Page 51 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

Plan B It Is

H era’s shadow magic speared through Rayis’s chest like a weapon, lifting him into the air before slamming him down to the ground. The floor quaked with the impact.

Another spear of shadow magic hit Dagon next and vaulted him into the pixie barrier, and the massive Nether Royal slammed into it with a grunt. The pixie magic held, but the impact radiated across the glittery globe surrounding them.

Big wrapped Kate in his arms and kept his eye on Hera, ready to teleport the second shit got bad. It was the promise I had him make me before we came here. No matter what, he needed to get her somewhere safe. If all the dust he had left was used to protect her, it’d be worth it.

Phillip and Sloan worked in unison to get the ancient bitch into the corner where the stones were.

Her eyes glowed an eerie green and her arms lifted in an ominous dance.

I sucked in a sharp breath, too weak to summon fire.

I could only watch as the same action she took on them before I reversed time manifested like an omen around her.

I couldn’t lose them again.

I gripped Blood Slayer, ready to fly out. “Get back!” My hoarse cry was swallowed by the sound of a huge blast.

Aram had brandished his sword and his magic whipped out with devastating speed to construct a barrier between them and Hera. He interrupted whatever spell she’d been casting and provided cover so both of my guys were able to get away safely.

I dashed out with my sword, but it hit an invisible wall around her when I tried to land a blow. My reaction time was slowed by the overuse of my power, so I was thrown back and caught by Cash before I hit the ground.

He positioned my body behind his, the side of his face aimed at me.

A stone levitated above his hand and warmth washed over me.

“It’s temporary and it’ll take a couple minutes to work, but it should give you a little boost, love.

Don’t waste your energy. Remember the plan.

Let the rest of us fight the slithery hag and patiently wait for my signal. ”

I nodded.

I hadn’t forgotten. We’d planned for more than the stones trapping her.

We had to. There were too many variables to consider, and she was a villain who’d been around my type before.

It wasn’t a surprise she anticipated it.

Maybe she’d checked for it somehow the first time around and caught it this time.

There wasn’t any way of knowing for sure, but she’d come in ready to fight.

A black swirl opened up behind Hera. She was outnumbered and knew it.

The only viable option was to run. Anticipating it, Aram was quick to attack.

He got her away from the portal she opened.

Rayis and Dagon were finally back on their feet, and the two summoned magic to block her exit.

The black void froze over and solidified, but it required all their concentration to do it.

In a space not big enough for the battle ensuing, Aram and Hera traded assaults.

I kept an eye on the others, but my stare immediately snagged on the necklace around Hera’s throat.

It glowed off and on, rebounding any magic used on her so nothing truly hit.

It was exactly how it’d been when she fought my group the first time.

“Do it now, V!” I heard Cash yell, the stone he’d used on me finally taking full effect.

My mouth ticked up. I was dragging in air like I needed it, but I’d regained some of my strength. The throb of my core told me I’d have just enough power to do what we talked about thanks to Cash’s little magical stone boost.

Plan B it is.

Aram had Hera engaged in a dangerous fight between sword and magic. The powerful weapon was breaking through the barrier the necklace produced, but it still wasn’t enough.

Jo and I caught each other’s gazes before I called on my power and the world came to a screeching halt. Everyone was frozen in place, their actions paused. It was too much to carry everyone into the frozen window with me as depleted as I was, so I only brought Jo.

The Chaos Fae’s body whispered across the floor until she was in front of Hera. She didn’t hesitate. Not that I truly believed she ever would, but I mean, it was her mother.

With a flash of her hand, Jo yanked the necklace her mother wore, hissing like it burned on contact, and threw it to the ground.

Her boot and magic broke the thing to pieces.

It scraped against the tile as she kicked it aside.

Blood seeped from a wound on her palm, but she gripped the dagger like none of it bothered her.

I made my way over and helped her drag Hera’s frozen body to where the stones would trap her. Extra insurance if my ability gave out. It was a lot to try to keep a hold on time and haul a frozen lady, but I managed it like a champ.

Jo touched my face with the hand not holding the dagger, then she buried Aram’s blade right in her mother’s chest. My power gave out, shuddering to a start.

Time moved, and Hera stared down at the dagger sunk into her heart.

The stones were finally activated. They glowed and trapped her to the spot so she couldn’t move.

“You…” the ancient bitch whispered. “I could’ve killed you long ago, but I didn’t, and this is how you repay me, you ungrateful ingrate.”

“A mistake you would’ve punished me for at one time, no?

” Jo spat in Hera’s face before burying the other dagger in her mother’s throat.

“This is for Reyna, for V, and for everyone you betrayed to make yourself powerful. I hope their souls haunt you in the afterlife. Go to hell and fester, you evil piece of shit.”

Jo pulled both daggers out as painfully as she could, and they came back blue and dripping. With a quick glance at everyone, Jo took a step back and wiped the blades on her pant leg.

Rayis grunted. “Your daughter has bollocks, old hag, I’ll give you that.”

Hera made a noise between a moan and gasp, inky webs consuming her alabaster flesh. She was reduced to ragged breaths, frozen in her slow-acting demise. All she could do was let the poison take her.

I stared at the suffering villain in an invisible prison as she continued to struggle to breathe. The black webs had nearly consumed every bit of her visible skin, but she still breathed.

Twirling Blood Slayer, I lopped off Hera’s head. I didn’t want to make the mistake of trusting poison to do the job. This was the type of villain fight that always came up with some fucked-up plot twist, so I wouldn’t give her the chance to do it.

“No head, no service, bitch.” I turned to Jo, suddenly worried I’d overstepped. “I know you said you wanted to be the one—”

“Double tap. Nice,” Jo interjected with a smirk, slinging her arm around my waist and kissing the top of my head. “We’ve trained you well.”

The Original’s body cracked and splintered into fragments. But just as she started to break apart, the stones holding her to the spot crumbled to ash. Hera’s shadow magic swallowed what was left of her body in nothing but darkness, then it exploded outward.

Jo’s eyes went wide and she pushed me behind her, putting her body between me and the sudden blast. She attempted to construct a barrier, but it didn’t make a difference.

She was thrown back and took me with her.

I heard someone yell before we both hit a wall.

Everything went black, and I lost consciousness.

I blinked and woke with a start. I didn’t expect the faces at my bedside. It didn’t make any damn sense for them to be together.

“Grams?” I rasped.

Her smile was gentle. “Hello, Vivienne. It’s lucky you have a powerful friend here or you might’ve needed longer to recover.”

“Mate,” Aram corrected with a grunt. “You failed to mention you were Rose’s granddaughter of all people. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with that cleverness and saucy mouth on you.”

Grams cackled like he’d paid her the best compliment. “Still bothered by the fact that I evaded a god?” She smacked him on the arm, and it was the weirdest fucking thing to watch. “Don’t worry, I’ve left a lot of powerful creatures sour over the years.” Her grin grew. “Or dead.”

My eyebrows pinched together. “Wait…you know my grandmother?”

“Unfortunately,” Aram grumbled under his breath.

What the actual fuck, Grams.

“I’m going to need to hear that story,” I directed at my wily old fox of a grandmother.

She shrugged her shoulders, in another outfit that defied her age and sweet old granny reputation. “It’s not all that interesting. This giant visiting god ended up on the other end of Lucille, is all. He refused to announce himself, and I was a bit aggressive in those days.”

“A bit?” Aram scoffed. “You barely let me get a word out before you attacked.”

My eyes were as wide as they could get when I glanced at the all-powerful Nether Royal, convinced it was a joke. “You fought Grams?”

“Fought is a strong word, Nioche . I don’t fight humans if I can help it.” It sounded almost like he was coming up with excuses for whatever happened. “Of course, this lethal woman is hardly any human I’d encountered at that point.”

“A nice introduction to us top-level Hunters, wasn’t it?” Grams crossed her arms and couldn’t look any less proud of herself if she tried. “Anyway, how are you feeling?”

“Like I took a boulder to the skull,” I complained, my supernatural head throbbing so much so that I almost felt human.

Aram touched my hair, but I swatted his hand away.

“That’s a result of overuse and whatever final strike Hera sent at you.

It took quite a bit to heal, but I suspect most of that is because of how vulnerable you were after using your power the way you did.

It’ll likely fade in the next few days. Your body naturally healed the physical injuries, albeit slower than usual as mentioned by the others.

But it was the magic-caused injuries that took longer.

So, if you feel anything out of sort, you must tell me. ”

“Oh, right…”

I thought back on what happened before I was knocked out, and it all hit at once.

Jo.

I sat up and peered around. “Where is she?”

Clamoring out of bed, I was stopped by another three people. Phillip, Sloan, and Kris. My head pieced it together and I glanced around me. I was in my room back home. We’d come to Grams, not the other way around.

Over my shoulder, Aram dwarfed everyone and everything. He was massive in my little slice of human heaven. Which meant he’d brought me back. Or rather, he’d allowed me to come back.

“Maus, you’ve barely recovered. You should rest some more and let us—” Phillip started, but I quickly cut him off.

“Where’s Jo?”

My pulse was hammering at the thought that anyone might’ve been hurt. Or worse. Oh, fuck. What if Jo was dead? What if she’d taken the brunt of the attack and died?! What if I couldn’t save them all? What if I lost her?

But before my thoughts could spiral out of control, the beauty came strolling through the door with a smirk and salute.

“Hey, babe,” she greeted. “Thought you’d never wake up. These guys have been so goddamn annoying every day while you slept.”

Every day?

I did a full one-eighty as Cash came into the room and the place I’d called mine long before I met any of them was overcrowded by all the monsters I’d collected.

“What’s Aram doing here?” I finally asked as everyone waited for me to get my bearings.

I was assaulted by every bit of his disappointment before he spoke, “I’m your mate, V. Of course I’d be here.”

“Okay, my granddaughter has only just woken up. She needs time to collect herself. Get out, the lot of you. There’s plenty of time to catch up once she’s caught her breath.” Grams gestured for everyone to get out.

Aram didn’t budge, but the rest left. I stared at the odd pair they made. My tiny grandmother next to the mountain of Fae was a sight I’d never get over, especially since he took a step away from her like he was uncomfortable.

The flash of a memory slipped into my head. A much-younger Grams slid past him in a cloud of dirt, her bat striking his knees in a brutal blow. Her strawberry-blonde hair blew across her face, but that sassy little smirk was all Grams.

My mouth moved into a curse that had to be Aram’s native tongue, his magic floating around him until he called it back. He wouldn’t hurt a human, even one as bratty as this one. Before I could cling to the memory, it was gone.

I eyed Grams, no longer convinced she was a normal, run-of-the-mill Hunter. It didn’t make sense. She’d crossed paths with too many formidable opponents and lived. “Are you sure you’re not the weapon the Organization created?”

Her laughing eyes stayed on mine. “A weapon, yes, but not the one you’re thinking of. That’s all you, you brat.”

Takes one to know one.

“I feel like you’ve failed on my education if you outwitted this many scary opponents,” I clapped back in a sassy dig. “It’s a bit rude, if you ask me.”

She couldn’t hide her smile. “Oh? And who just came back after destroying the Original who’d evaded a god all this time?”

Aram crossed his arms, his posture smug as if it’d been him she’d complimented.

“Well, yeah. I am the monster they created,” I muttered under my breath. “Still doesn’t explain how you did it.”

My grandmother shook her head with a little laugh and gave me a feisty glance. “Sometimes secrets are meant to stay that way, V. Not all of us can live out in the open like you do.”

Um, what the fuck did that mean?!

I was left to ponder my grandmother’s cryptic statement. Patting Aram on the arm again, Grams headed for the door. She didn’t need to say anything else. She’d raised me in place of my parents. I could tell it was the end of the conversation.

But it was odd to watch her treat all these crazy supernaturals like anyone else. Guess she’d been in this world a bit longer than I had been.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eager to ask her more about what she’d seen over her life as a Hunter.

Clearly a lot. The fact that my Grams was associated with so many terrifying types couldn’t be a coincidence.

Still, she’d take those secrets to the grave with her, and I couldn’t exactly blame her for it.

She closed the door behind her, and then it was just the Fae god and I.