Page 50 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

FORTY-NINE

Talon had little time. Hecate had been pushy but made some valid points.

Plus, her idea of a deal sounded like pure heaven.

An afterlife with Ava, finally within reach.

He just had to make sure Khent didn’t screw up whatever he was meant to do.

And if Talon had to die to make sure that happened, he’d do it.

Whatever it was.

Might have been nice if the annoying goddess had mentioned specifics.

Then she’d done him one worse and stuck him with a tall, muscular chick with an attitude. He didn’t trust her with that ax either, yet what could he do? His pack was hiding out in the bazaar while trying to survive death demons.

And now he was riding stale winds in a grayish-blackish kind of hell.

“This place sucks.” The woman with him had flown, her own wings golden filaments made of pure energy.

She had to be a valkyrie or some kind of Norse magir, because she had an accent and an attitude he’d seen one too many times in the bar when serving the occasional brawler rehashing their battles in “Midgard.”

She pointed with her ax. “I got the cute one over there. Do what you gotta do.” She spun away from him and landed by Rolf, who was overwhelmed with demons until the woman landed like Thor in that superhero movie and shocked the shit out of everyone around her.

“Hell, not me woman!” Rolf roared.

Grinning, because the battle was affecting his own senses, Talon saw Val looking super weird in a dress made of smoke while she talked to Khent and an inhumanly tall man a few steps lower than a throne made of…bones?

Gross. Then he spotted Vladimir.

Talon wheeled and headed right for him.

“No. Talon! Help,” Val called, and he couldn’t resist his friend in need, no matter how close he was to finally avenging Ava and his family.

But as he drew closer to Val, he noticed Khent turning into…into…

He wheeled to the ground and shifted shape. “Fuck me. Is that a dragon?”

The giant guy standing next to him nodded. “Impressive. I haven’t seen a dragon in four thousand years.”

They stared in awe as Khent let out a puff of smoke.

Val waved her hand to clear the air. Then she stared at dragon-Khent, which had to be a little tough without eyes.

“Is that Val?”

“I believe that is Ilu, using Valentine’s body as a host. And who are you, shifter?”

“Uh, I’m Talon. Nice to meet you.”

“Greetings. I am the God of Death and Plagues. I am Nergal, Lord of the Underworld.” Nergal smiled. “Isn’t it a great day to be alive?”

“You mean until you and that fuckhead Vladimir kill the rest of us?”

“Well, there is that of course. But your lady friend seems to be doing a fantastic job of entertaining the demons.”

Talon thought he meant Val before realizing Nergal watched the winged woman with appreciation.

“That looks like a fun fight.”

“Ah, I must engage as well.” Nergal rubbed his hands together in glee.

Talon didn’t feel bad for distracting him. He had to somehow rescue Val from Khent, which didn’t seem right. If Khent had truly mated her, he would kill himself before harming her. Talon knew that much about vampires.

“Help me,” Val cried again, her voice slightly off.

He hurried up the steps and caught the staff she threw to him, realizing too late this had to be the Staff of Blight.

Val’s voice deepened. “And so it begins.”

Talon refused to let it go, though it ate away at his body.

“No. No,” Val screamed, and it was her this time, because he knew the sound of her anguish.

Khent roared and whipped his tail at Talon, knocking the staff from his hands.

“Enough, Ilu. I’m here to talk.” Hearing Khent’s voice from a massive black dragon was surreal.

Talon drew closer while trying not to die. That poison spread. Fast. And he had to save his friend. More important than seeing Ava again, than getting revenge, was being there when Val needed him. As Val had always been there to save Talon.

Through the years, holding him when he cried, making him laugh to remind him that joy existed in the world even if Ava didn’t.

Encouraging him to own his pain and his happiness in equal measure, because feelings made life worth living.

She’d forced him to be a better man, to create a pack of misfits who’d needed him.

Like she now needed him.

“Talk, Imy-Mut,” the fake Val said to Khent. “Yes, I know who you are. You have been around for a very long time. And I am…happy…to see you still exist.”

“You have my mate. She has my heart, thus you have my heart as well. But I fear you don’t understand that you don’t really have Valentine.”

“I do.”

“Then search and see how much is missing.”

Talon didn’t understand, but the fake Val frowned.

“What…? Where is all our power?”

“I will see that it’s returned. And I will let you keep that part of me she holds close.”

“No one lets me do anything, young one.”

“Ilu, this is not your world or your time. You don’t belong here.”

Fake Val—Ilu—frowned, and Talon thought she looked more than confused. She looked sad.

He understood. He felt the same all the damn time.

“But I am here, Imy-Mut. And I have your mate.”

“No. You just have her body. I have her soul.”

“My love,” the real Val managed before Ilu tamped her down again.

The dragon’s eyes lit up in what Talon swore was a smile. “As she has mine. I could never kill my meryt.”

“But she has made her deal, and it cannot be broken.”

“Can it be altered?”

Ilu considered that. “Perhaps.”

“No,” Nergal yelled as he battled the female with the ax. “Don’t listen to him, Ilu. You don’t need him.”

“You need peace, I think,” Khent said quietly. “As do we all. This is what Valentine gives me, a heart full and a mind content. I’m happy with her as I’m happy nowhere else.” After a pause, he added, “And I’m not so alone.”

Talon felt the tears slide down his cheeks, missing his mate so fucking much.

“But a life for a life has already been met.”

“And yet, you do not have that full life, do you?” Khent shook that colossal head and puffed a waft of smoke. “I would give you my life instead.”

Talon could see Val struggle, but when she spoke, it was Ilu’s voice that said, “You are mighty. But you do not have a life I can possess. Your kind has always been a challenge, reaper. But your offer was a worthy one. Valentine is special. I… Wait.” She held up a hand and stood there.

Having an internal discussion?

Talon hastened up the steps and tapped Khent’s flank. “Hey. Reaper.”

Khent swung that mighty head around, and Talon experienced real fear. So fierce, almost magical in nature. Fucking dragons.

“Yes, traitor?” The dragon’s left brow rose, a serpentine version of Khent for sure.

Talon couldn’t help laughing. In a lower voice, he said, “I’m here to help. Hecate sent me.”

“You’re here to help?” Khent scoffed. “Go for it.”

“Just don’t interfere. And keep that staff away from…damn.”

They both watched as Vladimir picked up the staff and stood tall, covered in head-to-toe magic as the force of plagues covered him in neon-green glyphs, settling into his face, so that the green stood out from his pitch-black skin.

“Well, that can’t be good.” Khent sighed, and his scalding breath washed over Talon, burning like a mother.

“Fuck. Don’t do that.”

They watched Vladimir take a few steps closer to the throne, smiling, while Nergal and his demons continued to fight Rolf and the woman, who didn’t seem to be getting anywhere as more and more demons, misshaped and hungry, poured into the cavern.

What else could possibly go wrong?