I nodded. “He’s had his chances. He’s squandered them, and he has no interest in anything but killing and causing pain and suffering to others. He needs to be stopped, and he won’t be taken alive.”
“I know. I’d hoped otherwise, but I know. And I know that it’s you he wants to hurt. I just wanted you to know that if you do have to kill him, I won’t resent you for it. I know you’ve spared him for me in the past, but don’t do that again. I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way just to keep him alive. You need to do what you need to do.”
“I know.” I paused. “Thanking you sounds weird, so I won’t do that, but I’m glad you told me.”
“Do you think you can beat him?”
“Yes,” I said without a second thought. “I’ve done it before; I’ll do it again.”
“I’d very much rather you didn’t die, Nathan Garrett.”
“You and me both.” I leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. I’ve survived everything else that’s been thrown at me over the years—what’s one more thing?”
“Even if your enemy is more powerful than any you’ve faced before?”
“You know that as far as pep talks go, you suck at them.”
Selene laughed. “Yeah, sorry about that. I can buy a cheerleader outfit if that would help.”
I shrugged. “It might. I wouldn’t want to commit to something until I’d seen it myself.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t want to commit? That’s very kind of you.”
“You’ll just have to see how I react to you wearing one, and we’ll go from there.”
Selene stopped walking and pulled me back, kissing me on the lips. “Oh we will, will we?”
I winked. “I could wear the cheerleader outfit, if you’d prefer. I’m not sure I have the legs for it.”
Selene laughed again. “I think you’d look sexy.”
“Are you two done?” Harrison called. “Or do you need to get a room?”
“Do you have a room available?” I asked. “Just curious.”
“We’ll resume this conversation at a later date,” Selene said. “In private.”
“I look forward to it.”
I kissed Selene and ran to catch up to Harrison. “You might not be taking this seriously, but my men sure as hell are,” he snapped.
“Harrison, I take everything seriously when I hunt someone. But you know what? I don’t think a little levity in a situation like this is a bad thing. I’m not a soldier, I’m not regimented and regulated, and we have some time until we reach the area you think Lee is hiding. But for you, I’ll look somber and scowl a lot more.”
“You want to know why I don’t like you? It’s because you don’t take things seriously. You joke and mock. You don’t show anyone the respect they’re due.”
“I show a lot of people the respect they’re due, if I think they’re due it. I respect Galahad. I mock him because we’re friends.”
“He’s a king.”
“Not my king. You don’t have to like me, Harrison. I may joke and mock people, I may be sarcastic and a smart-ass, but when it comes down to it, I’m fairly sure you’d rather have me on your side than opposing you. The joking is just my way of dealing with everything, of allowing myself to not be consumed by the awfulness of everything happening around me. If you don’t like that, tough, because I haven’t changed for people I respect a lot more than you.”
“I understand why you have so many people who want to line up to kill you,” Harrison said through gritted teeth. “I just don’t understand how you’re not dead a hundred times over.”
“Essentially it’s because I’m stubborn. I’m just too stubborn to lie down and let death take me. And it won’t be taking me today, either.”
“Commander,” one of Harrison’s guards said.
“Yes, trooper,” Harrison said to the young female guard.
“We’ve had a report from the recon team. The ruins are approximately twenty minutes’ walk from here. There are no obvious guards there, and nothing to stop us from going inside.”
“Excellent. Tell everyone that they’re to maintain silence on the way there.”
“No,” I said. “I want you all to make as much noise as possible and move on beyond the ruins, as if you have no idea they’re there.”
“That’s insane,” Harrison said. “Why would we want to let Lee know we’re coming?”
“Because you’re not.”
“Want to explain?” Selene said as she caught up with us.
“I’m going in alone,” I said.
“That seems foolish,” Lucifer said. “Even by the standards of stupid things you do.”
“And there have been a lot of them,” Zamek said. “And I haven’t known you long.”
“Okay, and thanks for that,” I started. “But something has been bothering me about all of this. These people . . . Lee, Deimos, Helios, and Atlas. They’re all people who have wanted me dead, and they’re all working for this My Liege group. On top of that, they’ve all come out at the exact same time as someone pretending to be me. So, I want you to make a loop around the ruins and come in after I’ve had a few minutes to get inside and hopefully find Lee.”
“You’re seriously considering this?” Harrison asked. “This isn’t time for a dick-measuring exercise.”
“Actually that’s exactly what it’s time for,” I said. “Lee is all about the dick measuring. That’s the most important thing to him. Looking like the biggest, baddest asshole in the room. That’s all he cares about, and when someone questions that, or makes him look weak, he goes after them. But he always wants people to know why he’s gone after them. He always liked to explain to people why he’s doing it.”
“He’s a James Bond villain,” Lucifer said.
“Yeah, but even dumber. And I don’t plan on getting killed by someone whose IQ is comparable to a wet sponge.”
“And if you’re wrong and he tries to kill you right off the bat?” Harrison asked.
“Then I kill him and bring out his corpse. Or most of his corpse, depending on how it goes.”
“If he’s a creation of Asmodeus, that won’t be easy,” Lucifer said.
“If he somehow got hold of Asmodeus’s soul jar and absorbed a part of the soul, that means he has friends who got him the jar, got him the runes he needed to get the jar to work, and got him the ritual he needed to absorb part of the soul. He didn’t trip and fall and absorb Asmodeus’s soul.”
“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” Harrison said. He turned to the trooper beside him. “Tell everyone we’re going past the ruins. We’re going to make a loop all the way around, and come back at it on the second pass. Officially it’s so we can scout out for possible traps and allies of Lee. Do not tell anyone Nate’s stupid plan. I’d really rather not have people think that stupidity is a good trait to have.”
The trooper ran off.
“You believe in me—that’s touching,” I said to Harrison.
“You’re an idiot, but you’re a powerful idiot who I’ve seen fight. If this Lee asshole wants to fight you, I’d rather you were down there containing him than allow him to have full rein to go at my people. If you do get yourself killed, though, I’m going to laugh my ass off. Fair warning.”