AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a deafening boom, Mona’s song shattered the dark branches that had cocooned the crowd in the ballroom. Twigs and leaves rained from the ceiling, and the heavy thud of branches echoed.
“No!” Pandora shrieked. But she stilled, her hands falling limply by her sides as the gold light enclosed around the room, sealing them off from the darkness. The cyclone of Pandora’s dark powers continued churning angrily, but the black mist had grown thinner. Weaker.
Mona’s magic was chasing it away.
Pandora merely blinked at this development, her face slack with surprise. Next to her, a tall blond man roughly tugged on her elbow, jerking her out of the room and toward the crumbling staircase.
Evander only watched as she was pulled from the room. He didn’t care what happened to her; judging by the fury on the blond man’s face, he was not her ally.
And that was all that mattered. Pandora would serve her punishment one way or another.
But for right now, Evander’s focus was on Mona.
He turned to her, only to find her gasping, her hands pressed to her tear-stained cheeks as a startled laugh burst from her.
Evander jerked backward in shock. “M-Mona?”
She laughed again and surged toward him, wrapping him in a tight embrace, heedless of his wings or horns or the filth surrounding him. She clearly didn’t care that he was a filthy demon, his skin splotchy and gray. Her breath tickled his ear as she clutched him closer, burying her face in his shoulder.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you with every piece of my soul.”
Evander’s arms circled around her waist, and he found his chest was heaving with sobs. She was here. She was free. Something in her magic had broken the bond with Pandora. He thought of the way she had shattered those branches.
Mona’s powers had obliterated Pandora’s protective dome. Her magical strength surpassed that of the vengeful goddess.
Evander could only marvel at this. Only the strongest of magic could sever an unbreakable bond between gods like that.
He withdrew to look her over, his mouth open as he surveyed her. “You—You broke free?”
“I suppose I did,” she said breathlessly, grinning at him. Behind them, hunks of concrete fell from the ceiling, crashing into the marble floors. “But we can discuss it later. Come on, let’s get out of here!”
Mona grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the staircase. Evander followed, his torn wings dragging behind him. But somehow, his wounds no longer bothered him. It was as if singing the song with Mona had healed him somehow.
Whatever it was, he wouldn’t complain. It allowed him to keep up with her pace as they darted down the stairs. Behind them, the walls cracked, and pillars collapsed in a pile of rubble. The ground continued to shake, and they quickened their steps, trying to avoid getting crushed by the crumbling palace walls.
Mona shrieked as a piece of the ceiling hurtled toward her, and Evander tucked her into his chest, tugging her out of the way just in time. Dust filled the air, stinging his eyes. After ensuring Mona was unharmed, Evander continued, his hand still clasped firmly in hers.
They reached the broken entrance doors and hurried down the cracked steps that led to the courtyard. A crowd had already gathered at the beach below, surrounding a glowing archway that Evander recognized as a portal.
“They’ve found a way to activate it,” he said with a relieved sigh. “Thank the gods.”
“Evander, look.” Mona’s voice was solemn as she pointed to a figure crouched in front of the portal. Even in the dark of dusk, her fiery red hair was unmistakable.
Pandora.
She was hunched over, her fingers pressed into the ground at the foot of the portal. Next to her, the blond man stood, overseeing the process of shepherding people through. Gold light flowed from Pandora’s hands, and tree branches burst from the ground on either side of her. The light of the portal flared, burning brighter, and then Evander understood.
Pandora was using her magic to power the portal.
She cried out, her back bowing under the pressure of it. The blond man murmured something to her, and she nodded, teeth gritted, and dug her hands more firmly into the sand at her feet.
“Evander,” Mona said again, turning to him with eyes full of concern. “She’s going to kill herself doing this.”
“Why does that concern us?” Evander said coldly. “She tried to kill us both. It’s her fault this is happening.”
“But she’s my sister.”
Evander stilled at the words, sifting through his foggy memories. It took him a moment, but he finally recalled what Pandora had said when he’d confronted her in the Underworld, just before she’d pulled him through the portal: Gaia tried to protect her children, but she could only save two. The third one was captured by Janus himself. As punishment, he imbued the child with the soul of Pandora, bringing all her pain and misery to life in a newly born vessel.
