“Maddison is not strong enough to fight their power on her own,” Axl said, sounding like he was cataloguing that information in his super brain. “Yes. That makes sense. It needed to be the three of yo—”
Power slammed into Atlantis, sending shockwaves through it. Louis turned, eyes drifting up to the sky. The tension in his body told me everything, but I already knew she was close. Her power was literally simmering in the air, visible to all.
“She’s almost here,” the sorcerer said, reaching for his mate, holding her close. Neither of them looked afraid though, facing this challenge with a stoic strength that was mirrored on most of the faces around me.
Come on, baby girl. Don’t waste all of this life.
Maddison loved a lot of the people here deep in her soul, where those spirits couldn’t touch.
I just had to hope she found her way to that place in time.
Chapter 36
Icould have appeared on the island in an instant. I knew where the voice was, I knew where everything was.
He was waiting for me on Atlantis, along with thousands of supernaturals, and a few gods.
For the first time since becoming the Mother of All, I felt an urge to gather my thoughts … to pull myself together.
There was also a brief urge to return my skin, cover the bones of my power with the vessel they all wore.
I didn’t, because it felt like a weakness, and someone with the task I had been assigned, could not be weak.
Sending power ahead of me, I had them focused on that approach while I snuck in from behind, wanting to observe them secretly, as I had done with the fishing boats, with the smugglers and mining moguls.
Giving them a chance to prove me wrong.
So far none had, but everyone deserved a chance.
One single shot at proving they shouldn’t be wiped from existence.
“...children to Faerie.”
They were discussing their children. One wanted to stay with them if this was the end, and another was grateful they might survive it all.
More heat stirred. That was surprisingly altruistic, and brave. Both of them could have been in Faerie too—if they’d had time to send their children there. It wouldn’t have saved them, but they didn’t know that. Instead they were here, with friends and family, ready to stand against the threat.
I was the threat, of course, and none could stand against me.
That in itself made them even braver.
Girl gang.
That asinine name ran through my mind and I wondered at the familiarity of their faces. There were so many scattered around, original Atlanteans, their energy ancient and slightly different to the current breed of supernaturals that populated the world today.
I recognized the new gods as possessing the energy I’d shared out into the world, and as I examined each of their faces, I felt more stirrings of heat in the place where a heart should sit, phantom emotions from an organ long gone.
I drifted closer as my false trail of energy got stronger, sending them all on alert. They faced the way they expected me to arrive, allowing me to approach from the side.
A puddle of fluid caught my attention, the blood darker than normal, tinged with blue and black … and gold. Standing in the middle of it, staring straight at me, was a man.
A familiar man.
The man I’d spared in the underworld.
Somehow he knew my other trail of power was a distraction. He knew I was here, the one strong enough to break through my protections and speak to me.
His skin was bronze, his hair dark with steaks of light, his eyes were green and gold. Original magic infused his essence, born from the daughter of the original Mother of All. There was something about him that stayed my hand, even though I wanted to strike him from the Earth at the same time.
