Planting his damaged palm on a rock, he pushed himself to his feet. The atmosphere pushed back, heavier than he was.
“Damn it to fuck,” growled a mangled voice.
He jumped around to see a massive male covered in bruises and cuts storm toward him, fury across his face. His familiar face. “Quade Kayrs,” Logan whispered, his voice unrecognizable.
Quade reached him, grabbing his burned arms and shaking him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Logan’s vision fuzzed, and he shook his head. “Ritual.”
Quade breathed. “Yes. But you should not be here.” He looked up as the sky cracked, opening to an abyss. “This place is about to explode. Get out. Now.”
Logan shook his head, trying to remain standing. His legs felt like they were gone. “Ivar. The Viking. Is he here?”
Quade blinked, his eyes so dark they’d turned black. “Viking? A thousand years ago. He didn’t make it back?”
“No. Just last week. He’s been gone a few days.” Logan swallowed, and dust coated his throat. He coughed.
Quade shook him. “Ivar was here a millennia ago. Time is different here. Faster.” The sky cracked again in several places like a shattered eggshell. “Go. Get out.” Without waiting for an answer, he shoved Logan off the cliff.
Logan yelled, swung his arms, and plunged through a swirling mass of energy.
He landed in a place worse than the last, where icicles pointed at him from every direction. One pierced his foot, and he snarled, looking around. White and quiet and frozen. The chill carved into his skin with a pain too sharp to withstand. He knew the way out. Instinctively, he knew how to jump back to the chamber and end this.
But the Viking was near.The Seven.Logan closed his eyes and imagined the Seven. Warriors bonded in blood and bone. Even from this distance, he could feel their bond. Seven portals opened in the ice, all dark, all leading somewhere more painful than this. He imagined Ivar’s face, sensed his spirit.
Gathering his strength, Logan leaped through the center portal.
Into hell.
* * * *
Mercy felt the moment when Logan’s essence left this plane. A sense of being ripped down the middle assaulted her, and she took several deep breaths to banish the pain. He was in agony, and she could feel it. The fresh Kyllwood marking on her skin beat with the force of a heart hammering. Logan’s heart. In exact harmony with hers.
She didn’t know where he’d gone, but she had to find him.
Lifting her arms, embracing the universe, she leaped out of this dimension and into the next, forcing herself to stop quickly.
The air was pure, the gravity light, the smells delicious. She opened her eyes to a grassy meadow surrounded by bubbling brooks. It was one of her favorite dimensions, and oddly enough, a jumping point into more worlds than she could count. Niall had beaten her there.
He turned as a portal closed behind him.
She blinked. “Who just went through?” While many of the Fae could hop dimensions, only a few of them could control the where and when. Why was Niall right there?
He strode toward her through the soft grass, his bruises healed, his body strong again. “The Seven are conducting their ritual right now. It has already sent vibrations through a million universes. Probably more.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “It’s too late to stop it. We have no choice but to work with the Seven.” They had an unnatural strength, and she’d have to figure out how to use that to protect the world. At this point, there was no alternative. God, she hoped Logan survived. Was he hurting too badly? Her chest heated, and she calmed herself. There had to be a way to help him.
Niall lifted his head, exhaling deeply. Fury crackled from him, disturbing the calm atmosphere. “You mated him?” His voice was high and loud.
The scent of Logan was all over her. “I did. You and I were never meant to be.” She frowned. “But we have known each other a long time, Niall. Few of us have survived through the years, and we’re both Fae. We both want what’s best for our people.” She wanted to punch him in the face again for his attack, but her people came first. “Help me stop this war.”
“It’s too late.” Red suffused his face.
“What have you done?” she asked, her stomach quivering. Was Logan in even more danger than she’d thought?
Niall grabbed a weapon from his back pocket. “I’ve won. Like always.”
“Wait.” She held up her hands. If he tased her, she’d be stuck here for days. While they’d never been intimate, and he’d pretty much turned into an asshole last time, they were still of the same people. This was her king. “Niall. What are you doing?”
