Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(152)

“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 pr?torian way.

“Just wait,” Justin told Dominic. “She needs to do it.”

Mae was moving toward the middle of the room now, with Emil in hot pursuit. Too late, Justin saw what she didn’t catch in her periphery: One of the Pan-Celts who’d been incapacitated had come to. The woman managed to sit up and grabbed hold of Mae’s leg when the deadly dance was close enough. Mae stumbled, and Emil made his big move, throwing himself at Mae with the dagger aimed right for her heart. Justin had no idea if the charm that had protected her earlier was still in effect—nor did he have need to find out.

Mae rolled in a way that let her break free of the grasping woman while simultaneously pulling the amber dagger from its boot sheath. Emil was so fixated on his attack that he never saw Mae’s dagger—not even when he threw himself onto her. The weight of his body knocked her down, but it was too late. Her dagger pierced his thigh, causing him to scream and recoil in pain. He dropped his own blade and actually tried to move off of her. She was more than accommodating, rolling him over onto his back so that she could hover over him and drive the amber dagger down for a second strike—into his heart. Justin saw the man’s eyes widen in shock, no scream coming out of his mouth this time. Mae waited a few moments and then jerked her dagger out and got to her feet, standing and watching without expression as her victim twitched and bled. After several horrific seconds passed, Emil stilled. A crackle of power rippled through the air, and then the tingling Justin had felt against his skin vanished.

“No one ever expects the knife,” Mae said flatly. She studied Emil’s body a few moments more and then suddenly looked up in surprise. “The Morrigan’s gone.” She caught Justin’s arm in excitement. “Can’t you feel it? The air…it’s lighter. She was here earlier, pressing down, trying to get into me. But she couldn’t. That was because of you, wasn’t it? What you did to me earlier?”

“I…don’t know,” he admitted, somewhat enchanted with the joy and light in her eyes. “It’s just something I learned.”

“Keep learning it,” she said. “Maybe we can continue to keep her out.”

No need, said Horatio. Mae is free. The Morrigan has been undone. She may gather strength again and return someday, but all her old ties have been broken. You felt her being cut loose from the world. The destruction of the temple and her followers struck her hard, and that guy in particular was probably one of her highest servants.

Using that dagger was extra devastating, added Magnus.

What makes you say that? asked Justin. The part where it pierced his heart and killed him?

The amber dagger is empowered by a deity, just like the silver ones were, explained Magnus. Probably by the god—or goddess—of the person who gave it to her.

Callista’s god?

No.

Justin told Mae what the ravens said about the Morrigan’s leaving and decided to edit out the part about how that pretty dagger was sacred to some deity.

The police arrived soon thereafter, astonished at the grisly scene before them. Leo had waited outside until they arrived, and only then did Justin notice that Dominic was gone. “Where is he?”

Leo’s face was bland. “He was never here.”

“The hell he wasn’t! Half of those bodies are his. I saw it.”

“So did I,” said Mae, a small frown appearing on her face. “Part of it, at least. He was…good.”

“We didn’t think he’d get involved in anything like that when he came along,” said Leo. He cast an anxious glance over at the officers organizing the scene and dropped his voice. “If you have any respect for our friendship, you won’t say a word to anyone about him being here. All the casualties are Mae’s. I’ll swear to whatever story you want—that there really were smoke people or that we didn’t see them. Just do not mention Dominic.”

The earnestness in his voice caught Justin off guard. Out of habit, he exchanged glances with Mae, who looked just as surprised. Justin didn’t like Dominic, but he’d saved their lives tonight, and many years of friendship with Leo carried a lot of weight.