Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1)(125)
Author: Richelle Mead

“That’ll be easy?” asked Justin in disbelief.

“We need to distract her without getting us killed in the process.”

Justin thought about that. “I might have a way….”

How much do you guys hate crows? he asked.

Horatio knew what he was thinking. If we do it, it’s going to hurt. More than last time.

I’ll deal, Justin said, trying not to grimace. Just make sure the woman with the gun isn’t looking this way.

To Dominic, he said, “Get ready to take her out.”

And like that, the two ravens manifested before them, darker than the night outside. They flew into the room, swooping toward the two men who stood near Mae, scratching them with their claws and beaks. All of the Morrigan’s people gaped in astonishment, and the woman with the gun turned to watch, wide-eyed. For a moment, Dominic seemed equally stunned. Then Justin, trying not to scream at the pain of having his supernatural companions ripped away, nudged him.

“Go! Now’s your chance!”

Dominic shot across the room toward the armed woman and threw her down with remarkable force. He deftly wrestled the gun away from her, and when she lunged after him, he shot her with the skill and aim of someone who’d been using a gun his entire life. This dragged the others’ attention away from the ravens—except for the tall man, whom the ravens were still attacking. Dominic met the Morrigan’s people unflinchingly—only to face a situation he was completely unprepared for: their ability to shape-shift into fast, smoky shadow forms. After a few false starts, Dominic began to understand when he could make contact and soon gained ground, either shooting them or incapacitating them with incredible hand-to-hand feats.

Mae, Justin thought. I have to get her out of here.

He started into the room just as Leo reached him, having used the commotion to escape. “What are you doing?” Leo asked. “Get out. Let Dom handle it.”

“I have to go to Mae!”

“You need to call the police.”

“I did.”

Leo shook his head. “I heard them talking. There’s a signal blocker in here. It’s why none of our messages were getting to you. Go back to the car and call them from there.”

Justin took out his ego and, his vision swimming from the pain, punched in the code that allowed it to be used away from his identity chip. He shoved it into Leo’s hand before taking off inside. “You call them.”

“Wait—”

Dominic had astonishingly taken out four of the six active Pan-Celts and was advancing on a fifth. The tall man with the silver dagger was preoccupied trying to fend off Magnus and Horatio. At one point, his blade clipped Horatio’s wing, and Justin staggered as excruciating pain—far more violent than when the ravens had departed—ripped through him. Like that, the birds vanished from sight, and he felt their presence settle back into his mind, though the pain remained.

Sorry, said Horatio. The Morrigan blessed the blade.

You did a good job, Justin assured him.

Justin’s initial intent had been to grab Mae in the fray and carry her away from all of this, but with the ravens gone, the tall man was advancing on Dominic. Without further thought, Justin threw himself against the man’s back, making him stumble and mess up his attack. Justin hadn’t seen any makeshift weapons and had no idea how one really attempted an unarmed attack. He’d just figured his body weight would be enough to throw the man off balance. And it was—but not for long.

The man spun around and gave Justin a glancing blow with the dagger, which cut his cheek. More searing pain shot through him, stronger than what he would’ve expected.

See? asked Magnus.

The man recognized Justin and strode forward. “The servitor. How unexpected.”

“Why? Did you think your assassin would take me out?” Behind his adversary, Justin saw that the man Dominic fought held the second gun. Dominic was still doing fine, but keeping clear of it meant this wasn’t as easy a fight as the others. Justin was on his own.

“Assassin?” The Morrigan’s servant looked comically clueless.

“The fake Nordic jaguar one.”

The man shook his head. “I wouldn’t waste my time sending an assassin after you. Your god, whoever he is, is too weak for my mistress to care about. Maybe some other god hates you.”

“Yeah? Then how come—”

Justin’s words died as Mae suddenly leapt up from the altar. With no hesitation, she threw herself on the tall man, destruction in her eyes. He fell but shifted to smoke and darted away before she could pin him down. He reappeared in his human form, standing opposite her. The mockery he’d shown to Justin was gone. Only anger was there now, as he circled around with Mae. Each watched every move, no matter how small, of the other. Justin had the sense of something monumental happening. Even the divine force in the room seemed to be holding its breath.

Dominic’s words about Mae’s recovery had proven true. She showed no signs of her earlier distress. Her eyes narrowed as she assessed the man, and then, unexpectedly, she moved backward—throwing her weight into the altar. It was composed of a large piece of stone resting on two others, and she hit it in just the right way to make the whole thing topple over. A tremor went through the air, and the Morrigan’s man gasped.

“Is that a problem, Emil?” Mae asked. She backed up farther, almost to the wall. Eyes still on him, she grabbed one of the masks and hurled it to the floor. It shattered. “What about this?”

The man—Emil—flushed an angry red. “You’ll die for this desecration.”

“I’m not dying today,” she replied evenly. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t go to your goddess.”

“She created you! You belong to her.”

“She doesn’t have a claim on me anymore.” She destroyed another mask. “Or any of the others. Enough blood’s been paid.”

Until now, everything Emil had done had been very calculated and controlled, but his emotions were obviously getting the best of him. He attacked, turning to smoke—only it was short-lived. He looked surprised to rematerialize so quickly but still managed to come dangerously close to her with the Morrigan-blessed dagger.

Dominic had finally finished with the others and had his confiscated gun pointing at Emil. Justin hurried over. “No, let her finish him.”

“She’s unarmed,” said Dominic.

Mae was leading Emil on a merry chase, destroying things as she went. It should’ve given him more openings, but with each part of the temple she took out, he seemed to falter even more. He also no longer shifted form. He was still fast and sharp but not in a superhuman way. Certainly not in a prætorian way.