“I could offer that?—”
“Kierce is the protection he’s offering.”
“Kierce will never be loyal to you. He can’t be. Not so long as he’s bound to Dis Pater.”
“Yet another reason for Ankou to switch teams. That frees Kierce up to be released from service.”
The dots thinned to mist once more, swirling angrily. “You have no idea what that would do to him.”
“Make him remember he’s Berchem?” I savored their momentary shock that I knew the truth, that I wasn’t buckling under the pressure of god glass. “Make him remember what you did to Dinorah?”
In hindsight, Ankou and his divine tree had been leading up to this moment. The fruit was never meant for the sisters who lorded over the commune of battered women seeking refuge from their abusers. The entire fiasco had been orchestrated by Dis Pater to lure me in. Had I not lost a loaner to the commune, I wouldn’t have discovered the Alcheyvaha, and I wouldn’t have met Anunit.
From all accounts, they hadn’t expected her to experience a connection with me. Maybe they hadn’t meant to disturb the fallen goddess in her sanctuary of bones, but their plan worked a little too well.
Whatever their original intentions, I had surpassed and usurped them.
Both beings remained silent, staring at one another, and then the dam burst.
“What have you done?” Dis Pater snarled his upper lip. “You gave her back her memories?”
“You’re the one who extolled the virtues of god glass,” Ithas snarled back. “Clearly your methods failed if she recognizes him.I warned you, and you refused to listen. Your pet will kill you if she rouses him.”
A speck of relief coasted across Dis Pater’s features, and that couldn’t mean anything good for me.
“Kierce is no one’s pet,” I growled, every bit as feral as the goddess beside me.
“You’re getting ahead of yourself, as usual.” Dis Pater zeroed in on me. “You want me to set Kierce free? To remove the block on his mind and allow him to recall his past? That’s what you want?”
There was a trap. Its jaws yawned wide before me. But I couldn’t see how to evade it. “Yes.”
“Suit yourself.” He spread his hands. “Here’s a sample of how sweet freedom will taste for him.”
Nothing happened, not as far as I could tell, and that somehow made it that much worse.
And then my borrowed phone rang.
Eyes locked on the divine entities before me, I answered with trembling hands. “Matty?”
With a wave of his hand, Dis Pater summoned a wavering barrier between us and Ithas’s mist.
The magic binding Ankou as an offering must have paralyzed him at the gesture for him to hold so still.
“Kierce is screaming. We can hear him through the walls of the crypt.” He sounded out of breath. “What happened out there? Is Ankou fucking with the bullet or—” He covered the receiver with his hand, never a good sign. “Get this door open. I don’t care how you do it. Get it open now.”
Harrow. That was Harrow in the background. I heard him casting.
That made twice he had used his magic without hesitation, and I had never been more grateful.
“Why can’t you get the door open?” I pivoted toward the building, sweat pouring down my spine, and I planted my feet to keep from running to Kierce. “Answer me. Tell me what’s happening. Mary?”
Stone scraped in my ears, and metal whined loud. An explosion rippled out to where I stood, and I was a second from breaking before Anunit pressed her paw to the top of my shoe, signaling for me to wait. For me to follow the plan. But every muscle strained toward Kierce, urging me to his side.
“He broke the bench. Fuck. How powerful is he?” Matty panted harder. “The slab. It got wedged behind the door. Don’t know if he used magic or what.” He grunted out more swears then fell silent as he got inside the crypt. I could tell by the volume, the echo. “What do we do?”
Agonized roars poured out of Kierce, and a crackling warned he was charging his lightning.
“He’s holding his head in his hands and screaming.” Matty cursed under his breath. “I’m going to try?—”
