Page 28 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

Studying the stone, Nergal scowled. “You lie.” He moved like a vampire, with real speed.

Impressed, Khent tossed Morpheus aside and dodged a blow to his ribs, returning a kick to one of Nergal’s heads.

The lion roared and snapped at him. But Khent was already moving.

A demon rushed him, and as he dodged it, Nergal used its interference to rake claws down Khent’s side. Apparently, the god of death used any and all parts of the lion to his advantage, not just the heads.

“Well played,” Khent said as he avoided decapitation by a hairsbreadth.

Nergal grinned and licked his own blood from one battered mouth while the other growled a kind of laugh.

Khent watched as the two heads morphed into one. No longer lion but a combination of human and demon, once again his skin and long hair dark gray, his features neutral yet not.

Two large red eyes with slit pupils sat in a face that could easily belong to a vampire. Handsome to human standards, yet alien enough to keep it apart from anything mundane.

Nergal remained larger than Khent, but not too large, allowing for the continued back and forth of their small skirmish. Not really a battle, as Khent knew he couldn’t overwhelm Nergal in his own realm. But the god wasn’t going all out; Khent could tell.

Still, the invigorating combat proved satisfying. Khent moved faster, dodging demons and ghosts while keeping track of Nergal, which proved challenging. It had been a while since he’d been put through his paces, and he loved the fact death remained in reach.

“Why do you help the humans?” Nergal asked as they struck at each other once more.

Khent refuted such a horrid untruth. “I help no one but my own kin.”

“Not so.” Nergal took a blow to the face and spat out a tooth.

To no one’s surprise, a shadowy creature with eight legs and pincers sprouted from it. It scuttled away down the hall, and in the distance, someone screamed, “No. Stop. It’s eating me. It hurts…”

The lord of the underworld ran a forked tongue over the gap in his teeth. A new tooth took its place, and Nergal spat his blood at Khent.

A good thing he’d moved, because the smidge of blood that hit the cuff of Khent’s shirt ate through it. Not quite Alien-level, but close.

“Too slow.” Nergal rushed him.

Khent waited then released the spell he’d been crafting under his breath. A swell of power circled the god and raised him off his feet in a bubble of Khent’s death magic.

Instead of being annoyed, Nergal laughed uproariously. “Fantastic. You should be one of mine, boy. Why work for that bitch, Hecate?”

“She got to me first.” The truth, but not all of it. “Magic binds me and my new kin as one.” Khent waved away the demons drawing close, surprised they obeyed.

Being the focus of Nergal’s intensity was a huge compliment yet also unnerving. Enduring divine scrutiny, though appealing to one’s vanity, was never a good thing.

“You fascinate me, reaper.” Nergal’s eyes narrowed as he studied Khent. “You come from the Sons of Osiris. Hmm. You feel like Adjib’s get.”

“There is some relation.” Khent nodded, impressed at Nergal’s knowledge, though he shouldn’t have been. “My sire claims ties to the royal line of Hor-Den.”

“First Dynasty of Egypt.” The god looked Khent over. “It fits.”

Khent would make sure to tell his kin that even a god recognized his ties to brilliance. Which was saying something about the uneducated and unappreciative vampires he lived with.

“You work for Hecate. You are hoping to stop the great game from being played. When the night eats the world and the fun can truly start. Why would you do this?”

“Perhaps my definition of fun and yours are different.” Khent had his own questions.

“What do you want with a Bloode Stone? You don’t think to command the Bloode Legion with it, do you?

” Though a god with Nergal’s vast power could muddy vampire loyalties, he’d never be able to command the entire legion. The vampires would kill him first.

Because yes, gods could and should, in Khent’s opinion, die.

Nergal scoffed. “What do I want with vampires except to create chaos? When the Darkness comes, we’ll have plenty of that. No. I want what all in death want. Life.”

“You live here.”

“Do I?” Nergal sighed. “Look around. There’s no flavor down here.

Sure, my spider just hurt that dead human back there.

But pain is relative. If we were in your world, topside, then he’d know pain.

Then I’d know it as well.” Nergal’s eyes blazed.

“To feel the life leave a kill. To see it fade and experience the terror and misery in the living. It’s an exceptional experience.

The four-eyes was pure pleasure, I assure you. ”

“You believe the human, Vladimir, will give you this?” Khent shook his head. “That Irkalla’s ruler should sink to needing a human for anything…”

Nergal swelled, and the bubble around him expanded with him. Khent’s magic wouldn’t last. Frankly, he couldn’t believe it had lasted this long. But at least Valentine had gotten to safety.

Khent glanced back toward Morpheus, who had yet to awaken. A glance showed several ghosts hovering around him. Did they feed off his dreams? Could they in this lifeless place? Or did they surround him, knowing hope was within physical reach yet forever unattainable?

“I will sink to any level to get what I want,” Nergal informed him. “A human can be nothing but a tool to be used. Something you should take to heart, vampire.” The god smiled, and Khent felt energy in the gloom all around them building.

A loud wail came from some distance away. Growing louder.

Growing closer.

Anticipation had Khent licking his lips, eager for more.

“Give me the stone, boy,” Nergal said kindly. “I’ll happily give you what I’ve been giving the necromancer.”

“Which is what? Longer life? More magic? What do I need with human desires?” Khent shrugged. “I have my studies and battles with many enemies. My life is complete.” Why his thoughts went to Valentine, he wouldn’t say.

“But is it?” Nergal leaned closer to the energy holding him prisoner, and Khent knew Nergal stayed put because he wanted to, not because Khent had actually contained him.

He was up to something, and Khent wanted to learn all he could while he could.

A low moan caught his attention. Finally. Khent darted close to Morpheus and swiped through the many ghosts, their pale tears on translucent faces disappearing as they faded.

Everything melted into gray smoke and dissipated.

A realm of pretend and pain, where nothing mattered or had shape.

“I wouldn’t want to live here either,” Khent admitted.

Nergal snorted. “Trust me. It sucks.” He tacked on, “And not in a good way.”

They shared a grin.

Wailing grew louder again.

“I should go.”

“You really should.” Nergal flicked a claw through the bubble holding him, and it popped. The release of energy sighed into the ground, and what wasn’t absorbed, the ghosts devoured. “You’re skilled. Much more talented than Vladimir. But he obeys. And you, reaper, do not.”

“Of course not. Why should I? Because you’re a god?” Khent sneered. “We don’t worship your kind.”

“And that, of course, is your greatest failing. I could make you my heir.”

“To what? This place that you hate?”

Nergal’s wide smile told Khent he’d missed something. “Ah, but there’s hate and there’s hate. And you need to be smart enough to know the difference. Eat up, my children, for tonight we feast.”

Seven demons grew from the ground and surrounded Khent, their faces becoming clearer. Hideous, pale as spider silk and twice as toxic, the creatures were death personified. Their eyes were black orbs without a center, their faces human without a nose or ears, just eyes and a mouth to feed.

Khent had thought he might outwit Nergal at his own game, in his own home.

A mistake.

“Pride, as always, is the greatest sin of Egypt’s children.” Nergal tsked. “Khentimentiu of the Night Bloode, greet the Offspring of Arali.”

Khent stared in astonishment as they all turned into copies of him. “I thought they had definite forms.”

“Oh, they do. This is so we can have a little fun before you die. You’ve been massively entertaining.

I can’t wait to see what the others do to get you back.

” Nergal clapped, and the surrounding demons clapped with him.

“Applause, Khent. For you are one of my favorite guests. Well, you and the woman with my stone.”

“She doesn’t have it. I’d know.”

“Would you?”

“Of course.” Khent studied Nergal, aware the Offspring moved closer.

Everyone knew the Offspring of Arali. Demons from Irkalla that came to earth to drag humans to the underworld. That seven had surrounded Khent suggested he’d be fighting galla demons. The most sophisticated and dangerous of those lingering in this nothing state.

“Thank you.” Khent bowed his head in appreciation. “That you would give me the galla is a great honor.”

Nergal’s smile widened as he grew large once more and ascended bone steps to the throne that appeared in front of him. “You’re welcome,” he boomed, his voice hurting Khent’s ears. “You see, not everyone appreciates my courtesies. You do your tribe honor.”

“I also must apologize in advance. I don’t plan to die today.”

“That’s just as well. A quick death is no fun. I’m not the god of war for nothing, for a good war takes time.” He snapped his fingers. “Will you fight well for this?”

Khent froze, spotting Valentine by Nergal’s side. Kneeling on the small bone dais next to his throne, she looked like a toy in comparison. Nergal stroked the tip of a claw over her cheek and brought a lone tear to his lips.

“You lesser beings think you know magic. But everything in this plane belongs to me. Not your dream god, not those Of the Bloode. But me, Lord of the Underworld, God of Death, Pestilence, and Ghosts. For I am all and everlasting.” His laughter echoed like the raging pulse of a heartbeat.

Khent showed no reaction while he tried to hold his anger in check. The strange feelings inside him made it difficult to reason. He didn’t like Valentine’s tears, didn’t want her so close to someone who made her sad and scared.

She belonged to him. Her hopes, her laughter, her anger, even her grief. His and only his.

The rage inside him built.

“Oh, now we’re going to see a show.” A crush of darkness surrounded them, so that Khent felt as if a spotlight shone on him and the galla demons moving closer. He could no longer see Morpheus on the ground, covered by thick shadow and a few hungry ghosts.

Nergal dragged Valentine up onto the throne, held in the palm of his hand like a tasty snack.

“No, please,” she pleaded, staring down at Khent for help.

Nergal swallowed her whole.

And Khent exploded into action.