Crown of Crimson (Underworld Gods 2)

Do you feel that? I asked Sarvi.

Before Sarvi could answer, there she was. She appeared in the white line of the horizon like a blackened scar. The closer we got, the more the scar separated into three.

Louhi in her formidable glory, Rasmus in the snow beside her, and Hanna.

Hanna dangling high above the snow, Louhi’s tongue wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life out of her. I can sense when someone is near death, part of my gift I suppose, and Hanna was.

I didn’t need to tell Sarvi to fly faster.

From the excited look on my ex-wife’s face, I could tell she was close to snapping Hanna’s neck, ending her life for good.

I knew we might not reach her in time.

But because Louhi was so focused on killing Hanna, she wasn’t aware of her surroundings. Didn’t see Sarvi coming.

And Hanna, she surprised me. She surprised Louhi too.

When it looked like all was lost, she reached into her boot and pulled out a selenite knife, a knife that only works as a weapon depending on who is wielding it. For a mere mortal, selenite is a weak salt-based crystal that can’t cut through anything and is prone to breakage.

But when Hanna used it, she was able to slice Louhi’s formidable tongue in half.

Louhi’s scream made me smile.

And I was still smiling as we flew between Hanna and the ground and I was able to grab hold of her arm, pulling her onto Sarvi’s back as the unicorn flew upwards and away from the swamp.

Louhi is still screaming at us. We’re taking a few victory laps above her head, Hanna safely wedged between me and the unicorn’s neck.

“You!” Louhi screams up at me as we fly in circles, blood pouring out of her mouth as what’s left of her tongue retracts in a messy splatter.

“Yes, me,” I say, lifting up my mask to give her a dashing grin. “Long time no see, she-devil.”

She screams again like a caged animal, knowing that if she attempted to speak, she’d sound like an idiot.

“I’ll save you the trouble of what you want to say,” I tell her. “Would be the kindest thing to do, considering your new impairment. You’re going to tell me that I’m a dead God, that my time as ruler is over, that Hanna will never be as good of a Goddess as you, that I’ll rue the day I crossed you. To which I will counter all of that as being a lie. You’re in a position of weakness, Devil Woman, which is why you think your son Rasmus will help you, since your other children will not. Rasmus might be coerced, or perhaps he already has been, but you will remain nothing but a weakness in this land. Whatever uprising you hope to have a hand in, you will merely watch from the sidelines as the Old Gods fail to rise, wishing you could have helped, while knowing deep down your contribution would have been worthless anyway.”

Louhi screams louder. She throws the chain attached to Rasmus to the snow and flaps her ugly wings, shooting up to us, her hands outstretched, fingernails growing into claws. Always forgot that part of her anatomy; she tried in vain to leave scars on my back. She was never able to leave her mark on me.

I’m about to tell Sarvi to puncture her wing with its horn but before I can, Hanna takes the selenite knife and whips it through the air toward Louhi. The knife goes right through the thin membrane of her right wing, creating a hole which causes Louhi to lose flight, spinning out of control.

I hate how fucking impressed I am. How fucking hard I am. Hanna can probably feel it too, because of how her ass is pressed right up against me.

My god, this woman might eat me alive. I should probably just end her here. Toss her off Sarvi’s back and feed her to my ex. I’m still furious at her for leaving and yet I’m starting to doubt I have the balls to truly punish her and make her suffer for what she did.

“Shit,” Hanna says under her breath. “I liked that knife.”

“I’ll get you a new one,” I tell her. “Come on Sarvi, let’s head home before she regenerates.”

Sarvi nods and its wings beat furiously away from a screaming Louhi, writhing in a black blotch on the snow.

“Won’t she follow us?” Hanna asks, looking over her shoulder, trying to see them in the background. I catch her eyes for a moment—even with my mask on it’s like she sees me for what I am underneath—and I pour cement over my heart to prevent it from cracking. I’d forgotten how beautiful she is, her fairy eyes that act like pathways to another world.

I avoid her stare. “She doesn’t have the means,” I tell her gruffly, finding my composure, refusing to let myself feel anything, not even her beauty. “No unicorn will obey her. Not many other creatures that can match their speed in flight. Of course, there are rumors of flying lizards that live in the cliffs of the Iron Mountains but I have yet to see them. At least not the large ones.”