I stopped when I realized what she was doing. The more I advanced, the sooner I’d tire. Clever. Instead of moving any closer, I anchored my feet, fisted my hands, and waited.
A roar sounded from behind me. My heart leapt. It was Kalen. By instinct, I started to turn, but a flash of movement stopped me. Andromeda had leapt a few steps closer.
“Your people are in trouble, particularly Toryn over there.” She nodded to her left.
I tried not to fall into the trap, knowing she wanted to distract me. But Nellie’s voice sounded from that direction. She was shouting, her voice almost lost beneath the roar of battle.
I ground my teeth and looked. Toryn was locked in a battle with a fae who could have been his twin, if it weren’t for the hollow white eyes and the long, curly brown hair. The enemy, Toryn’s brother, jabbed a spear toward Toryn’s gut. Nellie dropped the axe and rushed toward them with her claws raised, and my heart jumped into my throat.
I needed to go to her before she got herself killed, but Andromeda had drawn closer in the brief moment I’d glanced away. She was near enough to touch me now, if she tried. My attention felt pulled in a hundred different directions. My friends and family were in danger. Our warriors were struggling to hold the line against the invading army. But I could not look at them. Not if I wanted to end this for all of them.
Fisting my hands, I felt myself snarl, giving in to the darker side of my rage. “You seem awfully cautious, for an immortal god who claims nothing can kill her.”
Her hand shot out, and her fingers arched toward my throat. Expecting the attack, I swung my head down and to the side. Her arm passed over my head. Before she could get another shot in, I lifted my mud-caked boot from the ground and kicked her in the gut. She launched back a few steps, nearly losing her balance on the slick ground.
A gurgling sounded beside me. I couldn’t help but look, desperate to ensure those I loved were still breathing. A warrior—one of ours—was stuck face-down in the mud. He tried to free himself, his fingers grasping at the mud, but he could not breathe.
I started to reach out to help, but Andromeda swept toward me and knocked me aside. With a growl, she swiped her nails at my face. Pain ruptured in my cheek. Blood now coated her fingers.
“Don’t look at them,” she hissed. “Don’t look at anyone but me.”
All around me, people were dying. Out of the corner of my eye, another of our warriors crawled on his hands and knees, heaving. His face was gray and pale. He had the same look that Ruari had after he’d been infected with famine. The sound of wings punched through the roar of battle. Orion was spreading his power through our unit. Even if the warriors didn’t die immediately, his famine would weaken our fighters and make it easier to kill them.
It would spread quickly.
We were doomed. Unless I got those gemstones out of Andromeda’s eyes.
I fisted my hands. “All right, then. Let’s fight.”
It had always been meant to come down to this. Everything in my life had led to this moment, when I faced off against the God of Death.
She rushed at me, but this time, I was ready for her. As she swung her arm, I held up my own. My forearm blocked her. The force of her blow felt like a stone crashing against my bones, but I did not break. I did not crack. And I certainly did not back down from it.
As she recovered from the surprise of my block, I threw a punch toward her gut. I wouldn’t go for her face. Not yet. Not until I’d weakened her enough so she couldn’t stop me. Right now, she didn’t know I understood the truth. I’d only have one shot at this. As soon as she knew, she’d do whatever it took to protect the source of her power.
My knuckles crunched when they hit her stomach. Pain flared, ricocheting up my arm. I hissed through my teeth and ducked out of the way when she tried to grab my neck.
Laughing, she bent her knees and curled a finger at me, beckoning me to try again. “Did you truly think your mortal hands could damage the body of a god?”
“Your body is fae or human, just like all the rest of us,” I said, stepping sideways to circle her. “You may have strengthened that body, transformed it to your own liking. But you are nothing without it.”
She looked at me, surprised.
“What?” I laughed. “Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out after what you made me do to Caedmon with that gemstone? You need vessels, or else your tempestuous power can’t do a fucking thing.”
Growling, she narrowed her eyes. I smiled as she launched toward me in a furious frenzy. I’d been trying to goad her, and it had worked. With rage controlling her, she might just slip up.
She reached for my neck again, but she’d done it enough times that it didn’t catch me by surprise. I grabbed her hands and twisted hard. To my surprise, a bone crunched. A hissing scream ripped from her throat as she stumbled away from me.
“How are you doing that?” she spat, her eyes livid. “You’re a fucking mortal. You can’t harm me.”
I lifted my chin, staring her down. “I am the Daughter of Stars.”
Her eyes flashed, and her lips parted. But then that fury returned as she licked my blood from her fingers and spat it in my face. It trickled down my cheek. “And yet I am a god. I hold the power of life and death in my hands.”
“That’s true. But so do I.”
Steeling myself, I made my move. My wings shot from my back as I launched toward her. In one powerful beat of them, I was on Andromeda. I collided with her, knocking her onto the muddy ground.
