No Mercy (20 page)

            He inclined his head to her.

            Dev was more confused than ever. "Who's Aello?"

            "My grandmother's right hand and bodyguard. She was the first one to fight Herakles when he came for the girdle and she was the first one he killed."

            Dev gestured for her to elaborate. "And that's important to this how?"

            Ash returned the paper to the table. "She's basically invincible."

            "Apparently not if Hercules handed her her lunch."

            Ash followed the line of his eyebrow with his middle finger. "That's because he was wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion at the time. Anyone care to venture where they think that trophy currently is?"

            Dev didn't need to guess. He already knew. "Somewhere not good or handy and I'm sure retrieving it would be a death-defying act of courage."

            Ash sarcastically rang an invisible bell with his hand. "Ding, ding, ding. Give that boy a trophy." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And without it, you won't be wearing a cloak of invincibility when you face her like old Herc was, and I should probably add that you won't be fighting her while she's human.... She's now a man-hating, angry spirit who craves blood and can't be killed."

            Dev rolled his eyes. "Well, thank you Mr. Cranky Pants, but right now, I think a more optimistic outlook would be more productive. Unless you know some way to schmooze Thorn into freeing Sam and letting me off the hook, we have to try something and as bad as this is, it's all we got."

            Ash rubbed his head like he was contracting Dev's earlier migraine. "Yeah, that's not going to happen. Thorn's not real fond of me.... Fine. There's nothing to be done until sunset."

            Dev didn't understand that. "You said it's just down the street. Why do we have to wait?"

            "In another dimension, Sparky. One you can't access until sunset, hence the darkness line on your page."

            Oh, that made sense...now. Funny how riddles seemed easy when you knew the answers. And since Ash was being so chatty..."Anything else we need to know?"

            "Yeah. The circle round part?"

            "What about it?"

            "It refers both to the location you'll need to travel to and to the shifting cycle."

            Dev's gut clenched at something he was sure wasn't going to be pleasant for them. "Shifting wha--?"

            Ash glanced at each one of them before he came back to Dev. "You guys are going to head into a trap maze that will constantly shift and you'll have to navigate it to the center where Aello will be waiting to battle. Think of it like a bad video game. Just when you think you're all right, the floor will drop out from under you and the walls will shift and leave you dizzy...or dead...and all without the extra life points."

            Fang rubbed his hands together. "And will you be joining us on this fun suicide run?"

            "Love to, but can't."

            "Why not?" Sam asked.

            "If I go, Thorn will cry foul and refuse to honor his part of the bargain by saying you cheated with me."

            Dev frowned. "Won't he do that with Fang?"

            "No. Fang's not omnipotent. There's a good chance Fang could get killed. With me, not so much."

            Sam screwed her face up. "That's just sick."

            Ash shrugged. "No one's going to argue anything else. Thorn doesn't exactly have many friends."

            "I've noticed," Fang said under his breath.

            Ash inclined his head to Dev. "Remember, you have to get to the center and defeat the guardian."

            "How do we get back?"

            "No idea. I've never been inside the maze."

            Dev sighed. "This would be funny if it wasn't pathetic."

            Ash cut a wide grin. "Welcome to my existence. Now if you'll excuse me?"

            "Wait!" Sam stopped him from leaving. "We still don't know what to do to get there. You said it's another dimension?"

            Ash nodded. "Drive to the end of Elysian Fields where it connects to UNO. There's a circle there. Stand at the outer edge, facing Pontchartrain and--"

            "Won't the Research and Tech Park interfere with the view?" Fang asked, interrupting him.

            "Not for long."

            Dev was still baffled. "But there's nothing in the circle. It's empty."

            Ash held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't create the hole. I'm just telling you how to access it. Face the park and the moment the sun sets below the horizon, the way will be shown. It'll only last for sixty seconds. Move fast. Once the door closes, it won't be open until the next sunset."

            "Which is out of time for us," Sam said under her breath.

            Ash nodded. "Good luck, guys." This time he vanished before they could ask him anything else.

            Fang blew out an elongated breath before he looked over at Dev. "Since there's nothing we can do for the next few hours, I'm cutting out of here to spend time with my wife...just in case I don't make it back."

            Sounded like a good plan to him. Fang left the room through the door. A weird move for a Were-Hunter but sometimes in their chaotic paranormal existence you just needed to be normal.

            Now alone with Sam, Dev wished he could touch her. She looked so sad that it made him ache for her and all he wanted was to see her smile again. "We'll get the girdle, babe. Trust me."

            Sam wanted to believe him, but she couldn't get her premonition out of her mind. Over and over, she saw Dev dead. It was so clear. So torturous. What would she do if he went down?

            Would she be able to survive it?

            "I wish you hadn't made this bargain with Thorn."

            Dev offered her the kindest, gentlest smile she'd ever seen. "We're both fighters. You know what I do. We won't go out lightly and we'll find some way to defeat her. Believe in me."

            If only it were that easy, but she knew the ferocity of her people. Yes, the Amazons were women and physically weaker than men. However there had never been a more skilled set of warriors assembled and Aello had been one of their best.

            As the old saying went, it wasn't about the size of the dog in the fight. It was the fight in the dog.

            And even in the body of a Chihuahua, an Amazon was a Rottweiler.

            She reached out to brush a strand of his hair away from his eyes, only to feel nothing. Her fingers affected nothing. She felt the absence of his warmth all the way to her missing soul.

           
I wish I could touch you, Dev.

            Not wanting him to know how much that thought made her ache, she offered him a smile. "Well, the good news is in this incarnation, I don't have anyone's emotions haunting me."

            "See, there's always a bright side."

            And he always saw it, but not her. While she lived life to the fullest and grabbed it with both hands, she'd never really seen the beauty of it. She'd lost that ability.

            Until she'd seen Dev standing outside of Sanctuary.

            Dev reminded her of the things she'd learned to ignore. With him she actually felt the happiness--the exuberance--that life had to offer.

            "I wish I could make love to you."

            He sucked his breath in sharply. "You talk like that, you're going to kill me." He moved to stand just before her. "I wish I could
smell
you."

            She pulled back sharply. "Smell me?" What a repugnant thought.

            He nodded. "Your scent makes me drunk. I love having it on my sheets and on my body."

            Yeah okay, not gross. That was actually a thought that made her hot and needy. "I really hate Thorn right now."

            "Me too. You think we should kill the prick?"

            She laughed. How was it that he always made her laugh no matter how dire the event or circumstance?

            Dev dropped his hungry gaze down to her lips. An action that made her stomach contract with wanton heat. "We can look on the bright side though."

            "I don't have to look for parking spaces in New Orleans?"

            His laugh was deep and rich, and it sent a shiver over her. "There's a perk I didn't think about. But I was referring to the lack of Daimon attention. It's actually quiet for once."

            Sam wasn't willing to concede that to him. "Yeah, that would be a big bonus if I could have sex with you."

            His brows shot up in surprise. "Now who's being the horn dog?"

            She wrinkled her nose playfully as her hand ached to feel his hair in her palm. "Definitely me, and only because I know how torturous it is for you."

            "Well, I could surf online and you could read a novel on the bed while we ignore each other, then we could pretend we're a happily married couple."

            She laughed again. "Is that really what you'd do with your wife?"

            "Absolutely never. I've lived hundreds of years alone. If I were ever lucky enough to find my mate, I'd spend the rest of my life letting her know how grateful I am to have her."

            "How totally
un
horn dog of you."

            "I know," he whispered. "So don't tell anyone. You'd ruin my rep." He reached for her, then dropped his hand as he remembered he couldn't touch her. "What about you? Did you ever ignore your husband?"

            A knot choked her as she remembered Ioel and his charming smile. She could count on one hand the number of years she'd been lucky enough to know him. "I didn't have him long enough to grow bored. Maybe it would have happened eventually, but I doubt it. It's ironic really. We both knew when we agreed to it that we'd have a short marriage. With both of us being warriors, the odds were never in our favor. It was just a matter of the wrong blow during the right battle. So from the moment we came together, we knew to value every heartbeat because it could be our last."

            Dev ached for the pain he heard in her words and the torment he saw in her eyes. "I'm so sorry for what happened."

            "What? That my sister was a selfish bitch? That definitely wasn't your fault."

            "No, but families are supposed to hang together in every adversity. It sickens me when they don't. I wish I could kill your sister for you."

            Sam had to catch herself before she told him how she felt about him. No good could come of that. They could never be together and she knew it. No matter how much she wanted it to be....

            Some wishes just weren't meant to happen and all the desire in the world couldn't change that.

           
I love you, Dev.

            Unfortunately, her love wasn't selfish. She only wanted the best for him and the best wasn't her. It was a woman who could have his children and stand by his side here at Sanctuary. Not one who'd sold her soul to a goddess.

            The song "You" by Fisher played through her head. Those words had always choked her up but never more than right now when she understood them in a way she never had before.

           
"You don't know it yet, but you're everything...."

            Why did her life have to be a study in losing the things she cared about? It was so unfair and yet how could she complain? She'd chosen this life. She was a defender to the world. There was no higher calling than that. No job more honorable or noble.

            Trying to reinforce her resolve to let him go, she cleared her throat. "You ever think about having kids?"

            "All the time. I'd love to have a houseful. Then one of my nieces or nephews turns Exorcist on me and spews the most disgusting things imaginable out both ends--things that make the demon snot feel like a bubble bath. That usually cures me of that stupidity for at least a day or two."

            She laughed so hard her eyes teared. She'd never quite thought of it that way, but he was right. Kids had a tendency to explode. A lot. "You're so bad."

            He shrugged with an innocence he definitely didn't possess. "You asked. I answered."

            She shook her head. "Seriously though, don't you want Dev cubs?"

            "Honestly? I don't know. It's a lot of responsibility. It's scary and unpredictable. I think about it sometimes. Not that it matters. I'm not a single cell organism capable of mitosis so without a mate it's a moot topic and I don't believe in torturing myself over things I don't have. I'd much rather focus on and be grateful for what I do have."

            Gah, he made it so hard to hate him. So hard to push him away even when she knew it was the only practical thing to do.

            Most of all, he made her want to reach out and touch him. Just to hold him for one moment.

           
If only...

            Dev felt the sudden awkward silence between them like an iron cloak. "Did I do something wrong?"

            "No."

            How did women do that? Say a word that was the exact polar opposite of what they meant. Obviously he'd said or done something to destroy her playful mood.

            If only he knew what it was.

            What ever. He couldn't make it better unless she told him what he'd done to offend her. But that was the one thing about the female gender that made him insane. For a group who prided themselves on communication skills, they could be remarkably silent when it came to things that really mattered to them.

            It was the old if-you-knew-me-like-you-should-then-you'd-know-why-I'm-mad game. Well, how was he supposed to learn her if she didn't tell him?

            Vicious cycle and it was one he didn't have time for. Not when they were about to launch themselves into something that could get all of them killed. An image of her lying dead seared him. Her current state was a lethal reminder of what could happen if he failed.