Page 116 of Vengeance of the Gods

“What happens when you have no one left to kill?” he questioned.

Marlena’s lips puckered, and she looked to the ceiling. As if she had to contemplate at all… “I guess I’ll have to find a new world to destroy.”

Halo stayed behind Bridger, which is exactly where he wanted him—as far from Marlena as he could be.

“You should know by now I won’t stop until all of you are dead.” Marlena shrugged. “It’s a shame you chose to join them, Bridger. After everything you’ve worked for.” She motioned to the hall they stood in. “You’re just going to give it all up for Vega.”

“Death doesn’t scare me, and neither do you,” he told her honestly.

A laugh bubbled from the pit of Marlena’s stomach. “Of course not, but you’re weak enough to let the death of others affect you. I’ll make sure it’s you who watches them die before I give you the satisfaction of following them to the underworld.”

“I’ll see you down there,” he preened with a rotten smile.

Marlena took a step back and looked around at the blood-splattered walls, inhaling the smell of death more noticeable by the minute. “Your betrayal caught me off guard, I’ll admit. But what doesn’t surprise me is that you are here… leaving the others to fend for themselves against my newest curse.”

Bridger hid his confusion at her words, digging in deeper to throw her off. “They do say practice makes perfect, and from what I’ve seen, you need it. I don’t think you’re as strong a cursemaker as you’d like to think you are.” He faked a wince, as if he’d told a good friend he hated the outfit they wore.

“I was young and acted on a whim.” It wasn’t often anyone heard Marlena admit to being wrong. “I hadn’t expected Vega to retaliate with a summoning of her own. That was a mistake I’ll have to live with for the rest of my immortal life.” Marlena disappeared and reappeared with a knife to Bridger’s throat. He didn’t move. “I didn’t make a mistake with the curse on Demuto.”

Halo flinched forward, readying to draw the dagger at his side.

“Don’t fucking move, Halo,” Bridger warned, deciding not to take any chances by throwing a shield around him. It kept him in and Marlena out.

The blade bit into his skin, blood trickling down his neck in a warm stream. “Blood oaths aren’t curses.”

Marlena leaned in close to Bridger’s ear, speaking loud enough for only him to hear. “Let me let you in on a little secret… The shifters didn’t take a blood oath. That was just the lie I told them.” She leaned back, meeting his eyes. “I repurposed the power of the curse on Demuto, using the blood of the Fera line to extend its reach to every descendent of the goddess Diana. Vega stole my power to shift, and that’s okay, because every single shifter is now mine to control. Whenever and however I want.”

“Vega, get out of there. It’s a trap,” Bridger blurted.

“Wh-what?” she stuttered. “We can’t leave y⁠—”

There was no time for Vega to argue. Bridger interrupted her again. “Marlena is coming, Vega! She is coming and she lied about the blood oath. It’s a curse. She cursed the shifters. Get. Out. Of. There!”

Marlena dropped the dagger from Bridger’s throat. “Halo, it’s not too late to come with me, my sweet boy. It’d be a shame to lose a power like yours.” Her eyes twinkled with promise. “I’ll give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of and more.” Marlena held out her hand for him to take.

Halo recoiled. “I’d rather die.”

Bridger breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been right about Halo—there was good in him.

“That can be arranged,” Marlena said before taking a step and disappearing, slipping through the cracks of Tolevarre. Once the rising puff of smoke was gone, the carnage she’d left behind was the only proof she’d been there at all.

37

Everything always happened too fast.

Bridger was telling Vega to run, but she couldn’t. Everyone was stunned into stillness, staring at the face of a girl, now a woman, they never expected to see again.

“Hi, Khort.” Tears streamed down her face, her jaw quivering.

Silence followed her greeting, everyone waiting for Khort to breathe. To move. To speak. To anything.

Vega scanned the group, and they all shared the same bewildered look.

“Delori…” Khort whispered her name like a breath.

Delori was alive.

And she had daughters.