And if the motherfucker doesn’t have a heart or a brain, how the hell am I supposed to beat him? What’s his weakness?

Invictis acts as though he’s dusting off his chest. “Is that all you have, truly? Rey, here I was, thinking you’ve gotten better. It seems you’re just as weak and pathetic as you were before, evenwith magic. Pity.” I swear I can hear the smirk in his voice when he growls out, “My turn.”

This time he’s too fast. I can’t dodge him or throw up a shield. When he throws another beam of light at me, it hits me square in the stomach. Thankfully it doesn’t tear straight through me; it’s solid when it collides with me, and the force sends me flying back a good fifteen feet.

I land in the dirt on my back, and I groan when I struggle to stand. I glare at Invictis as I give my best I-don’t-give-a-fuck expression. “Is that all you got? Looks like I’m not the only one who’s rusty.”

I could never beat him one on one; he’s too strong. My magic is too weak. I’m not enough. But, maybe, if I piss him off enough, I’ll make him mad enough that he makes a mistake.

My stomach hurts; it’s like I got the hardest sucker-punch thrown at me, but I try not to show it. “I thought you were supposed to be this big, bad, evil thing. Shouldn’t I be vaporized into dust already? I mean, unless you’re not as powerful as you say. Morimento sealed you on that throne with her dying breath. If you couldn’t break free from her spell, maybe you aren’t as impressive as you say.”

My insult hits its mark. Invictis launches himself at me, and in the blink of an eye he has one of his golden hands wrapped around my neck. Given how tall this form is and how strong he is, he’s easily able to lift me off my feet.

“I was not whole,” Invictis hisses. “I was not strong enough to break free. A spell laced with the power of death is not one so easily broken. But I am whole now, thanks to you.”

I grip his wrist with one hand while trying to peel away his fingers from my neck with the other. It’s damn near impossible for me to speak, but I manage to say, “You’re welcome, by the way.”

The sound of laughter echoes from his golden chest, and his faceless head tilts. If he had eyes, I bet they’d be full of amusement. “Yes, I suppose I should thank you. It is only because of you that I will achieve my purpose and annihilate what’s left of Laconia. Death comes for all mortal beings. With me, your death is now.”

His hand squeezes my neck so hard it’s impossible to breathe. I don’t know if he plans on popping my head like a juicy grape or what, but I don’t plan on giving him the chance.

While he was talking, while he was so enthralled with hoisting me up and taunting me, I grew dozens of thick, strong vines. Behind him, beneath him, ready to curl around his legs and his body the moment I put thought to it.

“Not today,” I choke out, and it’s as I say those words that the multitude of vines ensnare him.

The vines grow and multiply as they curl around his body like snakes. He’s caught off-guard, especially since some of those vines coil around his wings, too. He lets me go, and I fall to the ground, heaving and coughing, trying to catch my breath before he inevitably escapes.

Because he will. Of course he will.

I stumble back as I glare at him. His eight-foot-tall figure struggles against the onslaught of vines, and I will hard, pointed thorns into existence. They grow on the vines, an added bit to an already sticky situation where he’s concerned.

Can the asshole feel pain? I don’t know, but if he can, I sure hope it hurts.

He pulls an arm out of the vines, but the moment they snap apart, more vines take their place. I can hear him growing more enraged as the seconds pass. Unfortunately, I don’t think quick enough that time, because after another groan, the metal on Invictis’s body begins to glow.

Like, more so than normal.

The gold making up his frame turns molten, the light inside him intensifying with the power of ten suns put together. The vines wrapped around him wither and die back, much as the rest of the garden did, and he snaps himself free of the dead vines with ease.

I can’t look at him. It’s too bright, too blinding. I hold up a hand to shield myself from the unnatural glow, but it’s not enough. The light is so strong it travels through my skin and my bones and still blinds me. I can feel it inside me, threatening to rip me apart from the inside, a dull throbbing that makes me fall to my knees.

Invictis steps closer to me. “On your knees. Finally. That is where you belong—along with every other human that dares remain in Laconia. Perhaps I should bring you to them, so they can see their precious Rey on her knees.” A rumble of a sound leaves his chest as he adds, “Do you think Frederick would dare attempt to play hero and save you?”

I breathe hard. I can’t help it. Even on my knees, shielding my eyes, it’s a struggle. The air around me turned hotter; I can feel the sweat lining my hairline, pooling at the nap of my neck. Still, all that aside, I manage a grin.

“There’s that jealousy again,” I say. “I knew I wasn’t making it up when I heard it the first time. Still jealous of Frederick, after all this time. Invictis, I thought you were better than that?”

A blast of light hits me, and I end up in a rolling motion until I can stop myself—and I only stop myself with the help of some of the dead bushes in the garden. They pad my path. Invictis is the opposite of calm when he growls out, “I know no jealousy.”

I still can’t look at him, and really, it’s the hardest thing ever to stand and dust myself off, even with my back to him. “Really? Sorry, bud, but I just don’t think that’s true. Are you getting tired of being a walking, talking apocalypse?”

“Apocalypse,” he repeats, as if he does not understand the word.

“Yeah, you know, an apocalypse. An extinction event. Total death and annihilation. All I’m saying is that if that’s all, then why aren’t I dead already?” The glow that sears the air and can blind anyone fades, and I’m slow to turn around to face him.

Invictis stands tall, his six wings spread. Looking at him now, knowing what he is, he really is a beautiful, bright, blinding ruin, and I hate that I ever thought we were friends. It was nothing but a lie. Everything that happened, he pulled the strings. Even if agents from another kingdom came and unleashed him, he is still responsible for everything he’s done.

“Perhaps,” Invictis murmurs, his voice echoing in my core, “I want to make your death last.” As he says those words, the garden around us disappears. The castle behind Invictis fades. Everything changes, and suddenly I’m standing in the courtyard of my college, surrounded by familiar buildings and old trees. He disappears, too.