Dragonmark (20 page)

He fell back on the horse, and almost came free of the saddle.

Illarion grimaced as he felt the pain of that blow as if he was the one who received it.

Gah, that had to hurt. The pain of that single blow had to be searing, and while her champion's lance had been snapped in twain, Cadegan's remained perfectly intact.

The urge to cry foul overwhelmed him. Yet he knew better than to utter those words.

Cordelia wouldn't care. This wasn't about fairness. It was about winning.

Unlike her and the dark forces she served, there was no victory Cadegan wanted badly enough that he'd cheat for it. He rolled his shoulder, trying to ignore the pain of it, as he turned his destrier back toward the list.

The pixie appeared again with her flag.

She looked at the giant he'd tilted against, then him. With a quick nod to the queen, she lowered her banner.

Cadegan spurred his mount forward. This time, he took aim for the giant's heart, and again leaned into the blow. He struck his opponent straight and true. The giant reeled back, but caught himself before he fell from the horse.

Thorn and Josette cried out in happiness of Cadegan's clear victory. Illarion raised his fists in solidarity.

Cordelia's eyes darkened, warning that she wasn't through with them, nor would she take loss lightly.

Cadegan tossed the remains of his broken lance to the ground.

Jo bit her lip as she watched Cadegan take another magical lance from the air and prepare for their final pass.

He lifted his helm's visor to smile and wink at her.

Illarion glanced toward Cordelia as a bad feeling went through him. Something about this wasn't right. This was too easy.

Something that proved to be all too true as the giant rose up during the last pass, to kill Cadegan. As it did so, Cadegan's armor went flying in all directions. He emerged out of it like a demonic butterfly from a cocoon. His eyes glowing yellow, he now had long blond hair, and claws. Huge fangs. His skin turned an unholy mixture of yellow and orange. Large, black wings sprang out of his back.

Thorn cursed as he saw him.

“What is it?” Jo asked breathlessly.

But Illarion already knew exactly what that beast was, even before Thorn explained it.

“We're in deep, serious shit. They've just awakened the Addanc.”

“The what?”

Thorn met her gaze through the bars. “It's why I trapped Cadegan here in this realm.” He jerked his chin toward the monster. “It was to keep
that
from being unleashed on the world. Each demonkyn holds in his heart his true form. The soulless bloodthirsty beast that is virtually invincible. One that cannot be stopped.” Wincing, he cursed again as deep sadness marred his handsome features. “The Addanc has swallowed him whole and we're next on the menu.”

 

18

They might be next on Cadegan's menu, but Illarion intended to fight.

With a string of profanity that left Jo blushing, Thorn stepped back from the bars of his cell. “Jo? Look at me. I'm about to do something really fucking stupid. When I do this, I need you to remember three words for me.
Omni rosae spina
.”

She scowled at him. “Every rose has its thorn?”

“Good, you understand Latin. Yes. Commit them to memory in the event I lose control. Okay?”

“Lose control of what?”

Yeah … Illarion would like to know that answer, too.

He had it a moment later when Thorn's eyes turned a vibrant green, laced with red, and his face became that of a demon's. Then his body followed suit, complete with wings and gold armor.

Talfryn went wild in his cage. “Help us! Someone! Rambo! We've got to get out of here!”

“Why?” Jo asked.

Before he could answer, Thorn channeled his powers and blasted them from their cages. Illarion rushed to her side to protect her as Thorn and Cadegan attempted to murder each other.

Laughing, Cordelia turned on Jo's group with a smug smile. “Thank you for allowing me to own the one weapon neither Morgen nor Merlin can stop. He's mine now!”

One moment they were in the cavern and the next, all of them, including Thorn—who was still a demon—were thrown into some house in another dimension, on the other side of a mirrored door.

What the hell was this?

Stunned, Illarion gaped as he glanced around at the unfamiliar place he'd never seen before and a group of people he'd never met. How Thorn had managed to get him through the portal without shifting into his dragon form … he had no idea. And that said it all about Thorn's incredible powers. Still in his demon's body, Thorn turned on them all and let out a fierce howl. He moved in to attack them.

Say the words!
Illarion warned her.

“Omni rosae spina!”

The moment she spoke them, Thorn threw his head back and cried out in agony. He froze as if he were fighting himself even harder than he'd fought Cadegan.

His demonic body slowly melted back to his human one. Tears streamed down his face. He visibly shook and gasped for breath.

Damn …

Without a word to them, Thorn wiped the back of his hand over his face and left through a side door.

One of the unknown women followed after him.

Another one, with long curly brown hair, grabbed Jo up into a fierce hug. “This is you? Right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“After that crazy guy who was here in your body, I just wanted to make sure.”

“Cadegan,” Jo said, irritated at the way the woman talked about him.

But Illarion didn't really hear them. His gaze had locked onto the one person in the room he did know.

Intimately.

Unable to believe his eyes, he stared at his brother. Maxis. Tears filled his eyes.

“Illarion? Is it really you, little brother?”

Nodding, he rushed to gather Max into a tight hug. With his blond hair cut short, he barely resembled the fierce beast Illarion was used to, but it didn't matter.

This was his beloved brother he hadn't seen in centuries.

He clutched at him, so grateful to finally have family again. To be safe and away from that hell realm.

I can't believe it's you!
Max's voice filled his head.

Nor I you! I've missed you so.
He clenched his hand in Max's hair, then stepped back to meet Jo's curious gaze.
Josette, this is my brother Maxis.

She inclined her head to him. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you. Thank you for helping my brother.” He gaped at Illarion. “I still can't believe you're here. I thought you'd died with the others.”

Jo returned to the other woman. “I have to go back for Cadegan.”

When she started toward the mirror, three Thorns appeared to block her way. “You cannot release him now. It's too late to save him.”

Jo glared at them. “I will not leave him in there. Alone. If I have to go back by myself, I will.”

Thorn returned to the room with the woman who'd gone after him as the three images blocking Jo's way vanished. He cast his glance around the people gathered there. “For the love of God, will someone
please
talk sense into Queen Hard Head?” He glared at Jo. “You can't go into Terre Derrière le Voile and release a banished demon into the world of man.”

To Illarion's complete shock, Jo rushed Thorn and shoved him back. “You should never have banished him there! This is all your fault!”

“I had no choice,” Thorn growled at her. “He was slipping from us every day, turning slowly more bitter and angrier. I saw it in his eyes. I did everything I could to keep him grounded and anchored, and then when he came to me that night to tell me that he'd killed innocent people, I saw that he was just about to blossom into the Addanc you saw earlier.”

“So you abandoned him to it?”

He winced before he met her gaze again. “We have to leave him where he is.”

She shook her head in denial of his solution. It wasn't that simple and she knew it. “We can't. We've awakened the Addanc within him. He is the very weapon you once feared unleashing. What if your enemies find him now? Are you any more able to kill him today?”

Thorn looked away.

“That's what I thought. Before all this started, Cadegan was dormant in his cave. Alone and safe. You and I have awakened his demon side, and it's up to us to do what you should have done a thousand years ago.”

“Kill him?”

“No, Thorn.
Save
him.”

 

19

“I agree with Jo. I think the most irresponsible thing we can do is leave Cadegan in Terre Derrière le Voile without supervision or protection. We've awakened the demon inside him. It's our duty to watch over and guard him.”

Every head in the room stared at the Dark-Hunter Acheron as those words left his lips. Some were happy about it.

Some, not so much.

Illarion fell into the latter category. Last thing he wanted was to return to the hell realm that had been his home and cost Edilyn her life. He wasn't into saving mankind.

Personally, he'd like to help Cadegan end them.

By the expression on her face, Jo wanted to kiss the ancient Dark-Hunter for backing her wishes to save her lover. The expression on Thorn's face said he wanted to choke him. Karma Devereaux, who'd been lobbying to banish Cadegan to an even bleaker realm, was furious.

Fang Kattalakis, a handsome, dark-haired wolfwere who worked as a Hellchaser for Thorn, exchanged a gaping stare of disbelief with his blonde werebear wife, Aimee. Their group was currently meeting in the back room of the bar and grill called Sanctuary, which the two shapeshifters owned in conjunction with Aimee's Were-Hunter family.

The room they were in was a bit cramped with Karma and her sisters Selena, Tabitha, and Amanda, along with Tabitha's husband Valerius, who'd once been a Roman general, and Amanda's husband, Kyrian, an ancient Greek general who'd been killed by Valerius's grandfather Yeah, they had awkward family get-together. Then there was Talon, an ancient Celt who'd once worked with Valerius and Kyrian—all as Dark-Hunters under Acheron's command, who sat between them.

Just in case.

While Kyrian and Valerius had learned for the sake of their twin wives and five children to let bygones be bygones, they still had a tenuous relationship at times. One Illarion was beginning to learn was quite complicated.

And some of the more interesting glances he'd noted between Karma and Thorn said there was much more to them than just mere friendship.

While they discussed Cadegan's future, Acheron's demon daughter Simi sat beside him, eating from a plate loaded with barbecue chicken, while Acheron's twin brother, Styxx, kept adding french fries and coleslaw to her meal whenever she ran out.

Styxx and Acheron were an odd duo, indeed. They were identical in absolutely every way, except hair color and style. Acheron's black curly hair was cut just below his ears and fell around his face. Styxx was blond and brushed his short curls back, out of his eyes. Acheron's clothes were black on black and as Goth as a
45 Grave
audience … including his black titanium wedding band that had skulls and crossbones on it.

On the flip side, Styxx had a preppy style and wore a dark blue shirt and jeans. His yellow gold wedding band appeared to be engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Also in black, Thorn sat beside Jo, while Illarion and Max leaned against a wall next to Ioan and Talfryn. The Hellchaser Zeke had stepped out only a few minutes ago to take a call, while they discussed what to do about Cadegan.

Illarion was really too tired to deal with this shit, but if his brother was in for their fight to save Cadegon, he was in.

Thorn sighed heavily. “You didn't see him, Ash. He is the Addanc. Fully morphed. Are you really willing to unleash him into this world, where we might not be able to stop him?”

Ash met his brother's gaze. “I've learned to reserve judgment on people for their actions, especially when they've been wronged by family.” He turned back to Jo. “What do you honestly think? You've spent the most time with him out of all of us. And remember, if you guess poorly, you'll probably end the world as we know it.”

She snorted at Acheron's words. “No pressure, there, right, buddy? Wow, Ash. I know why you don't have your own self-help show …
Lifestyles of the Morbid and Terrifying
. Stay tuned, folks. This week we learn how to end the world with a flourish and get rid of those pesky dog flea problems, all in ten minutes.”

Talon and Styxx burst out laughing.

“Hey!” Simi said. “No picking on the akri! He not the one who gots us into this … for once.”

Offended, Acheron snorted. “Thanks, Sim.”

“Anytime, akri. That's what the Simi's here for. Make sure you don't get one of them big heads.”

Ignoring their segue, Illarion stepped forward.
I haven't known him long, but he seemed decent enough. For a demon. And I've known many of them over the centuries. I think we can trust Jo. She is his anchor, from what I've seen. There's nothing he won't do for her. He even spared my life at her command. So long as she lives, I think he's safe.

Ash put his hand on Simi's shoulder. “That's the one truth of demons. They are all enslaved to their hearts. So long as it remains flesh and not stone or ice, we can control them.”

Karma shook her head in denial. “But you're talking about someone who's been locked away for a thousand years. How will he acclimate to the modern world? You can't just let him loose and say, ‘Hey, dude, welcome to the Electronic Age. Make sure you don't put your finger in an outlet.'”

Styxx waved his hand at her in a gesture that said to take it down a notch. “Lower the disgust in your tone a bit. As one who was locked away in solitary confinement for eleven thousand years, I can say that no, it won't be easy. You people are effing nuts in this day and age. You make as much sense as a blind rat in a shifting maze. But with a guiding hand, we're not psychotic. I think Julian, Seth, and I have proven that. We have yet to run screaming naked through the streets.”