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“You think you can win against a god? You are nothing!”
A colorless light blinded Tempest. The arm that was spinning Soulshadow faltered as a blade sliced into her shoulder and back.
She cried out in pain and rage. Whatever god was behind this had given the mortals a blade made from cresten iron, one of the only things that could harm a god.
While she wasn’t the most powerful god, she had ways to use her ability the other gods didn’t know of. The bright light never dimmed, but the darkness in the souls of her attackers allowed her to locate those who now surrounded her.
She focused on their movement and noted the soul of one of the men she had sliced through fade away. Another soul darted towards her, and she swung Soulshadow. Her back protested, but she couldn’t worry about that now. It connected with the man with a thud, and the soul dissipated.
Tempest kept count of the souls around her. Four had gone, and one lay still where she’d left it. Only seven left. She attempted to determine who was giving off the bright light but couldn’t discern the direction it was coming from. She only knew it had utterly blinded her and was probably also a gift from their god.
Soulshadow hung from her hand, waiting to be called into action. She noticed three souls waver, becoming darker, and dropped to her knees as they moved towards her. Two of them collided with each other above her, their blades digging into the gut of the other. Their souls flickered out as they dropped on top of her.
She pushed their bodies off and swung Soulshadow upward into the jaw of the third individual. There was a loud crack. The soul dissipated immediately.
Tempest noticed a gap in the souls and crawled towards it, hoping the light was blinding everyone and not only her. Her hopes were dashed as two of the remaining four souls moved towards her, closing the gap. Her hand slipped in a pool of blood and her face smacked the ground. The four darted towards her, and she rolled onto her back to dodge them.
One attacker adjusted their direction and stomped on her stomach. Before she could register the full amount of pain, another foot came down on her shoulder, grinding her wound into the ground. Her vision darkened, and tears rimmed her eyes.
Feet kicked her from every direction until finally, someone grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her to her knees. Tempest could feel the cold chill of a cresten iron blade at her throat.
“Any last words, goddess of the broken?” a feminine voice mocked.
Tempest hated using certain aspects of her powers. Some of them physically hurt her to use, but she wasn’t above doing it when she needed to. It appeared this was one of those moments.
“Tell your god you failed,” Tempest spat, blood spraying from her mouth.
She called to the souls surrounding her and drew them to her. The goddess of the broken was a god of judgment, and she found these souls to be lacking.
The soul of the man Soulshadow had maimed dissipated immediately, while the other four were pulled from the flesh and blood of their hosts. Screams of agony were cut off as they snapped out of their bony prisons and were crushed within her power.
The light dissipated, and Tempest watched the four bodies drop around her through spots in her vision as it acclimated.
As tempting as laying down and resting were at the moment, she had to find Aiden. She could feel that he was close—and not alone. Two very dark souls were with him in the building to her left.
Tempest slowly rose from her knees to her feet. Each step sent a jolt of pain through her body. She focused on it to keep her going and used it to push closer to where she needed to be. Soulshadow hung from her shoulders, its chain wrapped around her torso and its spiked head leaving a trail as it was dragged through the blood on the ground.
She gripped Soulshadow’s chain in her right hand as she reached the door, leaving the slack on her left side still hanging. Gathering her strength, she slammed her body into the door and burst in, ready to attack.
Chapter 16
Tempestwasn’tsurehowmuch longer her body would last, so she immediately sent Soulshadow towards its first target. It slammed into the man’s chest, and he dropped to the floor. She stretched out her other hand and called for the soul of the last assailant and pulled it from the person, crushing it as she had the others.
Pain shot behind her eyes as the soul disappeared. She sagged against the doorframe, her eyes connecting with Aiden’s terrified gaze. With his hands and feet tied and a gag over his mouth, he tried to push himself away from her, only to collapse against the wall with a painfilled groan.
She peeled her body from the frame and stumbled across the room. The fear and pain radiating from Aiden through their connection turned her stomach. Releasing Soulshadow, she staggered a few steps with the disappearance of its weight. Tempest sunk down the wall beside Aiden, leaving a trail of blood on it.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Tempest groaned as she settled next to him. She lifted her hands to the gag on his mouth and untied it.
Eyes wide, Aiden shifted into a better position against the wall with a wince. “It wasn’t a dream,” he whispered.
Untying the straps from his hands and feet, she asked, “What wasn’t?”
“In the alley. There were flashes… of you, with chains, attacking the men who had me. They beat me, and I blacked out. I thought I had made it up.”
Resting her head on the wall, Tempest tried to let her body relax. “That was me.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Aiden spoke again. “You’re actually her, aren’t you?”
