Page 52 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

FIFTY-ONE

Val was just done.

Vladimir still lived while Talon died. Nergal fucked with everyone in his stupid underworld out of what? Boredom?

And Khent loved her so much he’d been willing to sacrifice himself. She squeezed his hand.

He squeezed it back.

“Wait here.”

She left him to walk down the stairs, aware he’d ignored her, because something large and hot lumbered behind her. The stairs groaned as a mighty dragon followed Val toward Vladimir and Nergal, who had stopped arguing to watch her approach.

A glance around showed no sign of Grizz. Sadly, he must have died when Ilu had emerged.

To Nergal she asked, “Where is my gargoyle?”

He nodded to his left, and she saw the shadow of what used to be her warrior. Grizz stood, a shell of himself, caught in Irkalla forever.

“Fuck no.”

Khent huffed behind her, and she felt a moment’s fear having something so large and powerful where she couldn’t see him. A magically induced terror that lingered. But he whipped a tail over her shoulder, feathering softly. A nonverbal “don’t worry, dear” that made her smile despite her angry tears.

“You have something that belongs to me,” Vladimir said, looking grotesque.

“To you? Ha.” Nergal crossed his arms over his chest and grew several times his size.

Val intended to finish Vladimir for good. “Khent, keep an eye on Nergal for me while I handle this, would you?”

Nergal turned a wary eye on Khent. “Don’t get excited. I want to see this too.” He snapped his fingers, and all activity in the cavern ceased. Demons suddenly ringed the area around Val and Vladimir, who looked excited to battle.

Rolf and the warrior woman joined them. “What did I miss? Where’s Talon?” He blinked at Khent. “There’s something different about you… Hmm. Don’t tell me. I’ll get it, I’m sure.”

The woman with him snorted, one hand on the hilt of a massive ax slung over her shoulder.

Both she and Rolf had scratches, bruises, and blood all over. They also seemed way too happy to have been battling demons.

“Finally. Valentine Darkmore,” Vladimir said, “I—”

“Shut up.” Val held up a hand.

Startled, Vladimir stared at her in silence.

Val focused and let go of all her pets, down to the small robin she’d had flitting about the Beast Brigade house, keeping it under watch.

She sniffed, still saddened that Talon would never join her for apple cider shots or darts or whining about stinky bears ever again.

The rush of energy that returned to her was like a drug and lifted her up off the ground before settling her back on steady feet. She hadn’t realized how much she’d affected herself by giving her power into the dead.

Now returned to her, her essence and Ilu’s together, along with that special piece of Khent, made her unstoppable.

Everyone must have felt it, because all but Khent took a healthy step back.

But how to kill an undead necromancer?

Might I suggest giving him to me? Ilu offered, extremely polite.

Will he suffer?

Forever, if that’s your wish.

“Oh, it is.”

“Um, Val? Your eyes.” Rolf pointed to his own eyes.

“What?”

The woman next to him huffed. “I think he means you don’t have any, just smoke. It’s both creepy and beautiful.”

Rolf stared at the woman, his eyes narrowed.

“What? It is.”

“That’s Ilu,” Nergal said and stepped forward, as if he hadn’t been freaked out a moment ago. “An all-powerful being.”

Ilu appreciated his flattery.

Vladimir sneered and struck Val in the head with the Staff of Blight.

Or rather, he tried. Val caught the staff and tugged it free, tossing it to Nergal, to whom it actually belonged. “The Staff of Blight will not leave this realm ever again.” Ilu worked some weird magic, tying the staff to this plane. Here unless we decide to take it out and play. Satisfied, Val?

Yes, thank you. With any luck, Ilu would forget all about it, because “take it out and play” gave Val premonitions of bad tidings to come.

But with the staff stuck down here, she had one problem solved, at least.

Val then motioned for Vladimir to come forward.

Caught in an invisible grip he couldn’t resist, he hurled epithets and screamed in denial as he was dragged to his demise.

“You will never, ever breathe again. No power, no life, just an endless decay and torture at the hands of a god of chaos who has nothing but time to destroy you.”

Seeing his fear made everything better.

“Isn’t she great?” Khent sounded so proud.

She turned and winked at him, tickled when he puffed smoke at her. Dragon flirting. So cute.

Val opened her mouth, and Vladimir’s screams died as he turned to ash, and Ilu swallowed him, taking him to that empty realm of despair.

Val felt him for a brief second before Ilu locked him away.

And then they had only Nergal to deal with.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

He stared back, clearly annoyed, though he had his staff back. “Thanks a lot. This place is a mess.”

Rolf shook his head. “Rumor has it Ereshkigal is on her way. You are in so much trouble.”

“What?” Nergal shrieked. The demons around him screamed in pain, and even Khent shook his head, though Val, the warrior woman, and Rolf seemed unaffected. “She can’t come back yet.”

“Who’s Ereshkigal?” she asked.

“His wife. They’ve been fighting, and he’s in the wrong.” Rolf snorted. “They were taking some time apart, I guess. Since she’s coming back, I figure she’s forgiven him. But when she sees all this, you are screwed, my friend.”

“No, wait. Can you help me? Banitu,” he yelled. “Get your hairy ass in here!”

A hag appeared by his side. “Sire? You screeched?”

Val appreciated her sarcasm.

“Get the others to clean up. My wife’s coming home.”

“Finally.” Banitu shuffled away.

In seconds, all the death sank into the ground and walls.

“Say, you won’t mention this, will you?” he asked, all smiles.

“Give me back Grizz and I’ll keep quiet. And Talon too,” she said, in case she’d been wrong and he hadn’t already gone.

“Done.”

Grizz appeared by Val’s side, stoic, though she saw a smile in his eyes. “I’m going on now, I think.”

“Yes, you are. You earned it. A warrior’s place in the afterlife.”

The woman with Rolf nodded. “I could take you to Valhalla if you want some fun. You more than earned it. Not a human, but hell, they could liven the place with some gray.”

Grizz grinned. “My thanks, but I have somewhere else to be. Tidings, Val. My best to you and your dragon.” He bowed his head to Khent. “Oh Wings of Eternal Night, may your death be glorious.”

“As was yours.” Khent nodded back.

Grizz disappeared.

“Talon?” Khent asked in a soft voice.

“He’s gone. With Ava, I’ll bet.” Val wiped a few more tears. “We should get back.”

“Hold on.” Rolf stopped them. Nergal had already moved on, ignoring them while he cleaned up the place. To Val’s surprise, a lot of the gray leeched from the cavern, giving it color and a more vibrant sense of sound and taste.

Rolf shook his head. “He mopes when she’s gone and gets into more trouble. Okay, so we need to get our stories straight.”

“I won’t lie, draugr. Unlike you, I have honor.” The woman gripped her ax tighter, and Val wished she had as much muscle.

“Whatever, She-Wolf.”

“I have a name.”

“I wish I cared,” he returned, his voice cheery. Then he ignored her sputtering. “Khent was supposed to kill Val, who’s obviously still very much alive. As is, I presume, Ilu? Is that what we’re calling her? Him? It?”

“Yes,” Val and Khent said together.

“Look, Hecate’s gonna get all bitchy if we stroll back in and tell her everything’s fine and that a being of great chaos and death and despair is living inside Val. So how about we don’t tell her that?”

Khent slowly morphed back into himself, a sexy vampire again. “Won’t she know we’re lying?”

“Not exactly. She couldn’t sense Ilu before. So maybe we tell her Nergal did something that made Ilu go away. We blame him, we go back, no one’s the wiser.” He glared at the warrior woman.

“Hey, I’m not one for flapping my gums. Whatever. I need to get back. I have things to do, Rolf of the Vanargand.”

“It’s Night Bloode now,” he said, sounding snooty.

“Pretentious much?”

“Hold on.” Val stopped them before they could start arguing again. “So what’s our story exactly?”

“Talon sacrificed himself to save you. That’s true, and the guy’s a gods-praised hero.

” Rolf nodded. “Nergal convinced Ilu to stay asleep. You keep Ilu inside you, and if you have to get all smoky-eyed, tell Hecate it’s a new aspect of your power.

” He considered Khent. “Are we telling the others you’re a dragon or not? It’s pretty cool.”

“It’s awesome.” The warrior woman studied Khent a little too closely for Val’s peace of mind, so she let Ilu peek out to warn her off.

The woman grinned. “Easy there, Beloved of Death. Just admiring, not coveting.”

“Good.” Val harrumphed.

Khent chuckled and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head. “You are adorable when you’re contemplating murder.”

“Are we sure this is going to work?” Val asked, sad about losing Talon and Grizz and so many others, but more than content to have Khent by her side.

Rolf nodded. “We are. Plus, we have more important things to worry about. We have to find that last Bloode Stone.”

“Yeah. That’s why I was sent to help. My boss thinks he might have a lead on your prize.”

“Who’s your boss?” Val asked as they walked away from Irkalla, through a portal that suddenly appeared and led into Hecate’s speakeasy.

“Loki. He’s a real ballbuster, and I’m kind of on his shit list.” The woman sounded glum.

“Yeah? Me too.” Rolf grinned.

“Not making me feel better,” she growled.

“Are you sure you’re not part wolf? You sound like it, and you have wolf eyes.”

Her eyes glowed. “My eyes come from the lightning that sparks when I kill vampires.” She flashed straight white teeth at Rolf.

Who flashed fangs back at her, looking demonic.

Instead of being afraid, she laughed. “Ha. Is that supposed to scare me, fanger? Whatever.” She whistled, and the giant battle cat that sometimes wandered the house found her.

“Frey-Frey, we need to get back for a bit. Yo, Rolf of the Night Bloode, next time we fight, I won’t take it easy on you.

” She tapped her battle ax. “Poor Blood-drinker didn’t get enough to eat today. ”

She turned and walked away, disappearing into a hallway before vanishing into darkness.

“Technically, it’s not enough to drink since blood is a liquid,” Rolf muttered. “And what the hell did that mean? Take it easy on me? I could have killed her a dozen times but didn’t. What a little witch.”

Val noticed “witch” sounded like a term of endearment. Rolf had spent a lot of time watching the woman leave.

She and Khent shared a look.

Before anyone could speak, Hecate and Mormo appeared with questions.

Khent let Rolf answer most of them. But when Rolf mentioned his dragon form, even Mormo was taken aback.

“I’ll answer more questions tomorrow,” Khent said to forestall the interrogation they could feel coming. “The sun is rising, and my mate and I need rest.”

Hecate watched them closely, especially Val, then nodded. “You’re sure Ilu is gone?”

Val didn’t want to lie. “I don’t feel any different. Actually, I feel a lot lighter now. Even though Talon is gone, Vladimir’s finally dead.”

Hecate nodded, her eyes kind. “Take my hand.”

Val did and spiraled through darkness to a spot of land that gave off the same sense of peace Ilu had once shown her. There, sitting together on a blanket by a lake where eagles flew and fish jumped in the water, sat Talon and Ava, kissing and laughing.

Talon glanced over at Val. His face lit up. He mouthed, I love you. Then faded.

“Thank you.” Val sniffed.

“No, thank you.” Hecate tapped Khent on the shoulder. “And don’t think we won’t have many discussions about your powers, Mr. Wings of Eternal Night.”

He nodded, though it seemed to Val he hid a flinch. “Of course.”

He hurried Val upstairs, not returning the greetings of two of his kin before shutting them inside his bedroom. Where he stripped Val naked and made thorough love to her until both their hearts were racing.

“I almost lost you,” he whispered, kissing her tenderly. “And in that would have lost myself. I love you, meryt. My beloved.”

Val stroked his chest, enamored by this softer side of her reaper. “You know, I think I love you, too.”

“Of course you do. How could you not?”

She laughed.

“And even though you are much weaker than I am, with the right spells, we’ll get you up to snuff.”

“You call me lesser? Ha.”

“Never lesser, meryt. Equal. But not more.” He scowled. “And if Ilu has a problem with that, we’ll talk.”

Val didn’t have the heart to tell him that Ilu was so besotted by their love and lovemaking that the deity had no words, just a sense of contentment that made so many years of loneliness worth bearing.

For times like this.

“Admit it, Khent.” She said, drawing circles on his chest as they faded into sleep. “I’m the coolest. I not only have a sexy man, I have the only black dragon in existence. And he’s so handsome, I could weep.”

He chuckled. “Yes, my love. You definitely win.” A pause. “Make sure to rub it in when you greet the rest of my kin and their mates. They should know how superior we both are.”

She laughed and hugged him back. I am the luckiest human on the planet.

Just as she drifted off, she heard Ilu whisper, You really are.