Her mutilated wrist throbbed as she snaked around a large tree trunk. Thick buttress roots tripped her, and she tumbled down. As she crash-landed, dirt flung over the cloth that covered her wound. Nausea rose. Viola vomited the meager contents of her stomach before lumbering to her feet with Fluffy’s help and forcing herself onward.
She wheezed shallow breaths, every inhalation acting as a blade to her lungs. Knowing she could go no farther, Viola dropped. She leaned against a barbed tree trunk. The sharp tips stabbed her back, adding to her collection of injuries, but she didn’t care. Her vision wavered. Her head swam.
Blood rushed inside her ears, the ring deafening. “I’m so sorry, darling. Mommy needs to rest a bit. She can’t…she…” A sob bubbled from her at last. She had failed her child. She had failed herself. What proved the most disheartening, however? Brochan wasn’t going to rush to the rescue. Not this time.
Not that she needed to be rescued. She wasn’t some goddess in distress, even when she was in distress. But she’d tasted the wonders of having a partner. Now, she was addicted.
Did he miss her at all?
A bitter laugh escaped her. Of course, he did. He wanted the key that she didn’t possess.
Three males—two vampires and a berserker—exploded from a wall of foliage, stopping when they spotted her. The vampires smiled, flashing their fangs. She recognized them. Kinsman of someone she’d doomed.
The berserker evinced glee. The last time she was here, he’d hit on her, and she had rebuffed him.
Fluffy’s hackles lifted, a pungent odor filling the air. His greatest defense. Few could withstand the stinging aroma. He bared his sharp little teeth and screeched so loudly while spinning in circles.
The immortals cringed and stepped back. But they didn’t flee.
The taller vampire rubbed pale hands together. “Look at the high and mighty goddess now. Dressed in rags and covered in filth. Finally, the outside matches the inside.”
Viola flinched. Someone lifted a sword, the metal gleaming in the moonlight. Rallying what little strength she had left, she climbed to her feet. Standing between her baby and her enemies. Or teetering between her baby and her enemies.
“Hello, gentlemen,” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster. “I’m so glad you found me. Are you here for the forgiveness seminar, too? Let’s attend together. I hear there’s a banquet afterward.”
“I will enjoy shredding your body into too many pieces to count.” The berserker’s voice dripped with relish.
“You can have her body,” the second vampire said, “but only after we’ve drained it.”
“Fluffy,” she intoned, and he knew her well enough to guess her expectation.
He leaped into her arms as the trio lunged for her—just as she’d hoped. At the last possible moment, Viola used what remained of her strength to mist herself and her trembling pet, becoming intangible. The men hit the trunk and stumbled back, cursing.
She tried to run, but her legs failed her. Weakness settled into her limbs.
Within seconds, her misting ability failed her too, and she began to solidify. Fluffy possessed the same ability, and he was able to utilize it, returning them to their insubstantial state. She tiptoed away, but it was too late. Again, she began to solidify, Fluffy’s strength depleted as much as hers. Everyone circled them.
“Go,” she commanded Fluffy. “Fetch Br—Cameo.” The Forsaken had missed his chance. He’d declined her goods and services. Now, Cameo and her new husband were up to bat. “In Budapest,” she added.
The couple currently stayed in the Underworld, where Fluffy couldn’t travel. He could only flash places he’d previously visited, and Viola avoided the Underworld at all costs. Too many admirers awaited her. But Fluffy would be safe in Budapest. By the time he figured out the truth, Viola would be victorious or dead.
The trio drew closer, forming a circle around her. Aggression pulsed from them.
“She’ll help me.” Truth. Cameo would absolutely help…if she could. But she couldn’t.
Though frantic, Fluffy obeyed, flashing to Budapest.
Alone with her would-be attackers, Viola clutched her mutilated arm to her chest and grinned. “Shall we proceed?”
One of the vampires grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to her knees, jostling her. Ripples of agony blurred her vision. Pass out here, now? No! She refused. But though she fought, darkness crept closer and closer.
“Tsk, tsk. You should have been nicer to me,” the berserker said with a grin of his own.
As he popped the bones in his hands, the darkness swallowed her whole, and Viola knew nothing more.
Chapter Twelve
Brochan flashed to the fortress in Budapest, exactly as he’d done for the past four days since Viola’s disappearance. Just in case. Desperation had become his constant companion. As he moved from room to room, disappointment set in. No sign of his goddess or her friends yet.
He visited the Downfall to question Xerxes. Or Thane. Or Bjorn. Anyone would do. None were there. The world conspired against him.