Page 22 of Nine Inch Nasty
“You hear that, children? Your mate doesn’t want you. What should we do with her? She was supposed to help you all; only the worst kind of person turns down an entire realm for her own selfish desires.”
Delaney starts laughing at the goddess, and all of us already tied to her move to Delaney’s back, laying a hand on her arm or shoulder so we’ll all be connected.
“Time’s up, bitch.”
The unicorns around us are silent as Delaney lays a hand on the unicorn marks on her right arm, siphoning energy from her bonded mates to erase the foreign ones and apparently give her a map of where to find the ones Fairygoddess has stolen.
Delaney’s eyes snap open to the cloud litter the Goddess herself is sitting on, her entire face immediately transforming into fury.
The rain that has lightened up is nothing when compared to the well of emotions Delaney is leaking into our bond.
All of us bonded to her gasp as Delaney begins to walk towards Fairygoddess because of how much power she’s wielding, but it’s not until Zac’s parents show up that the goddess’ façade crumbles.
It’s clear they’re on Delaney’s side as her in-laws, and it becomes evident pretty quickly why they were pulled into this realm all those years ago.
The first mate Delaney frees when she rips off the front leg of the litter is Zac himself, slowly morphing from the cloud material into his normal self, in his clothes he was wearing when we all got taken, coughing, eyes wide as he tries to understand what’s happening.
I give him a hand up, and he stumbles when he sees his parents standing next to Delaney with tears in their eyes.
He doesn’t process very long before he throws himself at them, their semi-frail bodies bearing his affection well.
The goddess is not happy. “Howdareyou come into my realm and try to take control of it. These aremysubjects, and youwillobey me!”
Delaney flips her off, throws some runes into the air that I’ve never seen her use, but that do something to contain the goddess. Doesn’t she have a father that is some sort of world renown rune wielder? I guess she can be taught.
Then, Delaney turns to me expectantly, pulling Rush in by the hand as well. “The two of you spent far too long trapped in forms meant to be a punishment. Since I became your mate, I’ve done a poor job avenging that. The anger I feel knowing how many years you were both frozen, lost to everything that makes life worth living, is immense.
“I hope that from today, we can begin to heal.” She turns to Zac’s parents and jumps up onto Zac, wrapping her legs around his waist while she buries her face in his neck, greeting him after days of being a part. “I missed you. This shit ends now; we’re getting home, and we’re taking your parents with us. Also, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“What are you—” Zac begins to ask, but Delaney kisses him quiet, which seems to be turning into a signature move of hers. I’m game.
She turns back to Fairygoddess. “Shelly, I wish I could say that it was an honor knowing you, and I honestly don’t know how you pulled all of this off, but let’s tell your brother the real reason your parents disappeared that day, shall we? Because we both know he had nothing to do with it.”
Delaney sweats as she metaphysically pulls from the air around us, draining the power from it, and all the unicorns that were previously assisting Fairygoddess evaporate into thin air.
Of course, this causes some panic, but Delaney quickly reassures us. “The unicorns are all a figment of her imagination given life. This place is so confusing and full of rainbows and places that don’t make sense, because it was dreamed up by a little girl years ago; a little girl that was given power by those that came before her and didn’t know how to ask for help when she needed it.
“The realm is falling apart because it was never meant to be sustained this long; there was never anything I could have done because the magic is burning out. I think her plan was just to trap us here long enough so that we’d all disappear with the realm when it finally ran out of steam. Steam that Shelly has been providing this whole time. Am I right?” Delaney asks as she stalks towards who we thought was Fairygoddess Unicorn.
In actuality, it’s simply the bitch in a line of bitches that have been ruining my life for years. Not sure how she pulled this off while being at Hemlock as well, but no doubt there was more trickery involved.
Zac shifts and grows impossibly large, wanting to defend his mate and his parents, and somehow Delaney thinks that terrifying naga form is cute? I don’t know. Delaney has the now-transformed Shelly in a prison of her own clouds, squeezing her so as to make her immobile. “Did I leave anything out?”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. None of these unicorns are real? What the hell?” Saladriel asks in disbelief, panic overwriting his features.
Delaney smiles sadly at Saladriel, and honestly, suddenly all the weird ass names here make sense. Kids name things weird shit. Also explains why they’re all so instantly obsessed with frosting when they get to try it— actually, everything is suddenly crystal clear. It’s all stuck in the mind of the age Shelly was when she created it, and she’s been trying to tweak it ever since I’d wager, but once made, she couldn’t re-write the coding completely.
Well, except maybe the creepy sentient sex furniture back at the trope hotel. Maybe…maybe that was manifested by Delaney’s thoughts. Yeah, I’m definitely going with that as being the most plausible answer because it makes me the most comfortable.
As soon as Saladriel speaks those words aloud though, Shelly lets go of her hold on the realm. The unicorns around us fade away and I know that Delaney is going to be pretty messed up about that for a while because of her short history with Saladriel, but the realm instantly feels calmer once it’s stripped down.
“I spentyearspouring myself into this realm, to keep everyone that would stop me contained. Every ounce of magic I gained went here, to create this world, and you think you can come hereand shred it to nothing in a matter of days? How about we give your mates the same treatment, huh?”
Delaney spits at the woman, and I barely catch the small capsule she spits out afterward; there was something highly toxic in that spit bomb, and her aim is impeccable. Shelly’s face starts to melt. That’s…kind of horrifying. Do I even ask where she got that from?
“I’m not going to be the one to kill you Shelly, because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hoping your brother doesn’t look at my face and feel an ounce of resentment. So instead, I’m going to take what’s mine…”
Delaney reaches for us again, and we’re eager to oblige. Now that her bonds are full and she’s acknowledged as such, she’s going to be so much more powerful.
