He smirked but said no more, sipping at his drink while he turned his palm over to hold her hand.
Hecate bit back a sigh. There was nothing more satisfying than taming her savage Night Bloode, one mate at a time. To Morpheus, to get him back on track, she asked, “Your point? What exactly is Nergal planning?”
“Nothing that you didn’t already expect. He’s bored, still on the outs with the missus, and got a taste of life he’s hesitant to let go. He was fine until Vladimir started filling his head with whispers of the human realm. It’s never wise to tempt gods like that.”
She frowned. “No, it’s not.” She turned to Khent. “You fought Hanbi recently.”
“I did. He was a challenging foe.”
Of course the vampire approved of one of the evilest gods in existence.
“Did he ever mention what made him interested in world domination?”
Khent’s eyes narrowed. “He did not. He was bent on killing us, sacrificing his own son to move into the world.”
“Yes, whatever happened to Pazuzu?” Morpheus asked.
Khent shrugged. “Not my problem.”
Ha. Hecate knew for a fact that Khent knew about the shifty demon who still acted as Kaia’s familiar from time to time. Pazuzu also continued to live it up in the body of a dead sorcerer the Night Bloode had killed. But he wasn’t her business, so she mostly stayed out of it.
The reaper obviously felt the same. Khent didn’t meet her gaze, his firmly on his drink.
Val frowned at him before turning to Hecate. “Pazuzu, Hanbi, and now Nergal. Do you think Vladimir is encouraging them?”
“I do. I’m also curious as to what the necromancer really wants.”
“So am I. He’s got life. He’s got power. What more could he need?”
“Not need,want,” Khent corrected.
Morpheus nodded. “That I can help with. I am the god of dreams, after all. The necromancer, though a pretty sick bastard by all accounts, is in search of love.”
Val stared wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”
“I didn’t say it’s the love from a person. He thinks if he can trade a certain gem to a certain dark entity, he’ll finally find the love he’s been searching for his whole life.”
Val cocked her head. “Huh?”
Hecate frowned. “That makes little sense.”
“Truly, you speak gibberish, Morpheus.” Khent shook his head. “There is no love in the necromancer. I would know.”
“How would you know?” Val asked. “You only fought him briefly.”
“I was inside him.”
“What?”
Khent blew out a loud breath for effect, since they all knew vampires didn’t need to breathe.
Morpheus propped his elbow on the table, chin in hand, and grinned. “Oh, I can’t wait to hear this.”
“I would hear this as well,” Hecate said, waiting.
Khent cleared his throat. “When Rolf, Onvyr, and I went to collect the Staff of Blight from Belyy Zamok, Vladimir was there. He worked some magic that incapacitated Rolf, so I allowed him to take me as well. Inside him, trapped by the bounds of his energy, I sensed a divine power. Not Nergal. And before you ask, Rolf agreed. The Lord of the Underworld isn’t Vladimir’s sole source of contact with the divine. Vladimir has contacted something else, corruption in its purest form.”
Hecate didn’t enjoy hearing that. “Maybe he’s found a way to reach the Darkness That Comes.”
