“You think it’s jealousy? It’s not. Do you know how humiliating it is to be the goddess of marriage and have your husband break his vow anytime a pretty woman comes along? That is true disrespect. I’m the laughingstock of the gods.” She throws a bolt of power, but I block it with my sword.
“And I’m just the latest humiliation?” I shake my head. “You think destroying everything is the way to punish Zeus? You’re punishing everyone by doing this. Zeus won’t die. He’ll come back and everything will be completely fine for him.”
“No. That’s the brilliance of this whole plan. Zeus will be locked away in Tartarus for eternity and I will be the ruler of the gods.”
“You will only rule the gods if you destroy everything else. Don’t you survive on the beliefs of mortals? You’re signing yourown death warrant if you destroy them all.” I roll away when her magic lashes out like a whip and narrowly misses me.
“You think I can’t just create a new better race of humans who value marriage and family? Who won’t destroy their home for the sake of progress?” Hera scoffs.
“You’re absolutely insane,” I shout at her. “You think flawed beings won’t find ways to destroy the land? It’s human nature but there is also good. You aren’t actually trying to help anyone but yourself.”
My magic crackles along my whip and I chance a glance at Jayden and Raven and nod at them. We need to end this now before she actually gets what she wants and destroys everything.
Raven stows her sword, opting for some throwing knives instead and lobbing one with perfect precision at Hera. Hera waves a hand and the blade clatters to the ground.
“You think your silly weapons will hurt me? That wasn’t even a gods touched weapon.” Hera scoffs. “Insulting.”
Shit. Why didn’t we think of that? I nod to Raven who inches closer to me and pulls the blade Ares gave her months ago. I stow my own sword and call the shield Hades gave me. Jayden steps up next to me with his obsidian blade raised in Hera’s direction.
“You really are that into yourself that you just gave us knowledge on how to defeat you. How did you survive as queen this long that full of yourself?” I ask.
I flick my whip, crackling with white and black electricity entwined around it. Hera steps back with a small gasp as her eyes widen. I open the link to Jayden as I stalk forward.
We need to herd her to the throne. Now that she’s spilled the beans that we can hurt her with our weapons from the gods, she’s going to be more volatile than before.
Agreed,Jayden whispers in my head.My shadows can help too but the nymph will get away.
It doesn’t matter now. She can’t hurt us anymore. Zeus will find her and punish her after we finish this.
Jayden’s shadows swirl and writhe along his arms as we circle the goddess. No matter how we move, she’s not letting herself get close to the front of the throne. I crack my whip, and it wraps around her arm. The goddess screams as the volts of electricity sizzle against her porcelain skin.
“You will pay for damaging me, child.”
“I don’t think I will, Hera.” I pull the whip back and move in for another strike to her body, but she disappears.
I spin on my heel and shove Raven to the side as Hera’s white power slices through the air. “Get down.”
I stow my shield and blast pure magic at the goddess, but it hits the wall behind where she was just standing.
“Form up,” Jayden says. “We need to be back-to-back.”
“Good idea. That way someone has eyes on her at all times.” I nod and press my back to Jayden’s.
“My side,” Raven whispers.
We spin so I’m facing Hera. This is my fight, and Raven doesn’t have magic the way Jayden and I do. She has weapons and she’s damn good with them. This is a magic fight more than anything, though.
I shoot a blast of white and black electricity at the goddess, and she screams, throwing her own shot at me. The two opposing magical bursts connect and explode in a shower of sparks. It reverberates back on me, and I fly back into the wall.
Fiery pain radiates down my back and my head. The walls shake at the impact and dust falls from the tall ceilings.
“We’re going to take the place down around us if we aren’t careful,” I shout.
I roll away from the wall to my hands and knees, but when I try to stand, I collapse back on the ground in a heap.
“Beth,” Jayden shouts, racing toward me.
“Jayden, watch out,” I shriek.
