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"We need Harvey," I said, clearing my throat when it came out thick. I dove through my soul to the place I was bound to Harvey and gave him a rough tug, urging him to find me, to join us.
Please, please, please…
"What's the silver shit?" Kai asked, slashing his hand in front of us and building a serpentine shield around us.
"Spirits," Emlyn muttered, a growl threaded through his voice. "Verena! Get over here. Now."
She hovered a few feet away from us, her arms wrapped around her middle and her face turned up to the clash of titan, shadow, and storm in the sky. She looked small and scared and alone. She didn't even glare at Emlyn's bossy tone; she just slumped over to us.
"What do you mean spirits?" I asked, hooking the kid into a hug. She looked like she needed one, and if she was anything like me at that age, she'd be too proud to ask for one. She shook with tiny, barely perceptive tremors. "They can't leave Hell. Can they?" I pressed when no one spoke.
Kai shrugged. "He's Lucifer. He can do what he wants. Now if everyone's in one piece, we need to get Harvey and get the fuck out of here."
I liked that plan. I turned to scan the city, the whole thing flattened, domes lying on the ground, cracked in pieces with columns shattered beside them, walls in rubble around us. Harvey was massive, and Tali wasn't much smaller. They should have stuck out, should have been easy to spot. My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t see them at all.
I trusted Renna, and Tali was the closest thing I had to a best friend, but it wasmyjob to keep Harvey safe. I needed to find him now. I couldn't leave his safety in anyone else's hands.
"Duck!" Verena yelled, so sharp and piercing that I only hesitated for a second. When she dropped to the ground and covered her head, I followed suit, my mates all doing the same thing.
The second we were down, a plume of magic erupted across Olympus, so powerful that the whole mountain shook under us. Shit, they were going to bring the whole thing down. We needed to get back in the sky, but not without Harvey.
I pressed my face to the dusty ground, magic sizzling over my back, raking through my wings and burning into all the sensitive places I couldn't protect. I kept my head ducked until the oppressive cloud lifted and I could suck down a breath without lining my lungs with pure, electric power.
"It's the queen," Wane breathed, and I lifted my head to see what he was talking about.
Blinding light slammed into Cronus in a severing line, knocking him out of the city and past the collapsed wall. I sucked in a sharp breath as another rush of magic crackled over me.
The cruel sensitivity in my wings made me cry harder, tears flowing fast. Kai threw himself over my back, flattening me to the ground. I grunted at his added weight, but I was so touched by him shielding me that I didn't complain. Even if he was a stupid bastard who needed to protect himself as much as me.
"Let's go," Emlyn barked when no more flashes of magic crackled over us. "Wane, do you have enough strength to shield us?"
"Maybe," Wane replied, pushing off the ground and brushing off the little stones embedded in his arms. "I might—"
He cut off with a visceral shudder when Cronus laughed again, his horrible face cracked open.
"Hales, is the queen descended from a goddess?" Emlyn asked suddenly, and my heart thrummed faster.
"I don't know," I admitted. I didn't know much about my new friends. "But—I know Lucifer is."
"He's going to devour him," Wane rasped, his body shaking hard, shadows spitting from his hands. "And he'll consume Poseidon, too."
"Where the fuck is Harvey?" I growled, fear making me sick. I helped Verena to her feet, my panic reflected on her freckled face. "We're not leaving him."
Come closer,Cronus taunted, so suddenly and intensely loud that I clutched my head. Kai grabbed my face and brushed away the blood that ran from my nose, ignoring his own pain with his teeth clenched and rage glowing in his eyes.Closer, little gods.
"Where is Zara?"Poseidon roared, the ocean he'd brought with him no longer still. It drove into Cronus with a deadly crash, shaking the foundations of the mountain. Water hit the ground around the titan, so volatile that it frothed and thrashed and raced into the ruined city.
We were going to be swept away.
My heart drummed faster. I felt faint.
Frantic, I pushed Verena and Wane to Emlyn and then I grabbed Kai and leapt into the air.
My wings strained, aching so badly I clenched my jaw against the effort, but they held out enough to carry us to the top of a fallen dome. It was only six feet high but it was enough to escape the sudden waves below. I glued my eyes to Emlyn as he flew up to us, Wane under one arm and Verena under the other.
My bottom lip wobbled without mercy. I didn't know what I'd do without him.
"I know," he murmured when he landed beside me, standing on the top of the dome and ignoring the ocean that surged through Olympus so he could set Wane and Verena down, ducking close to me. His lips were warm on my cheek, a comfort that went far beyond words.
