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“I thought I smelled the gods,” said Servente, the tallest and most powerful of the pair. His tall black horns curled out of his pure white hair, red eyes glowed in the strange blue light of this place. His blue-gray skin had silver veins running up his bare arms. “We’ve had this discussion before. The gods do not belong in our realm, most especially the ones who killed our brother.”

“I was returning Morv’s ring.” Valeen gestured toward Varlett. If they didn’t notice her before, they did now. She stood half shadowed behind a rotting bush a few yards away. Several of the hounds still surrounded her. “As a peace offering. We want no more trouble with the lords of the underrealm.”

Servante appeared beside Varlett and gripped her jaw between his long, spindly fingers, then leaned down and ran his nose along her neck, inhaling deeply. She held utterly still, hereyes going wide. Then he lifted her hand with the ring. “A dragon bearing my brother’s ring,” he mused.

Sweat beaded under her arms. There was no telling by the prince’s body language if he was content with that or if he was angry. She inched backward, but Hel snatched her wrist.Do not move yet,he said.

The other demon prince, Lavix, went to Varlett’s opposite side, inspecting her from crown to toe. He curled a lock of her hair around his finger and smelled it. “She’s no longer a dragon, brother. She’s one of us.”

“So she is.” He turned his attention back to Valeen. “You did more than return Morv’s ring. You filled his place with a female.”

“She was in possession of it when Morv died. What happened after was not our doing. We didn’t even know that this was possible,” Valeen said.

Lavix hissed, bearing his serrated teeth. “You mean whenyoukilled him. We know it was you, goddess of night. Now we have a blood feud.”

Servante nodded his agreement. “This cannot go unpunished.” The demons all around started to make low gurgling noises. One of the hounds, the largest of them all, paced behind the brothers, waiting for the command to be let free and attack. Its spiny backbones protruded grotesquely. Its maw was full of rows of serrated teeth, dripping with green venom.

“Morv was there tokillmy wife,” Hel snapped. “He’s dead because he was weak.” Squeals and howls from the hounds rose up all around them. They didn’t like hearing their master degraded.

Servante’s eyes narrowed at them both, and he clicked his forked tongue. “It is the way of things. Kill or be killed. I am disappointed my brother was bested by two half-gods. I can smell the mortal in you.”

A quiet rustle in the bushes caught her ear. Valeen snapped her head left, and swung Soulender, cutting the head from a creeping dark-green serpent. “Keep your beasts back, demon, or your brother won’t be the only prince of the underrealm to lose his life.”

“You dare threaten us inourdomain?” Servante boomed. “You arefoolishto bring an immortal weapon to our world, where it could so easily fall into your enemies’ hands, goddess.”

“And yet you haven’t tried to take it. You know that I may be part mortal, but my soul is as old as you are, and death will welcome you in his cold arms if you come near me.”

“Your sword skill is impressive, but I have other powers, Valeen. You went into the lake of sorrows.” He smiled, and it was hideous. “Your powers must be lacking.”

Hel tensed and inched closer to her, using himself as a shield. “We’ve returned the ring. Your realm has a leader to fill the vacancy. There doesn’t need to be a blood feud. End it now, and we will leave with no further killing.”

Varlett looked more smug than ever. She knew she held the power here in the everdark. She may have wanted to leave when they walked into this place, but now, with her smile and proud stance between the brothers, she’d found her new home. Found new males to latch onto to give her power. It was always more, more, more, with her. She’d probably turn the two of them against each other eventually.

“You will leave when I say,” Servante growled, crimson eyes flashing. “Didn’t you learn that the last time, pet? It took your mother’s begging to set you free all those years ago.”

Hel went utterly still for a moment, then the muscles in his back tensed. “What did you say?”

“You think I let you go without a reason? You still have those scars on your face to remember that day.” He gestured toward his own brow then chin, exactly where Hel was marked.

“My mother had nothing to do with it.” He still held the worry that Servante was his father.All Mother,what if it was true?

“She offered to take your place.”

“No.” Hel shook his head in disbelief. “No, that can’t be true.”

That would mean his mother had been trapped in the underrealm for thousands of years…

“Why not?” Servante purred.

“My mother left me. She didn’t love me enough to sacrifice her life for mine.”

Servante laughed. “Oh, naive, selfish boy. She did. What a lovely whore she became.”

Hel’s jaw muscles twitched. “Show her to me.”

“You’re in my world. You don’t get to make deman?—”

“Show her to me now!” Hel roared. “Or I swear I will cut off your fucking head with that immortal sword even if it costs me my life after.”