“Fine.”
“Here we go, everyone. Three, two…”My eyes drift shut as I inhale and let the numbness settle inside of me.“One.”
His power wraps around us, and my blood heats from his warmth for a few blissful seconds.
Then the strong floral scent hits me and my lids fly open. The glistening home shines brighter than the sun. It’s damn near freaking blinding.
A stunned silence holds everyone still.
Until the first bellow breaks free.
Yemi’s power brushes across my skin as she places a barrier around any and everyone near her. My spine tingles from the familiarity.
Sevryn, Gladian, Mara, and I separate from her and the others with war cries pouring from our throats as we charge toward the small, oncoming army.
Fuck…there may be more than forty here now.
My stomach swirls as the first Dark God’s sword collides with mine. I lock my Chaos down as tight as I can. The emotions that threaten to burst out of me wouldn’t bring these beings to their knees today.
If anything, it’d make this battle a hell of a lot harder to conquer.
A shout of determination rips from my lips as I plunge my sword through his stomach. His dark blood drips off the tip while he hits the ground.
The first night I ever battled these beings races through my mind. I remember how petrified and panicked I felt when Creed told me there’d be ten of them to one of us.
Those feelings are nowhere to be found now.
The more the merrier.
The more we take down now, the fewer there are in the Abandon.
Steel clashes around me like a relentless symphony of violence that drowns out everything but instinct. Sevryn moves at my side. He has a sword but rarely wields it. His hands stretch out as he directs his Pain, efficient and lethal, while Gladian meets brute force with brute force. Each swing of his weapon shakes the ground beneath us.
Mara—crazy ass—has a bloodthirsty smirk on her face as she spins and stabs any who get within arm’s length of her.
Another Dark God lunges for me, and I pivot. His blade screeches against mine as I shove him back and swing the second one up, nearly slicing him in half.
There are so fucking many. They close in, pressing, testing, waiting for one of us to falter.
My grip tightens and my determination solidifies.
A scream tears through the garden, and a pinch of panic squeezes my heart.
“Sevryn!”
Yemi’s shriek may be muffled, but the fear in her voice isn’t. I swear time slows as I stare at the rippling bubble she has around herself, Doren, and Iric.
“No!”
Sevryn’s bellow pierces my ears as he races across the space to reach them. Dark God after Dark God continues to slam their swords against her hold.
Just like in Hellveilious, she’s holding her barrier strong.
Protecting them with all she has.
They will not lay a vile fucking finger on her.
My feet pound against the ground and I sheath my swords behind me before my mind catches up to the moment.
