Rolf grinned at Kraft. “Want in on this? Ten bucks says I can get the lycan to tell us where the artifact is before necro-boy can.” He nodded to Khent.
“Fuck off, blood-drinker.” The lycan smelled a little of fear but was putting on a good show. He snarled at Kraft, who lifted a corner of his lip to snarl back.
Khent looked physically pained by Rolf’s sense of humor. “Necro-boy? I’m—Iwas—one of the Sons of Osiris, you dick.” Something he mentionedeverysingle timeanyone questioned his background. “My people are closer to godliness than yours ever were.”
“And that’s a compliment?” Kraft didn’t understand that, because they all loathed divinity. Even Hecate, and she fed and cared for them.
“Not really, no,” Khent admitted. “But I’m better than you all.”
“Oh, we know.” Rolf agreed. “You’ve only told us that for the past year we’ve been kin.” He huffed and shifted a braid of blond hair over one ear. Kraft always expected to see it pointed, as if Rolf masked his features with a glamour, because damn if the draugr didn’t feel fae. But no, his ear remained rounded.
Unlike the pointed ears of the dusk elves living with them, whom Kraft hadn’t seen all night. Fara missing was not a big deal; Varu kept constant watch over his mate. But her brother was a menace.
“Hey, where are Onvyr and Fara?”
Khent answered, “Onvyr’s with the others, so he’s not killing indiscriminately, thank the night. And more good news—Fara thinks she found another of the items we need her to find.”
Another Bloode Stone. With only six in existence, and two in Varu’s possession, the other four were a true threat to the worlds.
When Ambrogio, the first of their kind, had fallen to the mortal plane, cursed by the god Apollo to forever drink blood for the offense of falling in love with Apollo’s sister, Ambrogio cried. Or maybe he’d been stabbed and bled. In any case, those six drops of bloode that fell upon the earth became the six Bloode Stones.
Only with the stones could the vampires reunite and shake off the curse to forever war with one another. Kraft liked warring. He liked battle. But he knew that were the wrong vampire to get his hands on the stones, the worlds would suffer. Only vampires kept other vampires in check.
Warriors like Orion, who remained in danger. “Orion’s gone.”
“We know. He called.” Rolf shrugged. “I think he’s goofing off and playing with our new boat, but Mormo said to leave him alone. So I’m working with this guy again.” He thumbed in the direction of Khent.
Khent leaned down to whisper into the lycan’s ear, and though the magir growled, he didn’t say anything of substance. Just a lot of his wolf mouthing off.
“You will talk, wolf,” Khent promised. “Where is the artifact?”
“Suck it, reaper. It’s not yours. It belongs to Pack.”
Kraft had to hand it to the lycan. It took balls to stand up to vampires. But that bravery wouldn’t help him survive if Khent decided to drain him dry.
“My turn.” Rolf bounded to the man and drew a few sigils in the air over the lycan’s head, which glowed gold.
“Really?” Khent scowled. “That’s going to take hours to settle. I was getting somewhere.”
“Hey.” Kraft growled. “Orion is gone. He’s been gone for three nights and hasn’t checked in.”Not with me.“He’s in trouble.”
“He’s fine.” Khent waved him away. “And he’s not important right now. We all have jobs to do. Even you.” The reaper looked down his nose at Kraft, as he’d been doing since Mormo had screwed them all with that spell making them family.
“Look, you undead pharaoh-wannabe, I’ve had it with your prickly ass.”
“Whatdid you call me?” Khent drew himself to his full height, still an inch or two shorter than Kraft.
The lycan and Rolf watched with rapt attention.
“You heard me. Sons of Osiris? More like Osiris’s little bitches. I mean, who ties themselves to a god?”
Rolf nodded. “You’ve got a point.”
Khent ignored the draugr, his eyes blazing. “I was ruling city-states and gods before you were a calcified curse inside your mother’s womb. You will talk to me with respect, fledgling.”
“Or what, asshole?” Worry for Orion twisted into a comforting rage Kraft could handle.
“Or I’ll eat your heart while you watch.” Khent’s smile looked icy.And maybe a little intimidating,Kraft refused to admit aloud. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to reanimate you along with my other pets. We’ll be best of friends then, Kraft. Like you and the ignorant vryko, the one you’re missing so much that you’re close to crying.”
