Page 51 of Crimson Skies

A burst of bloodcursed magic washed across Eden’s skin a moment later. Startled cries rose from those closest to the entrance of the tent. She sighed.

Hecate’s hounds had found Woody and were dragging him inside. They dropped the staff next to their mistress and pinned him down with giant paws. Hecate’s snakes hissed inquisitively as they dipped their heads toward the weapon.

“What happened to your concealment spell?” Eden asked the staff.

Those damn spirits gave me away, Woody grumbled.

Hecate narrowed her eyes. “I must say, Valgrothaan, you have become quite bold. In the past, you would have bowed meekly in my presence instead of running away.Don’t you think it’s a tad late to be going through a rebellious phase?”

The devilwood staff pouted.

Galliad cleared his throat diplomatically. “Maybe his defiant attitude has to do with the personality of his current Magus.”

Everyone looked at Eden.

“What?” she said defensively.

“You’re not exactly a wallflower,” Julia said.

Eden pursed her lips and wondered if the devilwood staff’s recalcitrant comportment had to do with her disposition after all.

Hecate’s dogs started licking the weapon with slobbery enthusiasm.

Kill me now, Woody groaned.

Cedric grimaced. “Is he saying ‘Kill me now’ by any chance?”

Eden stared at her fiancé. “How’d you know?”

“I’m starting to recognize his moods.”

“The devilwood staff has known Hecate’s hounds since they were pups,” Atropos explained at Bostrof’s curious look and Yuan’s fairly horrified stare.

The Lucifugous demon and the mage had returned from where they’d been helping out at the sites of that morning’s attacks along with Reuben and Jasper. To everyone’s relief, some dozen survivors had been discovered amidst the rubble by mid-afternoon. The dead had been given their final rites by the Reaper God’s attendants.

Ortega and Wallace observed the new deities inside the marquee with undisguised dread.

“I can’t believe we’re mingling with the Gods of the Underworld,” the Texan mage muttered.

Victor made a face. “Mingling is a questionable word for it.”

Morgan and Reuben grunted. Cassius sighed. Even Jasper and Theo couldn’t completely mask their faintly disgusted looks as they gazed across the tent.

Everyone was steering clear of Acheron and Styx where they hogged the buffet.

22

Styx stabbed an olive with a toothpick,studied it like it had committed a heinous crime, and popped it delicately in her mouth. She stared pensively at the ceiling as she chewed, dark eddies moving languorously around her tall frame.

“Does it taste like the eye of a war demon?” Acheron asked his sister with ghoulish curiosity.

“No.” Styx speared another olive, doused it in hot sauce, and ate it. “It’s even better with this red stuff.Here, try some.”

She put a handful of olives on his plate.

Someone tsk-tsked next to them. They turned.

Pyri indicated the queue of deities waiting for the sideboard. “How about you two move along and make space for the rest of us?”