Deadmen Walking

  “How do you do mean?”

  Thorn placed his hand on Kalder’s shoulder. The instant he did so, pain tore through Kalder’s head and ripped back the layer of this world so that he could see the reality where Cameron and Paden currently lived. The realm where their souls had been cast by Vine’s evilness.

  Gasping, he felt a fiery chill that was so cold it burned. Felt Cameron’s despair and her brother’s terror that he was going to kill his own sister, and that Paden would be powerless to stop the hunger inside him that demanded her innocent blood.

  Thorn let go and stepped away from him.

  Kalder staggered as his vision cleared and he returned to this reality. His breathing ragged, he blinked rapidly, looking from Thorn to Michael and finally Gabriel. “Can you always see like that?”

  They nodded in turn.

  “Not fun, is it?” Thorn said bitterly. “To know what lies behind the human veil and not be able to interfere. It’s its own form of hell.”

  Kalder wiped at the tears as he struggled to even out his breathing. “Is that why you came for us?”

  Thorn passed a sullen glare to the other two. “Aye. Unlike some, I can’t abide injustice.”

  Michael turned on him with a vicious hiss, exposing a set of fangs that Kalder hadn’t noticed before. “Never speak to me of injustice, demon! You’ve no right! You know nothing of me or mine.”

  Thorn held his hands up. “Point being, I believe in second chances.”

  Michael curled his lip. “Most demons do, as the second strike usually cuts even deeper than the first.”

  Now it was Thorn’s turn to go for Michael, but Gabriel caught him and forced him back.

  “Enough! Both of you! We’re not here to fight each other.” He jerked his chin toward Paden and Cameron. “Every second you bicker, we risk losing them forever.”

  “If we haven’t already,” Michael said under his breath.

  Kalder winced as he pressed his hand against the cold rock that kept him from Cameron’s warmth. How strange that he barely knew her and yet she’d sparked something inside him that he’d never known he possessed.

  A heart.

  He hadn’t even kissed her and yet here he was willing to die to save her. It made no sense whatsoever. But then life seldom did.

  Perhaps it was that innocent optimism she held in spite of all the shite life had heaped upon her that had restarted the dead organ in his chest. Or the loving light in those hazel eyes that sparked whenever she spoke of her brother. The way she kept faith even when it seemed there was no hope whatsoever.

  No one had ever held such regard for him.

  He’d never wanted them to.

  Until now. By all that was holy and not, he wanted her to look at him like that. To see her eyes light up and twinkle for him in the same manner as they did for Paden.

  Nay, that was a lie and he knew it. He wanted much more from her than that. He wanted to have one woman, just once, see him the way she saw her brother.

  As a noble hero.

  As her noble hero and champion.

  One she was willing to sacrifice her life for.

  He wanted someone to love him like that. Completely and without question. With total loyalty and devotion. To love him the way his mother had loved his brother. To have someone mourn his passing and regret that he was no longer part of her life. No one had even shown up for his burial after his mother had gutted him.

  Not even a priest. The watchmen had taken him out and dumped his body in a common grave like garbage. No pomp. No last rites. Nothing. Not a single kind word.

  After all the years he’d lived, he’d meant nothing to anyone.

  Only Cameron had ever teased him like a friend and made him feel noble or welcome. Damn him for craving it. Because now that he knew the taste of it, he couldn’t go back to his ignorance. It was a raw, fetid hunger that wouldn’t leave him in peace. He couldn’t return to the way he’d been. Numb and oblivious.

  She’d opened his eyes and awakened him.

  And if he had to die to bring her back, so be it. Unlike him, she was a vibrant soul who brought happiness to the world, and to those around her. As did her brother. He had a woman waiting for him, and a child who needed a father to claim it. They were rare lights that shone brightly in this dim, awful world.

  No one will ever miss you, Kal.

  “Let’s do this,” he said to the Sarim. “I don’t want her to suffer another moment.”

  Thorn inclined his head to Kalder, then passed a harsh, condemning glare to the Sarim. “Tell me again how the damned are beyond redemption?”

  They looked away sheepishly.

  He clapped Kalder on the back. “Know that it sickens me to do this to you. If there’s any way to save you, we will find it.”

  Kalder nodded. “Tell Cameron that it was my honor to spare her.” He pulled the necklace off that had belonged to his brother and handed it to Thorn. “And give her this from me. Ask her to pray for my brother’s soul.”

  “Not yours?”

  He let out a bitter laugh. “We both know where mine belongs and where it be headed.”

  Thorn took the necklace and tucked it into his pocket. What he had to do sickened him to the core of his worthless soul. But he had no choice. The two bitches with him weren’t about to spare him this, and he knew it. They would never spare him any nightmare.

  Cursing his father and himself, he pulled out his dagger and as quickly and painlessly as possible, he sliced Kalder’s artery so that his blood coated the floor.

  The Myrcian staggered, but Thorn caught him and kept him from falling to the cold ground like garbage. He held him in his arms as his life faded.

  “Sleep in peace, little brother,” he whispered against his ear. “I won’t let you die alone this time. And you will be mourned and missed. You are a good man, Kalder. Let no one ever tell you otherwise. Not even you.”

  Sinking to the ground, Thorn cradled him in his arms and held him there until he bled out and was gone. Tears filled his eyes as he hated everything about himself and the choices he was forced to make. Choices they were all forced to make.

  Michael didn’t say a word as he gathered Kalder’s blood and used it for the incantations he needed to free his progeny.

  Gabriel knelt by his side. “Thorn?”

  He blinked slowly, unable to answer for the pain inside him that churned and ached so deep that it left him hollow and numb.

  “You need to let him go.”

  Yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when he knew the horrors that had haunted Kalder. “He’s not garbage.”

  “I know.”

  Nay, he didn’t know. Not really. Closing his eyes, Thorn clutched at Kalder’s head and swore to them both that he would find some miracle to free the Myrcian. Even if he had to unravel the universe to do it.

  “Kalder?”

  Blinking, Thorn looked up as Cameron came out of the wall to see them on the floor, saturated in blood.

  With a fierce sob, she rushed to them. Her hands trembled as she sobbed and clutched at Kalder’s jacket. “Nay! Nay! I can’t lose him! Not like this!”

  Thorn pulled her against him to comfort her. “Shh, child. He only sleeps.”

  She stared at him as if he were crazy. And he was, indeed. For only a crazy person would have defied the powers that be to create the Hellchasers as Thorn had done.

  He felt his eyes turn bright red before he offered her a determined grin. “I brought him back when he had absolutely nothing to live for. Do you really think he’ll stay down now that he has so much to lose?”

  *   *   *

  Mara came awake to the most peculiar warmth. Until she remembered her sister’s treachery.

  Furious, she sat up and …

  What the devil?

  She was on board a ship, but it wasn’t her body that made up this vessel. “Du?” she called, glancing around the small, unfamiliar cabin.

  Instead of Duel, Thorn came in to stand
beside her bunk.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Very confused. Where’s Du?” How had she gotten here? She couldn’t remember anything. Not really.

  Everything was so vague. Like a strange, flimsy dream.

  Thorn didn’t answer. Rather, he stepped aside for another woman to enter the room through the door behind him. “I don’t think the two of you have ever met.”

  Nay, she’d never seen the …

  Her heart stopped beating as she realized who this was. It was a face she’d only seen in her visions. “Elyzabel?”

  She inclined her head to Mara. “Aye, my lady. How are you?”

  “Where’s your brother?”

  Elf glanced nervously to Thorn.

  When they didn’t answer right away, a bad, horrible dread went through her. She tried to leave the bed, but Thorn prevented it. “You’re still weak.”

  “Tell me where Duel is!”

  Thorn continued to hedge. “Well … you know where you were.”

  “Aye.” She was finally beginning to remember the hellish hole where Vine had cast her. She couldn’t imagine how Duel had stood it for so long.

  “To get you out, we had to have someone sacrifice their life and harthfret for yours.”

  Oh dear God, no!

  The blood faded from her cheeks as tears welled in her eyes. Surely Thorn wasn’t telling her what she feared he was saying. Nay, Du wouldn’t be so stupid.

  You know better!

  Of course, he’d be that stupid!

  Agony and grief wrapped around her heart and set it to pounding. “Tell me he didn’t,” she breathed as dread washed over her and brought tears to her eyes.

  Elf nodded. “He wouldn’t be swayed. For you, he was willing to do anything. Sacrifice all his crew. He wanted me to tell you that he’s always loved you and that you are not to feel guilty. That you are to remember him fondly and only smile when you think of him.”

  Silent tears streamed down her face. “Nay!” She struggled to breathe past the pain that choked her. “We must get to him.” Rising to her feet, she shoved Thorn out of her way. “I … I…” Her legs gave way and sent her to the floor, where she broke down into fierce, racking sobs. The agony of his loss was unlike anything she’d ever known.

  Du! Oh gods … She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t make it without him. Especially knowing that it was her fault he was gone. That he’d done this to spare her.

  Suddenly, strong arms surrounded her and held her against a hard, muscular chest. She started to struggle for release until the scent of this man’s skin hit her.

  That sweet sea musk scent wasn’t Thorn’s.

  Shocked and stunned even more, she looked up into a pair of angry red eyes. “Thorn! You rank futtocking bastard! What did you do?”

  “Du?” She reached to touch his face, then sobbed even harder.

  “Shh,” he breathed, rocking her in his arms. “All’s well, my love.”

  Her breathing ragged, she glared at Thorn. “What cruelty was this?”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Thorn smirked. “No cruelty. All of it was the honest truth. Devyl took your place in order to set you free.”

  Elf nodded. “He said to tell you every word I spoke.”

  Mara scowled at them. “I don’t understand.”

  Du wiped at the tears on her cheeks, then offered her a crooked grin. “I’m such a cantankerous bastard, they refused to keep me. Apparently, my face is not nearly as sweet as yours.”

  Thorn scoffed. “Not entirely true. When I signed Devyl on, it was with one understanding.”

  “You were never to be harmed, Mara.” Devyl brushed the hair back from her face.

  “Aye.” Thorn sobered. “He gave his soul to unbind your lives and by doing that and then sacrificing his life so that you could live again.…”

  Du held up his wrist for her to see that his Deadman’s Cross was gone. “I bought my freedom.”

  Thorn nodded and smiled. “He made his sacrifice. His slate is wiped completely clean. And rather than flee and start his mortal life anew, he chose to stay on with his crew and to wait and see what you wanted to do with your freedom.”

  Gasping, she ran her fingers over his arm where his brand had been. “You’re free?”

  “Aye, thanks to you.”

  Thorn and Elf gave them the cabin.

  Aghast, Mara stared up at him. “And Vine?”

  “Dead. I killed her. We’re on Santiago’s ship and—”

  She interrupted his words with a kiss. And then another. “I will make our ship again with my body as soon as I’m strong enough.”

  Devyl nipped her lips, then brushed his nose against hers. “Our?”

  Laughing, she nodded. “Aye, Captain Bane. You don’t think I’m about to let you sail without me, do you?”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  His eyes turning even darker, he reached for the laces on her gown.

  Mara’s breath caught as he gave her a kiss so hot it scorched her. His hunger was absolute and it matched her own. More than that, it inflamed hers. She still couldn’t believe this was real.

  That she was back from the dead and that he was here in her arms.

  “What were you thinking when you switched places with me?”

  “That you had no business there.” His tongue teased her earlobe, sending chills over her as he laid her back against the bunk. “And that I couldn’t live knowing you had died because of me.”

  “You are a fool, Dón-Dueli.”

  He pulled back to flash his dimples at her. “Aye, but only for you.”

  That was true. Her breath caught as he swept her gown off her body and the cool air hit her skin. Desperate to feel his flesh against hers, she pulled his shirt over his head. And leaned against him so that she could savor his embrace. “We’ve much to do, you know.”

  “True.” He nipped her chin with his teeth while he held her gently in his arms and cradled her body with his. “Santiago has signed on to be our backup until we see this finished.”

  “And Thorn agreed?”

  “Free will. Agreeing’s got nothing to do with it. He can’t stop him.”

  She shook her head at the poor pirate who had no idea what he and his crew were in for. “What else have I missed?”

  A boyish grin played along the edges of his lips while he drew small circles around her breasts and nibbled the outline of her jaw. “Much bickering. A lot of soul-searching as we tried to put Sallie’s soul back in its bottle and Strixa decided to stay on with us as well.”

  She arched a brow at that. “Really?”

  He pulled back with an irritable grimace. “Aye, but is this truly what you want to be focusing on right now, love?”

  She dropped her hand down the waistband of his breeches and noted the way he held his breath. And the instant softening of his glower. “Not really.”

  His breathing turned ragged the moment she dipped her hand inside to gently stroke him. His features relaxed and turned gentle and sweet.

  Biting her lip, Mara took pleasure at the power she had over her captain. A dark and fearsome sorcerer corymeister he might be, but it was a Deruvian magelyn who owned his heart and could change his mood at her merest whim. “I will always fight for you, Du. Come the morrow, I want you to teach me how to wield a sword.”

  He arched a brow at that. “You’re sure?”

  She nodded. “You were right. We’re only as strong as our weakest link, and I will not be the means to defeat you.”

  Devyl cupped her cheek before he kissed her. “You are never my weakness, Mara. You are my strength. And I will teach you to be the best swordsman in all the world.”

  “Good.” She slid his pants from his hips. “Now come here, husband, and show me some of your finer, most skilled moves.”

  Laughing, he laid her back against the bunk and gently slid himself home.

  Mara sucked her breath in sharply at the sensation of Duel deep
inside her as she cradled him with her body. She should be afraid of the future. The gates were still cracked. And they’d lost a number of their crew. Paden’s unborn child carried with it the blood of Michael that could open all the gates and unleash the worst of all evils upon the earth.

  And yet in Duel’s arms, she felt completely safe. Because she knew her Devyl would never allow any harm to befall her.

  Nay—so long as this Devyl and his Deadmen were on the side of right, evil didn’t stand a chance.

  EPILOGUE

  Gadreyal hesitated as she neared the only creature she answered to … the one being even more corrupt and dangerous than she was.

  Papa Noir. Dark and sinister, he sat on his throne with his sister Azura by his side, glaring at her. “You failed.”

  “Not yet. I merely positioned my pieces.”

  Noir rolled his eyes. “You failed,” he repeated.

  Gadreyal could have handled it a lot better had Jaden not picked that moment to enter the room.

  He was a handsome beast, except for those unnerving eyes. One a bright, bright green and the other a deep earth brown. Like Noir and Azura, he was a primal power who would have been invincible—

  Had Jaden not sold himself to them to protect one of Gadreyal’s greatest enemies.

  “Is it done?” Noir demanded of Jaden.

  He took a long minute to glare at his owner until he finally nodded. “I wasn’t given dominion over trees for nothing.” He snapped his fingers.

  After a few tense moments, Vine slowly unfurled from the floor until she blossomed back into the great beauty she’d been.

  Her eyes were dark and deadly as she glanced around them.

  But Noir was unimpressed. “You two know your target. Do not fail again.”

  Gadreyal inclined her head to him before she took Vine’s hand and led her from his study.

  Vine didn’t speak until they were alone. “I can’t believe I live again.”

  “It’s temporary. And if we don’t succeed this time—”

  Vine interrupted her with a laugh. “Don’t worry. We have the element of surprise on our side. More than that…” She held up the medallion she’d traded out.

  The medallion that gave them complete control of Cameron Jack and her bastard Seraph brother.