Page 64 of Mortal Heart

“Not a chance,” Arkady said from behind her. Her voice was rough and raspy, but the sound was as sweet to Ronan’s ears as celestial bells.

With a grunt of effort, she drove her knife into the side of Atonoskelis’s belly with both hands and sliced upward. The blade carved through the demon’s thick leathery skin and opened a gaping wound from her lower abdomen to her ribs. The demon screamed in surprise and agony, her wrists still trapped in Ronan’s iron grip. Foul dark blood, guts, and organs spilled out. Her shrieks turned to gurgles.

“Surprise, bitch,” Arkady said into the demon’s ear. “Never turn your back on a Valkyrie—not even a dead one.”

Ronan took Arkady’s tactical knife from Atonoskelis’s claws and used it to cut through her chest. He tossed the knife away, punched his hand through her ribs, and pulled out her heart.

Atonoskelis stared at her heart and then at him, her expression somewhere between fury and utter disbelief. Her mouth moved, but nothing came out but blood.

Centuries had passed since he’d last held a demon’s heart in his hand. The organ smelled like dead, rotting things and felt like a concentrated form of all the evil in the world. He crushed the heart in his fist and dropped it.

With its source of life extinguished, Atonoskelis’s corpse shriveled. They let go of her body and it crumpled to the floor next to the remains of her heart.

Breathing hard, her shirt soaked with blood—Atonoskelis’s and her own—Arkady wiped her spelled knife on her pant leg, returned it to the sheath on her belt, and stared at Ronan.

“I owe you the ass-kicking of a lifetime,” she said.

He couldn’t argue with that. “I deserve it.”

“Well, way to suck the joy out of it.” She put her hands on her hips. “I ought to leave you in there to rot, you hypocrite. You jumped on me for trying to spare your feelings by not telling you I’d seen your scars, andthis whole fucking time—”

“I have no defense.” He pressed himself against the bars to get as close to her as he could. “I don’t expect forgiveness. If I thought it would help, I would grovel.”

“You’re right—it won’t help.” Her expression remained cold and angry. “But you could try it anyway.”

He took a gamble and reached through the bars for her hand. She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t curl her bloody fingers around his. Her skin felt cooler than normal—because, albeit for only a few minutes, she’d been dead.

“I am sorry,” he said. “I saw the vision in the parking lot at the Pelican. I’ve tried not to experience visions for a very long time because I’m unable to prevent them from coming true. I had a vision of Alice’s death not long after we met, but she survived. So I hoped it would happen with you.” More quietly, he added, “And perhaps I feared that if I described what I’d seen to you, I would speak it into existence.”

“So you went the route of keeping it to yourself and hoping it didn’t happen. And after I told you not to be a dick.” She raised her eyebrows. “Apparently, living for eons doesn’t make you exempt from making shitty decisions.”

“Apparently not.”

“Well, at least we agree on that.” She pulled her hand from his and crouched in the messy remains of the demon guards. “Grrrrr-oss,” she grumbled, poking around in the slurry of flesh and blood. “So…knife in the heart, dead, just like Alice. You remembered what I told you at Nyx about my spelled knife. Not bad for a half-dead asshole.” She picked up a large key and rose. “I never thought I’d end up using it like that, but I guess nobody really knows when they might need to die and be resurrected. Did you see that in your vision?”

He shook his head. “I only saw you stabbed in the heart.”

“So you figured out a way to let the vision come true…but not in the way it seemed.” She unlocked the cage door, but when he reached to push it open, she held it closed. “I’m still pissed at you. Any more visions you need to tell me about?”

“No.”

“That had better be the truth.” She studied him, eyes narrowed. “If you get any more visions of me, will you tell me?”

That question gave him hope that he hadn’t damaged their relationship beyond repair. “Yes. No more secrets between us.”

“Whoa. Slow your roll.” She opened the cage door. “I’m not asking you to give up all your secrets, and I’m not offering you all of mine. Just don’t keep anything back that involves me or people I care about. Sound fair?”

“Sounds more than fair.” He stepped out of the cage. “May I kiss you?”

“Ew, seriously?” She looked down at herself. “I’m covered with blood.Again.”

He smiled slightly. “Do I look like I care?”

Only when she returned his smile did the heaviness in his heart lift. “You remember when I said blood isn’t sexy?” she asked wryly.

“I do. Is this one of the exceptions?”

“Are you joking?” She wrinkled her nose. “Demon blood smells like dumpster juice. It is the least sexy thing on the planet.”

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