Page 26 of Blood and War
Her boots heavy along the smooth rock floor of the cavern, she marched toward their mounts at the back. Coaxing his horse from the wall with an outstretched hand, it snorted, shaking its head at her approach.
“I need your help.” She stated. “Don’t make this difficult for me.” The red stallion balked out of her reach, hooves thundering along the ground as it darted for the mouth of the cave and disappearing somewhere beyond. “Useless beast.” She cursed, kicking a stone in the direction it had run off in.
Atlas nickered at her, and despite the frustration roiling through her, she smiled. Bringing a hand to the center of his forehead and scratching in his favorite spot. He didn’t take long to ready, and soon the beast was lowering himself to the ground behind the Horseman. Demitria dressed him quickly, her muscles still screaming in protest at the unforgiving weight as she pulled the dark shirt over his head before buckling the armor and cloak around him once more. Kellan was nearly dead weight in her hands.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, and I know I’m going to regret this, but you need help.” A sigh passed through her lips. “It’s my turn to want answers, now.” Linking her arms around his torso, she heaved with everything in her. Muscles straining at the movement as she righted him upon Atlas once more. Much like she had done on the way to the cave, she seated herself in front of him. Holding his arms tight around her waist as Atlas slowly jumped to his feet, and left through the opening into the awaiting sunlight beyond the cavern walls where Kellan’s mount stood waiting for them off in the distance, as if it knew she was taking his master. Nodding at the red beast once, it followed behind several strides away.
Demitria knew the Guardians were going to kill her the moment she stepped foot in front of the gates. Or would it be the other way around? Would the Horseman turn on them the moment he was better and slaughter her people anyway? He’d warned her to stay away from her home, even with the poison coursing through him, and yet… she was doing just that. Had told herself it was because he needed the medical attention. That he’d die without it, but was one life really worth that of potentially the entire community? More than Jace’s?
The decision should have been easy. She should have been able to walk away the moment he’d gone down, but she’d faltered. That nagging in the back of her mind her driving force to do better. To be better. And what? She was now bringing an enemy right to their front door.
Killing that angel hadn’t meant a thing to her. But the demon? As she stood there terrified, fumbling the weapons that were supposed to save her, he’d taken whatever blow had been meant for her. That poison that was meant for her.
A life for a life.
Atlas slowed, coming to a halt as if understanding the battle warring within. Peering up at the sun’s position in the sky,she realized she’d been riding far longer than she’d thought, time having slipped away into nothingness. Like it didn’t exist. They’d made good time. Exceptional time, actually. Atlas pushed himself harder than she’d ever felt, the speed faster than she could have ever imagined, and it almost felt as though they were flying across the barren land around them. She didn’t know if it was a power of his that she’d yet to discover. The ability to run at a speed unheard of for creatures like him. The stamina to endure the pace. It was one of the many things that made him so different from the usual animals that belonged on their planet.
Demitria made the choice to return home with him, life debt weighing heavy over her head. His kind didn’t deserve it, not after everything that they’d done to her own people.
But she couldn’t let him die.
If she wanted any chance at a life, the Horseman had to live.
Nudging Atlas forward once more, he broke into a slow canter. Instinctively clamping her arms over his to keep him remaining steady and upright. His head slumped over her shoulder, strands of dark hair falling free from the knot they’d been tied in tickled against her cheek. The shiver racked her body, like an insect crawling across her skin. Each jagged breath hot against her neck as the hint of that sweet, woodsy smell filled her senses. Another shiver, and she cursed, pushing Atlas harder. Fucking Horseman.
Fucking life debt.
Fourteen
DEMITRIA
The ever-familiar large iron gates came into view and Demitria nearly cried at the sight of them. It was something she never thought she’d see again. Atlas had perked up the closer they approached, his gait lengthening to a smooth canter as her own mood shifted with each step closer. Despite her lifting thoughts, her chest felt heavy at their return.
The Horseman’s eyes were open, but unseeing. Glazed over as if trapped in some fevered dream. Making sure he wouldn’t fall, she dismounted. To her surprise, he stayed upright. She hadn’t heard him say so much as a word or lift a finger in a day, and it was a miracle in itself that he’d stayed seated behind her the entire ride, let alone after she’d dismounted. For how long would be the question. Leaving Atlas standing fifteen feet away, her fist pounded four times, hard, on the gate. Everything remained quiet. More than it should be. She had expected Guardians to meet them the moment they’d appeared on the horizon, but instead, there was nothing but silence. They must have been on high alert. Minutes passed before it finally opened.
Slowly at first, only enough for one single figure to emerge.
His arms wound their way around her body before she could take in the height of him, engulfing her in a tight embrace.
“I thought I’d lost you.” Jace’s voice wavered, arms wrapped tighter, nearly cutting off her air. She didn’t care.
“Harder than that to get rid of me.” Her voice was no more than a whisper, but knew he’d heard. The familiar smell of mint taking over her senses, mesmerizing her entire body as neither of them could back away. The leather of his jacket was soft against her cheek. A feeling she hadn’t realized she’d missed so badly in the days she’d been gone. She returned his embrace.
He finally released her and took her in, his gaze moving up and down her body. Dark circles rimmed his green eyes, eyelids drooping, heavy with weariness as fatigue strained his features.
“What happened to your head?” Jace’s hand grazed against her cheek where his fingers touched softly to the wound on her temple. The incident having completely slipped her mind given the days that followed.
“Run in with a boar. I won.” She didn’t dare tell him that she wasn’t the one who ended it.
Shit.
She’d nearly forgotten about the Horseman atop Atlas. Had been so caught up in seeing Jace again that she’d lost all rational thoughts on why she had returned in the first place.
The scraping of the gate echoed around them as it was pushed wider. Identical faces emerged, and her heart sank. They were not who she wanted to see.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sam was angry, his eyes anchored behind her, and as much as she hated to admit it, rightfully so. She’d brought the enemy home. One look at the Horseman and you just knew he wasn’t human. He’d had a supernatural air about him, unconscious or not. If his sheer size alone wasn’t a dead giveaway, the running horse embossed into the leather of his armor had been another. Like a beacon, announcing his heritage for the world to see. She supposed that’stechnically what the Horseman wanted. They were a force of nature, not to be messed with. He at least looked the part.
“He’s not a threat.” She said, motioning toward the wounded male practically splayed out on Atlas. Demitria took a step back from Jace’s warmth. “He’s a Horseman, and I know it looks bad, but he saved my life on multiple accounts. We were ambushed, and I’m repaying the debt that I owe him. That wound was supposed to be for me.”
