The Demon Creed (A Demon Outlaws Novel) (Entangled Edge) (27 page)

His entire body ached. His face throbbed, and he knew his cheekbone had cracked beneath the demon’s first blow, and that the cut still bled, although not badly.

He would always come for her, but now, somehow, he had
to get her home and back to her son.

When he was in demon form he was as close to full-blooded as it was possible to be, with many of its talents, although he had never fully explored them.

Yet he remained mortal, and tied to that world.

He was two parts of a whole. He belonged to two worlds. In this one he had to trust in his demon. In its form, he could carry Nieve across the boundary—back to the world he and his demon had been born to.

“I have to change again,” he said.

Nieve didn’t turn away so that she did not have to watch, but simply nodded her understanding and waited.

Creed shifted. He pulled Nieve against him, and he thought of Asher, and the mortal world, and what might be happening at Hunter’s ranch.

And they were there.

The yard was in chaos. Hunter stood by the stairs to the house, speaking to Airie, holding Imp by one hand and Ash by the other as if he were afraid they might both disappear. Tears streaked his wife’s cheeks.

Creed landed in full demon form, his broad feet thudding hard in the dirt, Nieve pressed against him. Everything stopped.

He shifted to mortal form.

Then Asher shook free of Hunter’s hand, and came running across the yard toward them, his little legs pumping. He flung himself at Creed, who caught him under the arms and lifted him high.

Chapter Twenty-two

“You shouldn’t go back,” Hunter had said to Creed when the dust settled and calm returned. “Not yet. Not for a few years. Let Blade deal with the Godseekers and assassins, and show them the value of working with half demons, not against them. He was once one of them. He knows them as well as anyone.”

Creed was not yet certain what he planned to do. Blade and Raven had their life together in the Godseeker Mountains. Hunter and Airie were happy in the Borderlands, and had a baby on the way. Cottonwood Fall had seen the benefit of having the Demon Slayer nearby. These were good and decent people, and Hunter was one of them. He’d been born here, and gone to their aid when they’d needed him, and they were not likely to forget it anytime soon.

By nature, Creed was a content and social man. He liked people and companionship. If not for the demon in him, he would never have come to the attention of Godseeker assassin recruiters. He had accepted that life because he’d seen no other options.

And yet he continued to believe in the Godseekers’ primary purpose, which was to bring justice to the world. But Creed wanted justice for all. If he went back, he might or might not be welcome now that his demon side had been so publicly exposed. Even if he were welcome to return as a Godseeker assassin, sooner or later he would be forced to choose sides between half demons and mortals.

He would not do it. He could not. He would rather see the world embrace their similarities, not fight over differences.

A lot also depended on Nieve’s wishes.

Ash was already asleep in the bedroom that she shared with him. Airie had suggested it, and Nieve had accepted with an alacrity that had hardly come as a surprise to anyone, let alone Creed.

But he had spent weeks alone with her and missed her quiet companionship. The few hours after Ash’s bedtime were the only opportunity he had to speak with her in private, and more often than not, he found her too distracted for conversation and unwilling to share her thoughts.

The first time she’d accused him of being a demon, he should have seen how afraid she was of being drawn in and manipulated against her wishes. He should have understood why. Even after she’d gone to live with Bear the only freedom left to her had come from her thoughts, and those, she protected as fiercely as she did her young son.

Getting her to share them with him, even now that Ash’s father could no longer reach her, wouldn’t be easy. She’d have to trust him. Have complete faith in him.

She would have to love him.

He did not know what he meant to her now that she had her son. The connection between them remained. It had not broken, but neither had it strengthened. An image came to him of the gray-faced sheriff in Desert’s End, Fledge, who had clung to life despite death’s inevitable approach. If it came to a choice between a fast and painful severing or a slow and corrosive withering of their connection, then Creed would take fast severance.

So, this evening, he had asked Nieve to go for a short walk with him. Even now, as they skirted the edge of the main paddock and followed a worn path to a nearby creek, she would turn every so often as if to guarantee that the house had not disappeared behind them.

In the distance, beyond the shrub-stippled banks of the creek, the lights of Cottonwood Fall twinkled one by one as dusk slowly settled. The town had not been seriously damaged, but only because Willow had concentrated her efforts elsewhere. The inhabitants did not know how lucky they were. In the past, others had not been so fortunate. It was likely that some would not be in the future either, as more half demons emerged from hiding.

The path wound upward for a short while, then dipped downward toward murmuring waters that swirled in fast-flowing eddies before settling into slower, deeper pools.

He had more decisions to make, and Nieve’s wishes would figure prominently in them.

Nieve reached for his hand to steady herself as she picked her way over loose rocks scattered along the creek’s edge. Hers was warm and small, lost within the enormousness of his, but with much greater durability than it would at first seem. He lifted it to examine it with close curiosity, running his thumb across her rough palm.

She tried to retract it, as if embarrassed by either its condition or his examination.

He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Your hands are very representative of you,” he said. “They sum you up well. They’re slender, well-formed, and beautiful on one side, but underneath, where it counts the most, they’re tough and capable.”

Pleasure at his words flooded her green eyes, along with a pretty blush that heightened the loveliness of her face. He had to concentrate on regaining his ability to breathe so he could finish what he had brought her out here to say.

“Ash has done well with Airie and Hunter. He can continue to learn a lot from them,” Creed said. Immediately, the pleasure in her eyes died away to be replaced with caution. He tightened his clasp on her fingers. “It’s good for him to see what the relationship between an immortal and a mortal should be. That it’s not built on domination by one over the other, but a connection between two people who each have something to offer.” Nieve did not reply, but she was listening. He took that as a good sign. “Hunter says he and Airie are planning to keep Imp and her companions. Airie wants to set up a community for half demons similar to the one that Raven and Blade have begun. You and Ash should think about staying. You have nowhere else to go.”

“I’m not certain Airie and Hunter will find any support from the townspeople for this plan of theirs,” she said.

“They’ll have mine. I don’t want to return to the Godseeker Mountains. Neither do I want to give up on my original purpose, which is to find and save as many half demons as I can. I could let it be known that the Borderlands, and Cottonwood Fall, both have a place for unwanted children. Families who can’t cope on their own could bring them here.”

Nieve looked at the ground. “Caring for others is what you do best. But I need to find work to support Ash and me so I can take care of us, and I don’t think I’ll find that in Cottonwood Fall anytime soon.”

Creed tipped her chin with a finger so he could read her face. “Do you still want a dozen more children and a place for them to be safe?”

“Yes.” She bit her lip, and seemed to choose her words carefully. “But I also want more than that. For weeks I’ve thought only of finding Ash and never stopped to consider what else might matter to me. I was afraid that if I stopped thinking of him I’d forget him again. Any happiness or pleasure I experienced made me feel guilty, and unfit as a mother. Now that I have him back, I regret not acknowledging other things.”

He could see her heart in her eyes.

She meant him.

A heavy load shifted from his heart so that it began to beat again. She had to know that his feelings for her had not changed. Nor would they ever. He had fought a demon for her. He’d helped save her son.

She had claimed him.

But she guarded her emotions too closely for him to be certain what he saw in her was truth. She had to say the words he wanted to hear.

“Putting a child first is as it should be,” Creed said. “But there’s nothing wrong with also wanting something more for yourself.”

“To answer your question, yes. I could love a dozen children or more.” She looked into his eyes. Dimples flashed at the corners of her lips, then as quickly disappeared. “But I could only ever love one man.”

“Even a man that you fear?” He could not live with that. He wanted her trust as well as her love, because the coming years would not be easy ones. With half demons, discipline would need to be harsh. He’d try to protect her from that, but she needed to know. “I’ll use every demon talent I possess if I have to. The world is changing. I can’t ignore what I am.”

“You are so much more than a demon. I’m not afraid of you. I haven’t been since the first day we met. I’ve been afraid to love you. Because of Ash.”

“And now?” She would have to say the words. He did not dare to hope.

“My life will never be complete without you. Not even having Asher back could make up for your loss. Someday he’ll grow up and leave me again. That, too, is as it should be. But I’ve already claimed the man I want to keep me company for the rest of my life. I’ll never choose another.” She slid her arms around his waist and tipped her head back so that she could see him. Her green eyes softened. “But any claim I have on you is through your demon, and I want more than that. I want your love again. You have no idea how much I’ve regretted not telling you I love you before we found Asher. I’d planned to tell you that day. And after, the timing seemed wrong.”

“Say it again,” Creed commanded.

“I love you.” Nieve smiled at him. It was filled with a broad and consuming joy that spilled across her upturned face and brightened the evening around them. His heart expanded with the awareness that he had played a part in putting that smile there. Everything she felt—the love, the hope, and the joy—embraced him.

“Could you raise Ash here?” Creed asked. “And a dozen more like him? With me?”

She rested her chin on his chest and appeared to be thinking it over. “He does seem to be taken with you. I suppose the others would be fond of you, too.”

“Everyone likes me.”

“It’s because you’re so modest,” Nieve said.

Creed took her face in his hands and kissed her lips. A fish jumped in the creek, the splash as it landed loud in the quiet air. Somewhere in the night the wolvens howled, calling to each other as they gathered to hunt.

This land was not so very different from what they had left behind. His goals had not changed. He wanted to make a difference. He did not think he could do that without Nieve. She was his reason for carrying on. His proof that mortals could stand against demons and half demons, and come out the better for it.

“I’ll build you a house. I’ll spend the rest of my life making you happy,” he said. “I want you to have everything you deserve.”

“I have everything I could ever want right now. I can’t imagine what more you think would make me happy, or that anyone could deserve.” A frown crossed her face. “I have no idea what made you help me in the first place. I tried to kill you.”

Creed laughed at the memory. “That’s right. You shot me.”

“That’s funny to you?”

She looked so indignant it made him laugh harder. “It’s what made me love you.” He held her close as he sobered. “You seemed so tiny. So helpless and defeated. And then you proved that you were anything but. You look forward, Nieve. You never look back. That’s what makes you a survivor. I can’t imagine anyone more perfect for me. I hope I’m worthy of you.”

She smoothed a hand over the tattoo on his back, beneath his shirt. It tingled and warmed, sending a thrill of anticipation through him, but it did not catch fire. Inside, his demon purred its contentment.

“You’re going to change the world,” Nieve said. “I have no idea what the future will bring, but I do know that I want to be standing beside you when it arrives.”

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank Julie Taylor, owner of Skin Decision Piercing & Tattoo Studio, for designing Creed’s fabulous tattoo, and also for reading my books.

As always, Kerri-Leigh Grady is an editor extraordinaire. I’m a bit sad the Demon Outlaws are finished. They wouldn’t be what they are without her.

My husband and sons, my mother, my sisters, and my brother are all hugely supportive. I couldn’t ask for more from my family than what they already give me.

And last but not least, I have some amazing writer friends at Entangled. Thanks to Robin Bielman and Roxanne Snopek for smiling and nodding a lot when I talk all kinds of crazy, and offering to ride shotgun on late-night excursions. Samanthe Beck, Hayson Manning, and EJ Russell are usually good for suggestions on where to hide bodies. I’m so glad that what happened in Vegas didn’t stay entirely in Vegas. You guys are great.

About the Author

Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Once a manager in the aerospace industry, she now enjoys the luxury of working from home and writing full-time. Paula also co-authors paranormal romance under the pseudonym Taylor Keating. Visit her at
www.paulaaltenburg.com
.

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