“Get the others to clean up. My wife’s coming home.”
“Finally.” Banitu shuffled away.
In seconds, all the death sank into the ground and walls.
“Say, you won’t mention this, will you?” he asked, all smiles.
“Give me back Grizz and I’ll keep quiet. And Talon too,” she said, in case she’d been wrong and he hadn’t already gone.
“Done.”
Grizz appeared by Val’s side, stoic, though she saw a smile in his eyes. “I’m going on now, I think.”
“Yes, you are. You earned it. A warrior’s place in the afterlife.”
The woman with Rolf nodded. “I could take you to Valhalla if you want some fun. You more than earned it. Not a human, but hell, they could liven the place with some gray.”
Grizz grinned. “My thanks, but I have somewhere else to be. Tidings, Val. My best to you and your dragon.” He bowed his head to Khent. “Oh Wings of Eternal Night, may your death be glorious.”
“As was yours.” Khent nodded back.
Grizz disappeared.
“Talon?” Khent asked in a soft voice.
“He’s gone. With Ava, I’ll bet.” Val wiped a few more tears. “We should get back.”
“Hold on.” Rolf stopped them. Nergal had already moved on, ignoring them while he cleaned up the place. To Val’s surprise, a lot of the gray leeched from the cavern, giving it color and a more vibrant sense of sound and taste.
Rolf shook his head. “He mopes when she’s gone and gets into more trouble. Okay, so we need to get our stories straight.”
“I won’t lie, draugr. Unlike you, I have honor.” The woman gripped her ax tighter, and Val wished she had as much muscle.
“Whatever, She-Wolf.”
“I have a name.”
“I wish I cared,” he returned, his voice cheery. Then he ignored her sputtering. “Khent was supposed to kill Val, who’sobviously still very much alive. As is, I presume, Ilu? Is that what we’re calling her? Him? It?”
“Yes,” Val and Khent said together.
“Look, Hecate’s gonna get all bitchy if we stroll back in and tell her everything’s fine and that a being of great chaos and death and despair is living inside Val. So how about we don’t tell her that?”
Khent slowly morphed back into himself, a sexy vampire again. “Won’t she know we’re lying?”
“Not exactly. She couldn’t sense Ilu before. So maybe we tell her Nergal did something that made Ilu go away. We blame him, we go back, no one’s the wiser.” He glared at the warrior woman.
“Hey, I’m not one for flapping my gums. Whatever. I need to get back. I have things to do, Rolf of the Vanargand.”
“It’s Night Bloode now,” he said, sounding snooty.
“Pretentious much?”
“Hold on.” Val stopped them before they could start arguing again. “So what’s our story exactly?”
“Talon sacrificed himself to save you. That’s true, and the guy’s a gods-praised hero.” Rolf nodded. “Nergal convinced Ilu to stay asleep. You keep Ilu inside you, and if you have to get all smoky-eyed, tell Hecate it’s a new aspect of your power.” He considered Khent. “Are we telling the others you’re a dragon or not? It’s pretty cool.”
“It’s awesome.” The warrior woman studied Khent a little too closely for Val’s peace of mind, so she let Ilu peek out to warn her off.
