“Bernie,”Lydia shouted, “You’ve got about thirty seconds before this Containment Spell is blown all to Hell… literally!”
“Perfect,”I called back.
Mammon broke free of Guy’s grasp.Claws raked across bronze scales as he leapt backward, his eyes blazing a murky gold.“You think love makes you strong?”He sneered.“You think your Powers That Be have saved you with your little Necromancer?You think Fate can’t be denied?”Throwing back his head, he howled in laughter before dropping his chin, glaring at Guy and seething, “It all makes you weak.”
Mammon struck.Moving quicker than my eyes could track, he reached for me.
Big mistake.
The Mating Bond is shared with Guy and King Lou, flared to life.White-hot and incandescent, it was a sight to behold.Guy moved faster than I ever imagined possible.Dragon Fire erupted from his jaws, not red or orange, but brilliant molten silver, slamming into Mammon mid-reach.
The Demon Prince screamed.He howled in fury, not in pain.
I stepped forward.Power roared through me.My eyes locked on Mammon’s.“You don’t get to claim me,” I coldly spat.“You don’t get to rewrite my Fate.”
Dropping to my knees, I slammed my palm into the ground.The runes I hadn’t known Lydia had carved into the desert until seconds before ignited, blazing to life as the Ley Lines surged.The Light of the Nexxus swelled.The Hellmouth shuddered, roaring in protest as I ripped all control from Mammon’s grasp.
“By blood and bone,” I shouted, voice echoing with something ancient and absolute.“By the right of the Heatherton Magic and the will of the Universe, I revoke your claim.”
Mammon howled as the chains of the Underworld erupted from the Hellmouth itself, wrapping around his limbs, his torso, and his throat.
“No!”he bellowed.“You are mine!Fogarty gave you to me.It is a debt I intend to collect!”
Guy’s massive head lowered beside me, eyes blazing with lethal promise.“She was never Fogarty’s to promise.”
With one final surge of Dragon Fire and Necromancy, and as one, my Mate and I shoved Mammon backward.The arms of his golden throne elongated.Spindly, skeletal fingers wrapped around his ankles, and the Hellmouth dragged him down.
Torturous screams tore at the Fabric of Time and Space.The flames roared.Furious and thwarted, they licked at the edges of the Gate to the Underworld, trying and failing to gain purchase in the sand.
The Nexxus surged again.Gleaming crystalline light erupted from the circumference of the Hellmouth, enveloped and then dismissed the Containment Spell I had created, and enclosed the Hellmouth.Turning toward my Dragon, I opened my mouth to speak when Mammon’s voice echoed from the Pit, “Your mother is still alive.Whether she stays that way is up to you.”
With the last word still hanging in the air, silence crashed down over the desert.
Tears streamed down my face.Suddenly exhausted, my knees started to give way, but Guy was there to catch me.Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me into the haven of his arms.
Shifting back to the sexiest cowboy I’d ever seen in a rush of heat and light, he held me tight as if letting go was no longer an option.Damn, I don’t know when it happened, and I didn’t care.All that mattered was that I loved him with all my heart and trusted him with my life.
“Hey,” he murmured, sliding the side of his index finger under my chin and lifting until my eyes met his.“I’ve got you.And we’ll find your momma.”
I smiled weakly.“Where have you been all my life?”
His laugh was soft, reverent.“Waiting for you.”
From her corner of my soul, Lydia cleared her throat.“Well.That was… dramatic.”
I closed my eyes, curling into my Mate’s chest as the last of the Magic settled.“Yeah, well, thanks for everything.”
“Right back atcha,”she chuckled, sliding her mental walls in place.
“Should I have said hello?”Guy siftly asked.
“No, not yet,” I halfway chuckled.“Lydia is an acquired taste that takes about a century to get used to.”
“Thank the Heavens we have forever.”
“Yeah,” I smiled.“Fate got it right.”
“Yeah,” Guy smirked.“Well, just don’t tell Her.She tends to get a big head.”
