Page 67 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

She followed where I gestured, her expression pained. It seemed she believed me even if she struggled to truly understand. Or perhaps it was just so different from what she already knew she couldn’t accept it.

“What does this mean?” her male companion asked, voice strained. “How can a divine be born to the other world? We were told—”

“She stands here before us. Does what we were told matter when the evidence is here?”

He fell silent.

Her gaze moved to Corsa, more vicious than before. “And you? You had a divine and dared to raise a hand to them? Do you have no shame? No understanding of the gift they are? I knew you were a perversion, but I had no idea how far from grace you had truly fallen.”

“She’s not divine,” Corsa argued. “She’s mine. She is a tool—nothing more.”

“She ain’t yours, fuckwit,” Ingram snarled.

The woman turned toward Ingram. “And I suppose you are to tell me she’s your tool?”

“She isn’t a fucking tool, but yeah, she’s ours, and we’re hers, and if you even think about fucking touching her, I’ll make sure that all your fancy fucking magic don’t mean shit.”

The woman displayed no fear of the threats—I didn’t know if that was because she believed she had all the power, or if she didn’t think he’d follow through.

I knew which was the truth.

“You risked yourself for her.” The woman directed that statement to Kenyon. “You did more than that—you forced your heart to stop to save her. She also risked herself to save you all. That indicates a bond, and in our world, such a bond is viewed with the utmost respect. To come between such a bond would be a grave crime.” She nodded in a quick jerk.

I didn’t know the meaning until the men rose, all on their own, telling me she’d released them.

“You, however”—she returned her focus to Corsa—“are not so easily released. Divine—” She looked at me, telling me who she spoke to. “His punishment is yours to choose. He harmed you, so you hold his life in your hands. I can snuff out his existence, I can remove all the items traded to him, I can hobble his powers. What would you like?”

Somehow, the weight of that question rested more heavily on me than I wanted to admit. To attack him, to kill him in a fight, that was one thing. I would have happily maimed him if I had no other choice, but when he was helpless?

It didn’t sit right.

“You are too soft-hearted,” the woman said. “It is a common issue with divine, that they cherish others too much to do what is needed.”

“He should stay here,” I said, the idea formulating as I spoke. “Killing him is too easy. Death is too easy. Can you take his powers? Make sure he isn’t a threat to others?”

She nodded, then walked over and set a hand on his head. After a moment, she released him and stepped back. “It is done. However, the beasts here will no longer be under his control, so be warned. Also, the portal flickers, so if you wish to return to your world, you should do it soon.”

Which reminded me of the other issue. “Wait. I touched the heart before, and it won’t let me leave. Can you fix that?”

The woman shook her head. “I know little of these pockets, these collisions, and even less of your portals. I wouldn’t dare to try to remove any energy from you, either, as doing so could harm you. I wish you luck, however.” She didn’t wait for anymore conversation, instead snapped her fingers once and the crystals that had imprisoned the men before turned to mist in an instant. It made me wish I had more time to talk to her, to understand where she came from, to try to learn how this all had happened.

She didn’t appear willing to speak on it, though, and left through the tear with the other two. The tear lessened, then disappeared as though it had never been there in the first place.

It left us there, the howl of beasts springing up, reminding me of what the woman had said.

“You sure about this?” Carter asked, his gaze moving over to Corsa, who remained down, kneeling on the ground. Then again, he’d just had his powers removed from him. I still sensed the corruption inside him, coursing through him, but he couldn’t seem to access it.

“He’s helpless for the first time in his life. No skills, no fancy name, nothing. He always talked about his power, so it’s fitting that he gets to exist without any of it. It feels like justice to me.” I stared down at him, snorting when he refused to even meet my gaze, the coward. “I know you think the beasts are just mindless, but I’m pretty sure they have enough wits to know who has been controlling them all this time.” As I spoke, I felt the monsters creeping around, just out of sight, as though waiting for their chance.

Corsa jerked his gaze around, but he couldn’t seem to see them, not without his powers. It was like he’d forgotten how to use his other senses. He got to his feet, but he showed no violence toward us. He had bigger problems.

“You can’t do this,” he said, a plea instead of a demand. Maybe the first he’d ever uttered.

“I can, and if you want to survive any time at all, you should run.”

He didn’t move, not until another howl broke through the silence. That appeared to drive him forward, to break the tiny bit of confidence he still had, and he took off.

Ingram took a step toward him, but I held a hand up to stop him.