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“Yet it is your plan I find myself more interested in.” If possible, the Moon Goddess’s voice got even less human. She was angry. “You thought to ally against me,son.”
“Hardly.” Phaidros managed to sound insulted, even though that had been exactly true. “I simply—”
“Enough deception. I have indulged you too much. I did so because you were borne of a part of me, and I do not believe in treating any part of myself with less than reverence. Yet you have proved ungrateful, over and over. And like any good mother, I must teach you the consequences of such work. Again.”
The white spots making up the constellations on Phaidros’s black skin glowed brighter and brighter until they burned to look at. Phaidros cried out, a gasp cut off as he choked on blood. Hundreds of piercings went through Phaidros with no further notice. The stars pierced him clean through, as though each had been a tiny spear.
There were parts of him I could see straight through.
The demon fell to his knees, his pierced hands falling in front to catch him.
On instinct, I reached for my magic, wanting to heal such cruelty.
But just like the last time I was here, my magic was locked away. The Moon Goddess had absolute dominion over magic used in her realm.
He forced himself up on his own strength. It would have been nothing less than excruciating.
“If you can stand, perhaps I didn’t do enough,” the Moon Goddess purred in a distorted voice. “Why do you make me do this?”
“Enough!” I called. “He’s neutral in this. We all swore a million vows to the Styx to keep the contest fair, and Phaidros sworeto be impartial. He’s done nothing to deserve such cruelty.”
There was something like gratitude in Phaidros’s eyes, there and gone before I could be certain.
I didn’t like the demon by any stretch. But he didn’t deserve this from his own mother. No wonder he wanted to kill her. I recalled the words of my own packmates, the ones who were supposed to help shelter me, who’d thrown similar condescending words out when I refused to yield. Why do you make us teach you these lessons over and over, Avery? Why won’t you just accept your place as the weak little Omega?My mother might not have physically hurt me, but she had let the pack do whatever they pleased while she basically disowned me.
There was nothing I wanted less than to empathize with the demon.
“Cruelty? You insult me, life-giver. Phaidros is a piece of me, my property to do with as I see fit. Just as I make all those who belong to me do what I wish.”
On silent command, every shifter dropped to their knees, head bowed.
She didn’t deserve their submission.
“But,” she continued, “if you think he is better off without me, then I shall oblige. Consider this a final gift before you return to the under-realm.”
With a flex of her fingers, the stars piercing Phaidros’s skin disappeared entirely. I could feel the change in the air, his magic gone. She had ripped out whatever shred of her soul had spawned him and taken it back. Phaidros roared, the angry, pained cry of someone who had something fundamental stolen from them.
If possible, the Moon Goddess glowed even brighter.
“That is better. Back where it belongs.” She floated down the steps. “Now, I will give you what you came for. This is my trial: single combat between you and me. No interference from the death god.” She cut a look to Cole. The hate in her eyes was the most human emotion she’d displayed yet.
My wolf wanted me to growl at the thought of her looking at our mate. But that part of me was once again locked away, unable to come out in the goddess’s realm.
“I object to this,” Cole snarled. “Let me take Avery’s place fighting you. I’d like nothing more than to rip you apart.”
“I’m sure that is true,” the Moon Goddess said. “But I have chosen my opponent.”
Cole turned to the lump on the ground that was Phaidros, lifting him up by his shirt lapels. “She was allowed to send a representative every other time. There’s no way she can specify which of us can fight her.”
“Just because you did not think to, does not mean I can’t.” The Moon Goddess’s smile was hideous and perfect all at once.
“She’s… right…” Phaidros groaned.
Cole dropped the demon to the floor in disgust, rounding on me. There was fury on his face, but behind it was concern. He would do anything for me, anything at all. But asking him to stand on the sidelines while his mate fought for her life?
“Single combat,” I repeated. “No tricks.”
“No tricks,” she agreed. “To the death. First one to the pits loses.”
