Sin clapped Max on the back and put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Actually, it’s not a request. Buckle up, Buttercup. We’re throwing you under the bus.”
Max gaped. “Pardon?”
“Yeah,” Styxx agreed as they surrounded Max. “And knowing them, they’re planning to back up over you, too.” He flashed a grin at Max. “Like the new hair, by the way. It goes well with the whole dragon sacrifice we’re about to make to the gods. Good times.”
14
“Dragon sacrifice?” Sera repeated with a gasp. “That is a joke. Right?”
“Sure. We’ll call it that.”
Gaping, she looked from Styxx to Max. “I don’t think I like him very much.”
Max cleared his throat. “That’s all right. Some days, I don’t like him either. And I’m thinking today is definitely going to be one of them. All of you do know that at this point I’m going on about thirty hours with no sleep, right?”
Acheron laughed. “Welcome to my world, adelphos. I think I remember sleep… once upon a grand time ago. Or maybe that was a hallucination brought on by extreme sleep dep. Hard to tell, at this point.”
Max rubbed at his eyebrow with his middle finger. “So you’re planning to feed me to the gallu. Any other votes taken while I was away that I need to know about?”
Zakar let out an evil laugh. “You’re remarkably calm for a dragon about to be sacrificed.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t go down easy. You don’t know what indigestion is until you try to eat a dragon. We tend to bite back. And hard.”
Dev cried out in pain. “And that’s more about your sex life than any of us need to know.”
Max playfully shot a blast of fire at him.
“Hey! Do you mind?” Fang stepped between them and extinguished it. “No burning down the bar! Damn it, children, there are some things I shouldn’t have to say, and that is really at the top of my list. Stop playing with fire indoors… around the wooden bar and flammable alcohol!”
“Anyway…” Sin ignored Fang’s outburst. “Do you know where they’re hiding?”
“Irkalla.”
“Oh,” Sin said in a tone so dry it could be used to dehydrate oceans. “That’s awesome. Irkalla… Why?”
Max bent his head as if imparting a huge secret. “Well, I’m no… oh wait. Yeah, that’s right, I am an expert. So I’m going to assume he’s there because you can’t go get him, and drag him out by his ears, screaming. Or kill him.”
“He’s right.” Zakar let out an aggravated breath. “I wish we could go back in time and kick the ass of every family member we had who took a hand in unleashing these bastards on us.”
Sera frowned. “Wait… Didn’t Ishtar descend into Irkalla and return? Doesn’t that mean you can, too?”
Grief darkened Sin’s eyes. “Different time and place. And I’m sadly not the god my daughter was.” He stepped back as he reconsidered their course of action.
“You may not have to be…”
They looked at Max with an arched brow.
Max rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb as he considered their resources. “Sera gave me an idea. I actually have what Asushunamir used to restore Ishtar to life.”
Zakar gaped at him with a look of total disbelief. “You’re the Koru-Nin?”
“Yeah.” Max met Fang’s equally slack-jawed stare. “The real reason why I’ve never left Sanctuary before now. I couldn’t care less about the Dragonbane mark. Anyone wants to try and kill me, bring it with friends, and shovels to mark your graves. Rather it’s what I protect that keeps me hidden. I can’t afford for it to fall into the wrong hands. And should I ever happen to go down… only my brothers Falcyn or Blaise have the ability to take over its stewardship. Not even Illarion could handle its power.”
Seraphina had known the Sa’l Sangue Realle was important, but it wasn’t until she saw their faces now that she fully understood her mate’s duties. Just how important Max was to the universe as a whole.
And how incredibly powerful and deadly an object it was. No wonder the demons were after it.
Zakar narrowed his gaze on Max as if trying to understand him. “Have you ever used it?”