Page 33 of The Princesses of Ruin
“How certain are we that this will work?” I ask. “We’ve put our hope on a single solution before and, I assume given this development, it was folly.”
“Notfolly,” Zephrom says in a kind, mothering voice. “Incomplete. We need this potion to make her vulnerable to your creation. Without it, she will shield herself again, perhaps for longer, but she will not be defeated.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask the goddess whyshecan’t be the one to retrieve the items when suddenly I feel Alyse’s presence in my mind.
“Ashai is our reckoning. If we cannot do this, we don’t deserve to dominate Gaien any longer. So says the other nine of the Divine Ten.”
“The other gods have forsaken us,” Emillia murmurs.
Kazimir pulls Alyse against his side as his collar glows. “It’s a game to them. We’re entertainment.”
“Why does Ashai want to destroy us?” I ask. “There must be some…impetus. Areason.”
The others look to Zephrom.
The goddess closes her eyes and, though I don’t believe she needs to breathe, takes a long inhale. “She was banished to the underworld for her beliefs. She blames your kind for that.”
As if the goddess couldn’t stand to be a little less vague…
“You won’t tell us, will you?” Kazimir asks, his face contorted in a grimace.
The aura in the room shifts. Where once there was docile but powerful benevolence radiating from the goddess, now there isangry authority. She glides through the room, her feet not moving as the air carries her to Kazimir.
She’s taller now, her black essence whipping around her like a torrent. He doesn’t back down or avert his gaze. My heart thunders in my ears. Am I about to watch my brother slain by an immortal origin?
Zephrom’s magic calms, and she lowers to the ground. “You question my motives as if my sight is as limited as yours. As if I experience this existence like you. I do not. What I share, and the way I guide, is exactly as it must be.”
“You’re asking us to put our faith in you,” Scarlett says. “After the kind of justice I’ve been dealt—we’veallbeen dealt—why can’t you understand that’s difficult?”
Zephrom turns to Scarlett. “You live when you should’ve died many times over. You killed the man who violated you, and destroyed his empire. You dominated the Underbelly and now reign as a queen.
“You have been reunited with your sisters. You have found your life mate. And you are one task away from defeating the queen you’ve so yearned to kill for twelve years…but my justice is lacking?”
Scarlett scoffs and my stomach drops.
“You’d have me believe that every time I got on my knees to pay for bread that you were watching? Guiding? Whispering in my ear to cup the balls and suck harder because one day—”
Zephrom’s magic lashes out, wrapping Scarlett’s throat in darkness and stifling her speech. I reach for a grenade on my belt as Zane’s spindles rip free from his back. Kazimir’s scytheshinksfrom its sheath, and Liliana roars her sister’s name.
Scarlett holds up her hand to stop us.
“Careful,” she says, her voice warped by the magic.
She touches the strings of power holding her, and the runes along her forearms glow with gold-glittering blackness.
She’s absorbing Zephrom’s magic…
The skin on her arm singes around the runes, seeming to burn from the inside out. Zips of black lightning connect from her hand to her shoulder, then across her chest. Each point where it strikes, her skin is stained black and gold.
She smiles. “You don’t want to kill your chosen ones, do you?”
The goddess retreats, her magic oozing back into the halo around her body. They share a long, quiet standoff, their eyes glowing the same golden black.
My hand trembles on the grenade and someone grabs me. Emillia wraps her fingers around my fist and lowers my arm. She doesn’t let go, and I sense it’s more for her comfort than mine.
“You may question me, but it will not change my answers. I will give you the knowledge you need, when you need it.”
Zephrom glances around the room. Whatever silent exchange happened between her and Scarlett has set her resolve. The magic flowing around her is gentle once more, and she’s calm.
