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Eternal Rider (Lords of Deliverance Series #1)by Larissa Ione
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against
They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.
Editorial Reviews
Ione has a true gift for imbuing her characters with dark-edged passion. . . a top notch read."4 stars, RT Book Reviews on Desire Unchained
"Ione brings to life a riveting world filled with sizzling sensuality, dark wit, and wicked hot demons."Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author on Passion Unleashed
"The author's hard-edged style infuses the story with darkness while taking it to sizzling heights."4 stars, RT Book Reviews on Pleasure Unbound
"Wicked...Decadently Sinful...Prepare to be burned."Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author on Desire Unchained
Product Details
- 9780446584456
- Publisher:
- Grand Central Publishing
- Publication date:
- 04/01/2011
- Series:
- Lords of Deliverance Series , #1
- Sold by:
- Hachette Digital, Inc.
- Format:
- NOOK Book
- Pages:
- 432
- Sales rank:
- 54,164
- File size:
Read an Excerpt
Eternal Rider
By Ione, Larissa
Grand Central PublishingCopyright © 2011 Ione, Larissa
All right reserved.
Her name was Lilith, and she was an evil succubus. His name was Yenrieth, and he was a good angel.
After hundreds of years of seducing humans, Lilith got bored. So she set her sights on Yenrieth, the ultimate challenge. He resisted. She pursued. He resisted some more. This went on for decades, until the inevitable happened. She was, after all, beautiful, and he liked his wine a little too much.
No one knows what happened to Yenrieth after their night of passion, but nine months later, Lilith gave birth to four children, three boys and a girl. She named them Reseph, Ares, Limos, and Thanatos. Lilith kept the girl, Limos, with her in Sheoul, and she planted the males in the human world, exchanging them for the infants of wealthy, powerful families.
The boys grew into men, never suspecting the truth about their origins. At least, not until demons rose up, spreading terror and seeking to use Lilith's sons against the humans. Limos escaped from Sheoul, found her brothers, and revealed the truth about their parentage.
By this time, the brothers had seen their lands and families destroyed by demons and, blinded by hatred and the need for revenge, Lilith's children encouraged (manipulatively and forcibly, sometimes) humans to help them fight violent, never-ending battles against the underworld abominations.
This didn't go over well in the heavenly realm.
Zachariel, an angel of the Apocalypse, led a legion of angels to Earth, where they met in battle with demon hordes. When the earth and waters ran red with blood, and humans could no longer survive on the poisoned land, Zachariel struck a deal with the devil.
Lilith's children were to be punished for slinging mankind to the brink of doom in their selfish bid for revenge. Because they had nearly brought about the end of days, they were charged as the keepers of Armageddon. Defenders or instigators; the choice would fall on their shoulders.
Each of them was given a Seal, and with each Seal came two prophecies. Should they protect their Seals from breaking until the prophecy laid out by the Bible came to pass, they would save their souls—and mankind.
But should they allow the Seals to be broken prematurely, as written in the Daemonica, the demon bible, they would turn evil, and would forever be known by the names Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death.
And thus were born the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Six Months Ago…
"Mmm… I love the story about how you came into existence. Doesn't it give you shivers when you hear it?"
Ares, seated at the bar in an underworld pub, tried to ignore the female behind him, but the rub of her breasts against his back and the slide of her dainty hands from his waist to his inner thighs weren't easy to tune out. Her heat burned right through his hard leather armor.
"Yeah. Shivers." Some idiot read the legend aloud from the plaque that hung on the wall every time he was in here… which was often. The tavern, kept in business mainly by Ares and his siblings, was his second home, was even known as the Four Horsemen, and for the most part, male demons melted into the background or scurried out the back door when Ares arrived. Wise. Ares despised demons, and that, combined with his love of a good fight, led to… bad things… for hell's minions.
But the opposite sex was a little braver—or maybe hornier. Female demons, shifters, weres, and vamps hung out twenty-four-seven in hopes of getting their hands, paws, or hooves on Ares and his brothers. Hell, Ares couldn't swing his dick without hitting one. Usually he was a little more receptive to drinking, gambling, and general mischief, but something wasn't sitting right today. He was on edge. Twitchy.
He was never like that.
He was even in danger of losing the chess game he was playing with the pudgy pink Oni bartender, and Ares hadn't lost any game of strategy in… well, ever.
"Oh, War." The female Sora demon, Cetya, ran her tongue along the top of his ear. "You've got to know it makes us hot."
"My name," he gritted out, "is Ares. You don't want to be around on the day I become War." He moved his rook, tossed back half his ale, and was about to signal for another, when the female's hand dropped between his legs.
"I still like War better." Her voice was a seductive trill, her fingers nimble as they sought the opening at his groin. "And Pestilence… such a sexy name."
Only a demon would think "Pestilence" was a turn-on. Ares peeled her red hand away. She was one of Reseph's regular bedmates, one of hundreds of Horsemen groupies who called themselves Megiddo Mount-me's. They even subclassed themselves according to who their favorite Horseman was; Ares's groupies liked to be called Mongers. War Mongers.
The bartender made a foolish move with his knight, and Ares hid a smile in his mug.
The female, who looked like a cartoon devil, traced a long, black nail over the stallion tattoo on Ares's forearm. "I love this."
The horse was as much a part of him as his organs, whether Battle was on his skin or under his seat, and Ares stiffened at the sensation of both his arm and scalp being stroked. Any contact with the glyph sent a shock of sensation to the corresponding parts of Ares's body, which could be a real pain in the ass. Or it could be inappropriately pleasant…
Ares spun his mug down the length of the bar top and slid his queen into striking position. Triumph sang through him, filling that space in his soul that was always hungry for victory. "Checkmate."
The bartender cursed, the Sora laughed, and Ares came to his feet. At nearly seven feet tall, he dwarfed the demon, but that didn't faze her, and she plastered the entire length of her tank-topped, miniskirted body to his. Her tail swished on the hay-strewn floor, her black horns swiveled like pointy satellite dishes, and if her gaze grew any hotter his breeches were going to get real uncomfortable.
He despised his body's reaction to demons, had never truly warmed up to females who didn't at least appear to be human.
Some grudges lasted a lifetime.
"I'm outta here." Despite the chess coup, his unease was becoming an itch under his skin, the way it did when a global war escalated. He needed to get back to the hunt for an ex-bedmate of his, a demon named Sin who had started a werewolf—or, warg, as they liked to be called—plague. Ares and his siblings had only recently determined that she was the key to a prophecy that, if it came to pass, would break Reseph's Seal and turn him into the very thing Cetya wanted: Pestilence.
Sin had to die before a werewolf civil war broke out.
Unable to remain still any longer, he flung a gold Sheoulin mark at the three-eyed bartender. "A round for the house."
With a firm grip, he dislodged the Velcro-demon and strode out of the tavern and into perpetual twilight. Muggy, hot air that reeked of sulfur filled his lungs, and his boots sank into the spongy terrain that defined the Six-River region of Sheoul, the demon realm in the Earth's core.
Battle writhed on his skin, impatient to run.
"Out," Ares commanded, and a heartbeat later, the tattoo on his arm turned to mist, expanding and solidifying into a giant blood bay stallion. Battle nudged him with his nose in greeting—or, more likely, for sugar cubes.
"You forgot this."
Always ready to live up to his name, Battle bared his teeth at the Sora, who stood in the tavern doorway, her tail wrapped around the hilt of a dagger, which she dangled playfully. The blatant invitation in her sultry smile told him she'd plucked the weapon from Ares herself, but he knew that. He didn't leave weapons behind.
Of course, he never got weapons lifted, either. The female was good. Real good. And even though he wasn't normally into demons, he had to admire her talent. No wonder Reseph liked this one so much. Maybe Ares would make an exception to his no-demons-that-look-like-demons rule…
Grinning, he started toward her… and stopped dead.
The hairs on the back of his neck prickled in warning. With a furious scream, Battle reared up, and from out of the forest of shadowed trees a buffalo-sized hellhound leaped through the air. Ares zeroed in on the beast's left side, seeking—and not finding—the jagged scar that would have identified the vile creature as the one Ares had been hunting for thousands of years. Disappointment rocked him even as he shoved the Sora out of the way, a stupid move that nearly landed him between snapping jaws.
Ares and his sibs were immortal, but hellhound bites were poison to the Horsemen, causing paralysis, and then the suffering really began.
He dove to the ground as Battle struck out with a powerful hoof, hooking the other animal in the ribs and sending it tumbling into the tavern door. The hound recovered so quickly that Battle's blow might as well have been a fleabite, and it targeted the Sora, who scrambled backward on her hands and knees. Her terror was palpable, like little whips on Ares's skin, and he had a feeling this was her first experience with a hellhound.
Hell of a way to pop that cherry.
"Hey!" Distract. Rolling to his feet, Ares drew his sword. Provoke. "I'm over here, you piece-of-shit mongrel." Terminate.
Anticipation gleamed in the hellhound's crimson eyes as it swung around, melting into an inky blur of evil. Ares met it head-on, with three hundred pounds of armored weight behind his blow. The satisfying crunch of steel meeting bone rent the air. An impact tremor shot up Ares's arms, and a massive jet of blood spewed from the hound's chest.
A bloodcurdling snarl ripped from the hound's throat as it launched a surprisingly effective counterattack, slamming one huge paw into Ares's chest. Claws raked his breastplate, and he flew backward, plowing into a stone summoning column. Pain lanced his upper body, and then the hellhound was on him, its jaws snapping a millimeter from Ares's jugular.
Foul breath burned Ares's eyes, and frothy, stinging saliva dripped on his skin. The beast's claws tore at his armor, and it took every ounce of Ares's strength to keep the hound from ripping out his throat. Even with Battle striking at the canine's body, the creature did its damnedest to get a mouthful of flesh.
As hard as he could, Ares jammed his sword into the animal's belly and yanked the blade upward. As the beast screamed in pain, Ares rolled, twisted, and brought the sword around in an awkward arc.
Awkward or not, the stroke cleaved the hound's head from its shoulders. The thing fell to the ground, twitching, steam hissing from its gaping neck. The spongy ground drank the blood before it could pool, and hundreds of blackened teeth sprouted from the dirt, clamped onto the hound's body, and began to chew.
Battle whinnied with amusement. The horse's sense of humor had always been perched on the gallows with the crows.
Before the earth could claim the beast, Ares wiped his blade clean on its fur, giving repeated thanks to whoever was listening that the hound hadn't bitten him. The horror of a bite was never-ending—the paralyzation didn't stop the pain… or the ability to scream. Ares knew that firsthand.
He frowned as a thought spun up. The vile canines were predators, killers, but they generally hunted in packs, so why was this one solo?
What was going on?
Ares glanced over at the tavern door. The Sora had disappeared, was probably pounding shots of demonfire in the bar, and hey, wasn't it great that no one had bothered to come out and help. Then again, no demon in his right mind willingly tangled with a hellhound no matter how much love he had for the slaughter—and most demons loved to slaughter.
Light flashed, and twenty yards away in a copse of black, twisted trees, a summoned Harrowgate shimmered into existence. Normal Harrowgates were permanent portals through which underworld creatures could travel, but the Horsemen had the ability to summon them at will, which made for easy surprise attacks and quick escapes.
Ares sheathed his sword as Thanatos emerged, throwing menacing shadows where there should be none. Both he and his pale dun mount, Styx, dripped with gore, and the stallion's nostrils bubbled with blood.
It wasn't an unusual sight, but the timing was too coincidental, and Ares cursed as he swung up onto Battle. "What happened?"
Thanatos's expression darkened as he took in the dead animal. "Same thing that happened to you, apparently."
"Have you heard from Reseph or Limos?"
Thanatos's yellow eyes flashed. "I was hoping they were here."
Ares threw out his hand, casting a Harrowgate. "I'll go to Reseph. You check on Limos." He didn't wait for his brother's reply. He spurred Battle through the gate, and the warhorse leaped, his big hooves coming down on a rocky shelf that had been scoured smooth by centuries of harsh wind and ice storms.
This was Reseph's Himalayan hideaway, a giant maze of caverns carved deep into the mountains and invisible to human eyes. Ares dismounted in one smooth motion, his boots striking the stone with twin cracks that echoed endlessly in the thin air.
"To me."
Instantly, the warhorse dissolved into a cloud of smoke, which twisted and narrowed into a tendril that wrapped around Ares's hand and set into his forearm in the brown-gray shape of a horse tattoo.
Ares barged through the cave entrance, and he hadn't gone a dozen steps when an electric current of ten-thousand-volt alarm shot up his spine.
Time to dance.
He was already in a dead run when he drew his sword, the metallic sound of the blade clearing its scabbard like a lover's whisper during foreplay. It didn't matter that he'd just engaged an enemy; he loved a good battle, craved the release of tension that hit him with the force of a full-body orgasm, and he'd long ago decided he'd rather fight than fuck.
Though he had to admit that after a good brawl, winding down with a lush, sultry female couldn't be beat. Maybe he'd head back to the tavern after this and find a War Monger after all.
Adrenaline pumping hotly through his veins, Ares took a sharp corner so fast he had to skid into a change of direction, and then he burst through the doorway to Reseph's main living area.
His brother, hand wrapped around a bloodied ax, stood in the middle of the room, which was painted in a fresh, dripping coat of blood. Reseph was panting, his shoulders slumped, head bent, white-blond hair concealing his face. He was motionless, his muscles locked up hard. Behind him, a hellhound lay dead, and in the corner, a very much alive hound let out a gravelly snarl, its gaping maw lined with razor-sharp teeth.
Ares's brother didn't move a muscle.
Fuck. He'd been bitten.
The beast swung its shaggy head toward Ares. Red eyes glowed with bloodlust as it gathered its hind legs under it. Ares calculated the distance to the target in a millisecond, and in one quick motion launched a dagger that impaled the hellhound in the eye. Ares pressed his advantage, heaving his sword in a horizontal side swing that caught the creature in the mouth, slicing its jaw clean off. The hound howled in agony and fury, but Reseph had already injured it and, weakened, it stumbled and fell, allowing Ares an opportunity to run his blade straight through its black heart.
"Reseph!" Leaving the sword impaled in the animal, Ares ran to his brother, whose blue eyes were wild, glazed with pain. "How did they get in?"
"Someone," Reseph groaned, "had to have… sent them."
That much was becoming clear. But very few beings could handle or control a hellhound. So if someone had sent the beasts, he was serious about putting Ares and his brothers—and maybe Limos too—out of commission.
"You should feel special," Ares said, with a lightness he didn't feel. "You got two hellhounds, and I only got one. Who'd you piss off?" Gently, Ares wrapped his arms around Reseph's chest and lowered him to the ground.
Reseph sucked in a gurgling breath. "Last night… my… Seal."
Ares went cold to the core, and with trembling hands, he tore away Reseph's T-shirt to expose the chain around his neck. The Seal hanging from it was whole, but when he palmed the gold coin, a vibration, dense with malevolence, shot up his arm.
"The warg plague…" Reseph spoke between gritted teeth and rattling breaths. "Worse. This is… not… good."
Not good was an understatement. As Ares held the medallion, a hairline fracture split it down the middle. All around them, the cave began to shake. Reseph screamed as his Seal cracked into two pieces.
The countdown to Armageddon had begun.
"The first Horseman of the Apocalypse has been loosed."
Sergeant First Class Arik Wagner, one of two representatives for the U.S. Army's paranormal unit, the R-XR, missed a step as he paced the length of the conference room inside The Aegis's Berlin headquarters. The two agencies had worked independently for decades, but had recently joined forces to combat the ever-increasing underworld threat. Arik never took intel from The Aegis lightly, but he still had to run Kynan's words through his brain a couple of times before he could make sense of the situation, let alone believe it.
As he inhaled a shaky breath, he concentrated on pacing without falling on his face as he slid glances at Kynan and the other eleven Elders who were sitting around the conference table. It was obvious that some were already in on the news, but the others… not so much, if the shock and fear in their expressions was any indication. The shock was expected; it was their fear that put Arik on edge. The Aegis was an ancient demon-fighting organization that had weathered end-of-the-world scenarios time and time again, so to see its leaders frightened… disturbing as hell.
"Damn." Regan, a stunning, bronze-skinned woman who was way too young to be in any way called an "Elder," flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder and played with the dark ends, a habit Arik knew she ran to when she was nervous.
Arik's normally unflappable partner, Decker, had lost all the color in his face and was now relying on the doorframe to keep his big body upright. "When? How?"
"I just found out this morning." Kynan's denim-blue eyes flashed as he shoved the Daemonica, the demon bible, to the center of the table and opened it to expose a page near the back. "It's all about this passage. She of mixed blood who should not exist, carries with her the power to spread plague and pestilence. When battle breaks, conquest is seal'd." Tension put lines in his face as he looked around the table. "She of mixed blood is my sister-in-law, Sin. She started the plague that spread through the werewolf population and led to the conflict that broke out within the species a couple of days ago. As the prophecy indicates, when battle breaks, conquest is sealed. The warg battle is what broke the Horseman's Seal."
Arik kept up the carpet-wearing routine, his combat boots thudding like muffled gunshots. "So you're saying that this is a demon prophecy?"
There was a long pause before Kynan delivered an ominous "Yes," in his gravelly voice. He'd had his throat nearly ripped out by a demon back in his Army days, and he wore the scars and trashed voice like a badge of honor.
"How is the demon prophecy different from human prophecy?" Decker had regained some color, which was good, because with his gray-blue eyes and blond hair, he'd resembled a reanimated corpse.
Kynan, in worn jeans and gray fitted tee, kicked back in his chair and folded his hands over his abs. "Apparently, if the Daemonica's prophecy goes down, the Horsemen will embrace their demon halves and turn pure evil. If the prophecy from the Bible comes to pass, the Horsemen will take after their angel father and fight on the side of good."
That stopped Arik in his tracks. "What? The Horsemen are evil. Have you read the Book of Revelation? They're supposed to usher in the end of days, with disease, war, famine, and death."
"That's the most common interpretation of the Bible's passages." One of the senior Elders, Valeriu, who also happened to be distantly related to Arik by marriage, drummed his fingers on the oak tabletop. "But some scholars, including myself, think that the Horsemen's Seals will be broken by Jesus himself, and the Horsemen will lead the way to the end of days, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"Of course not," Arik drawled. "Every Apocalypse is a party. Bring your own beer, pretzels, and semiautomatic weapons." Regan shot him an annoyed glance. Apparently sarcasm wasn't appreciated in Aegis headquarters. It wasn't appreciated in the R-XR either, but mainly because Arik was still in the dog house for going AWOL a few days earlier instead of revealing his werewolf sister's location. "So what does the first broken Seal mean to us? Can we repair it? Prevent the others from breaking?"
"I don't know." Kynan let out a frustrated breath. "We're going to have to dig deep for theories, prophecies, any scrap of information we can scrounge up."
Shit, Arik was going to need a stiff drink after this. "Do we know what will cause the next Seal to break?"
"All we have is what the next line in the prophecy says." Valeriu flipped through the stack of paper in front of him and pulled out a single page. "An angel's mistake shall bring about War, and her death shall break his sword. But be wary, a hound's heart may yet defeat."
Arik ran his hand over his military-issue haircut, and wasn't it an odd time to note that he needed a trim. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It's about the second Horseman, War." Valeriu shoved his glasses up on his nose. "We don't understand all of it, but we believe War's agimortus is an Unfallen."
An Unfallen… an earthbound fallen angel who hadn't yet entered Sheoul and become irreversibly evil. Interesting. "Wait." Arik shook his head. "Agimortus?"
"Yes," Valeriu said. "A trigger for breaking a Seal. It can be a person, an object, or an event."
"Pestilence's Seal was broken by an event," Kynan explained. "Sin was an agimortus whose actions put into motion an event that triggered the Seal to break. Killing her before the plague she started led to war would have prevented the broken Seal. But we believe War's agimortus is a person. Killing this being will break his Seal."
Arik paused in his pacing. "If you knew about the first prophecy, that Sin was an agimortus, why didn't you kill her?"
Kynan inhaled a shaky breath. Sin was sister to his best friends—demon best friends. "In hindsight, it's obvious. But at the time, we didn't know. We were too close to it."
"You were too close to it." Regan stood, her tall, curvy body drawing Arik's appreciative gaze. Not that he was interested—he liked his women a little softer and less I'llkill-you-where-you-stand—but she did remind him that he hadn't seen any mattress action in a long time. Hard to hook up when you had to lie about everything from your name, to your job, to your entire life history.
Red splotches colored Kynan's cheeks. "Yeah. I was. I'd read the prophecy a million times, so I should have seen that she was the agimortus as soon as the plague started. The thing we need to remember is that prophecies are obscure for a reason."
Arik considered everything he'd been told. "The prophecy mentions hounds. Would hellhounds have anything to do with any of this?"
Ky's dark eyebrows drew together. "Why?"
"The R-XR has received an unusual number of reports of hellhound sightings."
The Guardians exchanged looks, and Val finally said, "We've noted an increase in sightings as well. Our Guardians have encountered more in the last week than in the entire year before." Before Arik could ask, Val shook his head. "We don't know why."
"Okay, so we have to find a way to prevent War's Seal from breaking. What about the other Horsemen? Can the Seals be broken out of order?"
"According to the Daemonica, Pestilence's Seal had to break first, but the others can break in any order. And it gets worse," Val said miserably, and oh, joy, all of this somehow got worse. Arik's drink was going to be a double. With a chaser. "If any two Seals break, the others will fall as well, without any trigger. Once all four Seals are broken, we're chin deep in Armageddon."
Arik felt his thoughts being scattered like confetti in a windstorm. He had so many questions, and he had a feeling there weren't nearly enough answers. "Are we looking at imminent breakage of the other Seals? Or is this something that could go on for centuries?"
"Technically, it could go on." Regan's gaze was somber, her husky voice grim. "But Pestilence being loosed is bad enough. All over the world, disease is springing up, water sources are contaminated with bacteria, and demonic activity is off the charts. Do we really want that going on for centuries?"
Val cleared his throat. "It's written that the destruction of one Seal weakens the others. In effect, it causes events to occur that will hasten the breakage of the other Seals. An object needed to break a Seal, for example, might be found after thousands of years of hiding. And, no doubt, Pestilence, as pure evil, is actively trying to break his siblings' Seals. The Horsemen are the most powerful underworld beings in existence, next to Satan himself. They will virtually rule the Earth if the Final Battle goes in favor of evil."
"That's just great," Arik muttered. "So what's the plan? Sounds like we need to either contain or kill these Horsemen so that if their Seals break, they can't wreak havoc, or we need to work with them to keep any more Seals from breaking."
"We don't know that they can be contained or killed." Regan shoved her coffee mug under the coffee dispenser. "We don't know nearly enough about anything."
"I'll see what my in-laws know and can find out," Kynan said. "They have a unique perspective on demonic lore."
"Excellent idea." Regan's voice was more full of saccharine than her coffee. "Get demons to help."
"We need all the help we can get." Kynan laced his hands behind his head and gazed at the medieval painting behind Arik, the one depicting a battle between angels and demons. "And we need it from the Horsemen."
"Is that wise?" Decker asked. "Do we really want to get cozy with these guys? If they're evil, we don't want to be on their radar."
Kynan shook his head. "According to the Aegis histories, they used to work closely with us."
"Why'd they stop?"
"Modern stupidity. Around the time of the Middle Ages, The Aegis went a little fanatical with religion. Hell, The Aegis is behind the witch persecutions. There was a huge shift in thinking, which led to the belief that everything supernatural is evil, including the Horsemen." Kynan gave everyone a stern look. "It's only been in the last couple of years that we've started to return to the original path."
Arik bit back a grin at Kynan's tacked-on, in-your-face last sentence. Though he'd met with a lot of resistance from the Elders, Kynan was largely responsible for The Aegis's new line on underworld creatures. Not only was he married to a half-demon, but he also carried angel blood in his veins. Then there was the fact that he'd been charmed by angels and was fated to play a role in the Final Battle, and Ky wasn't afraid to use his status to get the Elders to see things his way.
"So basically," Arik said gruffly, "we need to ask for help from guys who might hold a grudge against The Aegis and who have the power to usher in the end of the world."
Kynan's smile was pure twisted amusement. "Welcome to everyday life in The Aegis."
"War is hell."
—William Tecumseh Sherman
"Sherman was totally my bitch."
Present day…
Ares, also known as War, second of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to much of the human and demon world, sat astride his stallion on the outskirts of a nameless village in Africa, his body and mind vibrating with energy. A battle raged here; two local warlords, their brains ravaged by an insect-borne disease, were clashing over what little water had puddled in the bottom of the village's well. Ares had wandered the area for days, drawn to the hostilities like a drug addict to heroin, unable to pry himself away until the blood stopped flowing. It was a catch-22, though, because his very presence ramped up the violence, feeding into the bloodlust of every human in a five-mile radius.
Damned Reseph.
No, not Reseph. Not anymore. The most easygoing and playful of Ares's siblings, the brother who had held them all together over the centuries, had been gone for six months. Now he was Pestilence, and with the name and transformation came unholy powers that threatened mankind. Pestilence was roaming the globe, causing disease, insect and rodent infestations, and mass crop failures with nothing more than a bite or a touch of his finger and a thought. As the disasters spread, more wars like this one broke out, and Ares was drawn to the battles and away from his most pressing task—locating Batarel, the fallen angel who held Ares's fate in his hands.
As the current holder of Ares's agimortus, if Batarel died, Ares's Seal would break, unleashing War upon the Earth.
Chased relentlessly by Reseph, as well as by any demon who wanted to usher in the Apocalypse, Batarel had fallen off the grid, which, unfortunately, left Ares unable to protect her.
But then, even if Ares found her, his ability to defend her was limited, thanks to a fun addendum to his curse, which caused him to weaken in close proximity to his agimortus-bearer.
The battle before him finally began to wane, and the electric high that had held Ares hostage eased, replaced by the usual numbness. Women and children had been slaughtered, the few goats that had survived the blight had been taken for food, and fuck, this was just one of scores of similar scenes that were playing out on this continent alone.
His leather armor creaked as he fisted his pendant, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He should feel a distant buzz through the Seal, some clue as to Batarel's location.
Nothing. Somehow, Batarel had masked her vibe.
A hot breeze blew the foul stench of blood and bowels across the parched earth, ruffling Battle's black mane against his reddish-brown neck. Ares gave the beast a firm pat. "We're through here, boy."
Battle pawed the ground. The humans didn't see any of it, not as long as Ares remained inside the khote, a spell that allowed him to travel invisibly around the human world, but the tradeoff was that he moved like a ghost, unable to touch them. Reseph had gotten off on popping out of the khote to flash humans and freak them out. Unlike Ares, Reseph's presence hadn't affected humans. Except the females. Reseph had definitely had a way with them.
Ares didn't glance again at the gruesome remnants of the conflict. Instead, he summoned a Harrowgate, and Battle leaped through it, bringing them to the entrance of his brother Thanatos's Greenland keep. The ancient castle, shielded by elemental magic that rendered it unnoticeable to human eyes, rose up from the craggy, barren landscape like a breaching whale.
Ares dismounted, coming down on the hard ice. "To me."
The warhorse settled into Ares's skin, and he strode into the richly decorated manor, waving away the bowing, scraping vampires who had served Thanatos for centuries. He found his brother in the gym, beating the hell out of a punching bag. As usual when he was home, Thanatos wore black workout pants, no shirt, and a black bandanna over his shoulder-length, tawny hair. With every punch, his tattoos danced on his deeply tanned skin, from the cracked, bleeding bones inked on his hands, to the various weapons that decorated his arms, to the depictions of death and destruction on his back and chest.
"Thanatos. I need your help. Where's Limos?" He frowned at the dark stain on the floor behind his brother. "And what is that?"
"A succubus." Than wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "Reseph sent another one to tempt me."
"He's not Reseph anymore." Ares's voice rang out in the cold air like an avalanche breaking loose. "Call him what he is." Easier said than done, since Ares hadn't yet gotten used to it either.
Thanatos's pale yellow eyes drilled into Ares's nearly black ones. "Never. We can get him back."
"Seals can't be restored."
"We'll find a way." Than's tone was hard, final. He'd always been as uncompromising as the death he represented.
"We have to kill him."
All around Thanatos, shadows swirled, moving faster the more agitated he became. He'd always been the quickest of the four of them to lash out, but then, thousands of years of celibacy would do that to a guy. It was also why he lived in the middle of nowhere; a flash of temper could kill every living thing in the human realm for miles around.
"Do you not remember how Reseph was always traveling the world to find the sweetest apples for our horses? How he never came over without bringing a gift? How, when any of our servants were injured or fell ill, he searched for medicine and nursed them back to health?"
Of course Ares remembered. Reseph might have been an irresponsible playboy with the females, but with those he considered family, he'd been attentive and thoughtful. He'd even worried about their two Watchers when they didn't pop in every few months. Reaver, an angel who represented Team Heaven, and Harvester, a fallen angel who played for Team Sheoul, hardly needed Reseph's concern, but he'd always been relieved to see them.
It had been that way ever since their original Sheoulin Watcher had done more than simply "watch" the Horsemen. Eviscerator had suffered for months before dying in a manner befitting his name for revealing the material used in the making of Limos's agimortus without permission.
"None of that has any bearing on our current situation," Ares said.
"We won't kill him."
There was no point in arguing. Not only did they not have the necessary tools to put an end to their brother, but Than would never budge on the issue, and Ares's jaw still throbbed from the last time they'd discussed it. It wasn't as though Ares wanted to kill Pestilence, but he also wasn't going to let him lead the charge to Armageddon.
"So you would rather see the Daemonica's prophecy be the one that comes to pass?"
The human prophecies, though they varied, still favored humans in the Final Battle and left room for the Horsemen to fight on the side of good. Should the demon prophecy reign, evil would hold all the cards.
And evil dealt from the bottom of the deck.
Than gave the punching bag a final, knockout blow. "I'm not a fool, brother. I've been hunting Reseph's minions, and I've managed to… convince… one of them to talk."
"Convince, torture, whatever." Ares crossed his arms over his chest, his armor's hard leather plates cracking against each other. "So what have you learned?"
"That I need to find a minion who's privy to more information," Than grumbled. "But I did find out that Reseph has sent teams of demons to search for Deliverance."
"Then we need to beat him to it," Ares said.
Thanatos grabbed a towel off the weight bench and wiped his face. "We've been looking for the dagger since the 1300s with no success."
"Then we look harder."
"I told you—"
Ares cut off his brother. "Having Deliverance doesn't mean we have to use it. But it's better to have it and not need it than the other way around. If Res—Pestilence locates it first, he'll make sure we never get our hands on it."
Thanatos strode toward Ares, and Ares braced for battle. It didn't matter that they were brothers; Ares lived to fight, and even now his adrenaline was singing in his blood, obliterating that damned numbness.
"When we get the dagger," Than growled, "I hold on to it."
Frustration put an edge in Ares's voice, because dammit, he wanted possession of Deliverance. It was the one thing that could kill Pestilence, was the weapon for the war of wars, and like any good commander, he wanted complete control over his arsenal. "We'll discuss it when we have it."
"What," came a deep, amused voice from the doorway, "are you two arguing over now?"
Ares whirled to Reseph, who stood in the doorway, his tarnished armor oozing a black substance from the joints. He held a severed female head in his gauntleted hand.
Ares's stomach plummeted to his feet. "Batarel." He fumbled for the coin around his neck. Relief that it wasn't broken collided with fury and confusion and the need to kick his brother's ass.
It was a real fun stew of what-the-fuck.
"Obviously," Reseph said, "since you aren't sporting shiny new fangs that make all the ladies hot, your Seal hasn't broken. The idiot fallen angel transferred the agimortus to someone else."
Reseph dropped the idiot fallen angel's head to the floor. Batarel's body should have disintegrated upon her death, which meant that she'd been killed either in a demon-built or an Aegis-enchanted structure, or on land owned by supernatural beings.
On Ares's arm, Battle stirred in agitation, his emotions tied to Ares's. "Where did you find her?" Ares ground out.
"Cowardly bitch was holed up in a Harrowgate," Reseph said, which explained why Ares hadn't been able to sense her. "I had to send out spiny hellrats to find her."
Of course. Reseph could communicate with and control vermin and insects, which he used to spread plague and pestilence throughout the human population. And, apparently, he used them as spies.
Thanatos moved toward their brother, his bare feet silent on the stone floor. "Who did Batarel transfer the agimortus to, Reseph?"
"No idea." Reseph grinned, a real cat-that-ate-the-canary, revealing his "shiny new fangs." "But I'll know soon. Maybe after I let rip a few new plagues. The cool kind, with boils and incontinence." He opened a Harrowgate, but paused before stepping inside. "You all should stop fighting me. I have the backing of the Dark Lord himself. The longer you stall the inevitable, the more those you care about will suffer."
The Harrowgate snapped shut and, cursing, Ares spun, drove his fist into the punching bag, and damn, what he wouldn't give for that to be Pestilence's face right now. Reseph had never been cruel or callous, had lived in fear of succumbing to his evil side. And if he was that bad now that his Seal had been broken… Ares was screwed.
"Give me your hand."
Ares swung around to Thanatos, who handed him Batarel's eyes. Just the eyes. And an ear.
Ares had stopped being grossed out by his gift a long time ago. Closing his palm around them, he let the vision come.
"What do you see?" Than asked.
"Reseph's sword." The huge blade had filled Batarel's vision, the last thing she'd seen. Ares waited as the visions worked in reverse, until… there. Batarel's ear vibrated, and audio joined the visuals. "A blond male. Name's Sestiel. He's screaming. He doesn't want the agimortus."
"Duh. Who'd want a bull's-eye on their ass?"
The agimortus wasn't a bull's-eye, exactly, but yeah, it did make whoever hosted it a target for Pestilence's blade. Strange, though, that the host was male. Was the prophecy wrong? Had it changed?
One of Than's vampire servants hustled to clean up Batarel's remains, and he bowed before Ares. "May I take those body parts from you, sir?"
So polite. Of course, most beings were pretty kiss-ass to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Probably wise. No, not probably. Definitely.
Suck up now, world, because once the Seals broke, it would be time to bend over.
Nothing good ever came of a knock at three o'clock in the morning, and as Cara Thornhart shuffled down the hallway to her front door, she had a very, very bad feeling.
The pounding became more urgent, every blow on the wood kicking her heart into a stuttered rhythm.
Breathe, Cara. Breathe.
"Thornhart! Open the fuck up!" The slurred voice was familiar, and when she put her eye to the peephole in the door, she instantly recognized the man standing on her porch as the son of one of her former clients.
Ross Spillane was also one of the many twenty-something jobless delinquents with six kids by six different women. Apparently, the one drugstore in town didn't sell condoms.
Cara shoved up the sleeves of her flannel pajamas and stared at the two deadbolts, the chain, and the regular door lock. A flicker of dread skittered up her spine. She lived in the country, the middle of nowhere, and while she doubted Ross was an ax murderer, she'd always had a reliable sixth sense, and right now, she was sensing trouble.
Or maybe you're just being paranoid. Her psychologist had said it was normal to have moments of panic, but that had been two years ago. Shouldn't she be able to open her door without trembling like a frightened rabbit by now?
"What's wrong, Ross?" she called out, because she still couldn't bring herself to work the locks.
"Open the goddamned door! I fucking hit a dog."
A dog? Crap. "I'm not practicing anymore. Take it to the clinic."
No, of course he couldn't. Ross sounded drunk, and the town vet just happened to be married to the town's chief of police. The vet was also a corrupt bastard who overcharged, took shortcuts with care and materials, and he'd been known to refuse help to any animal that was rude enough to be sick or injured after office hours.
"Dammit, Thornhart. I don't have time for this."
Help the dog. Suck it up, and help the dog. Sweat dampened her temples and palms as she flipped all the locks and opened the door. Before it swung all the way in, Ross shoved the pitch-black canine into her arms, knocking her back a step.
"Thanks." He started down the porch stairs.
"Wait!" Awkwardly, she shifted the dog's weight, which had to be a good seventy pounds. "You shouldn't drive."
"Whatever. It's a mile."
"Bite my fine ass," he muttered, as he headed down her gravel walkway toward his old Ford pickup.
"Hey!" She couldn't stop him, she knew that, but he had a passenger, a petite blonde who looked like she might still be in high school. "Is your friend able to drive?"
He opened the driver's-side door and tossed the keys at the girl. "Yup."
As he stumbled around the front of the truck, and the girl climbed out, Cara called, "Why did you bring me the dog?" Subtext: Why didn't you let the dog die on the side of the road?
Ross stopped, hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, and looked down at his cowboy boots. When he spoke, Cara had to strain to hear him. "No mutt has ever stabbed me in the back."
Cara stared. Go figure. She'd always been judged harshly by people who didn't know her, and she'd just gone and done the same thing to someone else.
Then Ross whooped, slapped the young blonde on her Daisy Dukes, and spat a wad of tobacco on the ground, once again reinforcing a stereotype, but hey… at least he liked dogs.
Cara closed the door, awkwardly locking it, and carried the limp bundle of fur to a room she'd shut up tight two years ago.
"Dammit." Her curse accompanied the creak of unused hinges as she wedged open the door with her shoulder. The stale air reeked of failure, and no matter how hard she tried to tug up her big-girl panties and be brave, her hands still shook as she laid the dog on the exam table and flipped on the light.
The dog's black fur was matted with blood, and one hind leg was twisted awkwardly, the broken end of a bone piercing the skin. The dog needed a real vet, not her. Not someone who healed through vibes that even she sometimes doubted were real. The only physical medical experience she had was as a veterinary technician, and that had been eight years ago, when she'd been a teen working in her dad's practice.
She did a U-turn before she went too far down that dark road, snapped on gloves, and when she turned back around, she recoiled. The pup—at least, it had the rounded, cuteish features of a young puppy despite its size—was looking at her. And its eyes were… red.
Blood, it's got to be blood. Which didn't explain the eerie glow behind the irises.
"Um… hey, fella."
The pup's lips peeled away from extremely sharp, extremely large, teeth. What breed was the thing? It looked like a cross between a wolf and a pit bull, with maybe a little great white shark thrown in, and by her best guess, it was approximately four months old. Except that it was the size of a full-grown Siberian husky.
And those teeth. Those eyes.
There was a military base nearby, and since the day she had moved to this rural South Carolina town, she'd heard rumors of experiments, of strange creatures the government was breeding. For the first time, Cara considered the possibility, because this dog was not… natural.
The pup shifted on the table, yelping in pain at the smallest movement, and suddenly, it didn't matter where it had come from or if it was a lab creation, a genetic mutation, or an alien from outer space. She hated seeing an animal in pain, especially when there was so little she could do.
"Hey," she whispered, reaching out her hand. The pup regarded her warily, but he allowed her to stroke his cheek. And yes, it was a he. She didn't have to look… she just knew. She'd always been able to sense things about animals, and although the vibes coming from this creature were odd… disjointed… she was still getting them.
Slowly, so as not to startle the dog, she slid both hands down his body. Right now, the most she could do was triage, keep him alive until she could get him to Dr. Happs. The jerk would only put the dog to sleep if no one would pay for its care, which meant that Cara would have to choose between paying the vet bills and paying her mortgage.
Her fingers dipped into a puncture wound, and the pup screamed in pain, his body trembling. "I'm sorry, boy." God, it was a bullet hole. Someone must have shot the dog before he was struck by Ross's truck.
Whimpering, the pup writhed in misery, and Cara felt his pain all the way to her marrow. Literally. It was part of what made her different from everyone she knew, this talent that had been both a blessing and a curse.
She'd sworn to never use her ability again, but seeing the dog suffer was too much. She had to do it, no matter how hard her mind was screaming against it.
"Okay," she murmured, "I'm going to try something. Just hold on."
Closing her eyes, she placed both hands over his body, her palms hovering an inch from his fur. She forced herself to relax, to concentrate until her emotions and energy centered in her head and chest. She'd never been formally trained in the arts of spiritual or energy healing, but this had always worked for her.
Until it had killed.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Gradually, a tingle condensed and expanded inside her, until it pulsed with its own heartbeat. She visualized the energy as a purple glow that streamed from her chest and into her hands. The pup calmed, his breaths slowing, his whimpers tapering off. She couldn't fix broken bones or ruptured organs, but she could slow the bleeding and manage pain, and this poor guy needed everything she had.
The energy built, vibrating through her entire body as though it was eager to be let loose.
Just as it had done that night.
The memory tore through her brain like a shotgun blast, hurling her back in time to the night when her gift had warped into something sinister and surged not into a dog, but a man. His terror-filled eyes had bulged as blood spurted from his nose and ears. His screams had been silent, but those of his buddies had not.
Stop thinking! Her power cut off, snuffed by her fear. The room spun and her legs wobbled, all carnival funhouse. Without the fun. A whine yanked her out of the trance, and she stumbled to the antique chest where she kept all the traditional medical supplies that had belonged to her father.
"Sorry, boy," she rasped. "We're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way." She hadn't gone to vet school, but she'd worked with her father for years, and she knew damned good and well that this dog was going to die if she didn't act.
As quickly as her shaking hands could manage, she loaded a cart with tools and supplies and rolled it over to the dog, who was lying still, his breaths more labored than they'd been just moments before. In the area of the gunshot wound, the flesh was swelling rapidly, and when she looked closer, she gasped. Before her eyes, the muscle and skin was dying. If she hadn't seen the progression herself, she'd have estimated that the wound had festered for a week. Gangrene had set in, and the stench of dead flesh filled the room.
"My God," she breathed. "What's happening?"
Afraid to waste even another second, she grabbed the scalpel and hoped the dog wouldn't bite, because this was going to hurt.
Carefully, she made a small incision at the site of the bullet hole. The pup whimpered, but remained still as she mopped up pus and blood and then palmed the forceps. "Hold still, baby."
Cara held her breath and prayed for a steady hand. Do it. Do it now…
She worked the forceps into the wound, cringing at the squishy sound of the metal passing through rotting flesh. Though she hadn't summoned her power, a trickle she couldn't stop ran down her arm and into her hand. Don't panic. Somehow, she kept it together until she felt the forceps bump against the bullet. Though the dog yelped when she clasped the slug, he didn't move… or bite.
As gently as possible, she eased the bullet free. Odd… it was silver. She placed the forceps on the tray, grabbed the bandages, and turned back to the dog.
And screeched.
The pup was standing on the exam table, head cocked and tongue lolling out as if he had been happily romping in a park and not minutes from death. The only sign that he'd ever been injured was blood matted in his fur and pooled on the floor and table.
Reeling from the impossibility of the situation, Cara's legs gave way beneath her, and the cold floor rose up to meet her body. Her skull cracked on the tile, and the next thing she knew, the pup was beside her, his crimson eyes glowing. His tongue slathered across her face and mouth, and oh, yuck, his saliva tasted like rotten fish. Weakly, she pushed him away, but he came back and slammed his heavy body down on her.
He panted, his breath so toxic it worked like smelling salts, and she gagged even as she became alert.
"Ugh." She wheezed, waving her hand in front of his mouth to ward off his stench. "We have to do something about your halitosis from hell." God, she was talking like this was real.
It wasn't. Couldn't be. She was probably still in her bed, and this was a dream.
Suddenly, Halitosis was on his feet, crouched over her, a growl vibrating his deep chest. Not a normal growl, either. It was smoky, serrated, something she'd expect to hear from a dragon. Or a demon. Freaky.
The door burst open in a crash of splinters, and four men filed through the doorway.
A scream welled in her throat, but lodged there, blocked by terror. Not again, not again. Memories of the home invasion that had ruined her life collided with current events, and she froze up, so paralyzed that her lungs couldn't expel her held breath.
There was a gunshot, a snarl… and then godawful screams. Blood splattered on the floor, the walls, on her… and she broke out of her paralysis to scramble to her feet.
Hal slammed one of the men to the floor, his claws—which somehow had extended like a cat's—tearing into the man's chest as the other two slashed at him with strange bladed weapons.
Cara scanned the room for a weapon of her own, anything at all. She lunged for a heavy glass jar of cotton balls but reeled back at an explosive, blinding flash of light. A beautiful blond man appeared in the middle of the room. Flames erupted from his fingertips as a ball of fire flipped into the air, bursting into a gold net that fell on Hal, who went down in a tangle beneath it.
"No!" She dove for the dog, but someone grabbed her from behind. Hal went crazy, a mass of teeth and claws as he struggled to get out of the net.
Curses flew, and someone fired a shot at the newcomer, who took the bullet in the chest with no more reaction than if he'd been stung by a bee. He scooped up the net, Hal with it, and in another flare of light, he was gone.
The man tightened his arms around Cara, and one of the men limped toward her, his left arm dangling, his face mottled with rage. "What are you?"
She blinked. "W-what?"
"I said," he snarled, "what are you?"
"I don't understand."
His hand lashed out so fast she didn't see it until her cheek stung from the blow. "What kind of demon are you?" he screamed, his spittle spraying her face.
Oh, God, these men were crazy. This whole situation was crazy. This was Crazyland, and she was the queen.
"Why…" She sucked in a ragged breath and tried to stay calm. It wasn't easy when the man holding her in a vise grip against him was squeezing the air out of her lungs. "Why would you think I'm a demon?" Maybe they were religious fanatics, like the ones who had accused her of practicing witchcraft before she learned to hide her healing gift.
Her theory was blown out of the water when the third guy, the one who had been kneeling next to the dead man on the floor, stood and picked up the bullet that had been lodged in the dog. He held it out to her. "Because," he said, in an eerily calm voice, "only a demon would heal a hellhound."
Excerpted from Eternal Rider by Ione, Larissa Copyright © 2011 by Ione, Larissa. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Meet the Author
A former meteorologist and EMT, Air Force veteran Larissa Ione now gets her daily dose of excitement from vampires, werewolves, demons, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She lives in wintery Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat, and her hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.
You can learn more at:
Twitter, @LarissaIone
Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/OfficialLarissaIone
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When you hook up with one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse whose job it was to be the keepers of the Seals of Armageddon, your life has to take a huge turn for the worst right? For Cara Thornhart it seems to have made things clearer for her in that she knew she had a gift and never knew what the purpose of it was and the man who just literally fell into her life may just be the one to answer her questions. She found Ares through unfortunate violence, which he does have a passion for and from there her life takes a twist and a huge turn to save humanity as it is known. Ares takes Cara on a ride through portals and horses that appear out of thin air all the while trying to control one brother who has turned to destruction and others that are trying not to. Cara has to stay alive in order to not break the seal that will lead Ares down a road no man wants to travel and the battles the two must fight to prevent this bring them together and never drive them apart. The violence is intense and the trip tiring but never does Cara stop believing in herself or Ares and the passion that draws them together helps them understand what it is like to not have to fight the great fight alone. Ares goes forward with confidence that Cara is at his side and regardless of what she is asked to do she will come through. Now if she can just get her hellhound back. Starting a new series is a very touchy process for a writer. The fans loved the last series and now have to walk away and fall in love all over again with new characters and storyline. Ms. Ione pulled that off that trick with this first book by carefully laying out the ground work for the upcoming books and also by starting off with a great set of characters. The rest of these books will be as incredible as this one I am sure plus you have to love a series where the immortals get their news from the Divine Broadcasting System.
I'm always cautious of spinoffs from a series I love, but I was happily surprised that this one is as good as the original series. You don't have to have read the Demonica series, but it will probably help. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.
***BE WARNED POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** With the start of this new series Larissa delivers again with in your face nitty gritty dark violence and sexiness. The Four Horseman fit flawlessly into this world building that she had already introduced her readers in the Demonica series. With Ares and Cara's story she takes us deeper into the battle between good and evil. Ares is another great hero to add to Larissa's collection of yummy demons. He's big, badass, tortured and sex on a stick. He has been raised as a warrior and thinks like a warrior. No emotions and no ties. He's had to cut himself off emotionally to keep himself from being hurt again. Being alive for centuries, he has learned that any emotional attachments leads to weakness, that an enemy can use against you. When he meets Cara he is instantly attracted and doesn't like it one bit. Humans have no place in his world especially female humans. The harder he tries to avoid any emotional feelings toward Cara the more he finds himself drawn to her and her kindness. I loved Ares. I think he is now my second favorite hero from both series. My heart belongs to Kynan but boy did Ares come close from moving Kynan over! :) When he tries not to care he finds himself caring anyway. I like when the hero thinks they're all emotionally cut off and when that one girl comes along all these pesky feelings start surfacing. It's so cute. Cara is strong. I like strong heroines. When she first gets thrown into this world she is understandably confused and emotional. She was all these things but it wasn't the emotional hysteria that gets old. She processes the information and goes from there. I personally would have been huddled in the corner sucking my thumbs! But heh..that's me! :) Once she sees pass Ares's emotional armor she dives right in and tries to get him to open up. She doesn't take crap from him and goes toe to toe and expects him to treat her as an equal who can handle herself. No mousy wimp for Ares. The sparks between these two was crazy. Talk about verbal foreplay. I could literally feel myself melting in a puddle during one sexy shower scene! Hmmmm....getting visuals! The romance and characters were developed nicely. I could understand why both characters were attracted to each other. The chemistry was there and the development of the relationship was on point for me. I never once thought why the heck do these two people even like each other. This is always a plus in my book! Plenty of smoking moments between the two to keep me satisfied. Larissa's world building was easy to follow in my opinion. I do recommend that anyone who starts this series should read the Demonica series first mainly because I think they'll enjoy it even more. For fans of the Demonica series we gets glimpse of our favorites. My favorite couple Kynan and Gem make a special appearance that I love. We catch up with the lives of the Demonica boys. She wove them into the story effortlessly that it did not take away from the main storyline itself. It was good to see Arik play a bigger role. I can't wait for the next book in this series to learn more about Thanatos and Limos. It was a wonderful start to this new series. I highly recommend this book for fans of the Demonica series. I was not disappointed.
My Thoughts: First let me say I love and adore Larissa. She's a wonderful person. Second let me say she had me with the first Demonica book I read, from then on I was hooked to her writing. Now let me get to ETERNAL RIDER.First it is the beginning of a new series, THE LORDS OF DELIVERANCE series, however it is connected to her DEMONICA SERIES. I can honestly say that you can read this series without reading the other, by honestly why would you want to? Afterall, Larissa wrote them. Now for the story itself. ETERNAL RIDER is one of those stories that as soon as I started the first page I forgot who wrote it, I forgot the things on my list that I needed to be doing, I was completely lost within this world and with these characters. I did NOT want to leave. And I'll say I started this book waiting at the doctor for my FIL and completely missed him coming out, had a woman sitting near me saying 3/4 times, "miss isn't that your father, miss, miss" FIL said she repeated it serveral times, he just laughed because he said it was like I was dazed when I finally looked up and noticed someone was talking to me. So yes I was lost within the world Larissa had created. These are characters that are flawed, tortured, have evil in them yes but are good as well. They are realistic even if they have paranormal aspects to them. I fell in love, how odd to say I LOVE WAR? Or I should say I LOVE ARES! We do get a visit with characters from the Demonica series so those of who loved those characters will be thrilled to see them again. Add to all these delicious characters we get a story that is fast-paced, engaging, and keeps you guessing. Honestly I worried up til the very end if we'd really get a HEA out of this one. I just had no idea what to expect. It was a true EDGE OF YOUR SEAT read. I'd highly recommend ETERNAL RIDER to any fan of paranormal, steamy, deeply engaging, fascinating, and so much more that I can't even explain it well reads. You won't be disappointed! Now go read the excerpt and be warned once you do, you'll be dying to get your hands on this fabulous read! Thank you Larissa for writing a story that let me completely forget about the world around me and just be lost for a few hours(yes I finished this book in one day) in a world of delicious men, and strong women, even if they aren't all human! Now how fast til we get the next book??? Must I wait???
highly recommended
i fell in love with her other series so im very excited about this one
This is a great addition to the series. It's fun to read about the horsemen you are so curious about.
love love loved it!!! the couple was great, definitely getting the next one.
WORTH READING... Total Pages: 315; Story Pages: 292 Lords of Deliverance series, book #1 The Four Horseman of Apocalypse. Ares & Cara's story. Wasn't sure how this was going to go; I was kind of skeptical about it. Glad that it turned out to be so good.
So excited to have another series to read, that still contains the Demonica Characters. Love this, can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series!
An excellent addition to the Demonica series, it fits into the world perfectly. Love the new take on the 4 horsemen.


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Home Entertainment 10 Unusual Gifts You Can Gift To Your Bestie on Their Birthday
10 Unusual Gifts You Can Gift To Your Bestie on Their Birthday
Best friends are the best part of our lives and there is nothing better than a bestie who goes a mile ahead for you. Here are a few things you could do for your best friend on her birthday and make her realize that she is the luckiest person ever possible to have a friend like you.
Collage: Prepare a sweet collage of all your photographs that you have had with your best friend especially the crazy ones and tell them how much you cherish those moments.
DIY Jewellery: Go crazy and whacky to be doing something completely unexpected for your bestie that she won't ever expect. Make her a DIY jewellery and as she is a jewellery hoarder, she will absolutely love it.
Gift Jar: Write small and sweet messages for her future and collect them together in a jar. Ask her to read one-by-one all of them every day. That will make her smile and remember you.
Bake Day: Why not experiment with cooking and bake her a sweet cake from your end ? Imagine that perfect smile on her face when she sees her favorite chocolate cake from her favorite person !
Surprise Get Together: This could be the perfect surprise for her on her birthday when you ask all her friends to come over and make her day picture perfect.
A Chocolate Assortment: Go easy on yourself and just get her the chocolates you know she adores to death. You being the best friend will know this for sure!
Post-It Surprises: Be a little mysterious and leave post it clues for her to reach to her ultimate gift. This will amp up her excitement and make her happy as she accomplishes each clue.
Their Favorite Bucketlist Read: Get her a collection of books you know she was planning to read since long. This way you add a personal touch to the gift and tell her how you know her the best.
A Spa Day: There is nothing better than a spa day. Getting rid of that stress from your mind and just relaxing is all anyone can dream of.
Driving Out Session: Just reach down to her place with your fuel tank full and you two can leave for a day-long road trip and trust us she will never forget it.
SHARE with your friend and may be you can drop her all the right hints for your birthday!

subset: commoncrawl


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Who was Theophilus? – Thoughts on the Preface of the Gospel of Luke
In the excellent work of historical fiction, The Lost Letters of Pergamum, Prof. Bruce Longenecker has Luke, a companion of Paul, engaging in correspondence with Antipas, a nobleman of the city of Pergamum. Sometime in the early 90s, Luke happens to make Antipas' acquaintance as he is caring for the household of the traveling Calpurnius – a nobleman of Ephesus. Calpunius, as it turns out, is the son of Theophilus – the nobleman of Ephesus who commissioned and supported Luke's literary efforts.
Though obviously fictional, that Theophilus was a man of standing and associate of Luke is quite plausible. Luke says as much in his preface:
Luke 1:3: It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus....
Because the name "Theophilus" roughly means "beloved of God," some have argued that there really was no Theophilus – that the term is meant to symbolize all Christians. Origen concluded this. But Origen concluded a lot of strange things and is famous for his highly metaphoric approach to the scriptures. More importantly, however, "the address to [Theophilus] with the vocative 'most excellent' seems to indicate a specific person of high social standing." Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9.50, page 63. The phrase "most excellent" need not denote nobility, but it certainly indicates a person of high social standing (something most Christians were not).
Further, the literary characteristics of the preface indicate that Theophilus is a real person. "[I]n view of the formal character of the preface and the conventional practice of ascribing treatises to notable people, it is much more natural to regard Theophilus as a real person." Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, page 109. In other words, when writers wrote such prefaces they referred to real people. Josephus – perhaps Luke's closest literary colleague – did so for Antiquities and Against Apion. Given the similar genres and prefaces, the most reasonable conclusion is that Luke – like Josephus and others – was referring to a real person in his preface.
Finally, we should not make too much of the name "Theophilus" meaning "beloved of God." Most names have some sort of "deeper" meaning. To take a modern day example, my name is Christopher. It means follower of Christ. And I also happen to be a real-life follower of Christ. Of course this is not entirely coincidental. My parents – fine Christian people – picked the name at least in part because of its meaning. Similarly, if – as seems likely – Gentile associates of Luke were god-fearers, the name Theophilus makes perfect sense. And, in fact, "Theophilus occurs as a personal name from the third century B.C. onward." F.F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, page 98.
In conclusion, the evidence of history leaves little reason to doubt that the author of the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles dedicated his two works to a Gentile of high social standing.


text:
The Important Dream
Laura turns to me.
"Do you want to go upstairs for a minute?" Laura asks in such a... caring manner. I don't answer, run up the stairs, into my room and shut the door. I go onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling. I feel so tired again... and fall into a deep sleep.
My door is open.... Kelly came in before and gave me an injection, to which I fell asleep to straight away. But now I have woken up from it, and I can hear Laura and Kelly outside.
"I can't believe it... four years later and we've finally done it. We have finally created a successful human... which is normal... and not deformed in anyway... and she's my daughter... you made yours blind"
"Thanks Kelly" Laura says.
"No I'm sorry I didn't mean that... don't hate me"
"Your my best friend, I'd never hate you"
"Hm... how's Nicola?"
"Not good.... she accidentally cut some chromosomes and her's doesn't have any legs"
"Oh my God"
"I know... it's happened to a few of them"
"Hmm" there is a pause...
"What are you doing with yours?" Laura asks.
"Meh... I don't want anything to do with her. I just want to leave her here and die peacefully"
"What? The only successful human... and you're going to leave her here?"
"Yeah... I just... I don't want a child. I can't take the responsibility"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing" Laura walks off"
"Oh... Laura!" my door locks... I know I'm going to die in this place.


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Another Usenet provider from the Netherlands – but how does this one shape up?


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ED Magedson – Founder
Ripoff Report
The Lexington Law FirmInternet USA
The Lexington Law Firm Lexington Law Is a Rip Off! Internet
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
Don't be fool by wolves in sheep clothing - Lexington Lwa. When you talk to them in the beginning they tell you that to get start for the first month is $99.95.
The letters they mail over and over you can find at the library and mail them yourself. When you have had enough, and want to cancel, they will say, we will go ahead and close the account once we bill you one more time! Now you just paid the first month, which they turn around and say, by federal law we can not bill you first month. That's not what was dicussed over the phone in the initial conversation, but they will email you a document stating there claim.
Save your money, and work it out with your collectors.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/08/2013 09:44 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/the-lexington-law-firm/internet/the-lexington-law-firm-lexington-law-is-a-rip-off-internet-1065197. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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text:
EUR/USD lower on weak ZEW
EUR/USD is trading under pressure around the $1.3900 mark, following the lower-than-expected euro zone inflation data in Monday and much weaker ZEW economic sentiment indices for Germany and the currency block as a whole, released today.
ING: "The German ZEW index dropped in March, reflecting increasing uncertainty from latest events in the Ukraine and Russia. The short-term impact on the German economy should be limited. Growth in Q1 should remain unharmed. However, looking beyond Q1, latest events and possible upcoming measures will put the German recovery to a serious test".
Commerzbank analysts see minor target the support offered by last week's low at $1.3834 and the February high at $1.3826 intraday.Key short-term support lies at $1.3782.
Chart. H4 EUR/USD


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English: Chinkapook is a locality in Victoria, Australia, located approximately 67 km from Swan Hill. (→Chinkapook)
This category has only the following subcategory.
Media in category "Chinkapook"
The following 5 files are in this category, out of 5 total.
- Chinkapook Building.JPG 3.44 MB
- Chinkapook Church.JPG 3.65 MB
- Chinkapook Public Hall.JPG 2.69 MB
- Chinkapook Town Entry Sign.JPG 3.99 MB


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Deployment '4900026' to target 'Staging' encountered a system level deployment error during data transfer.
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text: 20 countries Over 5000 offline Europeans more then 500 telecentres INTRODUCTION Telecentre-Europe is planning to celebrate the eSkills Week 2010 through a panEuropean initiative focused to bring people online in all European countries. The initiative called Get Online Day will be coordinated by Telecentre-Europe and implemented with the assistance of national partners through telecentres. The date adopted for the one-day event is 4 March 2010. AIMS To bring people online (focus on the offline Europeans, those who have never accessed internet before) To raise awareness with the press and the stakeholders of digital inclusion benefits To promote and increase usage of telecentres across Europe To demonstrate telecentres eInclusion impact at the European level OUTCOMES At least 5.000 digitally-excluded Europeans to be reached At least 20 European nations involved At least one partner organization in each of the 20 European nations At least 500 telecentres to participate Online application developed to track and assess impact At least 3 press releases / country involved. At least 3 videos from activities in telecentres / country involved INVOLVEMENT OF NATIONAL PARTNERS The role of the national partner is to coordinate all project activities at the national level. The organization will facilitate / intermediate relations between the project team and telecentres. Even if we have selected 4 March 2010 as the Get Online Day, activities can be runned during the entire eSkills Week (1-7 March). To assure an efficient development of the project, the national partner will closely work with the telecentre operators and enable them to fully understand the concept of the event. Through this initiative we are targeting the offline Europeans – people that have never used internet and are consequently not aware of its benefits. The Get Online Day 2010 is an opportunity to advocate telecentres impact and the importance to act together for enhancing eSkills and eInclusion throughout Europe. For the national partners this project could represent an efficient promotion exercise at the local, national and / or European level. ACTIVITIES Activity 1: Register online and name a contact person for the implementation of the project. This will manage the work with telecentres at the national level. Activity 2: Inform and promote the event to the telecentres that you are planning to involve. This can be done through a guide provided by the project team on how to run the event. Activity 3: Translate the guide in your own national language and send it to all telecentres that will be involved. ACTIVITIES Activity 4: Distribute the promotional materials that will be provided by the project team to all telecentres involved. Activity 5: Assist telecentres in all issues encountered during the event. The contact person should manage all communications with the telecentres. Activity 6: Promote and disseminate the event at national level. Prepare two press releases, one prior to the event and one after, including the outcomes. Please use the Get Online Day logo that will be provided to you by the project team. TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIES Activity Period (2010) Register online and name a contact person 15.01 – 05.02 Promote the event on your website and through any other available channels 05.02 – 28.02 Translate the guide in your own national language 05.02 – 10.02 Distribute the translated guide to all telecentres 10.02 – 15.02 Prepare and circulate pre-event press-release with the national media 15.02 – 20.02 Distribute the promotional materials to telecentres 20.02 – 28.02 Assist telecentres in all issues encountered 15.02 – 05.03 Prepare and circulate post-event press-release with the national media 05.03 – 10.03 Submit a maximum of two-page report on outcomes of the event to the project team 05.03 – 15.03 CONTACT Telecentre-Europe Web: www.telecentre-europe.org Email: email@example.com Laurenţiu Bunescu Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Tel: 0040 724 373 466


text: 6/09/10 6/09/10 POPSUGAR Celebrity 2010 CMT Music Awards Pictures of John and Keith June 9, 2010 by Celebrity 0 Shares Chat with us on Facebook Messenger. Learn what's trending across POPSUGAR. View on One Page Photo 1 of 16 ADVERTISEMENT () Share This Link Copy ← Use Arrows Keys → 1 Pictures of John and Keith Previous Next Share this post 2010 CMT Music AwardsJohn MayerKeith Urban


text:
- What is your shop address?
- What is your delivery radius?
- What are your delivery hours?
- How quickly can you deliver? I'm asking for a friend.
- Do you provide FREE delivery?
- Do you make custom, decorated cookies?
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- Do you have birthday party or office meeting options?
- Can you provide a Fapiao?
- Can I send cookies to a friend living in China (or down the street)?
DO come by our shop aka cookie headquarters, at 1166 Yan An Xi Lu, entrance on Panyu Lu, number 103, Hours: 9am-6pm, 7 days a week! Enter from Panyu Lu, and before you get to the Yan An Xi Lu intersection, take a left into the Metrobank Building driveway (just past the bank of china and a red Dongbei restaurant). Then continue walking back and look for a glorious fountain and a red and white awning. Call 15618038503 if you get lost!
But if you want a quick cookie fix in the Former French Concession, check out our 2 new Cookie Nooks! We've installed little cookie kiosks where we either bake on site, or stock with fresh cookies daily. One is inside of Just Grapes on Anfu Lu near Wulumuqi, and the other is inside of Coffee or Tea on Xiangyang Bei Lu, close to Changle Lu (look for the Strictly Cookies sign and red and white shutters).
If you live in the downtown area, within these streets: ZhongShanXi Lu 中山西路, ZhongShanNan Lu 中山南路, suzhou creek 苏州河, HuangPu Jiang 黄浦江- we are happy to offer you free delivery (on next-day orders. Same-day +15 RMB). If you live in the inner Pudong area (around LuJiaZui) delivery is an extra 15 RMB. Outside of these areas, please call us to coordinate delivery 137 8894 0337.<imgsrc="http://strictlycookies.com/templates/2/assets/img/editorial/1462243555101231120141.jpg" alt="" />
Between 10am and 6pm, 7 days a week!
Within 2 hours (!) on this site, 1 hour via our wechat shop (StrictlyCookies完全曲奇) if you're in downtown Puxi :)
- We do, indeed! If you live within our delivery radius, and order next-day/future delivery, we are very happy to offer you free delivery on your order of 80 RMB or more. We also offer same day delivery (within 2 hours) for 15 RMB if you need cookies ASAP (understandable).
We do! We can do almost any cookie design, so email us firstname.lastname@example.com to get a quote:)
- Yes! Our Chocolate Chip, Skinny Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Sugar, Snack Pack, Red Velvet, and Unifier cookies are all nut-free (For those extremely allergic to nuts: while we do our best to keep these cookies separate from the rest, we do not have a separate area or machinery to prepare these cookies, and so it is likely that they have been around our other nut-filled cookies.)
- Yes! In addition to birthday cakes and office meeting sets, we can custom design a cookie package that works for you.
- Yeah sure, why not!? Please send us the exact title in Chinese and we will get one to you within 3 days
- Yes! You can either order and pay using our wechat store (qr code in #2 FAQ) or we have a Paypal option at checkout, which allows you to send cookies as gifts and surprises to friends or lovers. Or friends who have recently become lovers. Just remember to leave their China phone number so we can make sure the cookies get to them and not your enemy.


text:
Reviews - The Stonmar4
15 Flamborough Road ,, Bridlington, YO15 2HU
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
Very Good
100% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Food quality
Room quality
The Stonmar
Greeted with a warm welcome by the owner and had a great overnight stay.
Comfortable and friendly
Easy accessible and comfortable and friendly little place.
Within easy walking distance of the main town. The room was clean and spacious with good facilities. Nice comfotable bed. The breakfast was good and plentiful.
The hosts were helpful and welcoming.
Parking was limited but there was some on the street afer 6pm untill 10 am the following day.
Read More Less
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text: I have a Dell Venue 8 pro running desperately low on memory. I ran SequoiaView on it to see what was taking up so much space and it says hiberfil.sys is taking up 1.2 GB. I'm wondering if it's OK to uninstall it? I don't even have Hibernate on my tablet but I've read online that hiberfil.sys is important for Windows 8; something along the lines of it helps Windows 8 boot faster. So, is it safe? I don't want to mess my tablet up, but I desperately need the 1.2 GB- my tablet is down to 528MB and slowly decreasing. If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!


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17 terms
Ankle Injuries
Ankle Sprain
Stretching or tearing of ligaments surrounding the ankle
Arch Sprain
Overstretching or tearing of the supportive ligaments of the transverse, medial longitudinal, or lateral longitudinal arch
Separation of two layers of skin in which fluid forms inside and puts pressure on the nerves causing pain
Great Toe Sprain (Turf Toe)
Hyperextension of the big toe causing ligaments to be overstretched or torn
Plantar Fasciitis
Inflammation of the wide, nonelastic ligamentous tissue that extends from the anterior portion of the calcaneus to the heads of the metatarsals
Heel Bruise
Contusion to the ligaments, tendons, and fat pad near the calcaneus
Heel Spur
Bony growth on the calcaneus that causes painful inflammation of the accompanying soft tissue
Foot Fracture
When any of the tarsals, metatarsals, or phalanges (toes) is broken
Tearing of muscle
Muscle Cramp
A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle
Achilles Tendonitis
Inflammation of the tendon that attaches the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus
Achilles Tendon Rupture
Complete tear of the tendon that attaches the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus
Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (Shin Splints)
Pain that occurs below the knee either on the front outside portion of the leg or on the inside of the leg
Stress Fracture
An incomplete crack in the bone
Compartment Syndrome
A serious condition that may develop when swelling exists in one or more of the four compartments of the leg or arm
Lower Leg Fracture
When the tibia and or fibula are broken
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text:
Get the official Coloring Book Landbook here:
Super funny Overstock.com chats!
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Genital and anal warts aren't just icky and itchy-they're the mark of the STD, human papilloma virus (HPV) - a serious cancer causer in HIVers. Now Canadian boitech Stressgen reports that trials of a potent immune boosting combo protein, HspE7, led to major downgrading of male anal dyplasia in three quarters of the guys. The gals' study isn't far behind. Three years from market, HspE7 promises a big advance on current laser or cold-knife surgery-and for less, er, bump ride.
Wart's Up?


text:
Better Targeting, Delivery of RNAi Therapies
Forgoing the Comforts of Small Molecules and Antibodies, Some Drug Developers Are Setting Their Sights on RNAi-Based Therapeutics
Systems Biology Opens New Research Pathways
Systems Biologists Are Attacking the Encrypted Messages That Would Allow Us to Predict and Change the Course of Disease
Individual Tumor Profiling
Has Tumor Molecular Profiling Enabled More Effective and Less Toxic Cancer Treatment?
Top 10 Under 40
Up-and-Coming Stars Shine in Biopharma Research and Business
Elan Severs Ties with Alkermes
Elan, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Elan Science Three, agreed to sell all of its remaining 7,750,000 ordinary shares of Alkermes through Jefferies & Company. The sale is expected to close on February 6, 2013.
In May of 2011, Elan sold its Elan Drug Technologies (EDT) formulation and manufacturing business to Alkermes in a cash and shares deal valued at $960 million. Under terms of that agreement Elan shareholders received $500 million in cash and a 25% equity stake in the merged Alkermes entity. In September of that year, upon the completion of the merger of EDT with Alkermes, Elan received 31,900,000 ordinary shares in the newly created Alkermes—a total transaction value estimated to be approximately $1 billion at the time. In March 2012, Elan sold 24,150,000 ordinary shares of Alkermes in an underwritten public offering worth approximately $381 million.
After the closing, Elan will no longer own any ordinary shares of Alkermes.
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Call the Holiday Expert -
(+91 9716294443)
Arrive at Srinagar airport and your will be transfer toHotel/Houseboat. Evening you may enjoy Shikara ride in Dal Lake. Overnight stay at hotel.
After Breakfast, check out from hotel Proceed to Pahalgam, Via visiting Saffron Fields, Avantipura Ruins and Anantnag Sulphur Springs Enjoy the Natural Beauty. Here are the other interesting places to cover like Main Pahalgam Betab valley, Aru valley and Chandan vadi (at your own cost) The route is picturesque with ample campsites. This village is the starting point for treks to the Kolahoi glacier. Overnight stay at Pahalgam.
After Breakfast, check out from hotel and proceed to Gulmarg. visit The Most Beautiful Summer Resorts in the Valley. Enjoy The Splendor Of Nature And Snowy Mountain. One Can Have Gondola Ride (Cable Car) From Gulmarg To Khilanmarg( by own cost). Evening free for personal activities. Dinner & Overnight stay at Gulmarg Hotel.
Day 04: Gulmarg - Srinagar (65 kms/ 1-2 hrs approx).
After breakfast check out from hotel drive back to Sringar. If time allow you may Visit Shankracharya Temple (Shiva Temple), from where you can view the magnificent beauty of Srinagar city and lakes. Also you may visit Famous Mughal Gardens and The Nishat Bagh (The Garden of Pleasure) Built by Asif Jha In 1636 And Shalimar Bagh (Abode of Love) Built by Jehangir for His Beloved Wife Nur Jahan In 1619. You are free for your own activities & shopping in Srinagar. Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel.
Day 05 : Srinagar - Kargil (205 kms/ 6-7 hrs drive):
Pick up from Srinagar &drive to one of the most exhilarating and beautiful drive in the world ,Srinagar to Leh via Kargil and road passes through the panoramic village to reach Sonmarg (2740 mtrs) , which folllows up with lush green fields on both the sides After Sonmarg the road is mostly rough and wet to Zojila pass 3527 mtrs (Gateway of Ladakh) mostly covered with snow and the drive continue towards Drass (the second coldest inhibited place in the world) were we stop for refreshments and ID Proof / Passport check. Another few hours drive will take us to Kargil (2710 mtrs) which is our mid way to Leh. Overnight at hotel.
Day 06 : Kargil – Leh (235 kms/6-7 hrs drive)
After Breakfast ,A full day drive , a transition from green valleys to barren stark mountains of ladakh . Today we ascend few passes and experience the first Buddhist village ,Mulbek , the gaint statue of Matreya buddha , believed to be naturally existed . We cross the highest pass (Fotula 4166 mtrs.) reaching Lamayuru village and later we will be at Lamayuru oldest Monastery. Continue drive through the lower valleys of ladakh (shyam) with crossing village like basgo ,Nimu a view of Zanskar River following into Indus and the confluence and ultimately we reach Leh (3500 mtrs). Overnight at hotel.
Day 07 : Leh –Leisure - City at glance
After reakfast ,Visit the Leh Palace - the battle scarred and deserted 16th century ruins of the royal residence built by Singge Namgyal, Sankar Gompa & Shanti Stupa Overnight at hotel.
Day 08: Leh -.Nubra valley (135km)
After an early breakfast ,drive to beautiful NubraValley via Khardungla (Highest Motorable road in the World, 18,380 ft) with the zig zag trail continues and drive till Hundar village. On arrival check in Nature's nest North camp. Afternoon enjoy the beauty of sand dune and double hump camel. Overnight at Nature's Nest North Camp or similar.
Day 09: Nubra Valley- - Leh ( 125 km):
In the morning visit / explore Deskit , Hundar and the Sand Dunes where you can enjoy a short camel safari using the double - humped Bactrian camel found here (optional on direct payment). Later drive back to Leh reaching in the late afternoon / evening. Dinner & Overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 10: Leh –Pangong lake- (165km)
After an early breakfast. Leave for Pangong Lake through Changla pass 5486 Mtrs. Pangong Lake, situated at 14,000 feet (4,267 m). A long narrow basin of inland drainage, hardly six to seven kilometer at its widest point and over 130km long, it is bisected by the international border between India and China. A few years back the government decided to open it to tourists though the lake and its surrounding is under army surveillance. Enjoy the landscape in the back drop of the Lake. One rarely feels so close to nature and environment and the scenery is unforgettable. Evening at leisure and overnight stay at the camp near lake.
Day 11: Pangong Lake– Leh:
Morning at leisure to explore the beauty of lake and later drive back to leh enroute visiting Thiksey an impressive complex rising tier upon tier on a hill above the village & Shey, The ancient capital of Ladakh. Drive further to Leh and check in at our hotel for Overnight.
Day 12: Leh Departure :
In the morning you will be drop to Leh Airport for your onwards journey..
PACKAGE COST ( Per Person Cost):
|For 02 Paying Pax
|Non AC Tavera /Scorpio Car
|Rs 54,200/- Per person
|Rs 47,600/- Per person
|For 04 Paying pax
|Non AC Tavera /Scorpio Car
|Rs 40,320/- Per person
|Rs 33,660/- Per person
|For 06 Paying pax
|Non AC Tavera /Scorpio Car
|Rs 35,670/- Per person
|Rs 26,380/- Per person
**Extra adult cost based on DELUXE Category: Rs 17,800/- Per head
**Extra adult cost based on STANDRAD Category: Rs 13,000/- Per head
HOTEL USED( Subjected to availability):
|Hotel Royal Batto/ Pride In or similar
|Naquash Residency/Grand Habib or similar
|02 Night
|Hotel Baisaran or similar
|Hotel Fifth season or similar
|01 Night
|Hotel Alpine ridge or similar
|Hotel Zum Zum or similar
|01 Night
|Carvan Sarai/ Siachen hotel or similar
|Hotel Green Land or Zan palace
|01 Night
|Hotel Nature Land/ Mahey palce
|Hotel Asia"B" Block/ Hotel Sujata or similar
|04 Night
|Nature Nest Camp( dlx) or Similar
|Nature Nest Camp( Std)
|01 Night
|Nature nest camp (dlx)or Similar
|Nature nest camp (Std
|01 Night
Trip Prices Includes:
*Twin sharing accommodation (Double room) at all places in Hotels / Camps as applicable to the itinerary.
*Breakfast & Dinner at All hotels/camps.
*Welcome drink on arrival
*Exclusive sightseeing & excursions by one non Ac Tavera/ Scorpio car
*Wildlife fee for Pangong Lake and Nubra Valley areas which are protected wildlife sanctuaries in Ladakh.
Shikara Ride for 01 hrs on Dal Lake
Inner line permit for restricted areas of Nubra, Pangong and Tsomoriri areas (Guest are required to bring one a photocopy of their photo identity proof along with them. Foreign Tourist should bring their original Passport with a valid Indian Visa on it. For Foreign Diplomats the permit has to be issued from Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi)
*Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh Environment fee (Students should bring their school ID)
All applicable taxes
Medical & Travel insurance
Domestic airfare
Personal items like mineral water, phone calls, laundry etc.
Extra meals / room services / bottled beverages consumed at the hotel.
Additional costs for Hotel accommodation, transport services due to flight cancellation, road blocks etc.
Porterage & tips at the airport, Hotel/Camp staff & drivers.
Terms & Conditions:
Trip prices are applicable strictly for resident Indian citizens only.
Prices are valid from 1st April till until Oct end 2014
Trips are materialized subject to minimum 2 persons together.
We hold the right to alter the tour schedule incase of bed weather & other conditions beyond our control that might effect the normal itinerary