“A dead World Eater can’t enforce a contract, now can she?”
She raises her hands and turns to look at the mages. “Kill them. Every last one of them. Line their heads for me one-by-one but not him.” Eleanor points to Jaak. He’s on his feet but he still has a faraway look on his face. I don’t know where he is. Is it in the memories I saw? Is he somewhere in Eleanor’s thrall?
“I want him cleaned up and delivered to my chambers.”
I see red when she says that, but when I move so do the mages. All hell breaks loose as my friends take on the mages. Now that they’re hoodless, I see familiar faces. It’s not just my parents that are here, there’s so many people that I thought were trying to build something better in Sweet Tooth with us. To my left a mage raises their hands to cast a spell, but they never finish it because Dina cracks them across the back of the head with her staff. An arrow flies over my head in a direct hit that lays out another mage and a tentacle grabs a casting mage off their feet and slams them into the ground. Wherever Charlie and Mort are, I know Roy didn’t stop them.
It doesn’t matter if we’re outnumbered, we’re fighting back and I’m going to make sure we win.
A mage lunges for me, their hands raised in the air. A blast of magic comes towards me but it’s weak, feeble. I bat it aside with the edge of my sword and kick them square in the chest towards Eleanor. She catches the mage in midair and throws them back at me with a frustrated scream. I duck and the mage sails over my head. I’d almost feel bad for how hard he hits the wall if he wasn’t serving the army of fucking hell.
“You bitch! No one kicks a mage at me and gets away with it.”
She charges at me, fist raised and dodges the sword I try to run her through with. She twists away from me, graceful as a ballerina and kicks me in the side. There’s enough force in it to make me stagger but I keep my feet and throw a sword at her. It just grazes her before it plants in the wall behind her. The next kick Eleanor sends my way earns her a kick back. My kick catches her in the ribs and the grunt she makes from the blow is music to my ears. It’’s a drop in the bucket, though. I want more. I swing and catch her in the jaw, her head pops back from the force. Better, but still not enough.
I need to decimate her. That’s the only way to end this. If I don’t, she’s going to keep coming and we’ll never be safe. But toend her, I needmore. She’s too fast, but she’s not stronger than me. Not by a long shot. I have to get her closer if I want to do some real damage.
I motion for her to come closer. “For a god you sure are shy. Why don’t you come a little closer?”
She gives me a mean smile. “I’ll be plenty close when I remind Jaakobah who owns him. He always did like that. Do you know how many men I’ve burned through waiting for him? How many centuries I wasted while waiting for this day?”
“Just between us girls, I’m going to guess a long time. Youarelooking a little tired around the eyes.”
Eleanor laughs. “Petty, I like it. Not at all like the men around here. The men here are weak. One-by-one I tested them only to get bored. The last one my mages brought to me has promise—maybe I’ll get Jaakobah to show him a thing or two. There was never anyone quite as devoted as him. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you, mortal?”
I do know what she means. I feel sick knowing it. Sick that she’s twisted something precious into death itself. I saw it briefly, buried deep in the memories that spilled into me and got under my skin. I know what Jaak really felt.
“You’re wrong. He hated it. You disgust him.”
There’s a drop in her smile that doesn’t make sense with how easily it comes. “Shut up.”
“He hates you.”
“Shut up! Shut up! Heworshipsme!”
I drop my sword to the ground. “You’re never touching him again.” Another mage makes a run towards me and I deck them. They hit the ground so hard I see a tooth pop out. I’m not going to get Eleanor to come closer but I can take advantage of the mini-breakdown she’s having.
She’s not facing me anymore. She’s looking at Jaak.
“Tell her the truth. Tell her how you adore me.”
Jaak says nothing but he does look at me. The hazy look in his eyes is gone. He’s back.
“Tell this worthless mortal the truth. Jaakobah. I command you.Speak.”
Jaak speaks immediately. “When I made my bargain to save my world, I tied myself to Eri. I worshipped her my entire life. I gave her my life.”
She gives me a smirk. “See, what did I-”
Jaak smiles at me. “I thought I had no heart.” He puts his hand to his chest. “I thought that was my curse, my punishment, for all the wrong I had done to save my world. To save one, I destroyed countless others. The guilt burned away inside of me until there was nothing but the demon, no humanity, nothing lived in me for an eternity until you. I love you, Meadow. Only you. You are my heart.”
I smile back at him. “I love you,” I tell him, even though he knows. The bond between us comes to life, golden and bright, it shifts as we move towards one another. “We’ll finish this together.”
“Together,” Jaak agrees.
Eleanor screams, the discordant noise shakes the room. “No!” I look away from Jaak to see her staring at the bond between us. She shakes her head and laughs. “This is impossible. You don’t have a soul. You can’t-youcan’thave a soul-bond,” the last of her words comes out in a whisper and I see tears in her eyes.“You belong to me.”
“Never again, Eri.”
