Page 163 of Her Blood Revenge

But Hel reaches out her hand, and a tendril of deep red wraps around his waist, holding him in mid-air. Slowly, she turns.

‘You think I am so foolish that the spawn of a sleep demon could ever sneak up on me?’ she laughs. Her hand twists, and so does the magic holding him.

Even as his bones twist and crunch, he laughs.

‘No. ButIwasn’t the one planning on sneaking up on you.’

I leapt as soon as her back was turned and encased her in my shadow form, stifling and suffocating her. She drops Shaw as she struggles beneath me. I may not have the souls of the dead to fuel me. But I’m strong enough to hold her for a moment.

‘What the fuck do we do?’ Archie bellows above the noise and chaos of my swirling form. ‘How do we kill a goddess?’

‘Get out of her, Hel!’ Shaw commands.

She just laughs and looks.

‘I am made from pain, blood and death, you fool.’

She throws up her arms with a shout, and the force throws us all back. I reclaim my dark fae vessel and roll several meters in the dirt before returning to my feet. I stand with Archie and Shaw flanking me. Hel faces us, rolling her shoulders and laughing.

‘What do you think you are going to do to me, Shadow Master? I made you!’ she chuckles. ‘And none of you will hurt this body. Not when you stink of love as you do.’ She sneers at me, utterly disgusted. ‘And this one wreaks of it, too,’ she gestures to herself. ‘A filthy and weak condition. You will not defeat me because you are too weak.’

Another blast of her power sends us all backwards and spiralling through the air. I hit the dirt and skid. We all do, stopping far from her. I see Cole running away from it all, looking back over his shoulder as he whimpers in terror.

Coward.

We’re all back on our feet and facing her.

But she turns her back on us and raises her hand to the mirror of blood and bones.

‘Come. Come forth and spread your lust for pain and blood.’

The gate erupts, pouring blood into the valley like a damn has just burst. It crashes down in an endless stream, swallowing up the witches and creatures below.

The sea of blood in her realm pours into this world. Everything it touches dies. The trees. The living. Even the ground rots.

The witches and unseelie caught in its flow thrash and scream in its tide. Then, they silence and groan.

They look up at her, devoted and obedient messengers of death, just like the souls of the blood witches that swam in it before.

Hel walks towards it, her hand still outstretched and laughing wildly.

‘I will cover this world in blood. I will drown the good and the true. I will rule!’ She laughs hard. ‘Every human. Every witch. You will become mine. Mine to command. Mine to rule. Mine to devour! I will free the fire lord and water mistress, and we shall remind this world of who it truly belongs to. The time of titans and gods will return, and the time of mortals is at a brutal end. All will bleed. All will serve.’

Hel turns to face us all once more.

‘Kneel,’ she says. ‘Swear you allegiance. Vow your undying love to your goddess. And I will let you live.’

Behind her, that blood spreads.

And I know it will spread on forever, just as she will. As she travels the lands, all will fall.

Shaw steps forward, his eyes on her. I hear his heart. It’s painfully calm.

How? How can it be so fucking calm?

She turns to see him walking towards her.

And the bastard falls to one knee and bows his head.

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