Page 46 of Blood and War
“No thanks to you… again.” The chuckle left her lips as she rested a head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. Her body relaxed against his. Every bone in his body froze at the closeness, his body going ramrod straight. The willingness to lean against him. Kellan bit his tongue to suppress the shudder at the foreign feeling. “Why do you do it? Why do you keep helping me when everyone else wants me dead. I don’t understand it.”
Well shit…
“I don’t know what it is about you.” Kellan stared at the girl resting easily beside him as he felt the hint of a smile slowly creep its way across his face. “I can’t explain it. What it is that you’re doing to me.” His words left him in a rushed whisper, the truths he so easily gave, sent a wave of shock throughout his body. “But I—” He didn’t have a chance to continue as Demitriareached a tired hand toward him, soft on his face as she caressed his cheek. Those piercing green-gold eyes pinning him to the stone as she stared at him.
“Despite what others think, you’re good, Kellan.” She smiled up at him. Genuine.Kind.
He had no words. No words to describe the emotions within, like a bomb had ignited, exploding and tearing him open for the entire world to see.
Twenty-Eight
DEMITRIA
Demitria stretched her sore limbs out before her, the stone floor she’d slept on the night before doing little to ease the pain from her body. For the first time in gods knew how long, she’d slept the entirety of the night, dead to the world around her. Everywhere hurt, but it was the last thing on her mind. The searing pain, as if her skin had been ripped from her bones, had disappeared, only to be replaced with a relentless ache that wouldn’t subside. Easier than the later, but annoying enough as it was. Demitria was grateful to be alive. Grateful to the beings that she’d hated with every fiber of her body. Because she’d hated every single one of them. Angel, demon, Horsemen… she didn’t care that she’d yet to meet them. It made no difference to her, at least not then. Had it changed? Had she changed?
Then there was Kellan.
War, as he’d affectionately been dubbed by her own kind a lifetime ago. From another world entirely. Nephilim. Chaos incarnate, and she’d touched him in a way that should have sent her reeling. His skin had been warm against her palm when she’d held it there, like an inferno ready to consume her. And when he hadn’t moved away from her touch? She didn’t really know what had possessed her to let herself get that close. Afterthe violence she’d endured, she needed something to ground her. A… gentle connection, of sorts, and Kellan had provided that and more. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the way he’d looked at her as she’d practically caressed his face. It just made things that much more complicated between them. Made everything more complicated than it needed to be. They were so different. Yet that night on the roof… that connection they’d somehow formed without either of their consent. She couldn’t forget it.
Incessant yelling echoing throughout the cavern pulled her from her thoughts. Eire and Kellan were arguing. About her. About the entire gods damned war that they apparently now had to deal with.
“Have you lost your damn mind?” Eire shouted at him, anger dripping from her every word as she tossed her arms in the air in an animated gesture.
Kellan gazed at his sister, brows raised as his face contorted into what Demitria could only call confusion, absolutely dumbfounded at the words that had left the other Horseman’s mouth.
“There is no place for a human with us!” Eire pointed at her for a moment, ignoring or quite possibly not even seeing the fact she was wide awake.
“You do not make the rules.”
Demitria could see the struggle on his face as Kellan tightened his jaw, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his sides. The deadly calm he tried to paint on.
“And neither do you.” Eire crossed her arms over her chest, face tight as she fixed her brother in a menacing glare. Kellan opened his mouth to say something but was quickly cut off as the eldest Horseman interjected.
“ENOUGH!” The immense power behind Gabriel’s bellow ran a shudder through Demitria’s body, unable to suppressthe movement. “Both of you.” Gabriel looked between the two warring siblings. “Childishness doesn’t become either of you.”
She should have no part in this conversation but she joined them anyway. “I can’t go back.” She’d fight tooth and nail to get her point across. She stood on shaking legs, her body still feeling weak from the night before, but she forced herself to walk toward them and stand beside Kellan. “Whoever this asshole is, he’s after me. And if I go back, that’s a death sentence not just for myself, but for my people too.” Her tone rose as she met each of their eyes. Kellan’s. Eire’s. Gabriel’s, then she roamed back to Kellan once more, giving him a sheepish smile before continuing. “I will not go back.”
“Thisassholeis the entire damn reason you stupid little humans are in this mess.” Eire sneered, as if Demitria should have known who the Dark King was.
Should she have? She didn’t have a clue about their world, or the beings in it. Their hierarchy—she didn’t know any of it. None of her kind did.
She didn’t like Eire, and the feelings appeared to be mutual. The Horseman looked at her as if she’d kill her at any given moment and the condescending tone of Eire’s voice each time she spoke couldn’t be misinterpreted. If given the chance, Demitria really did think she would end her life.
“We have done nothing to you or your people.” In a stupid fit of rage, she’d gone toe to toe with her as she ignored the burning in her limbs. Despite her brain screaming at her, telling her how much of a fucking idiot she was being, she did it anyway. Stood mere inches away from Eire. Gods, she must be close to a foot taller than her. Idiot. “And I will not be bullied by some insecure Horseman who acts as if I am beneath her.”
The cool tip of a blade poked into the soft skin at her throat. Demitria felt a thin line of blood as it slowly trickled down her collar, disappearing into the fabric of her torn shirt. Eire’s grayeyes were wild as she stared her down, like a rabid wolf ready for the killing blow.
“You little bitch.” She snarled, but Demitria refused to back down as she stepped closer, into the dagger as the cold metal stung her flesh.
Before any more damage could be done, a strong, muscled arm ripped her body from its position, heaving her backward as her legs nearly gave out at the motion. Kellan’s eyes were blazing. Dark as he stared between his sister and Demitria, his grip firm on her forearm. Gabriel now holding the latter by her shoulder in a firm grasp. Eire clawed at him, fighting to break free to no avail.
“You may match her in temper, but not in power. It would not end well.” Kellan spoke, voice low in Demitria’s ear. She shouldn’t have shivered at the warmth of his breath, but she couldn’t help the involuntary movement.
“I don’t care. She needs to understand that I cannot go back.” She turned hard eyes on him. Of everyone here, he needed to understand. He had to. “They are after me for a reason, Kellan. And if you send me back, it’ll be the end of my home. You said that yourself. I can’t let the entire community fall because of me. I want answers just as much as you do.” Azure eyes softened at her words, but his grip on her arm never wavered.
“We need to look into the claims that were made.” Gabriel intervened. “The Dark King is a bigger matter than what we were led to believe, and we need to investigate immediately.” He spoke, finally letting go of a—somewhat—calmed Eire. She wasn’t thrashing around anymore, and Demitria figured that was as calm as the Horseman would get. Yet the female still looked as if she’d kill her at any given moment.
“I want to help. He was after me.”
