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Luckily, Helene looks behind her, clearly confused by the spark of heat at her back. The heat must seep through the air, the flames flickering as the tornado threatens to either consume the fire or blow it out. She draws her air back in, stopping the near destruction before it reaches the flames.
That was close.
She turns on her heel, a sinister grin curling on her lips as her eyes narrow on me.
“You should just give up now, Helene.” I raise my sword between us, black smoke wreathing itself around the steel this time.
She jumps a step back, clearly caught off guard by the dark magic at my fingertips. Her gaze darkens as she meets my stare, undoubtedly remembering what I was able to do to Abigail. Although I might not be able to kill her with the death power, I can with the dagger.
“Why don’t you just give us the dagger, and all of this will go away?” Helene says, raising her own sword at the ready.
“I’m not an idiot, Helene,” I scoff.
Maximus strides over to my side, both of us standing to block her way forward. I go to place a shield over my friends, but something blocks my power from surrounding them.
“Oh, that?” Helene laughs, shaking her head at me like I’m an idiot for even trying. “I’ve learned some new tricks in the last few days.”
My eyes narrow at the calculating gleam in her eyes. Whatever power she’s using to block my shield is something she’s learned exactly for this moment here, and now we’ve played right into her hand. I bare my teeth at her, doing the best I can to block her powers from getting past me, but I know it isn’t as good as my usual shield.
I strike first, launching into motion, my sword coming down on hers in a sharp arc. I send fire streaming around the steel’s edge, but she quickly washes it away with a wave of cool sea water. Maximus starts forward, but switches his attack at the last second as a dark god strikes at him, splitting his attention away from Helene for now.
Gritting my teeth, I know I can’t use some of the powers I’ve come to rely on with her. I block her next attack, meeting her water halfway with a stream of my own, except this time I send a jolt of electricity along with it. The blast vibrates through her sword, forcing her to drop the metal as the shock nears her palm.
She hisses out a pained breath as steam rises from her hand, her eyes glaring daggers. A ball of water forms in her palm and I can only imagine she’s trying to soothe the burning flesh—too bad I don’t have that problem. A grin curls on my lips as I send another lightning strike for her, excitement thrumming through me at the fact that the water in her hand will only aid in my attempt to shock her, when a stream of water out of the corner of my eyes steals my focus. The water spears from the fountain, just behind the makeshift barrier I erected, heading straight towards my group of friends.
“No!” The scream tears from me as I desperately wrap my power around the water, battling for control of the power from Helene, but it’s already too late. The water curls around a long throat, cutting off their airflow as she forces the liquid past their lips. I can’t even focus on which one of my friends she has her powers wrapped around, my singular focus on freeing them in enough time.
I send a blast of destruction towards Helene, knocking her back off her feet to collide into a group of gods behind her, and I scramble to my friend’s side. Helene’s screams are the least of my problems right now as her water splashes onto the ground. A body slumps towards the floor, but Kali clutches them, desperately trying to cushion their fall.
My brain still hasn’t caught up with my body as I rush to their side, my hands automatically poised over the person’s neck, allowing my healing power to flood their body, searching for some way to mend the unmistakable break I heard.
“Come on,” I beg my powers, pleading with them to save my friend’s life … but there is no life to save.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Olivia
Tearswellinmyeyes, blurring my vision as I suck in shuddered breaths. I push my power again and again, begging it to remake my friend to help them become something else, something new, but I know it won’t work … they’re not human.
“I heard a snap, Liv,” Kali sobs, desperately clutching the man to her chest as she rocks back and forth, like she can lend him some comfort despite his life already being stolen.
I clutch Kali’s hand, and she squeezes mine back as I blink away the tears. I suck in a startled breath as the man’s face comes into focus, my panic finally ebbing enough for me to take in the scene around us.
“Domenic?” His name is half-question and half-accusation on my lips. Skin paling as the signs of death start to set in, his black hair shines in the sunlight, unmistakably him.
“He jumped in front of me at the last second,” Kali says, heaving in a staggered breath as tears stream down her face. Stacia collapses beside her, wrapping her arms tightly around Kali, but she refuses to let go of Domenic’s lifeless body. “That was meant to be me. Why—”
Her words cut off as though she doesn’t really want to ask the question, dreading the answer just as much as I am.
“He told me Helene was planning to come after you all—that’s the only reason I was able to get over here in time,” I murmur, my lips numb as I form the words, but I need them to know that it wasn’t a split second decision. He had their safety in mind the entire time, and despite the mistakes he’s made, he was a good person at the end of the day.
Mine and Kali’s hands are still interlocked as they brush against his cooling skin. The lack of warmth sends a shock through me, just another reminder that he’s gone. Guilt wraps around my heart, squeezing around it so hard that I’m almost sure it’s about to be ripped from my chest.
“We can take care of him,” Zina says, drawing my attention up to her. Greif creases her face, and I know the guilt that must be wracking through her despite the fact that it isn’t her fault … just as much as it isn’t mine.
There’s one person to blame here and that’s Helene.
I give Zina a tight nod and pull myself together, knowing this fight is far from over. There’ll be time to mourn my friend, both the person he was when I knew him and the demigod he could have become if he wasn’t led down the wrong path.
