Page 56 of Death God

“Is he going to do it?” I said, death in my eyes. “I left only a couple of days ago. I don’t think his bed is that cold already.”

Freckles shuddered and raised both hands in the air. “Please don’t kill the messenger.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” I said, cold rage coursing in my bloodstream. “I’m going to kill him if he chooses another, no matter what the reason is, and before that, I’ll kill her while he watches.”

“Oh my gods, you’re so vicious and scary, Pip.” Freckles lowered his arms. “I’m so glad that I’ve never gotten involved with you romantically. Well, I don’t know what happened afterwards. I left before they could reach any sort of agreement.”

I glared at him. “Very helpful, Freckles.”

“I try,” he said. “We hit the jackpot when Prince Shade approached us, then his commander cousin contacted him and invited him into this hidden castle before King Nyström lost his everfuckingloving mind. The Vampire King hasn’t exactly been a peach to be around since you left. You two are a vicious pair made for each other. Let’s get back on track. High Mage Blackstone convinced Prince Shade to let me tag along so I could be of use to you as a gifted mage.”

I frowned at him. “You weren’t this chatty before.”

“I was in the high mage and my sister’s shadows.”

“So you volunteered for this dangerous mission to step out of their shadows and shine?”

“Nope, I didn’t volunteer,” he said. “High Mage Blackstone volunteered me since I could blend in with Prince Shade’s guards.”

And they’d given him a military haircut.

“So Canary is on board?” I asked. “Shifters have never worked with vampires before.”

“This is a different situation, Pip. You’re the glue holding the two parts together. Also, he knows that the Alpha King isn’t looking out for the shifters’ interests. But don’t count on Prince Shade too much. He’s groomed in shifters’ politics, so he’s still one foot in and one foot out. He has to be convinced that the Alpha King is no longer his brother and the horseman of war has taken over. It’s not easy to open his eyes when we don’t have much time and he clings to his sentiment.”

Shade didn’t approve of a lot of things that Jared had done, but he loved his brother.

“Well, he’ll have to see the hard truth soon. If it takes a kick to his head, I’ll do the honors,” I said, my jaw clenched.

“Don’t kick him too hard,” Freckles said. “I feel sorry for the man. He’s one of the nicest guys. He’s in a tough spot he doesn’t want to be in, but for your sake, he came. Also, don’t expect me to cast spells to make your life easier while I’m here. We must avoid being detected before everything blows up. The most urgent goal is to get you and your family out, and we’ll have to figure out how since War has sealed the castle. King Nyström and his army won’t be able to see this place even when they followed our trail. We tracked you when you left, and your trail went cold in the field of tulips. But I hope High Mage Blackstone and my sister will discover the portal when they lead King Nyström and his army here.”

“Fuck,” I said. “I thought you being here solved everything. But then the fucker Spartoi had to seal the castle.” I gave the mage a hard, determined look. “You’ll need to pull some magic out of your ass and do it super fast.”

“Sure,” he said. “I pulled this out of my ass for you.”

He showed me an amulet. Five rubies formed the five points of a pentagram with an ebony gem embedded in the center. Magic pulsed from the amulet.

“A charm?” I inspected it. “It looks expensive. Must cost an arm and a leg.”

“It’s a talisman,” Freckles said, “with powerful runes inscribed inside the gem and the rubies. It can counter any suppressive magic.” He eyed the cuffs on my wrists. “We suspected that War would curb your magic, so the three of us made this for you.”

“Thank you, Freckles.” I grinned at him. “You’re the best.”

“I am,” he said. “It’ll also connect you to King Nyström in another realm, but it’ll be a one-time thing and it’ll be brief. So use it wisely.”

“I reached Marlowe through our mating bond once,” I confessed, then flushed. “But we didn’t get to talk.”

My mate and I had just fucked like in a silent movie, taking comfort in ravaging each other’s flesh.

“This talisman will feed off your mating bond magic and strengthen it. You’ll be able to talk to each other in real time.”

I put the talisman around my neck and hugged my mage friend just as a knock sounded on the door, then Sam pushed it open and peeked in.

“Sorry, Pip,” she said, staring at us. “The guards have brought our stuff from the king’s palace. They asked for permission to come in.”

“I need to go before they suspect us. I’ll take care of the luggage,” Freckles said. He smiled at Sam and headed out.

Sam closed the door behind us and grinned at me. We hadn’t exactly had time to catch up since the Alpha King brought them to me. She now wanted some girl talk.

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