Page 148 of Her Blood Revenge

‘We will reach her before it comes to that. And if she dies, coven leader. I will haunt all your dreams and drive you mad until you die.’

She falls silent as she thinks.

‘If Hel is free, how do you plan on stopping her?’

Shaw pulls out the head of the spear Neve used against Athir and slams it down on the table.

‘By using a weapon made to kill a god,’ he replies. ‘I just need to get close enough to use it.’

‘And that’s where we come in, right?’ she scoffs. ‘Your cannon fodder.’

Shaw shrugs.

‘If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.’

They allmutter amongst themselves as we wait. My gaze keeps slipping to Dorian’s lifeless form, and I try with all I have not to look at him completely.

‘We will help you,’ she announces. ‘If killing a god means killing the magic of the witches who worship them, then blood magic should die with Hel.’ Her fists clench. ‘Just as it did with us earth witches, so as long as Hel is destroyed, we will not seek to harm your witch.’

‘How can I know you will be true to your word?’ Shaw asks.

‘My word is all I have to offer.’

‘Hold her familiar,’ I say, nodding to the snake wrapped firmly around my wrist. ‘If you’re trustworthy, she won’t kill you.’

The witch frowns at the idea. Before I can scoff at her, she reaches out and takes Poppy. She slithers up her arm, around her neck, and stops to look the witch dead in the eye.

And she returns to me, leaving her unharmed.

‘If Poppy says she’s good, then I trust her, Shaw.’

‘Fine.’

‘How did you kill the blood queen before?’ she asks him.

‘Death by three hundred cuts.’

Many of them wince and recoil.

‘I will make it much quicker this time.’

‘And we will help you. For now, we are as one. You are welcome into this coven.’

‘I have no want to be a part of any coven, and I may trust your word, but there are plenty here that I do not trust.’

‘We all have a common enemy, so for now, that makes us allies. This coven is made up of runaways. Witches, creatures, and even humans. None here willseek out a fight with you.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ a male mutters. His beauty tells of fae blood. His lack of wings screams vengeful. ‘You slaughtered my family back when you sided with the blood queen.’

‘We were prisoners of the blood queen,’ I remind him. ‘And we switched sides to bring her down.’

‘Great job you did there. I didn’t realise there was an expiry date on how long she’d be dead for. Seems like you should have mentioned that when you took all the credit for killing her and her coven and accepting the money, not to mention the women you feed from.’

‘I get it. You don’t like us. We don’t like you much either. But for now, we’re stuck with each other.’

‘We are sending some friends to the palace,’ the coven leader says. ‘See if we can discover what is happening with the prince and the soldiers. Discern if we have any allies there.’

‘Any witch you send will be killed,’ I tell them. ‘The humans have never been your allies, and they never will be.’

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