“Considering the Greeks are why we are here, I have no sympathy for their position.”
“We do not have time to fight amongst ourselves.”
Brigid gifted Fenrir and Jono with a look that could’ve frozen the Hudson River at the height of summer. “Then tell the Greeks to stay out of our way. Cernunnos takes precedence for us.”
“The parks are withered as if it were winter and they reek of magic like his, Your Majesty. The magic hasn’t faded, which means he hasn’t left,” Tiarnán said.
“Is he the one sucking the life out of everything green in the city?” Patrick asked.
Brigid’s gaze cut away from Jono’s, pinning Patrick with a hard look. “The Horned One would not risk our standing and memory with mortals by damaging the land unless forced to.”
“Are you sure about that? Because you gods are all about meddling, and it seems he’s already doing it.”
Gerard winced. “Collins.”
The exasperated tone was one Jono understood well when it came to Patrick. Jono loved the man, but Patrick attracted trouble and started fights without even trying.
Órlaith touched her hand to Gerard’s elbow before meeting Jono’s gaze, Fenrir refusing to blink. “When Cernunnos missed the Lughnasadh ceremonies, I went looking for him at his home and found it ransacked. Hellfire had scorched the threshold, and the inside was tainted by blood magic, cast by the same mage who took me last year.”
“Zachary,” Patrick bit out, echoed by Fenrir’s growl that was half Jono in the sound.
“Hellfire?” Sage asked sharply. “The only god we know of who uses that is Hades, and the Dominion Sect is making a mess in New York City right now.”
Give me control, Jono demanded.
Fenrir receded with a huff, Jono’s nerves reacquainting themselves with his brain as he got control of his body. He turned his head to look at Patrick. “You said you think the Dominion Sect is after you. Can you think of a reason why?”
“Other than me dead?” Patrick made a face. “I don’t know.”
“Ethan wouldn’t have come back here without a reason. If you’re the reason, then the problem can only be one thing.”
The full-body flinch that hit Patrick had him shifting on his feet. Jono reached for his hand again because Fenrir wasn’t there to force him to let go.
“What do you mean they’re in New York for you?” Gerard asked sharply.
“Have you seen the news?” Patrick asked.
Gerard slowly shook his head. “I’ve been past the veil once I sent your lawyer my letter of support.”
“Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Answer my question, Collins.”
“Hunters and the other god pack crashed a car into the one carrying Patrick and his lawyer on Monday in broad daylight. Zachary made it clear they wanted to take him alive,” Jono said grimly.
“Yeah, tokillme,” Patrick stressed.
Gerard had a particularly murderous look on his face. “Not on my fucking watch.”
“You and everyone else in our pack,” Sage said.
“What’s Cernunnos the god of?” Wade asked. Everyone looked at the teenager, who stared back at them with an annoyed expression on his face. “What? I got bored in my last history class and stopped paying attention around the time we learned about the Dark Ages. They don’t really teach about myths that have all of you in the stories.”
“Cernunnos presides over nature, guides all beasts, and gives life when it is begged for, but life has to come from something. It is never given freely. There is always a trade,” a familiar accented voice said from the shadows.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Jono saw Brigid stiffen, her blue eyes widening as a piece of the surrounding shadows slipped out of the trees and into the light. Ashanti flashed them all a sharp-fanged iron smile as she approached, lifting her chin in a challenging way in greeting to Brigid. Being shorter than the Spring Queen didn’t detract from her power, and the increase of ozone on the air made the back of Jono’s throat itch.
“I had heard you were nothing but dust,” Brigid said into the heavy silence.
