Holy shit. They really thought they could take down a god.
“While I really do love that idea,” I purred, standing to my feet in front of him, “and forgive me for my lack of knowledge as I’m not as seasoned as you, but isn’t he immortal? How will we sacrifice him without being able to kill him?”
With a roll of his eyes, he summoned shadows around him, allowing them to curl around his form. “You really think I would come to this realm without a way to kill a god? I’m wounded, baby curse. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow.”
And just like that, he was gone, leaving me wondering what the fuck I’d just agreed to do in order to buy myself more time tomorrow.
I sent a plea to the universe.
Please let my mates get here in time tomorrow.
I crawled into the bed, fear and uncertainty warring with my mind for hours, unable to sleep as I thought of all the countless ways this could go wrong. Not once did I come up with a scenario in which this went well for me if my monsters didn’t show up before I sealed my fate to the other curses.
I tried summoning every weapon I could think of to break through the walls of my room in my time of desperation. They all just bounced off of them, like the magic imbued in the weapons was nullified here.
I tried to blast my raw power through the room and was met with the sight of it simply dissipating as it passed over everything around me.
My energy reserves dwindled quickly, and I made the tough decision to stop making escape attempts, knowing I needed to keep some of my energy if I hoped to fight tomorrow morning.
When I finally closed my eyes, my thoughts turned to my monsters. I pleaded with them mentally, as if they could actually hear me.
Please don’t come for me tonight. Trust me to handle this until you can get here safely.
What I said to Elwin had been the complete truth: if they were killed, there would be nothing left for me to fight for.
Chapter 21
ALEXANDRA
A gentle shakehad my eyes flying open. My body instinctively jerked away from whoever was touching me.
“Ms. Alexandra, it’s just me!” Maria gently cooed, and I blinked rapidly until my eyes focused on her.
She held her hands up, backing away from the edge of the bed. I let out a heavy sigh as my adrenaline continued to surge, remembering that today was the day I needed to take my destiny in both of my hands and say fuck the odds.
I was going to figure this the hell out.
I hadn’t heard the sounds of war breaking out from outside of the home overnight. Unless it was soundproof, I was going to take the small victory–the knowledge that my mates and the archangels had waited as I instructed–and use it to boost me to fight today.
“Did anything happen last night, Maria? Were there any unexpected visitors?”
She confirmed my suspicions with a shake of her head. “No, but I came very early this morning to see if there was anything else you needed from me today. You aren’t expected to be at the meeting for another two hours.”
The fire in her eyes fed my own, and I decided to ask her something that had been on my mind and would decide my next move.
“Maria, how many here in your position are willing to take a risk to escape this place, even if it means possibly being caught?”
Her eyes widened. She shook her head once more, stammering, “I…I…there are a lot. Hundreds of us are just waiting for our chance to leave.”
I felt my own eyes widening as I stared at her in quiet shock. Holy shit. Hundreds of people were being held captive and forced to work for the gods.
My thoughts turned to how I could utilize their desire to escape without actively risking their lives in the process.
“Maria, how quickly can you get word out to all of those willing to risk it? I have something in mind, but it will have to be timed perfectly, and you will be very close to a battle that’s going to take place.”
She took a deep breath and nodded her head, a deep determination emanating from her eyes. “I will get it done, whatever it is.”
* * *
