“Fight it, La-la!” Re grabbed my hand and offered me his power through our link.
“Thanks, but I've got this, babe,” I growled.
My trinity star suddenly blasted light from its nine points, each one representing an aspect of me. Three trinities made up my star, and each of them baffled the god machine. The power reaching inside me was cold, metallic, and apathetic—no matchfor the Trinity Star. My star was connected to the Great Magics and was born within a living being. It could change the past and the future, rejecting the confines of linear time. Under its glare, the machine's tendrils withered and withdrew.
I drew in a relieved breath. “It's gone.”
“But we're still trapped,” Anubis said.
“I've got one more option.” I glanced at Odin, and he nodded.
“What?” Hades demanded.
“I'm going to wish upon a star.”
As I closed my eyes, the gods questioned my husbands about my star. I tuned them out, focusing inward once more. The Elves of Alfheim had once called me the Trinity Star, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Yes, I held it inside me, and it comprised pieces of me, but it had become a separate entity. Sometimes it would grant my wishes, even without me asking. But it followed rules I had no control over. It would only grant my wish if it didn't change my destiny. Since I had no destiny anymore, I hoped that the rule was void.
Silently, I said to my star,I wish for the machine to be destroyed.
Nothing happened. Perhaps it was in the wording. I tried again.
I wish for the machine to be dismantled, preserving the relics inside it, without harm coming to anyone or anything.There, that covered it.
Still, my star remained silent.
Come on! This is for the greater good! I'm trying to save the realms.
I didn't expect an answer. My star rarely spoke. At least not with words. The last time it had been chatty had been when I, and therefore it, had gone dark.
So, I flinched when it said,True divinity protects this machine. You cannot destroy it, only outwit it.
My eyes popped open. The Trinity Star had helped me in the only way it could—by guiding me. This wasn't the first time it had guided me, but it was the first time it had been impotent against a foe. Its words had both terrified and encouraged me.
“Vervain?” Odin leaned into my view.
“It says it can't help against a true god.”
The room fell silent.
A few heartbeats later, Odin said, “So, it's true. This entity is a god—a real god.”
“If even the Trinity Star can't fight it, how do we?” Trevor took my hand.
“The Trinity Star says we can't fight it, only outwit it.”
Hephaestus stormed back into the room. “I'm telling you, when you can't conquer a foe, the best you can do is give it what it wants and pray for mercy.”
Viper stood up. Just stood up. It was enough to make the massive blacksmith god back down.
Then Shango, who'd been outside on the porch, gaining control of his fear, came striding in. “He's right. There is noother option. At least with Vervain controlling the machine, the realms are safe.”
I stood up.
My husbands joined me.
“I'm not giving in,” I said. “I'm finding a better battlefield.”
“No, you are not!” Fenrir knocked Hephaestus out of his way as he strode over to me. “You will not bind yourself to that machine. I forbid it. You are bound to too many already, little frami.”
