Creatures formed from the scorched earth, electric humanoid figures with no faces or hands, but arms that could lash out with crackling force.
One of them collided with a shadow warrior. The two exploded in a burst of light and dark, disappearing. The air pressure increased, agony against my eardrums. I slapped my hands to my ears, though it didn’t help.
From either side of the clearing, Hades and Zeus commanded their armies, arms raised high and magic surging as they directed them into battle. Wind tore at Hades cloak and Zeus stood tall. It was a terrifying, amazing sight.
So amazing that I nearly missed it when one of the lightning beasts turned toward me. Zeus watched me from the corner of his eye, directing his minion.
Hades, blocked by his horde of an army, didn’t see.
The creature advanced on me, crackling with brilliant white electricity. A tiny black creature shot out of the sky, headed straight for the beast.
The bat.
How had it followed me here?
It reached the lightning monster and dived, but the creature lashed out and smacked the tiny bat, sending it careening up into the sky.
No!
Poor thing. I prayed he would be all right. Fear and rage surged through me, and I dug my hands into the ground, instinct forcing me to seek the plants that had withered and died here so long ago.
Help me.
I called upon my magic, upon the roots that lay twisted and dead beneath me. There was no life in them, nothing green and living. But I could feel them all the same, and I called to them, seeking them out with my magic.
My power thrummed in my chest, rising to the surface, desperate to be free after so long contained. I imagined the roots thrusting from the dirt, forming a barrier between me and the approaching monster that crackled with deadly lightning.
It was only feet away now. Ten. Five.
I should scream for Hades, but I couldn’t. Not if I also wanted to protect myself. And I was my best bet right now. I needed every ounce of concentration I had to make this work.
Maybe it was crazy. Maybe a long shot.
But I had to try.
My magic flared to life, and I felt the roots respond. They surged from the earth, rising, twisting, dead shadows of their former selves.
But there had once been a forest here, and there were many of them. They formed a cage, blocking out the lightning beast that was nearly upon me, dozens of the roots overlapping each other until I could no longer see him.
I panted, my magic surging inside my chest.
Then the world exploded. The lightning beast slammed into the roots, shattering them with electricity. I screamed, unable to stop myself.
Hades roared, a sound that was thick with rage. The earth trembled and shadows vomited forth, surging in numbers that overwhelmed Zeus and his army, driving them into the sky.
The lightning monster that reached for my throat disappeared, blasted back by the force of Hades’ rage.
In seconds, they were gone. No more lightning and no more Zeus.
Just Hades and the darkness.
His army disappeared back into the earth, gone in a flash. The cage of roots had been blown away by the lightning beast, and I knelt within the wreckage.
Hades appeared in front of me like a shadow from the dark, his expression thunderous. He gripped my arms, glaring down at me, eyes flashing with things I couldn’t identify. So much emotion swirled around him that it was like a tornado of darkness.
And then, as if he couldn’t help himself, he yanked me to him and buried his face in my hair.
It lasted for one impossible second, this massive god bent over me, his breath at my ear as he drew in my scent. Then he jerked back, jaw tight, and said “Do not ever do that again.”
“What? Protect myself?” My voice was reedier than I wanted it to be, still echoing with fear.
“Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that.”
It was his obsession, it seemed. Me getting into dangerous situations. “You were worried for me.”
My heart still thundered, fear transforming into something else, something mixed with heat deep in my belly.
Up close, he was so terribly beautiful, his blue eyes blown out with the inky black of his pupils. From worry? Desire?
His eyes had changed like this in the library—all dark and liquid. But this was different.