Her eyes met mine in a final glare, hating me until her very last moments. I couldn’t help but shake my head at her. I owed her nothing, yet I tried to find a way to save her life and she continued to spit in my face.
His move was quick, plunging the knife into her in one swift go. As the light faded from her eyes, I could have sworn I saw something within her gaze I never expected to see.
Remorse. I didn’t know what the remorse was for, but seeing that very human emotion from her as her life was snuffed out startled me.
“Casus! Incoming!”
Zora’s words had my heart soaring as I glanced into the sky. Sure enough, I spotted at least ten figures in the air racing toward us.
“Start the spell, Zora!” he yelled, pushing me to the very center of the room.
I briefly noticed Elias spreading something along the ground as Zora began to chant and dipped her fingers in the blood pooling around Zeus.
Red.
Green.
Blue.
After what felt like an eternity of separation, a moment of disbelief and overwhelming joy enveloped me as I saw them emerge. My monsters were here, and on the back of what looked to be archangels if I had to guess. My own hope soared, and I clung to it like a lifeline.
Zora began to draw symbols on her arms with the blood before moving quickly to do the same to Elias as he came to stand by us. Next up was Casus, but I knew they wouldn’t have time to get to me as familiar faces swooped into view, close enough now for me to make out all of their details.
Casus let out a growl, grabbing my arm in a bruising grip as my loved ones all quickly landed in a circle around the four of us. I didn’t care, focusing instead of the beautiful faces of the people I loved around me.
Not only were my monsters here, but so were all of Zurie’s mates, as well as Ama.
All of their faces were etched with determination and unwavering resolve as I took them in, bringing tears of gratitude to my eyes.
My eyes fell to a final figure I’d never seen before, and I gasped. The figure dropped their black hood, and a face devoid of any features other than multiple eyes of varying sizes and colors appeared. A voice boomed from them, despite not having a mouth to speak with. It seemed to echo around us all, full of authority and strength.
“Release the woman. You are under arrest for crimes against Ordinarius, Praeditus, and now also Divinus.”
Casus’ grip on me tightened, and I winced, unable to hold back the pain I was feeling. It felt as if he was trying to snap my bone beneath his grip.
Lucien floated forward, a snarl ripping from him as his eyes tracked the movement.
With Casus’ firm grip on the knife in his hand, I didn’t want anyone to make a move forward. I shook my head fervently at Lucien.
“No, I won’t release her, and you will all stay back unless you want to be killed just like the mighty gods here.”
Zer stepped forward, and for once I was so glad to have his unnerving power flowing around us. “All we have to do is let our light out, and you will be obliterated.”
My heart was beating frantically. Yes! Their divine light.
“If you were going to do that, you would have already,” Casus drawled before shoving me into Zora’s arms. “Clearly, doing so will harm our precious baby curse as well.”
My brow furrowed. I drank the tonic and I was immune to their divine light for…The truth dawned on me then. I needed to take a dose each week/ After taking the first dose, we trained with Ariel for five days. Today would be day seven post dose…I needed to take another serum to be safe from their light. I wasn’t sure if the dose just suddenly stopped working entirely. Maybe it was a slow trickle that would still protect me a little bit.
As Zora’s hand rose to trace the marks onto me, I shoved her away with a snarl. Elias grabbed me from behind, holding my arms. I kicked out each time Zora approached.
“I won’t do the binding!” I screamed.
A hell of a lot happened then. Casus and Elias disappeared and reappeared, but I watched as my monster's shadows morphed right alongside theirs, as if they could track them in their own shadows. Their colors flashed all around the room as Zora narrowed her eyes on me and took a step forward.
My nostrils flared as I blew out a breath and called my kunai to me, loving the familiar weight of the rope and knives in my hands. “Let’s go,” I muttered, swinging one side around to build momentum.
She dropped to the ground then, slamming her hand into the marble floor. Spiderwebs of black sickness, reminiscent of the ones she’d infected the ground around her at DIA with, rushed toward me through the marble. They surged up from the ground to wrap around my feet and ankles.
