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“Please,” my voice breaks. “Just give her back to me.” Yet nothing, not a flicker, nothing but the cold void of a broken bond.
The air is thick with tension, a palpable weight that feels almost suffocating. I glance down at Marabella's lifeless form in my arms, and my heart contracts with such pain that for a moment, it feels like I might not breathe again.
Lightning arcs across the sky, each brilliant flash matching the fury coursing through me. Thunder crashes with such intensity that the very earth seems to tremble beneath us when my thoughts go to her mother.
Grief intertwines with my rage, amplifying my pain and spurring me to greater acts of desperation. “Katya!” I bellow into the encroaching storm. “You claim dominion over life and death! You, with your mighty power and endless games! Where are you now?!”
My fists clench, shaking with the intensity of my emotions. The rain assaults my skin, each drop feeling like a stinging rebuke. But my focus is unwavering. “I know you can hear me, Katya!” The thunder grows louder, the rain hitting harder, trees sway and bend in the storms' fury.
“What of you, Hades? I know you revel in my suffering, but this is too much, even for you. We broke your curse, you bastard.”
Lightning pierces the sky, thunder rumbling like a roaring beast. But I remain defiant. “You've watched over me for centuries, puppeteering every move, delighting in my agony. Come down now! Show your face!”
Drawing a ragged breath, I press a glowing hand to Marabella's chest, hoping against hope that the fates would heed my plea. “You want to torment someone? Take me. But not her. She doesn't deserve your wrath.”
Thunder rages, and the wind whips around me, pulling at her clothes, and hair. My heart shatters further with each second that passes. I stare upwards, where the storm is fiercest, knowing she watches, knowing she listens. Knowing all the fates do, they watch and do fucking nothing.
“Please!” My voice cracks from raw emotion. “We stuck to the rules. I've played your game. But not now. Not with her.”
Where is her mother? How can she watch her daughter die and do nothing?
My gaze remains fixed on the heart of the storm, desperation surging. “I know the balance you hold so sacred. But fuck your balance! I don't care what you need to sacrifice, or what consequence I need to pay. I'll pay it tenfold. Just bring her back.”
The world around me continues its tumultuous dance, indifferent to my pain. But I can't relent.
From the dark void, a portal appears, and Katya steps out. She looks like hell, her form barely holding together. But I have no sympathy for her right now. “Where the fuck were you?” I snarl, not caring for an answer.
Her eyes are wide and filled with terror as they land on her daughter. “Marabella, no,” she chokes, seemingly in shock. I watch her, feeling the anger seethe and broil within me. Katya reaches for her daughter. She kisses her and pulls away. “No, baby, please,” Katya wails, leaning down and kissing her again and again. Her hands glowing as she tries to bring her back, yet each time she does, her magic wanes, her power flickers.
I'm losing patience. “Heal her! You're a goddamn Gemini Moon Goddess! Why isn’t she healing?!” My voice echoes with the power of my emotions.
Katya suddenly pushes me away, her power sending me skidding back. “I was trapped in the Moon Goddess realm, you think I wasn't trying to get back! Where the fuck were you?!” she shrieks back, a wildness in her eyes.
But all I see is red. In a blind fury, I launch my magic at her. “Helping your son! Now fix her! Bring her back!” I bellow, my voice echoing around us. Kyan tries to tell me to stop, yet I see only fury… how did she not see this!
She falls beside her daughter, before reaching for her again and pulling her close, her sobs tearing through the tense atmosphere. “I'm too late,” she whispers, a brokenness in her voice.
I refuse to accept that, and I reach down, snatching her off her mother, who wails. “You can't, can you?” I ask her. Katya looks up at me, heartbroken. There has to be a way.
“Kora passed into the fountain, I tried, I tried to send her back, I tried to get here, I was too late,” Katya breaks.
I shake my head. “No! I won't accept that,” I tell her, and she looks at me in horror.
Jonah's voice breaks through my thoughts, a frantic note in his tone. “What are you doing?” he demands.
Without hesitation, I open a portal. “I need to get her home,” I mutter, my voice thick with emotion. Jonah grabs me, but I shove him through the portal too. “No, Corina,” Jonah says as the portal shuts.
“Rose has her,” I snarl.
Suddenly, I'm back in the familiar surroundings of my home. The kitchen, the place where we've shared countless meals and memories. But now, it's just a space filled with the echoes of what was and what might never be again.
Kyan shoves forward, and Dominic's eyes lock onto ours, a myriad of emotions flashing through them when his eyes fall on Marabella. “Is she? Oh, Goddess, no,” Dominic gasps.
“Fuck the Moon Goddess,” I growl, shoving past him and Eziah who is unconscious on the floor.
“What are you doing?” he questions, panic evident in his voice.
ChapterEighty-Eight
