Godkiller (Hidden: Godkiller Saga Book 1)

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  There was a knock at the door, and I called for whoever it was to enter.

  Volodhal walked in with Nether on his arm. Nether was practically glowing, and Volodhal looked more at peace than he had since I’d met him.

  I really hoped Nain would be able to convince him that Nammov was a danger. He’d learn everything he could about Nammov and whatever it was he was planning, and when he had evidence, he’d go to Volodhal and warn him. Getting him to believe that his most trusted lieutenant wasn’t all he thought he was… that wasn’t going to be easy. If anyone could do it, Nain could. And I would do my best to help him.

  I glanced at Nether, and she smiled at me. I wanted to tell her, to warn her, but I couldn’t risk telling her telepathically.

  Volodhal smiled at me. “Nether has convinced me that you’re needed at home, Lady Eth-Hades. You and your friends may leave. I wish your mate could get through with you, but—”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine here,” Nain said coldly, and Volodhal looked at him, concern in his face.

  “Nain?” Volodhal said.

  “Her family murdered my parents. I have no desire to live among lying, filthy, murderers.”

  “Hey, watch it there… whoever you are,” Hades said. “Watch how you’re talking about my daughter or I will fucking end you.”

  I rolled my eyes, and Nether hid a laugh. “You’re not my father, asshole.”

  “Close enough,” he muttered.

  “Maybe I was talking about you,” Nain said sinisterly. “Maybe you killed my parents. What do you think?”

  “How the hell would he even know, Nain?” I asked in annoyance.

  “Yeah, and I bet you’d cover it up for him, wouldn’t you, wife?” he said, sneering the last word in a way that made my heart ache.

  “Take it easy, asshole,” Brennan growled.

  “This place is not good for him,” Nether said to Volodhal, shaking her head. “Are you all right, My Prison?”

  “I’ll be okay, Nether. I need to get the fuck away from him.”

  Nether nodded, giving Nain a look of disappointment and disapproval.

  “Why are you being such an insufferable dick?” she asked, in her sweet, somewhat ethereal voice, and it took everything in me not to burst out laughing.

  “Mind your own business, Nether. This has nothing to do with you,” Nain said.

  “You hurt her,” Nether said.”I felt it before I… before I was distracted,” she said, blushing a little and glancing up at Volodhal, who had a sheepish, if a little smug, grin on his face.

  “TMI, Nether,” I said. “But congrats on getting some.”

  She laughed and clapped her hands together, and Volodhal shook his head.

  He cleared his throat. “As I was saying. You may head back to your world, Lady Eth-Hades. I owe you a debt, and I will be your ally for the rest of my days. Know that you can always call on the Volod, and we will do our best to assist you.”

  I bowed to him. “And you can count on the same from the Olympians,” I said. I was about to continue, when I was hit with a sensation that had me falling to the floor, dizzy and in agony. I was aware that the rest of the people in the room were in an uproar, asking me what was wrong, and that Nether was screaming along with me, feeling my agony.

  “Holy shit,” I cried, wiping a stream of blood away from my nose. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”

  “Molly!’ Brennan shouted, kneeling in front of me and grabbing my shoulders. “Molly, what’s wrong?”

  “So much loss. All at once. Oh my god.” I pushed him away and lost the contents of my stomach on the carpet as another wave of whatever it was hit me. Millions of souls, all at once. “Stop,” I begged, holding my head. Nether was screaming again, and I was aware of Nain’s anguish as well, feeling my pain through our bond.

  “The Asgardians must be making their move,” Volodhal said shakily. “I can send the scouts through with you. They’ll help you—”

  “We need the scouts here,” another voice said, and I looked up to see Nammov standing near the door. “We’re likely next, as soon as Odin rips through her world.”

  “We cannot just leave their world to die, defenseless,” Volodhal told him.

  “I need to get home.” I stood up and stumbled toward the door. I felt myself starting to fall, and then a strong hand pulled me up. I glanced up to see Hades. He shrugged. “Just… lean on me, until you don’t need to.”

  I nodded, let him support me as we made our way for the door. I felt Nain fall in behind us, Brennan next to him, Volodhal and Nether behind them.

  “Seriously, wake the hell up,” I heard Brennan growling at Nain. “You felt what she just felt. Shit. I practically felt what she just felt. The last thing she needs is you acting like some kind of asshole demon or whatever the hell you are now. Think of her, for like five seconds, asshole.”

  “Mind your own business, Brennan,” Nain muttered.

  “You’re lucky we’re going home. I would rip your guts out—”

  “Yeah, I’m terrified,” Nain said.

  We reached the front entrance of the palace… just in time to see a large column of people walking toward us down the street.

  “Mom!” I heard one of them scream, and Zoe came running at me out of the crowd. I let go of Hades and ran to her, pulling me into my arms, wondering what the fuck they were doing in the Volod homeworld.

  “Mom. It’s all gone. They destroyed it all.”

  “What? What did they destroy, Zoe?” I asked, putting my hands on the sides of her head and inspecting her. Her eyes were wide, terrified. Her clothing was stained and tattered, and she had a large bruise on her jaw.

  “The Netherwoods. It’s gone.”

  “Detroit?” I asked, trembling.

  “Still there, for now.”

  “I felt deaths…”

  “Not deaths, Mom. We lost souls when he destroyed the Netherwoods.”

  I took a deep breath. E and the Guardians would have to collect them all again. We’d have to rebuild… I looked past her to see E, Quinn, and the rest of the Guardians, along with my son. He came to me and hugged me hard. Behind him, standing off to the side, was a soul, a young woman. I closed my eyes and hugged Hades. We’d argued over her, and now it seemed so unimportant.

  “Mom.. there’s more,” Zoe said.

  “Of course. What is it?”

  She took a deep breath. “Their leader… he’s this giant, armored, bearded guy. Calls himself—”

  “Odin,” I said blankly, and she nodded.

  “He says if you don’t come and face him, he’ll start killing the humans… and that if you don’t turn over the Volod… is that these guys?” I nodded. “If you don’t turn them over, he’ll kill the humans twice as fast.”

  “We will face them,” Volodhal said. “You will need to open the breach,” he said to me.

  I shook my head. “If I do that, then they get in here. Right now, this is the last safe refuge for my kids and everyone else I care about.”

  A safe refuge filled with at least a few beings who wanted me and my kind dead, sure, but safer than what they’d left behind. Shit.

  “Then what are we going to do?” Volodhal asked. I met Nether’s eyes, then E’s. Athena’s. My mom’s and aunt’s. Then, my daughter’s. “I’ll face him. I’ll keep him busy until you can mount a defense.”

  The Olympians, each and every one of them, dropped to a knee and thumped their fists against their chests in salute to me. “We’ll face him,” Hephaestus said. He met my gaze. “You’re not takin’ all the glory this time, queenie.”

  “You have a family.”

  “And as I told you before, I’m not worth a damn if I’m not willin’ to fight to keep them safe. I saw that Odin fucker. He’s… you’re gonna need all of us.”

  “It still might not be enough,” E said quietly. I’d never heard her sound so haunted.

  “Then we die fighting. We spent too long sitting to the side. Mollis showed us what it was to serve human
ity again. This is the moment they need us most,” Athena said.

  I glanced behind me, saw Nain and Nammov standing side by side. Enemies on every side. We were surrounded. This world, our own.

  But we were surrounded by friends, too.

  It would have to be enough.

  “All right,” I said. “Then we fight.”

  The gods thumped their chests again, and then my son, Zoe, Sean, Michael, and Rose stepped forward. They each dropped to a knee giving me the same salute. I closed my eyes, fighting back the terror.

  Gods, no.

  “It’s our time, Mother,” Hades said. “We fight.” And I knew, as much as I hated it, that we would need every god and demigod we could possibly muster if we had any chance of beating the Asgardians. Even if they were children.

  Even if they were my children, who I’d spent the last fifteen years of my life fighting for, trying to ensure that they would never have to face the things I’ve faced. I met my son’s gaze, then my daughter’s. And for the first time since they were babies, I saw everything. Their lives. Their wishes and dreams and fears.

  And I saw, without a single doubt, that they would not be turned away from this fight. If I didn’t give them my blessing, they’d go off and fight anyway. Their world had been threatened. Hades, while he didn’t care overmuch about protecting the rest of the world, cared very much that his sister had been threatened.

  That I had been threatened. My son wanted to protect me. He is more like his father than he realizes.

  I opened my eyes, met Nain’s gaze through the crowd. It was more important than ever for him to stay in his role, with our children and loved ones stuck here with us.

  We would get through this. We’d find a way to keep them all safe.

  Or we’d die trying.

  I nodded at Hades, and they all stood, watching me.

  “Volodhal, if you can spare some armor…”

  “Of course. Anything you need,” he said.

  I looked toward the breach, shimmering in the distance, my world in peril just beyond it.

  I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. I had my mate. I had my family. I had allies. Maybe it would be enough.

  “As soon as you can get us armed, we march,” I said. And despite the fear, despite the choking terror of knowing everyone I loved would be fighting either in the human realm or here in the Volod world… my blood ran hot at the knowledge that my blade would taste the blood of my foes once again.

  “She has that look on her face again,” Zoe murmured to E.

  “That, my girl, is exactly the look we want to see,” E answered.

  “What look is that?” I asked.

  “The look that says somebody’s about to get hurt,” Hephaestus said. I turned to them and smirked.

  And then I met Nain’s eyes and, for just an instant, he opened himself up to me.

  We’d face every enemy who came for us.

  And no matter which realm he was in, and which realm I was in, we’d face them as we always had.

  Together.

  Epilogue

  Damned Olympians, Nammov seethed as he stalked though the corridors toward his private quarters. The entire palace stank of them. And that bitch, their leader, Death’s Daughter… she’d have to be the first one he dealt with.

  Without her, they were nothing. Without her, they’d fall apart.

  He had her mate. He’d make her suffer.

  And, if that wasn’t enough, well…

  Odin owed him a favor or two, he thought with a bitter smile. He’d waited a very long time, determined to save his people from Volodhal’s bumbling leadership, from his sentimental ties to Nyx and the others she’d created. Their time had almost come.

  It was time, finally, for the Volod to rise.

  THE END

  Molly will return in Godbreaker, Hidden: Godkiller Saga Book 2.

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  Reading Order

  for the

  Hidden Saga

  While I try to ensure that the first book in each story arc is a good jumping on point for readers who are new to the series, there’s simply no way to catch everyone up on all of the details of what happened in the previous books. It is my sincere hope that this book, as the first one in the Godkiller story arc, is a good entrance point to the series, and that, hopefully, if you haven’t read the other books in the Hidden saga, you’re curious about what led Molly and the team to this point. If so, here’s a general breakdown of the books that came before this arc.

  Hidden (The original series, told from Molly’s point-of-view.)

  Lost Girl

  Broken

  Home

  Forever Night (a side story novella told from another character’s point-of-view. It happens alongside the main storyline, and also adds some details that will be important later on.)

  Strife

  Earth Bound (another side story novella)

  Nether

  Hidden: Soulhunter (This is the second arc of the Hidden saga, and it’s told from Eunomia’s POV.)

  Guardian

  Betrayer

  Zealot

  Demons of Christmas Past (a sidestory novella, told from Molly’s POV.)

  Hidden: Godkiller Saga

  Godkiller

  Godbreaker (coming soon)

  Note from Colleen

  When I started writing the original Hidden series back around 2010 or so, I started it the way I started so many stories at the time, figuring it would fizzle out or I’d become bored with it, or, more typically, that I would reach a point at which I just didn’t care what the characters did next.

  But from the moment she appeared on the page, Molly was different. She was angry and foul-mouthed and absolutely fed up with everyone’s shit. And she was in the unique position of being able to actually do something about it.

  And then she met a telepathic demon, and I can honestly say that her world, and mine, has never been the same.

  It feels so good to be back in the Hidden world again. In many ways, it’s like coming home. Molly Brooks changed my life. I’m an author because of her, and because of the thousands of amazing readers who have read her story over the last few years. So my first thank you goes to you. If you’re reading this: thank you for being here, for following these stories, for loving (and sometimes hating) my foul-mouthed heroine. You are amazing.

  Thanks, as always, to my crazy-awesome family. My husband Roger, who listens to more of my whining and bitching while I’m working through a story than anyone would ever want to hear, and my kids, for keeping me laughing. I love you guys.

  Thank you to the world’s best beta readers. You ladies are an absolute delight and I’m so grateful for you. A million thanks to Danielle, Jo, Deborah, Rachel, Stefanie, Sarah W., Jada, Sunny, Sarah L., Hannah, Susan, Amy, Amber, Fi, Sarah C., Jayna, Ann, Krys, Kari, and Adeline, and to Haleigh for helping me keep my continuity straight. This book is better because of you.

  And, finally, I want to thank the best group of author pals a girl could ask for. Thanks for the laughter, commiseration, and encouragement. Much love to Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Draven, Mel Sterling, Tiffany Freund, Amy Cissell, RJ Blain, Monica Enderle Pierce, Emma Hamm, and Vicki Stiefel.

  If you enjoyed this book, I’d love you forever if you left a quick review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. And, as always, I’d love to hear what you think! Please feel free to email me at colleen@colleenvanderlinden.com, or drop me a note on Twitter (@C_Vanderlinden) or Facebook.

  Until next time…

  Colleen Vanderlinden

  July 13,2017

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  More Books

  by Colleen Va
nderlinden

  The Copper Falls Series

  Shadow Witch Rising

  Shadow Sworn

  Light’s Shadow

  The Exile Series

  Exile

  Riven

  The Hidden Series

  Book One: Lost Girl

  Book Two: Broken

  Book Three: Home

  Book Four: Strife

  Book Five: Nether

  Hidden Series Novellas

  Forever Night

  Earth Bound Demons of Christmas Past

  Hidden: Soulhunter Series

  Guardian

  Betrayer

  Zealot

  Hidden: Godkiller Series

  Godkiller

  The StrikeForce Series

  A New Day

  One More Day

  Darkest Day

  Day’s End

  Contemporary Romance

  Written as Ella Linden

  Paradise Bay

  Between the Lines

  One More Time

  Imperfect

  * * *

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  Sign Up for Colleen’s Newsletter.

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  About the Author

  Colleen Vanderlinden is the author of the Hidden and Soulhunter urban fantasy series, as well as the Copper Falls paranormal romance series and the StrikeForce Sci-Fi/Romance series. The third Hidden novel, Home, was a finalist for RT Book Reviews’ Editors Choice Awards for best self-published urban fantasy novel of 2014. Her books have consistently received positive reviews, and RT Book Reviews has called her storytelling “electrifying.” She lives in the Detroit area with her husband, kids, demonic Basset hound, and two lazy cats. You can find out more about Colleen’s books at colleenvanderlinden.com, or follow her on Facebook, or on Twitter, where she’s @C_Vanderlinden.