Page 12 of Where A Goddess Belongs

She had an idea why but now wasn’t the time to even think about that.

Now was the time to act. But she couldn’t focus while she was running for her life. She was really tired of running.

But first, she needed to break Den’s hold, which wouldn’t be easy. He was trying not to hurt her but he wasn’t going to let her go. She hated to do it but she needed to use her power on him to make him let her go. Neither man was going to like it but it couldn’t be helped.

It only took a few seconds for her to gather the tiny bit of power she needed to make Den release her. It hurt her heart to make him fear her, even for those few seconds.

She felt the shudder run through his arm just before he let her go. He faltered, putting a few steps between them before he stopped.

Jacoby almost ran into her back but, at the last moment, pulled up and took a step to the side so he didn’t touch her.

“What the fuck?”

“Kari—”

“Stand back. Don’t get close.”

“Fuck that.” Den’s voice held a distinctive growl. “Whatever you’re planning to do, it’s not happening.”

Though she appreciated their concern and accepted that she did need protection, now was probably the time to clear up any misconceptions about needing to be managed.

She heard their pursuers getting closer with every second and knew they’d be here soon. It was now or never.

“Step back, both of you.”

She caught a glimpse of the surprise on both men’s faces and gave herself a tiny pat on the back. She hadn’t had to use that tone of voice for years. Decades.

Good to know she could still bring a little shock and awe to the proceedings. Even if she was fighting to keep her own fear from dragging her down. She couldn’t let it get the best of her now. Not if she was going to be of any use to them.

Neither man had moved, though, and the demon and men chasing them had almost caught up. Too late to stop. She only hoped she could shield Den and Jacoby enough for them to be functional after this, at least enough to run.

A second later, the demon stepped into view and nearly derailed her entire plan.

There was a reason these creatures had been condemned to hell. They were scary as fuck from their inky black hair and blue skin to their fangs and claws. Even scarier, this one was dressed in human clothes. A perfectly pressed three-piece with a white shirt and silk tie.

Tinia’s teat, now she wanted to run screaming in the other direction. Did it honestly think anyone would ever mistake it for human? Maybe it just didn’t care? And who the hell would even think to buy this thing a suit?

Then it smiled. She wanted to wash her eyes with bleach and scrub her exposed skin raw. She wondered how the Mal could stand to be within five miles of it much less five feet. “Hello, Akhuvitr. So nice to meet you.” The fact that it spoke ancient Etruscan wasn’t lost on her. It had done that deliberately, to throw her off. There were very few people who still spoke the old language, very few who still understood it. Damn it, she wasn’t going to let this thing get the upper hand on her. Standing tall, or at least as tall as she could, she stared back into those soulless black pits they called eyes and refused to flinch. “Demon, I command you back to hell. You have no place in this world.” It smiled and she had to stiffen every muscle in her body so she didn’t cringe. And when her stomach threatened to revolt, she swallowed and, through sheer force of will, didn’t puke. Though she really, really wanted to. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, Lady Kari. That’s what you prefer to be called now, isn’t it? Lady Kari. Has a nice modern ring to it. I like it.” “You don’t belong here, demon. I command you to return.” Showing its pointed teeth again in a hideous approximation of a smile, the damn thing shrugged. As if it didn’t have a thing to be worried about. And when five men materialized out of the woods to flank it, she wondered if maybe it was right. At least one of those five men was a full Mal. She felt his power rub up against hers. But where hers was undiluted, his was dark and oily. That’s the only way she could describe it. Her power came from a pure well, from the same source as her brothers’ and sisters’ powers, drawn from the earth and the air. The demon’s powers came from an offshoot of that well, a dark place that fed them what they needed to survive in Aitás. “I could argue the same of you, Lady. Your time came and went about a thousand years ago. You’re obsolete.” Asshole prick. “And your time will never come.” “I could argue that you’re wrong, but I think you already know that. I’m more at home in this day and age than you will ever be. Don’t you think it’s time to throw in the towel? Your powers are practically nonexistent. You don’t need them anymore. Aren’t you tired of being so damn useless?” She’d never admit that the thing had a point. But it did. Then again, it only had a place here because someone had invited it. The Mal had invited it. And that was unacceptable. “You’re wrong.” She wanted to add “asshole” to that sentence but decided to take the high road. “Compassion is never useless. It’s the best defense against evil.” The demon laughed and gooseflesh sprang up on her arms. “That’s such a quaint way of looking at things. And also the wrong way. It’s probably going to get you killed.” Well, he wasn’t wrong there, either. “But it won’t be by your hand, asshole.” High road be damned. She’d had enough banter. She wanted to kill the thing or at least banish it back to Aitás. She wasn’t sure she had enough power to do that but she did have enough to do this. Drawing up power in a rush so fast, she knew she’d be paying for it for hours, she raised her hand and directed it out. The tiny amount of fear she’d instilled in Den and Jacoby to get them to release her was nothing compared to what she threw at the Mal. Brutal. Punishingly dark. Immediately debilitating. Negative energy flowed out of her in a wave set to crash through any and all internal walls. Not even the strongest man surrounding them could shield against it. Even the demon had no defenses against it because her power overruled his. Though she hadn’t used her power like this in a very long time, she knew just how to make what was usually a force for good into a destructive force. Every fear, every terror, every imagined slight they’d ever felt came back at them like sharp-edged blades. It was the opposite of compassion and she knew she’d pay a price later but the situation was dire.

Everyone froze, demon included. She’d thought maybe the demon would be unaffected, simply because it didn’t have emotions like humans. It was a creature filled with darkness. Luckily for them, she was wrong. The demon’s expression was a rictus of pain. The longer she funneled her negative power outward, the worse it got. When it began to keen, the high-pitched sound made her shudder. God, the agony. Her stomach flipped over in protest and she had to swallow down the urge to vomit and hold back the need to cry. While she’d been focused on the demon, the Mal had dropped their guns and most were holding their heads in their hands, sobbing. The others had curled into protective balls on the ground. She imagined they were crying, as well. She took the opportunity to look over her shoulder and found Den and Jacoby staring at her with what she imagined was horror. A crazy little voice inside her head whispered, “Guess you’re not getting laid tonight,” then began to laugh hysterically. Pushing those thoughts out of her head, she blinked to erase the tears. “You two need to move. Now.” Neither of them responded right away but after a few seconds, Jacoby finally shook his head as if to clear it. It must have worked because he reached out to shake Den’s shoulder. “Can you hold them while you run?” Jacoby asked. Den seemed slower to respond but at least he wasn’t curled in a fetal position on the ground. She’d managed to shield them somewhat. “I don’t know.” “Well, then let’s find out.” He reached for her but she drew away. If he touched her now, he’d be as infected as the Mal and the demon. And unable to run. “I’ll keep them incapacitated. You and Den get—” “Not happening.” Den seemed to have shaken off his fear and was back to his old self. And if he was still a little pale beneath his tan, who could blame him. She was just as scary as any demon. A fact she’d managed to keep quiet for so many years. Amity knew, and a few of her other sister goddesses. It wasn’t exactly something you spilled to potential bed partners, after all. “Come on, Kari. Let’s get moving. The car’s not far. If you can hold them from a distance, or at least for a few more yards, we can get there.” So they didn’t want to leave her behind? A rush of sweeter emotion nearly made her lose her grip on the dark. She actually had to blink back more tears. “I can try. Just don’t touch me. It makes it harder for me to keep you out of range.” Both men nodded then began to back away, motioning for her to follow. It took an immense amount of concentration, but she managed to get her feet moving in the same direction as Den and Jacoby. She’d never before expended so much negative energy or used it as a weapon. She never wanted to have to do it again. But this was her life and she wasn’t going to give it up so easily. By the time the men were out of sight, she was shaking with the effort and very nearly to the edge of her tolerance. And before she finally blacked out, the last thing she remembered was Den’s strong arms grabbing her before she hit the ground.

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