Page 107 of Blood

With a roar of pure rage, he tosses it at Violet.

“No!” I bellow, jumping forward. The rest of Violet’s mates rush toward her as well, but we’re too far away. And Violet? She’s still lost to her rage, her eyes sightless and unseeing, her lips parting in a scream that refuses to end.

They say that time slows down when bad things occur, and just then, the clock seems to be stuck in molasses. All I can do is watch as the ball of energy zips toward Violet with an almost blistering speed, splicing through the air like a thrown dagger. And I know with unwavering certainty that the second it hits her...it’ll kill her. I feel that truth in the hollow of my bones.

“Violet!” Alex screams.

The second the strange ball of energy would’ve made contact with her chest, a hand appears out of nowhere.

“Holy fuck.” I fall to my knees as I stare, wide-eyed and trembling, up at the translucent shape directly beside Violet.

A purple flannel pulled open over a loose gray shirt.

A beanie covering his snakes from view.

Hard, emerald eyes that emanate nothing but rage.

Mason.

My best friend.

His ghost hovers directly in front of Violet, holding the ball of energy away from her chest. His entire body seems to strain with the force of such a task, and lines dig themselves into his face.

“No!” Zeus bellows as the souls of the damned continue to rip at his flesh, dragging him under. “No! No! No! You can’t do this! You can’t!” His desperate eyes, still sans lashes, flick toward Lucifer. “Brother, please!”

A cold, malicious smile unfurls on Lucifer’s lips. “Welcome to Hell’s worst prison, brother. It won’t be long until you become one of these souls yourself.”

Genuine fear splays itself across Zeus’s face as the souls claw at his chest, attempting to pull him under.

“Offer Violet your power!” Hera desperately glances between me and the rest of Violet’s mates. “Quickly!”

My girl is waning, the force of maintaining her hold on the souls pulling at her strength. Her face turns ashen as she sways to the side.

I focus on my connection to Violet, on the silver cord that thrums between us like a plucked violin string, and then funnel all of my power into it. Fatigue threatens to drag me under, but I remain upright, focusing on the love of my existence.

I can tell the rest of her mates are feeding her their power too. Cal’s head droops, Barret staggers forward, and even Dimitri begins to sweat.

But as we fade, Violet seems to burn even brighter, her eyes gemstones in her face, sparking with unparalleled power. The shadows around her arms snap out like whips and collide with Zeus’s flesh, curling around him.

And then, with one last roar of rage, Zeus disappears from view entirely, consumed by the souls of the damned.

The gaping chasm in the center of the floor closes over as if it had never been there to begin with—a sea of darkness replaced by smooth, meticulously polished marble.

The battle is over.

Zeus is dead.

And...

Somewhere in the distance, a cry of anger and utter despair pierces the still air.

CHAPTER 37

VIOLET

Reality reasserts itself with the same painful sluggishness of my wrist bones snapping back into place.

For a long moment, I can’t remember where I am or how I’ve come to be here in the first place. My brain feels fuzzy, as if someone loaded it with wet cotton balls.

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