Page 49 of Death God

I struggled to my feet, rage building in me like a desert storm. My spirit allies formed a shield around me.

You picked the wrong girl, fuckers! I scorned the trapped spirits, my words carrying power. Why don’t you attack the ones who wronged you instead?

They quieted for a beat and then roared harder, as they couldn’t control their centuries of fury and pain and misery, and I’d unwisely opened a crack to let them vent.

While I doubled over at their assaulting force, panting hard, I thrust up my hands and let my death power turn into storm and black lightning. My lightning struck the bridge, pushing the souls back.

Some stubborn souls still tried to cross over, so my lightning whipped them mercilessly, tossing them into the dark, churning water.

The souls whined, feeling the brutality of my power.

I’m no food, fuckers, I raged. I stand at the top of the food chain, not you. If I want, I can consume you. I’m the new Death!

I was not prey but a born predator. My fury and strength told the horde of spirits so. I was the mistress of the realm of the dead, and I acknowledged my role, even though I’d never visited my domain.

I no longer rejected my destiny, the part of myself, and my heritage. I accepted all of me. I let fear pass through so it couldn’t hold on to me, and I passed no judgment.

My death power roared and roamed among the spirits, yet they could not touch me again. They could not even whisper a sound if I didn’t allow them. The runes on the cuffs flashed once, then faded. They could dull or bind my other powers, but no one controlled Death.

Bow! Bow to your true mistress! I demanded. And we’ll avenge the ones who wronged us and disturbed the order of nature. Obey me, and I’ll set you free when the time comes.

A spark of hope ignited like an ember in the center of the ward, then it spread like a spiderweb at lightning speed.

I’ve come. I’ve seen you like no one else could. I know your suffering, and I won’t forget you, I promised.

The spirits whispered instead of screaming, then one by one, they knelt in their phantom forms.

Free us, our queen, they pleaded. We’ve suffered for so long.

A little longer, I said. I need more power to battle our foes.

Take anything you need from us, they said. It’ll be freely given. And there’s a great power in the castle. Find it, our queen.

What power? I asked. My spirit allies had said the same thing.

We don’t know, but it’s been calling us. We can’t go to it, and it can’t come to us, as it’s also trapped.

Where then? I asked.

The dark tower. The dark tower. The dark power, they echoed each other.

And then, suddenly, they were silent as the spells drove them into battery mode. Something or someone was about to come through the portal from the other side.

I cut the connection to them, not wanting the witches and mages who were watching me to realize that I’d contacted the spirits that powered the portal.

The dark bridge that led to the spirits also vanished. Somehow, I knew my enemies couldn’t see the bridge. They didn’t have the power to see the realm beyond the living, even though they used their black spells to bind the spirits.

I was the only one who could stand in both worlds and in between, though I was far from an expert in the realm of the dead. I needed knowledge, and I needed more power and more practice.

I straightened my spine and let out a ragged breath. I wouldn’t let the witches and mages see how drained I was, so I turned to them, a savage grin on my lips.

They watched me with wide eyes, no longer snickering or ridiculing me among themselves. They shuffled uneasily, their robes stirring, though the wind had ceased.

They’d treated me like a sheep in a slaughterhouse, cutting me open and prodding me, until I escaped. Since then, I’d killed many of their peers. Since my return to this hellish castle, I’d already killed Asmodeus, a half-demon and half-mage, and maimed their mistress in one day.

Now, in front of their very eyes, I’d walked away from confronting the spirits, whom they could feel but could not see, that fueled their ward.

From the looks in their eyes, I could tell they wanted to strike me down now more than anything. If I showed them how weak I was now, they might just try, even before their dark lord permitted them. I was the biggest threat to them.

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