The whacking sounds of blades meeting flesh follow us up the road. A crack of a blade against bone makes my stomach lurch.
“We need to stick to the shadows,” I breathe out in between pants.
My mind is finally thinking past the pain. “We won’t be able to face that many on our own if we run into another horde.” Lachlan nods, and we slow into a jog. We slink from shadow to shadow, the sounds of battle tapering off as we move farther away from our friends. I send a silent prayer up to Odin to protect the rest of them.
Hopefully, he hears me.
We cross the second bridge over the Ayele, and debris glides down the raging river. Clothes, building materials, and even crates of supplies bob along the current. My teeth clack together. Working to control my breathing, fury rages through me.
“How could this happen?” I glare at the water below us.
The debris begins swirling when it meets the rapids by the rocks. Lachlan shakes his head, his movements jerky fromrage. Where are the guards? Why are demons just running amok?
Fire crackles from the building beside the river, and we finally reach the foot of the stairs.
The smoke grows so dense as we hit step two hundred that it blots out the stars above us. My legs burn, and I choke on a cough as we crest the last stair and I prepare myself for the sight of a massacre.
But there’s nothing.
My feet echo loudly against the marble floor. If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now.
“My dear, sweet niece.” Odessa purrs across the hall. She lounges on the throne, my throne. I freeze at the sound and ball my hands into fists. “How fortunate that you timed your arrival just hours after the eclipse you undoubtedly caused.”
Her voice is intrusive as it prods at my mind.
A shadow moves next to her, and Julius materializes beside the crystal chair, a crown of what looks like black tentacles upon his brow. He cuts a very intimidating figure in his loathsome black leathers. Moonlight illuminates the perpetual sneer carved on his face.
I know the plan was for me to attempt diplomacy first, but Elowen’s death, the destruction of my home, and the demons we just faced have me sliding my feet apart, readying for battle.
Odessa and Julius act casual, relaxed even. Like there are no demons roaming our streets. Either they don’t know about them, or they don’t care.
“You called for me.” My voice rings out, and the authority of my words has her shifting in her seat. She must have expected the old me, the people-pleaser. Not the new Lena that was forged when she allowed her mate to attack me.
The woman standing before her now is the very person who claimed Odin’s ax and was deemed worthy. The same person who just faced a demon horde and made it out the other side.
“Yes, I’ve called to send you home,” she replies nonchalantly while shrugging her delicate shoulders.
I glance at Lachlan, and he crosses his arms over his blood-splattered chest, not at all believing anything that spills from her venomous lips.
“I thought it was impossible for me to go home until power was restored?”
I sheath my sword and begin walking towards them. Lachlan follows, and we stop just a few feet shy of the throne, leaving blackened footprints in our wake.
Heavy footsteps and metal clinking sounds from the doorway. Tane, Mathilda, Evander, and Mina breach the throne room.
They’re all in one piece. Relief has my shoulders lifting.
Lachlan knocks a boot against mine, urging me to focus. I turn back to face my aunt.
We stand directly under a shaft of moonlight that pours through the open ceiling.
Odessa glares down at me, scrutinizing my new armor and the blackened blood that coats most of me. I stare her down. My lip curls as I take in her black, sheer dress. Her naked body is visible beneath the fabric that looks as if it were spun from cobwebs.
There’s a glint in her onyx eyes as she scrutinizes the color of the blood on us, and her face cracks into a satisfied smile. So she is aware of the demons, after all. The smell of festering rotten meat permeates this end of the throne room, and my stomach churns in response. The madness within her is now written across her wild eyes, pursed lips, and arched brow.
She looks insane. A matching crown of black tentacles rests upon her brow as well. Her wings are nowhere to be seen, and a green light shimmers from her skin.
“Well, we,” she gazes at Julius, “have decided that your presence here has become a nuisance. We’re either sending you backto the human realm or …” She trails off, shrugging, and brings her hand up to study her long black nails.
