Page 77 of Invoking Ruin

Nyx’s fathomless eyes bore into mine for an infinite moment. Then, she nods. “Momus.”

She steps aside, letting me see Momus lower the blade from Dionysus’ neck and kick him down onto his knees. Dionysus’ hand shoves into his pocket, his eyes twilight-tinted rage.

“Don’t be too angry with her,” Nyx soothes, her lips tipped up in amusement. “She loves you, as much as she’s capable.” To me she adds, “Give it to me now, before I tell Momus to kill him.”

She holds out her hand, and reluctantly, I hand her the knife.

Nyx takes it, lifting the blade and slicing it through the air. Void flares where it passes, pure darkness flowing out in an awful wave before the rift heals itself.

She smiles at me.

My heart stops.

“You should have given this to me in Tartarus. I went to so much trouble tracking you down.”

I step back, but it’s not me she charges, sliding forward in and out of shadow right towards Dionysus.

“Don’t!” My voice is pure power, but the hooks fail to catch.

A high whinny pierces the air. Pegasus. With a flap of his massive wings, he dives into the pavilion, knocking into Momus from behind. Dionysus ducks to the ground, out of the way of Nyx’s strike as she and Momus collide.

The blade slides right through my uncle like he’s nothing but shadow.

Momus gasps—a horrible, gurgling noise, ichor and Void bubbling up together from his lips.

Nyx stares at him with either regret or fascination furrowing her brow. I can’t tell which. “Oh—my child. It’ll be over soon,” she coos, doing a poor impression of maternal care.

Nyx doesn’t care about anyone, not even herself. I’ve always known that, but seeing her kill her own child by accident and barely give him an ounce of comfort drives the point home.

With that knife, Nyx is going to kill us all.

I run to Dionysus, dragging him away from Nyx and my dying uncle as Void drips from the growing chasm in his chest. Its inky smoke pours out and sizzles over his skin, eating away at him. The air shifts around us all, being dragged towards the source of the tear like water to the center of a whirlpool.

Nyx pulls the blade free and lets Momus fall to the ground, already forgotten. She sniffs at Pegasus. “Vile beast. Not worth the effort of killing you."

Pegasus deserves every carrot in the whole universe.

I place myself between Dionysus and Nyx, but the gesture is for nothing. She disappears with the rift knife, and the sky lightens back into twilight with her absence.

“Niece,” Momus croaks from the floor of the pavilion. “Help me. Make this stop.”

The sword he’d been holding glints beside him, still tinted with Dionysus’ ichor.

Slowly, I peel myself from the floor and pick it up.

Perhaps I should feel some sadness in this moment. Momus is family, and he was betrayed just as much as the rest of us, but I can’t summon any sort of emotion for him. It’s like putting down a rabid dog. Or rather, defusing a bomb that’s already exploded.

Killing Momus doesn’t even register to me as an action.

Dionysus grabs my arm, halting my sword stroke. “You don’t have to do this. There must be something we can do for him. Some cure.”

I shake my head. He doesn’t understand, because he hasn’t seen what I’ve seen. Those centuries he’s so ungrateful for spared him the bitterness of the gods’ new reality. “The only reason Lethe survived the rift knife was because it was a little cut. This… is fatal.”

Fatal to more than just him. If left to fester, it will swallow everything in time.

There’s only one way to end this.

“I’d say I’m sorry to do this, uncle, but we both know it’d be a lie. At least I’ll make it quick.”

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