“Retreat!” I shouted. “Everyone, trace!”
But as I mentioned earlier, our enemies kept everyone engaged and unable to trace. Everyone but me, and there was no way I'd leave without them.
Then King Arthur landed in front of me.
Jerry didn't have wings, but, as was the case with me when I was high on apple, he didn't need them to fly. He grinned viciously as he grabbed my throat and lifted me off the ground.
“I'm going to kill you now, Godhunter,” Jerry said. “You and all your husbands and then all your friends. When you're dead, your territory will be open for a god to claim.” He leaned in while I strangled. “But with Lucifer dead, I could regain Heaven. Decisions, decisions.”
I reached for the Trinity Star, but it didn't even spark, not so much as a twinkle. I started to summon my dragon, but with Jerry's tight hold on my throat and his super-strength, shifting could lead to my decapitation. Out of desperation, I called on Love, and the butterflies surged forward.
Jerry just laughed in my face. “Pathetic. Your whore tricks won't work on me.”
It had been a long time since I'd felt so powerless. I was the Queen of the Fire Kingdom, the Goddess of the Intare, and the fucking Godhunter! I had a star formed of magic trinities inside my chest. I had nearly ruled the world once. And yet this drunkard god was going to defeat me with a bite of apple grown in my husband's orchard? No, this couldn't be possible.
“Vervain!” I heard several men shout.
There were roars and howls, but I knew none of them would reach me in time. I felt the bones in my neck snap as my feet kicked open air. Being short sucks sometimes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hanuman grow to the size of a parade float and start snatching Angels out of the sky. Holy shit. This was it. The end of me. The end of all of us. Jerry was going to win.
No, wait. I had one last trick up my sleeve. A power I hadn't used in a long time. One I'd nearly forgotten about even though the tool I used with it hung around my neck. And Brevyn had reminded me of it. Oh, that little rascal!
My hand was already wrapped around Jerry's wrist so it took only a second for me to connect with his magic. My son hadn't received his Borrowing magic by chance; it was inherited from me. Borrowing was a new magic, one that had evolved from my ability to claim the magic inside gods. God magic came from human belief, making it more ours than theirs. But most humans can't hold god magic; it would kill their mortal bodies. As a human and a goddess, I could holdandwield it. That being said, I had three magics inside me already and couldn't take anymore without risking a deadly burnout. But the emerald I wore—a gift from Odin—helped me get around that. It could temporarily hold god magic.
With mental fingers, I grabbed the bright mass of magic inside Jerry, the burning ball of creation that took the shape of a cross in my mind. I gripped it tightly, then pulled. Jerry didn't notice the draw at first. He was too high on apple and the victory he was so close to achieving.
Then his grip weakened enough for me to gasp a breath through my damaged throat.
I pulled harder, using every ounce of my mental strength. Swirling lights of blue, green, yellow, and red encased the cross. The Wild Magic. Sure, why not? I'd take that too. I tried to readjust my grip to include it, but it just slipped away. Okay, never mind, I guess I couldn't take that. Even though I was Fey, it wasn't mine to claim. It was wild and free, rooting in whoever accepted it first. It would stay in Jerry until it burned itself out. Oh, well. I'd have to satisfy myself with his Light.
Jerry dropped me.
It wouldn't have been a problem except that I still had a broken neck. I fell to the ground as he dropped to his knees, my head lolling painfully. If I could have screamed, I would have.
“You bitch,” he whispered. “What are you doing to me?”
I summoned my fire. Not to harm him but rather heal me. As it surged up my throat, my bones mended and clicked back into place, the fire working faster than my immortality. As soon as my neck was healed, I rolled to my knees and grabbed Jehovah's jaw, increasing the strength of our connection.
Finally able to speak, I growled, “I'm taking it all back, asshole! Every fucking prayer and ounce of praise ever given to you. Everything you don't deserve.”
“No!” He shoved me away with a blast of air, sending me sliding far enough back to give him a chance to gain his feet and stumble away. “It doesn't matter,” he hissed. “You will still lose. Look around you, Godhunter. The Devil is on his knees!”
My gaze followed Jerry's and sure enough, there was Luke, on his knees, fighting off a mountain of bears, his wings bent beneath their weight. Just as I'd feared, the sheer numbers of Jerry's forces would win in the end.
“Father, please!” Jesus shouted. He'd been overpowered by Suparnas, but instead of killing him, they were dragging him toward the palace.
Jerry ignored his son.
“Trace, Vervain!” Odin, in dragon form, roared. Then he angled his head to bite a flying monkey and tear it off his back.
Six more took its place.
“The fuck I will.” I shifted into my weredragon body—claws, wings, scales, and horns sprouting from me in seconds while I grew in bulk and height. I tossed back my mane of hair, the starlight stripe sparking, and crouched into a battle stance. At my throat, the emerald winked at Jerry as if taunting him.
“Trace home and get help!” Trevor shouted at me.
Damn. I hadn't thought of that. Duh.
But just as I prepared to trace and Jerry started to run toward me, a circle of darkness opened behind me and all Hell broke loose. Literally. The darkness spat out the Horde of Hell and at the head of the Demon Army flew two dragons—one fully beast and the other a faerie king. On the beast's back rode the Goddess of the Crossroads, but not for long. Hekate leapt off Salem and stood beside the pathway she had opened, her hands lifted to hold it open.
