Gabrielle’s confidence was ripped from her like a wind extinguishing a fire. Gabrielle knew as the words entered her ears that Arawn was telling the truth. She was in her real body, and she was in his domain. If she died now, she would die for real. Still, she refused to let him see any weakness.
“Well, to be totally honest with you, I missed defeating you and destroying all of your hard work. I had grown to like the look on your face when you were once again beaten by a little girl.” Gabrielle smiled at Arawn and flipped the hair from her brow with her thumb.
The edges of his smile dropped into a scowl.
“The games are over, Gabrielle. You’re mine now. There is no more running, hiding, or fighting. I have so many fun things planned for you. Aren't you excited?” Arawn laughed, and the sound caused his hounds to begin to howl. Gabrielle twisted her grip around the heavy club in her hand.
“Well, what are we waiting for then. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Gabrielle taunted, waving Arawn on.
He fell silent, anger dancing behind his eyes, and raised his hand into the air.
“Now, my pets, remember . . . when you are done ripping her into pieces, bring them all to me. I would love to put them right back together again for you. Don't worry, Gabrielle, you won’t die. In fact, you will feel everything. I hear the reassembly process is an interesting type of pain.”
Gabrielle slid her second hand down and squeezed the club. Holding something of Morrigan’s, of a god’s, made her feel more powerful. Let them come. She would kill all of them. What Arawn didn’t realize was that she would never stop fighting. She couldn’t die here? Great. She’d use that to her advantage and continue fighting until she’d slaughtered every single creature in the Other World. Gabrielle’s stance shifted as two more hounds appeared at the back of the group. This wouldn't be pleasant.
“I think you are forgetting something,” another voice called out. The sweet lilt of the familiar voice caused Gabrielle to loosen her grip on the club, and she fumbled to prevent it from slipping to the ground. She spun around to see Morrigan walking across the field toward her.
She still had the same form from the last time Gabrielle had seen her at the plantation. She was as beautiful as ever. Her lavender eyes pierced through the void from beneath a gorgeous green cape with a golden hood and caused Gabrielle’s heart to skip a beat. Gabrielle found it difficult to breathe; it was like Morrigan’s beauty was amplified here somehow. How could she still be alive? Gabrielle had seen her die with her own eyes.
“Ah, Morrigan. I was wondering if you would show up to see me play with your former pet,” Arawn teased, lowering his arm.
“You’re just as foul as ever, Arawn. It seems your ego hasn't waned since the last time Gabrielle kicked your ass.” Morrigan stopped so that she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Gabrielle. A breeze fluttered through the field, and Gabrielle caught the sweet scent of chamomile. It was both calming and agitating. She let her eyes drift up to meet Morrigan’s. Morrigan was alive, and together Gabrielle knew they could beat Arawn for good. Gabrielle’s excitement passed as the familiar feeling of confusion pushed its way into her mind.
“What are you doing here?” Gabrielle asked. “I killed you. I saw you die.”
“You can’t kill a god, you dense little girl. All of those lives you’ve lived and books you’ve read and you’re still just an ignorant little kid? Seems like a wasted investment to me, Morrigan,” Arawn chided.
“That is enough out of you, Arawn! Yes, Gabrielle, I’m a god and no I’m not dead. This isn’t the time to discuss this, let’s deal with this asshole and then we can talk.” Morrigan motioned back to Arawn.
“So, what exactly do you want now, Morrigan? Have you come to give me back my things? To submit yourself to my leadership? Or have you just come to watch me play with our new guest?”
“You know, let’s just get this fight started. If I have to listen to one more of your petulant comments, I’ll gladly feed myself to your dogs!” Gabrielle spat, taking a step toward Arawn who threw his hand back into the air and his hounds all began to snarl and howl.
“Gabrielle, no. This one isn't your fight. Not yet,” Morrigan spoke softly into her ear, placing a hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. At the feel of Morrigan’s hand, a shiver ran up Gabrielle’s spine. Gabrielle turned to look at the other woman, her brow pinched in confusion. “Gabrielle, I can’t lose you again. You can’t beat Arawn here, this is our world,” Morrigan continued before bringing her attention back to Arawn.
“Before there is any talk of you going at Gabrielle, I think you and I need to settle some of our business.” Morrigan stepped forward, placing Gabrielle behind her like a protective parent. A wide, toothy grin overtook Arawn’s face.
“Well, now, isn't this a pleasant surprise. I thought we handled this debate long ago. You just can’t take a defeat, can you? I reign now. Deal with it or move out!” Arawn teased, dropping his hand and taking a few steps toward Morrigan.
“You took what doesn't belong to you! This is my turn to reign, as are the laws of this land. You had your millennia and had it not been for your control over the souls, you would never have been able to steal my throne from me!” Morrigan shouted, taking several steps toward the other god.
“So, we do this again?” he asked, his claws clutched at his sides.
“I would say so, Brother,” Morrigan retorted, her hands in a similar position. The two gods looked like duelers from a Western film. Gabrielle looked from one to the other, a look of sheer panic covering her features. Brother?
“Then let’s have some fun . . .” Arawn sneered, his voice lowering and a wicked smile dancing across his face, his razor-like fangs visible in the light of the grove.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Arawn stepped forward, hunching his shoulder slightly. It took Gabrielle a moment to notice, but his usually wide grin was growing in size. Not only that, his face seemed to elongate. His fiery eyes sank deeper into his skull, and a sickening barrage of cracks and pops filled the air between the two gods.
Arawn reared back like a horse and let out an ear shattering shriek as he rose in height and all of his appendages began to lengthen. His perfectly pressed suit ripped and fell away from him, exposing bits of flesh. Arawn fell forward to all fours and began to twist, split, and grow. Gabrielle’s eyes widened in horror as she watched Arawn turn into the true monster that he was.
She gaped at the ten-foot-tall wolf-like creature that stood where Arawn had been only moments before. She stared at five rows of sharp, bared teeth as he howled at the sky. Gabrielle didn't know what the hell Arawn had become, be she and Morrigan were now officially in trouble, unless Morrigan had some weird godly powers up her sleeve as well.
“Morrigan?” Gabrielle’s voice came out a shaky mess, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of the monster before them. Arawn swelled and lowered with every breath, but he did not charge. It was as though he was waiting for them to make the first move.
“Stand back, Gabrielle,” whispered Morrigan. Gabrielle reached for Morrigan’s shoulder, but she was thrown backward as Morrigan’s cape lunged at her. Gabrielle wrestled briefly with the soft cloth before throwing it to the ground.
“What the?” Gabrielle began before falling silent. Morrigan’s bare back was now exposed, and the laced back of her dress showed the smooth surface of her soft skin. Morrigan’s back began to move like bugs were scattering underneath her skin. Gabrielle clutched the cape and pulled herself up off the ground.
Morrigan leaned forward as her skin rippled and bulged. Gabrielle’s mouth fell open as she watched the woman’s appendages grow impossibly long. Two strange extensions burst through Morrigan’s back, and she fell forward grunting in agony.
“Are those wings?” Gabrielle let the question hang in the air as she peered intensely at the growing masses. Two large black wings that stretched out over twenty feet writhed and shook as they formed out of Morrigan’s back. Large, beautiful, jet black feathers covered
the wings and Gabrielle could have sworn a golden light outlined each glossy one. Morrigan let out another scream, but it didn’t sound like Arawn’s monstrous roar. Morrigan’s scream reminded Gabrielle of a large bird. Gabrielle remembered the raven that had been with her in the alley in France and the raven that had watched over her as she set Marie Antoinette’s soul free with her death. Was that Morrigan?
The black feathers that covered Morrigan's new wings spread over her entire body except for her legs. Morrigan’s legs grew in length and were now brimming with muscles. Large talons developed at her feet. Her wings raised high into the air, Gabrielle saw that Morrigan’s arms also had grown and they too had large talons where her fingers had once been.
“Now, that’s better, is it not, my sister?” Arawn spoke, but he did not move his jaw. Instead, he merely opened it wide, and the words flowed from the void in his throat. As he spoke, Gabrielle stared at the multiple rows of predator-like teeth.
“I warn you, Brother. This will not end as it did the last time. I will rip your throat from your body and feed it to your hounds,” Morrigan responded, her voice almost mechanical. It had lost the soft lilt that Gabrielle had come to know.
“I can see that your wings have healed. This time, I won’t just break them, I’ll remove them from your dead body,” Arawn responded, swiping his large claws at the air in front of him.
“Let’s not delay this any longer,” Morrigan shot back, raising her wings in the air and flapping them violently toward the ground. A huge gust of wind nearly knocked Gabrielle backward as Morrigan took to the sky.
“Oh, what fun!” Arawn clapped his hands, charging toward Morrigan.
The two collided midair and tangled in a swirly cloud of feathers and teeth. Arawn grabbed Morrigan by her feet and sank his fangs into her thigh. She shouted in pain and brought her claws to his face and eyes. Arawn immediately released his grasp and howled in pain, falling to the ground a few feet away from Gabrielle.
Morrigan swooped down after him and swiped at him with her talons. As her sharp claws ripped into his flesh, Arawn howled and grabbed at her feet. He managed to get a firm grasp and yanked her from the sky as she passed, slamming her to the ground. Arawn lunged through the air and landed on top of her, whipping his claws at her body as he went. Gabrielle jumped forward, instinctively wanting to help Morrigan, but what could she do? She wasn’t a god, she didn’t have the strength to match them.
Morrigan sliced Arawn in the throat, and as he reared his head back in pain, she thrust her legs into his chest and kicked him off her. Arawn flew several yards away and rolled end over end. When he finally came to a stop, Arawn jumped up to his feet, ready for the fight. Morrigan was one step ahead of him and already swooping in. She sank her talons into Arawn’s shoulders and lifted him high into the air almost out of sight.
Gabrielle squinted and focused on a small speck that looked like it could be them when she noticed the spec was getting larger. The bundled mass of gods came plummeting back down to the ground and crashed into the grass, producing a large divot in the dirt and causing the ground to quake. Before Gabrielle could assess what was happening, Arawn and Morrigan were both on their feet, squaring off again as they slowly walked in a circle.
“Well, now, look who’s been practicing,” Arawn teased, blood running down his fur covered face.
“Go to hell!” Morrigan spat in between gasps of air.
Gabrielle could only watch in amazement. In all of the combat she had seen during her journey, she’d never seen two gods battle.
“You first! Oh, and while we’re at it; will you do something other than just stand there!” Arawn shouted at his hounds that stood like porcelain statues. Gabrielle shot her eyes to where the hounds stood. She’d completely forgotten they were there. Several sets of piercing red eyes and dripping fangs glared at her from across the field.
“Shit!” Gabrielle mumbled. With Morrigan and Arawn fighting their war, Gabrielle was going to be on her own in dealing with Arawn’s army. “This ought to be interesting.”
Morrigan screeched in her raven-like wail and charged at Arawn once more. The two met in the air and spiraled off into the woods, biting and clawing at one another the whole way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Gabrielle looked from one end of the line of beasts to the next. They all looked at her with unbridled savagery and hunger in their eyes, jaws hanging open and a rumble of random growls. Her eyes darted from one to the next trying to gauge which one would be the first to move, or would her luck continue and they all attack in unison. She felt her nerves dance as she stood motionless, waiting for the fight to begin.
As she twisted her grasp of the club, two hounds stepped forward from both ends of the line and walked to the center. Of all of the beasts there, these two had to be amongst the largest, the alphas. As they reached the center of the line, they turned and faced Gabrielle, then took several steps toward her.
They truly did remind her of a decomposing mixture of a wolf and a bear with their sharp needle teeth and long snouts covered in bits of decomposing fur and rot. Gabrielle’s heart beat wildly in her chest, and she focused her eyes as she prepared herself for combat. This was it. This was the fight she wanted. Let them come. She would make them all feel the pain that she’d felt.
The animals took several more steps toward her. Their heads down and their shoulders perked, she got the impression that they were daring her to run. They wanted to chase her and hunt her like a small, helpless cat. Finding a last minute surge of confidence, she raised her club high into the air.
“Here doggy, doggy, doggy . . .” Gabrielle taunted. The two animals leaned down, preparing to pounce. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Oi, now if I was to wager, I would say that two against one doesn't seem like a fair fight.”
Gabrielle froze. No way!
A mass appeared next to her, walked past her and stood in the gap between her and the large hounds. Fionn’s muscles flexed on his shirtless physique.
“Fionn! What are you doing here?” Gabrielle blurted as she darted forward. She paused before she got to him, realizing that right then wasn’t a good time for hugging an old friend.
“I think this fight has my name on it. Perhaps you can take the next one, little Gabrielle.” Fionn’s deep, thunderous laugh brought a smile to Gabrielle’s face as he brought his hands up to his face like a boxer. Compared to Fionn, the hounds almost seem like normal-sized dogs.
The beasts snarled, and in an instant, they lunged forward and sprinted full speed at Fionn. He only laughed and charged back at them. At the last minute, both hounds leaped at Fionn, only to have him duck under them and grab them both by the throat. He then wrapped his massive arms around the beast’s necks, choking them where they stood. They wriggled and fought with him, kicking at the ground under their feet until they eventually pulled free. The hounds stammered backward a few steps before stopping to shake like a dog that just got out of a bath.
One of them charged again, only to have Fionn’s fist slam into its face, sending it back to the ground. The other jumped over its fallen brother and sank its needle teeth into Fionn’s forearm. Fionn yelled and grasped it by the top of its snout then wrenched its jaws open and kicked the monster in the chest.
Fionn spun around and winked at Gabrielle as he flexed his muscles in victory. As if on cue, another hound sprinted from the line and charged at Fionn. Gabrielle shouted a panicked warning but wasn’t quick enough, and the hound pounced on Fionn’s back, throwing him to the ground.
He rolled away from the attack, but one of the wounded hounds was at him. Fionn swung his fist around into its face, but the three monsters had begun to coordinate their attacks, and in a moment, Fionn was going to be overrun. Gabrielle ran towards the fight, club raised high. She wasn’t going to let Fionn down again. Thoughts of the last time she’d seen Fionn swirled in her head, the fight he wasn’t prepared for, the love he was trying to save.
“Hey, there
! Don't have it in you for three on one?” another voice shouted from across the field. A shadow ran past Gabrielle, and before she made it halfway to Fionn, someone new was standing by Fionn’s side. One of the hounds lunged toward Fionn’s back once more, only to have Thompson grab it mid-air and throw it into its brothers. Like pins in a bowling lane, the animals knocked into each other and tumbled to the ground.
“You just stay back, Gabrielle! This one is on us!” Thompson shouted as the two giants kicked and punched at the hounds simultaneously. Suddenly, it all made sense. When she set their souls free, they must have passed on into the Other World. That means everyone she’d freed was here, safe, and happy. Gabrielle lowered the club until the tip of it touched the hard earth under her feet and watched as her friends fought off the three hounds. Soon, realizing that their brothers were in danger, the three hounds became four, and then five, as one by one the monsters broke from their line and joined the fight.
“No!” Gabrielle shouted, charging into the fight as a sixth hound lunged at Thompson, biting his shoulder. She slid under the belly of one of the hounds and swung her club upwards, catching one of them in the jaw. The hound wailed as the club made contact with its face, shattering its jaw.
Gabrielle raised her club again and pressed her back against Fionn’s and Thompson’s. The three of them stood in a triangle in the center of what was developing into an attack circle. As the hounds surrounded them, Gabrielle felt the cold chill of sweat drip down her face.
“Well, now, this just got fun, ‘ey?” Fionn joked, panting and swinging his fists at the air as one hound feigned a lunge.
The Gabrielle Series Boxed Set Page 56
