Ares scraped the edge of his sword against his shield, creating a line of fiery sparks that scattered before him as the Greek god of war marched forward. “Rumors of my death have always been false. I have never been forgotten.”
“A pity,” Thor rumbled.
Eir swooped low, using her spear to knock aside another mageglobe. They escaped the edge of the magical explosion, and Wade flung himself off the pegasus’ back and to the ground beside Jono. Eir rose into the air, leaving for the battle in the sky above.
Sage wedged herself between Jono and Leon, her weretiger form a welcome presence. She snarled a warning, the sound causing Ares to laugh.
“You chose the wrong side in this fight,” Ares said.
“You’re one to talk, asshole,” an achingly familiar voice called out.
Jono’s entire body jerked, the soulbond snapping tight in his chest from close proximity after so long being still and quiet. He turned his head, following the tug on the soulbond the way a compass always pointed north.
Stepping through the veil amidst the rubble of the Park Avenue Viaduct came Patrick, backed by Gerard and the Hellraisers, Ku, and the Night Marchers. He was covered in mud, but he was here andalive, and Jono howled a welcome that echoed like a warning to the other side on the storm-driven winds.
24
When they pushedthrough the veil onto a rubble-strewn Manhattan street, Patrick only had eyes for Jono and his pack. The sight of Sage in her weretiger form standing beside Jono and Wade soothed the quiet terror living in the back of his mind since he’d met Ashanti on the Brooklyn Bridge. In its place was a fierce pride for the people he considered family, tempered by a violent spike of hate for the enemy they faced off against.
“Ares,” Gerard cried out as he slammed the butt of theGáe Bulgagainst the ground. “You want to be gutted again that badly?”
Ares came to a hard halt in the street as Patrick and his group closed the distance between themselves and where Jono and the others stood. Thor raised Mjölnir in a welcoming manner at them, lightning crackling along all sides of the hammer.
“Cú Chulainn,” Ares snarled with a hint of wariness in his voice. “Come to die?”
Gerard smiled with a sort of manic, murderous look in his silver eyes. “I think not.”
“We fight for our memories, and you will be lost to time,” Thor warned Ares before swinging his arm forward. Lightning erupted from Mjölnir, aimed at the enemy.
Patrick sank his awareness into the soulbond, the connection soothing his frayed nerves. He sent his awareness down below to the ley lines, not even trying for the barricaded nexus. The rivers of external power were choppy to the touch, reacting to the battle within the veil. Patrick still drew on one to power his magic as he ran to Jono’s side. He conjured a mageglobe as he raised a shield against the spelled bullets aimed their way.
Wade intercepted him long enough to hug Patrick so hard his spine cracked when he was lifted off his feet. “Am I glad to seeyou!”
Patrick hastily patted Wade on the shoulder, eyes still on Jono. “Me too. Feel free to set fire to anything you want.”
“I plan on it.”
Wade let Patrick go, and it was only two strides more before he could sink both hands into Jono’s scruff and press his forehead between Jono’s ears, breathing in the scent of him after too long apart. Jono leaned hard against him, causing Patrick’s feet to skid over the cracked ground.
“I came back,” Patrick said, the words drowned out by gunfire.
Jono shoved his nose against Patrick’s throat, licking at him. Patrick patted him on the head before straightening up and taking in the situation on the ground. The Dominion Sect and hunters had scattered for cover, while Ares held his ground against the advancing gods. Patrick hoped the god’s hubris left him bleeding out on the street badly enough not even prayers could save him.
“I am pleased to see you’ve returned,” Ashanti said from behind him.
Patrick looked over his shoulder at where the mother of all vampires crouched on a wrecked car, Marek’s head peeking over the roof from behind it. She looked monstrous in the dim twilight, but Patrick was incredibly glad to see her.
“We cut Ethan off from the Salem nexus. He won’t be able to power his spell with external magic,” Patrick said.
“He is still casting it. You must bleed so we can find him through your twin.”
“Not here in the middle of the street,” Keith said as he planted himself beside Patrick to watch his six.
Ashanti blinked slowly, her eyes difficult to make out in the shadows. “The Morgan Library. We will do the blood rite there. We can no longer afford to keep running blind.”
Jono growled his displeasure, but Patrick merely gave his fur a firm tug. They’d already argued over this, and Patrick had won. “Then let’s get everyone and move out. Where’s Mulroney?”
“With the soulbreaker.”
