Page 116 of Bright Soul

“I’ve never seen your soul before now.” I searched for a way to describe it other thanpretty, considering how he could wax poetic about my own. “It’s like a peaceful night. One I could get lost in.”

There was a flicker of interest in his expression, before he pressed his lips together tightly. “Tell me more soon,” he said,edging closer and showing me the rune-etched edge of his dragon scale. Braza shivered within me in recognition of the holding place for the other half of her soul. It felt a lot like anticipation and hope for her fresh start.

He slipped it back out of view as Auric approached us, growling.“The more time we spend dawdling, the more prepared Myuna will be for us,”he snapped in Soiluirian.

“I told you, I don’t want to go until Geo is with us,”Phaeron said.

“This is not what we agreed to. You told me we were killing the ascendant, not trying to save her.”

I glanced away from them, pretending not to understand. I looked around again for all of my friends. They’d come together, everyone alive if a little scuffed. Ben had his back turned to Bianca, who was applying a healing rune for him on a gash over his shoulder blade.

Phaeron spoke to Auric much more patiently than I would have.“Plans change. We did not expect to save any lives today, yet we have. Peace, old friend. Myuna will be rotting again on the planet she destroyed before you know it.”

“She deserves to die a true death. Her soul ripped to shreds, unable to enter any semblance of the next life,”Auric said in a tone of pure acid.“I wish I were strong enough to do it.”

“You will still be responsible for ending her reign of terror here before it begins. We could not send her through the Void without you.”

“That still does not bring back Geryn. Fuckin’ hell, even if Myuna dies today, that does not give Geryn or any of the other lost souls a single ounce of rest,”Auric muttered.

Phaeron rested an arm on his shoulder and I felt his sympathy and understanding. They remained that way for a few minutes, until Madigan and her men checked in with us aboutthe plan. “Geo should be back any minute now. Once he is, we will empower Cress and be ready to go,” he said.

Madigan nodded to me and nerves fluttered in my belly. They intensified with every beat of my heart as it sank in: this was truly it. Either my circle held off Myuna long enough for Auric to send her through the Void, or we all died. Not just my life and those of my men were at stake, but also the lives of almost everyone I cared about.

“It’ll just be like what we practiced,” I murmured to myself.

My friends came over to cluster around me. Ben seemed to pick up on my headspace immediately, wrapping his arms around me for a quick hug. “Just think, in a few years we’re going to be talking about that one time we fought a goddess,” he said.

“And won!” Roe exclaimed, staggering me with a slap on the back.

I looked around at them all, still amazed that everyone had stayed to fight, other than Ambrose, who’d engaged in a different kind of battle halfway across the world in King Laiken’s undersea court. Willow had shed the heavy armor disguise and stood in the lake up to her knees. Water wove around her delicate trident, forming spheres that rotated around her body like moons to a planet.

I felt such an overwhelming surge of gratitude seeing even my most gentle friend ready to face a dread goddess. “You all are the best,” I said, swiping under my eye. “We’re going to do this…we’re going to get through this together.”

Ben reached out and squeezed my hand, static brushing our anam cara marks. “Together,” he agreed. I managed a tense smile for him.

When Geo landed a few minutes later, he found me between Ben and Phaeron, his discarded shield gleaming at our feet. Imet his quicksilver gaze with hope and he shifted into human form to cup my cheek in a warm hand.

“How is she?” I whispered.

He pressed a kiss into my hair. “She is with Lucas now. Though Myuna blustered, she didn’t do anything to harm her,” he said.

I flung my arms around him, sighing with relief. “Thank you.”

He hugged me back, squeezing gently. I looked up to see a meaningful glance pass from him to Phaeron. “What did Lucas say?” the dimensional asked.

“That Myuna’s corruption is very distinct inside her soul. He promised to do this best to remove it,” Geo answered.

“Once she is gone, his task may be easier,” Phaeron mused.

An impatient noise nearby had Geo stiffening, turning to glare at Auric’s darkening face. I put a hand on his arm. “It’s all right. We should get moving,” I said to my men, who nodded.

After days of practice, we had found a pattern of sharing our magic and abilities that worked best. First, Ben and I shared our witcheries, with him taking my celestial side and me taking his blood runes. I cut myself on my sword and lifted my sleeve to paint the runes for strength, agility, and speed on my skin, before putting a tiny healing rune over the cut to close it fast.

Next was Phaeron, whose knowledge of swordplay mixed with Braza’s shadows and magic to lend me the skills of a shadowborn.

And finally was Geo, who changed back into gargoyle form and gave me as much of his endurance and stoicism as possible. He bent and offered me his crystal shield.

“We’re ready,” I told Auric in a two-toned voice.

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