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“Hel!” She charged up the hillside and found an ice storm swirling in a tornado around Hel. The shadow of his form could be seen inside. He stood upright as if he were shielded against it, but for some reason he couldn’t escape from the cage of the winter maelstrom.

In a drift of shadow, Valeen appeared behind Synick, reforming and swinging her golden blade. He dipped and the blade whooshed over the top of his head.

She hacked down at him. He rolled and sprung back to his feet. A bone-handled sword came up to meet her next strike and they pushed against one another.

“You think it’s revenge I want for what you did,” Synick said. “But I don’t want to kill you. I want your body. I want the child from you I never got.”

Valeen dropped her shoulder and sidestepped, letting him stumble forward. She threw her fist and cracked his jaw. The pain in her knuckles was worth the satisfaction of seeing him falter and hearing him groan. Shadows seeped around her ankles and feet and slipped from her hands.

The gale force winter winds around Hel began to slow. He punched his arm through, cracking a hole through the ice.

“You hit hard, goddess, I’ll give you that.” He swiped the corner of his mouth. “But it won’t be enough. Iwillhave you. I don’t care about Hel’s claim. We primordials were always meant to be together.”

“The only thing that is meant to be is my sword through your heart.”

He ran at her, wildly swinging his weapon. She dipped and bobbed, easily maneuvering out of range. His feet were unsteady and his body off balance. He roared, getting angrier with each miss. Valeen hooked her ankle around his and he fell forward onto his hands and knees. She smiled.

“I see you learned nothing in the underrealm. You are as dreadful at combat as you were when I killed you last time. It almost makes this less satisfying.”

His mouth curled into an unsettling grin. “I could say the same about your sister. The way she screamed when the blood ran down her flesh. The horror in those big eyes. Now that was satisfying.” With a snarl, he thrust out his palm, sending a blast of icy wind. Even if combat wasn’t his strength, this was. Shards of ice like tiny daggers hit her shield, building a wall of frost before her, impossible to see through.

Moments later, he crashed through it and tackled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. His heavy bodypressed her into the grass while she bucked and fought his weight. She swung the butt of Soulender, knocking him on the temple. It split his skin and blood oozed down the side of his face, but he wrapped his hands around her neck.

“Now I have you exactly as I’ve always wanted.”

A scream of rage ripped from her, shadows and vines coiling around him like a giant serpent. Blackness seeped into his eyes, his open mouth, and then he was the one screaming. He slapped his hands to the sides of his head, pressing in as if it would ease the fire. She would burn out his insides, until he lost consciousness.

Suddenly he was torn off her, flying backward. Hel had him by the top of his scalp and slammed him on the ground, dropping a knee into his gut, and shoved the point of his sword to his heart.

Valeen yelled, “Wait! We could use him alive.”

Hel’s arm trembled, his garnet eyes filled with malice she’d rarely seen. He was usually calm, even when killing, but now, he was on the verge of losing himself to fury. His beautiful face was twisted. The shadows around his eyes, and the curl of his lip made him as terrifying as any monster that hunted in the underrealm. A little more pressure and his sword would go straight through Synick, and if he wasn’t immortal anymore, he was dead.

“He is the only one who knows where the Sword of Truth is.” They could use Synick as leverage against the Council of the Gods. He knew of theonlyother weapon that could kill a god. It also occurred to her that with the portal now open again, the council could get to him in the underrealm… if the demon princes allowed it. In the past, the three princes wouldn’t let anyone near him and since it was their realm, not even the gods could find him there.

But since Valeen killed one of the brothers only days before, there was no telling what they might do, what deal they might be willing to make with the council. For all she knew, the princes were the ones who had given him the power to control the undead.

They needed information from him, and they needed to know that when they ended him, he wouldn’t be able to come back.

“Do it,” Synick hissed. “Don’t be a coward, Hel. Mercy is not what I taught you.”

Hel leaned in closer, and said through his teeth, “Killing youwouldbe a mercy compared to what I’m going to do.”

Valeen kicked Synick in the face, snapping his head to the side. He didn’t turn back, and for a moment she worried she’d broken his spine, but his chest still moved with breath. Hel flicked his fingers, and a fluorescent green rope appeared in his hands. He quickly bound Synick’s wrists and ankles tying an intricate knot. Then slowly, he rose up. “Gods, he is just as powerful as he was. And he knows my tricks, Val.” His hard eyes settled on her. “Heknowsme. He trained meandWar.” Hel swore under his breath and turned away.

She swallowed hard and reached for his hand. “He knew who youwere, not the nightmare you are now. We have the upper hand.” Hel was used to always being steps ahead, he had an uncanny ability to outmaneuver his enemies, but Synick’s appearance threw a boulder into his carefully thought-out plans. It was rare to see him rattled like this. Synick unsettled them both for different reasons.

Varlett walked up and crossed her arms. “You should kill him now. I think letting him live even to question him would be a mistake. If he gets free…”

Hel’s upper lip curled. “Where the fuck were you?”

“Trying not to die,” she growled back. “Those monsters aren’t easy to put down.”

Valeen shook her head. “We need him alive. The Sword of Truth is leverage that could win us this war. They might even surrender if we have both weapons.”

“I will not accept a surrender. Not after what they did,” Hel said. “We need katagas serum to subdue his magic. This suppressing rope won’t be enough to hold him for long.”

“Will it work on him?” Valeen asked.