This fucking creepy necromancer has been collecting all kinds of shit related to my snowdrop.
Crypt was right. He’s clearly obsessed with her.
Irritated, I bury the tip of my blade in one of Dagon's upper shoulders. He shouts in pain as I lean down to meet his disgusting eyes.
“Where is the heart?” I demand.
His breath stutters before he starts laughing again, hysterical as he bleeds out. Since he's being difficult, Silas turns and calls more magic to his hands, casting a spell to find it faster.Meanwhile, Crypt stalks over to the limbless necromancer, a dangerous smile on his face.
“Amused, are we? I’ve seen everything you put her through, you feculent swine. The torture. The damnedscreaming.”
“Such beautiful screams,” Dagon wheezes, still laughing nonsensically. Then his gaze slips to the mummified corpses nearby.“Vivere rursus ad mortem!”
Dark magic pulses through the air, dropping the temperature in this abandoned cabin even further. All at once, the corpses on the table lurch upright, moving with the unnatural speed of the Undead as they dart toward us.
One of them tackles Crypt immediately, bringing down the already-weakened incubus as Dagon collapses. The other Undead sinks broken teeth into my already injured arm. The shock of the pain makes me drop my blade of ice as I struggle to shake off the aggressive fiend.
Crypt shouts in pain just before a bright blast of Silas’s red magic illuminates the space, disintegrating the Undead attacking the Nightmare Prince. I finally kick off the one biting me and scramble to retrieve my ice sword, slashing quickly to cut the damn thing in half. Both of its halves are still trying to get to me, but I ignore them and turn to see that Baelfire is now gripping Dagon by the front of his robes, hauling him high in the air.
“What are the chances we can find Maven’s heart without having to ask this sick fucker another godsdamned question?” Baelfire snarls.
Silas wipes blood from his nose. “I’d say high, because my tracking spell leads into the basement.”
“Good.” A strange sound rumbles low in Baelfire’s throat before the shifter breathes blue fire that quickly ignites the necromancer.
Dagon’s screaming is different this time. He’s in more pain, thrashing helplessly as the flames consume him and a horrific smell fills the room, almost strong enough to turn my stomach.
And the entire time that Maven’s old tormentor burns, Baelfire holds him high in the air, watching with pure, satisfied menace on his typically smiley face.
34
BAELFIRE
It always hurts,breathing fire in human form. I used to avoid it when I could, because it burns my insides, and my shifter healing has to work triple time to undo the damage.
But this time? So fucking worth it.
Watching the scumbag who tortured my mate turn into ash as I hold him is satisfying. My feral inner dragon enjoys it, too, so for one long, blissful minute, he isn’t vying for control of my brain and body.
Once Dagon’s screaming cuts off and he’s nothing more than a smoldering lump of good-for-nothing charcoal, I drop him to the cabin floor and brush off my hands.
Good fucking riddance.
When I turn back to the others, expecting them to be on top of the ball and already looking for Maven’s heart, I instead realize they’re all watching me. Silas’s brows are raised, and Crypt is outright grinning. Even the previously uptight Frost looks pleasantly surprised.
“Not bad, Decimus,” Crypt laughs despite his glowing markings and slowly-healing cuts.
“Go fuck yourself,” I huff, not interested in praise if it doesn’t come from the sexiest woman in the world, who I can’t fucking wait to get back to. Ignoring the furious blue flames still licking under my skin, I turn toward the basement door. “Come on. I’m done keeping Maven waiting.”
Searching the basement takes too damn long. I’m fighting tooth and claw here to stay inside my own head as we rummage through dusty storage bins, spiderweb-covered wooden chests, and a bunch of other creepy shit that looks like it belongs in an old black-and-white movie about treasurehunters.
Finally, I lose the battle as I’m shoved back into the little corner I can barely even call home.
It’s frustrating as hell, knowing my dragon is either going to hurt someone or fuck around and enjoy his dominance over me, all while my mate is probably upset that we left her side.
You’re an asshole, I grumble at my dragon.
Tasty spiders.
