Marked by Hades by Reese Monroe

her—Justin’s—jacket and sat on the edge of the bed, watching.
    Justin opened the door to find Theo dressed in black army fatigues. “See, I remembered to knock.” He leaned to the side. “Trance her, and let’s go.”
    “Very funny.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Yvonne, I’ll be right back.”
    She nodded, and he closed the door behind him.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Got a problem.”
    “Later.”
    “No, Theo. This is the woman who can vaporize humans by touching them.”
    The Gatekeeper’s jaw fell. Never had Justin seen him speechless or shocked, and he’d seen pretty much all of Theo’s emotions over the nine centuries they’d been together. A twinge ripped through Justin’s brain, and he knew Theo was snooping around in there.
    He smacked Theo’s shoulder. “Get out of my head. I’m telling you what I know.”
    “This is faster. So, she’s the one you saw dust a guy by touching him. You took her in, how nice of you, and—” He grunted. “Didn’t need to see that part. Okay, so what is she?”
    “I was just trying to figure that out when you came barging in.”
    “That’s not all I was interrupting.” Theo waggled his brows.
    Brothers suck rocks sometimes.
    “Bring her with.”
    “Not having your man card for so long has clearly turned your brain to mush. I’m not bringing a total stranger through a splice to France, then to Hades.” Justin paced the wooden porch outside the hotel room door. “This girl is skittish enough.”
    “You don’t even have a last name?”
    “Theo, I don’t think she knows her last name. Or doesn’t remember. Or something.”
    “Or something…” Theo tapped his finger on his lip, and Justin could see the theories formulating deep in his Gatekeeper’s mind. “She’s coming with. Halena or Sadie might be able to help Yvonne figure it out.” Theo straightened as his blue eyes narrowed. “You’re mated?” He grabbed Justin’s shoulders. “Is this girl your Mate?”
    “Shit.” Justin pushed him away.
    “You’ve felt the Ahavah Mark your Mate. This is amazing.” Theo grinned, knowing full well Justin never wanted one. “And your Mate kills people with a touch?”
    “She’s not mine.” Half of him wished it was her. If he had to Mate someone, Yvonne might be okay. She was easy to be around, and this connection he felt with her…
    “Yet you have her here, and you’re caring for her? That’s not like you, brother.”
    “You must be rubbing off on me.” He faced Theo. “I checked her shoulders. No Mark. But I feel my Mate near, too. Like you’ve told me about. A twinge in my chest.”
    “Your heart and soul.”
    “Okay. Okay. I get it.” Theo’d always been the romantic. “But it’s not Yvonne. You’ve never known a Mark to be elsewhere on the body, have you?”
    “Never.” Theo scanned the parking lot. “Always the shoulder. Is she drawn to you? Trusting of you?”
    “Seems to be.” Considering she let him touch her so intimately, and she’d cried in front of him.
    “Get her. She’s coming. We can trance her later if need be, but we must go. The intel we have is only good for tonight. Seems our friend Aggie had several people in on his plan. The Artifacts are moved nightly.”
    “But the map…”
    “Is one of several. Separate map for each storage.”
    Justin turned toward his door. “Are there many Artifacts?”
    “The Great One only knows, but what I can tell you is, He must want us on it, because I haven’t had a splice in the United States for nearly two weeks.” He let out a long sigh. “Halena hasn’t had any in her territory, either.”
    Great. That couldn’t be a good sign. Even worse, Justin was bringing a total stranger along on a trip to Hades. One who could dust a person with a mere touch.
    Nothing good could come of this. Yet he knew Theo was right. Between Halena and Sadie, they might know more about Yvonne and what she was.
    But what about Justin’s Mate?

Chapter Eleven
    The door creaked