“We have to try.” I rested my hands on his shoulders and tried to calm him. “I’m not leaving here unless I try. I refuse to look over my shoulder for her once we leave here. She will hound us to the death. She will never give up.” I pressed him gently back to the ground, hovering over him with concern. “Naomi just hit her with another spell. If I can’t kill her, we can at the very least incapacitate her for a very long time. I’m thinking fire might work if we disassemble her first.”
“It won’t work,” he said urgently, his face intent, his hands closing tightly over my forearms. “Jessica, please, you have to listen to me.” When he said my name it made my insides tingle. I pushed it out of my mind. I needed to stay focused. “She can’t be killed or even be incapacitated for long. I’ve tried. Once I got here, I broke her spells and managed to hold her down until the demons came. They did something to her, and everything changed. She must’ve struck a deal, because her essence morphed. Once that happened, she was able to secure me easily. I want you to get out before she wakes. I will follow you as soon as I can.”
“There’s no way I’m leaving you,” I said. “If she’s as strong as you’re saying, she’ll be after us as soon as she heals. It won’t matter where we run.” I glanced at Selene’s body, still inert. “If Tally’s spell can knock her out, she’s clearly not invincible. I’m betting we can do some damage.”
Naomi murmured her agreement. “Oui. The only thing that can bring a demon down is a powerful witch. The spells of blood and earth are natural agents against each other. If this is true, what he is saying, and Selene’s blood is now tainted with demon, this is likely the only reason she has been out this long. We’ve been lucky and nothing else.”
“And that was the last bloody spell we had.” Danny nodded toward the dart still lodged in her stomach. “If she’s full of demon essence, once she slakes this bit off, it will be impossible to secure her for long.”
I stood. “Then we take her apart now. There has to be a way.” I walked over to Selene, laser focused. She would not win. “The demons want her soul as soon as they can get it, so there has to be a way for her to die on this plane or they never would’ve struck a bargain—as in, if she can’t revive herself within minutes here they are free to pick her up.” I didn’t know much about demons, but I did know they collected on their debts immediately. A debt like Selene’s had to be something to celebrate in the Underworld. It’s not every day you landed a goddess. I glanced around to the group, my face hard. “Getting her a ticket to the Underworld will have to suffice. How long do you think she’ll be bound there?” I asked Naomi.
“I think nothing short of a millennium,” Naomi replied. “Selling a part of your soul is a steep payment.”
“That sounds good to me,” Tyler said as he grabbed a pickax off the wall. Who had a pickax handy, dangling on a wall?
A deranged goddess, that’s who.
“Let’s start with her hands,” Danny said. “If she has no fingers, she can’t shoot a spell. Right?” He looked around hopefully. His bare chest was massive in comparison to the tiny piece of fabric that covered him. He radiated strength, even though his brown hair was tousled, as usual, and this journey had clearly taken its toll on him.
Naomi stared at Danny, slightly openmouthed, but she averted her eyes quickly. Not before I noticed, however. “Um, oui, that might work. Let’s start with her hands.”
I bent over Selene’s body. “Hand me a shovel instead.”
Tyler went to retrieve the shovel, which hung next to the pickax, and brought it back. There was literally a plethora of torture devices lining the walls within easy reach. If the shovel tip didn’t work for the job, we had other options.
“Jessica.” Rourke’s strong voice echoed around the cavern. “I beheaded Selene already since I’ve been here. This is not going to work. She slips back together like a ghost.”
I glanced at Rourke, who stood, looking magnificent and almost fully healed. “You beheaded her here? Already?” I peered down at Selene. Jesus. If she could recover from a beheading that quickly we were in deep shit.
Rourke was naked from the waist up, but instead of a sheet he still had his jeans on. They were crusted in blood. “Of course I beheaded her,” he growled as he paced forward. “And I took her heart out. She would never have been able to keep me had she not called the demons. She’s never been as strong as I am. It required everything she had to keep me here, knowing you were in danger. She was losing, so she dialed up her new backup squad and spelled me with something different. It knocked me out until I heard your voice.”
“That’s what the blue lines were then,” I said, contemplating. “Blue must be her demon essence.” My eyes locked on him as he approached. My wolf growled, full of lust. I shook my head to clear her. I couldn’t let anything distract me from my goal. “But I broke her demon spell in you, so maybe—”
He angled his head at me, his irises sparking. “You think you can break it in her,” he finished.
“How would I do that?” I asked, glancing down at her body again. My only choice would be to throw my power in and hope it was enough. I looked up at him. “If it works, and I can break something inside of her, do you think it will be enough to send her to the Underworld?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But it sounds like the best chance we’ve got, even though I don’t like it.” His voice held a growl. “But cutting her up will give us only a temporary fix, however satisfying it might be.”
I turned to Naomi. “Where’s your cross?” We were wasting time. “We can use it to null her while she’s out and I can try to break the demon-bond or kill the essence inside her. Then we take her head off and hope it’s enough to get her a ticket to the Underworld.”
A dark look passed over Naomi’s face. “Eamon took it from me as I tried to use it against Selene. I assume it is still in his possession. He’s never understood its worth and thinks I am too partial to it, but I will kill him for the betrayal.”
“He’s over against the far end of the cavern.” I nodded my head in that direction. I hated to break the news to her like this, but there was no good way. “I broke his neck before you were fully healed. I’m sorry, Naomi, but it needed to be done.”
Naomi stood. “I am not sorry. He broke our kin-bond and he betrayed me in the worst way he could. This would have ensured his death at my hands. He chose his side and he lost.” She flew off to find the cross.
I knelt down by Selene again. My brother and Danny came in close, Rourke right behind me; his heat calmed me. It was good to feel it again. I didn’t want to wait for Naomi, but I couldn’t risk waking Selene without it. If I put my hands on her, there would be a reaction. It might be enough to trigger her to wake.
Naomi’s voice echoed loudly a minute later. “Eamon is not here.”
I jumped up. “What are you talking about? I killed him ten minutes ago.” Had only ten minutes passed? It felt like a lifetime ago.
She flew to the top of the dais, landing on the scattered debris. “He is not here.”
“I broke his neck,” I said, almost accusingly. “Severing the connection is enough for a wolf. He fell to the ground like he was dead.”
“It’s not always enough for a vampire.” Naomi shook her head. “The spinal column must be separated fully from the body. Our bodies are already dead, while your body lives. You require communication to survive; we need no such thing. We can fuse it back together, but cannot live without a head. This information is not widely known, so it is not your fault, Ma Reine, but I must find him. There are tunnels here.”
“Dammit all to hell.” I realized I hadn’t seen or heard from Ray in too long. My face dropped. “Naomi, he took Ray. He had to have taken him. He needed blood to heal.”
Before she could answer, Selene gave a huge gasp and with one hand ripped the spell dart out of her body, her irises bright red. “Now you all will die.”
Then she popped out of existence.
26
&nbs
p; “Oh, my love, did you miss me?” Selene cackled from right behind Rourke, popping back into this plane again exactly like the winged devils had done. I wasn’t familiar with how teleportation worked, but I knew it was extremely rare and usually connected with the Underworld. Something to do with having one foot in both worlds, because transferring your body mass like that was tricky.
I blinked once and Rourke and Selene were on the ground in front of me, locked in battle.
His body began to morph as I watched, golden fur sprouting along his powerful arms. “You will answer for your deeds,” Rourke yelled, his voice full of malice. “Do you hear me? You will die a final death this time!” Blood poured from Selene’s lips as she grinned up at him. He smashed his fist into her neck just as she dematerialized. Rourke stood, fuming. “She’s going to be hard to catch,” he snarled, “and all I want to do is crush the life out of her.”
Now that we knew she could pop in and out, Selene was going to play with us like a kitten batting a ball.
Energy swirled around the cavern, bouncing off the walls. She was clearly enjoying her new lot in life as an Underworld whore. We all knew she couldn’t die no matter what we did to her now, and I had a sinking feeling that her final encore had always been to blow the mountain up like she had threatened earlier. Even if she was lost to the explosion, she wouldn’t die.
“We’re going to have to surround her,” I murmured to Rourke. “If we all come at her at the same time we might have a chance.” Tyler and Danny had gone back-to-back, each of them on high alert. Tyler clutched the pickax once again. “I’ve beaten all her magic so far, so it won’t hold me for long, if at all. If I can get her down without succumbing to her magic, I might be able to keep her in place long enough to do some damage.”
“Jess,” Tyler said. “Danny and I need to shift. There’s no way we can do this without a wolf counterattack. You bring her down; we rip her up.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied.
They both dropped immediately and began to change into their wolf forms. It wouldn’t take them more than a minute.
“I can hear you,” Selene snapped from above us in an alcove. “You think you can best me by cornering me? Think again.” She twisted her wrist.
The spell hit me fully in the chest.
Her lines entered my body and left just as quickly, but the impact flung me backward. The only thing I registered before I hit the wall was Rourke’s frustrated snarl.
Selene gave a wicked shriek and I watched in horror as she materialized right next to him. “Rourke! Look out!” I yelled as I scrambled to stand. She touched a single glowing red finger to his torso and he spasmed once and crashed to the ground.
I had to get to her before she popped out of sight again.
This is all you. We sprang in a blur.
My wolf latched on to her neck and I snarled through the canines in my mouth, biting deeply into her, taking great joy in tearing her pristine flesh. She tried to pop away from me, her magic swirling around us, prodding my skin. I caught hold of it, my gold strands winding their way into her magic. I wove my power through her energy and synched it tight like a noose. “How does it feel now?” I roared, releasing her neck, blood dripping down my chin.
“You are not stronger than I am,” Selene spat, her mouth already moving; magic quivered at her fingertips. “I will always have my spells.”
“No, you really won’t.” I smashed my fist into Selene’s mouth. Her jaw cracked, stopping her spell in its tracks, blood racing down the side of her face. “You are not going to win this time. You’re reign is over. Do you hear me?”
She spit blood out of her mouth, her jaw completely healed. “Is that so, mongrel?”
The room shook with power.
Sulfur began to seep into the cavern from every corner. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it came from. My wolf howled, changing her focus from Selene to the new threat. I kept my hold firmly on Selene, my magic still keeping us intertwined. “You really did it, didn’t you?” I sneered at her in disgust. “You sold your entire soul to the Underworld. Not just part of it. You were banking on me being stronger than you, that I was going to win, so you sold yourself to the Underworld for help.” My hands slid up and clamped around her neck. “You’re nothing but a fraud, Selene. You deserve to die and go straight to hell. Lucky for you, it’s a very tangible place. I’m sure the Demon Lords have something special in store for you. It’s a shame we won’t be able to witnesses it.”
Selene twisted in my hold, her face hateful. “I win, you wench. Don’t you get it? The price of my soul makes me impossible to defeat. I made the deal of the millennium. Ultimate immortality. Nothing can best me now, so I can never truly die. The Underworld can’t take me if I can’t die, so they will never have me.”
Incredible power enveloped me. It was dark and smelled like thick, rancid eggs. It pulled at me, tearing my skin. “What—” I yelled as I was flung backward, like a giant hand had swiped me off my feet. My wolf snapped at the blackness that began to infiltrate our golden protection. I hit the wall and slid to the ground. “No.” I uttered the single word with all the power I had inside me and the blackness danced back. It came at me again. “I said, NO!” I interlaced the word with the color inside my mind, bonding my golden strands to my words.
The blackness shrank back and stayed away.
I stood.
Selene staggered back a step. “Impossible!” she screeched. “My power combined with the Underworld is no match for you. It can’t be—” Rourke took hold of her from behind, grabbing her by the hair, and slammed her into the wall. She crumpled, momentarily stunned. The sulfur smell wavered.
“I’m glad to see you,” I told Rourke, who had shaken off her spell this time on his own.
He growled menacingly. “Nothing is going to keep me from you again while there’s breath still left in my body.”
Shivers ran up my spine.
Selene moved, ruining the moment, and I paced toward her. “Looks like your Underworld bargaining skills need a little work, Selene. You should’ve asked for more. Maybe a basilisk or a Demon Lord sidekick? Something more than immortality, which you already had. Do you really think the demons are that stupid? Do you honestly think they’d offer you something so great without a single hitch?” I stopped in front of her. “I’d like to introduce myself as the hitch in your well-designed plans.”
“I’m not out of the running yet, mongrel.” Selene stood. But before she could pop out of sight, I lunged. My magic intertwined with hers immediately.
We tumbled to the ground.
“You were out of the running before you even started,” I whispered.
Selene snarled. Her body reverberated like a gong, and blackness enveloped me again. This time it shot into my nose and mouth.
I gagged.
“Looks like you just needed a bigger dose—” Selene broke my hold and flew away from me.
Rourke took her by the neck, snarling savagely. “You will not hurt what’s mine again. Do you hear me?”
I grasped at my throat.
Get it out. My wolf tore into it. She pulled on our resources as adrenaline shot through us. The black wavered, but continued its assault. I rolled onto the ground, trying to breathe. I looked up and saw Tyler and Danny, in their wolf forms, standing at my sides, each of them snarling. I turned on my side, raging at the blackness. “Get out of my body!” I yelled, my power shooting outward, electrifying the darkness in one single blaze of light. The black mass retreated like a smoke machine plugged into a vacuum. I coughed and stood up, catching my breath.
Selene twisted in Rourke’s grasp and popped out of sight. That was getting old.
Tyler put his big muzzle in the air, scenting, and then took off to the right. The moment she materialized he had his teeth around her throat, bringing her easily to the ground. Danny charged after them, circling, waiting for an opportunity to get in the mix and snapping his jaws. I met Tyler’s eyes for an instant before Sele
ne reached up and took him by the neck. “Bye-bye, wolf boy.”
Red lines engulfed him.
“No!” I ran hard, colliding with Tyler, knocking him out of the way with my body. Before Selene could stand, I fisted her shredded leather bustier with one hand and forced her back to the ground. Her neck was torn—Tyler’s canines had bit deeply—but it was healing quickly.
She laughed up at me, trying in vain to dematerialize. “Can’t you see you won’t win? No matter what you do, I am stronger. I will keep defeating you until you are all on your knees, begging for your lives.”
“That’s not how this is going to work.” I punched my other hand deeply into her chest cavity. She gasped, her body spasming, surprise lining her features. I was going for the kill. I just had no idea how I was going to do it. Her heart sounded like the best idea. There was no way I was doing another run around with her. One of us would win; I just hoped like hell it would be me.
“You little bitch,” Selene shrieked, trying in vain to get away. Magic twisted around us, black and gold, each fighting to conquer the other. I had to find a way to kill her immortality quickly. If I did that, she would belong to the Underworld. I believed her when she said she couldn’t die—physically. But if one part of her died, it might be enough for them to come and retrieve her.
I held her down as she struggled, my hand closing around her heart. Everything inside of her bucked. Danny growled and barked, agitated, pacing around Tyler, who was in the process of changing back to human. He was no longer red.
“I think this is what you are looking for now, Ma Reine,” Naomi called as she flung something into the air.
Before I could catch it, there was a tremendous roar and Rourke’s fist shot out. Claiming the prize he fell to his knees beside me. “Let me help you with that.” He reared up and plunged Naomi’s cross into Selene’s body, right into the hollow of her neck.
Selene gurgled, still fighting. “Never… going… to win.” Her body convulsed once and went completely still. All her power evaporated.
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