My back is to the tavern door, and my hood is still up, blessedly hiding my hair. My mental shields are in place, too, though I can sense they’re not as strong as they could be. Still, there’s a foolish moment when I entertain the idea that maybe Neri can’t detect me. Can’t scent me over the sour, sweaty stench of ale and raw sex saturating the air. But I quickly accept that notion for the absurdity it is.
Because I know he hunted me down.
Slow, heavy footfalls sound behind me, the squelch of leather on creaking floorboards.
“You should let me go now if you want to live,” I whisper to the barkeep, glancing at the meaty hand so firmly wrapped around my wrist.
He keeps his eyes trained over my shoulder, his glassy gaze growing braver and harder with every passing second.
Neri’s dominating presence and heat are suddenly at my back, mere inches away. My stomach clenches as I feel him lean down and press his nose against my hood, just before he inhales deeply.
“Always such a naughty girl,” he whispers.
With an annoyed sigh at my ear, he pulls back and directs his voice to the barkeep. “If you don’t take your hand off the lady, you pathetic sack of horse shit, they will find your flesh and bones scattered across this city come dawn’s first light.”
The man scoffs and gives Neri a poorly timed and measuring once-over. “And just who do you think you are?”
Neri grabs the man’s wrist and squeezes until he lets go of me.
The crush of bones that ensues is horrific. I gasp as the cringe-inducing noise crunches and crackles through the tavern. The man’s mouth falls agape, and his knees give, a second before he howls in utter agony.
Neri eases me aside, takes the man’s throat in a massive claw-tipped hand, and slams the side of his head against the bar top, pinning him there.
“Who do I think I am?” He growls a guttural animal sound that belongs in the deepest, darkest wilds of Frostwater Wood, not inside a Malgrosian tavern. Then he looks up at the faces staring back at him in shock and fear, his eyes glowing like orbs of sunlight from beneath his cowl, his fangs descending like blades. “I’m your motherfucking god,” he says. “That’s who I am.”
Clusters of people tear out of the tavern in a blur, including the barkeep, clutching his arm, his face a mask of terror. Others stare wide-eyed at Neri, their half-drunk and blinking gazes shadowed with awe and disbelief at the creature before them, as though this might be a trick of their ale-addled minds.
Two of the guards waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the man I believe to be Eryx rush to the second floor, likely to alert him, while another reaches for his sword, holding it aloft.
Neri straightens and pierces the guard with an icy look, shaking his head slowly. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. I’ll roast you over a spit, on your own sword, no less.”
The man wisely lowers his weapon, the fear inside the tavern palpable, thick enough to breathe. Everyone is too scared to move.
Neri rips a flag dedicated to his honor from the wall and climbs atop the bar in a far too graceful movement. He shoves his hood back, revealing his stark, white hair. He’s so big it feels like he’s everywhere, a hulk of a god who happens to look like a wolf.
“My name is Neri, God of the North.” He holds the blue and white silk flag in his fist up in the air for all to see. “When you leave this place, tell everyone you know that the White Wolf has returned from the grave, but so has Thamaos.” He turns in a circle, meeting their eyes. “War is coming. A war the North cannot escape. A war of the gods, no less. So go and prepare your people accordingly. Take back your city from the hands that would see you ruled by the East. Take back your ships and your harbor and your city wall and your command post. Take back everything. You are fucking Northlanders! Witch Walkers! Our land is the land of the white wolf whoforeverroams free. Do not let the enemy make you a prisoner in your own territory. Bear your claws, your teeth, your rage. And fight against Eryx. Against the Prince of the East. Against Thamaos.”
Adrenaline floods my blood as I stare up at him, rendered breathless by his emphatic speech and perhaps a little bit enamored, much like the others still left in the tavern. But any admiration I might feel quickly dissolves as the dark-haired man, along with his guards, comes racing down the stairs.
“I think that’s Eryx,” I say, tugging at Neri’s trouser leg to get his attention.
But he’s already tracking the familiar scent, twisting toward the half-dressed man who stands paused on the stairs. “So it is.”
A sick feeling turns my stomach as I grip the stiletto still in my hand. This could end in an unnecessary bloodbath. And if it does, what will the people think of Neri then? Will they still see him as a god deemed fit for flags and worship halls? Or will he become the god that legend has tried so hard to turn into a monster?
Eryx’s eyes go wide with the same disbelief radiating from everyone else, but in the next heartbeat, he smiles, the action absolutely menacing. “Neri. I heard you’d be coming.”
“Did you, now?” Neri says, bearing his fangs. “Did you also hear that I don’t necessarilywantto kill you, vice admiral, but I will, and I don’t require much reason beyond the one you’ve already provided, you traitor.”
“I think you might be outnumbered, my lord,” Eryx says as one dark, perfectly shaped brow rises toward his hairline. “A beast and one talented witch won’t be enough to stand in our way.” His gaze slides to me. “You can let your glamour down. I can see right through it.”
I startle at that, but I note the witch’s marks on the wedge of skin visible through his shirt. Faint silver is all I see, but there’s clearly more to Eryx than meets the eye.
Uncertainty glimmers Eryx’s men’s eyes as they study Neri, their minds no doubt racing with every story and legend they’ve ever been told about the God of the North, good and bad. But though uncertain they might be, at Eryx’s signal, the guards tear their swords from their scabbards, metal ringing through the tavern. Another dozen guards scattered throughout the building do the same, showing their union with Eryx, surrounding us.
I shove the stiletto back into my sleeve and jump up on the bar top with Neri, gripping his huge arm. “Wolf, we can’t do this. Get us out of here. Right now.”
His eyes flare at my command, and his tone is sharp and admonishing when he bites out my name. “Nephele, you cannot order me to stand down. I’ve been hunting this bastard for two days.”
