23. Diana

Diana

I had to block it all out. Dominic’s shout of warning. Raven’s howl of fury and disbelief. The connection between us that crackled with his fear for me. I could only focus on the entity in front of me, and the information I had been given.

A choice must be made.

The Wolf Queen must die.

This was it. This was the crossroads, here and now. I just needed to be brave enough to meet the moment, and that would drive Lilis away…for a time.

Now, to get her solemn vow.

“And if I come to you, you’ll leave the rest of them alone and sail back to the Demon Realm, swear it on the stars?”

I stared deeply into Malach’s eyes–No, Lilis’ eyes. The figure no longer fully registered as the once-proud Demon King. His life force waning, his body a twisted mess.

The monstrosity gestured impatiently for me to come closer, “Yes, yes. I already agreed.”

“ Swear it.”

“I see someone has been meddling in my affairs.” The demon’s face contorted in anger, but it did not delay him for long. “All right, then, I swear it on the stars.”

I let out a breath, and a cold peace settled over me as I strode toward him, hands raised. The choice had been made, the prophecy fulfilled. What exactly that all meant, I couldn’t be sure. But if I was unable to drive Lilis out when I laid hands on Malach, at least I would be with Lycan soon, and my friends would live to see another day. It had to be enough.

I winced as Raven’s enraged scream cut through the air, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

I could not waiver.

Malach tossed Mav aside and surged forward, closing the remaining distance between us before Mav could even hit the ground. He cackled, face curling in a hideous mockery of a grin as his eerily cold fingers found my throat.

“One down, four to go.”

“Diana!”

Anger flashed in Mav’s face as he hefted his sword and took one, single step forward, before five soldiers stepped in front of him. Anger gave way to pain as he stared at me a moment longer, and then let the blade drop to the ground, the fight fading from him as quickly as it had come. He was just doing as he always had; looking out for number one–but damn, it stung.

A white blur crossed into my field of vision, surging toward the demon, and a wave of horror rolled through me.

“Kevin, no!” But it was too late. Malach’s foot whipped out, slamming directly into Kevin’s jaw. The hell-hound flew back like he’d been hit by a car, smacking into a tree with a pained yelp. And then nothing.

“Not my dog, you fucking bitch!” My hand shot up on pure instinct, and my heart thundered as I tore the cold fingers from my neck. I might die today, but not before I took my pound of flesh. I scrambled back, narrowly avoiding the demon’s grasping hands. I hit the ground hands-first, slamming my leg backward, aiming a full-throttle horse-kick directly to his sternum. Bone snapped under my foot, and I whirled, preparing for whatever was coming next.

Malach staggered, keeling over, as the ringing of blade against blade echoed all around me. Demons resumed their profane, horrifying chants as the battle reignited, sending waves of magical flame at our scattered troops. I winced as my attention shifted to Raven. He’d cut a path to reach me, and now stood only a few yards away. Countless corpses littered the ground in his wake, but a dozen winged demons–the strongest of their kind– had surrounded him, weaving in and out as they stabbed at him with spears.

Malach rose, flashing me that wicked grin, and I refocused myself on the task at hand. He was on me in the blink of an eye, blade slicing through the very tip of my nose as I stumbled backward in the nick of time. Bone crunched from the force of his strike, and his sword-arm dropped, hanging unnaturally at the elbow. His body was weak and broken from Lilis’s presence, but he paid it no mind, unleashing a whirlwind of vicious attacks as his arm snapped back into place. He danced as much as fought, each limb seeming to move with a mind of its own. I staggered backward, fighting frantically to keep him off me.

Just one opening, and I could try to shift and use my wolf to force her out.

His leg whipped out as I dipped under a sword thrust, smashing his shin directly into mine. I flailed, howling wildly from the pain, but he simply continued the onslaught, like some kind of demon-puppet. Kevin’s pained whimper replayed in my mind, and I growled, rolling sideways just in time to evade another attack.

But I was done fighting on my heels. It was time to attack.

I tore my knife from my belt, lunging toward his neck. His sword clattered to the ground as twin gouts of black flame erupted from his hands, blasting me backward as the heat consumed me. I let out a feral scream, scrambling to my feet as he leapt right onto me, smashing his fist into the side of my skull. My vision blurred, and I rolled away, arms raised.

“You’re finished, she-wolf.”

It was Lilis’ voice, now, not his. She’d twisted it, as surely as she’d twisted his trademark blue fire magic.

The demon’s fingers gripped my neck once again, now blazing with heat. I thrashed in a wild attempt to free myself, but, with her full attention on me, she was simply too strong. My neck screamed in pain as his burning hand raged even hotter, the smell of burned flesh filling the air.

But the fire didn’t come. Malach’s face shifted, returning to something resembling the demon he had once been for an instant. His eyes pleading, as he croaked out a plea. “End this, Diana. You must kill me. Whatever it takes.” His arm shook and vibrated as he fought madly for control, but the grip on my neck remained firm. The goddess was too strong.

I reached for my wolf, calling to her with everything I had in the brief window the proud demon had managed to create for me. If I could just?—

Panic rolled over me as the realization struck. My wolf was out of reach, not too different from that day in the desert. Except, this time, it was like she was actively retreating from me…shrinking away from me.

I roared as something else washed over me, flooding my body with power like nothing I’d ever felt. Filling my heart with pure, unadulterated, rage . For Kevin, for Malach, for my father. For everything this bitch had done. Vengeance would be mine.

A crimson haze blurred my vision, and I latched onto his wrist.

Malach’s face contorted in agony, and he was gone as quickly as he’d arrived. “Silly woman,” Lilis spat, heat and magical power flaring more with every word.

I screeched as my muscles tensed and the shard inside me throbbed, my newfound magic forcing its way to the surface to match Lilis’. I pushed, calling on every drop of this new strength. And the goddess did the same. Droplets of rain hit my face as electricity surged through Malach’s husk, twisting his mouth in a silent scream.

Thunder cracked overhead, and I roared as my body lit up with pain. But pain didn’t matter. Not anymore. “You don’t stand a chance!” Lilis screeched.

A familiar figure flashed into view behind Malach and a mad laugh split my lips as I shoved back at her. “You’re right, I don’t. Not alone, anyway.”

I threw caution, and any thought of defending myself, to the wind, directing my rage and power through Malach, right to the source. My ears rang as I smashed into her, pushing and tearing at the goddess with everything I had. And, for the briefest of moments, she faltered.

That was all Sienna needed.

“Both of us together!” she shouted, seizing the opportunity. And, in that moment, the twin lights of our magic, equal but opposite, seemed to fuse into a single, blinding star. And together?

We were unbeatable.

The rage amped up even further as I continued my chaotic assault on Lilis, somehow tempered by the aura of peace and control emanating from Sienna. No words were needed between us. She reached out to Malach, seeming to latch directly onto his soul.

The demon dropped me to the ground, and I gritted my teeth as I was enveloped in wave after wave of electricity. I stepped forward nonetheless, continuing my assault through the agony; my role in this was set.

“This won’t change a thing!” The goddess’ voice came from above, now, rather than from Malach’s mouth. Thunder boomed, drowning out her agonized screams. “You stupid cows. This ends the same way no matter what you do. I’ll kill every last one of you?—”

I stumbled back as the storm clouds overhead fizzled into nothing in the blink of an eye, consumed in a flash of light. Malach’s body dropped to the ground like a broken bag of dried leaves and sticks. What looked like a black bruise formed around his neck and spiraled outward, forming spikes. Lilis’ mark, same as the Vanators under her control had shown.

But this time, when Malach spoke, his voice was his own.

“Thank…you.”

I dropped to my knees as the all-consuming fury faded, replaced by the screaming of every nerve-ending in my body alight. My vision swirled as I glanced at Sienna. The magic had receded, but the strange one-ness was still there. And stranger yet?

I was still alive.

I reached for her arm, searching frantically for Raven as I struggled back to my feet.

His wild eyes met mine as he wrenched his sword from the neck of the final demon that separated us. Blood poured from countless wounds; his face nearly unrecognizable through it all.

“You will pay for putting me through that, Frostbite,” he managed, before wheeling around and dropping into an unsteady dueling stance. Demons roared and began to stomp and snarl as cries of their King’s demise spread.

Dom appeared at Sienna’s side. Once he made sure she was unhurt, he quickly joined Raven to form a wall in front of us.

“Nicholas managed to get to the mutt. Kevin is injured, but alive,” Raven said over his shoulder.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but the feeling left as quickly as it had come as I caught sight of the ritualistic war-dance the demons had begun.

“Whoot. Whoot. Whoot! Whoot!” The chants grew louder as they began to pound on their chests in time and formed a circle around us.

Every one of them looked prepared to die.

“Defensive formation,” Dom’s voice cut the battlefield like a knife as he moved away from Raven to face the other half of our enemies. “I’ll hold these off. You handle them. We can outlast them.”

But the attacks never came as a second voice cut through, with just as much gravity. I looked up to see a lone demon, massive wings spread, hovering above us.

Algrin.

“Retreat!”

Roars of protest split their ranks, and fire flared from his palms, silencing them.

“You saw it with your own eyes; our king was not himself.”

A bold voice rose above the rest. “We saw those two kill him, Algrin. Someone must pay.”

Algrin flickered out of view, reappearing directly next to the younger demon in an instant. The fire in his palms burned even hotter as he pressed one against the other one’s throat. He made sure to speak loudly enough for the rest to hear as he continued.

“I don’t give a damn whether you agree. Our king is dead, and the dark goddess is to blame. I will not continue a war Malach did not believe in.” He threw his arm to the side, blasting a gout of flame in the direction of the ocean.

I followed the fire, heart skipping a beat as the wreckage came into view. Sal rose up, next to their final ship, and Xefia called out from beside her. “We left you one ship to take your leave. Now get out before we take care of that one for you, too.”

The energy was sucked out of the remaining demons in an instant. No more shouts of protest, no more fire or rage. The one who’d contradicted Algrin dropped wordlessly to one knee, and the general withdrew his hand.

Algrin uncinched his belt, letting his sheathed sword drop to the earth below, and began marching directly toward me. A group of younger wolves began snapping and growling at him, and I held up a hand.

“Let him approach.”

Raven didn’t budge, but the demon stopped a few feet short, dropping to one knee. “I am in no position to ask this of you, but I will do so anyway: allow me to take Malach’s body back to our homeland so we can give him a proper burial. Do this, and I’ll be forever in your debt.”

I faltered, taken aback. Demons were, by and large, a selfish bunch, looking out for themselves above all. So what was this?

“Y-yes. You may take him with you.”

He exhaled, dipping his head in thanks, then called for a few other members of the King’s Guard. And, when they arrived, every one of them was wearing the same, solemn expression. They folded his arms and hoisted him into the air. As their wings unfolded, Algrin turned to look at me a final time.

“Thank you, for putting that to an end.”

“He died a warrior’s death, fighting back against her control. I would’ve died if he hadn’t.”

He grunted in understanding, then took flight with the other members of the King’s Guard. “The Heir apparent is not going to be happy to hear of this, but we should send word right away. We will need him to take the king’s place as soon as possible.”

Raven’s hand dropped to my shoulder as Algrin, and his men retreated.

“You did it,” he murmured, his gaze drilling into mine. “You did it and you’re still alive. You’ve foiled the prophecy.”

I nodded weakly, leaning into him. In a way, he was right; my new abilities had allowed Sienna and I to send a goddess packing…

And yet, even as I soaked in the warmth of his comforting embrace, I couldn’t shake the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. Because something was still very, very wrong. I reached for my wolf once again, and she cowered, sending a shaft of agony through me.

As grateful as I was for what the shard had done for me this day, I couldn’t help but wonder…

And what had it done to me?