Page 101 of A Bond in Flames

I turned, looking toward land. Nox’s temple stood in the distance, glinting under the moon. “Do you think she knows we’re coming?”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Count on it.”

When we were close enough, we dropped anchor and climbed into the dinghy. Fog had moved in, making it impossible to see anything, and the oars creaked as we made our way to shore as silently as we could. Hemlock was in a hard case strapped around my waist that Death had made for him. It was like an iron bum bag with little bars on either end. He hadn’t protested when I put him inside. It was a trade-off—the cage or he had to go back to the castle. My familiar knew my moods and understood that shit was about to go down. He hadn’t made a peep since we left the ship.

I scanned the shore. “I can’t see anything moving out there.”

“Me either,” he said, “but they’re there.”

Ice slid down my spine.

“Okay?” he asked, not missing a thing.

“I’m fine. A little fear’s healthy.”

“If we get separated—”

“If we get separated, we carry on with the plan. You distract Nox, and I’ll get Marigold, and then we’ll meet you back here,” I said and closed my eyes for a moment, visualizing it, manifesting the moment we got on the boat and sailed away. All of us safe, together. Then I whispered a spell, calling on the mother for her help. It wasn’t the first time I’d tried to call on her, to reach her, but I wasn’t sure she heard me or that it was even possible here. Still, I tried because we needed all the help we could get.

The dinghy scraped against the beach, and I opened my eyes. Quickly and quietly, I stepped out, slipping on my pack and sliding my knife from its sheath.

Mors grabbed my other hand and draped us in his cloak so we blended with the shadows. We headed away from the path that led to Nox’s temple. No point taking the most obvious route and making it easy for them.

We headed up the side of the cliff; it was steep and slippery, dangerous, but it not only avoided Nox, it was a more direct route. I looked up the cliff face to the sharp edge high above and shuddered.

“What is it?”

My mouth had gone dry, my palms sweaty. “Marigold was taken from me… just up there.” My gaze locked on the edge. “That’s where they pushed me over.” I turned to him. “The vow I made that day, to come back, to get my revenge, to make them pay… that’s why I kept coming back, no matter how hopeless it felt, because I wanted my family back, and to make Nox pay for what she did to us.” A vow made in death is one of the strongest there was.

“I want her to pay as well. I’ve wanted to make her suffer, to torture her until she ended the curse, to watch her blood drain from her evil body until she was gray and lifeless, but the night needs its goddess despite how heartless and insane she is. Like Hell needs Lucifer, the Dream Realm needs Somnus, and Limbo needs Death.” He stopped me, turning me to face him. He looked stricken. “I felt them take you from me that day. I felt it, and I heard your vow. That’s why I searched, why Somnus searched. I knew you were coming back to me.” His hand was trembling when he cupped the side of my face. “I knew balance between the realms had to be maintained, but still I fought Nox. We battled for so very long. Blood was spilled, but no one won—no one could win. There was only one way to win, and that was to break her curse. I had to walk away from our baby girl because Nox bound her to her realm. I was forced to take her to my temple and put her in stasis to keep her safe. There was no way I’d let Nox have our child. I refused to let her near Mari. It nearly fucking killed me, losing you both.”

His thumb swiped my cheek. “But that incredible—fuck,magnificentrage you unleashed is what brought you back to me. Nox never counted on that. You’re right. Without that vow, you wouldn’t be standing in front of me now. I would have lost you and Marigold both forever. There would have been no hope.” He shook his head. “But that rage, it’s what could get you killed now. I can feel it, Zinnia. It’s stronger now than it ever was before. I can’t die. My soul can’t be taken from me. But I won’t risk you. You are immortal now, yes, but not if she takes your head. So until we get Marigold, until we’re back at the castle, you are still vulnerable. Only then will you be able to walk by my side for eternity, finally safe. I can’t lose you again. I can’t wait century after century and hope you come back or that you’ll remember us. I can’t fucking do it, Zinnia. You are strong and powerful—that’s why I know you can bring our daughter home—but where Nox is concerned, let it be my rage that fights for us, let it be me.”

As much as I wanted to destroy Nox, he was right. I wasn’t strong enough. My rage alone wasn’t enough to defeat her. But taking the power back from her would cut her at the knees. “I won’t do anything stupid. I won’t risk our happily ever after.”

He smiled, and my knees went weak; then he kissed me.

A branch snapped, and we froze. I smelled them before I saw them. Demons, all three of them in Nox’s colors. “They can’t be far ahead,” one of them said, tilting his head back and scenting the air.

They couldn’t see us under his cloak.

But then he stilled and sniffed again.

Death nodded. We needed to make a move, use our element of surprise. I nodded back. Ready. Death thrust his hand out through the cloak, grabbed a demon by the throat, then tore off his head, turning him to ash. I exploded from our cover, slashing the throat of one with my knife, then threw another back with a burst of magic. The demon grabbed his throat with a gurgled cry, and I dug my blade into his chest and dragged it down, spilling his innards, before wrenching his head back and hacking his head off while Death dispatched the other one.

My consort tilted his head to the side, listening, his blue eyes glowing. “There are more, but they’re farther away. Let’s go.”

We scrambled up the steep track. Once we got to the top, we’d be more exposed, and we’d have to make a run for it. My thigh muscles burned, and my chest ached with a rage so intense, I had to grit my teeth. The darkness was oppressive when we reached the top; Nox was trying to make it as hard as possible for us, but it only helped our cover. If she thought the dark would stop us from finding our way back to Death and Somnus’s temple, she was so wrong.

My child was close. I felt her. I felt that little girl’s beating heart right beside mine. Nothing would stop me from getting to her.

As we neared the top, voices drifted down. Death dropped his cloak around us once more. There were at least four demons up there, waiting. They were scanning the cliff’s edge. Death grabbed up a rock and tossed it halfway across the clearing. It cracked against a tree at the edge, and the demons spun that way, running toward the forest.

We quickly scrambled over the edge and ran toward the tree line on the opposite side of the wide clearing.

We burst into the trees, and Death wrapped an arm around me, holding us still so he could listen again.

“Let’s go,” he said when he heard nothing.

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