Good Side of Sin (29 page)

“I don’t think those creatures came from over the rainbow,” Aries said with a quiver in her voice.

“I think you might be right, young seer,” Isaiah said.

“Look!” Ethan shouted as he pointed at the fog.

There was a silhouette of a figure approaching the open gate and the creatures. I wanted to shout to the person to “Watch out!” but my words froze in my throat as the figure stooped to pet the head of one of the red-eyed creatures.

A man’s chuckle erupted and the fog began to clear from around him. My eyes widened in disbelief as one of the hideous beasts licked the man’s neck and face. I noticed then that there were four of them, and all besides the one still showing affection to the guy, were looking at us, showing their razor sharp teeth and snarling. Drool dripped from their mouths, like they were ready to consume a long overdue meal.

Wonderful! I could just see Heaven and Earth being destroyed because I couldn’t get past four oversized dogs.

The guy looked up at us and grinned, a perfect set of teeth gleaming. My eyes grew wide at the realization that the male was just as handsome as Thoros, but in a completely different way. Where Thoros was sinfully beautiful and reminded me of a male model, the guy walking through the gate toward us was all masculine and reminded me of a warrior.

His black combat boots were shined to a high gloss and laced up over a pair of camouflage BDUs. He wore no shirt, so each one of his abdominal muscles was displayed for all of us to see. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aries and Emma move up on my right so they could get a closer look at Omega, too. A set of shiny, silver dog tags hung from a lengthy chain around his neck and rested in the center of his sternum. His shoulders and arms were large, but not overly so. There were three tattoos that I could see. The first was a large thick tribal one over the right side of his chest and curving up over his right shoulder to the back side of his neck. The second tat was a thin band wrapped around the defined indention between the left deltoid muscle and the bicep of his left arm. The third was full of amazing shadowing and bright colors; it was of a large snake coiled many times around his right arm, from wrist to shoulder. The head of the snake was open-mouthed, its fangs dripping venomous poison. Even though I knew it was only ink marking his skin, I didn’t want to get too close. It seemed so real. My eyes traveled up to the sharp line of his jaw, straight nose, deep, hypnotizing green eyes with a gold starburst around the pupil, and then my eyes moved up even further to very short dark hair and a black cap with an embroidered white Ω symbol above the bill.

I felt the light pressure of a finger under my chin, and then my mouth was gently pushed shut. Heat rushed up my neck and into my cheeks as my mouth went dry. I hadn’t even realized I had been gawking at the man in front of me, but it was evident Thoros had.
Crap!
I slowly turned my head toward him to find his mouth set in a hard line and both eyebrows were raised in a silent question.
Double crap!

I gave his hand a hopeful squeeze. After a moment he squeezed back then released his hold to bring his arm up to wrap protectively around my shoulders.

A quick look back to Omega let me know he hadn’t missed Thoros’ jealousy. He smirked as if he were thinking of other ways to challenge him.

Omega stepped in closer to us, focusing on me. His approximately six foot three frame towered over me for a moment, and then he bent down a little so he could put his nose to the side of my neck. He took in a deep breath and sighed.

I froze and felt Thoros arm go stiff as his whole body went rigid with anger, tensed for a fight.

“You smell amazing,” Omega said, and then moved his nose into my hair and breathed in again. “So good,” he whispered, stepping into my personal space and drawing yet another heavy breath.

“Isaiah, please warn Thoros not to do anything rash. Omega is just testing us and we need his help. The more Thoros shows jealousy, the more he will feed on it and push his buttons. Let him know I do not want Omega and there is nothing the guy can do to make me change my mind about who I’ve chosen to be with.”

“You are quite right. We don’t want Thoros getting into a fight with the only person who has agreed to take us to Melina. I fear it would not go in our favor.”

“It wouldn’t,” Aries said out loud, but remained looking forward, not at me or the soldier sniffing me.

I could tell the instant Thoros received the message; his body relaxed a little.

“It must be Thoros’ body wash you smell.”

Omega pulled his head back from my hair and looked down at me with those odd but very beautiful eyes of his. Ignoring the tension Thoros was radiating from my left side, Omega leaned down and was very close to kissing my lips when I heard the crack of Thoros knuckles as his fingers closed into a tight fist.

“You kiss her, and I will instantly become curious about which one of us is stronger. I was in Hell for almost two centuries. I’m betting on me.”

Omega chuckled as his smile grew, but he kept his eyes on me. I sucked in a deep breath and looked to his lips as they inched closer to mine, and then I looked back up to his eyes. “And you’ll have to fight him with only one hand, because I’m pretty sure you will be holding your aching balls with the other.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a fact. It’s impossible for angels to lie.” Well, it used to be impossible, but he didn’t have to know I was lying.

Omega took a step back from me, his eyes narrowing into slits as he studied us. “He just said he spent almost two centuries in Hell. I was informed all of you were from Heaven.”

I shook my head. “No, I said that
we
are from Heaven. I meant Isaiah and me.” I nodded my head in the direction of Isaiah, refusing to lose eye contact with Omega. I didn’t trust him. “I never specified that all of us were from Heaven. Thoros is a half-souled immortal that lives on Earth now. Ethan, Emma and Aries are all mortals.”

He smiled mischievously. “Did you come all the way here to offer them to Limbo in person? How sweet.”

Thoros cleared his throat in irritation. “Certainly not. They are with us and they will leave with us.”

Omega looked to Thoros. “How did you escape from Hell?”

“Until I call you a friend, I don’t believe that’s any of your business. You sniffing my soulmate will not get you to
friend
status. You understand?”

Omega gave a hearty laugh. “You actually believe you are soulmates? How cute!” He shook his head, his smile still in place. “There is no such thing—”

“Really?” I said. “Maybe you should ask Melina about hers and see if she agrees with you. That’s actually why we are here. We have a very special gift to offer her in exchange for her help.”

Omega lost his smile, and any humor was immediately removed from his face. His mouth shut with a silent clap and the muscles in his jaw flexed a few times as he ground his top molars into his bottom molars. It appeared he was jealous.

Was he? Did he have a relationship with Melina? I was suddenly afraid I had said too much. It was a possibility that we would never see the queen. He now knew the gift we had to offer her had something to do with a soulmate she had obviously never mentioned. I didn’t know if that was good news or bad news for us.

“Come on. I will take you to her. I’m sure the guards explained Queen Melina may not let you leave once the gate closes. I have nothing to do with that, nor a way to help you if it happens.”

I let out a breath in relief as I nodded. “We understand.”

Without another word, Omega turned toward the open gate. A large tattoo, arched and covering his shoulder blades in Old English font, spelled out his name:
O M E G A.

Instead of walking in front of me, Thoros stayed close to my side and found my hand with his as we fell into Omega’s footsteps.

The beasts began to growl and snarl as we entered the gate and into the fog. The gate closed, and the finality of the lock clicking into place caused my heart to skip a beat.

“Can you call off your dogs, please?” Emma asked.

Omega didn’t look back as he replied to her plea. “Nothing will harm you unless I want it to or you stray from me.”

“That’s comforting to know,” Emma said.

Instead of giving her another response, Omega came to a halt in front of us. We moved up beside him and noticed he had stopped before a ferry boat. It was rocking in the wake; the sight of it sent chills up my arms. I did not want to ride on that thing. It looked like it was about to fall apart.

“Each one of you must pay a toll to ride across the lake.”

“We didn’t bring anything with us,” I said, hoping he would come up with another way to get across. I could walk around if I had to.

Omega’s lips curved up at the corners. “You actually brought a lot with you.”

“What kind of toll are we required to pay?” Thoros asked, and pulled me tighter to his body. I felt the tension in his body and knew he expected something awful. Suddenly, I was nervous, too.

Omega shrugged. “Nothing much. Just one of your senses.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “We have to give up our five senses? For how long?”

Omega shrugged. “Indefinitely.”

“Are you insane?”

Omega turned his head to the side as he studied me. “Do you normally ask for your payment back after you pay for services?”

“I do not pay for services! I can get everything I want on my own!”

Omega crossed his thick arms over his chest. “I’d like to see you try.”

“C’mon, Josselyn, we’ll just fleet to the other side and wait for him there,” Thoros said and grabbed Ethan’s hand.

Omega smirked as we linked hands together, but didn’t speak.

Isaiah took my other hand, but nothing happened. “It’s not working,” he said.

I opened my eyes and stared at him in disbelief. “What do you mean it’s not working?”

“You try.”

I closed my eyes, thought about my destination and… nothing happened. “Well, there goes my bright idea of fleeting out of here if Melina says no to us leaving.”

“Unnatural powers do not work inside the gate. If you weren’t born with it, you don’t have it here.” Omega’s eyes flitted to Thoros, a smirk playing across his lips. “Still want to see which of us is stronger? I’m betting on me.”

A low growl bubbled up from Thoros’ chest, but Isaiah must have talked him down again, because he gave a big huff and looked away from Omega to stare at the lake.

“How far is it across? We can swim it. Each of us can help a mortal to the other side.”

Omega walked over to me and ripped a piece of material from the bottom of my shirt. It wasn’t a large piece of cloth, but it was enough that my belly button showed. I immediately covered the bare skin by pulling the remaining material down.

Thoros lunged, but I stepped in front of him to keep him from attacking Omega. After he realized I was there, he grabbed me with his shaking arms and hugged me hard.

He glared up at Omega after several seconds. “What the hell was that about?”

“Watch,” Omega said, and we all turned to look. He tossed the cotton to the pea gravel by the bank. Once the water washed up on it, we all knew why he had done it. It wasn’t water; it was some form of acid. The material disintegrated on contact. “Just trying to save you a little pain. If you die here, you stay here. Still want to go for a swim?”

Thoros shrugged me to the side and quick-stepped in Omega’s direction.

“Thoros, no!” I screamed.

He stopped and stuck his index finger in the center of Omega’s chest. “That’s strike two, asshole.”

Omega grinned. “We playing baseball? It’s my favorite game.”

Ignoring Omega’s snarky comment, Thoros looked at the ferry boat. “There’s nothing else we can pay to get across this lake?”

“There is one other thing you can give up, but most choose to give up one of their senses after they’ve heard what it is.”

When it was apparent Omega wasn’t going to tell us what it was without us pushing, I spoke up before Thoros decided to wrap his fingers around Omega’s throat. “What is it?”

“A memory.”

“That’s all? One memory?” I said, and then took Thoros’ arm, pulling him away from Omega. We were wasting time. “We can do that, right Thoros?” I turned around to look at the others. “Guys?” They all nodded in agreement, so I looked back to Thoros as he glared at Omega.

Thoros’ breathing was loud and shallow as he shook his head. “I don’t like it. It feels like a trick. Why would other people choose to give up one of their senses instead of a memory?”

“Because the ferry takes your favorite one. You don’t just share the memory, you lose it completely. The way the two of you are clinging together it’s obvious you love each other very much. If you fell in love at first sight, it’s possible the ferry could take that memory from you. Here’s the trick, if it takes that memory then every happy memory after that one you spent together will be erased, too. It will be as if the two of you never met. Are you sure your love for one another is strong enough to forget the first time you made love?” Omega leaned in toward Thoros and sniffed the air around him. “Or even the second time?”

How the hell did he know about that?
I thought, and then watched as Thoros’ face turned a deep shade of burgundy. He bent and grabbed a handful of tiny pebbles at his feet and then chucked them out into the acid lake with a loud scream of anguish. He bent down and grabbed two handfuls, threw them, bent again to grab more, but before he could throw them I was in his arms and assuring him that everything would be okay.

He shook his head as his body trembled in my arms, but he dropped the small stones and wrapped his arms around me. “It won’t be all right, Josselyn. The only happy memories I’ve ever had are about you. I can’t let them take even one. I can’t let you do it, either. I’m sorry, but it would crush me if you forgot about me.” He clung tighter, and I nodded to set his mind at ease. I didn’t want to forget anything about him, either.

I turned to Omega. “I give up my sense of taste.”

“So do I,” Thoros said, agreeing that it was the least needed.