“Nor does he honor his bargains,” I agreed, stepping carefully away from the widening maw of darkness that had once been solid ground. “Gaspard was just a pawn.”
“And you?” my father asked, his eyes finally meeting mine. “What are you in this game, my son?”
Before I could answer, the darkness where Gaspard’s shadow had disappeared erupted in a fountain of flame and ash. Something was emerging not being pulled down but climbing up. A massive hand composed of living shadow and fire gripped the edge of reality.
“The anchor is broken,” I realized aloud, backing away as understanding dawned. “Gaspard wasn’t just the Dark Lord’s servant—he was the anchor keeping the curse in place from this side of the veil.”
“And now?” Theron asked, coming to stand beside our father, his sword still drawn though it would be useless against what was emerging.
“Now, we hope only the good who were trapped are what return.”
sixty-four
Isabeau
The Dark Lord’s power crashed against my magic like a tidal wave hitting a sandcastle. I staggered back, my hastily erected shields crumbling under his assault. Each attack stripped away layers of my strength, my inexperience painfully obvious as I fought the being who’d orchestrated my entire existence from the shadows.
He wasn’t just the Dark Lord. I could see it now in the depths of those burning coal eyes. He was Hades himself, god of theunderworld, playing with realms and forests and lives like a bored child with toys.
“You begin to understand, little godling,” he rumbled, his voice vibrating through my bones rather than my ears. “How small you truly are.”
My mother’s bow of golden light flickered in my grip, weakening with each blast of his darkness. Outside, the sounds of battle raged. Steel on steel, men shouting, animals crying out, but in here, it was just us. Me, the half-goddess who hadn’t known her own heritage until moments ago. Him, the ancient god who’d been manipulating events since before my birth.
And Enid, my aunt hovering at the edges, her haggard face beginning to fracture again, watching with conflicted eyes.
“I don’t care what you are,” I spat, gathering my faltering strength for another attack. “You won’t have this forest. You won’t keep my beasts imprisoned.”
I loosed an arrow of pure light, watching it streak toward his shadowy form. For a heartbeat, hope flared as the arrow pierced his chest, embedding itself in what should have been his heart. But Hades merely laughed, the sound like grinding stones, and plucked the arrow out. It dissolved between his fingers, my magic consumed by his.
“Brave words from a half-breed who only discovered her powers months ago,” he mocked. “I have walked between worlds for millennia. I have consumed the souls of gods far greater than your mother. What makes you think you can stand against me?”
The claiming mark on my shoulder pulsed, burning with the combined essence of my mates. Through it, I felt their strength, their determination, their love. But even that couldn’t fully replenish what Hades was draining from me with each exchange.
“She abandoned you, you know,” Hades continued, circling me like a predator. His form was solidifying further witheach passing moment, no longer smoke but nearly flesh, horns curving from a head that now bore features. Cruel, handsome, yet so terrible. “Artemis, goddess of the hunt, of wild things. She hid you away, disguised your power, left you to fumble in ignorance.”
“She protected me from you,” I countered, though uncertainty crept through me. Why hadn’t my mother taught me what I was? Why leave me so unprepared?
Hades smiled, teeth glinting like obsidian shards. “She feared what you would become. The potential in you.” He gestured to the bow. “That weapon you wield so clumsily? In your mother’s hands, it felled titans. In yours...”
He flicked his wrist dismissively, and a wave of darkness slammed into me. I crashed against the wall of the hut, bottles and jars tumbling from shelves around me. Something shattered near my head, splashing liquid that hissed and smoked against my skin. Pain lanced through me, but I forced myself upright.
“You talk too much,” I gasped, trying to sound braver than I felt.
Inside, my magic was faltering. The golden light that had flowed through me since awakening was dimming, retreating to a tiny core deep within my chest. I was draining faster than I could replenish, like a well running dry in drought.
Hades sensed it. Of course he did. His smile widened.
“I can taste your fear,” he said, voice almost gentle now, seductive. “Your doubt. You’re right to doubt, little godling. You are nothing but a half-made thing playing at power.”
“Isabeau, run!” Enid suddenly called, her younger half briefly dominant, eyes wide with an emotion I couldn’t name. “He’s too strong. You can’t—”
“Silence!” Hades roared, and a tendril of darkness lashed across Enid’s face, leaving a smoking welt. She whimpered, shrinking back, the older half reasserting control immediately.
I used his momentary distraction to gather what remained of my strength. The claiming mark burned hotter, feeding me energy that wasn’t mine. I could feel my beasts climbing, striving, reaching for me across the barrier. I could feel Alain fighting, his triumph as Gaspard fell. I wasn’t alone in this.
But was it enough?
I released everything I had in one desperate blast, channeling it through the bow. The arrow that formed was brighter than any before, trailing sparks of white-gold fire as it flew. It struck Hades square in the chest, and for one beautiful moment, his form wavered. Light shone through cracks in his shadowy flesh, and he staggered back, a look of surprise crossing his terrible face.
