Fear floods me as I realize he’s waiting for me to give the command – for me to order our soldiers to their deaths.
No more running, I remind myself.
But just as I open my mouth to give the order, the ground beneath our feet begins to tremble.
My initial thought is that there’s an earthquake, until I remember the whole ‘world-ending destructive powers’ thing and spin to look for Leon and Irena.
“It isn’t them,” Sin says, tension lining his features.
“Then who–” I start, wondering if maybe there are fae who can control the elements.
Before I have a chance to ask, a chasm splits across the center of the field. There’s a deafening crack as the fissure grows, widening until it’s a gaping wound in the earth. Inky black shadows crawl from its depths, looking sentient as they twine and search.
I glance at Arianna, since the shadows look just like hers, only to find her looking ghostly pale. Her panicked, wide eyes are locked on the center of the chasm, and though I don’t hear it, I’m pretty sure she just whispered ‘oh, fuck.’
I figure out why a second later.
Soldiers begin streaming out of the smoky darkness. Each of them glows faintly silver as they raise their weapons and charge into the field.
They’re charging Need’s armies.
“Kitten,” Sin whispers, “I think that’s the Forsaken army.”
Awe thrums through the bond, as ghostly soldiers clash with fae soldiers, and sure enough, the ghosts cut through the living with ease.
Only these aren’t the twisted, terrifying creatures I freed in the Shadow Realm.
These souls are whole again.
“But how?” I ask.
I did the math (sort of). We needed hundreds of thousands of souls to free Hades.
There’s no way the last ten thousand were enough.
I’ve only just remembered that I’m not the only Reaper when a more solid figure emerges from the chasm.
His black hair looks messy under his obsidian crown, and like Sin, he’s wearing black fighting leathers. He turns toward us, and his icy blue eyes are sharp as ever.
Hades.
Holy fuck, it worked.
Something like hope sparks in my chest.
The God of the Underworld stares at us for a moment, and then lifts a brow as if to ask, ‘are you coming?’
He turns back to face Need’s army, and already, shadows are crawling out from him. They extendtoward the living soldiers, twining around them before diving down their throats. They die moments later with panicked, soundless screams.
His attack is met by the piercing rage of hundreds of angels, as they take to the skies, trying to take out the spirits from above. They attack in flurries of motion, only for shadows to occasionally snap out at them and drag them to their death.
“That’s our cue,” I murmur. “Think we might win now?” I ask Sin, taking in the thousands upon thousands of ghostly soldiers that continue to stream from the chasm.
He squeezes my hand a little tighter, his hard gaze fixed on something ahead of us. I follow his stare and watch as Irena’s power diffuses Hades’ shadows. Leon joins her, and together, they start taking out large swaths of the ghostly army.
“It’s not looking great,” Sin answers, before kissing me soundly. It only lasts a second when he pulls back to whisper, “I love you, kitten.” Then, he lets me go, apparating over to the other side.
The field becomes a riot of color as the three Destroyers start to fight.
