teeth had repeatedly clanged together. If we’d missed bumping over a single stony obstacle on the way up the kilometer-long trek, I’d be amazed.
A third figure joined Morana and Phanes. My gaze skipped over them to study him. Even though I’d only glimpsed him once before from far away, I knew this had to be Ruaumoko.
No surprise: the god had also transformed his host’s body to reveal his true form, which was eye-catchingly handsome, with a wide, full mouth, high cheekbones, rich brown skin, and teak-colored eyes, now that they weren’t lit up with that unique orange glow. His full facial tattoos were inked in patterns reminiscent of the Maori culture, where his legend was still celebrated. Half of Ruaumoko’s black hair was up in a bun while the rest trailed down past well-muscled shoulders. Unlike Morana and Phanes, whose loud-colored clothing jumped out from the landscape to announce their presence, Ruaumoko dressed with a warrior’s mindset of blending into the terrain, wearing tan trousers and a pale yellow shirt that matched well with the dried grass and weathered stones from the ruins.
As if I needed more confirmation that he was the smartest one among them, Ruaumoko also never looked away from me and Ian, even though Morana and Phanes kept exchanging self-congratulatory glances.
If I get the chance, he dies first, I thought.
“Impressive trap,” Ian said. “Who do I compliment for it?”
“That would be Genghis,” Morana said, waving forward a thickly built vampire with light brown skin and purple streaks in his short black hair. “He flocked to my side when he heard what we were offering.”
“Our side,” Ruaumoko said pointedly.
“Yes, of course,” Morana replied in a soothing way.
Ian’s gaze raked over the vampire, who grinned at us the way hungry fishermen grinned at a large catch.
“Genghis? I think not,” Ian said, dismissing him.
I had no trouble seeing the magic that sparked around his hands as he glowered at Ian. “It isn’t wise to anger the Great Khan.”
“You’re a poser, not the Great Khan,” I said bluntly.
Morana cocked her head. “No? He said he was.”
“I am,” Genghis insisted.
I snorted. “You’re absolutely not. I met the real Great Khan once. If he were still alive, he’d slaughter you for the comparison. He founded the largest contiguous empire in history, and you’re slumming for scraps from these three.”
Genghis smiled. “I will have far more than scraps soon. I set the traps that caught you, earning me my promised reward.”
“Your magic was unusual,” I allowed. I still couldn’t see the net around me, but I could feel it, and if I tried, I could squeeze a hand through it in places.
“It wasn’t his magic,” Morana said, her voice turning to a purr. “It was mine. He just fashioned it into the trap we used.”
That’s why I couldn’t see it! My father gave me the ability to see through Phanes’s illusions, which let me see normal magic, too, but Morana was, to put it mildly, not from around here, so her magic was far from normal.
“Trapping us isn’t the same as keeping us,” Ian said in a light tone. “Even in this net, two against four are odds I’ll take all day.”
Morana smiled. “Not two against four. We aren’t alone.”
Ruaumoko held out his hand. The ground shuddered and parted, revealing a network of hidden tunnels filled with scores of vampires and at least as many ghouls.
My teeth ground from how hard I clenched my jaw. Genghis might be a fake Khan, but he wasn’t as stupid as we’d thought. He’d only let us feel his aura so we’d underestimate their numbers, when there were many vampires here and that same number in ghouls.
Wait until I saw the ghost who’d told us that the gods were here! He’d left out a lot of important information.
“Mind if I crash the party?” a familiar deep voice said.
I tried to turn around, but only ended up seeing a very close view of Ian’s shoulder.
“Kill the demon!” Phanes hissed.
Genghis lunged forward, and Ashael appeared in my view.
“Oh, you don’t want to kill me,” Ashael said, with a wag of his dark brows at Morana, Phanes, and Ruaumoko. “After all, I’m the person who activated the trap that caught them.”
Chapter 41
The stunned silence was broken by Ian’s snarl.
“You scurvy son of a bitch! That’s why you went to that other patch of trees. You knew where the magic trip line was!”
“Guilty,” Ashael said, with an apologetic look my way. “I really am fond of you, but the chance to rule