Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Typhon
Seraphina’s teeth nipped at my ear for the hundredth time.
I carried the little tease on my back like the most tempting treat.
We’d hiked for several hours, but I wasn’t even close to tiring.
She weighed next to nothing, considering I squatted three times her weight.
But if the vixen continued to torment me with teeth and tongue, I’d shove her against the nearest tree and fuck her until the entire mountainside knew the name she screamed was my own.
Even with her playfulness, I could feel her unease. The mate bonds might have been severed, but the connections I formed with this goddess and my brothers formed before those threads ever tied us together.
The mountain loomed before us, casting shadows on the forest at its feet.
Stars glittered overhead, some almost too bright to look at directly.
We slowed, Elgo pausing in front of a massive boulder leaning against the mountain.
It didn’t look like it belonged, almost as if someone placed it there.
But the damn thing was likely too heavy for even me to move, at least not without using earth magic.
“This is the way,” Elgo spoke, staring hard at the boulder before turning to us. His eyes were filled with anger.
I could sense his rage even before he drew his bow, pointing the deadly sharp arrow at Seraphina. A snarl built in my throat, and I attempted to keep her behind me, but of course she was too stubborn to listen.
“Elgo?” Seraphina slid off my back and took a step toward the daemon, and my brothers and I did the same, but his arrow remained pointed at my woman.
“There is only one way to get through.” Elgo spoke softly in the heavy silence. “And I won’t die for you.”
“El, my man,” Phen spoke, his tone casual, but his back was ramrod straight. “What do you mean? No one is trying to hurt you. We’re on the same side.”
“No,” Elgo snarled, his stance unwavering. “I thought we were, but then he killed my brother. And then died anyway, they all did. So it was for nothing. I won’t die for nothing. I volunteered to guide you, only to stop you.”
“Who killed your brother?” Seraphina stepped within a few feet of the daemon, his arrow pointed straight at her heart. “Belfegor?”
As soon as she said the name, angry tears fell from Elgo’s dark eyes. “Your father! The one who wishes to enter must spill innocent blood. He murdered my brother to get under the mountain. And for what? Nothing good came of it.”
His words rang out in the silence, bouncing off the mountain and echoing down the valley. No one moved as we absorbed what he’d said. We had to kill an innocent to gain entry? Which of us would bear that burden? I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let Seraphina do it.
“Elgo, I don’t think—” Phen began, but Seraphina held up her hand, silencing him.
“I cannot begin to know why my father did what he did all those years ago.” Seraphina’s tone was quiet but strong. “But I can tell you now, I will not kill you just to get inside the mountain.”
The daemon’s hands wavered, his eyes darting between each of us to see if we would object, but he didn’t know us well enough. Not one of us would go against her words. If she was declaring this mission a fail, then we would find another way.
“What do I have to do, besides spill innocent blood?” Seraphina asked, eyeing the massive boulder.
Phen spoke first. “Lahabiel neglected to mention the innocent blood bit. But she did say it would take a drop of blood from Belfegor’s heir.”
“It doesn’t matter, though, does it?” Dev spoke up. “We aren’t killing Elgo.”
Seraphina walked around Elgo, his bow and arrow now at his side. She placed her hand on the stone. “We don’t need to kill him. I’ve already spilled innocent blood.”
My brows scrunched together as I tried to understand what she was saying. And then I remembered.
Serapina turned back to us, regret coloring her face. “Does it matter when the innocent died, or only that I have spilled innocent blood at some time?”
Elgo shrugged. “I don’t know. Who did you murder?”
My girl’s shoulders dropped at his words, and I was at her side in seconds. “She didn’t murder anyone. It was an accident. A fire meant for a fiend.”
“But a young girl died at my hand, so it doesn’t really matter. She was pure, innocent, and I took her life.” Seraphina produced a dagger and cut into her palm without hesitation. “Here goes nothin’.”
We watched in silence as she placed her bloody palm on the stone. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Until the mountain rumbled. The boulder began to disintegrate, crumbling to pieces before us and revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
“Time for you to return to the others. Let them know we’ve gone under.” Phen slung his arm around Elgo’s shoulders. “That’s twice now you’ve aimed an arrow at my mate. Innocent or not, there won’t be a third.”
Elgo winced at the considerable pressure I assumed Phen was putting on the daemon’s arm. Couldn’t say I disagreed.
“Understood.” Elgo bowed his head and left without another word.
“That little shit pointed an arrow at Seraphina more than once?” Levi scoffed. “I’m about to bring him back and beat his ass. Sounds like his blood is not so innocent.”
“In his defense, I was a snarling jaguar at the time,” Seraphina quipped, walking into the dark tunnel.
We followed her, Phen and I both using our power to brighten the pitch black with fire. I pushed the little ball of fire into the air above our heads and let it hover there, lighting the way.
“I really hope there’s a dragon.” Levi’s voice was teasing. “How cool would it be to show up on the battlefield riding a fucking dragon?”
“Let’s just hope there is a battlefield left for us to join,” Andras murmured.
He voiced what we were all thinking. The hours were dwindling, and whatever waited for us within, it better fucking happen fast.