it. Ex had wanted to leave with Amun. Which meant shed planned to take him to her Hunters so they could kill him.
Still. That didnt explain why Amun had defended her. Why the warrior had touched her so intimately.
Strider had known the dude a long, long time. Theyd fought together, hung out and partied together. And by partied together Strider meant that Amun had watched him party and guarded his back. Amun didnt sleep around, was usually the most reserved of the warriors, and was sometimes as boring as shit. The good kind of boring, though. You knew you could rely on him for anything. He was solid, a rock, and you always knew where you stood with him.
He wasnt prone to angry fits, was the most levelheaded guy Strider knew. He would rather take a bullet himself than watch his friends take one. Yet, to protect a murderous bitch, hed attempted to splatter Striders brains all over his bedroom floor.
Amun must not have recognized her. Hell, would anyone? Centuries had passed, she no longer looked like an innocent maiden in need of a strong warriors aid, and as many freaky places as theyd been, theyd met other women named Haidee. The fact that shed somehow regrown her head maybe mighta kinda sorta have also prevented his friends from realizing who she was.
Part of Strider was glad she hadnt been recognized. The stupid part of him that didnt like the thought of anyone hurting the woman.
You planned to sic Sabin on her. Remember?
Yes. And maybe he would have done it. Maybe not.
Strider hadnt even told Torin her true identity yet. He didnt know why. Hed only said she was a Hunter and had left it at that.
And, okay, yeah. Maybe that had been a halfway decent decision. Maybe Exs efforts on Amuns behalf were real rather than faked. The day Strider had captured her, hed gotten a glimpse of her boyfriend and had been floored to note the similarities between the Hunter and Amun. Was still floored. As swollen and disfigured as Amuns face currently was, she probably thought the men were one and the same. If that was the case, she wouldnt have been taking Amun to Hunters to torture him but to save him.
Had she realized the truth yet, since hed called Amun by name? Or had she been too preoccupied?
For gods sake! Torin tossed up his arms, dragging him from the thorny pit of his thoughts. Whats wrong with you, Strider?
He leveled a brutal scowl on his friend. Im healing. Cant you see the gaping hole in my stomach?
You are fine. Now, as you were saying. Amun looked into your eyes during your conflict, yet you felt no evil urges? Zacharel asked, returning them to the only subject that mattered.
Conflict. Such a mild word for the handing-of-the-ass Strider had received. Right. No urges. Then or now.
Torin scrubbed both of his gloved hands down his tired face. Well, the shadows are back. Came back that very day, in fact, the moment the angels got him back in bed. And now hes worse. He worsens every hour. Silently moaning, always thrashing.
But he was fine when you walked into his bedroom? Zacharel insisted.
Did he seriously need to repeat himself? Yes.
With the girl?
Shit! Yes, damn it. With the girl.
Zacharel gave no reaction to Striders outburst, of course. While you were absent from the fortress, we tried exorcism, burning him as close to death as possible, hoping the spirits would unbind themselves and leave. They didnt. We even tried a cloud cleansing, a
A what?
Dont ask, Torin said dryly.
But, Zacharel continued, none of those things made a difference. Yet if you looked at him and felt no evil, the girl did the impossible. She forced the demons into submission. That means she is the key.
Confusion caused Striders brows to knit together. The key? The key to what?
Amuns sanity. He needs her. He must be with her.
Both Strider and Torin gaped at the angel.
Torin was the first to recover. Shes a Hunter. Disbelief and fury coated his tone.
Yet that mattered not to Amun or the demons, Zacharel pointed out. Where is your joy? Your friend now has a chance of surviving.
A chance. Grim words when they should have been hopeful.
The day Strider had busted into Amuns room, the angels had been talking of finally killing the insane warrior. Theyd given the Lords enough time to fix him, theyd said, and the Lords hadnt fixed him. The phantoms had begun to seep into the hallway, trying to escape the angels, the fortress, and enter the world.
Strider wouldnt allow that. He wouldnt allow Amun to be harmed, either. But he really wouldnt allow Ex near him. The day I arrived, you said the female was infected. What did you mean by that? He would have asked before, but after visiting Amun that first time, hed been kind of busy sandpapering his skin off in an effort to expunge the evil.
I have not been given permission to share those details, the angel said, his frostiness not thawing a single degree.
Zacharel cared about permission? Shocker. Who do you need permission from?
Lysander.
Of course. The head honcho. Well, where is he?
With his Bianka. They were arguing, and he gave her possession of their cloud. No one is to disturb them for any reason. There are neon signs all around the palace saying so.
Okay. Strider didnt really understand a word of that. A cloud palace? Why would Biankas possession of it matter? There was no one bigger or stronger than Lysanderexcept Strider. And unless Bianka went total Harpy on Lysander, which she wouldnt do because Harpies were supposedly physically incapable of harming their consorts, there was no way the petite stunner could overpower the angel.
Unless, of course, Lysander wanted her to overpower him. Aha. Now Strider understood what Zacharel had meant. The two were engaged in a sexual marathon, and Lysander had given control to Bianka. They may not see him for several years. One thing Strider had learned about the Harpy when shed visited the fortress was that she enjoyed power and didnt relinquish it easily.
Lucky Lysander.
Strider could have tasted a Harpy of his own, he supposed, since Bianka had two single sisters. Taliyah and Kaia. Taliyah was the ice princess, as seemingly emotionless as Zacharel, but Strider had never been interested in her. Now, Kaia on the other hand, well, she was the wildfire. Hed been interested. Really interesteduntil shed slept with Paris, keeper of Promiscuity. Strider had decided then not to bother with her. Who could compete with a freaking god of sex?
To be honest, Strider was sick of competing in the bedroom all the damn time. Sick of having to be the best lover his partner had ever had. It had gotten old. There was nothing wrong with a guy wanting to lie back and let the woman do all the work for once.
If Defeat had been awake, the demon would have said, Win. Strider almost wished the little shit would speak up. Woulda been nice to trample on his feelings by shouting, Shut the hell up! The bastard had gotten Strider into this mess, after all.
Andhes off again, Torin muttered wryly.
Am not. Strider flipped him off. Tell me this at least, he said to the angel. Can the girl, being infected as she is with something you stupidly wont tell me about, contaminate Amun? Make him worse?
A moment passed in silence as the angel considered the question. And wouldnt you know it? He gave no reaction to the word stupidly. No.
All right, then. Strider would forget about Exs infection. For now.
So what are we going to do about Amun and the girl? Torin asked, getting them back on track. Again. He leaned back in his chair, resting his ankle against his knee, hands twined over his middle. A casual pose, if not for the lines of tension branching from his mouth.
Zacharel eyed the keeper of Disease as if hed lost his brain when hed gained his demon. We will test our theory, of course. We will put her back inside Amuns room.
Hell, no! Strider snarled. And not because those sparks of jealousy had instantly lit back up and now poured through his veins like streams of acid. Hes defenseless, and shell hurt him.
She didnt before.
That doesnt mean shell be a tame house cat next time!
If things continue as they are, I will kill him. The words were so simply stated, Strider had no doubt Zacharel meant what he said. Your choice. I will be satisfied one way or the other.
Not really a choice at all, the bastard. He had to know that. Ill have to clear out Amuns room and remove Shit. Everything except the bed. Anything could be used as a weapon. As hed already learned. The window will need iron bars. Hunters were notoriously adept and wily. Look what Ex had done with a simple piece of glass.
His stomach ached in remembrance, the scab pulling tight.
Maybe we should break her hands, too, Torin suggested, shocking the sweet loving hell out of Strider. He was usually the voice of semi-reason. I dont want her able to snap his neck or pluck his eyes while hes defenseless.