I spin to face Zeus just as he launches himself at me. His lightning bolt slices through my chest, my heart stuttering as his eyes go wide. He clutches his chest as a rose of blood blooms on it. My tongue darts out to taste the metallic victory as Zeus collapses to his knees.
“How?” he asks.
I grin. “Don’t tie yourself to a woman who has love to fight for; she will always prevail. Good will always conquer evil.”
The gates slam closed and I suck in my final breath, watching as Zeus does the same. My eyes flutter and I relax into death’s grip.
“I’m coming home, Gran,” I promise.
41
Chapter Forty One
Archan
Loving someone makes you vulnerable, but to have that love returned makes you infinitely more powerful.
“Iswear to all that exists, if she is dead I will flatten this universe,” I seethe. Something within me tears down the center, the pain stealing my breath, forcing me to arch over. “Natia fucking Waterford, I will raise you from the dead and murder you in the slowest possible way.”
Jed glances behind me, his eyes widening. “Um, brother,” he starts.
“Don’t try to talk me down. I warned her, I owe nothing but a debt of rage.”
“Aww, baby, you missed me already?” the sweetest voice I ever heard asks.
The Duchess appears with Zee. She shoves him at Natia. “You owe me, Pandora,” she states, then disappears.
Natia drops a kiss on Zee’s head. “Someone needs to get him out of here,” she states. Marsha drops from her horse and grabs Zee’s arm.
“I’ll meet you back at the castle, they’re preparing your victory feast,” she says with a wink.
I spin and drop from my saddle, eyeing Natia up and down. I tilt my head. The pulse of the bond recognizes her. But something isn’t right. “What have you done?” I ask admiring the pure power pulsing through her body. She shimmers with it.
“I came back to you,” she states, straightening to her full height.
“Then who is holding Zeus in Tartarus?”
Nathan grins. “She is.”
I frown. “I’m confused. No one can teleport in or out of Tartarus.”
“I didn’t teleport her out. She split her mortal self from her immortal body. I took one of those back in time. Who you are seeing is actually Natia from a few minutes ago, at the moment of the split.”
Natia points at her wrist. The curse mark is gone. “The curse didn’t make me mortal. It separated my immortal and mortal self. I just had to pick which one to continue to live in. I only have one soul. So I left behind my mortal shell housing only a slither of my soul.”
“So your mortal self is trapped in Tartarus?” Duncan asks.
“Not for long. Marsha linked myself and Zeus. He ingested my blood from when I was mortal. He will murder my mortal body and destroy himself in the process.”
“So you chose immortality?” I ask.
She nods. “I chose to be the queen that can stand at your side.”
“Touching as this is,” Lucifer mutters as he reappears, “we have an army of monsters to murder. Buckle up, buttercup. The gates of Tartarus are sealed, but the fun is just getting started.”
Natia grins as she shrugs her jacket to the floor and slides her swords in her hands. She rolls her shoulders and pure gold wings erupt from her spine, twice as big as before, and infinitely stronger.
A moment of silence descends on the group. Natia has shed the last vestiges of her mortality, choosing immortality for me, for us. She is mine and will be at my side for an eternity. She tenses and lifts off the ground, swooping over the gaping demons. “Fight for your lives,” her voice hollers. “Fight for your families, fight for your freedom,” she states with a wicked grin. Lucifer’s wings burst from his back and he joins her in the air.
