Page 116 of Dead End

I checked his pulse. Faint but still there.

“Is he alive?” West’s voice was mangled by his muzzle, but I understood him.

“For now. Can someone carry him to safety?” I turned to see Otto still riding Xander’s back. “Well done, Otto. Where’s Phaedra?”

“Casting spells at the rear, although she’s quite spent from the effort. I encouraged her to stay at the farm with Ashley, but she refused.”

“Can someone help Gun? He’ll get trampled if he’s left here.”

“Xander and I will do it,” Otto said.

“If I lift him, can you hold him and keep him stable?” I asked.

“I’m stronger than I look,” Otto said.

I gave the vampire a nod of approval. “Yeah, you are.” I braced myself as I scooped the languid mage into my arms and transferred him to Otto and Xander.

The Night Mallt weaved through the trees like a specter, catching Inanna off guard. Between the Wild Hunt and the phantom army, The Corporation lost their footing. As each deity succumbed to their new foes, Kami scrambled from the safety of the trees and fastened a collar around their necks, suppressing their powers. One by one, they fell.

Dis. Mars. Inanna. Fafnir. Esege Malan. Fuchi. Feng Po. Skanda.

Unless we captured Bossu, though, the remaining gods would continue to fight. The god was nowhere to be seen. Had he fled after my revelation, or did he steal away to regroup? I hurried deeper into the forest in search of three horns.

“Looking for someone?”

Before I could turn to defend myself, I felt the sharp point of his horns pierce the flesh of my lower back. A scream erupted from the deepest part of me as I fell facedown on the forest floor.

Bossu seized the advantage. He withdrew his horns, which hurt just as much as when they went in. I managed to roll onto my back and slip another throwing knife from its sheath. As Bossu made another attempt to gore me, I jammed the blade into his neck, hoping to hit the same jugular notch that felled Fafnir. The knife hits its target, but the damage was minimal.

The pain in my back was almost unbearable. Bossu pressed his weight against me. I couldn’t move fast enough to get away.

The god sneered. “What was that you were saying about my power?”

Searing pain radiated up and down my spine. Between the gushing wound and the heavy weight crushing me, I was out of options.

We’d been so close.

He lowered his head to my ear. “Foolish child, believing you could best me. And yet you speak of our hubris. Hypocrisy at its finest.”

His words sank into my skin. Why did I think we could take on the most powerful gods in all the realms? I’d accused The Corporation of arrogance when I was just as guilty. I was so certain we could fight them off that I’d enlisted the aid of everyone I knew and endangered their lives in the process. I’d seen what happened to Dilmun when the Sumerian gods had resisted. Even if we prevented The Corporation from getting their greedy hands on our property, we still risked Fairhaven’s destruction. They weren’t a forgiving organization.

I was about to lose Kane and everyone I cared about. Lose Fairhaven.

My back was sticky with blood and my bones began to crack under pressure. Darkness crept into my peripheral vision. I could feel myself losing consciousness.

Tremors rocked the ground beneath me. I braced myself for the arrival of another god. I inched my head toward the reverberating thud of heavy footsteps. My blurred vision snapped into focus, and for a split second, I thought I was dreaming.

“Cerberus?”

There was no mistaking the hellhound—or his ferocious growl in stereo.

Despite the looming threat, Bossu’s hold on me didn’tslacken. The god simply snarled at Cerberus as though the hellhound had interrupted his evening meal.

Bossu angled his head, preparing a final strike with his horns. I struggled in vain to free myself.

Cerberus lunged. All three of his heads acted as a battering ram to throw Bossu off his perch. Using the bark of a tree for leverage, I clambered to my feet as the hellhound pounced on Bossu. The god thrashed in an attempt to wield his horns as a weapon, but Cerberus’s mighty jaws latched onto all three horns and snapped them in half.

“Who’s a good boy,” I cooed.

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