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He sinks down on Olivia’s other side, and she leans her head against his shoulder, inhaling a staggered breath.
“We need to find Mateo,” she says, straightening as she looks between Adrian and Kyros.
Kyros nods and he gives her a chaste kiss on her forehead before he stands. His lips part and he’s about to say something when Octavia rushes towards us, cutting him off.
“Kallen is gone,” Octavia says, her face pale as she joins us.
“I thought we kept enough from him in case he turned on us,” Osias growls, his fists clenching at his sides.
“What about his oath?” Titus asks as he strides over to us, his brow furrowed as his jaw works.
“He’ll have to suffer the consequences of breaking his vow, and that’s up to the fates to decide,” Osias answers. “I need to go back to see if I can locate Mateo outside of this realm.”
“I’ll go with you,” Kyros says, nodding to us as he projects.“Take care of our mate.”
“We’ll stay here,” Adrian says, his arms banding around Olivia as though he already knows she’ll refuse to leave.
Just as Osias and Kyros are about to dissipate away though, a sweeping wind spirals beside him, a figure forming before our eyes.
They pause as they gather their power, ready in case a dark god is about to attack. But as the figure comes into focus, we all release a collected sigh of relief, that is until his face comes into focus, panic and sorrow creasing his features.
“It’s gone. It’s all gone.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mateo
MyfingerslockaroundRomulus’ arm in a vise-like grip, refusing to let him slip away this time. Anywhere he goes, I’m coming with him. I pull my shields around me, readying myself for an all-out battle as soon as our bodies form, but as the wind sweeps around us, I feel a crack in a barrier with my power signature woven into it, like Romulus just single-handedly bashed through our wards.
Fuck.
My heart jolts as our bodies form, expecting to be in front of the school or even by the gates of Ethereal, but instead, the manor comes into focus, the thick ivy covering the walls flashing like a beacon.
Our home?
“You just had to come with me, God of War?” Romulus bellows, his face reddening as he pushes me off of him. “What do you think you’re going to be able to do to me?”
“This,” I shout as I blast him with an explosion, my swords already drawn and ready to slice and spear him with my powers.
He easily blocks the attack and throws his own arching blow of black lightning towards me. I absorb the power, lifting my sword to catch the blast and consume the dark lightning as it hums to life around the steel’s edge.
“I can do this all day, Romulus,” I jeer, stabbing my sword forward and launching his strike back at him. He waves his arm and flings the bolt to the side. “What’s your plan?”
“Well, I was going to attack the school, but then you just had to come along, didn’t you?” Romulus growls, sending a tornado straight for me. My wings sprout from my back, and with a big gust, I send the tornado off in a thousand directions, letting the air and debris dissipate away.
“Even if I didn’t follow you, did you really think we wouldn’t be ready for you?” My wings spread again and lift me into the air, the sun glimmering off my gold feathers and sending a blast straight towards him. My battle lust sings in my veins as this blow lands, knocking him back off his feet as a translucent black barrier forms around him.
“Did you really think I didn’t have a backup plan?” Romulus grins as he pulls himself back up. My feet smash against the ground as I land, already preparing to fend off his next strike, but it doesn’t come. He raises his arms above him, summoning his power as the ground shakes beneath me. I bend my knees and launch into the air as the ground crumbles where I was just standing. Pulling my shields around me, I’m expecting something to come shooting from the earth straight for me, but it doesn’t come.
I narrow my eyes on him, but he doesn’t even bother to look my way when he attacks me.
What the—
He turns with his arms outstretched towards the manor, towards our home.
“No!” I shout as I swoop down towards him, readying another blast, but the ground is already crumbling beneath him. I pull up abruptly, barely able to get airborne in time as the ground disintegrates into an enormous crater, swallowing the house and everything surrounding it whole.
Romulus’ wings lift him into the air, keeping him hovering just over the destruction he unleashed below.
