Page 72 of Gambling with Time

I shrugged. “I guess some things my dad taught me stuck. It was so long ago that I hadn’t pieced it together until Seth mentioned his name. I always thought it didn’t sound like a very God-like name. And I sort of had a refresher on Egyptian Mythology recently.”

“I wonder if he doesn’t have magic,” Lex said. “If he cut his brother up and it didn’t kill him…”

“Then he doesn’t have the ability to actually kill him,” Bellamy finished the sentence. They both looked at me.

“Only a God with the power of death can kill another God,” Lex said.

I had powers now. A dry swallow worked my throat, and I nodded my understanding. It was time to prove to myself that I wasn’t a coward.

My chest tightened, and my throat felt thick. Fuck. Could I do this? I didn’t want to let them all down.

“You are stronger than you think,” Samantha said. “You already saved all of us once. This time, we are here to help you. Together we will be unstoppable.”

She wrapped her arms around me, and something loosened inside. She was right. We had each other. For the first time, I felt the true power behind that idea.

CHAPTER 41

Samantha

This was it.

My heart pounded in my ears, and adrenaline coursed through my veins. In minutes, it could all be over, and the rest of our lives could actually start. I pressed my palm flat against my stomach. And now we had a future to protect that was outside of the five of us.

Raiden cracked open the door, giving the silent all clear signal we had agreed on. We moved into the brightly lit hall. It was empty as we explored. A hybrid came around a corner, and before he could make a sound, Alastor's souls were cutting off his air. He collapsed to the ground, and Bellamy and Lex rushed to pull him into an empty room.

This whole floor seemed like it was never used; each room we had checked had the same sheets covering everything and the dust coating the floors. It was strange to have this much space and not use it.

A set of stairs led up and down from the hall the hybrid had come from. Rai lifted an eyebrow, and I shrugged. Down would probably be the best bet. Unless he just didn’t use a middle floor.

Bellamy brushed past us and headed down, obviously thinking the same thing. His tail swished behind him, and there was a bounce in his step. If I had to guess, I’d say he was enjoying this adventure. He shot me a grin as he reached the bottom, and I shook my head ruefully.

We were the same side of a coin, so similar to each other, yet still different enough to fit together like missing puzzle pieces.

For that small moment, I was distracted, and when the hybrid came around the corner, there was no time to scream out a warning. No time to stop the horror that happened in front of our eyes.

Bellamy fell.

He crumpled at the base of the steps; a knife sliced him open. Then all hell broke loose. I flew down the steps like I had fucking wings. Alastor’s flower power exploded from the pots, vines whipped around us, cutting into the hybrids, holding them prisoner before slicing their throats.

It lasted seconds but felt like hours.

I knelt next to Bellamy; the bright red blood that coated his blue skin made me blanch. We’d been here before, and the flashbacks weren’t welcome.

“Samantha, let me see.” Alastor’s voice broke into the haze that had engulfed me. And I fell back to my heels giving him room. I watched unblinking as souls flowed over the wound, knitting it back together.

Bellamy groaned and then hissed as he tried to jerk away from the magic. “Fuck, that hurts.”

Alastor pinned him with a look. “The poison is still inside you, but you won’t bleed out.”

He sat up slowly, his fingers brushed over the wound, coming away wet with the remaining blood coating his skin. “That will teach me to rush in.”

“You scared me,” I whispered, not even sure if I was telling him or myself.

He ghosted his knuckles over my cheek, tipping my head up to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

I blinked, attempting to make the leftover emotion in my eyes dry up, as I nodded accepting his words.

“We need to go, can you walk?” Raiden asked.

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