Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
The shrill cry of a valkyrie shook the cabin and was Nelson’s first sign that help had arrived. He laughed under his hood and listened for more sounds of chaos. Footsteps and bodies clattered in the hallway outside of his door and the distant booms and desperate roars were music to his ears.
I’m alright. Please be careful. I’m alright. Please be careful. I’m alright. Please be careful…
Nelson put all of his energy and attention into that message. They were so close, Nelson couldn’t bear it if he lost Nox now or any of their friends were taken from them.
He heard the door open and Nelson’s immediate priority was to create as much distraction and confusion as possible from the inside.
“Hey, what’s up with that basket of wings I ordered? The service here stinks and I want to take it up with the manager.”
“You’ve caused me enough trouble!” Dùbhghlas yelled before Nelson was hit hard in the face.
The right side stung like hell but Nelson clicked his teeth and shook his head. “Didn’t anyone tell you that the customer is always right?”
“I said enough!”
Nelson was punched again, hard enough to knock the chair onto its side. It took a moment for Nelson to recover from the shock and the pain but he sighed dramatically. “That’s going in my review too.”
“You won’t live to write a review,” Dùbhghlas growled and suddenly, he was on top of Nelson. A knee pressed into his ribs and Nelson’s throat was gripped tight. “How did you tell them where to find you?” Dùbhghlas demanded with another ear-ringing blow to Nelson’s face.
“This little light of mine…” Nelson sang and laughed, letting his joy rise. “I’m gonna let it shine!”
“Get up!”
Nelson didn’t stop singing as the bindings around his wrists and feet were cut and he was pulled up and onto his feet roughly.
He was cuffed with his hands in front of him and something tightened around his neck before Nelson was pushed and ordered to walk.
After several stumbling steps, Nelson was thrown against a wall.
“How did you contact them? Did you have help?” Dùbhghlas panted against Nelson’s ear, keeping his voice down.
“Maybe it was that bird bitch of yours. Maybe she ran into your mother when she got to Hell and maybe your mother put an ad in the paper, telling everyone how disappointed she is and where to find you.”
The beating that followed was swift and severe and had Nelson crouched against the wall until Dùbhghlas’s kicks and punches stopped and he was hauled upright.
“How did you contact them? You are nothing more than a bodyguard and his gateway,” Dùbhghlas said as something hard pressed against Nelson’s temple and he heard a pistol cocking.
There was a flash of fear but Nelson bottled it, reminding himself that time was infinite on the other side. “Then pull the trigger,” he dared Dùbhghlas. “This little light of mine…!” Nelson sang as loudly as he could.
“Move!” Dùbhghlas hissed and pushed Nelson to get him walking again.
“Whoa!” Nelson tripped comedically, crossing his feet and throwing himself on the ground and rolling until a wall stopped him. “Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! “Although, a little light might have prevented this,” he murmured as he flapped his bound hands vaguely.
“Get up! We don’t have time!”
Nelson’s arm was yanked hard and the cord around his neck pulled tight, dragging him up and onto his feet. “Do we have an appointment? Is something happening?” he asked cluelessly.
“You know! I don’t know how you did this but I will make you pay!” Dùbhghlas was seething.
“Actually, I think you did this, you nitwit.”
“Me?” Dùbhghlas slammed Nelson into another wall and grabbed his face through the hood. “I have been masterful and would have succeeded if it weren’t for you.”
“Oopsies!” Nelson whispered and giggled. “Except you’re the one who decided it would be a brilliant move to kidnap the Dagda’s Uaithne and you’re the one who thought a god’s temple would be a smart place to challenge him. You’re fucked, Dùbhghlas, and you did it all to yourself.”
“No! I—” he started but stopped short when Nelson burst into more giggles, growing insensate.
“But you did!” It felt so good to laugh in his face and feel the confusion radiating from Dùbhghlas.
“You didn’t steal the god’s gateway, you stole the other half of the god and returned it to where it was born.
You didn’t think we’d feel that or that this ground wouldn’t tell us you were defiling it? ”
“I took precautions!” Dùbhghlas answered, his voice trembling. “I turned this place against him!”
“No, you didn’t. You failed, just like you always do when you fuck with Merlin Oglethorpe and Lennox MacIlwraith. Your plan might have worked if you hadn’t kidnapped me and went literally anywhere else to hide. You practically begged for this and now it’s time to face the consequences.”
“I will not!”
Nelson was pushed and rushed through another large room before a door was opened and he smelled and felt fresh air and sunlight. “Finally!” he croaked, too overcome to find his voice. He could hear the screams of monsters and bodies being torn and trampled and the ground shook.
I’m alright. Please be careful.
He could only make out the sounds of damned beings suffering and Nelson couldn’t sense anyone he loved in distress or dying. It was impossible to tell with the hood on but Nelson did know that Dùbhghlas wouldn’t be panicking and putting him on display if he wasn’t desperate.
“Move!” Dùbhghlas ordered and Nelson trudged forward when the collar around his neck was pulled, listening and seeking for any hint as to what was in front of him. “On your knees!” he shouted at Nelson over the noise.
Nelson felt the crackle, the instant Nox became aware of them and the god within him ignited. Heat like a massive bonfire spread through the meadow and Nelson heard Dùbhghlas’s startled gasp. Dùbhghlas was shaking and Nelson heard the sound of the pistol being cocked again, not far from his head.
“It’s over, Hugh,” Nox called out and Nelson couldn’t hold back his tearful laugh.
“You’re so fucked,” Nelson said, whistling under his hood. “Be a sport and take this off so I can watch.”
“Release Nelson and surrender and you can survive this,” Nox suggested helpfully, touching Nelson. His Nox was still in charge and doing his best to do the right thing, even if Dùbhghlas didn’t deserve a scrap of mercy.
Dùbhghlas answered with a hoarse cackle. “Surrender? I don’t think so. Not when I have a few more lessons to teach you.”
There was a blistering hot pulse and several anguished protests from the field that Nelson recognized. “That would be a huge mistake,” Nox warned and his voice rose and carried over the battle.
“Possibly,” Dùbhghlas agreed. “I’m dying to find out.”
Nelson immediately understood what was coming next. His eyes squeezed shut and his heart stopped when he heard a massive Bang!