Sweet Ruin (22 page)

First thought:
I’m screwed.

Second thought:
Screw that, I’m
Jo.

Nïx didn’t seem to notice all the blinding bolts. “You’ve known unutterable beauty.” Her eyes went from gold to brilliant silver, matching the lightning. “On your way here, you saw things no one in the universe ever has.”

“What are you talking about?” Jo’s head suddenly felt like it was splitting. Clouds thickened around them. Winds whipped across the lot, rocking the rail containers and tossing the river. Spray hissed against the lightning cage.

That bat screeched as it swooped and played among the bolts.

Jo ignored all the weirdness, focusing on the Valkyrie who stood between her and Thad. “You’ll give me answers, Nïx!” She traced behind the woman, drawing her fist back on the way. Just as Jo solidified to land a blow, Nïx twirled around. Her own fist shot out, connecting with Jo’s chest.

Bone snapped; Jo’s body soared upward, the heat from the crisscrossed bolts scalding her. Her control wavered. She landed fully embodied, crashing into the cement. Pavement sanded her face.

A man’s bellow sounded in the distance.
Rune
?

“Stay down, child,” Nïx said. “This isn’t my first cage fight. Won’t be my last.”

“Fuck that!” Jo traced through the air to tackle Nïx. The Valkyrie dodged her again.

“No one’s taught you to fight like an immortal.” Her tone was singsong, even more enraging.

Jo hurtled forward, ducking under Nïx’s swing—

Just a feint. The Valkyrie’s knee shot up to catch Jo in the face. Her cheekbone cracked; she flew across the cement again.

Nïx chuckled. “It’s all about prediction.”

Jo spat blood, attacking, but Nïx was too fast. She punted Jo like a kickball.

Zooming. Speed.
Pain.
Jo crashed down on the other edge of the cage, landing on her side. Her ribs were toast.

In an instant, Nïx stood over her. “Stay down, little girl.”

Little girl?
“Ahh!” Jo lurched to her feet, facing off once more.

“You don’t know half of your talents. You fear one of your greatest. The ground should be your best friend.”

She vaulted toward Nïx, tackling her!

The Valkyrie turned them in midair to pin her to the ground.

Jo tried to ghost. Failed. Pain robbed her of even more control. She struggled to get free, but Nïx was too fast, too strong.

More lightning bolts jagged down around them. One struck behind Nïx. Without looking, the Valkyrie snared it.

The light fried Jo’s eyes, but she could make out Nïx molding the bolt—into a blade. “Why would you ever become tangible in a fight?” the Valkyrie asked, pressing that crackling heat against her throat.

Jo couldn’t wrestle for the blazing weapon, could only endure it. For once, she wasn’t the predator in the night. She was prey.

“Why embody?” Nïx shoved the blade harder, searing skin away. “Answer me.”

She’s going to take my head. Bet that would kill me.
“Only w-way to strike.”

“Your information is erroneous. I’ll give you a tip about your powers. Your mind is your greatest weapon. Use it to strike; use it to defend. As the woman once did.”

“Wh-what woman?” Another flash of memory arose, the lighthouse’s beam. . . .

“It’s worldend!” someone screamed. The sky was falling.
Failing.
Wounded stars plummeted to their deaths, as bright as sparks from a flint.

Jo clung to the edge of a vortex, her claws digging into the ground. All around her, more black holes hissed open, a wall of them, black upon black upon black.

Like spiders’ eyes.

No idea where those sucking chasms would lead—taking one was their only chance at survival.

Some relentless force was crushing their dimension. They’d heard rumors of a being who could crumble realms using naught but his will.

But a pale woman with dark-smudged eyes fought back, trying to shore up the world—her delicate hand was raised to emit power. “I can’t falter!”

Pain erupted, wrenching Jo back to the present. Nïx had broken her arm!

She screamed,
“Why?”

“Ah, I have your attention once more.” Nïx smiled. “Let’s not forget that breaking bones was your idea. I’m merely paying homage.”

Jo felt trapped in her solid body, yet out of her mind. She imagined she heard Rune yelling again. “Who is the . . . woman? From my dream. Where . . . ?”

“She played her part, just as you will,” Nïx said. “They believe they know my role. They think I hasten the apocalypse. They think
to Nïx
is
to destroy
. They think
Nïx
means
nothing
.”

Jo bit out, “Wh-who?”

“The Møriør. The Bringers of Doom. They’re bogeymen, ones you never even knew to be terrified of. Nightmares made flesh. Imagine having one’s bones pulverized. It’d probably hurt something like this—”

SNAP.
Jo screamed when Nïx broke her other arm.
“STOP!”

“Their wasteland realm approaches,” the Valkyrie continued, oblivious to Jo’s pain. “Inside their castle . . . monsters and devils. A dragon who could burn the world. A poisonous bane who slips into your secret fantasies. A malevolent demon risen from hell. They’re bent on enslaving us all.” She laughed. “Though it sounds terribly fun and exciting, the Undoing is anything but. He’ll soon have us all in the palm of his hand.”

Nïx loomed over her with that crackling dagger-bolt, her face twisted but beautiful. “He says worlds are like glass spheres. When he handles them, he leaves his mark. Sometimes only the faintest smudge.” Her expression grew vicious, her voice rising to a shriek: “Other times, he obliterates
—them—back—to—sand
!”

Lightning speared down. Cement exploded; the river boiled. Grit blasted Jo’s eyes, and steam scorched her face.

Nïx tossed away her dagger and leaned down to murmur at Jo’s ear, “Each has such fabled abilities. Together they attain synchronicity. On a battlefield, if interconnected, they will win. But if we can’t defeat them, we can appease them.”

“D-don’t understand.”

The Valkyrie whispered, “If you want to see Thaddeus alive, you’ll learn about Orion.”

“Don’t even know . . . who that is.”

“And yet he’ll impact your life in so many ways.”
SNAP.

Jo’s left femur. “
AHHHHHH!
S-stop! Why?”

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.”

“You’re . . . crazy!”

“There, there.” Blank-eyed, Nïx petted her face, her razor-sharp claws slicing Jo’s cheeks. “Shhh. I want us to be friends.”

Jo couldn’t fight back with broken limbs. “I-I’ll do it.”
I’ll say anything.

Nïx pressed her forefinger over her own lips. With her other hand, the Valkyrie grasped Jo’s neck and squeezed.

Black spots swarmed her vision as she stared into this monster’s eyes. Consciousness faded.

Delirious. About to die.

Who would save Thad from the Valkyrie?

TWENTY-SEVEN

C
an’t reach her. No arrows left . . .

When all attempts to shoot through the cage failed, Rune had attacked the bolts bodily, snatching at lines of them until his hands were charred.

The light was searing his corneas. He closed his eyes, willing them to regenerate quickly. Unable to see, he could only fight, burn, and
hear
.

The crack of Josephine’s bones. Her strangled breaths.

He roared with fury, striking out at the lightning with even more force. Nïx would likely spot him. She could begin to clock his future, lessening his chances of a successful assassination.

Rune didn’t give a fuck. To reach Josephine, he grappled to breach the cage—

The lightning began to dissipate.

He swiped his sleeve over his eyes, blinking repeatedly to regain his sight. In the distance, Nïx had vanished, and Josephine lay motionless on the ground.

He traced to her. The damage was even worse than he’d thought. He dropped to his knees beside her battered body.

Shattered bones, cracked skull. Skin blistered and slashed.

He’d suffered enough internal injuries to recognize them in this small female. Her organs were bleeding inside her. With a curse, he lifted her. Her head lolled unnaturally. Nïx had broken her neck.

He yelled into the night, “I’ll fucking kill you, Valkyrie!” He traced Josephine to Tortua, to his bed. He sliced away her clothes, wincing at what he revealed.

If she was truly so young—and hadn’t made the transition to full immortality . . .

The vampire could die.
As brutally as my mother did.

He cut his wrist for blood, dripping it between her pale lips. She didn’t wake and wouldn’t swallow. He needed a healer. How to find one? Immortals had scarce use for them! All they had to do was rest and wait for regeneration to happen.

Rune’s ears twitched. His heart raced as her heartbeat slowed. She might perish before he could return with help.
Think, Rune!

In theory, he possessed enough magicks to heal her, but he would need a runic combination to access them, a spell of symbols. Could he remember the precise order and form of the runes?

He’d utilized healing spells to regenerate quickly after a violent brothel patron, but that had been thousands of years ago.

Racking his brain, he gathered black blood from his wrist. He pressed his forefinger to her chest and willed his mind to remember. . . .

Jo woke, blinking at her surroundings, her body in agony.

She was at Rune’s? He’d been at the riverfront! He must have saved her from the Valkyrie.

Jo raised her hand to her forehead, wincing. Dizziness made his bed feel like it undulated in waves. She dared a glance down. Bandages covered her. Strange markings peeked out from the edges.

She tried to make sense of that, but her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, yet echoing at the same time. The harder she stared at the bandages, the more her vision blurred. Soon she saw two of everything.

Two of Rune appeared beside the bed. Both of his faces looked exhausted. “You’re awake.” He sat next to her and rolled up his sleeve. “You should drink,” he said, but his manner was cold.

Why? He now knew she wasn’t in league with Nïx. “How did you find me?”

“I never
lost
you. I released you solely to follow you back to the Valkyrie.”

“I was bait?”

“As if you wouldn’t have done the same,” he said, tone even colder. “Seems you’re quite good at using others.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Forget it. You need to feed again.” He offered his wrist.

Pain ramped up her nausea. “I can’t. Not yet.”

He shrugged. “You’re on your way to making a full recovery, regenerating all on your own.” He hesitated, then said, “You should’ve told me you didn’t know Nïx.”

She couldn’t read his expression. “Would it have mattered?”

“It would have, yes. What did she mean when she called you rare?”

“I have no idea,” Jo murmured. “Did you bandage me?”

“I did. And I finally got you to drink over the last two days.”

She’d fed, and didn’t even remember?
Wait . . .
“Two days?” She needed to get back to Thad—he was still in that woman’s power! “I’ve been gone that long?” She sat up, and the room spun. All the pain in her body grew sharper. In response, her mind went foggier. She collapsed back.

“You had a cracked skull, among other things. It’s too soon for you to rise.”

“Oh.” Recovering from bullets to the face had been easy compared to this.

“I’m going to have a hell of a time assassinating an oracle now that she’ll be clocking my every move. And she made it sound like she’d already been watching yours.”

“I guess.” Jo’s cloudy brain couldn’t recall the things Nïx said, only the ass-kicking she’d delivered.

He reached for Jo’s hand, smoothing the edge of a linen bandage. Without looking up, he said, “The male you two were fighting over. Thaddeus. You thought I was aiming at him that night.”

She nodded, then grimaced at the deep pop in her neck. Waves of dizziness washed over her. The urge to throw up grew.