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Dang. Neeka should have known they’d partnered up. Like called to like. “Only two against me? Or are you more than an unwitting hostess?” she demanded of Siobhan.
Unperturbed, the goddess grinned with cold evil. “Tell Hades I’m coming for him.”
Okay. “Two possibly three against me.” Neeka met Lore’s gaze. “And you expect to win?”
“Oh, there are more with us.”
The veil of smoke thinned behind Lore and Grenwich, revealing a cluster of hybrids. They possessed the head of a wolf, the body of an ultramuscular human, with scales instead of skin, and two sets of arms. There were ten in total, and they stared at Neeka as if they could already taste her marrow. Her stomach flip-flopped.
“Meet my first attempt at motherhood.” Lore flipped her hair over one shoulder. “They are unable to embody, but the same will not be true of my next brood.” Smiling, she smoothed a hand over her flat stomach. “They are ready to secure their new kingdom for their baby brothers.”
Neeka exaggerated a gag. “Yes, I see the resemblance.” How to handle this? Like Hades at the crossroads, she must make a choice.
Did some part of Rathbone still love his ex? Would he resent Neeka if she harmed the goddess?
Was this the damage to her life? And what about her mother? Could she physically harm the woman who’d birthed her?
Grenwich noticed her indecision. “Walk away.”
“I have no wish to kill you now,” Lore said. “You have more to do for me.”
For her? Neeka cut off a rebuke. “All right. I’ll go,” she offered pleasantly. “After.” As cold as ice, she struck, raking her claws across Lore’s trachea, then her mother’s.
As the two toppled, Neeka snatched the cloth containing the bones and jetted off. The stable members were too concerned for their mother to compute what had transpired.
Her wings flapped overtime, increasing Neeka’s speed. She intended to dive into the sky. Hopefully, she’d fly out of the glass and land with ease in the other world. If not, well, she’d figured it out.
Halfway there the hybrids caught up with her. Like a whirling, screeching tornado, they trapped her in a tangle of chaos and pain. Because they were spirits, the same as Lore, they swiped their clawsthroughher body, cutting her spirit, making her feel as if she’d been dipped in acid and rolled in salt. Panic attempted to derail her defenses as she struggled to protect herself.
Weakness invaded her limbs, and she collapsed to the ground, cracking the mother-of-pearl and dropping the cloth. A gnarled claw-tipped foot kicked it from her sight line. No! As she continued to fight the interminable stream of blows, she crawled forward and patted the floor. Thankfully, her attackers paused periodically to lick bits and pieces of her spirit from their talons. But the anguish! The helplessness.
Through sheer will alone, she continued her search. No sign of the bones. Come on, come on...
The monsters started up again, delivering injury after injury. Her vision hazed. When she couldn’t crawl any longer, she scooted, wriggled, and slithered—and fell right out of the mirror. She slammed into Rathbone and Hades and rolled down the dais steps.
“Nooo!” The bones. She’d left them behind. A treasure for Grenwich to nab.
“You are injured.” Remaining on the floor, Rathbone yanked her close, bit his wrist and placed the wound over her mouth. “What happened?” Strain etched deep grooves around his eyes.
“It was a setup,” she said after swallowing a mouthful of liquid power. She fought to catch her breath. “Lore controls ten adult hybrids, and my mother aids her. They have the remaining bones now.” Tears blurred Neeka’s vision. How miserably she’d failed. “If we give Azar the orb, he’ll resurrect Lore before the ceremony. Maximus might survive, but no one else will.”
That was the true horror. Whatever road they traveled, they ended up in the same place: doomed.
Hades flashed in front of her, knocking Rathbone out of the way. “Yes, but what did my goddess say?” he demanded.
“Oh, um, she’s coming for you or whatever.”
Rathbone shoved the other male away and pulled Neeka onto his lap. “I’ll present the Astra with a deal he cannot refuse.”
“Which is?”
“I’ll shift into Lore. I will be her in every way that matters. There will be no need for her to revive. He’ll kill me and win his task against Erebus.”
“What? No.Youwon’t revive.”
On cue, a new vision opened in her mind. The throne room ceremony. She saw Rathbone shift into Lore. Saw Azar claw out his heart while muttering words Neeka didn’t understand. Saw Rathbone fall and never get up, and Chaos announce the Astra the winners of the task.
“No!” she shouted, jolting into the present. “Unacceptable. Promise me you won’t do that, Rathbone. Please. I’ll agree to be your queen if you’ll swear not to do it. I require you inthisform.”
