In spite of the continued cannon fire, the dragons circled above, spewing fire down at them that Bart and William deflected. Fierce waves rocked against the ship.
A screeching shriek came out from beneath the waves, letting him know that the Carian Gate wasn’t the one that had broken. Nay, something far, far worse had happened.
There were three major gates that led to Gehyne, or Azmodea as it was originally known. The land most of his crew would call hell. One was located in the desert. One in Jerusalem.
The third in the sea.
Because of the evil they held back from the world—because mankind could never protect themselves from the vile creatures who called that place home—the portals had been set and locked so that they couldn’t be broken.
Or so they thought.
And to secure them even more, no one had ever known their exact locations.
Until now.
That was what was coming up from below.
Devyl cursed as he understood what was happening. Through Paden and Cameron, they had access to Michael’s blood. With it, the Cimmerian forces would have had the means to open any portal in any realm. Even those most sacred, secured gates.
And to think, I handed it to the futtocking bastards.…
If the world ended, he was the moron to blame.
Worse, the Sea Witch was currently taking on water and listing to port. The boards creaked around them, letting him know that she was in mortal danger. Afraid for Mara, who wouldn’t be able to stand much more assault, he turned toward her. “Separate yourself.”
“What?”
“You heard me, woman. For once in your stubborn life, do as I say and be about it quickly. Pull out of the ship completely. Let the bastards have it before they use it to destroy you.”
To his utter amazement, she did so without any further argument. Which told him exactly how much pain she was in and holding back from him.
And he knew the moment she pulled her consciousness from the wood. Color returned to her cheeks as her strength flooded back into her body.
Grateful that at least one of them was recovering from this searing assault, he kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”
“What are you planning to do?”
His gaze went past her, to the very visage of all futtocking hell realms that was rising from the sea and headed straight for them. Mara hadn’t seen it yet, and for that he was truly grateful.
So he gave her a cocky grin. “Best you not be asking me questions that have answers guaranteed to upset you, me blodwen.”
“Meaning?”
“Duel!”
Mara’s cheeks paled again as she heard Vine’s low growl.
The ship tilted more, sending half the crew to the edge and some over, into the water.
“Enough of this.” Devyl felt his eyes change over as he summoned up every last bit of his powers and did the one thing he’d sworn he’d never do.
But drastic times called for drastic measures. If Vine wanted a battle, let it be on solid ground where they couldn’t drown his men.
Stepping around Mara, he sent a blast toward Vine and hated that he missed her as she ducked it. “Och now, Vine, you always wanted to be me queen.” He gave her a cold smile. “See you in Alfheim, if you dare it.”
And with that, he ruptured the very membrane of the human world and opened the door that was guaranteed to get him into all manner of shite later.
So be it.
The only thing that mattered to him was keeping everyone safe. He’d gotten his crew into this. By the gods, he’d get them out, whatever it took.
And if the dragons wanted to follow …
The Adoni Fey had their own special breed there that would be waiting to swallow them whole.
Screams filled his ears as his men were sucked through the swirling darkness and carried away from the realm they’d known and into that of his grandfather’s people.
God help us all.
Devyl had no idea what kind of reception they’d receive upon arrival. What they would find waiting on the other side. It was forbidden to do what he’d done. He wasn’t technically one of his grandfather’s people anymore, and his mother had brought them all into a war that had caused every one of them to be cursed.
Aye, this most likely wasn’t going to end well for him.…
He just hoped he was the only one who suffered for his rash decision.
Suddenly, he stopped falling and landed hard against a solid surface. With a fierce groan, he opened his eyes to find himself in a strange meadow. All around them was purple wheat that seemed as if it had a mind of its own.
He glanced about to make sure everyone was here. While most of them had regained their feet, there were a couple who’d been wounded and had decided that sprawled flat upon the ground was more their suited style at present. Their repose was punctuated by unctuous moans and complaints—mainly against him and their concerns about his current mental state. Even more about the state of his parents’ marriage at the time of his birth.
Not that he blamed them. First, he was beginning to doubt his own reasoning skills. Because, face it, he was the one what brought them here.
Secondly, he’d like to stretch out himself. Damn for being captain and having to set an example. Times like this, he was tempted to promote Death or Meers to his position.
If only he could follow orders.
And speaking of those incapable of listening to others, Mara approached him with a stern countenance he was sure had terrified lesser men. It was so fierce, it even shriveled a bit of his own personal anatomy. “You’ve brought us to Alfheim? Are you mad? Answer me honestly, is there any semblance of sanity left inside you at all? Or did that knock on the head from Gadreyal spill it all out?”
“I thought it the safest place from your sister.”
“And what about the ship?”
No doubt it was at the bottom of the ocean by now. He just hoped Santiago and his crew didn’t follow it down to the locker. Hopefully, they’d seen enough to know to stay back, and as far away as possible. Since Devyl hadn’t seen even so much as a sail from them during the fighting, he was praying it meant that Rafe’s mother’s magick had kept his crew shielded from all the hell that had rained down on them.
“Warned you to separate yourself from it.”
“Aye,” she said with a note of hysteria in her voice. “That you did. Had I known it was for this bit of lunacy, however, I’d have refrained. Just to…”
Her voice trailed off as she glanced over his shoulder to see something in the distance. The color washed out of her face as her eyes widened.
What the bloody hell now?
More than a bit irritated, Devyl turned to face whatever fresh pandemonium was heading for them. And it was pandemonium indeed.
He winced the moment he saw the approaching horsemen and the standards that adorned them. Though in theory they weren’t demons, there wasn’t much difference between the two breeds. In fact, he’d rather deal with a demon than these particular cod dangles.