The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,81

much change since yesterday, then. Odin’s eye. Was he still so insubstantial? What was taking him so long to become fully corporeal?

But maybe the wound had healed slower this time? And had there been a hint of actual blood? Possibly. He had to be closer to being completely solid. If so, the time for the death blow was coming. But he clearly wasn’t solid enough. Not yet. How much longer was it going to take?

She’d hoped not much longer, or her chance was going to pass. The thought occurred to her that Sola might have done something to keep him from becoming fully corporeal in order to protect him from Jenna.

Sola stepped forward. Jenna frowned, knowing what was about to happen. She had to act now. One final attempt to remove the wraith from this plane of existence.

In that moment, time sped up, but it also stood still.

With both hands on the hilt of Helgrind, Jenna whipped around with the blade at chest level and drove toward Leif with every ounce of force she had.

Sola began to speak as Helgrind pierced Leif’s chest. The blade slid through him, and the momentum carried Jenna and the sword forward, pinning Leif to the first solid thing behind him. A pine.

A low, angry rumble vibrated out of him. “You think you can end me?”

She honestly wasn’t sure anymore, but he couldn’t know that. “I know I can. And once I do, I’m going to carry your soul straight to the underworld where you belong. There will be no Valhalla for you, Leif.”

Growling, he swiped at her.

She couldn’t let go of Helgrind, so she couldn’t escape. The best she could do was rear back. His ragged nails caught her cheek and caused a brief moment of searing pain before it subsided.

The wounds stung, but she’d suffered worse. And it was nothing compared to what she was going to do to him.

But if Helgrind piercing his heart wasn’t enough to finish him, she was in trouble.

He sneered at Jenna as he wrapped his hands around the sword sticking out of his chest and pulled, seemingly oblivious to the blood spilling from his hands as they were cut by the blade.

His hands were bleeding.

Encouraged by that realization, Jenna kept her grip firmly on the hilt. She dared not let Helgrind go, or Leif would take control of it. His eyes were already fixed on the resurrection stone.

If his hands could bleed, that meant he was becoming corporeal. Just not fast enough. And with every wraith, the heart was the last thing to solidify. She was just going to have to be patient.

Not the easiest thing to do.

Behind her, Sola chanted louder now. Almost angrily. But any second, she would realize her spell wasn’t working. Jenna had to move faster. Still holding on to Helgrind, she kicked her feet up and planted them on Leif’s chest on either side of the blade, then yanked the sword free and backflipped away from him.

At least he’d been solid enough for her to do that.

The hole in Leif’s chest where Helgrind had been spilled black smoke. A second later, it started to close. She snarled in rage. Stupid wraiths. So hard to kill. At least he was contained in the circle.

Unfortunately, so was Sola.

With a thunderous roar, Leif came away from the tree. He reached back and unleashed his own blade. Finally. Kirsgut was free. The sword made Helgrind look like a child’s toy. A large child, but still. Berserker swords were legendary and sized to match the men who wielded them.

He raised the sword to strike.

“My spell,” Sola snarled. Realization had come to her.

Blade up for protection, Jenna spun away from Leif, putting Sola between herself and the wraith. If he struck now, he’d hit Ingvar’s body, and Jenna didn’t think he’d do that with Sola inside her.

But the game was over. There was no reason left to pretend that everything was as it should be. She only prayed that Bridget and Birdie were successful on their end very soon. She pointed her weapon at Sola. “Not working, is it?”

“No, it’s—” The seer’s mouth pulled back in a sneer. “What have you done?”

Jenna brought her blade up slightly, enough to push Sola closer to Leif. “Realized the truth, that’s what.”

Unable to use his blade in such a small space, Leif let it go. It disappeared, no doubt returning to his back.

Jenna supposed that was one less thing to worry about, but she couldn’t spare a glance to see where