Page 24 of Wicked Ties
Odin groaned. “Some demons are like royalty with powers. Some of us are delicious like chicken nuggets. I’m dinner.”
“Bait,” Grayson corrected.
I didn’t want to see Odin die or get hurt. I knew the kind of demons that would come for him—some that were like the demons who’d come for me in the underworld. “How is this a good plan? What if the Fallen don’t come?”
Grayson gave me a toothy smile. “They’ll come. It’ll be entertaining as hell.”
Maze pulled a card from the inside of his pocket and let it go. “If we’re going to do this, then we aren’t going to rely on some rocks to hide us.”
He moved farther back and crooked his finger at the rest of us. “You’re either bait or you’re with me. Which is it?”
The rest of us moved to his side and he dropped the card on the ground in the middle of us. He wagged his eyebrows at me, and the card exploded with bright green magic. It shot straight up above our heads then began to make a dome over us. It glowed so brightly as it all sealed together, the green faded and turned to clear. I stood there for a moment, looking through the walls. “Did it work?”
Maze reached out and touched the tip of his finger to the dome. It jolted and sparked with green electricity. “Yeah, it worked.”
Odin tiptoed over to us, looking for us. “Can’t see you. You there?”
Maze smirked. “Told you.”
Grayson knocked on the dome. “Get to it.”
Odin startled but hurried back to the middle of the field. His body twitched with power as he grew bigger. Shaggy fur exploded out from him. His legs and arms shot from his circular body. He looked like a black, furry bowling ball with legs and arms. When he rose to his feet, I only recognized his one green feline eye. His bald arms were thick and meaty as he bent and flexed them. He dragged his long talon-like nails over his wrists, and thick black blood poured from him. He spun around in a circle, throwing his blood everywhere like spin art.
When he finally stopped, his blood was everywhere, coating the dead brown grass and muddy ground. I waited, wondering what would happen next. Was the call of his blood strong enough to attract a demon or two? His lingering smell on me certainly brought them our way in the underworld, and I hadn’t even cut myself.
Then the ground began to rumble beneath my feet. I heard it moving and shaking. Then came the growling and shouts. In the distance, shadows moved like ants crawling over one another. The ground opened just beside Odin and reaching gnarled hands came from the opening as demonic twisted bodies pulled themselves from the ground. They were all shapes and sizes, with reptilian and insectoid features that were covered in slime.
The smell of decay and death hung on them like perfume. There wasn’t just one or two. There were hundreds. I shifted from one foot to the other. “This is bad. I think your plan is working a little too well, vampire.”
“They can’t see us. So we’re safe.” Grayson shrugged. “Wait for it.”
“Wait for what? Odin to die?” I was going to step out of the dome and get my damn demon cat back. Or was he Astrid’s? Didn’t matter. I was getting him back in one piece.
Maze threw his arm out in front of me. Stopping me. “Wait.”
“He’s going to die.”
“No.”
Just as the demons descended upon us, Odin disappeared. They piled on top of one another, fighting for their food. They snarled and snapped at each other, brawling among themselves. They looked like a writhing pit of scorpions or snakes, battling each other for one bite. Odin suddenly popped out between their bodies in his sleek black cat form. In true cat fashion, he jumped over bodies and hands reaching for him. He didn’t come running for where we hid. Instead, he ran headlong into the woods.
Relief flooded my body, and I sucked in a breath and slouched into Maze. Grayson chuckled and pointed toward the sky. “Look.”
A figure with huge black wings soared across the sky. He was large with a barrel chest and tousled hair that held hues of brown, blond, and red streaked through it. His eyes were a sharp blue that seemed to see everything. He flew in low over the horde of demons. Fire exploded from his hands like flame throwers. Heat rolled over us as the demons were turned to ash before our eyes. This wasn’t a battle—it was slaughter. There would be nothing left.
Within seconds, Matteaus burned the whole place to the ground. There were no bodies left, nothing for the Keres to pick over. When he landed, the ground dented beneath his feet. His wings were still extended as he crossed his hands over his barrel-like chest. Ashes of the dead demons floated up around him, still glowing with orange light, like embers from a fireplace. He spread his arms wide, and the gray clouds opened up and soft rain began to fall around him, smothering the smoking piles of death.
Kylian shook himself. “Did everyone else just shit themselves, or was it just me?”
Suddenly, I felt the intense need to leave press down on my chest. This was a very bad idea. “We should not be here right now. Error in judgement.”
Maze nodded, agreeing with me. “If we turn back and stick together, the dome will hold, and he might not know we were here.”
We all turned at the same time and stepped toward the forest. Matteaus stood in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest. I glanced over my shoulder to where he was standing only a second ago and back to where he stood now. How had he gotten there so fast? He snapped his fingers and the dome sizzled and cracked around us, revealing us to him. No one spoke. He glared at us. “Speak.”
Silence . . .
“Now,” he growled.
