Marked by Hades (25 page)

He crumpled to the side but held himself up with his free hand. Justin struggled against his invisible restraints. “Theo!” but no voice came. No vibration from his throat to indicate he’d even spoken.

Great One, what’s happening?

Then suddenly, Justin stumbled forward but stayed upright. The angelic realm had closed, and Sadie’s parents had gone. Gasping filled Justin’s senses.

“Hold on, love,” Theo whispered. “Hold on.”

Justin fell to Sadie’s side. “What’s happening?”

“Look.” Theo pointed to Sadie’s stomach.

It was glowing as her heart was. “The baby.”

“He saved her.”

Sadie’s eyes opened and flashed ruby red. She took in a gasp of air. “Theo.” Her hand went to her stomach.

“Shhh. You’re okay.”

She sat up. “The baby. He’s—he—”

“Saved you.”

She groped her neck. “I was dead.” She cradled her stomach again. “He opened the angelic realm to Mom and Dad.”

“Why weren’t they healing you?” Justin asked.

“They couldn’t.” Theo leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Our baby wove your neck together.”

Tears dribbled down Sadie’s cheek as she nodded. “Our son.”

“Where’s Dasha?” Justin asked, scanning the kitchen.

“Oh, God!” Sadie jumped to her feet and took off toward the door to the gym. “I shoved her down when I saw a splice that clearly wasn’t yours open in the foyer. Dasha!”

Sadie ripped open the door, yanking it from its hinges. At the bottom of the long flight of stairs, Dasha lay on her side, curled in a fetal position.

“Shit!” Justin pushed by Sadie and stormed down the stairs.

He scooped her up and shouldered through the door into the gym. Sadie clicked on the lights, and Justin expected to see a mangled mess as he set Dasha on a padded bench to inspect her, but he didn’t. Instead he saw a series of black lines inked around her wrist, up her hand, and coiling around her left ring finger.

“Is she okay?” Sadie asked Theo.

“She’ll be fine,” he said, touching her neck.

Justin grabbed her hand and held it up. “Is this what I think it is?”

“The markings of a Hunter,” Theo said with a grunt as he absorbed Dasha’s injuries.

“What?” Sadie stepped closer. “How is that even possible? She’s human. Just plain old human.”

“Demon Hunters are chosen, no matter the bloodline. She doesn’t have to come from a family of Hunters. While some do, there are others chosen specifically by The Great One.” Theo nodded to Justin to continue.

He did look a little out of breath from healing Dasha.

“The Great One can see into people’s hearts. He must have seen something great in Dasha’s.” He grinned. “I’m not surprised. She’s a feisty little thing. Remember, Theo, you told me how she was so protective of Sadie when you first went to her dorm room to heal her from the poison.”

“True. Tiny but fierce. And when you were here, Sadie, after retrieving me from Hades, when your change really sparked—she would have tackled me had I cleaned you up while you were unconscious.” Theo smiled. “That’s when I first learned you’d waited, kept yourself pure for me.”

“She’s really taken to the training we’ve been giving her, too.” Sadie finger-combed Dasha’s auburn hair to the side. “What if she doesn’t want this life? What if—”

“It’s okay, love. Trust The Great One.” He glanced at Justin. “I’ll get Dasha to safety while she finishes transforming. Justin, get working on the trackers we put in Yvonne.”

“While she transforms? Wait, what’s happening?” Sadie asked.

“Come with me, love. It’s okay. She’ll be fine. But like you, she’ll change. Have gifts.”

Justin dipped his head and stormed up the stairs to the office beside the kitchen. Thank The Great One they’d come up with a number of scenarios and ways to track Yvonne in case she was taken. It all banked on them not taking her to Hades, though. Trackers didn’t work there.

He plopped down at the desk. Several minutes later, he’d clicked the devices to life and waited, staring at the map on his screen, waiting for the blips to emerge, identifying where she’d been taken.

Theo and Sadie stormed through the doorway.

“Dash okay?” He looked at Sadie.

“Dasha’s safe at the Hunter compound. The Artifacts are secure in our vaults. Now let’s go get Yvonne.”

Her dedication to Yvonne was admirable. Justin smiled at his Shomrei sister-in-law. “You dropped Dasha with Caden?”

Theo nodded as he rounded the corner of the desk to see the computer. “He’s a renowned Hunter with a strong team. They’ll watch over her until she awakens, then the training will begin. Any word on Yvonne?”

“Just waiting for the signals to pick up. Sadie, what happened here? Where’s Zander? Did he betray us?”

“No, he didn’t. The splice opened, and he immediately started chanting something. I think he was trying to close the splice. He did that while I pushed Dasha out of the room. The splice wasn’t like Theo’s or the demon splices I’ve seen. This one was laced with fire, and a roar followed the demons through, as if a monster was behind them, but only the demons appeared. One grabbed Zander immediately.”

“Pulled him into the splice?” Theo asked.

She nodded. “That left two. One ran out of the kitchen, muttering something about the Artifacts. I tossed the Mavet at that one and dusted him, but the other moved so fast I didn’t see him. I only felt the sting of the blade at my neck.”

“Holy Great One.” Theo yanked his Mate into his arms.

Justin clicked refresh on the computer screen, praying Yvonne’s tracking information would come online soon. He hated the fact that she was with Pario again. What was he doing to her? “So, since we have the Thata, how would these specific demons get access to a sanctuary that’s been protected for centuries?”

Theo shot a look at Justin, and his grim eyes told the story that Justin was starting to formulate.

“Lucifer.”

Chapter Forty-Four

“Nice of you to cooperate. I didn’t expect this,” Pario said as he and Yvonne made their way down a hallway.

She’d be calm for now, keeping watch for her moment to act. But with her wrists bound behind her, that made things a little difficult. “Where are we?”

“Topside. At a stronghold we’ve been forming for decades.”

Great
. More newbie demons to face. “So, what’s your plan? Use your fledgling army, go into Hades, knock on Lucifer’s door, and ask where his Mate might be?”

It was a stupid theory, but evidently Dyre had once bought into it since she was Agares’s helpmate in the scheme. Not that she remembered her time as a demon. But now, Yvonne thought it would just royally piss Lucifer off, and he’d decimate everyone in his path. Everyone connected to the overthrow plot. No worries about the humans who might be killed in the process.

“So, you ditched the plans to find the other Artifacts for me?”

“Figured it’d be nice to burn—ha, get it?—Lucifer with his so-called punishment. Throw it in his face.”

“You really are stupid, you know? Lucifer is the original fallen angel. You can’t destroy him.”

“Says you.”

“Fine. What’s the plan, then?”

“We killed the Gatekeeper’s Mate. I’ve made sure the news got to Lucifer already.”

“Son of a bitch.” Sadie couldn’t be dead!

Yvonne bit back the rising bitterness in her throat with each step she took. But the rage built, too. She was going to end Pario. If she could just get her hands on him.

“Lucifer’s more present when there’s a shift in power. More exposed.” Pario grinned. “I have it on good authority that he plans to visit my quadrant in Hades in twenty-four hours to make plans.”

“Leaving his Mate back home, of course.”

Pario dipped his head as he guided her to the right.

“Why are you topside, then?”

“Lucifer’s reach out here is limited. In Hades he’s more in tune with the minds of his children. Topside, all the humans’ emotions and souls clutter the connection. I can strategize more freely here.”

Damn, he sounded as though he had things in order and was deeply connected. “And Agares in all this?”

“He was to run the experiments. A great demon, yes, but too weak to really take the bull by the horns, so to speak.” He slowed and turned her to face him. “I noticed that the first time he coddled you. He took Dyre in, yet called her Yvonne. Told Dyre of her human life and fed her desire to leave Hades.”

Pario touched her cheek, but he was wearing a glove. She took a closer look at him and realized he was covered in leather. Jacket, pants, shoes, and gloves. Of course. No more Evania to put a spell over him, so he had to wear leather for protection.

She flexed against her restraints, the cool metal cuffs digging into her wrists. If she could break these cuffs and touch him…but even with her strength her hands remained locked behind her back.
Think
.

Pario grinned. “I see the spark of retribution flickering in you, lover.” He inched closer, and her back met the wall beside a door.

She ground her molars so hard she thought they’d crumble. Her stomach clenched. No way would she would let this monster—

“Evania was the only one who could cast the spell that allowed me to be with you before. At least until she ripped your humanity out of you to bring Dyre back. Then I had free rein of you, didn’t I?” He leaned in, stopping just before his face brushed her hair. Maybe even touching her hair would dust him.

She surged forward, hoping to connect her cheek with his face. But he jerked back, pinning her to the wall with his body and leaning out of reach.

“Feisty—”

Hiking up her knee with all her strength, she caught him in the balls. Foul breath streamed over her, and he grunted, crumpling to the side. She fell to her knees and turned, hoping to land her fingers on his face, but he batted her out of reach.

Fine. She’d test her flexibility. She ran a few steps down the hall and fell to her back. Stretching and pulling her muscles way out of their normal stretching limits, she eased her clasped hands down her back and over her butt.

Her muscles tightened, millimeters before clearing the hump of her butt. “Come on. Come on.”

The burn of her muscles tearing and the flesh peeling away from her wrists as the metal restraints sliced through her skin clenched her stomach. Didn’t matter. Nothing did but getting mobile so she could face Pario.

A scream burned up her throat and out of her mouth as her hands made it over her butt. She hiked her legs as close as she could to her chest, fighting the tears from bursting out.

Almost there.
Focus.

The metal caught on her pocket, and she yanked. She glanced at Pario, and he was standing, hunched over, coughing.

Hurry!
She tucked her feet to her butt and worked her bound wrists over the toes of her shoes.

Finally. With her clasped hands now in front of her, she rolled over and pushed up. Much better leverage to use her strength.

She drew in a deep breath and yanked her hands apart. The metal sliced through the first few layers of her skin, but the cuffs snapped, pieces clanking to the floor.

A hard hand clamped on her shoulder. She cranked her elbow back. It met a jaw. Pario howled and threw her face-first into the wall.

Damn it. She crushed his toe with her heel, jabbed his ribs, then grabbed the demon’s wrist just as Sadie’d shown her.

She squeezed, cracking bones, and twisted out from his grip.

Now they were getting somewhere.

In a flash, Pario turned, the back of his giant hand smacking her face. Her head swiveled, warmth instantly filling her mouth. She rammed into the wall opposite them, her blood splattering across the stark white paint.

She ducked. A fist smashed through the drywall inches above her head. Leading with her fist, she turned and punched his groin again. Yeah, she needed some payback for all the abuse he had given her.

All the touches this demon stole from Justin. Fury stormed through her louder than a raging river.

Defluo.
She rolled away from Pario and held her breath, hoping he’d be disoriented enough from her attack to not know which direction she’d rolled. The Khamut Stone, strapped tight to her left thigh, blazed as it went to work, hiding her.

Pario’s glazed eyes scanned the hallway and narrowed, then he disappeared as well.

Okay. This was going to be interesting.

“Sir!” A demon whipped open the door leading to a stairwell.

“No. Don’t let her get out!” Pario’s voice boomed, and the demon froze in the doorway.

Exactly enough room for Yvonne to sneak by.

She made a break down the stairs, but her boots squeaked against the concrete. She stopped at the bottom landing just as Pario burst through the open door, and he was visible now. “You idiot. Which way did she go?”

“I—I—didn’t see.”

Pario growled. “I’ll go up, you go down. Touch every surface. She’s invisible.”

“Shit.” The demon pressed a button on the collar of his black fatigues. “Seal all exits.”

Pario reached for the railing, and a little space between his gloves and the sleeve of his jacket revealed the Bracelet of Aoratos.

She had to get that thing, but she couldn’t touch him in the process. It would turn to dust along with him if she did.
Think, Yvonne.

The demon army dude approached, slowly. Arms out in front of him. His shoes echoed off the concrete as well. For how slow he was going, she had about a minute before he made it to her.

She squatted and quietly unlaced her boots, searching her mind for a battle plan. An escape. Following this demon to find out the lay of the land might work. Or she could chase after Pario, sneak up on him, grab the bracelet, and fry his ass.

Or just run. Escape and get to Justin. If Sadie was truly dead, she had only a few months left with him.

Shit.

Finally, the last lace loose, she wrenched off her shoes.

The demon’s focus went directly to the boots, and he lunged. She hadn’t thought of them coming back into visibility if she wasn’t wearing them.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

She scampered to the corner of the stairwell, then ducked, inching away. “Here. Here!” the demon bellowed.

Pario came storming down the stairs, then flicked invisible.
Shit
.

Time to run.

On soft feet, she took off down the stairs, skipping two at a time. The sting of landing on stockinged feet jolted up her shins, but she had to keep moving. Pario hadn’t removed his shoes, and she could hear that he was gaining.

A door with the number seven swung open. She reached out and grazed her fingers along the demon’s face. Dust plumed. She spun and ran through that now-open doorway. This hallway was lined with closed doors, but an exit sign at the end blared red. A beacon for her escape.

Two demons stormed out of a room three doors down and went the opposite direction of her. She took off after them. As she passed the room they’d just exited, bright light filled the windows. The sun hung high overhead and the trees moved in the wind.

It looked as if she might still be in Arizona, but maybe up north considering the pine trees outside. They’d knocked her out for the drive here, so she hadn’t a clue where they’d taken her.

The door clicked shut, but she shadowed the last demon. He tapped the radio button on his collar. “Copy. All exits. On my way to west, floor seven.”

The demon straightened. “Jonsey, cover east on seven. Find Smith and Robson for north and south.”

Shit, how many exits?

If she dusted this demon, she’d lose the radio. That would come in handy. Strategies stormed through her, but she couldn’t grasp one that she thought would work. Maybe she should just—

“Didn’t think about the dust, did you?” Pario’s voice behind her sent her whirling around to face him.

The demon she’d been tailing stopped, and she backed into him.

“The dust gives you away.” Pario’s now visible grin taunted her.

Arms came around her as he moved forward. She smacked her head back, and the demon vanished.

Pario flickered from sight just as she got her bearings. Damn it, dust on her socks had been leaving a little trail. She yanked her socks off and tossed them down the hallway, then raced toward the other end.

Another hallway to her right came into view. At the end stood a demon, dagger drawn, knees bent. Ready for action.

On quiet feet, she sprinted onward, the echoes of Pario’s breathing and heavy footfalls close behind. One check over her shoulder showed nothing, but she felt him. He was close. Hairs prickled along her neck, and she pumped her arms harder. Thankfully she wasn’t leaving any footprints in her wake.

But he seemed pretty focused on her despite her invisibility. Regardless, she pushed through the burn in her legs. A door opened beside her, and a thick arm caught her at the waist. She grunted at the impact, her breath whooshing out of her with a fiery pain.

“Gotcha.” The demon hissed as he backed into the room.

She grabbed the demon’s hair, her fingers scraping his skull, and dust plumed. Stumbling back, she met a cold windowpane and looked over her shoulder.

Shit
. It was several stories down.

She scanned the room for anything that might help but only found a plasma TV on the wall, a small kitchenette off to the side, and a table with several wooden chairs surrounding it in the middle of the room.
Yes!

She darted to the table, keeping it between her and Pario. At least she hoped. He hadn’t gone visible yet, but she heard his boots creaking. If she could get to the kitchen, maybe she’d find a knife or something to use as a weapon since touching him might be difficult with all that damned leather.

Could he see her? Was there dust on her? She veered right, and Pario’s movement stopped. He must be able to see her.
Damn
.

She looked at the chair in front of her and before she could think of the repercussions, she grabbed it and tossed it at the windows behind her.

Glass shattered. Two steps and a well-timed leap thrust her through the jagged opening.

And she met air.