Page 140 of The World Undone

“Ah, but we can help with that process, can’t we?” The man turned to the woman, to the rest of his peers in question. “We can help the girl—take her burden.”

Take her power, they meant. Greedy fucks.

They nodded in assent, avarice etched into every last one of them, like a virus. It had become an epidemic, something those high up in The Guild could never escape—the thirst for more power.

Even if we did let them live, it was clear their fight for those new sparkly council positions would be a battle of death and deceit. The only one who didn’t look excited was the drude, and that was because she was half dead and their prisoner.

“And how would you do that, exactly?” I asked. “Take her burden, I mean?”

The two proto-leaders shared a glance, silently assessing each other’s thoughts.

The woman took a step forward, still choosing to speak to Atlas, Wade, and Eli, and ignoring the rest of us like we were nothing but used gum on the underside of a desk. Pricks. “She is a siphon, but she does not need to remain one. We can use the stone to bind her to us—to forge bonds just as we have between protectors for years. She is still one of us after all, this is no different.” My teeth ground together as I bit back my retort. “Then, once we have access to her power, we can remove it from her, and thus her role in this. Once we are strong enough, once we’ve survived the injections of shadow magic?—"

“How exactly are you injecting magic you’ve stolen into protectors?” I asked.

His nostrils flared “That’s none of your concern, and it’s not stolen.”

Several of his lackeys eyed the drude with discomfort.

Ah. So it was through their recent acquisition of druden. That explained why they’d grown to rely on them so heavily.

“Once we are closer to her level,” she continued, “our power will grow when connected to hers, she need simply relinquish it to us. Then, the seven of us who are anointed can act as siphons. We will repair the barrier between worlds, as has always been ordained. If we’re careful, between the seven of us, it should be enough to stabilize and stitch the realms closed. With our presence, our expertise, the notes from our elders detailing the original ritual—we can mend the rift. We can keep her alive.”

Claude grumbled. “And keep everyone trapped in hell, until the magic of the realm destroys them all, you mean.”

The hell realm wouldn’t be the only place to suffer. Giving them access to Max’s power would put the whole world in even more danger than it already was. These fuckheads cared for nothing but themselves.

“We were told there was a way to simply pull down the veil separating the realms, remove the shadow magic barrier altogether,” I said, though my instincts had been screaming at me that this was a crock of steaming shit from the moment I’d heard it.

“And let demons roam freely in this world?” Slimeball let out a sound somewhere between a wheeze and a gasp. “No, that’s not possible. It’s against everything we stand for. Our ancestors would never have created such a provision.”

Bingo. The Guild, surprising exactly no one, never had honor.

I ground my teeth together, but kept my urges to kill, maim, and decapitate at bay when Eli shot me a warning look.

“If you were told otherwise,” he continued, “I apologize. it was merely an attempt by Jarrod or Xavier to pacify you and secure your chances of working with them. A lie, nothing more. But if you work with us, we can save the girl. And you have our word we will harm none of you. You may live your lives in this world, as if you were human.”

How mag-fucking-nanimous.

Of course the council had been lying. About everything. From day one.

All they cared about was obtaining more power, even if it killed them. It had already killed two of them.

They were addicted to the mere promise of it, the possibility. And, council members or not, these dickholes were no different.

I would deeply enjoy watching Nika have her fill of them, now that I was confident in the truth: they needed us, we didn’t need them.

The only thing they had to offer in return was death and destruction—greed could lead to nothing else.

Hell, their greed caused this whole mess, it wouldn’t fix it.

“We were wrong.” I whispered, quiet enough that only our side could pick it up. “They were never going to even do the ritual. Temporarily stabilize the barrier, maybe. Buy some more time for their brutal reign to regroup. This was always just about stealing her power, even if it kills them in the process. They can’t help her. Not really. But I think we can. When the time comes.”

Atlas’s theory that six was better than one when it came to the ritual was promising. It would either save her, or take us all out too.

Either way, when it came down to it, she wouldn’t be alone.

And our way of attempting to save her wouldn’t kill off or condemn an entire realm of people.

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