Master of Desire (Merlin's Legacy #6) - Angela Knight Page 0,50

lifted one of his hands in a negligent gesture. The shield he conjured sent the magic boiling away to either side. The back spray hit two courtiers who’d charged toward him, swords drawn. They burst into flames and died screaming, seared to sparks and ash. As they died, more power poured into him, as cool and soothing as ice water to a thirsting man. Conal sighed in pleasure…

He’s taken you! Essus moaned in despair, dropping out of his hiding place to wing in frantic circles around the room. That idiot wolf freed the god of death from his geas, and he’s fused with you as I did with my eagle!

Conal’s gaze met Helena’s as she stared at him with a kind of sick fear. “It was the only way,” she said, her voice strangled. “She was going to kill us. Liam won’t hurt you. He knows what you mean to me.”

So I do. And she’s right, I took care to protect you once I realized what was happening. Liam sounded nothing like the actor now, his voice a psychic rumble that echoed through Conal’s skull. I wasn’t just the god of death, you know. I began as the Morven god of justice, which is why I allowed Maeve to bind me in the end. And no man I have ever taken as host deserved justice as much as you.

All around him, Conal felt the pinpoint energy bursts of opening dimensional gates -- Siobhan’s courtiers, preparing to flee. His eyes narrowed as he remembered a thousand casual cruelties. Oh, I don’t think so. He drew in power, sent it rolling over the room to snuff out every single gate. Several of the courtiers cursed, others cried out in fear. He grinned in cold anticipation. Somewhere over his head, Essus moaned in terror. Oh, my boy, what has she done to you?

Chapter Eight

Conal spotted Darkbane lying on the floor where he’d dropped it when he and Liam had come up with the scheme to save Helena. He stroked it with a feather of magic, and the sword shot through the air to slap into his palm with a meaty smack. It instantly began to blaze as he conjured armor around him, mystic plate in the Morven style, the armor he’d once worn… No, not me. That was Lugh. Liam’s true name.

“I have no quarrel with you, death god,” Siobhan said, her tone cool, though he could sense the anxiety she sought to hide behind her expressionless mask. She was in full armor now, a great sword in her hands, a shield burning blue around her. “You and your pet wolf may go in peace. It was only your husk I had an issue with, and you’ve burned his treasonous little mind away. No halfer could survive hosting a god.”

“Was he so very weak, then?” Conal said asked, and his voice reverberated, nothing at all like his own.

Siobhan relaxed fractionally, and he wondered at that. Why would she find a god of death less threatening than Conal Donovan? “He was a whore,” she said, and shrugged.

“Fuck you!” Helena snarled, ears flat, as she stalked toward the demigoddess, her claws clicking on the polished marble.

“He sought my protection, made me believe he loved me.” Siobhan tilted her chin at Helena. “You’re better off without him. He was skilled at convincing women he loved them, but ‘twas all a lie. He loved no one but himself. And possibly those sisters of his, but he used everyone else. He certainly used me.”

“Or maybe,” Helena growled, staring at Siobhan with loathing, “it was just you he had no use for. But then, why would he love a psychotic bitch?”

“Watch your mouth, cur.” Siobhan sent a blast of magic boiling toward her. Conal started to block it, but Lugh breathed, No. She deserves this moment.

Sure enough, the attack splashed harmlessly off Helena’s furry chest, doing no damage at all. She sneered, revealing gleaming fangs in her long, elegant black muzzle. “Not just a psychotic bitch, but a stupid psychotic bitch.”

Siobhan’s green eyes widened until the whites showed, making her look thoroughly unhinged. “I should have had Olwydd kill you the moment he returned!”

“Yeah, you should have. But lucky me, you couldn’t resist the idea of tormenting Conal.”

“And what a fool he was for caring! It’s obvious you didn’t love him the way he loved you, or you wouldn’t have fed him to that thing to save your own skin!”

Helena rolled her eyes, a very human gesture in such