Page 2 of Ride or Die (The Body Shop #5)
Food was a big motivator for Anunit, and raccoons, so I didn’t blink when she ditched me to go punch birds and steal their prizes.
“You’re back early.” I halted a good six feet away from Ankou. “You have news?”
Aside from lifting his eyebrows, he didn’t react to the raccoon, which spoke volumes about my life.
“Bijou, Bijou, Bijou.” He spared me a glance. “You cut me to the bone when you look at me that way.”
Using a handful of salt, I sprinkled a crude circle around Harrow, Ankou, and me and raised the barrier to give us privacy.
“Like you’re a piece of shit I stepped in once but keep tracking no matter how hard I scrape my shoe?”
“You’re cruel, but I’ve got to admit—” he licked mayo off his bottom lip, “—I like that in a woman.”
Ready to yank out my hair after the night I was having, I growled, “Have you found Kierce or not?”
“He’s safe and sound and locked in his cage. I even checked his seed and water dishes.” He swayed back and forth on his heels, mimicking a bird on a swing. “His wounds are healing nicely too.”
Low moans rose in my ears as my rage woke spirits under my feet. “Wounds you gave him.”
“He would have killed you if I hadn’t killed him first.” Ankou pouted at me. “Where’s the gratitude?”
“You turned him into a pincushion.” When I shut my eyes, I still saw the warped bones piercing his pale flesh, shredding muscle.
Worse had been his relief. He was so glad when Ankou broke him beyond repair, when I could get near him because he couldn’t harm me again.
“The next time you have a choice, choose him.”
“I can’t do that.” Ankou spread his hands. “Kierce and I go way back, but I answer to my god, Bijou.”
There were too many gods, if you asked me, and all of them assholes. “How do we break him out?”
“We don’t.” He dropped his usual antics. “Not until after you remove Dis Pater’s control over him.”
Those troubled spirits trailed cold fingers down my arms. “That’s not what we agreed?—”
“Set him free, and he will kill you.” His eyes darkened. “The kind of death you don’t come back from.”
Hurt throbbed behind my breastbone, each beat its own condemnation. I should have freed him sooner. I should have protected him better. I never should have let him wind up back in that fucking cage.
“Hold on.” Harrow crossed his arms across his chest. “You came back. So did Kierce.” He cocked his head at me. “So did Frankie, actually.”
“The thing is…” Ankou scratched his cheek, “… Kierce is the Viduus.”
“I’m aware.” I set my jaw to stop its grinding. “What’s your point?”
Leaning in, Ankou stuck out his hand, pinky finger lifted. “Can you keep a secret?”
“You really want to die, huh?” Harrow scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “Just spit it out already.”
“You know how Kierce isn’t allowed to know certain things about himself?”
“Yes,” I hissed through my teeth, ready to snap them at him.
“There’s one secret buried deeper than all the rest, and I need you all to myself before I spill the deets.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Harrow scoffed at the god blood. “I’m not leaving Frankie alone with you.”
“Break the circle,” I ordered him, heart pounding. “I want to hear this.”
Stupid. This was beyond dumb. But I needed an edge.
Harrow did as he was told, clearly unhappy with my choice, and I raised the barrier again after he left.
“This is as private as it gets.” I ignored Harrow pacing on the edge of my periphery. “Out with it.”
“Kierce is…well...” he rotated his wrist, “…to put it delicately…”
“Put it indelicately if you have to,” I snarled, tired of his games, “but get to the point.”
“He’s a god killer.”
The air whistled from my lungs like a popped balloon, and all of a sudden, Ankou’s willingness to venture into Abaddon with me to save Kierce made a lot more sense.
His god clearly had an agenda, and Ankou’s nature meant he was always primed to stir up chaos.
And nothing screamed chaos like murdering a god.
“That’s your plan?” I broke out in chills, and I couldn’t decide if they were from excitement or dread. “To use Kierce to kill Dis Pater?” I rubbed my arms. “Why?”
No one would be sorry to see Dis Pater go, well, except for his diehard cozy mystery readers, but to kill a god…
I had dreamed of it. I had wished for it.
I wondered at how to accomplish it. But this felt too easy.
I didn’t trust that Kierce was revealed to be a god killer right when we needed one, or that Ankou was the only person who had known that lethal secret.
“You want him dead, I want him dead, Kierce wants him dead.” Ankou shrugged. “It’s a win/win/win.”
“That’s not a good enough answer.”
“I want what you’re about to hand Kierce free of charge.” He slid his tongue along his teeth. “Before you insinuate that I’m a pervert, I don’t mean sex. I would take some if you’re offering, I’m not an idiot, but I mean freedom.”
“You as a free agent sounds not great for my peace of mind.”
“Maybe not, but if you want my help with Kierce, you’ve got to motivate me.”
“You already agreed to go to Abaddon. More than that, you volunteered to act as my guide.”
“I believe my exact words were ‘Let me be the first to offer my services as your guide to the underworld’ which doesn’t specify a payment for services rendered but makes clear I expect some compensation.
It’s not my fault you accepted my deal without reading the fine print.
” He spread his hands. “Now you owe me.”
“For your genius idea to even work, we have to free Kierce from Dis Pater’s control first.”
“Or—hear me out—we could unblock Kierce’s memories, let him flambé his master, and free himself.”
A sliver of hope wedged itself between my doubts. “Would that work?”
“Hrm.” Alight with mischief, he winked at Harrow over my shoulder. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Arm sliding around my waist, he yanked me flush against his body, head dipping close enough for a kiss. I curled my lip, shoving him, but he held on tight. Harrow whirled on us, pounding the ward with his fist, but Ankou swept me away from the salt before I could break the line to let Harrow in.
And then Chartres Street crumbled out from under me in a vertigo swirl of tearing realities.