I paused to orient myself when something large and white tackled me. I gaped up at a huge wolf, its muzzle stained with dark red blood. As it attempted to lower its teeth to my throat, I held it back with straining arms. I grunted as it continued to press down on me, teeth snapping, fetid breath huffing into my face.
A sword pushed between us, and the wolf’s growls turned into a whine as the blade slit up and across its throat. Hot blood poured from the animal’s neck, soaking its blanket of white fur and spilling onto my own cloak. Most of it beaded off, but I could feel the blood drenching my shirt underneath and leaking across my neck, spatters of it splashing onto my cheek.
“Apologies. That was messier than I’d intended,” a man’s voice said as the wolf was shoved aside and a bloody hand appeared before me. I gripped it, despite how slick it was with blood, and was helped up to find myself staring into a familiar face. Or rather, what was beneath a normal face.
As per usual, without skin, Samuel appeared to be grinning at me. The effect was as ghoulish as ever.
I frowned at him, wiping my bloody hand off on my trousers for lack of a better option. “Not that it’s not a pleasure seeing you, Samuel, but whatareyou doing here? It’s a veritable war zone.”
Samuel nodded. “Yes, it’s absolutely magnificent, isn’t it? All those humans screaming is music to my ears.”
“If you had ears.”
“No, I have ears.”
“You have earholes.There’s a difference.”
Samuel rolled his eyes. “As tedious as ever, I see. Nevertheless, I canhearjust fine.”
I nodded my acquiescence.
“As for me being here with Abaddon’s legion,” Samuel explained, “they needed a demon with my abilities to open a portal topside. Very few of us have that talent, you know. Most have to wait for some foolish human to invoke them, for power or some other foolhardy scheme.”
“So, you opened a portal for Abaddon’s legion of demons,” I said, attempting to bring him back to the topic at hand. I didn’t have time to waste on asides.
“Yes, well, some rival appears to be gunning for that boy you delivered to Erik. Can you believe it? Someone having the gall to challenge Lucifer himself?” He scoffed. “I look forward to seeing the fool flayed alive.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Much like you were?”
“Yes, it’s positively excruciating.”
“I can only imagine.” I searched the melee to take inventory of my friends. Therese was leaping from roof to roof to avoid a furry white demon with a blue, fleshy face, as Narcissa flew in to cook its backside. Freya was standing guard before another building that had caught fire, fighting back a swashbuckling skeleton so a group of men could enter the structure to help inhabitants escape. “So, all of this …”
Samuel nodded. “Erik indicated to Lucifer that he would need aid. I’m not sure that leaves him with any more leverage, I’m afraid. He will be completely under Lucifer’s thumb when he becomes all-powerful.” He considered for a moment. “Of course, if the rival beats him to it,theywill become all-powerful. Whoever that might be.”
“You have no idea?” I asked.
Samuel shook his head. “Only that they have some strong allies. When we arrived, we had to help Erik secure the part of town he’d established for sacrifices, fending off not only the villagers, but that blasted witch’s legions. Horrible things.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, how horrible?”
“Oh, they’re fleshy and talk a lot, and sometimes they cry when you corner them. And their brood should be terrified and screaming, but are sometimes laughing.”
“I meant the witch’s legions, not the human villagers.”
Samuel stared at me in one of those moments I imagined he would be blinking. “Oh, them? Nuisances mostly.”
“And the sacrifices? Where would those be taking place then?”
“The town square. A terrible place to try and secure. Erik isn’t much of a strategist, if you ask me. Lucifer would have been much better off finding a more competent blood witch. Although they are few and far between, I suppose.”
Samuel was right that it was a bad place to protect from attacking forces, as it was open in all directions to attack. Hopefully I would be able to fool any demons guarding it as easily as I had Samuel. “Thank you, Samuel. You’ve been a great help.” To the detriment of Lucifer.
“Of course. It’s always a …” A chill ran up my spine. At first, I imagined it was something akin to fear at the situation I found myself in. But then I noted the hard-packed earth at our feet stiffen and frost over.
My eyes widened, mouth going dry as I looked beyond Samuel to see a figure approaching, decked out in white finery, skin so pale it was nearly blue, like her painted lips.
The Ice Queen was here. Of course. The shaggy white demon Therese had been fending off was likely a yeti. The white wolf that had jumped me. They werehercreatures.
