My markings light up in a blaze of angry purple. As usual, I feel a sharp tug in the direction where another swarm of wisps must be trying to get into the mortal realm. I grit my teeth, fighting the pull as I kick into the air, intent on finding Maven.
It doesn't take long.
I rise through the ceiling into the next floor of Everbound directly above the entry hall and stop midair. No wonder all the shouting and screaming has stopped.
Syntyche's scythe. They're all dead.
I drift above the massacre, which is a bit much even for me. Undead, battling rival legacies, and various monsters have been literally ripped to shreds. Their many bodies and innardsnow litter the floor or are impaled to the walls with daggers. Blood coats everything, splattered on the windows and dripping from various surfaces. Several hearts have been ripped out and scattered across the ground. It looks almost as bad as when a horde of wisps tears through a human town like a million faceless piranhas, leaving nothing but gore behind.
Is this the only hallway where this happened?
The gleam of something catches my eye, and I slip back into the mortal realm to withdraw Maven's adamantine dagger from the disembodied head of a small basilisk—a rare monster from the Nether that the Immortal Quintet must have stocked in First Placement.
I grin. So this is the macabre brushwork of my keeper, is it?
How frighteningly impressive.
But my smile drops away as a soft groan sounds in the otherwise silent hall—hergroan. I rush to where I couldn't see her before, lying half-hidden behind a collapsed decorative hall table.
She's quite a sight, completely soaked in blood, and blinks groggily as I help her sit up. My gaze sweeps over her for any signs of damage. She's unharmed, thank the gods, but we both seem to notice the forgotten, still-beating heart clutched in one of her hands at the same time.
Quite the souvenir.
"I see you threw a party without inviting me, love," I tease, gently wiping blood off her pretty face.
Her unfocused attention drifts over the rest of the hall as she tosses the heart aside. "Oops."
"You berserked," I realize.
Maven rubs a spot on her abdomen as if checking for an injury that no longer exists. "I don't remember the fight, so yes. Pretty convenient that I bled out when I did because expiring is the only way to stop me once I lose it like that."
She's obviously still recovering from what she calls "expiring"—and I call my own personalized brand of hell. Perhaps I should be grateful that my keeper can return from a temporary death, but knowing I lost her even for those moments makes me want to massacre something myself.
Spine-tingling howls sound elsewhere in the castle, growing closer by the moment.
"Oh look, more party guests," she muses, making expectant grabby hands at her dagger, which I still hold.
I adore her, but she's in no condition for more of this. "Another time, love. If any of those hellhounds gets a taste of your blood, they'll be able to track you from here to Kansas."
She allows me to help her to her feet. I don't like how unsteady she is—she must be far more exhausted from reviving than she's letting on.
"We're not going to Kansas. Kenzie's family is in Nebraska."
I'd ask how that's relevant, but I can't focus on anything except getting my keeper away from here when the howls sound closer. Much as I dislike the risks, this calls for desperate measures.
"Might I take you for a waltz through Limbo, darling?"
"Only if you're waltzing me to the castle's smallest courtyard."
Her wish is my pleasure. As the hellhounds race up the nearby stairs, I turn Maven to face me and give her a serious look. "Keep your eyes closed. Limbo drives mortals mad when they're conscious, and I wouldn't want you to lose that deliciously dark mind of yours."
She smirks. "Too late. Let's go."
I grin in reply and pull her into my arms—and into Limbo—just as hellhounds leap into the hallway, followed closely by the bounty hunters. Their shouts of alarm and horror at the mess mykeeper left behind quickly fade as I cover Maven's eyes with my hand and drift through the now-lifeless castle.
My heart is crashing in my chest, both from the thrill of holding Maven in my element and the increasing worry that we'll reemerge in the mortal realm with her mind in fragments.
"Nice heartbeat," she murmurs, where her head rests against my chest. "Can I peek now?"
