Chapter Forty-One
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Theo
G illy has truly lost her gods-damned mind.
After the initial stillness, shadows poured from the house, bringing the scent of death in their wake.
“Shadow monsters,” a soldier grumbles behind me. “They will devour this world.”
Even the Infernal Army’s no match for true shadow monsters. It took my great-grandfather and every demon of every single hell dimension brought together to defeat them. That’s why they’ve been locked in the deepest pit of the After Worlds. We’ve walked into a suicide mission.
I could call this off, retreat to Shadowvale, and leave this realm to ruin.
But that would break promises to my mate, leaving her friends and family to face annihilation by the shadow monsters, no matter how Gilly hadn’t brought any of them here as bait. It doesn’t matter. Ava and her kraken remain in this realm, Rosemarie and her gargoyles wouldn’t survive the influx of souls, and Val’s horrible family would be wiped out. While I don’t care what happens to her family, she does.
“None get past us,” I order the Infernal Army. “I’ll close those portals.”
I go to teleport, but a shadow knocks into me in the nanosecond before I can make the jump.
What the hell? That hasn’t happened before.
Gathering the magic again, I teleport to the house, only to be knocked back into the yard on my ass, far behind where I’d been. Again and again, I try. Each time, the house repels me.
Fuck . Gilly must’ve warded the house against teleportation.
I’ll have to do this the non-magical way.
Fighting through the spelled wards to the house one slow step at a time, I claw through mist and darkness. Fog sweeps around the house, echoing the horrible vision from the Cthulhu, and I thank the gods Val isn’t here.
The shadows would consume her in seconds, stealing my mate from me forever because there’s nothing left behind to bring back once a shadow monster feeds.
A shade sweeps by me, tearing a gash in my wing. Yet the serious level up I’ve gotten from mating magic gives me the strength to keep going.
The portals must be closed.
I fire Brimstone flames into the darkness, hoping to hit the enemy or at least force them into the light.
The war cries from the Infernal Army grow louder. Roars join the clang of metal and flap of wings.
Another shadow monster lands in front of me, towering above me with claws longer than my tail. It slices through my armor, piercing my thigh, and I swipe at it, but the damn thing dissolves before I can make contact.
I push past the pain. Nothing can stop me from blocking their way into this world.
A flicker of magic comes from the wide steps to the house, and I blink. Finally, Gilly is coming to join her fucked-up party. I swallow the lump of dread. Feeling something for the sister I loved for so long has no place here, but gods, it’s so hard to forget years of looking out for her. What if I can convince her to call off her monsters? To give up this insanity?
She shimmers into existence in her demon form. A glance from her sinister smile to the woman kneeling at her feet has me freezing.
Val .
No. I left my mate where she would be safe, where she couldn’t be touched by the terrible things my world has brought her.
With a blade pressed to Val’s throat, Gilly threads her fingers into my mate’s hair, yanking her face up and into the pale moonlight. Tears streak Val’s cheeks, and the agony of whatever was strong enough to break my mate and make her cry—it twists me into knots.
Nic steps beside me. “Fuck, where is Montejanus?”
My heart squeezes into a grenade, primed to explode. Nic’s right. The soul guardian wouldn’t leave my mate. Not unless something horrible has happened.
“Misplace your human, brother?” Gilly calls. The flash of a silver blade at Val’s throat is the only thing stopping me from taking my crazy sister to the ground.
I don’t dare move. “Let her go, Gilly.”
“When she has my magic thrumming through her veins? I don’t think so.”
Val scowls, her expression morphing into one of fury as much as grief. “You psycho b?—”
“Silence, human.” Gilly pushes the blade deeper, drawing blood, and it takes every bit of control I’ve mastered for centuries to stay still. “I only brought you here instead of killing you quickly so my brother can watch me carve those stolen powers out of you.”
Another shadow monster slashes invisible claws across my chest, and I cringe against the burn. “Call off your pets.”
“Not a chance,” Gilly says. “They’ll win me any throne I want, starting with yours.” She turns her attention to the blade at my mate’s neck. I won’t make it to them in time. Not even if I teleport.
“How’d you get past the wards?” Nic asks, the distraction smart. Smarter than anything I’ve done so far.
“Didn’t you know our mother had a skeleton key to all our homes?” Gilly taunts. “Sort of a magical open invitation. How do you think she slipped past the wards and into your suite to warn Val off the first time?” She looks to me. “But Mother wouldn’t listen. I had to stab her to get the key. Worth it.”
“Mother,” Nic whispers, worry bleeding through her tone.
“Go,” I tell her.
She teleports out.
Gilly drags the blade over Val’s skin. “Now, where should I start cutting up your mate? Her heart or her face?”
I can’t fight her with Val’s life on the line.
The howls and screeches behind me fade. The pain where the shadow monsters have ripped into my skin doesn’t matter anymore.
There’s nothing left to do but submit.
As much as the idea galls me and goes against every lesson of duty and commitment to the kingdom drilled into me since childhood, the mating instinct triumphs above all else.
I drop my wings, my claws, any indication of a threat. “You can have the crown. You can take whatever you want. Just leave Val out of this.”
“Aww,” she says, “you’re in love with the human.”
I say nothing because I’m not sure what answer would be deadlier for Val.
Gilly’s wings droop, the slightest sign she might be reconsidering. I tense, waiting for any opening. “Then close your eyes, brother,” she says, “so you don’t have to watch me carve her to pieces.”