CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
“You dare come after my pets?”Khent said, his voice filled with venom as they stopped just past the whiskey shop inside the bazaar. “I’ll teach you, you fake master of the dark arts. You Hogwarts wannabe.” He lifted his hands and waved them in the air, as if commanding a symphony.
Kraft didn’t know exactly what the reaper was doing, but Rolf and the cat stepped several steps back.
A flurry of movement came from behind them.
“Fuck off,” Khent roared, but Kraft was still trying to process the reaper making a Harry Potter reference.
“Did he say what I think I heard?”
Rolf nodded. “I know.” His wide smile showed very sharp fangs. “This battle is going to be epic.”
“Orion and the others will be upset they missed out.”
“Maybe. Varu took everyone else with him to clean out a rogue upir pack up north. I wanted to go, but the scent of brimstone is on the air, and I bet our fight is better than theirs.”
Kraft nodded, eager to destroy whatever threatened Riley. And of course, the world.
He didn’t want to wait, but Khent had been adamant to let him go first.
Paz sat on Kraft’s shoulder, quiet.
“You good, Paz?”
You do not forget our deal.
“I won’t.”
Death will not stop me from this battle,he said, his voice deep, angry.
“Paz?”
I don’t like the way the air smells, do you?
Before Kraft could respond, Khent yelled, “Incoming.”
He, Paz, and Rolf ducked as a horde of mangled birds flew past them, enveloping Khent, and taking him deeper into the bazaar.
A loud roar accompanied the sudden swarm, and Kraft raced after the reaper, intent on killing whatever moved.
He saw a bleeding berserker tearing into something ten times his size. Shit. That had to be Max and...What the fuck?Kraft looked for Riley but didn’t see her.
“That’s a giant lycan from hell.” Rolf quivered with excitement and took out his phone to snap a few pictures. “Did I say epic? I meant legendary.” He tucked his phone away then drew a few sigils in the air, the glowing symbols lighting up. Rolf stuck his hands in the glow, and the sigils attached themselves to his forearms and stuck, like neon tattoos. Then he drew another one on his forehead, and his eyes glowed a vivid, glowing purple.
“Gotta go kick some lycan ass. Later, loser.”
Lycan ass? Sure enough, Kraft spotted dozens of direwolves pouring out of the lycan store on the east side of the bazaar.
I’d better help,Paz said and ghosted him, though what the kitten planned to do to help, he had no idea.
Done suppressing the need to find his mate and see to her care, Kraft ignored Khent, who continued to talk to himself as he flew with his birds at a bunch of zombies and the sorcerer.
“He’s got the artifact,” Khent yelled. “I’ll deal with him. You get the fun part.” He nodded to the hell beast.
Kraft closed in on it and would have hit it but had to knock Max out of the way before the poor lycan became a smudge on the bottom of the hell beast’s paw. “Where’s Riley?” he asked when Max righted himself.
Max nodded to the lump not moving so well on the ground and tore back at the beast without pause.
