“It’s not.” Kaia couldn’t help crying, especially when Sabine ground the slits in her wrists over the marble, keeping her injuries fresh. She shrieked when slender bone picks shot up from the altar through her wrists, keeping open the flesh that tried to heal itself.
A roar echoed deep inside her, and she knew Orion would come.
It’s a trap. Stop, she tried to send him as hard as she could. But she knew nothing she said would keep him from coming.
Her mother stepped away to fiddle with her ringing cell phone.
The black statue now moving around as if alive stood over Kaia and smiled. “Yes, child. I am Pazuzu. Soon to be your new sire.” He leaned down, studying her and said in a lower voice, “Or your new husband. I feel that your mother will not be enough to satisfy my needs.”
She cringed. “I’m already mated.”
“Not for long.” He tapped her forehead, and her pain stopped. “Now, that’s better.”
“What are you doing?” Sabine asked, looking up from her phone. “Oh, Kaia, your daddy says hi.”
“Leave him alone.” How could she have been so wrong about her mom? Sabine had always been dark, a little bad. But not out and out evil. Or had Kaia only seen what she wanted?
Sabine laughed. “You hear that, Will? Come to Belyy Zamok if you want her. But be prepared for a fight. The door’s open.” She disconnected and tucked her phone away. But the look she shot Pazuzu was nothing that could be called pleasant. “I’ve brought you a soul.”
“But not the one I was promised. If I can’t have the vampire, I’ll have you sweet.” Then he ripped through his clothing, and Kaia saw something she wished she could unsee. A phallus that was in no way human. The thing was several feet long and moved like a snake. It touched her leg, and she screamed.
“Not yet, Kaia. But soon,” Pazuzu promised and laughed.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Orion refused to give in to the fear threatening to cloud his bloode. It had no place in a vampire’s heart. He would fight to the end, but he would never let his own weakness stop him from battling for what he possessed. His heart and his mate.
At the thought of Kaia, he stiffened his resolve and forced the fear away.
The storm over Seattle grew stronger, clouds gathering, the rain coming down in icy sheets as the wind whipped in a fury.
“We know she’s not at her island,” Orion told those with him—Mormo, Varu, Kraft, Rolf, and Khent. “Duncan and the others are at Belyy Zamok, and he said the place is crawling with zombies and monsters.”
“Oh man. We’d better get something just as good,” Kraft complained.
“I feel you,” Rolf commiserated. “But I have a feeling the demons we encounter will sate that appetite.”
Varu glared at them both while Khent ignored them, gathering his dead servants. He sent two new crows ahead through the portal Mormo had crafted into the floor, which should take them to an area just outside their target in Magnolia. “I’ll scout and await you at the witch’s home.” He transformed into an owl and followed them.
Hecate had felt the presence of a demon god the second the creature entered the mortal plane and directed them to the home Sabine owned in Magnolia. “It’s a sure bet Kaia is there,” she’d said before disappearing to handle more disasters flaring around the many crossroads she guarded. Apparently, all the demon activity was stirring chaos between the realms.
Mormo looked around at the remaining Night Bloode. “Rolf, I think we need you on the island. There’s too much to fight there.”
Rolf groaned, waved, and walked through the portal Mormo directed him to. It disappeared.
Mormo continued, “Varu, Kraft, Khent, and Orion, you four will have to handle Pazuzu. I need to help my mistress. The foul energy from Hanbi and Pazuzu’s machinations is spreading, creating chaos. That’s why Hecate’s so busy lately.” Confirming what Orion had thought.
Mormo swore and vanished then quickly reappeared and grabbed Orion by the arm. “Do not give it what it wants or it wins. But you may be able to bargain with Pazuzu.” He vanished once more and didn’t return.
“No idea what that means, but Kaia is hurting.” It took everything inside Orion not to fly into a rage and go straight for the demon’s throat. Then the witch’s.
“Steady,” Varu ordered. “We go in. You focus on your mate. We’ll handle the rest.” He then reached into his heart, his hand disappearing inside his chest, and removed three Bloode Stones.
Kraft gaped. “That’s not freaky as shit. No, not at all.”
Varu let go of the power gems, which floated in the air before him. “Find Fara. You can’t stay with me when we encounter the dark ones. Go.”
Orion shook his head. “You keep getting weirder, Varu.”
“I know.” Varu smiled, showing sharp fangs. “Now let’s go kill what needs killing.”
“Finally.” Kraft darted to the portal on the floor, swearing in German about slow-ass vampires as he crossed.
Orion followed. Get ready, Kaia. I’m coming.
He appeared behind Kraft, who knelt while Khent flapped his wings and settled on a tree branch, magnificent in his eagle-owl form. They looked to be in someone’s backyard overlooking the water. The scent of demon seemed distant, as did the scent of his mate.
Varu appeared, and Khent shifted back into his human form to report, “Kaia lies upon an altar, being drained of her blood in a ceremony of some kind. The demon Pazuzu is there, as is Sabine Belyaev.” He blinked, his eyes completely black, staring through the eyes of his scouts. “I see several lycans inside, all tainted with the sea witch’s power. I don’t know if they’re willing servants or enslaved.”
“Try not to kill if you don’t have to,” Varu said, and everyone stared at him in shock. “Only because we need that artifact the lycans have that leads to the fourth Bloode Stone. After we have it, I don’t care who you kill.”
Orion nodded. That made sense. But he’d come to the end of his patience. “I’m going after her.”
“Go.” Varu nodded to the house. “We’ll deal with the rest.”
Orion followed the source of his heart—his mate—and bounded to the rooftop of a very nice home clouded with dark energy. He spotted Kaia immediately, but before he could rescue her, that bastard Pazuzu, from his dream, was there in his monstrous form. Upon spying Orion, he shifted so that he looked like a man, the darkness of his features fading, along with his wings, tail, and monstrous dick behind a gray suit.
The rain and wind didn’t touch him.
“So, my payment arrives.” The demon turned and frowned at the empty deck. “Tricky sea witch, to leave when I’m just getting started.” Pazuzu sighed. “Ah well. So, Orion of the Night Bloode, you have come to fulfill the bargain the sea witch made.”
“I’ve come to take back my mate and cut your fucking head off.”
Pazuzu grinned. “A fight then? Excellent. I haven’t had one of those in eons. You have no idea how boring the afterlife is.”
“Don’t you mean hell?”