“Two.”
Hoping that after this, after she had time to heal, that she could find happiness.
“One.”
Because I knew—I’d always known that once we started the Apocalypse—we would die. Our purpose fulfilled.
“Now!”
Chapter 39
AfterIchewedoutMuriel and the horde of twisted creatures showed up, my focus narrowed. Not because I wanted to save the world or prove anything to my dad, I just wanted to protect my mates. This need to face anything, be stronger than anyone and kill anything that threatened them, rose up in me like a phoenix rising from the ashes of my past.
I didn't care what my issues were with how we had been mated. I didn't care if it was an elaborate plan that my father had made. My fear of us not working out in the interim of forever wasn't even a thought in my mind. All I knew, all I kept repeating in my head, was: take care of your mates. So I faced off against an overwhelming number of creatures designed to take me down with heat in my belly and determination hardening my heart.
As soon as they started to run in our direction, I ran to them. I called upon my magic, asking it to help me fight this horde with all that I had, maybe buying them enough time to wake up Pop Pop or release my father and uncle so we could all face them. My hands started to tingle, and flames licked up my arms. I made my hands into blades and started to cut into as many creatures as I could.
After getting a few of them out of my way, I made an error of judgment and looked towards Muriel and Behemoth. They were still encased in their glowing sphere of safety, but for the first time, Behemoth looked like he was going to regret my death. That had to count for something, right?
I suddenly felt something sharp swipe at my arm, cutting through my skin like paper. Rivulets of my blood streamed down my arm. Damn it!Pay attention, Lillian!
Right when I was about to tap into everything that I had and aim it at Muriel and her shield, I felt the air go still in the cave for just a second, notifying all of us that an enormous amount of power was about to be released.
I expected to find Pop Pop or my father and uncle standing, ready to show these beings what real divine power could do, when my mates’ marks started to burn. I looked down at my wrists, watched them swirl around, glowing with power until I saw them flicker. No!
Just as I turned around, I saw my amazing, infuriating, sexy mates all working as one to let out all of their power. The tastes that I had been sipping when I drank their magic down flowed around me. The laughter of victory swirled around my leg before it shot off into a creature, making it claw at itself until it stopped moving.
The brutality of battle flew through my hair, flowing into the next creature, who turned to its neighbor and started to beat the shit out of it. The weight of starvation circled my fingers before it latched onto a nearby creature. The creature screamed in silence as its body started to collapse, almost like it was eating itself from the inside out.
Finally, the inevitability of death caressed my cheek before it attacked a creature. Life drained from its eyes, and it fell to the ground instantly. This was their power. This was the power of the Four Horseman, and I smiled at the carnage they made. It was beautiful.
I looked over and saw that Muriel's shield had started to flicker with each creature that dropped. I rushed forward, seeing my only window of opportunity to get this bitch.
As I got closer, she started to eye me up and down before she looked back out at her dying horde of creatures. She screamed, a horrid, ugly scream that spoke of years of work, pain, and suffering. It was a scream that normally would’ve made me feel bad for her, wanting to do something for her, but now that I knew why she was screaming like that, I didn't give a rat's ass.
This bitch was one of those beings who wanted the world to burn just because she wasn't happy. Just because she wasn't given what she felt she was owed. I’d learned the hard way a long time ago that nothing, and I mean nothing, was owed to you. You had choices in life and consequences. How you handled those choices and consequences, how you handled other people, was on you.
Was the system perfect? No. But no system was when humans were involved. They were these creatures that were complicated, each one of them unique in their problems and how they handled them. Some figured it out, some didn't, but that didn't mean that you got to use and abuse their souls because you were jealous of them.
Because that was what it was. She was jealous that they got to have their good and evil, choosing which one they would commit to each day, when she was now on a set path that she wasn't allowed to divert from. That last part hit me hard, because I understood that, but when I looked back at my four mates, I wouldn't have chosen any other way. I was now fine with my fate, so long as I had them with me.
“This is your fault! You ruined all of this. You and your fucking mates. I was told they weren’t angelic or demonic… that they were Other. They shouldn't have that strength of power,” she screeched as she started to tug on her hair in her desperation.
“You're right. They are Other… They are the Four Horsemen.” I smirked with pride, watching her eyes fill with despair as she screeched out again, falling to her knees. I looked up at Behemoth, expecting to see hatred, but what I found was a calm sense of finality. He wasn't mad or distressed, almost like he was fine with this outcome too.
While Muriel was curled up on the floor crying about how this wasn't fair, how her plans were perfect, how she deserved better, Behemoth looked at me. He slowly took the cursed Ring of Disguise off his finger and dropped it into a satchel before tossing it over to me. I caught it, looking at Muriel to see if she realized what had happened, but she was lost in her head, mourning her failures, consumed with herself and her thoughts.
I looked down into the bag and saw cursed and blessed artifacts. The only one missing was the one on Muriel's finger. I frowned at the contents, then looked up at him, and my mind ran in circles to figure out what kind of trick this was.
He smiled at me and started to sign, his fingers moving slowly in order to let me read them properly.
Take the knife, pierce the shield. End it all. End our souls. She should not be recycled, and I don't want to exist for an eternity without her.
My heart started to pound as I realized that he knew. He knew that this was all wrong and that her mind was distorted, but he didn't care. He loved her. He loved her so unconditionally that he was going to make this choice for both of them, and he did it with a smile so I wouldn't feel guilty.
My eyes lifted to his again, giving him a second to reconsider. He started to sign again. This time he begged me with his expressive eyes.
Please. We are not important eternals in the grand scheme of things. Low on the totem pole. If we got recycled, we would just be in the same position again. This is for the best for us all.
