Something was coming, and I was kneeling on the ground, crying like an idiot over someone who died centuries ago. I’d never expected to see her again, but that was still no reason to lose control as I had in front ofWrathof all demons. I was already so weak when it came to him, and now that he’d seen me fall apart, he would try to take advantage of it.
Pushing myself away from the statue, I rose in one fluid motion. Wrath pulled me behind him as War emerged from the shadows.
War’s fiery red eyes pinned me to the spot as he halted his red and black mount. His hair, the same color as his eyes, was streaked with blood, and so was his face. His broad shoulders and considerable build only hinted at the amount of power oozing from his pores. Then his mouth curved into a cruel smile.
“You have a prisoner of war,” he said.
I would die before I ever allowed myself to become a prisoner of these assholes. I knew what they would do to me; I just didn’t know if Wrath would allow it. He’d been infuriated with me earlier; was he mad enough to let his brethren abuse his Chosen?
A Chosen who refused to seal the bond with him. Then I recalled his hand on my shoulder, the way he tried to comfort me, and wondered if perhaps I wasn’t giving him enough credit. He was the enemy, but he also seemed like he might be a good man who was trying to understand and get closer to me.
This sudden insight was far more disturbing to me than War’s presence. The tremor working its way through me had nothing to do with the endless torture I knew was running through War’s head, and everything to do with the realization I might actuallylikeWrath.
I had to get out of this place, away from all of them and these statues. It was all messing with my head.
“Where are Death and Pride?” Wrath demanded.
“I don’t know,” War replied. “Perhaps they perished in the woods.”
The two of them studied each other in a way that made unease shiver down my spine. There was clearly no love between Wrath and his fellow horsemen, but I sensed something more here. Maybe it was the same with Wrath and the others, but the animosity between these two was so thick it was almost palpable.
“When do we start on the bitch?” War inquired.
And once they started on me, they wouldn’t stop. I was acutely aware of my weaponless status. I was fast and strong, but that wasn’t enough against War.
“No one is going to touchmyprisoner,” Wrath replied.
“Not even you?” War inquired.
Something in his eyes made me realize he was playing with us. Soon, he would pounce.
Chapter Nineteen
Wrath
I knewwhen one of the horsemen was trying to toy with me, and that’s precisely what War was doing. Perhaps he suspected there was something more between Bale and me, maybe he’d already guessed she was my Chosen, but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t allow him anywhere near her.
“Iwill decide what happens withmyprisoner,” I said.
“Ah, I see.” He dismounted and moved to stand beside his horse’s head. “And what shall you decide?”
I’d known War my entire life; we’d been together for more years than I could count, and we’d spent twelve thousand of those years locked behind a seal together. We’d clashed numerous times over the countless millennia of my life, but I couldn’t recall a single time we laughed together or one happy moment we ever shared.
She drove me crazy, but I’d gotten more joy out of Bale in the past month than I’devergotten out of any of the horsemen. The horsemen were not my friends; they were not my brothers. They were simply demons such as myself. We stuck together because, though we hated each other, we were allies, but I would destroy him if it meant keeping Bale safe.
“I don’t recall ever running my plans by you before,” I replied.
War’s smile didn’t reach his eyes until he looked at Bale. And then his eyes shone with malicious glee. The things he would do to her should never be done to anyone, but War took savage joy in torturing others.
I’d seen him at work before and had to walk away before he finished, but I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stomach his work, even Death walked away. The only one who watched for any length of time was Pestilence, but eventually, he couldn’t take it either. It was months before War finally grew bored and killed his victim. I wouldneverallow him to do something like that to Bale.
“I don’t recall you ever bringing the enemy into our home before,” War replied.
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Yes, there is. She’s abeautifulenemy. Will you be sharing her?”
In all my many eons of life, I’d never experienced jealousy. Now it was a rush of hellfire burning in my belly, spreading through my chest, and searing my limbs as fire danced across my fingers. I would not be the first to know her body, but I would be the last. No one, other than me, was ever going to touch her in such a way again.
