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And Enin shut his eyes, accepting his fate.
Mordred drove the blade through Enin’s chest, straight through the heart. The man grunted in pain but did nothing else. Wrenching the blade free, Mordred watched greenish-black blood drip from it onto the ground.
“Rest well, old one.”
Enin dissolved, his body disappearing into the wisps of pollen and the seeds of trees, carrying off in the wind. Mordred did not take pride in his victory.
“Youmonster!”Lancelot hollered from behind him. “Stand and face me!”
Yes, that was an opponent he was far more interested in fighting. Mordred turned to face his former knight—his former “friend.” The companion he had trusted, long ago, only to be betrayed.
“Only one of us will leave this battlefield alive,” Lancelot snarled.
“For once, you speak true.” Mordred cracked his neck from one side to the other loudly. “Let us begin.”
* * *
Gwen was hugging Eod, her face buried in his fur, listening to the animal periodically growl at the sound of the war going on outside. Now and then the building would rumble as something struck it. There was no way to identify what was happening by sound alone. It felt like when her family would have to cower in the basement in the dark as a tornado swept through the countryside.
The noise. The fear. The helplessness.
The inability to do anything butwait and see.
It was a long moment before she realized she should be having a panic attack. That if she were home, hiding from a tornado, she would have been hyperventilating and passed out within minutes. But here she was, clutching Eod, her heart racing, but otherwise…she was okay.
I told Dad we should’ve gotten a dog.
Something about it made her laugh. Quiet and sardonic, sure—but a laugh nonetheless. Of all the random revelations to have, at all the possible terrible times, here she was. Discovering that all she needed to cure her panic attacks was a puppy.
A big, murderous, adorable attack puppy.
But still a puppy.
She kissed Eod on the top of the head and ruffled his ears. “You’re the best, doggo.”
He lifted his head and licked her cheek.
“I love you too, buddy.” She smiled at him. His tail wagged once or twice, thumping against the mattress.
“Am I interrupting something?”
The voice instantly made her mood worse than it already was. Looking up, she glared at the black cat sitting on the chair by the fireplace. Grinn.
“Where thefuckhave you been?”
“I am fine and recovered from my wounds, thank you very much for asking.” Grinn bared his one fang as Eod growled at the demon. Probably half out of the instinct to hate cats, and half out of the instinct to hate the demon.
“I figured, seeing as I’m not also dead.” She rolled her eyes. “What do you want? Shouldn’t you be fighting with Lancelot?”
“Yes, well, that is why I’m here.” Grinn looked away, pausing for a moment. “Mordred is fatally wounded.”
“What?” Gwen was on her feet in an instant. So much for not having a panic attack. “What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said, girl.” He let out a quiet version of that air-raid siren sound that cats could make when angry. “Lancelot struck him down in single combat. The centuries have made the prince cocky. He is dying.”
“No—no, you’re lying to me—” Tears stung her eyes. He had to be lying. He had to be. Didn’t he? “No, no, no, no—”
“Lancelot wants to give you a chance to say goodbye. So, I’m here, out of thekindness of my own heart,telling you that if you want to see him before he dies, you need to escape.” Grinn swished his tail angrily. “Ugh. I cannot believe Lancelot was right. You’ve fallen in love with Mordred, haven’t you?”
