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Kara, calm down. What thing?I asked, trying to make sense of her words.
The thing with the fire. It’s a shield. We need to help Markus. Selene thinks we can stop Helios without killing him,she rambled.
Okay. Okay. I think I understand,I said, sitting up on the altar I was on and taking in my surroundings. Markus and Helios were wrestling on the ground, the crystal dagger forgotten to the side. I took some calming breaths and realized I wasn’t in pain anymore. I touched my stomach.
The pups are fine. I calmed your body, and the contractions stopped,Kara explained.
I started pulling deep within me, feeling and letting the fire burn like we’d practice with Markus. I felt myself start to burn, and I opened my eyes. I felt myself begin to float as the fire intensified.
“Enough fighting,” I yelled, my voice sounding louder than I thought it would.
The two men stared at me, and then Markus ran toward the dagger, while Helios tried and failed to push through my shield. Markus came to stand before me and lifted his hand until my fire covered his entire body. I couldn’t help but admire his magnificent ass as it glowed, covered in fire, until Kara reminded me that this was not the time. Helios jumped away, and I was stunned to see Markus jump down to follow.
Selene has gifted mate with a gift of his own,Kara purred as we floated down to them. I wondered briefly if we could share his as he shared ours when a blinding light made me shield my eyes. Selene appeared between Helios and Markus.
After exchanging a few words with her brother, she turned to me and said, “Show him the truth.” Without any further explanation, I knew what to do. I put my hands on his head and felt the familiar jerk backward.
Markus and I watched Helios walk toward his mother. He kneeled in front of her, love shining in his eyes. I could see his sorrow grow the longer he looked at her. It was the same sorrow that I felt when I relived my parent’s death and when I thought about the moments I had been robbed with them.
I could also feel Markus’ confusion at my words, but enough was enough. Too many lives had been destroyed, including Helios’. He’d lived with this sorrow, unable to move forward for over a thousand years. In the two weeks I watched him, I saw he was not beyond saving. He just needed to see the truth.
Helios jumped backward when he finally saw it. The shadow that stood behind her and the smirk on her face as she poisoned her son against her own daughter.
Helios walked around her, trying to see what or who the shadow was. As the moon gave way to the sun, the shadow of Tezcatlipoca, the god of darkness, became more visible. Helios’ eyes widened, and he leaned forward as he listened to the whisperings the god of darkness fed to his mother. He saw the corruption of his words darken her eyes as she repeated the words to him. She was working a spell, using his love for her to influence his actions and grow his rage toward his sister.
Time sped up, and Helios watched the shadow grow over the years, his mother’s eyes becoming black as night as she poisoned him with her magic, causing him to attack faster and harder at his sister. Helios watched his sister, tears glistening in his eyes.
“We fought for centuries. Did she never attack?” he asked, noticing for the first time that she never tried to hurt him, even when he would leave himself vulnerable. Selene only defended herself while she tried to talk some sense into him.
“She is your sister. She loved you. She still loves you. She wants you to live, but you need to stop,” I answered him as we watched Selene turn around and see the damage their fight had done to their people. With a sob, she threw the lance at their mother, and the god of darkness shrieked before the shadow disappeared shortly before Helios’ past self rushed to hold her, with nothing left for him to see but his mother's lifeless body. I closed my eyes at the blinding light when Selene plunged the dagger into her heart, and I felt myself jerked forward as the vision ended. We were back in the field below the pyramids. The moment the vision ended, I ran towards Markus, who pushed me behind his back warily as we waited to see what Helios would do. We were surrounded by wolves now, all bowing before our moon goddess.
Helios dropped to his knees before his sister, looking at the ground.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he whispered.
“You have spent a thousand years trying to kill our siblings for trying to protect you from our mother and Tezcatlipoca. It is time to stop.” She looked over at us. “There will be more battles in the future, my children. Have faith in the bonds I have made; have faith in the friendships you have forged. Your bonds will deepen and strengthen. Together you can beat the evil ahead.” She looked down at Helios and grabbed his hand. “Find your redemption, brother,” she said before she looked up at the sky. There was another blinding light and when the light dissipated, they were both gone.
Markus looked around, making sure the threat was gone. All of Helios’ warriors were gone. The world before me began to sway as I felt the last of my energy leave me. The contractions, the fire, the visions. It was all too much. I grabbed onto Markus as he took me into his arms. The sparks I had missed for two weeks exploded across my body as he held me before I fainted.
Sleep. Everything will be fine. This battle is over. You did so well,Kara praised before I gave into the darkness.
Markus
Ifeltherexhaustionand her hand on my arm before she fainted.
She is fine. Kara put her into a healing sleep. She expended too much energy. The pups are okay, but they need to rest,Atlas explained quickly as worry filled me, though he couldn’t keep the whimper out of his voice as we looked at our unconscious mate.
“Dr. West,” I called out, and I watched him push through the crowd. He checked Celeste over and agreed with what Atlas said. Danny came forward and handed me a pair of shorts, only then realizing I had been fighting naked since I shifted back to my human form when I jumped to the platform to save Celeste.
Speaking of...
How did we jump like that?I asked Atlas.
It was a gift from the Moon Goddess. She deemed us worthy.Atlas puffed his chest out proudly.
“So….” Diego interrupted our internal talk, fidgeting slightly from the adrenaline. “That was anti-climactic. I expected a longer fight. All we did was run.”
Danny snorted while he held Maya in his arms, one hand on her stomach. She refused to stay behind, and Danny had been so worried about their pup. He was more than okay with not having her in a fight, but a few people gave uncomfortable laughs as they agreed with Diego’s assessment.
