Page 100 of Godsbane
“I thought turning your people against you would be the hard part, but you did that on your own. All I had to do was plant the seed and Poison Ivygrew herself. It was so easy to make you their villain and ensure you stayed powerless.”
The golden doors of the throne room burst open, but Marks pays the intrusion no heed. He leans closer, his breath hot on my ear as I try to pull away from him.
“Your mother took me for a fool. She thought I wouldn’t piece her little bargains together, that I wouldn’t know you weren’t half-human. She thought I’d hurt you, but I’m not the one who came here with the intent to murder, am I? I know who you really are, Ivy Fellows, but do you know who I am?”
Iron clanks behind him, the gray form of soldiers visible just over his shoulders.
“That will be all,” Marks commands before releasing me and rising. He takes a single, deliberate step out of my line of sight, never taking his predatory eyes off of me.
A bloodied, beaten body lies chained to the floor across from me. A crimson trail paints the alabaster floor from the doors to his unconscious form. Something inside of me snaps, cracks in half at the sight of Cal.
I stand and lunge again, not learning my lesson from the first time. As the chain snaps taut and my knees slam into the stone floor, a deep and guttural scream breaks free from my throat.
“I’ve tried for years to get him to wield his full potential, you know. I’ve tortured him again and again, but no amount of pain could force it to the surface. So imagine my delight when I received word from Lieutenant Williams that the captain here had blackmailed him into being your little bodyguard. I had high hopes that proximity to you would naturally grant him access to the true depths of his powers, but,” Marks clicks his tongue irreverently, “I guess I’ll just have to force it out of him some other way.”
Cal stirs slightly, his body twitching in the still expanding red pool. There’s so much blood, more blood than should be possible for him to still be alive. I attempt to locate my magic again, searching for even a sliver of my power. But it’s as if I’m digging in the sand with no end in sight.
I call and call, but nothing answers.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” Marks taunts.
Planting his foot on Cal’s shoulder, he pushes down, causing the captain’s back to hit the floor in a wet thud. Blood splashes up around him as his head smacks the stone. Deep gashes cut into his tanned chest, only tatters remaining of his black shirt.
The iron manacles cut into my flesh as I try and fail to slip my wrists from their hold.
Please, please, I beg to any god who will listen.Give me my magic back.
The gods don’t answer.
Marks finds his favorite element first, constricting the air in the throne room until everyone but him is gasping for oxygen again. I crawl my way across the floor, inching as far as the chain will stretch before I collapse.
“Ivy.” Cal’s voice is strained, the single word excruciating.
Marks tightens his hold on the captain’s air, his body twitching again as he struggles to breathe. The predator squats before his prey, forcing Cal’s eyes away from me. A low, menacing growl rumbles through the chamber, an animalistic sound coming forth from the depths of Cal’s broken body.
“Show me your true power and this will all be over, nephew.”
Time slows again at the familial title that falls from the Lord General’s lips. A single drop of blood leaks from the mouth of the sea beast tattoo, hovering just above the floor as it slides off Cal’s chest.
Arcasia! I call out to the goddess, begging the one who sacrificed everything for him to help me save him now.Help me save him, Goddess of Protection. Help me save your son.
A single spark of magic flickers somewhere deep within me, illuminating the compound that makes up the plant-based poison in my system. The seed of power buries itself in the bonds and starts to leisurely unravel the tonic.
It works slowly—too fucking slowly. I need more time. I need to give it the life only my element is capable of—and I pray I won’t be too late.
Focus on life.
In a heady rush, time returns to its normal speed. Flames burst forth in a circle around the base of the Amethyst Throne. The crown sits on the plush purple seat, each of its six jewels sparkling in the firelight. With a flick of Marks’ eyes, the flames begin marching in a line across the stone floor from the throne to the bolt securing my chains in place.
I tunnel down, but the ember of power inside me is still too small to answer my call. Scurrying backwards, I pull the chain as far away from the bolt as possible. Once the flames reach the iron, I will have only minutes before the heat travels up the links to the cuffs around my wrists.
The sea beast on my skin twists in a slow, sluggish move. The beginning of the end.
“Your little ivy tattoo was quite the clue to the depths of Selene’s treachery. But I’ll let you in on a little secret—she wouldn’t have needed to make a deal with Nobus if she hadn’t helped your mother kidnap you in the first place. The portal was her attempt to get back in my brother’s good graces. Dangling the carrot of his stolen son returning home one day. But I’m giving him something even better—an entire realm of devoted worshippers. And you two will be my greatest offering yet. The Wolf God will run free in the Great Wildes once again.”
The traitorous brother of the God King pulls a golden dagger from the sheath at his side and slices through Cal’s leather pants leg in a single swipe. Crimson spreads across the tattooed ivy leaves as the captain bites down a scream.
“Are you watching, Ivy?” Marks casts a look over his shoulder, menace shining in his golden eyes as he increases the speed of the flames moving across the floor. “Whatever pathetic emotion you think you feel for my nephew isn’t real. Gods don’t care about something as trivial as feelings.”
