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I crouched on the beam. The bunnycat shivered less than a foot away. “Here . . .” Bunny? Kitty? “Here, cute creature thing . . . Don’t be scared.”
“Will I get nights of ecstasy?” “And days. Ecstasy all the time.”
As soon as the engagement was announced, the Pack Clans converged and shot the idea of a quiet ceremony out of the water and then kept firing at it until it stopped convulsing and died.
Christopher scrambled to his feet, wild-eyed, a few strands of my hair in his hand. “Don’t trust the wolf!”
“Where to now?” I asked. “Hold on,” Robert said. “I’m still . . . coming to terms with your mode of transportation.” “Take your time.” I nudged Cuddles, turning her to give him a better view. Cuddles flicked her ears, lifted her feet, and pranced. Oh dear God.
Desandra whistled quietly. “You know he’s married, right?” I asked. “I can still enjoy looking at his ass.” Her eyes lit up. Oh no. “It’s like two . . .” “No.” Desandra giggled. That was a close one. “You know, if you have certain frustrations,” Ascanio said, “I would be happy to help you work them out.” Derek looked at me, pointed at Ascanio, and punched his left palm with his right fist a few times. I shook my head. No, you can’t pummel him.
Desandra cleared half of the road. The vamp spun around to face her. She swung her mace and brained it. The vamp fell on the pavement, jerking, half of his skull caved in. Desandra kicked it. “Eat shit and die!”
Jennifer made her a target. Now anyone within the Clan Wolf who shows a drop of kindness to Dorie does so against their alpha’s wishes.” “I agree,” I told him. “We can deal with it later. We’re short on time. We have to move on.”
“What the hell are they wearing?” Jim murmured next to me. “They’re playing soldier. It probably cost them an arm and a leg.” “Still might,” Jim offered.
“What is it you want from me, Hugh?” “Short term, I’d like you to say my name with a please attached to it. I’d like to walk into Jester Park with you on my arm.” Jester Park, Iowa. Once a park in Des Moines, and now one of my father’s retreats. “Long term, I want to win. And I will win, Kate. You’ll put up a good fight, but eventually you’ll be sleeping in my bed and fighting with me back to back. We’ll be good together. I promise you.” “What part of no don’t you understand?” “The part where I don’t get what I want. You need to be taught your place. It’s not at the Keep.”
The contours of what lay on the floor suddenly made sense. A skeleton. An enormous skeleton, at least nine feet tall. Its ribs curved up, its bones stretched, distorted, each bearing branching antlers of pale metal, but it was a human skeleton.
I reached into my clothes and pulled out pieces of broken Slayer wrapped in a cloth. They matched the skeleton below perfectly. Same pale substance, neither metal nor bone, but both. A pale purple radiance emanated from Slayer’s blade, matching the bones below.
“Nimrod like in the Bible?” Curran asked. “The one who built the Tower of Babel?” “It’s an allegory,” I said. “My father and his contemporaries built a civilization of magic. It was great and mighty, like a tall tower. But they made the magic too strong and the Universe compensated by starting the first Shift. Technology began to flood the world in waves, and their civilization crumbled like the tower. The language of power words was lost.”
“Why does he build towers?” “I don’t know. He has a thing for them, I guess. I think they might help him with the claiming of his territory.” “The claiming?”
“We have a deal,” Curran said. My heart broke into small jagged pieces.
