has no idea what I’ve been through, and she can shove that disdain up her ass. “It will take a great deal of power, but I can do it,” she tells him.
“Good. I want them ready in an hour.” Morax turns back to us and steps closer, purposely bearing down on all three of us. “It’s time to fill you in on the agenda, puppets. Now pay careful attention,” he orders, his power slithering over me like the snakes on his head seem keen to do.
“The Seven Sins are hosting an event tonight. It’s probably a war council, but the arrogant fuckers can’t do anything without making it look like a circus of gowns and revelry with debauchery sprinkled about,” he states with a roll of his eyes. I snort internally at him, of all people, accusing anyone of being arrogant with a flair for the dramatic. Everything he does is layered in so much narcissism, everyone around him is at risk of suffocating in it.
“The three of you will infiltrate the council, and when the Seven Sins are in one room to discuss the latest news in regards to me, you will call on your weapons and do what Annuli do best. You’ll scythe. I want you to destroy the founding Abdicated of Hell. And when I have word that your task is complete, we’ll portal into Heaven next and eliminate the Gods and their Heavenly hosts there, and I will finally claim the realms of this world for my own,” he says, his voice dripping with more power than I’ve ever felt before.
I do everything I can not to sway as I internally try to fight against the tendrils trying to take root and force me to end the world as I know it. My heart falls into my gut with a sickening crash.
This is what he captured us for? To destroy every foundation that the realms and the beings in them have been built upon?
I don’t even know what to think. The plan itself seems so preposterous. We’re not that powerful...are we?
I search through everything Medley told me about what we are and what we can do, and fear walks itself up my spine as I come to the quick conclusion that I have no idea exactly what we’re capable of. Morax has been hunting us for a reason though. We’re the key to his plan for a specific purpose. He’s gone to incredible lengths to get us right where he has us now, and as maniacal as he is, I don’t know that he’s wrong in thinking that we can make this happen for him.
Terror crashes through me, but I work to keep my face blank and my hands from shaking. How are we going to stop this? Three Annuli girls raised as humans, with nothing but scythes against a being not even Lucifer or the Gods of Heaven have been able to bring into check?
No, no, no. This is all happening so fast. I want to put an end to it all right now, but how? If I call on my scythe and go after Morax, and my sisters can’t, then I’m on my own, and I already know I’m not enough to stop him.
It’s like I’m on a runaway train and we can’t stop. But we can’t let this demon win either. We just can’t. We have to ride with him on this crash course. We have to find the perfect time to jump off, while also figuring out how to blow shit up so we can literally save the world. There’s no turning back now. We’re either going to win or die trying.
“You will destroy the Seven Sins, do you understand?” the Ophidian orders, manipulative power once again punching through, every word like a world champion heavyweight. Layers of commands sit heavy in my gray matter, and I start to see cracks forming ominously in my protective layers.
No!
My wings shudder as his orders attempt to creep into my skull, like worms trying to dig into my brain and infiltrate my thoughts. “I’ve waited a long time for this,” he says, eyeing us hard. “None of you will fail me.”
It’s not a question. Not a request. Not even a doubt.
It’s a bold, piercing statement that drills so hard into my brain that a migraine explodes behind my eyes and nearly makes me blackout. Failure isn’t an option for him. We do what he wants, or we die.