Page 193 of Veil of Blood and Bone

Good. We need him pissed.

Maybe this way he’ll be useful.

“Get the girl, will you, bird brain? Leave the fun stuff to us.”

Nicholas and I rush toward the giant. In the smartest move of his ridiculously long life, Forest heads for Audra on the other side of the brick of car to get her to safety.

Helene won’t be swayed unless we’re prying her free from Isvargr’s cold, dead carcass.

The mental imagery’s arousing.

She’s got her fire back.

“Hell yeah,” I whisper.

Shadows pull tighter around the giant’s neck and tug, frost crackling at their edges. The darkness speaks to me, writing its own novel. No matter how much power the jötun wields, his ice against my darkness, there’s peace.

Even if reality isn’t fucking great.

The only way to kill these things is to separate the head from the rest of the body, like cutting off an engine. But good luck hacking through solid ice. Those flames aren’t powerful enough to do the trick.

If I weren’t such a fucking optimist, I’d say we were too late.

I know better than to get between a jötun assassin and his mark. Odin truly is pulling out all the stops for this one.

Helene’s flamethrower is a nice touch, though.

Frost and rot stitch through my shadows, spreading like sickness in the roots of the forest. If Isvargr stays much longer, even these old trees will fall.

“Will you pay attention this time?” I jerk my nose to Nicholas’s arms. “Those won’t heal unless we kill him.”

A glance at his face shows him stoic, deadpan, despite the awful burns searing down to bone. He’s burned up to his elbows. Even his precious coat.

His presence used to be a constant pain in my ass. Now I might worry about the beast.

He laughs once. “We’ll see.”

“Those going to be a problem?” I ask about his blisters.

“Is that?” He gestures to my shadows, freezing solid around Isvargr’s thick throat.

“I guess we’re going to see.” I crack my head side to side, disguising the struggle when magic pulls my shadows thin. “If I take him down first, I’m going to bury my face in Helene’s lovely pussy before you.”

Nicholas isn’t laughing anymore.

I leap over a fallen tree trunk, hurling myself toward the giant. His frost cracks through the makeshift noose holstering him in place and Isvargr shakes himself free.

“I’m coming, pretty monster,” I say with a laugh.

The Valkyrie is back.

And because my baby loves playing with fire, I force my shadows into a familiar weapon. The blade takes shape, and magic heats the metal until it glows.

It’s not my usual, but I do love a matching set.

When I send my shadows out again, they glow with gold. I circle to the right, and a smile splits my face.

Nicholas angles to the left, away from Helene.