The thud was sickening.
Ares collapsed, the sound echoing louder than it should have--louder than the clash of fangs and roars of war outside. Jodie flinched, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at her outstretched hand, still trembling from the force of the blow. The force of the knife that was buried deep in his chest.
A low howl rose from somewhere beyond the coven walls, fierce and grief-stricken. Undead shrieked in reply, their distorted screams filling the distant air like a twisted orchestra. The war was still raging. But here... in the coven room, everything stood still.
Valiah Hundra paced silently around them like a prowling shadow, hands clasped behind her back, her steps light but her presence enormous. Her long robe dragged across the obsidian floor as she walked the perimeter, eyes briefly closing at the sound of another distant explosion—earth trembling, wolves grieving. She didn't flinch.
