AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Evander swallowed, glancing from Pandora to Mona. “We have to escape before this realm is destroyed. If we stop to help her, it could doom us both.”
Mona bit her lip, considering this. “You go through. I’ll find you and?—”
Evander pulled her to him and pressed a rough kiss to her lips, taking a single moment to taste her thoroughly before he pulled away and fixed a fierce stare on her. “I am not leaving you again,” he growled. “If you stay, I stay.”
She nodded, her expression dazed as she caught her breath. “All right.” She cleared her throat. “If my magic is strong enough to sever her bond with me, then it has to be powerful enough to help her fuel that portal.”
“But if you help fuel it, how will you get through?”
Mona’s eyes turned distant, and Evander recognized the calculating look flitting across her face, the way her expression lit up when an idea came to her. She looked at him with a determined glint in her eye, drawing closer to him, her fingers dancing along his collarbone, right over the spot where his moonstone necklace used to rest.
Her smile widened. “I have an idea.”
SISTERS
PANDORA
Pandora couldn’t even register her astonishment that Mona had severed their magical bond. Whatever favor her sister owed had been obliterated by the sheer force of Mona’s power.
Mona was stronger than Pandora. Stronger than the darkness that had festered inside her for years.
And yet, Pandora felt nothing. Hollow. Numb. Empty.
She had been a puppet for so long. And now she was nothing. She didn’t even feel connected to her magic anymore.
Who was she? This vengeful goddess had controlled her for her entire life. And now that Pandora hoped to be free, she discovered the goddess had only tightened the chains around her.
She couldn’t deny that a small part of her was relieved—proud, even—that Mona managed such an impossible feat. Because now that the dark powers had revealed their true nature and vowed to destroy everything, Pandora had no motivation anymore. She had thought that once Elysium fell, she would be free to be herself, to explore her own powers and magic once more. That the anger and bitterness of the goddess from before would finally be able to rest.
But no. That goddess was just getting started.
Pandora felt nothing as Sol jerked her forward, ushering her down the steps, toward the entrance doors, and past the courtyard that led to the shore below. She would be used as a power source for the portal. That was the only reason she was still alive.
She knew this. She knew Sol only needed her for one thing.
And then she would part from him forever.
She would give her life for this. But she didn’t care. It was no less than she deserved.
Years she had spent manipulating and deceiving others. But in the end, she had been the biggest fool of all. She had been tricked. And she couldn’t even be angry about it.
It was justice. And the final piece, the final act of her atonement, would be her death. The long-sought plan for revenge would die with her.
And the realms would be safe.
It was the only thing she had left to offer.
Sol’s grip on her arm tightened, his fingernails digging into her flesh. But she let him. The sharpness of his grasp pierced through the fog of her mind, reminding her that this would be the last time he would touch her. The last time she would feel his hands on her skin, even if it was in anger.
At long last, she sank to her knees in the sand before the stone archway that marked the portal. She felt Sol’s hard gaze on her, expectant and impatient. So, she pressed her hands into the earth at her feet, summoning her powers once more. The ground quivered, and roots and branches burst free, twining around her obediently. With a low thrum, the portal shone to life, glowing with a brilliant gold light as a beacon for those around them. A cheer erupted behind her as the deities celebrated.
They had a way to escape. Because of her.
A kernel of satisfaction welled inside Pandora at the sound. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to relish it, just for a moment.
She was doing something right. It didn’t make up for everything she had done, but still. She savored it while she could.
With a deep breath, she dug her hands more fully into the sand, allowing her fingers to be submerged completely. The grains covered her skin, grating against her flesh. She homed in on that singular sensation, the roughness of those sand particles as they scraped against her.
