by K. F. Breene
She screamed, pushed forward by the bars, and nearly landed in one of the sheets of electricity raining down.
“Get to it,” Dylan said, and I could hear the strain in his voice.
Red and Zorn wasted no time, running forward with their weapons meeting Lydia’s forces head-on. I tore out the souls at our backs and shoved them back in, sending them away to fight anyone that should come. It would buy us time. I dug into Lydia’s chest, going to work on her prongs, scrabbling at her soul.
“Thanks for the help, but there are too many coming back here,” I heard Bria shout.
“Put your back into it,” Frank yelled.
The female cat roared, flapping my soul in its casing. The line of enemies cowered for a moment and the other cat launched, attacking with the gusto of a young tiger.
Dylan turned, looking behind us, every muscle on his body flexing. Another wave of thunder rolled through the corridor, making our people flinch, even with it muted, and those flanking us from behind were flattened. The bars behind Lydia wavered. Dylan’s breath was already coming fast. He was out of magical shape.
I disintegrated one of Lydia’s prongs and quickly moved to the next while also trying to soak past her soul casing.
“The books didn’t say you’d be so powerful,” Lydia screamed, one hand clutching at her chest, the other flying out, sending magical fear to drown us.
“The books didn’t account for a soul link and a blood bond with a Demigod of Poseidon!” I gritted my teeth against the fear. Dylan’s knees wobbled and he sank, curling in on himself. “Fight it, Dylan. It isn’t real. Fear is a pathway to greatness.” I’d probably gotten one of Bria’s fear quotes wrong, but it would have to do. “Fight it to save your life!”
I kept trying to get past Lydia’s prongs and soak into her soul, thwarted by the colossal power continuously pouring into her from those purple strands of power. I had to cut her contacts with the souls.
A blast made me flinch back, and I was losing hold of Lydia.
Thane crashed through the wall up ahead, between us and Lydia. Brick and plaster flew, striking Red and knocking her to the side. Two enemies fell. Thane looked down then roared.
In his Berserker form, he was just as likely to kill us as he was the others.
Fear shook me to my very roots, not magically inspired this time, and infinitely more effective because of it. I ignored my primal side urging me to run.
Thane bent and clubbed the two enemies, who’d made the mistake of struggling to their feet, with a huge fist. He smashed them still. I watched as their souls popped out, still looking terrified.
Red didn’t move, her eyes wide, her muscles flexing. She was probably shitting herself, but she was doing the right thing: play dead and it would go away.
Dylan struck Thane with a bolt, eliciting another of those terror-inducing roars. One more bolt struck down, just beyond him, then another, and some of Lydia’s minions started running down the corridor like ants to avoid being struck. It was all the incentive Thane needed.
He thundered toward them, nearly taking up the whole space on his own. He swung his great hand, slamming an enemy’s back and sending him hurtling. Then he did the same with another, tossing them like stones.
I caught a glimpse of Lydia throwing out her hand. Thane slowed a little, shaking his head. His next roar was pained. And pissed. She’d probably tried to use spirit of some kind, but Thane was used to combating spirit. He was used to pushing through the misery of it. It made him harder to defeat, and ten times more dangerous for people of Hades.
He picked up his pace again, trampling five people in his wake. He slashed at Lydia with his whips, then barreled right into her, knocking her through the bars of lightning and away left, taking them both out of sight.
Zorn ran to the hole in the wall. He stopped there, looking through.
“Need…help,” Bria shouted, and Mordecai yelped.
Dylan turned, thrusting his hands forward and sending lightning racing across the walls, creating more bars. His face was red and sweaty, and his chest rose and fell quickly. He was dead tired.
“Run.” I waved everyone after me. “Red, are you okay?”
She got up slowly, obviously in pain. “I’ll live.”
“Run! Let’s get to Kieran.” I reached Zorn and stopped dead, my heart in my throat.
Dozens of Lydia’s forces littered the great hall. Half of them were already running to help Lydia with Thane, but the other half were staring at Zorn, who was staring at them.
“Is there another way?” I asked desperately as Bria and the others pushed us forward. They were running from yet more enemy forces. They’d clearly managed to break through Dylan’s flagging magic.
“Maybe we’re faster,” Zorn said. “Kill everyone you can. We can’t take Lydia and all of her people. Just kill everyone you can and we’ll make a break for it.”
He puffed into gas, and I ran through the hole in the wall, looking at all the dangling ribbons and grabbing them—feeling those behind us and grabbing those, too. I pulled as hard as I could, using all the power from the Line I could muster. I pulled at them and just barely tugged most of them free. Bodies dropped like flies. Spirits rose in the aftermath. I didn’t have the energy to put them back into their bodies and use them.
Zorn rematerialized and slashed down his machete, cleaving a chest in two. He hacked at another and took down one more. Lightning fell down from the sky, striking six more dead. I took up another six ribbons and yanked. The souls hit against their casings. I yanked again, giving it everything I had. Only one popped free.
“Hurry,” I said, out of breath, my legs made of jelly.
I chanced a glance behind me and nearly cried. Thane lay facedown, his limbs spread out to the sides. Lydia climbed to her feet, and although she was unsteady, her arm at the wrong angle, she was still alive. Fucking Demigods were hard to kill.
“It is useless,” she shouted, and I could hear the pain lacing her words. “I prepared for this. I hired dozens. There is nowhere for you to go. You are outnumbered! Give yourself up now, and I will not kill your friends and children.”
She’d said the magic words.
I slowed, drooping. Dylan bumped up against my back and then staggered away, as tired as I was. The cats slinked around me. Mordecai and Daisy shuffled in close, the first time I’d seen them show defeat.
This was it. It was over. She might not be able to carry this off in the long run, but in the short term, she was doing a bang-up job of ruining my life.
“You win,” I said, pain bleeding through me. “Give me a moment.”
I turned and looked at the faces of my kids. Daisy looked so sweet and innocent, except she was splattered with blood. Mordecai had such kind eyes, even in wolf form.
“Forget me,” I told them, tears running down my face. “Forget you ever knew me. Get clear of here and go into hiding. Get out of the magical world and stay that way. You don’t want to see what I will become.”
“She will not get away with this,” Daisy said through gritted teeth. “We’ve lost the battle, but we will not lose this war, Lexi. We won’t lose you.” Tears filled her eyes and she couldn’t blink them all away. Her lip trembled. “We will not lose the war,” she whispered again.
Mordecai shifted back to human, his eyes already welling with tears. “She won’t kill Kieran, Lexi. She can’t. He’ll fix this. He will. If anyone can fix this, he can.”
I didn’t tell them what she had in store for him. Couldn’t.
Sobs choked me.
“Look after Kieran,” I told Bria softly. “He’ll need it.”
Her brow furrowed. “She won’t get away with this, Alexis. Demigods aren’t untouchable. Don’t let them break you. Keep your wits so you can give us time. We’ll get you out of this.”
Zorn stared at me, his machete lowered, his face flat, and his eyes on fire.
“You’re a damn fine man, Zorn,” I told him. “Stay prickly. I’m glad to have kn
own you.”
He didn’t respond.
I laid my hand on Dylan’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I’m sorry I fucked up your life.”
“You gave me something to fight for,” he replied. “Someone to fight against. I’m done with Demigods doing shit like this. Done with it. It has to stop. It will stop. Give us time, as Bria said. Don’t give in. We’ll get you out.”
“That’s enough. Take her,” Lydia said. She hadn’t moved, beyond getting to her feet, and looked close to collapsing.
I turned to say goodbye to Red when I heard, “That won’t be necessary.”
The voice was smooth and confident. The crowd parted, giving me a view of the man as he entered the hall. His strut suggested money and power in large quantities. He held his shoulders back and his head high, not hurrying, taking time to let everyone see him. One hand was in his trouser pocket, and the other swung gracefully at his side. His three-piece suit was black on black, perfectly tailored and without a wrinkle or spot of lint. A silver tie dipped into his vest, and a matching silver pocket square accentuated his jacket pocket.
His soul pulsed strangely, bright one moment, and thick and dark the next, somewhat erratic. Something looked vaguely familiar about him. Although it was hard to judge his age, he looked to be in his late forties, with a strong, square jaw devoid of stubble, lips on the thin side, and a nose that was a touch too large. Despite that, or maybe even because of it, he was incredibly striking. He drew the eye and then kept it interested, his charisma unmistakable.
“What are you doing here?” Lydia spat, pulling herself up straight despite the pain it clearly gave her.
“I’ve learned the hard way that it is important to get with the times.” His people followed him into the room, all wearing suits, women included, not here to fight, or if they were, they would look very stylish as they did so. “Your surveillance feeds have been live streaming for the past hour. All of this”—he gestured around the room—“has been recorded. Demigod Kieran’s people are excellent in this field, and they made sure to cover their asses as soon as this started going down. I was close by, so I thought I might lend a hand. Your people didn’t do a great job of keeping him contained, by the way. You gave him way too little of whatever drug you used. Rope to hold a Demigod of his caliber?” He laughed. “He might be young, but he is Valens’s son.”
“It would’ve been the right dose if he had continued consuming it all day, as I’d planned,” she ground out. “This ridiculous, untrained, irrational little girl disturbed my plans.”
“Yes.” The man gave a tiny smile. “She has a sprinkle of her mother’s Chaos magic in her blood. Level fives sometimes have a smattering of the recessive magic within their arsenal. It is a handy magic to have on one’s side in these situations. Not so fortunate when it is used against you, as you saw, Lydia.”
With the slow, deliberate way he talked about my mother’s magic, it felt like he was explaining it to me specifically. I couldn’t breathe. He’d obviously looked me up in the files, which was all well and good, but I’d never known what my mother could do. We’d never talked about magic growing up, and because of that, I’d never thought to ask. I’d never thought to dig into her past life.
So many things suddenly made sense. How she could turn up at a store, and something would happen to throw the whole place into disarray, allowing us to grab a few things we couldn’t otherwise afford and hightail it out of there without being noticed. Or bills that would randomly be forgiven because of some crazy mix-up with the company. The list was long, and I’d just always assumed she was eccentric. It had been fun, truth be told, living in all that chaos. I’d never really minded. Now I knew why.
“You should’ve done your homework. You are out of touch, my dear,” the man said as I came out of my shocked stupor. “Your people upstairs are all dead, and, last I saw, Demigod Kieran was making his way out of the room. This was moments ago. I think I might’ve just saved your life. From what I understand, he is not entirely rational where his mark holder is concerned.”
“You didn’t save my life! You caused my ruin!” Lydia screamed.
“My goodness, it is not a good look when a Demigod loses control.” He spread his free hand wide, his smile giving him a little something extra that really suited him. Why did he look so vaguely familiar? “One must not blame others for one’s downfall. Rather, one must learn to play the game. I simply outmaneuvered you, Lydia. Had you not interfered with my plans a century ago, I would not have had to usher you out of my way. And here we are, at your downfall. What a treat, for it all to be recorded on video.”
The man stopped in the center of the hall, below a chandelier that was catching and throwing the light streaming in a far window, and framed by a high arch sparkling with gold trim. It would’ve been an excellent photo op. He seemed like the kind of guy who knew it.
“Escort her out,” he said, talking to a petite woman with tight curls and a pink suit. She smiled pleasantly, motioned at a few others, and headed toward Lydia.
“You have no authority here.” Lydia pointed behind him. “You will leave. Now!”
“Not until we have this situation rectified,” the man said patiently, but steel lined his words. “Attacking another Demigod in this underhanded way is highly frowned upon. You know that, Lydia. I wouldn’t be doing my duty to the magical community if I didn’t step in. As the closest Demigod on hand, I have an obligation to keep order.”
His soul burned black and his smile said this had nothing to do with helping another Demigod and everything to do with checkmate. Which was fine by me, all things considered.
The previously pleasant-looking woman with the tight curls grabbed Lydia’s broken arm and twisted it brutally. Lydia screamed before the woman’s team bodily picked her up and hustled her out.
“Stand down,” the man said to Lydia’s people. “This is Demigod business. It is not worth you dying over.”
Her people shifted and swayed, exchanging furtive looks, but the man didn’t seem to notice. He was already crossing the room to me, just as self-assured as when he’d walked in.
I stiffened when he stopped in front of me and his gaze roamed my face. Something changed in his eyes, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“You’ve created quite a mess here.” He gave a glance around the room to punctuate his words. “You certainly have your mother in you. She could turn the most organized situation into a madhouse, laughing all the while. You look just like her. Except for the eyes, of course. Those you got from me.”
32
Alexis
I gaped, my mouth opening and closing like a fish’s. I’d seen a couple of pictures of him, but he’d been younger in them. Diminished, somehow. They hadn’t at all done him justice. Despite a vague sense of recognition, I hadn’t even recognized him!
“Magnus.” Kieran entered the room from the far right. In all the commotion, I hadn’t felt him coming. His face was pale, he’d lost his jacket, his shirt was wrinkled and his hair stood on end, but for all that, he looked just as cool and collected as the man standing in front of me.
“Ah.” The man turned slightly, allowing for Kieran’s entry. Could this smooth, collected man really be Magnus? He didn’t at all seem like the horrible tyrant kid killer whose staff member had caused Jack’s death. Being around him put me at ease rather than set me on edge. Was that his gift—no one saw his ill deeds coming? It had certainly worked with Lydia. Perhaps it was a trait of Hades Demigods. Dylan had tried to warn us.
“We finally meet.” Magnus closed the distance to Kieran and stuck out his hand. “So glad to make your acquaintance.”
“Likewise, of course.” Kieran’s shake was short, and he quickly brushed by Magnus, his eyes landing on me and devouring every inch. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Jerry, Donovan, and Boman entered the hall, looking a good deal more shaken than Kieran. Boman jogged to Thane, and so many emotions were already runnin
g through me that I didn’t allow that to distract me. Thane’s soul still glowed as it should. He wasn’t critical. Not yet. I’d hold his soul in place later, if it came to that.
“Yes,” I said, grabbing his arms. “Are you?”
Kieran slid an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close as he turned to face Magnus, who had resumed his place in front of me.
“What went on here today has been recorded,” Kieran said, and Magnus raised his hand.
“I am well aware. And you are aware, I’m sure, the unedited version was sent to me. I will not deny that, when presented with an opportunity to get my daughter and her incredible magic in my house, I was all ears.”
Amber, who likely orchestrated all of this, must’ve edited the live stream to remove the part about Lydia contacting Magnus. Only she’d kept the footage to let Magnus know he owed us a favor. Kieran now had something to keep Magnus in line for a moment. Or so I hoped.
“I assume the desire to…grab Alexis is why you are here now,” Kieran said, his voice hard. “You were looking for an opportunity.”
“I had an opportunity.” Magnus’s subtle smile held dangerous secrets. “A perfect opportunity came and went before any of this even started. She stepped into spirit to solve a riddle. I could’ve easily grabbed her. Instead, I helped her figure out another little slice of her magic, and then off she went to find the source of the problem.”
My stomach rolled and my mouth dropped all the way to the floor.
The grumpy guy!
Magnus was the grumpy shadow guy who had been lurking around in spirit, helping me?
It couldn’t be!
My mind spun. He’d shoved me out of spirit and back into my body countless times. At first, I’d considered those interventions an annoyance, but ultimately I’d come to realize the shadow person was helping me, saving me from dangers I didn’t yet understand. He’d saved my life! He’d also helped me figure things out, pushing me in the right direction or showing me how to do something when the concepts were complex.