“He’s a god killer.”
The air whistled from my lungs like a popped balloon, and all of a sudden, Ankou’s willingness to venture into Abaddon with me to save Kierce made a lot more sense. His god clearly had an agenda, and Ankou’s nature meant he was always primed to stir up chaos. And nothing screamed chaos like murdering a god.
“That’s your plan?” I broke out in chills, and I couldn’t decide if they were from excitement or dread. “To use Kierce to kill Dis Pater?” I rubbed my arms. “Why?”
No one would be sorry to see Dis Pater go, well, except for his diehard cozy mystery readers, but to kill a god… I had dreamed of it. I had wished for it. I wondered at how to accomplish it. But this felt too easy. I didn’t trust that Kierce was revealed to be a god killer right when we needed one, or that Ankou was the only person who had known that lethal secret.
“You want him dead, I want him dead, Kierce wants him dead.” Ankou shrugged. “It’s a win/win/win.”
“That’s not a good enough answer.”
“I want what you’re about to hand Kierce free of charge.” He slid his tongue along his teeth. “Before you insinuate that I’m apervert, I don’t mean sex. I would take some if you’re offering, I’m not an idiot, but I mean freedom.”
“You as a free agent sounds not great for my peace of mind.”
“Maybe not, but if you want my help with Kierce, you’ve got to motivate me.”
“You already agreed to go to Abaddon. More than that, youvolunteeredto act as my guide.”
“I believe my exact words were ‘Let me be the first to offer my services as your guide to the underworld’ which doesn’t specify a payment for services rendered but makes clear I expect some compensation. It’s not my fault you accepted my deal without reading the fine print.” He spread his hands. “Now you owe me.”
“For your genius idea to even work, we have to free Kierce from Dis Pater’s control first.”
“Or—hear me out—we could unblock Kierce’s memories, let him flambé his master, and free himself.”
A sliver of hope wedged itself between my doubts. “Would that work?”
“Hrm.” Alight with mischief, he winked at Harrow over my shoulder. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Arm sliding around my waist, he yanked me flush against his body, head dipping close enough for a kiss. I curled my lip, shoving him, but he held on tight. Harrow whirled on us, pounding the ward with his fist, but Ankou swept me away from the salt before I could break the line to let Harrow in.
And then Chartres Street crumbled out from under me in a vertigo swirl of tearing realities.
Knees slamming into black rock with an impact that rattled my bones, I fell forward onto my palms and spilled the contents of my stomach with a groan I felt down to my soul.
“There, there.” Ankou’s voice warped around me, everywhere and nowhere at once. “Let it all out.”
Panting through the heaving, I swallowed convulsively. “What the ever-loving fuck did you do?”
“Don’t be embarrassed, Bijou.” His blurry outline solidified before me. “It happens to the best of us.”
“Where am I?” I tipped onto my side, thankfully not in the vomit, and found gray skies above me and more of that onyx stone spreading for miles in every direction. “Is this…Abaddon? You brought me toAbaddon? Without the others? Without supplies? Without weapons? What were you thinking?”
“That it was worth it for the look on Harrow’s face. Did you see that vein pop in his forehead? Hilarious.”
“Are you that stupid or that desperate for a chaos hit?”
Not that I expected a miracle, but I checked my phone, unsurprised to find it died in the crossing. Not that it could have done more for me than act as a glorified watch. No cell towers in Abaddon. No way to contact my family and let them know I was okay or where to find me.
“Rude.” He folded his arms over his chest. “You and your friends had transportation figured out, right?”
“Yes,” I ground out between my clenched teeth. “Papa Legba agreed to lend us a hand.”
And whatever the cost, Vi had refused to let me pay it, taking on the debt herself instead.
“Then the way I see it, I gave you guys the kick in the pants you needed to get this quest underway.”
“How did you reach that conclusion?”
