Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Not for anything.
“I am here for you, little brother.”
That only made Cadegan more apprehensive. Leucious killed or banished creatures like him. He didn't suffer them to live among the world of man, and he damn sure didn't help them to reach it.
Unsure, Cadegan met Josette's dark gaze, and tightened his grip on her delicate hand.
“I trust him, Cade. He won't betray you. And if he does, I promise to serve up a part of his anatomy that he'll definitely miss.”
He smiled at that.
“I am here for you, sweetie. Always.”
Those words touched a part of him he'd never met before and they choked him. In that moment, he craved her with a madness that made the demon inside him tremble in fear. Cupping her cheek, he kissed her and wished they were alone so that he could ease the other ache inside him that begged for her touch.
With a breath for courage and her hand in his, he stepped through and waited for the wall to slam shut in his face. For him to walk into a solid mass that kept him banished where he belonged.
In hell.
But it didn't.
Holding his breath, he opened his eyes and found himself in a horrifically bright room. Unused to actual daylight, he flinched and held his hand up to shield his squinting eyes. Even so, he reveled in the pain of it.
Sunlight. Real and true. He could even feel the warmth of it on his skin.
Amazed, he held his hand out and let the rays dance over his flesh.
“Dang it, Karma! Close your curtains. Fast!”
A woman who looked similar to Josette ran to obey.
Jo bit her lip as she watched the awe and marvel play across Cadegan's handsome face. He was like an infant discovering his feet for the first time.
And he looked so out of place here with his black monk's robe and chain mail and spurs.
Karma raked a sneer over him, but he didn't pay a bit of attention to her. Not while unbelievable joy spread across his face, as he turned a small circle and glanced around the brightly painted room and decorated bookshelves.
He met Jo's gaze. “Where am I?”
“Karma's house.”
Cadegan digested that news slowly as he continued to look about. Scowling, he paused and cocked his head at the sight of a familiar stranger.
In the far corner stood Acheron, who was indeed identical to Styxx, except his hair was black and his eyes a swirling silver, instead of Styxx's deep blue. This time, Acheron didn't wear the strange mask that had covered his eyes earlier.
“Severe Asshole Brother issues,” Styxx repeated in Cadegan's ear. His voice was filled with humor as he cracked a wide grin. “Every time you think you have it bad, just remember, you don't see Thorn's face every single time you stumble in front of a mirror.”
Cadegan snorted at something that wasn't really funny. “I concede this issue to you, me lord. By far, yours is the greatest indignity.”
He clapped Cadegan on the shoulder. “If only you knew, my brother. If only you knew.” Rubbing his arm affectionately, Styxx went to Acheron's side. For all of Styxx's protestations, he and Acheron seemed to get along well.
In fact, Acheron embraced him. “Glad you're back. I was starting to worry.”
Patting him on the shoulder, Styxx indicated them with his chin. “Acheron, I present to you, Cadegan. In his real and true form.”
Acheron inclined his head respectfully. “Welcome back, my lord.”
He seemed sincere and decent enough. But Cadegan was suspicious of the demon blood he sensed inside Acheron. Blood Styxx didn't share.
What was he? Why would one twin be demonic while the other wasn't?
“We have clothes for you,” Acheron said graciously. “Whenever you're ready, Styxx or I can show you to your new home.”
Cadegan arched a brow. “My new home?”
“In a realm called Katateros.”
His stomach wrenched as his anger grew. So he wasn't free after all. He'd only gone from one prison to the next. That was what he got for trusting them. He should have known better. “Then I'm not to stay in this realm?”
The men stepped back in trepidation.
Jo placed her hand on his and calmed him as she saw the demon rising to the forefront. She placed her hand on his face and forced him to meet her loving gaze.
His eyes went from yellow back to blue as quickly as they'd switched before. “Shh, Cade. That's not what they meant. You'll have the freedom to come and go as you wish. And I'll be with you the whole time. If that's what you want.”
“You will?”
She nodded. “I will be with you so long as you want me. Just promise that if you want to get rid of me, you'll tell me and not cut my head off or something equally mean.”
“I would never do such, lass.” He pressed his cheek to hers before he stepped back to eye Thorn. But at least this time, he remained fully human.
Jo wrinkled her nose playfully at him as he held her hand. “Your eyes are like an old-fashioned mood ring. The moment you get angry, bang ⦠the demon rears its ugly head and stares at me. Kind of scary.”
“I would never cause you harm, Josette.”
“You mean you hope you'd never harm her.”
They all turned to Thorn, who'd spoken. Unrepentant, he explained his point. “The demon in our blood isn't always under our control. For that reason, Jo, you need to learn when to run from it. Lest you be harmed, and he be devastated by his own inability to control himself.”
“Really?” she asked, suddenly apprehensive of Cadegan.
Acheron nodded. “I almost killed my wife once in the throes of it. And I'd sooner cut out my own heart than make my Tory frown.”
Cadegan hesitated at those words. Since he was so seldom around others, and never someone he loved, he hadn't even considered that. “Is this true?” he asked Leucious.
“Sadly, yes, brother. But you know that. It's what led me to banish you. You unleashed the demon within and killed without reason.”
Aye, he had. But, unlike Josette, those humans had meant nothing to him. Suddenly, fear rose up inside him. He tightened his grip on her hand. “Then I should be apart from you.”
“Not on your life, bucko. Call me Velcro. You go, I go. I promised you that, and I never break my word, either.” Her eyes darkened as she passed a knowing smile to Styxx. “Would you mind showing us to our new home now? I should like to introduce Cadegan to my three children.”
He choked and coughed at that. Was she serious? “Pardon, lass?”
Jo blinked innocently as she heard the panic in his voice. “Didn't you know, sweetie? You're a father.”
The expression on his face was priceless.
“Only you could make stark cold terror look sexy, Cade.” She kissed his cheek. “Relax, sweetie. It's just my three dogs. You'll love them.”
Finally relaxing, he shook his head at her.
Laughing, Styxx returned to their sides. “If you're ready?”
Cadegan nodded.
One second they were at Karma's with all the group that had rescued Cadegan. The next, they were inside an ancient temple that had been built on a steep hill, nestled among others of a very similar style. Bright sunlight cut across the white marble foyer where they stood.
Confused, Cadegan glanced to Styxx for an explanation.
“That is where I live with my family.” Styxx jerked his chin toward the window that showed the temple closest to this one, farther up the hill. “My wife, Bethany, is the Atlantean goddess of woe. She and I and our youngest son live in her temple, all year long. Our oldest son, Urian, lives in the small temple, just through those trees, whenever he's here and not with his wife's family in Minnesota. The building on top of the mountain is Acheron's home, and it's where Simi, her sister, and his friends stay. Since Acheron's wife was human, they tend to spend most of their time, with their sons, in New Orleans ⦠in a house not far from Karma's. Whenever you're settled and ready, I'll introduce you to everyone.”
Styxx offered him a kind, patient smile. “I know exactly how overwhelming all of this is ⦠For now, my Beth has set this temple up for the two of you to live in. You should have everything you need ⦠if not, we're only a call or visit away.” He folded his arms over his chest. “We all thought this would be an easier adjustment for you than moving straight into the human realm. Though you are welcome to live there if you desire, I should warn you, modern humans are fucking nuts.”
Jo laughed at something that baffled Cadegan. But then if those people were anything like what he'd met thus far, he could deduce Styxx's meaning.
“They're short a few bales?”
Styxx clapped him on the back. “Oh, the stories I will tell you when you're feeling up for mead and beer, my friend.” He started for the door.
Cadegan frowned. “Styxx?”
He paused to look at Cadegan. “Aye?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
Styxx inclined his head to them. “If either of you need anything, just let me know.” He vanished instantly.
Finally alone, Josette turned to face Cadegan. “How are you doing with all this? Really?”
It wasn't in him to confide in anyone. Yet when he looked into her dark eyes, he was lost and the truth poured out of him. “Much
moithered,
lass.”
She nodded in understanding. “Too much hand-holding?”
It took a second to realize what she meant. “
Moithered,
not mothered.”
She mouthed the two words as if struggling to comprehend them. “Yeah, you say that like there's no difference in the two words.⦠No, silly, it's dip, not
dip
.” She elongated the second word to comical effect. “See, you sexy wombat you, it makes no logical sense.”
Snorting, he shook his head. “Confused, lass.” He sobered instantly and swung his arm out to indicate the temple around them. “By all this.”
“You're really not bound, Cade. I made them swear to that. You can always leave here. But we all thought you'd prefer to take baby steps back into the real world so that you'd not feel out of place there.”
Her compassion stung his heart. It was why she meant so very much to him. No one else had ever considered his feelings before. In any matter. They merely ordered him about, regardless of his opinion. But never his Josette.
To her alone, he mattered.
“That I would, love. Thank you.”
“Yah! We guessed right.” Laughing happily, she tugged at his hand and led him through a door into a small solarium. The moment they were in it, three huge white dogs with vibrant blue eyes came running up to them with happy barks and licks.
Kneeling down, she gathered them into her arms. Her bright smile was even more blinding than the sun. “My furry little babies!” she said in the same high-pitched tone most people reserved for speaking to infants. “How have you been, huh? Did you miss your mommy? Your mommy missed her babies! Yes, she did! My little baby punkins! I love you so! Yes, I do! Come here, my babies! Gimme me kisses. Lots and lots of kisses!”
She cuddled and loved on each of them before she introduced them to Cadegan. “Henri's easy. He's our only son.” She rubbed noses with the largest. “Then we have Belle.” She clucked her tongue at the smallest, who also had a patch of gray around her eyes. Then she draped her arm over the back of the third one. “And last but never least in my heart is my precious Maisel, or Maisy Waisy, as I often call her.” She went back to her baby talk. “You're just a beauty, aren't you? Yes, you are, my sweet Maisy Waisy.” She hugged them again, then gestured to Cadegan. “Go meet Daddy! Go on. Say hi! Tell Daddy you love him, too.”
They assaulted him instantly.
Cadegan stumbled back, unused to such furry attention. “They're a little⦔
“Spoiled is the word you want. And yes. They are very. I've worked hard to make them that way.”
Laughing at the way her dogs openly accepted him without question, he looked up, and the minute their gazes met, he saw in her eyes the same hunger that had gnawed at him since she'd held her hand out to him. His humor died instantly as it was swallowed by an overwhelming need to be alone with her.
She raked a hot stare over his body. “Why don't we get you out of those clothes, huh?”
He arched a brow at her bold words. “Meaning?”
“You know my meaning, hot stuff.” Chewing her nail in the cutest of ways, she scowled at the multiple doors. “I wonder which one goes to the bedroom.” She headed for the nearest one, which turned out to be a closet. “Oops. Too small.”
Laughing, he watched her explore and become more and more frustrated as she ran afoul of her plans to molest him.
When she finally found the door to a hallway, she took his hand, and together, they went in search of a bed. Strange how she made the search fun. Every time she guessed wrongly, she stripped a piece of his clothing from him.
He watched as she pulled his gauntlet from his left hand. “I've never played this game before.”
“Strip Christopher Columbus?” She paused to rake another look over him. “Yeah, I guess you haven't. You predate him, too, don't you?”
“You make me feel old, lass.”
“You are old.”
“But do you have to remind me? And so often?”
She grinned evilly as she finally found the right room and pushed him into it, near the giant bed. “Yes, I do.” She pulled the robe over his head. When she struggled with his mail, he used his powers to strip them both.
Nodding in approval, she nipped at his chin. “That is still my favorite power of yours. That and the one you have that makes me horny every time I look at you.”
He laughed. Until she dropped to her knees in front of him. Just as he started to ask what she was doing, she cupped him in her warm hand.
All thoughts scattered as pleasure sent him reeling. For a moment, he feared his legs would buckle and send him to the floor. Thankfully, the wall was behind him so that he could catch himself, otherwise he might have fallen.