AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I do know." He stepped closer and brushed a tear off my cheek with his thumb. "You deserve to be happy." He tilted his head slightly. "None of us think you're a freak, a traitor or an outcast. You're one of us."
"One of the guys?" I asked, more bitter than I intended.
He smiled softly. "Definitely not." He leaned in to brush his lips over mine. "Not a guy of any kind. A beautiful woman." The look he gave me was warm and soft. If not searing like Bain and Dex, it spoke volumes about the way he felt about me.
My heart fluttered. Until now, I hadn't thought much beyond sex and trying to survive. I was attached to the guys, there was no doubt about that, but…
I swallowed. I had no time to think about this now. We were standing out in the open. Anyone or anything could come upon us.
"You're sweet," I said when I realised I hadn't responded. "We should get going." Before he thought I was just trying to brush him off, I raised myself on my toes and brushed my lips over his.
"Come on," Bain called out a moment later. "We'll have to leave our friend for someone else to clean up." He flipped the man's jacket closed and I realised he'd looked him over, just as he said he would.
"Did you find anything?" I asked as he rose to his feet.
"Not so much as a crumb." Bain looked disappointed, but not surprised. "Whatever secrets he had, he took them to Hades’ embrace with him."
"Hopefully he moved on. I'd hate it if he haunted us." It sounded like a joke, but it was far from funny. I remembered Helene as a screaming pale one. Being a ghost looked like a shitty way to spend eternity. Or however long it took to move on. Sure, the guy shot at me, but I still wouldn't wish that on him.
"At least you might get the answers you want," Bain pointed out.
I wasn't sure if he was joking, so I snorted. "I don't think pale ones can talk." If they did, I didn't really want to hear it. That was pretty high on the 'scary as fuck' scale.
"You'd find a way," Bain said. "If anyone could."
"If I was Comus I might," I said. I squinted at the dead rider. If I was what the demigod said I was, then I should have abilities I hadn't thought of yet. I wished I hadn't thought of this one. Messing with the dead felt wrong to me somehow. Like I would be violating them.
I shook my head. "We don't have time to find out now."
"If he could give us the answers, we could turn around and go back to the city," Bain said. "Potentially." He shrugged one shoulder.
"Right." It wouldn't be that simple. Nothing ever was.
I sighed. "I suppose I could try." I glanced at the faces around me. At some point Wesley joined the rest of us, face sad behind his helmet. I would have to thank him later for saving us with his instrument. In the meantime, everyone looked at me with a range of concern and curiosity.
I guess you can make friends with necromancy.
Since Bain suggested it, I drew power from his sweat and sandalwood combination and squatted beside the rider.
I had no idea how Comus did what he did. Improvising, I let the power wander over the surface of what skin was exposed, his neck and a hint of his chest.
His whole body twitched.
I jumped, but held on to the power. Just. Everything about this felt icky. I wanted to be sick on the road beside him. I swallowed it down and focused.
I felt his heart lying still in his chest. It was surrounded by blood. So much blood. Bain was right, he didn't stand a chance of holding on until help arrived.
If he had a soul or pale one inside him, I couldn't find it. Hades might have taken it already. I wasn't sure if that was a comfort, or more disturbing than before. Was Hades like Comus; collecting the dead for his amusement?
That thought made my stomach churn all the more.
"I can't find anyth— Wait." I frowned. "This is weird."
"What is?" Knox asked gently. The next moment, he was at my shoulder. I felt, rather than saw, his worried face.
"It feels like a place in his chest where he keeps his shifter," I said slowly. "His inner… Bear?"
I drew my power away and looked over at Knox in confusion. "Well, he's not a tiger."
