Warrior Enchanted: The Sons of the Zodiac (35 page)

His hands tightened further and it was Finley’s scream that stopped him.

“Grey! No! You’ll kill him.”

Her voice still vibrated in his ears as he realized what he was doing. In his fury to punish the one who’d held Finley, he’d missed the real threat. As he loosened his grip slightly, three gunshots filled the air.

Eris screamed as the knife hit her shoulder. Although it was a wound she’d easily shake off, it did enough damage to have her loosening her grip on Hippolyta.

The older woman didn’t waste time. She dropped to her knees, slipping from Eris’s grip, before crawling toward them. Drake called out orders as he moved forward to intercept the woman. “Montana, take her home.”

Quinn’s wife ported Hippolyta away immediately, the quick rush of air the only evidence they’d even been standing there. On another set of orders, he hollered over his shoulder toward Emerson, “Stay back. She’s mine.”

Words he hadn’t thought in years echoed through his mind. Alexander’s battle cry.

No mercy
.

The knife still stuck out of Eris’s shoulder and with a thick pop she pulled it free. Blood poured from the wound, but it evaporated before it even hit the sidewalk. She and Drake circled each other. Impatient with the dance, Drake leaped, the satisfaction of knocking her off her feet short-lived as Emerson’s scream took his breath away.

He looked up from where he had Eris pinned to the ground, and saw where they’d miscalculated.

Magnus stood behind his sister. The snake that rode his shoulders had wrapped itself around her, from just underneath her breasts to the top of her knees.

Grey crawled toward Finley, his gaze never leaving the expanding pool of blood on her chest. The moment he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and cradled her as gently as he could manage.

The blond woman he’d heard earlier calling to
Franco clutched the gun, her hands as steady as if she were holding a church hymnal. She now had it pointed at Rogan’s head. “It’s such a shame about your girlfriend.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Grey ground out, his mind whirling with what to do. Although there wasn’t much he and his brothers couldn’t survive, a kill shot to the head was pretty effective. Their speed of regeneration simply couldn’t beat the clock on keeping the brain alive.

His gaze ricocheted between Rogan and the ever-expanding patch of red on Finley’s chest.

“Don’t think about leaving, sweetheart. Or my finger just might slip on this trigger. One. More. Time.” As his brain slowly reengaged, Grey realized he knew the woman. She was a colleague of Finley’s and he’d seen her at Equinox on several occasions.

“You set her up.”

“Of course I did. And she was buying it all the way until you fucked it up. I’m rather proud of my quivering, whimpering impression right here in this very cell. It was a personal best.”

“She wasn’t buying nearly as much as you thought.”

“No.” The blonde shook her head. “She’d bought it all. Our dear little Finley isn’t nearly as smart as she’d like everyone to think. Especially since her panties started getting wet over you. She’s been groomed to be the best, but even she didn’t see what was right in front of her nose.”

The woman pressed the barrel of the gun harder against Rogan’s temple as she focused her attention on Grey. “I saw the way you two looked at each other. And
as soon as I saw what was going on, I told Franco we had our gal. Someone with access inside the DA’s office and inside your world.”

Grey saw the archer grimace as the barrel bored into his skull and he struggled to make sense out of it.

Was Eris behind this? Or was it all done at the hands of these mortals?

“So why shoot her?”

A mulish expression settled on the woman’s lips. “Franco comes first.”

Gods, they were fucking nuts. He’d observed it at his club over and over—the webs humans entangled themselves in—and he’d always ignored it. But now?

Now it was personal.

The need to take care of Finley overwhelmed him, but Grey kept his gaze on the mortals. “What did you have to gain by all this?”

Cold laughter met the question, but it was Gavelli Sr. who finally spoke. “You think your woo-woo shit is all a secret? You think no one knows there’s a band of immortals running around the city? Why should you get all the fun? We’re just getting in on the action.”

Grey refused to answer—refused to confirm what the man obviously knew—but he didn’t miss the look Rogan shot him across the way. A good old-fashioned “What the fuck?” mixed with “How the hell did we miss this one?”

“You think you’re so clever,” Melanie added. “You think power’s meant only for you? We’re going to take over the city.”

“Melanie.” Franco Jr. laid a hand on her arm, the
first moment of restraint Grey had seen since they got down there. Gavelli Jr. was working his way to the top and it was clear he saw the writing on the wall.

It was equally clear he knew how to keep his own counsel.

Finley gasped and opened her eyes, dragging his attention off all of it. Her blue gaze was filled with pain, the reality of it stabbing him with a million needles of regret.

“You?”

He smiled gently down at her, remembering their exchange not even a week before in what felt like another time. “Yeah. It’s me.”

On a heavy gasp, her head fell back.

The moan that left his lips was feral, like a wounded animal as he clutched Finley’s body against his own. Great, heaving gasps filled his chest as he tried to make sense of what had happened.

Tried to make sense of the fact that the woman so vibrant—so full of life—lay lifeless in his arms.

Across the room, Rogan wasted no time. As soon as the blonde’s focus shifted to Finley, he moved, knocking the gun from her hands.

“Go, Grey! Get the fuck out of here!”

Grey wasted no time. He was mindless with grief, but he knew where he had to go.

The only place he could go for help.

Emerson felt the snake tighten around her midsection and strained for breath. She thought through every bit of magic she knew, but the speed with which the snake
moved, coupled with her inability to use her hands, had her ruling out everything she thought of.

“Step away from Eris,” Magnus hollered over her shoulder. “Porting distance away.”

Emerson saw Drake’s nod as he and Quinn moved away from the goddess.

The snake tightened another fraction of an inch, and she discarded another magical idea as a small memory assailed her.

She recalled their father as he lay on his deathbed.

She and Magnus were the only ones in his hospital room, her mother and sister having gone off to find coffee. Magnus was sitting in a chair, watching a football game, and she was perched on the edge of the bed, holding his hand.

“Are you afraid, Daddy?”

Tubes and machines surrounded him and his voice was hoarse when he spoke. “No, sweetheart, I’m not afraid.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought not to let them fall. “But this isn’t supposed to happen. You were fine. A few days ago, you were fine.”

He reached up and pressed a hand to her cheek, his thumb sweeping across the first tear that fell. “You play the hand you’re dealt, baby doll. And you live life to the fullest. That’s all you can do. That’s all any of us can ever do.”

Magnus looked over from the TV, his sullen face full of tears and the anger only youth can truly summon. “How can you be so calm? How can you accept this?”

The hoarse, sickly tone vanished and for a moment, the strong, true voice of her father rang out through the room. “Because I’ve been loved.”

The snake tightened again, the pure power in its muscled strength a shock as it pulled her from the memory.

“Magnus. Please,” she couldn’t stop herself from crying out.

“It’s not me, Em. I can’t control it any longer. Maybe I never could.”

“But you can control it. I know you can.”

“I’m not like you, Em. I
can’t
.”

Her breaths became more shallow as the lack of air began to take effect. “You were loved, Magnus. Please don’t ever forget that. By me. By Mom and Dad and Ronnie and Gram. By all of us. You do have a choice. And you
are
loved.”

His voice was low in her ear, so only she could hear. “You play the hand you’ve been dealt.”

“You do remember.”

For one brief moment, Magnus rested his forehead against the side of her head.

And then he vanished as if he’d never been.

She fell to her knees, gasping for breath as sweet, sweet air filled her lungs. She didn’t need to hear Quinn’s shout or feel the safe haven of Drake’s arms to know Eris had quickly followed her brother, the promise of retribution on her lips.

Bring it on
, Emerson thought with no small measure of satisfaction.

“I’m sorry,” Drake mumbled against her ear. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t there for you.”

She shifted to press her lips against his. “You are there for me. You’ve always been there for me. I just didn’t realize it.”

“I’m always going to be there for you. Until the day neither of us is here any longer.”

She pressed her hand against his chest, stilling his movements. “What are you talking about?”

“Choice, my love. I’m going to talk to Themis. I don’t want to be an immortal any longer. She made me this way. I’ve no doubt she can unmake me when the time is right.”

“But, Drake, you can’t do this. You can’t leave your brothers. Or the work that you all do.”

“I’ve got a long time to figure it out. To work with Themis to determine how to fulfill my promises to her.”

“But your immortality?”

“Isn’t the only gift I give to Themis. We’ll figure it out. Together. And when the time is right, we’ll both know. I won’t walk through this world without you, Emerson. So someday we’ll make the decision that ensures I won’t have to. This is the right choice for me.” He pressed another kiss to her lips and lingered longer this time. “For us.”

As Emerson wrapped her arms around his neck, she thought about what he was willing to sacrifice for her. What she’d almost never even given a chance.

“I love you.”

“And I love you. Now let’s get out of here and go find your grandmother. I’ve suddenly got a powerful desire to get her blessing on something.”

“Before you do, can I borrow your phone?”

Drake kept one hand firmly on her shoulder as he dug into his pocket for his phone with his other hand. “Who are you calling?”

“My sister. I need to apologize. And I want to tell her our good news.”

She dialed quickly, suddenly anxious to fix what she’d so carelessly broken. And even more eager to share her news with someone who mattered.

Deeply.

Emerson heard her sister’s “hello,” then let out a loud, squeaking giggle as Drake’s mouth descended on hers.

It was a long moment before Emerson could sputter out, “Ronnie! I’ve got some news.”

“No, Ronnie.” Drake leaned in toward the mouthpiece. “
We’ve
got some news.”

G
rey fell to the floor of Themis’s home with Finley still wrapped in his arms. The goddess stood in front of her Mirror of Truth as tears fell freely from her face.

“You have to help me.”

She shook her head, as that long fall of red hair ran down her back. “I cannot.”

“You must. You have to help her. You have to make it right.”

Themis crossed to him, her gaze never wavering. “She is gone, Grey.”

“She can’t be. She cannot. There has to be a way.”

As the blue gaze stared back at him in silent understanding, Grey knew he must offer something. Knew he had to offer her the balance that would make it right.

With swift movements, he crossed the room and placed Finley’s lifeless form on the couch. He pressed his finger to her still lips before crossing back to kneel at Themis’s feet.

“Goddess, I offer you my promise of balance. I’ll do whatever you ask of me. Just tell me what I can do to make this right.”

“Nothing will make it right, my Warrior.”

He refused to accept her words—refused to accept such a bright, vibrant light would be diminished. “She acts on your behalf, bringing justice for her fellow humans. Surely you can find favor with her for that alone.”

“It isn’t done, Grey. Her fate has been sealed.”

Anger filled him as Grey stood to his full height, refusing to accept the words of the woman he’d followed with complete devotion for millennia. As he stared into the depths of her eyes, a memory slammed through him with enough force to have him stumbling back. “You knew. You sent me into that warehouse because you knew she’d be there.”

Themis’s gaze remained steady. Unwavering. “She needed protection.”

“You had me save her only to take her from me?”

“She wasn’t meant to go that way. Wasn’t meant to be caught in the middle.”

“It wasn’t your call to intervene.”

“Would you rather she’d died that night instead of this one?”

“I don’t want her to die at all!” The words dragged from his lips, each one an agony.

“It’s her time.”

Grey glanced back to Finley’s still form. “No. No, it’s not. She was caught in something bigger than herself and she doesn’t deserve this.”