“Think about what you are doing right now,” Otto snarled, his lips stained red.
Distracted by the spectacle, Ronin barely had time to twist himself away as Kosera lunged for him. Ronin smashed the flat of the axe onto the back of Kosera’s leg, the force of the blow nearly shattering the Beastrunner’s calf. Kosera fell to the floor, reaching for his awkwardly twisted leg and glaring up at Ronin, beads of sweat gathering on his bald head as he gritted his teeth against the pain.
Ronin bracketed the axe and sword around Kosera’s neck. “Standdownor I’ll cut your fucking head off.”
“He’s right, Julius,” Otto said. “Just wait. This will all be over soon.” Layla’s frenzied eyes bounced between Otto’s face and the flute clenched in his hand. “Nostrata has been ready to meet the Creator for centuries. Isn’t that right, Grandmother?”
Nostrata managed a subtle nod above the glinting steel at her throat, croaking. “We’re ready.”
Layla didn’t have a chance to move before Otto flashed to the wall in a supernatural blur, then traced his finger along the carved triangle and raised the flute to his lips.
Time slowed as the high-pitched, wavery note pierced the silence and the stone slabs rumbled apart.
But this time, there was no fire behind them. Only an endless black abyss.
Mesmerized, Ronin stared into the dark pit as something began to take form. A shadowy mass prowling forward.
An enormous, iridescent eye, slashed through by a slitted pupil, peered out through the slabs and a thunderous rumble shook the chamber. As if something monstrously powerful were slamming its body against the stone.
Guests screamed, bolting off the benches and scrambling for the exit while a few remained frozen in place by fear and curiosity.
Layla trembled, dropping her knife and releasing Nostrata.
Otto approached the eye, awestruck, and whispered a reverent breath. “Nyctima.”
Beneath Ronin, Kosera was similarly captivated, staring at the giant eye as he clutched his broken leg. Which was healing quickly.
Ronin used Kosera’s distraction to rush for Mireille, dropping the weapons at his side with a clang as he pulled her head into his lap.
“Mireille,” Ronin croaked, smacking her cheeks and shaking her lightly. “Mireille, wake up!”
She’s not going to answer you if she’s paralyzed by the venom, fool,his wolf snarled.Get her out of here!
Ronin ignored him, his frantic fingers coasting over her throat, searching for a pulse. Her body was warm, her breathing normal. She didn’t seem paralyzed, only unconscious.
A deafening crack tore through the chamber as chunks of stone plummeted from the ceiling in plumes of dust.
Ronin scooped Mireille into his arms, glancing over his shoulder.
What he saw hollowed out his stomach.
The triangular head of a giant serpent forced through the crumbling opening. Two rainbow eyes shimmered against its black scales as its forked tongue darted out to sniff Otto, who fell to his knees in supplication and released the flute.
It clattered across the floor, and Layla ran for it, darting a glance back at Nostrata who’d taken up a similar position of awe next to her grandson.
Layla bent down to grab the flute and Ronin’s abandoned axe and sword. She high-tailed it toward him, and they fled up the aisle, pausing briefly at the exit as Otto’s voice echoed through the chamber.
“Nyctima, please accept the gifts we have gathered here. Living souls, with the blood of both species running through their veins, trapped within these grounds for you to hunt down and devour. In exchange, we would ask that your mistress, Adelphinae, blesses us with fire magic. And that she may allow us to call upon you again when it is time to make war upon our enemies.”
The snake rose up, towering over Otto and Nostrata, who both bowed their heads.
Layla pulled at Ronin’s arm, but he was frozen in place, mesmerized by Nyctima regarding Otto with divine sentience. As if considering the male’s request.
Movement by the altar caught Ronin’s eye. Kosera, his leg fully healed, pushed upright, his gaze swiveling between thesnake and the trio at the crypt’s exit. Leaving his boss to fend for himself, he stalked up the aisle.
And behind him, Nyctima cocked her head, unhinged her jaw, and spewed a jet of fire that consumed both Otto and Nostrata in a smoky, blazing swirl.
Ronin and Laylabolted down the stone hallway, Kosera’s pounding footfalls echoing behind them.
