Read The Lariat (Finding Justus Series) for Free Online Page B

we have this strange chemistry, but I refuse to add anyone else to my team. ”
    He sipped his coffee unfazed, “I’m not asking.”
    “And I’m not accepting.”
    “You don’t have a choice, Beacon. Either you accept my help or I demand it from you.”
    He was cruel to remind me. If he phrased it like a request for help, then I would be powerless to resist.
    “I am going to assume for a moment that you know enough of Lillith and the prophecy surrounding your creation.”
    I rolled me eyes, “You assume correctly.”
    “There are those who would like to see that prophecy come true. As the Queen of Hell, she has many allies that would help her, especially now that she has been imprisoned in Hell and not allowed to come to Earth any longer.”
    “But she can still use a host, possess a human being. I have been ready and waiting for the day she shows up.”
    “Really,” he scoffed, “Losing your senses and yourself in alcohol is hardly what I would call ready and waiting.”
    “Shut up,” I boiled.
    He just laughed.
    “You’re right, but it’s not her.”
    “I thought it would be. But then again, I would have felt her. Her presence would have come over me like it has in the past. I would have felt her in my soul even if she was disembodied.”
    “I agree. You would have felt her. It seems someone else is after you now too.” Cyrus rubbed his stubbled chin with his forefinger driving me to distraction.
    “Now I feel the need to inform you, this isn’t my first rodeo with deamonic entities. I’ve gone up against Lillith twice now. Besides being the Beacon, it is my sole mission to stop that damned prophecy from coming true. I teamed up with Orias when I took a walk through Hell itself for a friend a few years back. Whatever big bad uglies lay in wait, I’m okay. Lay it on me.”
    He smiled, unimpressed, “Like I said before. I know much more than you think, which is much more than you want me to know.” He waited for that information to sink in for good this time. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but Cyrus, like Orrin, was here for a reason. All members of the Vulgar, we were few and far between. We did not move or take action without reason. Cyrus fancied himself my hero and I was about to nip those ideas in the bud.
    “Listen, if you have something to say…
    “No, you listen. I still have,” he glanced at his cell, “seventeen minutes.”
    “And you are getting on my nerves.”
    “I know,” he offered. I sat there while he searched my eyes for the slightest bit of amusement. When he found none, he continued, “Okay, okay. By now you know there is only one daemon truly more powerful than Lillith and it’s not Orias.”
    “I read about a few others who have that power,” I cut in. “Sorath and Azazel.”
    “No. Those are still minor daemons in comparison.”
    “Minor? You’re calling those guys minor?”
    “In comparison, yes.” he answered.
    “There was only one angel created by God with the ability to affect the human world and the people in it. He retained this power when he fell and claimed the throne of the Underworld.”
    I sat up, sure I was misinterpreting his comments. I could feel my daemon curl into itself and growl.
    “This daemon leaves a very distinct calling card.” He rolled his sleeve revealing three slashes on his forearm. It reminded me of the scar that was left on Jamie after I pulled the metal from her chest and healed her.
    With a will of their own, my fingers moved to touch his dark scar. Like an assailing camera flash, an image of Cyrus in full armor, wings spread, was fighting back a monstrous black figure. It knocked his heavy sword away with ease and then slashed the long bloody grooves into Cyrus’ arm. After that he was gone. The figure left Cyrus with his pain and impending death.
    For that long moment I could feel the poison within him, his anger, his determination to live and kill the daemon another day.
    And as abruptly as it began, it ended.