Page 93 of Vengeance of the Gods

“You are now in control of my army, General Ignis, and I don’t give people choices. If you don’t do as I say, you die.” Marlena dropped Meyer, letting him crash to the floor. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” he wheezed. “Very.”

“Perfect. Get the fuck out of my office.” Marlena stepped over Meyer, and the door to her office flew open as if it was getting out of her way, but the door didn’t open for Marlena. It opened for Meyer as his invitation to leave.

Marlena stepped through the pages of Tolevarre, suspending in the in-between before coming through the other side and landing in a dilapidated territory she’d never had a need to visit.

It seemed the tides had turned and she was in need of more bodies. Marlena would be foolish to think no one would follow him—she had to prepare for the significant loss in numbers.

She still held power in most of the territories. Aeris bowed to her. Fraus and Ardor would follow, as would Pax, Oro, and Littera. Fortis would be a toss, and for the first time since Marlena was handed control, Amora would be too. Solum, Vates, and Imber were gone, turning into wastelands for rebels to seek shelter.

Demuto had been left to rot, with its shifters stuck inside going mad for fifty-five years thanks to the curse Marlena had put on them, binding their souls to the territory of the dead goddess, Diana.

“Diana… who you let go.”

“Who was taken from us,” Marlena roared back.

The gods recoiled from her explosive fit, hiding in the corners like frightened dogs.

Marlena masked her features, watching her black smoke waft above her head like a signal. The noises of Demuto hadn’t changed. The crickets still chirped, and the birds sang, flying away from Marlena.

Relaying a message.

Marlena had eyes everywhere, and she knew there was a small council within the shifters who’d managed to fight off the madness, who kept their people alive.

She had just never cared enough to pay a visit. She’d never needed anything from them until now.

Until she was desperate enough to give the shifters an opportunity they’d never get again… For a price, of course.

Marlena heard them before she saw them, fast footsteps approaching from the woods behind the log cabins lining the weathered road. Leaves crunched, and then the sound of different types of feet pattered against the rickety stone. “Lay a paw on me, and I’ll kill you all,” Marlena warned as the mismatched pack of shifters surrounded her.

If it was done to intimidate her, it hadn’t worked.

Nothing scared her anymore…

“Nothing but Vega,” a voice whispered.

Marlena lit a fire inside her mind, listening to the sounds of the gods scattering.

A wolf standing almost eye level bared its teeth, snapping at Marlena. The massive bear to its right pulled the mangy mutt away before Marlena could rip its teeth out.

None of the animals—beasts, she realized, raking her eyes across the group of shifters—could speak.

There was the wolf, the bear, a griffin flying overhead, and she could hear the chatter of a cruravis in the distance. The spider-like bird, with too many legs and razor-sharp teeth on its beak who always smelled like the rotting flesh of its prey, used to be a creature Marlena never wanted to come across alone in the forest.

Now, she was the monster waiting in the night.

“Take me to the leader of your… pack.” She couldn’t call them people. Marlena eyed the bear and wolf since it seemed they were the ones in charge of this band of idiots.

A bird squealed from a nearby tree, and the bear huffed low under its breath.

“Hopefully, the leader of these mutts can actually speak.” A hiss slid through her shields. They could always get to her if they pushed hard enough.

Marlena stunned the voice with a pop of electricity. It yelped like a scolded dog and retreated back behind the wall.

The bear dipped his head in one slow nod and turned around to lead the way. All the other shifters followed, turning their backs on Marlena.

They were either too confident or stupid. Marlena assumed the latter.