“Wait!”
I reached the end of the alley and stopped. A huge parking lot covered in moss and ivy and bordered in the misshapen remains of the motors of the past greeted me. Twisted wolves made from flesh and metal lay in crumpled heaps, chests heaving as if struggling for breath. A small, silver wolf stood facing me. It looked toward the center of the lot at the huge wolf curled up in a ball, as if to draw my eye, and then the tiny metallic wolf began to disintegrate into metal particles that drifted away on the wind.
What have you done?
The voice in my head was deep and ancient—the huge wolf’s voice.
I took several steps closer. “I turned off the power.”
A soft, wry chuckle. So this is the end. This was the end. This is how it should be. This is how it could have been so long ago. If only…Only if…
There was something devastating about this scene, a pervasive sadness in the air that spoke of an era lost, of opportunity lost. It punched me in the chest, knocking the breath from my lungs and bringing tears to my eyes. I lowered Jezebel but kept my grip firm.
Vesper knew this creature. He’d abandoned it here. This creature had been a sacrifice and now…Now it was something warped and dying.
“Where’s Vesper? I need him back. Please.”
Inside.
“What? Please don’t mean what I think you mean…”
But the voice was silent and then so was the parking lot. The rasps of breath that had filled the air, a sound I hadn’t consciously registered, had ceased.
The huge wolf lay still and then its body began to dissolve, metal crumbling into the air and drifting away. The other wolves began to disintegrate too, and then the air was coated in silver. I backed up as the slivers of metal swirled and blocked my view of the ancient being.
Magick pushed against my limbs as if trying to squeeze through my pores. It coated my mouth and throat with every inhalation, making my eyes water. I needed to get out of here, but I also needed to see.
I needed to be sure that Vesper was gone, because my gut told me he couldn’t be. He couldn’t be dead. This was Vesper. Arrogant, hard-to-kill, refused-to-fucking-give-up Vesper. He couldn’t be gone. My chest felt hollow.
Then the air cleared and a male form was revealed. Wait…was this... I took a step toward the figure, heartbeat quickening as I identified the obsidian dragon. Oh fuck, thank God. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly parted, and… Was that a fucking snore?
“Vesper?” I approached and fell into a crouch. “Vesper?” I reached for him, noting the tremor in my hand.
Shit, not good.
“Vesper!” I slapped him.
His eyes sprang open and he frowned at me as if I’d woken him from a much-needed nap.
Irritation flared in my chest. “Get up. We have to go. Now.”
He sat up and looked about. “Where is he? Where’s Fenris?”
“The wolf?”
“What did you do to him?” His tone was accusing.
“Are you fucking serious right now? I saved you—”
My indignation was cut off by a sharp pain in my abdomen. I grabbed my torso and doubled over.
Vesper sprang to his feet, swung me up into his arms, and broke into a run.
My ankle began to burn where my anklet touched my skin. I bit back a cry. “What’s happening.”
Vesper picked up speed.
I hung on, trying to block out the burn of the anklet and the cramping in my abdomen, and then he slowed his pace and dropped me.
My butt hit the ground hard. “What the fuck?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” He glared at me.
I recognized our surroundings. We were a block away from the heavy warp zone, and wait…My pain was gone.
“Do you have problems following orders?” he demanded.
“No. I followed your orders. I got out.”
“But you came back.”
“Yes.”
His jaw worked. “You could have been warped. What was the point in my sacrificing myself to save your ass if you decided to serve yourself up to Fenris anyway?”
“I cut the fucking power. I stopped them.”
“You killed a fucking god!” His eyes glittered with moisture, and it took a moment for me to realize he was crying.
“He ate you.”
“And I deserved it.” He snapped his mouth closed and squeezed his eyes shut for a long beat. “You shouldn’t have done it.”
I pulled myself up and glared at him. “You know what? Next time I’ll ignore my heart and follow my head and leave your ungrateful arse to rot.”
I turned and strode off. He could fuck himself. Fucking wanker. I should have listened to Helgi. We should have shut the power and left. But no. I had to go back for him. In hindsight he would have been fine, so why the fuck did I go after him?
The sooner we got to the Furtherlands and I could be rid of him, the better.
* * *
The warping was behind us, which meant the drones were also far behind, but we remained vigilant. Helgi and I took turns carrying the twins when they got tired of walking. Stefan insisted he could manage, but after a couple of miles he ceded and allowed Bran to carry him on his shoulders. But we were all beginning to flag.
Azazel was a comforting force at my side even if he was a remnant of his incorporeal self. He was still recuperating, and conversation between us would be limited for now. Still, knowing he was there was a huge comfort. But it couldn’t take my mind off Vesper’s reaction to my saving his ass. It was more than macho pride. It was about Fenris. It was personal, and as much as I wanted to demand answers, my instincts warned me to back off.
Helgi fell into
