Immortal Rider

Twenty-four

Ares took the wedding news a lot better than Thanatos did. Ares merely looked contemplative as he lounged on his sofa with Cara and a sheltie-sized, newborn hellhound pup next to him, a baby Ramreel hopping around their feet playing climb-the-mountain on the hellhound lying on the floor. Arik had seen a lot of strange stuff in his life, but the domestic scene that involved baby goat demons and hellhounds was fucked up with a capital F.

Also unsettling was the way Thanatos’s shadows flickered around him as he stared at Arik and Limos after they’d spilled the news. Arik had hoped the guy would still be at Underworld General so they could talk to the more level-headed Ares alone, but no such luck. Thanatos was healed of Pestilence’s attempt at a lobotomy and was as asshole-ish as ever.

“Married.” Than’s fists clenched and unclenched, and Arik was pretty sure he was envisioning Arik’s neck in them. “Limos, you do realize that by breaking your contract with Satan, you could piss off the one being in the underworld who can imprison you? Possibly even destroy you?”

“He won’t do that,” she said, taking Arik’s hand as they sat on the couch across from Ares and Cara. “There’s nothing Satan has ever wanted more than to see hell on earth, and destroying me would screw up a lot of apocalyptic prophecies. Prophecies that favor us as his champions during Armageddon.”

“It’s a good plan,” Ares said, and Arik held his breath in anticipation for Than’s reaction. On the way over here, Limos said that generally, if Ares saw the value of a strategy, Than fell into step.

Fortunately, she was right, and the shadows surrounding Than melted out of sight. Still, his voice was gruff when he spoke. “How will you do this? Your contract states that ‘the daughter of Lilith shall be married by the blood of an angel no more.’ What does that mean?”

Limos, in a short, flirty orange and purple sundress, leaned back against Arik, getting all cozy, and damn, it felt good. Felt right. “I asked Gethel about that. She said it’s part of angel mating ceremonies. An ‘angel no more’ will bind us with his or her blood. Can I have a margarita?”

Ares gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m out of margarita mix. And I’m assuming an ‘angel no more’ is a fallen angel?” He flung his arm around Cara, who snuggled against his chest. “Where are you going to find one of those? No True Fallen would risk pissing off Satan by marrying his fiancé off to someone else, and Pestilence killed all the Unfallen a couple of months ago.”

Limos palmed Arik’s denim-clad thigh, and naturally, Thanatos zeroed in on that, his pale eyes flaring gold. She was going to get him drowned again. “Arik’s got that one covered.”

All eyes shifted to Arik. “The contract says angel no more,” he began. “What if it doesn’t mean a fallen angel? What if it’s exactly what it says?”

“What, like someone who used to be an angel?” Than’s voice was thick with skepticism. “I’ve never heard of anyone being demoted without falling.”

Ha. Smug bastard. Arik had one up on Mr. Five Thousand-Year-Old Horseman. “I have. One of my in-laws, Idess. You might have met her at the hospital. She was Memitim, some sort of guardian angel, and she gave up her wings to be with Sin’s twin brother, Lore.”

“Interesting,” Ares murmured. “This could work. It certainly can’t hurt.”

Arik didn’t bring up just how badly it could hurt. If the marriage ceremony didn’t break Limos’s contract and Arik tried to remove her chastity belt, it could hurt a whole lot. But if it did work… he nearly groaned out loud at the visual in his head. He’d never really thought he’d get married, not when his job didn’t allow for much dating, and not when his only marriage model—his parents’—had turned him off the idea.

But he’d also come around a little after seeing how happy his sister was with Shade. And Kynan didn’t seem to be suffering in his marriage, either.

This marriage to Limos might not be happening the way he’d have chosen it, but she’d become as much an important part of his life as Runa, and marrying her was about more than saving her from a fate worse than death and saving him from demons who wanted to torture him. This was about giving himself over to someone without reservation, something he’d never been able to do.

He’d always had to hold things back from women—his past, his job, even his temper. The result was short rlt ontelationships in which he didn’t allow himself to grow attached. But Limos knew everything about him, she could definitely hold her own against him, and he’d absolutely grown attached.

“What about Pestilence?” Than asked. “Other demons might lay off you if Satan no longer needs you to speak Limos’s name, but our brother owns your soul. He’ll want you dead more than ever, if for no reason other than to see Limos suffer.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Arik met Than’s cool gaze with a steady one of his own. Arik wasn’t backing down from this. “I’ve committed to your sister and given my word. I’ll deal with Pestilence when the time comes.”

Than stared for a long moment, and then, finally, he nodded, and Arik felt like he’d passed some sort of test. “So where are we having this shindig?”

“Greece is nice this time of year,” Cara said, stroking her hand over the squirming ball of black fur next to her.

Limos kicked up her bare legs across Arik’s knees. “It is. But Than’s place is bigger, and I want a huge wedding.”

The little goat demon slipped under Thanatos’s ankle-length coat and tried to climb his leg. Smiling, he scooped up it up and tickled it under the chin. “I would have taken you for a shotgun kind of girl.”

“Funny, Than,” Limos muttered. “You’re always pointing out what a girl I am, and yeah, I want it all. A dress, a cake, and a ceremony. But we kind of have to do it fast, since everyone wants Arik dead. And also,” she said, “it’s Christmas time, and Than’s place is a winter wonderland.”

Arik raised an eyebrow. “You guys celebrate Christmas?”

“Not as a religious holiday.” Somehow, Limos had practically crawled into Arik’s lap without him noticing, and now she twisted around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But yes. Presents and parties and pretty decorations… I love it.” He loved how well she fit against him. “Reseph loved it, too. It was his favorite human holiday.”

“Nah,” Ares said. “He liked Halloween more. He lived to scare the shit out of people.”

Than shook his head. “New Year’s Eve. He planned out his party strategy months ahead of time so he could hit a big city in every time zone and get dozens of New Year’s Eves in one night.”

The Horsemen tossed around stories of Reseph’s antics, and for a few relaxed minutes, Arik got an idea of how it must have been for them before their brother’s Seal broke. And for the first time, he saw how much they had lost.

Eventually, an awkward silence fell, and Hal, the hellhound on the floor, whimpered as if feeling the strain. Finally, Ares cleared his throat and brought them back on track. “I don’t even know how to go about planning a big wedding,” he grumbled. “We did the simple beach thing with just Than and Limos.”

Cara grinned. “Limos and I will handle it. You come with me, and we’ll get you ready.” She patted Ares on the chest. “Gather your Underhers aworld General buddies, and I guarantee their mates will help out.”

“They aren’t my buddies,” he sighed, but Cara ig-nored him.

She grabbed Limos’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, Li. We’ll have a wedding by the end of the day.”