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“Tell me you love me,” I said, standing over her.
“You know I love you, my Queen. I would do anything for you.”
“Tell me you worship me above all others.”
“You know I do. Everything I have done has always been for you.”
“Tell me you would kill for me. Anyone that would go against me. Man, woman, or child. Anyone who would dare try to love or worship another.”
“I would make them suffer for it, Kali.”
“Tell them you’re sorry,” I whispered.
“What?” Green shook her head fervently. “Please, my goddess, I appeal to your better nature as your most loyal servant.”
“I don’t have a better nature.”
“Give me a chance,” she cried out, coughing on her tears.
“Pray to me for forgiveness for what you’ve done.” Rage boiled deep within me, unabating. I thought of the little hands. The tiny finger bone.
“I beg of you, my goddess, please forgive me. I will always serve you.”
Kneeling down in front of her, I nodded softly. I reached out my hand and she flinched, but all I did was caress her cheek. “I know,” I whispered. “That’s the problem.”
I shoved the blade into her throat as her eyes widened and bulged. Her mouth popped open, but no sound came out save the gurgling of the blood collecting in her throat.
I shoved her away from me, keeping hold of the dagger. Standing up, I turned to Pan.
“I’m taking this world back,” I told him. “And there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Chapter13
Pan
I had to kill her.I knew it. It was my only chance. The temple stood, and always would, but its priestesses were dead. They couldn’t bring her back. Only I knew how.
It would be my responsibility to end her.
To end this.
Yet, I stood frozen, wavering in indecision. For one reason, and one reason only. Not because I loved her. That was a given.
It was because from the moment I crested the stairs and witnessed her rebirth, as I had done so many times before, I sensed the atmosphere had changed. Despair ripped me apart when I saw her emerge from the blood rite. I’d missed my chance to save her. Save Adora. Not Kali. Then, as my hope drained away, I realized I felt Adora’s energy. The connection that had been growing exponentially between us was still present. This was the same woman I’d dropped off—a woman unlike any version before. That had to count for something. In every lifetime she was reborn, her wrath returned with a burning intensity. Her power radiated from her in violent waves. Not this time. Power, yes. Violence, yes. Wrath, oh yes ... but not directed at Arcadia. It was forthem. The priestesses.
She stared at me; dagger drawn. I returned her gaze, my short sword raised. Silence swelled between us.
I didn’t know what to do. I had to stop Kali from her destructive rampage. But I didn’t know if I could kill Adora. Love and logic warred within me, and logic even warred with itself.
“What have you done?” I asked, glancing at the corpses of the zealot peacocks.
“Given Arcadia my first gift,” she answered with a shrug.
“Your first gift?” I repeated back to her slowly, watching her every move with eagle eyes. She’d slaughtered them with a smile. That was the Kali I had always known. My heart sank when that reality set in.
“Those priestesses will never control me again. They’ll never use me again. They’ll never urge me to do their bidding again. If I’m going to kill someone, it’ll be on my terms. I make my own decisions.”
I nodded slowly, breathing out. So that was it. We were back where we’d always ended up.
