When Loki's consort and soulmate marries his rival to save their son from a curse, a prophecy leads to consequences even the God of Chaos couldn't predict.
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The Unseelie Goddess of War's revenge against Asgard's Dark Prince puts him in a no-win s...
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Maeve's lips pressed together into a thin line, posture rigid as she joined us in the wildflower meadow on the other side of the portal, with her hands on Kara and Mist's backs.
Manannan ran his hands through his hair, then let out a heavy sigh. "I saw you try to teleport away, Loki. Crom Crauch is manipulating the cloaking mists to prevent you from finding a clear area. It's not the full Wild Hunt. Llew isn't leading them, but it's enough that I don't think you can get far enough away to get a bifrost lock."
"Cyhiraeth, with her banshees and Cailleach's hellhounds are quite enough. Especially with Camulus there," growled Kara as she returned her bow to her back.
"Would you please explain for the person who doesn't know those names?" I asked, waving my hand to get their attention. The banshees and hellhounds were more familiar than I wanted them to be, but the others... except for Llew. Yeah, I recognized my fucking uncle's name. Remembering the incestuous lust in his eyes after the consummation ceremony had my stomach twisting, and I wrapped my arms around my middle, even as the hairs on the back of my neck stood. If I never had to be near him again, it would be too damn soon.
Maeve came and held my shoulders as she met my eyes. "Do you recall an old elf riding a demon stallion when the Hunt grabbed you last year?"
The vivid image came to mind immediately, a shiver crawling down my spine. The hot sweat from battle turned to a sticky, clammy sensation coating my skin like a grimy film that I couldn't get rid of. My pulse pounded with the speed of a trapped bird. Everything about that attack was etched in my memory. Down to the last terrifying detail. I saw it over and over again in nightmares that had plagued me ever since.
Unable to speak, I nodded.
"That's Crom Crauch. He used to be a fertility god before he perverted his powers to use pregnant women in his sacrificial rituals to help power the Winter Court," Maeve said, curling her lip in disgust.
I flinched, thinking of those poor women who'd been in that cell with me. Squeezing my arms around my middle tighter, I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Do I want to know what he does with them?"
Maeve pressed her lips together, green eyes hard as she shook her head.
Loki's voice was the dangerous, low snarl of a jungle cat. "She needs to know. I won't have Shannon at risk again because she underestimates them." He murmured something under his breath that I didn't catch as he rubbed my back in soothing circles.
Maeve glanced at him, then winced and gave a single, sharp nod. Meeting my gaze and squeezing my shoulders, her tone resonated with suppressed rage. "He and his sadistic cronies rape them until the woman miscarries, and continue until both mother and child are dead, bleeding out on the court floor for the sacrificial runes to absorb. After they are dead, they feed them to the creatures of the Wild Hunt, who rip them apart. It's a horrific death."
