“Ra cannot be killed,” Nephthys spoke, his voice like thousands of glass shards scraping against stone. My companions winced. “We showed the battle to the Devourer’s daughter. She is separated from you, and you have no shield now. Where is she?”
“She is busy,” I said.
“So you brought useless friends,” Nephthys sneered.
The heirs bristled. No one had ever dismissed them so casually, but arguing with these broken gods would be pointless.
“Let’s keep this civil,” I said, surprised to find myself as the voice of reason. “We need to be productive.”
“You cannot kill what refuses to die,” Isis said, her single eye locking onto me with terrifying intensity for a fleeting moment. “No earthly spell, power, or weapon can destroy him.”
“Do not despair,” I replied. “Barbie and I have acquired some angelic weapons. We just need to determine how best to use them. Three minds are better than one.”
Heaven’s Arrow came to my mind, the weapon that had separated Barbie and me. I would not share specifics with these ancient gods yet. While they opposed Ruin, I did not know if we could truly trust them. Gods were fickle.
“If we cannot kill him, then we must contain him,” Rowan said. “Is that your suggestion? What cannot be destroyed can still be caged.”
Nephthys and Isis seemed to communicate silently, their broken forms pulsing in unison.
“These useless boys waste our time,” Nephthys declared. “Bring Barbie here. She has not fulfilled her promise to visit us.”
“We will bring Goddess Barbie,” Cade said smoothly. “But first, we need more information about Ruin so we can help her defeat him.”
“Ra came from the void between stars, from the hungry darkness that exists beyond all creation,” Nephthys revealed.
“Barbie mentioned her father was an alien god,” Cade prompted. The mage prince had an uncanny ability to draw out information.
“The Devourer exists only to consume,” Nephthys hissed, sending a chill down my spine. “It is never sated. The more energy it devours, the hungrier it becomes.”
“What if we find a way to return it to the void?” Rowan asked.
“Where exactly is this void located?” I pressed.
“He craves you more than his own daughter,” Isis said, her gaze fixed on me. “You are the last drop of the old magic. Barbie once shielded you, but now you stand exposed. You must hide here with us. If he consumes the oldest magic, Earth will become a barren waste. Let his daughter fight him. She alone carries the curse and the knowledge to bind him. She was prophesied to bear both light and darkness. Now, leave. We grow weary.”
“Tell us more,” Cade attempted. “We’ll protect both Barbie and Sy.”
“You cannot protect them,” Nephthys scorned. “You boys are beneath their level.”
“We don’t need them.” Silas stepped forward, his chest swelling with wounded pride. “You got your asses handed to you by Ruin eons ago. Now you’re nothing but mad remnants.”
“Silas, shut your mouth,” Rowan warned.
“They act like they’re still the shit,” Silas continued, gesturing at the broken deities. “No one disrespects and dismisses us like that. I won’t allow it. Look at them—freaks who can barely hold themselves together. And you think they can help us fight something that reduced them to this pathetic state?”
The shapeless forms of the ancient deities shifted ominously. Power lashed out and slammed into Silas. One second, he stood there, chest puffed in stupid arrogance. The next, the big bad wolf king floated spread-eagled, naked and utterly exposed, his frozen dick sparkling in a bizarre and terrifying display.
We stumbled back, shocked. Silas struggled to shift, but it was useless. He couldn’t move a single muscle. A whimper escaped his throat. The anger and arrogance in his amber eyes vanished, replaced by pure panic. It was likely the first time he had ever felt so completely powerless.
Even shattered, the deities could overpower any heir. And without Killian to combine their forces, the heirs stood no chance against the beings before us.
“Shit, they actually froze his dick!” Cade was the first to find his voice.
“His dick is going to snap off,” Louis called out. “We have to help him!”
Barbie and I would have laughed our asses off if we’d been the ones to orchestrate this humiliation. But when the attack came from outsiders against any member of our group, it was a serious offense.
“Release him, now!” Rowan snarled.
