She was dying.
But she didn’t care. The goddess would die with her.
With one last shout, Trivia gave up everything, shovingher power into Pandora. She held the goddess still, ensuring she felt the full force of the blow.
An earth-shattering blast shook the walls. The construct vanished. The ground rumbled. Power exploded around them, ricocheting and bouncing as the darkness trapped inside the box swarmed. It was as if the magic had a soul, a mind… and it knew the end was coming.
Screams echoed in Trivia’s ears, mingling with her own. A funnel cloud of magic appeared, barreling toward her. The storm raged. The wind whipped at her.
But Trivia only smiled, because she had won.
She poured every ounce of her strength into the destruction of Pandora and her darkness. Drip by drip, the essence of her soul—of Pandora’s soul—vanished.
The darkness let out a shrill, broken cry. The funnel cloud faded. The wind died.
And as the last dregs of life bled out from her, Trivia slumped over, finally giving in.
She had won.
It was over.
She gave herself up to the darkness.
SHELTER
CYRUS
Lagos had managedto sniff out the Titans’ magic after they had traveled in the direction the fire witches had indicated. From there, it had taken Cyrus several tries to manage a faint wisp of his power to crack open a tear through the Titans’ wards. He was so used to explosive bursts of power that it took more finesse to hone his magic into a singular, precise strike.
Evander and Lagos had had to coach him through the process of projecting bolts of lightning into the sky. Neither of them were experts on the matter, and it had taken the better part of an hour for Cyrus to conjure lightning in the sky without looking at his target.
It was paramount that the Titans be unable to see him. If they discovered his location, they could destroy him on the spot.
But he needed to distract them from one side, whileEvander took the other, flying in the air to avoid the Titans’ strikes.
When Cyrus revealed himself, he had faced Oceanus. He had demanded to speak face-to-face with Hyperion and Atlas. His goal was to gather as many Titans as he could. If they were negotiating withhim, they wouldn’t be focused on Prue and Mona.
The moment he’d seen his wife’s face half covered in blood, a riot of emotions overcame him. Rage at the sight of the wounds that marred her perfect body. Pure, overwhelming relief that she was alive. That she was only steps away from him…
And then—Lagos.
Cyrus still couldn’t believe it. He’d watched Atlas twist Lagos’s neck. And in that moment, he had known it was too late. Prue was screaming, reaching for her friend, but if they returned for him, the Titans would capture them all.
Cyrus had to close the tear in the wards. They couldn’t retrieve Lagos’s body.
They could not revive him.
Prue continued to sob and scream until her body was overcome with tremors. Cyrus held her tightly, swallowing down his own grief and despair. He hadn’t realized how close a friend Lagos had become until the demon had died.
Now, Cyrus’s insides twisted and his chest cracked in two.
His friend was gone. His strong, courageous friend wasgone.
Eventually, Prue lost consciousness, but Cyrus refused to set her down. He marched alongside Evander and Mona,trudging through the sandy desert as they made their way back toward the fire witch coven. His steps were slow and clumsy, especially with Prue’s weight in his arms.
Even when Evander offered to carry her—even when his arms and legs screamed in protest—Cyrus pressed forward.
The pain distracted him from his devastation.
