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The black snake crawled across the ground, growing larger and larger until she was almost the size of a building. She charged through the infected gods and souls, and the Goddess grabbed Hekate’s arm.
"You don't have the power to do this, Hekate," the Goddess said.
Hekate laid a hand over the Goddess’s. When hundreds of witches had been infected, then killed, Hekate had lost a lot of her divinity. She was on the verge of dying, and the Goddess had had to take her friend to her own alternate reality, to keep her out of the war and buy her some time.
I’d witnessed the sister-like bond between the two women and could understand why the Goddess was pissed. Hekate had done so much since the start of this war—she had been one of few on the front line from the start. But now she was vulnerable. And the Goddess couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else.
“I told you I’d be here when you needed me,” Hekate said. "You and Zeus can open the portal, with Natalie helping, and I'll take the souls through. It's the only way."
“We have to get back to the pack,” Elinor whispered to Will.
Their pack was safe at the Goddess’s temple, but for how long, nobody knew. Things were getting out of hand and we were running out of time.
“I can sense every life force in the city,” I said. “I should be able to help separate the infected from those who aren’t.”
I'd never done anything like that before, but I’d experienced many firsts throughout this journey.
"And we'll teleport those who aren't," Hekate added.
We smiled at each other.
Hekate had taught me a lot about using and controlling my powers, and because of her, I had been able to create Luna, who could hold excess any chaos that would otherwise throw me off-balance.
Zeus sighed heavily and held a hand out to the Goddess and me. I took his hand, and Hekate took the Goddess’s hand and then mine, forming a circle, and I watched as they all closed their eyes.
A wall of ice formed around us, and Lucian winked at me as we were encircled and cut us off from him, Elinor, Brian, and Will. When the Goddess started chanting, I closed my eyes and opened myself to all souls in the city and forest.
There were billions of them, and I quickly ensured I wouldn’t connect to them emotionally. I swallowed hard and tried to tune out the noise of the war, but the urgency of getting this done was making me tremble.
Fortifying my courage, I focused on the souls. The sooner things were handled here, the sooner we could turn our focus back to finding Cedric and Rumir.
I closed my eyes tighter, and concentrated on the souls in the city. Those who were infected had red life forces. Those who weren't, had auras of various colors. I ignored the infected and reached out to Zeus, the Goddess, and Hekate’s minds to channel the images, so they'd know who to teleport.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and I opened my eyes to see a swirling cloud forming over the city. It was like a storm brewing in the night sky, and as I watched, beams of white light shot downwards, capturing souls wherever they were, even inside buildings.
Hekate released me, and laid her hand against the ice to melt it. The second she did, a thick vine covered in thorns came towards her, aimed at her face, and I acted. When I grabbed it, the thorns pierced my palm. My chaos escaped from my hand and seeped into the vine.
It started to rot, the decay traveling up the vine until it got to the attacker, a male fae. His skin and flesh rotted away, like the roots sticking from various parts of his body.
“Go, we’ll handle things here,” I said to Hekate, and she placed her hand on my shoulder.
Black smoke began crawling up her body as she teleported, and she smiled at the Goddess. "I'll see you soon."
"Of course, you will," the Goddess grumbled, as the portal continued pulling the souls out of the city.
When Hekate had disappeared, Brian turned to Elinor. “You and Dad should go,” Brian said.
Elinor shook her head. "I'm not leaving you behind," she argued.
Brian pulled her into a hug, his hybrid form fading away. "Please, Mom," he whispered as he pulled away. "You have to let me go. The pack needs you—both of you. Can you imagine their panic after being pulled into another realm? Go. I'll be fine, I promise. But I have to stay. I have to fight."
Elinor looked at Will pleadingly, her eyes tearing up, and Will pulled her against him.
“Let him go, Elinor," Will whispered in her ear, as she closed her eyes. "Let him go and trust him the way you wanted your father to trust you."
Elinor’s eyes flew open, and she bit down on her lip. On Earth, she’d been the firstborn child and an alpha. But because she was a female, she’d had to forfeit her right to lead the pack.
Alphas were mainly men, but from what I knew about Elinor, being an alpha had always been her dream—woman or not.
