Page 161 of Her Blood Revenge

When I try to speak, a guttural clicking comes out, so I can’t declare myself.

Shit. I hope she doesn’t try to kill me… again.

I watch the gate with bated breath. Watch for Hel. For her great hand to reach through. For the countless souls of the witches beyond to seep out.

Poppet Doll reaches up. Her hand settles on my cheek as I look down at her.

She blinks up at me through her lashes and smiles.

My heart hammers as I look at that smile. She knows it’s me. Even in this hideous form, she recognises my soul.

‘Shadow Master,’ she says softly. ‘There you are.’

Her voice. Her face.

But not her.

Instinct takes over, and I toss her away from me before staggering back. Repulsion and fear take hold, and whenArchie appears to run to her, I grab the back of his neck and yank him away.

I don’t dare blink. I couldn’t look away if you threatened me with death.

‘Get the fuck off me, fucking filthy…’ His eyes squint as he looks into my eyes. ‘Dorian?’ he asks, his head tilting to the side. ‘Is that you?’ He breaks into a huge smile when I nod.

But the relief is short-lived when the sound of her laughing cuts through the air. He takes a step towards her.

‘What the fuck is wrong with you?!’ Archie snaps, grabbing at my wrist in an effort to break free. ‘Pix is hurt!’

But she’s not. She’s slowly getting to her feet, her bones clicking and grinding as they fix. I hear her skin stitching back together as she rolls her neck. Her fingers flex.

Archie sniffs, catching the change in her scent. Now, he steps back, placing himself at my side.

We watch as she looks up, taking in deep breath after deep breath. Her arms lie by her side, and her blood-drenched hair falls down her back as she lets out a long and relieved sigh, followed by a soft giggle. She tilts her head to the side, the corner of her mouth pulled up into a cruel smile as she looks at the two of us.

‘That’s not Pix,’ Archie says quietly.

I tighten my hold on his neck and take him with me as I step back.

No sudden movements. Don’t look away. Don’t fucking blink.

Down in the valley, the battle rages on. Unseelie. Human. Witch. The stench of death seeps into the air, overpowering my senses.

Shaw and Sathick are going at each other like possessed beasts.

But I still keep my eyes on the form of my poppet doll.

But she is not my poppet doll anymore.

Neve steps out and falls to her knees with her arms wide.

‘My goddess. My most glorious. It is I who have freed you from your bonds. I who have set you free from your realm. Just as I promised I would all those years ago.’ Her head is low, and her knees are in the snow and blood. I have never seen Neve kneel. Not even when Shaw was torturing her did she give in and fall to her knees. The blood queen. The most powerful. Most evil. ‘I have freed you as I promised.’

Ashe walks slowly towards her, stopping to rest her hand on her head.

‘Now,’ Neve says, her head still low. ‘You must do as you promised me.’ Ashe rests her finger under Neve’s chin and lifts. They look at one another. ‘Return my sisters,’ Neve says pleadingly, a weakness and desperation in her words. ‘My Goddess. Return your coven to its former glory. Let us be your army. Your wrath. Return what they took and make them pay for slaughtering your faithful followers.’

My hammering heart settles in my throat. Hel returning is enough of a colossal fucking nightmare. Her possessing my girl is even worse. But returning the blood coven, too?

But Hel laughs and shakes her head, making Neve’s face fall.

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