Really, there are only three types of shit storms. First, there’s the ‘this is some bad shit, but I’ll escape with only a few new scars.’ Second, there’s the ‘Oh, Mother of God, I’m screwed, but I’m damned well going to take down the other bastard before he kills all my buddies,’ and then as a grand finale there’s the ‘I’m fucked. You’re fucked. Everybody is fucked. We’re all going to die.’

Anna decided her present situation was somewhere between the last two. She wasn’t at all sure if the four-armed, four-legged monstrosity holding her broken body in two of his massive hands was trying to heal her or kill her.

To judge by the pain, she’d guess kill. But then again, the prolonged agony wasn’t what she’d pegged as Lord Death’s modus operandi. Wasn’t Lord Death supposed to be the ‘good’ twin? Before all this started, didn’t the Avatars consider him a friend?

Just then another wave of Death’s acid-like power flowed across her skin and she screamed, her voice as broken as her battered body felt. Time was meaningless, the only certainty was that she’d been screaming for a frigging long time.

So much for a battle-hardened soldier.

The endless onslaught of Death’s magic continued to rush across her skin and into her body. Deeper, always digging deeper. Was he trying to rip out her soul? God be merciful. Please let it end.

“Soon,” a beautiful male voice whispered into her ravaged mind. “It will be over soon. And I promise you, once this is done, you’ll see that I am a friend.”

Friend? Dafuq you say! The Avatars needed better friends.

Anna blinked as sight slowly returned. Until then, she’d been blind to everything except the endless pain. A foot or two in front of her, a beloved and familiar, if a little blurry, image formed.

Shadowlight?

A muzzle dipped low and lapped at her face, washing the stinging sweat out of her eyes.

Yes. That was the kid. Did that mean this was almost over?

She blinked a few more times.

No. Not over. Lord Death was still holding her in his two lower hands while the upper two poised above her, pouring a torrent of power upon her. Shadowlight was sitting next to her, perched on Lord Death’s thumb with his tail wrapped around the giant’s wrist.

The sight made her feel something besides pain: tiny.

She felt as insignificant as a mosquito.

Her mind continued to clear. The pain grew less intense. Still dazed, she shook her head and blinked up at Shadowlight. The power was flowing across his skin as well, but he seemed unharmed.

Anna licked her lips and forced her mouth to form words.

“You okay, kid?” The words came out more of a wheeze.

He bumped his muzzle against her cheek. “I’m fine. You’re the one who nearly died.”

“Nearly? You mean I’ll actually survive this?” Whatever the fuck ‘this’ was.

Shadowlight glanced up at Lord Death. The giant nodded but continued to focus on his work. Which, apparently, was not peeling her like an orange to get to the juicy soul within.

Who would have guessed?

“Lord Death is working to undo the damage the blood witch’s magic inflicted upon your soul,” Shadowlight explained. “He says it’s much more complicated when the soul is housed in flesh, but I begged him to save your life.”

There was something more behind the words.

Oh, God. What had the kid bargained to save her life?