Chapter Nine
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“IDIOT,” AMAROS MUTTERED. He was still kicking himself about how he’d broken the news to Zoe that she couldn’t have children with humans. He wasn’t even bonded to the cambion yet, but he’d felt her pain as if it was his own. It was like a phantom stab wound right through his heart.
He felt his companions’ eyes on him as he strode towards the gas station. The men standing guard spotted him when he reached a lamppost. Even armed, none of these humans were a threat to him.
“Stop right there, son!” the oldest man called out, lifting an antique shotgun to his shoulder. From his stance and practiced movements, he knew how to use it. The old man stood on the bed of a pickup truck, all the better to lord his new position over his lackeys.
Amaros kept going and sized up his opponents.
A few were seniors with white hair like the man who was aiming his shotgun at him.
The rest were young yokels, excited at the prospect of shooting an unarmed man.
They all wore jeans and t-shirts. Some had jackets around their waists, ready to don them once the sun went down completely.
“I won’t warn you again,” the elder said, then shifted his finger to the trigger.
Unwilling to traumatize the females, Amaros decided on a non-lethal approach to deal with this trash.
All Knights of Order were imbued with inhuman speed and strength.
He became a blur of motion as he launched himself at his opponents.
Startled squawks and yelps of pain came from the men as the warrior used his fists to subdue them.
He started towards the pickup truck last. A shot rang out, making the girls gasp in reaction.
“Amaros!” Zoe shouted from inside the car.
She’d chosen to sit in the back with Grace to keep her distance from him.
He heard the car door open, but he was already taking care of the elder.
The shot had missed him, of course. It hadn’t even come close to hitting him, since he’d already anticipated the attack.
“What are you?” the old man gasped. His throat was held in the firm grip of the creature that had leaped onto the truck and now loomed over him.
“I’m here to judge your worthiness, human,” Amaros growled, staring into the terrified man’s bloodshot eyes. “You and your minions reek of evil. Your souls are tainted by the ill deeds you’ve performed. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t eradicate you all right now.”
“We’re Godfearing Christians!” the human stammered, clutching the steely wrist of his assailant. “The Lord didn’t take us because he wants us to remain behind and protect our town!”
“Wrong,” Amaros said, squeezing a bit harder. The human’s face was turning purple. “You were left behind because none of you deserved to ascend to heaven.”
“We’ll change!” the human bleated. “I swear to the Holy Father we’ll be good!”
“Let him go,” Zoe called out. She’d climbed out of the car and was examining the unconscious men sprawled on the ground. He’d made sure none of them would wake up in a hurry. “Let’s just get some gas and keep moving,” she added.
“You owe your worthless, pathetic life to her mercy,” Amaros said contemptuously, then snatched the shotgun out of the old man’s hand. Letting go of his throat, he snapped the gun in half, then tossed it to the ground.
Zoe waited for him to drag the bodies out of the way, then drove her car to a fuel pump. Amaros filled the tank, keeping his eye on the cowering elder. He was on his knees in the truck, praying loudly to the God who’d forsaken him.
“We’ll be seeing a lot of this,” Grace predicted, eyeing the unconscious men. Amaros could have killed them all, but he’d merely rendered them senseless. They barely even had any wounds.
“The vilest people will take any advantage they can over anyone who’s weaker than them,” Zoe agreed.
“At least we have a big, strong knight to watch over us,” the kid said slyly, knowing the warrior could hear her. “Maybe you should forgive him for dropping the no-kids with human men bombshell on us.”
“Why should I do that?” Zoe asked, tossing her hair back in annoyance with a flick of her fingers.
“The sexual tension between you two is thick enough to chew,” Gracelyn said with a cheeky grin. “At least it was until he opened his big mouth and shoved both feet into it.”
Amaros turned his head to glower at the teen. Her response was to widen her smirk, then climb out of the car. “I’m going to grab some snacks,” she said.
“I’ll go with you,” Zoe offered. “I need to freshen up.”
Even after all this time, Amaros noted that some things never changed.
Women still went to the bathroom in either pairs or in packs.
Keeping his amusement to himself, he finished filling the tank, then washed the windshield.
It was filthy from taking backroads that were sometimes just dirt tracks to avoid people.
Thinking back to when she’d ordered them to get out of her car, Amaros knew there was more to Zoe Zayden than there seemed.
Still young for her kind, she’d spoken with an authority that he was used to using himself.
His men obeyed his orders without question because they knew they could trust his instincts.
Did this alluring cambion possess the same leadership qualities that he did?
If so, then maybe that was why Fate had tossed him into her path.
The keening noises Zoe had made between her screams of rage still lingered in his mind. Her anger and sorrow had chased away every living creature within hearing distance of her car. The knight had wanted to vanish into the ether for causing her so much grief.
“Did you see how fast Amaros moved?” he heard Grace whisper from inside the gas station.
“Yeah, it was kind of impressive,” Zoe said grudgingly.
“Do you think he could teach me how to fight?” the kid mused.
“Aren’t you already stronger and faster than normal humans?” Zoe asked.
“Of course, but I don’t have many fighting skills,” Grace told her. “I’m good at stealing and slinking around in the shadows. Punching and kicking my enemies isn’t in my skill set.”
“I’m sure he’s listening to us right now,” Zoe said sourly. “Will you teach Grace how to fight?” she asked without raising her voice.
“We’ll see,” Amaros replied, climbing into the front passenger seat.
He could no longer feel the same level of anger emanating from Zoe.
With luck, she would tolerate him sitting next to her again.
It was far more comfortable to sleep reclining in the front seat than scrunched against the door in the back.
It wasn’t easy to ignore the fact that he simply wanted to be closer to her, but he managed it.
“He sounds like a dad,” Grace said glumly. “Everyone knows ‘we’ll see’ always means no.”
Amaros sighed loudly enough for them to hear him and was rewarded with twin giggles.
The females returned a short while later, carrying more provisions.
Zoe placed her pilfered goods in the back, then slid behind the wheel.
Giving him a sidelong look, she didn’t order him to return to the back seat.
He was careful to hide his relieved smile as she took off.
“How much longer will we have to drive before we get to wherever we’re going?” Grace asked. She tore open a packet of chips and dug in.
“I think we’re getting close,” Zoe replied. “If we keep going in this direction, we’ll end up in the mountains.”
“That would be ideal,” Amaros mused. “We need a base somewhere secluded, so humans won’t easily discover us.”
“My intuition knows what it’s doing,” the cambion said with a slight scowl.
“I don’t doubt your instincts, Zoe,” he said. “I’m simply thinking out loud.”
“Uh, oh,” Grace said cheekily. “I can feel the sexual tension returning.”
“Shut up back there and eat your dinner,” Zoe ordered without any real heat.
“Okay, mom,” the kid retorted. “Do you want some food?”
“I’ll have cookies,” Zoe requested. She’d placed a bottle of water in the cupholder to sip from as she drove.
Traveling with two females was a new experience for Amaros.
This must be what having a family felt like.
Zoe was nowhere near old enough to be Gracelyn’s mother, but she had maternal instincts.
The thought of her being his wife thrilled him more than he’d expected.
They could be joined in every way possible if she accepted their bond.
Zoe picked up on his mood change and he felt her shifting to peer at him. His eyes were closed and his seat was reclined. Willing his groin to behave, Amaros banished a picture of her naked and beneath him before he could get hard.
“Tone it down, dude,” Grace said. “I know I’m technically an adult, but I’m too young to be subjected to the sexual pheromones that are pouring off you right now.”
Zoe snickered, then they both burst into laughter. Amaros muttered beneath his breath, wishing the females weren’t quite so intuitive.