by Lila Jean
Cora still held the sword in her left hand, limp and grazing the floor as she glared at Tina, her right hand nursing the wounded shoulder.
“I don’t think you’ll need this anymore,” Tina said, lifting the staff and breaking it in half across her knee. After all, the true owner, the real god or goddess worthy of such a magnificent weapon, was gone, and there would never be a host to wield it again. Tina felt no need to preserve these weapons since their masters had been killed off long ago by the Stratford family.
“No!” Cora screamed as the magnificent staff fell to the floor, the energy leaving it like a soul leaving a body. The wood became dull, now nothing more than splinters on the floor, and Cora gritted her teeth in anger. “You bitch!”
“Oh, I’m the bitch?” Tina laughed and readjusted the dagger in her hand, ready for the unavoidable charge as Cora’s anger inevitably got the best of her.
Sure enough, Cora ran for her, swinging the blade with expert precision, trying desperately to drive it into her chest as the trident bounced against her waist. Tina would have to get that and destroy it quickly since it posed the greatest threat, but luckily the wound would prevent Cora from wielding the two weapons simultaneously.
Tina and Cora swung at each other, their skirts swishing as their deadly dance took them across the stone floor, Cora getting angrier and angrier with every missed blow. Tina baited the woman, trying to piss her off, knowing that the more unhinged Cora was, the better Tina’s chances of winning.
Get the sword, Tina told herself. Then the trident.
She swung her dagger, strategically timing it so that Cora would pull back, step away and regroup, and Tina used the moment to sweep out the woman’s legs. Cora fell onto her back, the sword clattering on the floor, giving Tina a better target than she had anticipated. Seizing the moment, Tina drove the dagger toward Cora’s chest, but Cora rolled away at the last minute. Instead of killing her, like Tina had hoped, she drove the magical dagger into the stone, the deafening clang of metal against rock echoing through the room.
When Cora rolled away, however, she had left the sword behind. Tina reached for it since her newfound dagger was stuck in the floor, and when her hand wrapped around the sword’s hilt, she realized why Cora liked it so much. Her body hummed with life and vigor, and when she lifted the blade, it was as if it weighed nothing at all.
Somehow, the metal spoke to her, more through feelings than words, but the sensations reverberated through her like wind through the sky. You are safe, she felt the blade say. I will protect you.
“Okay, that’s awesome,” she said under her breath, briefly pausing to admire the sword. “I don’t think I can destroy you.” She returned her attention to Cora, who whipped out the trident and hesitated, circling Tina, warier now as she was left with her final, and perhaps most devastating, weapon.
“You are dead,” Cora seethed, her hair messy and knotted, flying around her face as they fought. “I’m going to make every last breath of yours hurt.”
“Sweet talker,” Tina said with a playful wink, just to piss her off.
Cora yelled in anger and swung the trident at Tina’s face, her arms, everything she could. It was as though she realized this was it, her final chance, the last desperate moments for her to cling to life, but Tina refused to let this go on any longer. With one deft blow, she struck the trident with Cora’s own sword, bringing the edge of the blade down hard between two of the three prongs with such force that a massive crack formed in the base of the weapon. Fast as lightning, Tina lifted the sword and struck again, dealing the final blow. The trident broke in two and clattered to the floor, the shimmering metal fading, growing dim, and Tina felt a surge in power as her magic was restored to her. She smiled, briefly closing her eyes in instinctual joy as the power Cora had stolen was finally returned.
With no weapons left, Cora fell to her knees before Tina. “Please,” she begged, her voice choked with tears. “Tina, please. I concede.” She grabbed Tina’s skirts, bunching them in her hands, her mascara running as Tina looked down at her in revulsion. “You’ve taken everything from me, my home, my heritage, my power, my name.” She sobbed. “I’ve lost everything, thanks to you, but please at least leave me my life. I beg you.”
“Pathetic,” Tina said quietly, wrinkling her nose in disgust as the horrible woman tugged on the tattered remains of Tina’s beautiful gown.
“Please,” Cora said softly as the tears ran down her cheeks. “Let me live.” She looked up at Tina, finally looking her in the eye, and sniffled. “I can be useful. I still have contacts.” A brief and eager smile flashed across her face. “I can get you anything you want, I swear it. Name it, and it’s done.”
“There’s nothing—”
“Money,” Cora interrupted, her voice breaking as she desperately pleaded for her life. “Notoriety. Power. Any government you want will bow before you. Just name it, Tina.” Cora’s chest heaved with desperation as she sat on her heels, still clinging to Tina’s dress. “Name it, please.”
For a moment, Tina simply stood over Cora, fully accepting the fact that she could show this woman mercy. True, she had killed before, and even though she didn’t take any joy in taking a life, she would kill again if it meant protecting the five kingdoms and the men she loved.
Twice now, however, Tina had witnessed her princes in this same position, and each had chosen differently. In his mercy, Draven had reunited with his father and healed a kingdom. In his justice, Antony had saved Wolfcrest from a power-mad king who was doomed to destroy them all by pitting the kingdoms against each other from the start. And here, Tina had to make a similar choice, to spare the woman who had tried to kill her so many times, who had threatened her princes, before whom entire countries trembled in fear.
“You tried to kill my princes, the men I love most in this world,” Tina said, eyes narrowing, her hands balling into fists. “I should kill you for that alone, but no, you didn’t stop there. You’ve done everything in your power to destroy me, to toy with me, to break me before you killed the goddess I’m sworn to protect.”
Tina kicked Cora’s hands away, and the woman fell to the ground, glaring up at Tina through her alligator tears, the ruse failing. “You and your horrible family have done unspeakable things to the gods, and I refuse to allow it to continue. No, your family and your power ends here, today, with you.” Tina lifted her chin like a queen as she delivered the final verdict. “Nothing you have, nothing you can do, is worth letting you live, Cora Stratford.”
With that, Tina drove her dagger into Cora’s chest, not stopping until the hilt slammed into the skin. Cora gasped in pain and shock, grabbing the blade as she gasped for air, staring blankly at Tina as she groped for the weapon. Her hands wrapped around Tina’s, and Tina forced herself to watch Cora die, to drive home the responsibility she had taken on by delivering the verdict.
Cora’s skin slowly turned to ash, the gray color spreading over her skin, radiating from the wound like a rash as it consumed the woman entirely. Cora gasped, apparently unable to speak or make any noise at all, her face distorted in silent pain as the magic ate away at her body. Bit by bit, she faded to dust, crumbling until nothing remained of her but a pile of ash on the floor.
Just like that, the battle was over, and in her relief, Tina kicked the pile of cinders that was once the most powerful enemy she had ever faced. A small plume rose from her foot, but Cora Stratford was finally gone.
Victorious, Tina could only stare at the place where Cora had been, almost unable to fully believe that the fight for her life, for her princes’ lives, was over. With Cora’s death, the war had ended, and she and her men had finally won.
43
Draven
When Cora died, the room went deadly silent. Everyone held their breath, the collective sense of shock and relief overwhelming as they stared at the pile of ash on the floor that once was Cora Stratford.
For the first time, the rumbling sound of war filtered through the windows a
long the tops of the walls, and a massive shadow passed overhead, blocking out the sun as it flew by. A dragon, no doubt. The blistering patter of gunfire and the shrill yells of men at each other’s throats cut through the air, distant but nonetheless chilling.
“Anthony, call off your wolves!” Draven said, pointing toward the hallway.
The great black wolf nodded but, before running off, he sauntered toward Tina and pressed his face against hers, growling softly, almost intimately as he nuzzled against her. She chuckled and ran her hands over his face, closing her eyes as she leaned against the space between his eyes, his massive head nearly as large as her torso. When she released him, he bumped his nose playfully against her shoulder and bounded down the hallway, his wolves in tow as they sped away.
“Thank the gods you’re all right.” Flynn grabbed her and kissed her deeply, and Zane nuzzled her neck, purring happily as she rubbed his face. She beamed at them all, their beautiful and victorious goddess, the One Queen.
“Tina, thank goodness.” Killian wrapped his good arm around her and held her close, leaning his head against hers and sighing with relief even though he looked like he would pass out at any moment from the blood loss.
“Amy,” Tina said, her smile falling as she looked at Killian with worry. “Where’s that demigod medic?”
However, as the war raged outside, Draven had one more task to complete before he could celebrate with them.
“I knew you could do it,” he said happily, relief oozing from him as he pulled her close and planted a deep and passionate kiss on her mouth. She laughed beneath him, stealing breaths as he ravaged her, cradling her head in his hands. “Stay here, okay?”
“Draven, what—”
Draven backed up, giving his body over to his dragon and allowing himself to finally shift, backing up to the wall seconds before his full red dragon took over. Tina gasped and backed away, Flynn holding her tightly as he led her out of the way, and the demigod gave Draven a resolute nod. This was all part of the plan, after all.
Scales glistening in the sunlight that streamed through the windows, Draven pushed hard against the wall, elbowing it and beating it with his tail until it crumbled under his brute strength. Blocks of stone tumbled down the mountain, kicking against the edge and soaring toward the ground far below. Draven perched on the edge and spread his wings, roaring into the sky in victory before taking flight.
He soared through the air, toward the tallest spire of the Wolfcrest Stronghold compound, and once he reached it, he dug his powerful claws into the stone, his bright scales gleaming in the light like a beacon. He roared into the sky again, giving the victorious scream all his might, signaling to his armies that the war had ended. One by one, his dragons began to circle him, each of them roaring in answer, the sky filled with the shrill and terrifying calls of the most powerful beasts on earth. Several flew over the mountains to warn the other armies, as they had been instructed, and soon the deafening beat of hundreds of dragons’ wings cut through the air like helicopters as they swirled above him, roaring in Tina’s victory.
Noxxom Corporation was defeated. King William was dead. Cora Stratford was dead. The five princes now ruled as kings, the five kingdoms had officially united, and he could finally just live in peace with his mate and the brotherhood he so fiercely loved. Draven’s most powerful enemies, the last ones to threaten his mate and her right to rule as the One Queen, were gone, and they could finally rebuild from the ashes.
Draven sucked in a deep breath of relief, the fires in his chest blazing with pride and triumph, and he unleashed a blast of his unbeatable fire breath into the sky.
44
Tina
Roughly two days after the siege on the Wolfcrest Stronghold, Tina lay beneath a silk tent out in the gardens of Epara, sprawled across a dozen cloud-soft pillows. Her head rested on Draven’s lap, and Anthony gently massaged her feet in the blissful silence of her home. Zane tapped away at a computer, hunting down a few final defectors loyal to King William who had fled after the battle ended. Killian and Flynn, meanwhile, played a game of chess as they lay sprawled across the grass in the sun beyond the shade of the tent. For a while, no one spoke as they all just enjoyed each other’s company, happy and content, finally at peace.
“You realize we will have to get to work soon, right?” Flynn said as he took one of Killian’s pawns. “There’s a lot of bureaucratic rigmarole waiting for us in order to establish Tina’s official rule.”
“Can’t you relax for two damn seconds?” Draven adjusted against the pillows, peeking through one eye at the demigod before he shot Tina a playful wink.
“I’m just glad the borders will open,” Tina said with a smile as she set her hands behind her head, comfortable and content. “It’s exciting to think that demigods and shifters are going to invite visitors now.”
“It’ll be a whole new tourist industry.” Killian nodded, rubbing his jaw as he surveyed the chessboard in front of him. “Not to mention the sheer excitement shifters will feel visiting the other kingdoms.” He chuckled. “It’s always been forbidden, and now suddenly we’re throwing the gates wide open.”
“The world finally feels calm again,” Anthony said, breaking his silence. Tina flashed him a broad smile, as she agreed completely. It truly did. With Cora’s death, it had seemed like the world had shifted on a deep and unconscious level, massively changing for the better.
Beside her, Tina’s phone vibrated, and she unlocked it to find a text from Amy.
Wolfcrest is going to throw a parade in your honor. Guess it’s time for another trip to the strip club to celebrate?
Tina laughed out loud before tossing the phone to Anthony to read. He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “That girl never learns.”
Reaching for the phone, Tina continued to chuckle to herself as she typed up her response. Let’s just hit Vegas instead.
A second later, the phone vibrated again with Amy’s reply. Party pooper.
“To think,” Zane said, his voice a bit wistful and distant. “We’ve conquered the world, just the six of us.”
“No kidding.” Killian chuckled. “We went from at each other’s throats to united against and disowned by our own fathers, and now we’re kings.” He raised his eyebrows in surreal disbelief. “Still can’t quite believe that.”
“We’re lucky, no denying that.” Tina nodded and sat up, looking around her beautiful temple. “Epara is awoken, we chased off Ares and Venus, got Odin’s approval, killed off a murderous High Priestess …” She sighed happily. “I think we’ve earned a little rest and relaxation, don’t you, Flynn?”
“I guess so,” he admitted with a laugh.
Tina laid her head in Draven’s lap again, closing her eyes and sucking in a deep and victorious breath. She and her princes had done it, won against impossible odds, come out on top when the world was determined to see her fail. Through it all, her princes had stayed by her side and become the kings they were destined to be. She knew without a doubt that they would rule with kindness and compassion, with her forever at their sides, the One Queen of the five kingdoms.
She chuckled to herself, astonished she had gone from a lowly secretary with no future to queen of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, loved by the most gorgeous, devoted, and passionate men the world had to offer. True, she had walked into that werewolf strip club a nobody, but looking back, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. That strip club had changed her life for the better. She patted her stomach, grateful for Damara, eager to see what life would be like now that she finally had a place in the world. There was so much to look forward to, and she couldn’t wait to see what life had to offer her as Earth’s only goddess.
THE END
Thank You for reading!
Author’s Note
Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read my next Goddess Harem novel-I’ve got a bit of bad news for you.
Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when the next comes out.
You’ll pro
bably never know about my next books, and you’ll be left wondering what happened to Tina and the gang. That’s rather terrible.
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