Page 10 of Ride or Die (The Body Shop #5)

“In about thirty minutes, we’ll hit a switchback.

” He massaged his healed wrist. “We take it down to the bottom, and, assuming the mirashii aren’t waiting around to eat us, we’ll cross the border into Dis Pater’s lands.

” He appeared satisfied with his current condition.

“The cage is near the border, and it stands alone. No one goes there. Not anymore. Not after he…” He grimaced at us.

“Let’s just say that there were once those who enjoyed taunting the Viduus when he was too weak to fight back. ”

More than once, Kierce had alluded to the conditions in Abaddon, but he kept the worst to himself.

Probably to prevent me from clawing out Dis Pater’s eyes as soon as I got my hands on him.

“Why tell us this now?” Josie cocked an eyebrow. “What’s the point of that anecdote?”

Guilt and grief tangled with my hurt for Kierce, distracting me. I hadn’t stopped to consider Ankou might have an angle in telling us. But Josie, who had known him best, as well as anyone could know a liar and a cheat, was suspicious of every breath he took for good reason.

“Not to elicit sympathy.” He rubbed a flake of dried blood off his skin.

“He sometimes goes on autopilot while he’s in there.

You can reach through the bars, you see.

Throw things through them too.” He wiped off his fingers.

“Come at him the wrong way while he’s wounded, and he might think he’s under attack.

” He tipped his chin. “He might kill you before he recognizes you.”

Carter couldn’t stop her gaze from sliding to Josie. “And you just thought to mention this now?”

“It’s better that the threat is fresh in your minds,” he said to her, but I could tell he meant the words for me. “That you haven’t had time to convince yourself you’re special or immune or safe from him.”

Given the wakeup call I received when Kierce slammed his lightning bolt through my skull during our last meeting, I wasn’t in danger of romanticizing our connection again anytime soon. I had learned my lesson about the bonds between gods and their vassals to the tune of three hundred million volts.

“I will go first.” Anunit turned tail on us. “We must be certain the mirashii have not followed us.”

“Thank you.” I smoothed a hand across her shoulders. “Be careful.”

“You too, Frankie Talbot.”

Graceful leaps carried her lower with an ease I envied, and I watched until she was out of sight.

Harrow, who had also been tracking her, released a gusty exhale and wiped his forearm across his brow.

Tempted as I was to pick on him, try to tease out a laugh and lighten the moment, I only gestured Ankou ahead of us. Harrow and Carter filed in behind him, falling into a hushed conversation with one another.

“Are you ready for this?” Josie looped an arm through mine, tucking it flush against her side, and tugged me after the others. “I don’t know how long my vines can hold Kierce if he gets agitated from our arrival, but I’ll do my best to restrain him until you get through to him.”

“Thanks.” I noticed her pat her pocket and spotted the small plastic pot tucked inside it. “That’s why you chose the vines.”

“Yes and no.” She grinned with vicious glee that made me smile too. “I knew they would be useful, but I also thought Ankou could do with a reminder that I’m not going to put up with his bullshit on this trip.”

“I should have listened to Anunit about you.” I cuddled her arm tighter against me. “You’re smart, you’re strong, and you’re good in a fight. I have to trust you to know your own limits.”

“I get it.” She leaned down to rest her head on my shoulder. “I don’t hold it against you. How can I? I did it to myself. If I hadn’t let you handle everything for me my whole life, you wouldn’t think you still had to do it.”

“I’m proud of you.” I kissed the top of her head. “You know that, right?”

“How could you not be?” She beamed up at me. “I’m amazing.”

“And so humble.” I shoved her off me. “So, you think you can hold Kierce?”

“Ankou said Kierce can get out on his own, so I’ll focus on identifying the exit and sealing it shut.

As long as you don’t get within touching distance, you should be safe.

Ankou can protect you from any lightning strikes.

Between the two of us, we should be able to give you a window of opportunity to speak to him. ”

“Good thinking on the cage.” I wasn’t sure about Ankou shielding me, not as often as Kierce zapped him, but it was a nice thought. “I would say I want to cause as little damage as possible, but…”

Damage was the only way we had of controlling Kierce when he was beyond restraining himself.

“You’re really going to donate a toe?” She gave a disgusted shudder that resonated in my soul. “And let it ping-pong inside Kierce until we figure out if the Suarez angle will work?”

“As long as Kierce agrees, then yes.” I couldn’t stop them from scrunching in my shoes.

“I’m not hot on the idea of amputation, but Kierce is the best shot we’ve got at taking down Dis Pater.

” I wasn’t sure if there was truth to the god killer angle, but knowledge was still power, and two divine entities stood a better chance against a bona fide god than one. “No one knows him better than Kierce.”

“True.” She flicked a pointed glance at my feet. “I just don’t want you to regret this come summer.”

“Yes, Mary, I’m so shallow I would rather have a ninth toe than a boyfriend.”

“I do miss your birdfriend.” She leaned in, our elbows bumping as we walked. “He made you happy.”

“You make me happy too.”

“Not that kind of happy.”

“Um.” A flush tingled in my cheeks as my brain took a pit stop at the nearest gutter. “I?—”

“There.” Ankou indicated a split boulder in the distance. “That’s the border of Dis Pater’s territory.”

“How can you tell?” I squinted for any sign of change. “This place all looks the same to me.”

“You’ll see.”

“If you say so,” I mumbled, anxiety thrumming in my veins.

“Watch your step.” He set out down the sharp decline. “That giant snake you killed? They nest here.”

“Of course they do.” I skidded on loose rock after him. “How much farther until we reach Kierce?”

“You’ll see,” he repeated himself, a spark of his mischievous side lightening his tone for the first time since we arrived in Abaddon.

Ankou must be recovering quicker from his tumble if he felt up to taunting me, but that was good news. The next stage in the process was down to him. Our plan relied on his osteokinetic skills, and he needed to be strong enough to manipulate bone for our plan to work.

Nervous to confront Kierce, to at last see where he went when he left me, I instead turned my thoughts toward wishing a mental goodbye to whichever of my toes got the ax next. Ugh. I had hoped the never met a god with all ten toes thing was a joke, but I was fast realizing that wasn’t the case.

That was okay, though. I could deal. Kierce was worth it.

So was ensuring the safety of my family by taking out Dis Pater before he got to us first.