by Elle Lincoln
In that moment I make a promise to myself. I’m going to kill her. No matter how bloodthirsty Neit claims I am, I’m going to make it true. I’m going to send her to my reapers and make sure she never fucking comes back. I’m going to watch as they shred her soul, deeming it unfit for reincarnation.
“Mae, you’re growling,” Argos whispers to me. “I’ve almost gone it.”
I take a deep breath, promising those icy eyes behind the bars that his suffering will end shortly.
“Now, this is the best part. He’s contagious now!” She claps with giddy enthusiasm.
I cock my head to the side, my voice coming out hollow and burdened. “Tell me, miss.” Because I still don’t know her name. I push toward the barrier. “Contagious how?”
“Like an infection. Now, I believe my Cian only found it spreads through bodily liquids. Like HIV,” she explains matter-of-factly, without realizing what she’s done. “But depending on the species, it will move quick or slow. It truly depends.” Again, she pats the bars affectionately.
“And tell me, what of the magical backlash?” There’s always a price.
She smiles with a malicious gleam in her green eyes. “Oh, it’s taken care of.”
“Is it? Cian said the same, but I’m not so sure. See, magic is an entity unto itself. A gift of sorts. And you’ve just abused it. What makes you think it will obey you?” Her red hair begins to grey, then whiten.
Rhia and Gram stand behind her, their eyes stuck to the woman.
“Because I know Cian,” she states.
“Oh, but see, you’re just another sacrifice to him.” I push against the barrier and watch it fall, shattering like magical glass glittering in the light.
Her eyes widen. “Impossible.”
Killian and the other two wolves run to the cage, whispering words of encouragement as they break him free.
“They will die, you know.” She gloats, even as she backs away from me. I move slowly toward her, my scythe in my hand burning my palms.
I don’t glance back, but I know Xavier will be tended to. “They may, but you just might be wrong.”
“Cian is never wrong.” She smiles, letting out a long, low whistle.
“No more surprises.” I swing my scythe, laying the blade gently on her throat. “What did you do?”
She just smiles.
“Fuck this.” I hook the blade around her neck and pull, the sharp steel cutting through her neck like butter. The easier the death, the closer it was to their time to die. “Bitch had it coming.”
“That’s scary, Mae. Really, that terrifies me.” Argos stands beside me with his hands on his hips. “Now, why didn’t she fight back? And what did she whistle for?” His eyes glance around the vast room.
“I just want to find Flynn and get out of this fun house.” I march to the archway, stepping through and into a grand foyer. The front door isn’t even locked. I swing the doors open, letting in the rest of the crew.
“Ah, Mae?” Rocco sidles up to me.
“Yeah?”
“Those aren’t our guys.” He grabs me, yanking me back from the throng of men walking in the door. My eyes scan the familiar faces, but I don’t see Gramps.
“Rocco, what are you talking about?” Now he’s dragging me back through to the kitchen, grabbing Killian and Argos on the way, the other wolves already carrying Xavier away. I’m partially happy they found a better cause than revenge.
“Mae, look at them.” He whispers, pulling us through and blocking the door to the dining hall. Just as the door closes, one of the men looks at me, only his eyes aren’t normal.
“Why are his eyes red?”
“I told you this castle held the darkest of fae,” Gram whispers to me, giving Rhia the side-eye.
“Don’t blame my family.”
“Then who else made this a castle of dark fae? I thought you were supposed to be light?” Gram props her hands on her hips.
“The Summer Court is full of light and dark fae.” She shrugs a shoulder.
“Can’t you two shut the hell up?” I rub my temple while Rocco gives me a bland look.
“I hate that I can’t see what you can,” Argos whispers, but I damn well know he’s thought about Marrok, who’s already moved on.
“I don’t need a lesson on how fucked up the fae are.” I look at the two women who once again are the bane of my existence.
“We aren’t all fucked up,” Rhia argues. I’m sure that tone had many men quaking, but not me, I’m fed up with her bullshit.
“Where is Flynn?”
Rhia flutters her hands. “In some bubble at a pub. Don’t worry, it’s about to pop.”
“Are you asking me?” Killian raises a dark brow.
“No.” I wave my hands at Rhia and Gram, which to him probably looks like I’m crazy since he can’t see what I can. Right. “Flynn will be back momentarily.”
The room darkens.
“Anyone else?” Argos touches one of the electric lamps that dims just a bit more.
“Yep,” I reply with a pop, knowing that this shit show hasn’t even ended yet. “What now?”
“Now you have to fight the dark,” Rhia answers simply.
“Where are the others?” I address at her.
“Glamoured. In fact, I wouldn’t kill any of those men out there.”
“You can’t be serious.” I flop on a stool. “Argos, can you break a glamour?”
“Witch, not fae.” He presents himself with a flourish.
“That’s an issue.”
“Why?” Killian growls.
“What do you smell, Killian?”
“Spit it out, reaper.”
“Fine, those red-eyed demons are our men, only glamoured.” A throb begins behind my eyelids.
Rocco spins on me. “Impossible, I’d know.”
“I’m going with the ghosts on this one, Rocco.” I watch as Killian walks to the door where a raging crowd bangs on it from the other side. “Do you smell our men?”
“I feel our kin, but I can’t reach them through the pack bond.” His hands run across the heavy wood. “How?”
“I don’t know, but try not to kill anyone. They probably think we’re whatever we see. What the fuck are we seeing?” There’s no name for what’s happening right now.
The light dims once more.
“I need Flynn.”
“Wish and you shall receive,” a cool voice whispers in my ear.
“Mae?” I spi,n seeing Flynn whole and alive.
“Wait!” Rocco yanks me back, the guys moving me to the other side of the vast kitchen. “What if it isn’t him?”
“I did hear someone else’s voice before his.” Once we get the hell out of here, I’m never stepping foot back in this place again. “Flynn, tell me something only I would know.”
“You talk in your sleep.” He pinches his brows together, looking around the room. “What’s going on?”
“Try again, a lot of people know that.” It looks like Flynn, sounds like him. Hell, his eyes hold that same ethereal flicker of flame.
“That jacket you’re wearing was given by Bodb, not me.” He stands still, not moving toward me just yet. “What’s going on?”
I nod, accepting his secret. “Where were you?”
“My brother and that damn pub.” He looks around the room, assessing the situation. “Where’s my father?”
“I forgot about him. I haven’t seen him since I dove out the window.”
“We are going to have to have a serious talk about you jumping from buildings and out of windows.”
I brush his concern away. I’m fine. “What did Cian say?”
“He wants to eliminate immortality. But Mae, where is my father?”
“I told you, I don’t know.” Hands on hips, I wonder why he’s so damn concerned, he’s a grown ass god after all.
“We need to find him.” He turns to his mother. “Where is he?”
Her eyes glance up.
Without hesitation, F
lynn ghosts up to the next level, leaving me there. “What the hell?”
“Go, we’ll hold the crowd back. Kill the source and his magic dies with him.” Argos shoos me off.
Giving up on being of any use here, I ghost up a level after Flynn. He grips me, pulling me into a room. Voices filter to us from the hallway.
“You weren’t supposed to kill anyone.” Neit’s voice floats to me down the corridor, igniting anger in my veins.
Flynn’s grip on my shoulder tightens. He shakes his head no.
“I needed that organ,” Cian replies.
“What of my son’s men? Good men.”
“They will kill each other off.” Cian represses a giggle. “Then you won’t have to worry about him usurping you.”
“You underestimate my son.”
“Aren’t I your son? Rhia trained him, you trained me. I’m more your son than he is.” Cian’s voice raises just a bit.
“You are a mortal woman’s babe.”
I can almost feel his anger in the air.
“Now I’m all you have.” A low hum answers him. Cian continues, “You will be the only god left shortly. The virus is already out. Dee made sure of it.”
“Did she?”
I’m pretty sure we stopped that. I make a mental note to find a doctor and a lab as soon as we’re done here.
That’s when I feel it, a tickle in my nose from the musty and dusty room. That damn reaction to a foreign invader that started this whole thing. Gram pops up in front of me with a stern look on her face.
“Don’t do it,” she whispers.
I can’t help it. I fucking sneeze.
Chapter 27
Mae
My body vibrates with the force of my sneeze. My scythe pops in and out of existence, and Flynn just stares at me in horror. This couldn’t have gone any more wrong.
Footsteps shuffle their way toward us. We have two options—enter the veil, or face the music.
I move away from Flynn, stumbling onto the maroon rug. “Oh, I didn’t see you two there.” From the looks on their faces, I’m not fooling anyone. “So, what are ya talking about?”
Flynn steps out beside me, his palm a brand on my lower back. He stares at his father, vibrating with tension. Rhia and Gram pop up behind the duo.
“You are a pretty good actor, Neit,” I admit, watching as the mask falls upon his face. “So, you’re just going to pretend we didn’t hear you?”
“You wanted me out of the picture?” Flynn challenges with that monotone voice his father uses.
“I don’t think killing you was in their plan, Flynn.” I cock my head, taking in the two of them, just waiting for one to make a move. When they do, my scythe will fly through their necks.
“No, but killing you was.” He fists my jacket, the only indication of his anger. I hope he doesn’t set it on fire.
“I mean, but can you really kill a Goddess of Death?” I shrug, like I really have no idea, because I kind of don’t.
“You can. The virus is free, you’re all infected,” Cian declares with a smug smile.
“Yeah, no, we stopped that.” Or I hope we did, otherwise we just brought it somewhere to infect others. “Also, your lady is dead.”
Just as I anticipated, Cian shows absolutely no emotion with that statement. He really didn’t care about her. Her only cared about gaining power and infecting immortals.
Neit stands there smiling. “I believe we are done here then.” He turns on a heel, dismissing us.
“We aren’t done here.” Cian grips Neit by his collar. “What do you mean you stopped the virus?” he asks us.
“We stopped it.” I cross my arms in defiance.
“Did she inject him?” Cian inquires eagerly.
My lips thin and he knows damn well that it occurred. He claps his hands. “Except…” I tap my chin. “He seemed to stop aging. Are you sure you factored in the right ingredients?” I try not to shudder, knowing that the ingredients were actual organs.
“Of course I did.”
“You can let go of me now.” Neit flicks Cian off, before turning to face us. “Like I said, you cannot underestimate my son.”
Cian turns ruddy as his anger escalates.
“Not to mention, you did fuck with the natural order of things. Playing with the price of magic. Tell me, where did you distribute that to?” It’s truly driving me insane.
Cian smiles, adjusting his crisp, button-down shirt. “Just into another.”
“The kids.” Horror washes through me, my heart palpitates.
“Oh, but they aren’t mine, I mean they are. Just clones, that is.” He flutters his hands.
“You cloned yourself to take on your magical debt?” What fucking world am I living in?
“It was the only way to trick the magic.” He shrugs.
Neit begins laughing before clapping Cian on the back. “Well done.”
“I don’t think so.” I send out my senses, searching for his clones and tasting their death. “Yeah, I’m not so sure.”
“I’ve been a scientist far longer than you have been alive. I think I know what I’m doing.” Cian’s eyes darken just a fraction.
“Except them don’t hold your signature.” I step into Cian, my scythe grounding me to reality as I taste his death. “Not at all, see, I can see death and yours is coming, theirs is not.”
Cian pushes me, flinging his arms out to the side, his mouth uttering words in another language. Flynn darts for his father. Everything slows down as Cian reaches for me, his head tilted down as magic races up his arms in hues of greens, purples, and deep scarlet.
With a smile, he turns, and my stomach drops as Cian flings magic at Flynn and Neit. My words die on a scream lodged in my throat, and my feet freeze in place. This can’t be happening.
“Move!” Rhia shouts in my ear, spurring me forth into an onslaught of magic. Neit’s eyes widen and then he does the unthinkable—he pushes Flynn toward me. Magic spears him in the chest, flinging him against the wall where plaster cracks and breaks free. Neit and Flynn tumble to the ground.
My knees hit the floor beside Flynn, my hands feeling him up and down, searching for any injuries. But he sits in stunned silence, surprise registering on his face.
“How do you kill a god?” Rhia questions before turning to me. “The same way you kill any enemy. You find his weakness.”
My chest heaves as I glance from Gram to Rhia.
“Go,” Gram orders.
“No mercy,” Rhia reminds me.
I stand on shaking legs. I can’t look as Neit’s breaths slow and Flynn sits frozen in shock. All I can do is watch as Cian runs down the hall.
Adrenaline kicks in, flooding my system with the need to move. My muscles clench and I dart down the corridor, following Cian. My nerves flutter as I chase him up into the tower. His breath heaving and puffing as he struggles to run from me.
Except a niggling in the back of my head slows me down. Why is he going up? I don’t have time to ponder as the stones shatter above my head in an explosion. I fling my body to the ground, rolling just as the rocks there splinter. I ghost myself, floating up the stairs.
“Where did she go?” Cian mutters to himself. I pop in behind him, tapping him on the shoulder with my scythe.
But then he fucking disappears. Eyes wide, I race up the steps not wanting to be caught there when he returns. I won’t be cornered. My thighs burn as I reach the tower landing. The door to that lone room stands wide open. I don’t go near it. Instead, I put my back against a wall.
Waiting.
“You know, he cried as I ripped through his flesh.” I close my eyes as his words pierce the air.
“Did you believe all of this would work out?” I pop my eyes back open as a whoosh announces his presence.
“I still have my magic.” Magic wraps around his arms in green hues.
“You have borrowed magic,” I counter, wondering how the hell I can kill something that can disappear.
Find his weak
ness.
“I only discovered a way to utilize my surroundings.” His arm lashes out, and I duck just as the space where my head was explodes.
“Right, yeah, I don’t think that’s what’s going on at all.” Find his weakness. “Tell me, Cian, how did you get the magic from that little organ?”
He shrugs. “You will die soon anyway.” He pauses with a presumptuous smile. “I extracted it by doing an ancient ritual, calling upon an ancient goddess.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t actually expecting that. “And she helped?”
“No, she ignored me.” He grinds his teeth at that. “I even called upon Balor, only to learn that he’s been domesticated.” He spits the last word.
“I’m sorry, who?”
“It doesn’t matter, because another answered.” His eyes light up. “She taught me everything. Teaching me how to carve a man and an immortal. How to use their magic against them. She taught me how to use magic.”
“She created a monster,” I whisper to myself. “Who is this wonderful lady?” I hope he doesn’t note my sarcasm.
“She’s long gone, back across the sea. I freed her.” His eyes light up with lust. “I found her body rotting at the bottom of a ravine. She’d been calling to me for days. Her magic—” He licks his lips, wringing his hands. “It’s darkness, it’s chaotic and beautiful.”
Yeah, I’ve had enough of this, but I need him to keep talking. “Tell me about her.”
He begins his tale, but I’m no longer listening. Instead, I stretch out my senses. Unsure of what I’m doing exactly, I just let myself lead with intuition. There is always one part of someone that makes them more than just the skin they wear—the soul. My consciousness grows as I dive into his soul with death. The goddess that seeks the end in all things. His soul, rotten and diseased, glimmers with a dark grey. Peeks of who he was taunt me.
“Are you even listening?” I almost lose my concentration, yet I still look at him. “What are you doing?” He advances.
I grasp onto his soul, knowing there is only one thing I can do. “Listening to you.”
“You aren’t.” He flings magic at me, green and volatile, striking me in my shoulder. Pain explodes across my senses, but I’m thankful for his shitty aim.
