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The gargoyles are keeping the demons in line but the less they fed, the less the demons would be willing to comply. This entire institute is a powder keg on the edge of a full explosion. Every human I’ve encountered is a zombie, barely functioning from the nightly feeding. The gargoyles are waiting for the demons to fuck up and the demons are on the verge of not giving a single fuck. If they ever did.
Monty was traveling between Helheim and here, trying to regain control of his army while keeping them strong and fed. He’d been in and out so much that even Harlow commented about it.
Hel had told me to stick by Harlow, to not deviate from the path we were on. But I was defying my orders from Hel openly and getting the patients transferred out by the busload. I’d gotten placements for about half under Vane’s guise since the asshole was hiding like the coward he was. Even after several days of searching I had yet to find him.
I knew he’d never leave while there was so much to be gained. Both Ivar and I knew the only thing he couldn’t keep out were the gargoyles. They couldn’t be warded the same as a demon, as far as I knew. Despite that, I wasn’t desperate enough to ask for their help yet. Monty I trusted... at least somewhat. The gargoyles were strangers.
Especially with Kol laying claim to Harlow like she was a fucking possession. I didn’t care who she fucked, but I would be damned if he forced his stony ass on her. Not after all she’d dealt with.
“Oh, hello there,” someone sang out, and I turned to see a red-haired man sitting on a bench, taking in my naked chest with more than a little interest. It might have been amusing if he did not radiate power so intensely the hair on my arms stood on end.
“Loki,” Ivar greeted formally. So the god was seeking us out now?
I pulled on my shirt before saying anything further. Ivar didn’t even give the god a reaction. Both of which seemed to disappoint Loki, his mouth turning down slightly.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. The fact I kept the demand out of my voice wasn’t easy, but I knew better than to upset a full god.
“Keeping tabs on my daughter.” He laughed as he sat on a bench and crossed his legs, still studying me like I was a meal. “I suggest you get to the second floor.” He looked down at his wrist before grinning up at me. “Tick, tock, tick, tock.” He shifted his finger back and forth each time he said it, and I needed no further information before I pulled on my shoes and took off at a run.
The stairwell was filled with demons, and I let my fire explode all over my body as I ran past. A warning from a god wasn’t something you ignored.
As I approached the second-floor landing, I could hear a fight. The floor quaked under my feet, the building creaking against the abuse. My nostrils filled with the coppery tang of blood and embers. Demons were dying, but why now? Hel had specifically ordered the gargoyles to stand down. What changed?
Blood and ashes lined the floor and bloody gargoyles were looking more beastly than before. Their fangs were protruding from their mouths so they couldn’t close them, each finger was lined with a claw the size of my hand, filed to a fine point and dripping with more dark red liquid.
It was a slaughter.
The high security gates were already ripped open, and I strode through, glad I’d slipped on my shoes as I stepped in the remains of Hel’s demons.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Ivar had arrived and was furious. He grew taller with his annoyance and blue fire flared to life, reflecting on the wet floors and making the hallway we were in seem even smaller. “You had orders.”
“And you better than anyone know that we follow our orders with precision,” Kol answered as he approached. They rivaled each other in size but Kol had muscle bulk on his side. Though, Ivar had his magic. Two monsters from two sides of Helheim, the old rivalry strong. They were each other’s weakness created to keep the realm and Hel’s powers balanced.
“Then, what was the reason?” Ivar demanded, no less angry than I was at the sight of him. Kol had been walking around here with authority and absolutely zero fucks to give. Though I could appreciate the sentiment, I would not take orders from him.
Patients screamed behind their doors, haunting and angry, a mix of egging on the fight or being utterly terrified by it.
The ground rumbled again under our feet and in that instant, I saw what the reality of this moment meant. We’d left the portal wide open and both commanders were inside with me right now.
“A distraction,” I called out. “You fell into the trap.”
“Vane,” Ivar snarled, disappearing before he’d even spit out the name like a curse.
“Courtyard,” Kol said as the gargoyles ran for the stairwell.
I was suddenly left alone with the melancholy cries still echoing in the hall and among the bloodshed. Vane had expertly used much of his army as fodder. Yet another example he has no fucking conscience.
I may not have been able to pop out of existence or fly through the halls, but I ran after them anyway, needing to see what fresh hell Vane had uncovered.
My lungs burned as I pushed my half-human body to its limits to reach the courtyard in time.
For once, Ivar and Kol were working together, slaughtering a fresh wave of demons. It was ironic how quickly they went from near enemies to allies. But they had a job to do and despite being pit against each other by Hel for years, they had the same goal. To stop the rogue demons and preserve Dark Haven.
“Hel, give me something to work with here?” I demanded out loud, but it wasn’t her who answered. Loki appeared in front of me again, a finger tapping his chin like this wasn’t a pressing issue. He was a strange god but if he gave me a weapon he could be as crazy as he liked.
“You look more like a katana kind of guy,” he said with laughter in his voice. I watched as he held his hand out, palm up, a katana forming in it. The black weapon was laced with glowing blue fissures, and I didn’t hesitate to take it from his hand. I was vastly outpowered and out magicked in this battle.
“Thank you.”
