Zeydan approaches me and wraps me in his arms as my grandma approaches her sister with a sad look in her eyes.
I watch with worry as Sanshia approaches Smith. I did promise him to Brannock, but I am sure he would understand if she killed him. All she does, however, is spit on him.
“Rot in hell,” she growls.
Zeydan places a kiss on my temple. “It’s time, love. Get the orb,” he tells me, and I pull away from his embrace and reach into my safe space and retrieve the orb. When I pull it out, it flares brightly like a beacon, and I feel the power inside it as it shudders in my hand.
“The power wants to return to its rightful homes,” Liliana tells me as she approaches me, Vivax floating behind her.
“How are you going to stop the power from going into her instead of me?” I ask. They were never clear on that part.
She holds up a knife that gleams much like the one I was stabbed with on Earth.
“That has the correct fail-safe formula I told you about.” Zeydan points to the weapon. “When we stab it into her, it will block her from receiving the power, and the power will seek out the next suitable host.”
“Me,” I confirm, but the gods surround me, and I start to feel a moment of panic. “What’s going on?” I demand, and Zeydan steps back to join his brothers and sisters, mouthing, “I’m sorry.”
“Beam now,” Saxon shouts, and I feel my body start to dematerialize. I scream in horror at my last view before I become particles, the gods and my father remaining behind.
“No!” I scream as my body rematerializes in the hangar of the Vilaxian ship with all the other beings wearing transport beacons.
“What have you done?” I scream at my mates. Tirrian, Saxon, Xavier, and Silac are all trying to talk to me. “Send me back now. I will not let my father do this. He has sacrificed too much.” I hit them as they surround me, caging me between their bodies.
“Lila,” my mom’s gentle voice calls, and I turn, tears clouding my vision, to find her pushing her way between Saxon and Xavier before pulling me into her arms.
“It was what your father wanted,” she tells me. “You’ve been through enough and have twelve mates and many children relying on you.”
“But he has you, Bubby, and Bastien,” I sob, and she shakes her head sadly.
“Us being bound to Bubby is what made him make the choice. Bubby and I should survive if anything were to happen to him. Don’t cheapen his sacrifice by being angry,” she tells me, and I feel a wave of guilt as my grandpas join us.
“We will be out of range in a few minutes. Do you want to watch by the viewing window?” they ask, and I grimace.
“What are we going to watch? Our loved ones destroying themselves?” I snap, and Eric shakes his head.
“No, Lila! The rebirth of old gods is not something you see every day and shouldn’t be missed.” He doesn’t sound worried in the least, so I go with everyone to the viewing deck. The Vilaxian military takes care of the remaining members of the Syndicate and the poor men who had been slated as Madovian incubators.
Brannock disappears in the direction Smith is taken. They are all still frozen by warlock power, and it’s easy to handle them and less noisy. I wouldn’t want to be those soldiers when they unfreeze. Shit will hit the fan.
We reach the viewing window, and we can see the planet in the distance. We’re joined by the warlock and Vilaxian royal families. Saxon wraps his arms around me and whispers, “I’m sorry.” I sigh and sag back into him. It wasn’t his fault. I should have guessed they were planning something.
“Your dad wouldn’t take no for an answer,” he tells me. “And Zeydan was completely on board. I was outnumbered.”
“Don’t blame anyone. This is how it is supposed to be. It’s all going to be fine, I can feel it,” my mother says, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze as a small glow appears on the planet.
“It’s starting,” John whispers, and we fall silent as the glow grows bigger and bigger until it encompasses the whole planet.
“Whoa, isn’t that going to destroy the planet?” I ask.
“No, they thought that because it was full of that metal they use in the fail-safe compound, it would be resistant to the power, and it would have no choice but to flow back into their bodies,which is what it will want to do,” William explains, not taking his eyes off the view in front of us.
The white glow starts to change color and break off—white, red, green, blue, pink, and black. Each of the colors grow until they explode in what looks like a burst of fireworks, each color blending with the others. Mom and I scream, and there are gasps of horror around us.
“No!” I sob as the fireworks clear, and there is nothing in sight but the planet still in one piece. “What happened? Did it go wrong?”
“I would say it all went very right,” an otherworldly voice says behind us.
As one, we all spin to see where it’s coming from. Standing there in their god forms are the four elemental gods. Zeydan is in his familiar form, but it’s hard to look at him because he’s so perfect now. Aarin has the same wings and a head like a bird. Hurricane floats in the air, his mer tail shimmering with blue and silver sparkles as his hair drifts like it’s underwater, a giant trident in his hand. Sanshia is the most different. Gone is the emaciated woman, and in her place is a curvy goddess with black eyes and dragon wings, and she is surrounded by flames that don’t burn anything they touch.
