Page 3 of Death God

I strode to the full window, sunlight shimmering outside. I yanked the thick curtain aside, letting the bright sunshine land directly on my face.

My warriors gasped as the sunlight twirled around me. I turned, looking at the awe in their eyes. Yet they collectively stepped back, putting distance between them and the sunlight that was lethal to our kind.

I shut my eyes for a second, relishing the warm caress of the sunbeam. Its heat no longer burned my skin. The sun could no longer harm me, and that was one of the gifts my Bride bestowed upon me through our mating bond, which had snapped into place after I awoke.

I strode across the room and snatched a golden chalice from the tall table. My claws slid out and slashed across my palm, and I let my blood drip into the cup until it was nearly full.

I handed the cup to my loyal steward first.

“Everyone drinks a mouthful,” I said. “And the sun won’t burn you.”

As long as I could stay under the sun, so could they after taking a mouthful of my blood from the cup. However, none of them had my strength, so they still couldn’t stay in the direct, intense sunlight for long hours without perishing.

My warriors swallowed, tears in their eyes. They knew what this meant and what a gift their queen had given them.

The mages smiled. They were witnessing the transformation of the vampire warriors.

The shifter girls’ eyes were wide. When they took my Bride in, they’d thought that she was merely a lost wolf.

Stephen took a swig, then passed the golden cup to Emmalyn and strolled to the window. He closed his eyes as sunlight bathed him. He let out a breath and laughed.

“Queen Pip Ophelia has gifted you an army of day walkers, King Nyström,” said High Mage Blackstone. “This should be kept a secret. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll bring war to the enemy’s door and get your queen back.”

Spartoi’s vile words echoed in my head. “You don’t even know what you harbor in your keep, Vampire God. She’ll wreck your world again and rain down fire and death on Earth. I’m not the bad guy. I’ve been trying to save what’s left of Earth, but she’ll leave nothing standing when her monster comes out to play. We aren’t the only hunters. The entire Earth has risen up against the very idea of her...”

That motherfucker had been wrong. He had no idea what he’d brought to his camp, and my Bride, my beloved little monster, would demolish him and his world, and I’d be there to help her rain down the black fire of death.

CHAPTER 2

Marlowe’s compound in Walla Walla shook behind the dust stirred up by the Alpha King’s fleet of armored vans and army jeeps.

The Vampire King’s desperate, outraged roar rocked the surrounding mountains as the enemy’s black van took me away from him. My heart broke all over again. I’d chosen this path, and he couldn’t follow me, at least not yet.

He wouldn’t be able to break down the force field that I’d set around him until he cooled his jets. He would understand why I had to do this—we had to make impossible choices to win this war against the horseman.

By now, my vampire might have finished reading my letter that was full of typos, which was meant to distract him. He liked order, but I was chaos. Because of that, we complemented each other. My vampire was my forever anchor, no matter how the world spun out of control or changed for the worse. I might not be sure about many things anymore, but I had faith that Marlowe would move Heaven and Hell to come for me.

I only prayed that he got his timing right. I’d emphasized that in the letter.

Anything could go wrong while I was away from my mate, but I was determined to come out a winner. I wasn’t the kind of chick to offer the other cheek.

My enemy was powerful, too powerful, but I ain’t no sheep among the wolves. I was a predator, even cornered, even alone. No, I wasn’t alone. Not anymore. I had a mate, allies, and a pack.

Danielle and Paris had wanted to come with me and guard my back, but I wouldn’t give the enemy a chance to use them as leverage against me. I drew strength from those I loved, but they were also my vulnerability.

The light mages wanted me to focus on finding the horseman’s Achilles’ heel. We’d planned to strike him before he took a corporeal form and became more powerful, but he’d moved three steps ahead of us and merged with the wolf alpha.

That fucking changed everything.

So far, I had nothing on the fucker. I would keep my enemy close—I was going to play his trophy future queen. But the Alpha King/horseman would die before I ever let them touch me. There was only one man for me, from the beginning to the end.

The Alpha King would press the issue soon for sure. That was the whole point for the merged being—to obtain me and take my power by whatever means. The mere thought of them touching me made my stomach reel with nausea.

“You came back to me, Pip,” the Alpha King said with a smug white smile, and I wanted to punch his teeth in.

He reached for me, intending to link his fingers with mine. I was packed into the first row of the black van’s backseats, with him sitting by me. Going-gray had come along, not surprisingly. He perched stiffly on the passenger seat. It almost felt like old times, when they had dragged me to the Shifters Academy.

Two shifter guards sat behind us, and a dark mage took the wheel. It only reminded me deep in my bones that the Alpha King wasn’t Jared anymore but the horseman of war, my worst enemy.

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