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I nodded. "I felt as much. I know I was lucky to have survived this time, but believe it or not, I don't feel as off-balance as I did before. I'm not straining to stay in control, though there’s still a possibility something might send me spiraling. As long as this chaos resides inside me, I'll be a ticking bomb."
"I know what that's like," he said.
I ran a finger along the scar by his eye. “I know you do.”
Now that I thought about it, only Lucian, Ruby, and Elinor could truly understand what I was going through. We’d all had power unceremoniously thrown at us, whether we’d wanted it or not.
“Are you still afraid of hurting me?" I asked him.
He shook his head and grinned. “No,” he said. “Now, I think it’s the other way around. You have twice the strength I have.”
I smiled weakly. "Can you see me?" I whispered.
Lucian frowned, appearing confused, but he nodded.
"I can't see myself," I told him. “Not anymore.”
“No one knows who they are when they go through something like this, Natalie. Changes that are worth it are never easy to make. Despite how worried I was, I was really proud of you. What you did today was exceptional. I bet that you're stronger than anyone else in this realm now.”
I looked away, my cheeks burning.
“It’s true,” he added, shaking me to make me face him. "From the moment we met, I knew you were exceptional. I can’t think of anyone who could have dealt with this situation better than you. Sure, you felt some fear and doubt. Who wouldn’t have? But you’re still standing. And even though Zeus told you that anyone might have bonded with Tedara’s divinity, I don’t think he’s right. You're special, Natalie. You always have been."
“Tedara told me that she'd picked me, specifically," I told him. "She said she knew I’d be able to contain the chaos. That’s why I did what I did today. I figured I could hold it all without being consumed by it.”
Lucian moved my hair away to kiss my shoulder. “And you did well, my love. Just don't do it again."
I laughed, and he chuckled, his eyes narrowing.
“I won’t,” I told him. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
I got off him and stood up, then called for Rumir to enter. I could tell from his scent that it was him on the other side of the door.
“Something’s happened,” Rumir said, quickly entering the room. "Suit up. We have to leave shortly.”
“What happened?” I asked, as Lucian and I stood up together.
“The City of Souls is under attack,” Rumir answered. “We need to get home.”
* * *
Natalie
Lucian and I followed Rumir into the living room and found Zeus, in hologram form, standing by the window.
"Zeus?" I said, and his eyes lowered accusingly.
“It would seem you’ve done more than just meet Hydum,” he said, burying his hands in his pockets. “Very rarely do mortals surprise me, but you keep doing so.”
I couldn't feel any emotions coming from him, but perhaps that was because he wasn't, in fact, here, but in some sort of astral form.
“What’s happening?” Lucian asked. “The infected are in the city?”
“Yes,” Zeus answered as indifferently as always. “Several infected florkins buried themselves in The Wanderers Forest before the barrier could be erected.”
At the werewolf festival, I remember Lucian telling me that florkins weren’t native to the area. So, how had they gotten there? Tedara wasn’t behind the attacks, so who else would’ve brought in the florkins just before the city went on lockdown? It seemed very suspicious.
“So, it’s not souls that are attacking?” Rehema asked, gripping the back of the chair Hydum was sitting in.
