“Good.” The goddess snapped her fingers.
I stood in a place of stone and earth.
“My proposal is simple. Take my position, and I will strip the rest of those locks on your magic. You will finally become who you were meant to be, and I can…” The ancient goddess smiled. “Well, I can retire.”
I stared at her. “I have no idea what position you hold. Why would I agree to such an open-ended thing?”
“Child, you’ve already been doing much of my job already.”
My eyes narrowed. “Danu?”
The goddess smiled. “It is nice to meet you, Evangeline.”
I sighed. “I don’t have to kill Caelan, but he’s not leaving my territory without punishment.”
“The spell is worse on his property. A lesson, if you will, for his treatment of my favorite daughter.”
Realization slammed into me with the force of a train. “You,” I breathed. “You’re the one responsible for all of this? This horrific spell killing the earth?” I stared at her in horror. A goddess responsible for nurturing the world and all the green and wonderful things inside it had gone to extraordinary lengths to bend me to her will.
I was so, so tired. When would this stop? When would all these gods and goddesses and Lords realize I was not their plaything and could not be molded into the shape they wanted?
“You needed a nudge,” the goddess said simply.
“A nudge,” I echoed. “Anudge? You almost got my mate killed, you tree-bark bitch!”
Danu’s smile fell away. “I care not for the love lives of others,” she snapped. “You are the only one with the power required to maintain this world. I am…diminished.”
I resisted the urge to kill this bitch, and it took everything in my power to stay my hand. But as I stood there, horror filling my veins at her sheer arrogance and cruelty, I made a silent vow to myself and to the world. I would take her down. One way or another.
When I’d gotten my fury under control, I crossed my arms over my chest. “What does this have to do with Caelan?”
“I will show you the potential of your power, Evie, something no one but I can do. You will become limitless. Once you have the power you were always meant to, punish him how you see fit, but do not kill him. The Lords play deeper games than many of us can see. I can’t see everything, Evangeline, but I can seekilling him will cause a chain reaction none of us are prepared for. You are within your rights to punish him. Not even the Lords will argue. But be clever in how you approach it, girl.”
“What do you mean, the power I was always meant to have?”
Danu’s eyes sparkled. “Someone put a lock on you. There’s no telling when or who did it, but that’s one of the main reasons you cannot access the full well of your power.”
“Dad would have seen it,” I argued.
“No. He never looked hard enough. I felt it when you were in the earth with me. We were…joined in a way. Someone doesn’t want you to reach your potential. Start there, girl. Your journey, and that of your hated Lord, is not quite over.”
The supposed lock aside, Danu wasn’t telling me this because she was benevolent or gave a shit about me. “You want me to be Mother Earth.”
Danu grimaced. “I hate that name. It makes me sound like a flowery princess. But yes. I want you to become the earth’s guardian.”
“I’m the fae queen.”
“I’m aware. This bargain will only help you more firmly secure that role.”
I studied her. “Why don’t you just rip off that lock anyway?”
Danu laughed. “Because I am fae. We do not do things for free.”
“Don’t I know it. Bunch of assholes,” I grumbled. “I have no idea how to be a steward of the land. I already am on my own lands, but the world is a vast place.”
“The knowledge will come to you when your power becomes unsealed.” Danu smiled. “It is not as difficult as it sounds. With the job comes a knowing. You will know where the earth bleeds, Evangeline.”
“Will this help my Chimera magic?”
