“You couldn’t decide who should stay and who should go, so I made an executive decision.”
That was what we got for arguing in the kitchen with the window open. The shameless eavesdropper had helped himself to our turmoil. “And, hypothetically, if we hadn’t had transportation figured out?”
A vicious roar jolted me upright in time to watch Anunit, who had ditched the raccoon in favor of her natural form, tackle Ankou, bouncing his skull off the stone with a dull thud that gave me a sympathetic headache. As evidenced by her massive paws planted on his chest, crushing him beneath her, the goddess held more weight in this land of the dead than in the world of the living.
“Thank God,” I exhaled as she sank her teeth into the dense meat of his shoulder, ripped a chunk free, and gulped it down while he screamed obscenities at her. “Boy am I glad to see you.”
Though this was one time I wouldn’t have been too upset if she had shown up wearing Harrow. I could use all the backup Icould get. Being alone with Ankou struck me as hazardous to my health.
“Get this thing off me.” Ankou shoved a hand in his pocket, fumbling out a bone fragment that stretched and warped, growing as blunt as a club. He swung it at her windpipe, the length twisting to form a collar, contracting on contact until Anunit’s breaths rasped through her fangs. “Bijou, a little help here?”
“Release her first.”
After a brief hesitation, he rotated his wrist, unlatching the construct and allowing her to fill her lungs. Odd since she was already dead and didn’t need oxygen. Must be another side effect of Abaddon. Too bad more real might translate to more vulnerable here.
I would have asked my guide for confirmation, but he was a liar.
And a kidnapper.
“Anunit, it’s your turn.” I staggered over and stroked a calming hand down her spine, marveling at the rich softness of her fur and the powerful flex of her taut muscles. “He would only give you indigestion.”
With a feline yowl, she released him, spat his blood in his face, then lowered her nose an inch from his.
“You thought you could take her from me?” Anunit bared her crimson teeth. “She ismine, godmade.”
Had any doubts lingered that the rules as they applied to Anunit were different here, she proved it when she spoke to him in words he understood, if his scowl was any indication. He had seen her, briefly, during the fight that cost me Kierce. But she had been a shadow of her former self. This version was much more substantial. And, judging by her feathered tail lashing as I nudged her off him, much more pissed off too.
“You’re one of many with a claim on her.” Ankou sat up with a wince as his shoulder mended before our eyes, reminding me why he had passed as a shifter with such ease. “As the humans say—take a number and get in line.”
That was news to me. Not the Anunit part. But the rest. “How many claims are we talking about here?”
“Youdohave a divine parent.” He raised his eyebrows. “And I’m sure if you asked Kierce, he would say he had a vested interest in you. Or he would have, before he tried to kill you. Now he’ll be all dramatic about it. He’ll whine about being undeserving of your love and blah, blah, blah.”
Love.
Nope. I couldn’t go there. Not yet.
To look ahead to a future with him in it was to invite pain until we got past this.
“As the humans say—” I borrowed the line from him, “—my divine parent can suck it.”
A flicker of unease threatened to shutter his expression, but he forced his eyes clear.
“Maybe keep your voice down?” He stood with a grunt. “You’re in Abaddon now.”
“I’m aware.” I noted the line cutting deeper across his forehead. “What’s your point?”
“There are eyes and ears everywhere.” He dusted himself off, took another look around, then started walking. “Follow me, and we’ll go somewhere private to finalize our agreement.”
“I hate to break it to you, but Stockholm syndrome requires longer than five minutes to kick in. Youkidnappedme. I’m not going anywhere with you.” I barked out a laugh. “Anunit, can you get us out of here?”
Solo teleporting wasn’t a skill I had control over, but Anunit had proven a more than capable guide when she used the psychic trail I had forged astral projecting myself to Dis Pater’shouse to materialize us there in the flesh. As well as she knew Vi’s townhouse, she wouldn’t require any guidance from me to get us there.
The next time I stepped foot in Abaddon, it would be with people I trusted at my back.
“Yes,” she hissed, her single wing twitching along her spine.
“Ankou, it’s been real.” I saluted him. “I’m out of here.”
