my power. Not enough to turn the wolves to her side, but enough that the risk of them attacking her faded.
Confusion flickered in her eyes. “What are you doing?”
I drew a ragged breath, debate raging within me.
Ask her.
I held out a hand, palm up. The words came out in a desperate rush. “Join me. We could rule together. We could be the most powerful beings ever to walk the Earth.”
Something undefinable flickered in her eyes, and her mouth quivered. “Would you turn from the dark?”
I drew in a breath. “The dark is my purpose. I cannot turn from it.”
Her jaw hardened. “That’s what I thought.” Her eyes gleamed, and tears spilled down her cheeks.
Something broke inside my chest, the strangest pain. Between us, the wolves still snarled, held captive by our power.
“I want to save you, you know.” She swallowed hard. “I can feel the darkness inside myself, yet I choose light. You could, as well.”
There was nothing I could say to that. Didn’t she understand what drove me?
No.
She didn’t.
I’d never told her what was at stake for me. But it didn't matter. Saving my own miserable hide was only part of my purpose. After so many years and so much owed, I could not abandon it.
I didn’t even know how.
“I could stay and try, I know.” Another tear spilled down her cheek. “And maybe, with enough time, I could save you and turn you to the light. But I don’t have that time. I owe it to Mac to leave here. I owe it to the world you want to destroy.” Her voice broke on the last word. “So I’m going to leave you to your misery and save what I can.”
Something tore inside me, some wild beast roaring its pain to the night. “You’ll come back to me. The pomegranate will ensure it.”
She scrubbed the tears from her eyes, her face hardening once more. “Damn you.”
“I’m already damned.” With her gone, I was damned as surely as if I faded away to Tartarus.
“Maybe.” She nodded. “But this is checkmate for me. Because I will be your pawn no longer.” She threw her magic at me, everything she had.
The burst of light plowed into the wolves, driving out the darkness.
I let her take control of the wolves. They weren’t a tool I could use on her. Her vines shot upward, forming a wall between her and me as she turned to flee.
I charged after her, my wings carrying me far faster than she could run. I’d use these terrible appendages if it meant I could get to her. I plowed into her vines, slowed only briefly. I nearly made it.
Nearly.
She lunged through the portal, turning to hurl a potion bomb at me. The thing exploded against my chest, burning like acid.
I roared, feeling something pull me from behind.
Her vines.
They dragged me away from the portal, keeping me from her as her potion ate at my stomach. As her absence ate at my soul. A hole torn in my chest. Only there was no heart there to destroy.
23
Seraphia
The ether sucked me in and pulled me through space. The underworld tried to yank me back, tearing at my muscles and bones.
Pain flared. The pomegranate potion, trying to keep me here.
I resisted it, imagining my library, willing myself to go there will all my might. My stomach pitched and my skin chilled. Images of Hades’ face flashed in my mind. Images of him reaching out to me.
The ether spat me out into the real world, the shock driving the images from my head.
Suddenly, I stood in my own library. The air was familiar and lovely, the warm scent of leather, paper, wood oil, and wax. Golden sunlight streamed through the glass windows, dancing upon the tile floor.
I staggered forward, moving on instinct. I had to get away from here.
Hades could come here.
It was how he’d gotten me the first time. I couldn't afford to be sucked back into his realm. Even now, I could feel the pull of it. Too strong. Too powerful.
The damned pomegranate potion.
I resisted it, unwilling to falter now that I was so close to a cure for Mac. Heart thundering, I sprinted through the library.
As I reached the main door, I turned back. Had he followed me?
Or had the potion bomb hurt him too badly? Had my vines gotten him?
Echo was nowhere to be seen, and the library was still and quiet.
For now.
He’d come for me, eventually. But not before I got the cure to Mac.