Chapter 34

D eath summoned a lacy ottoman and rested her feet on it. Settling her head on the thick pillows behind her, Death allowed herself a few precious moments of relaxation. In a cozy room in her castle, the sisters who'd grown into friends were gathered to watch their beloved Council put on a parade. To ensure they missed nothing, Death had enlarged a viewing mirror to take up an entire stone wall.

As much as Death enjoyed having her sisters visit, squabbles inevitably broke out between them, and today was no exception.

"I don't see how it can be avoided," Fate insisted, irritation ripe in her tone. "The D'Vaires have followed Kaedan's Council to North America. How can we possibly expect Brogan not to meet his mate?"

Fond of the twists of life, Death and her sisters had carefully orchestrated a realm far from the planet earth to discover what would happen if their favored creations were granted different circumstances. Since couples were the focus, they'd selected Killian and Dravyn to be the first mates to find each other. The sisters had altered the day they met. Their journey started in 1369 instead of in the modern day.

There were other variations the sisters had agreed upon, and to their surprise, it had radically transformed the Council and the people involved. It was such an engrossing project; the sisters had halted it the moment Killian and Dravyn had combined their lives in order to attend to their duties. To start it again, they needed to agree upon which of these twisted couples would be together next, and if they wanted any further switches to their realm.

Given how different their personalities were, it came as no shock to Death that they had yet to decide on a plan to move forward. Death had recused herself from the argument since she had been the one to pick Killian and Dravyn. It was reasonable for her sisters to get the chance to have a say, and Death played fair when it suited her.

"Disagree," Life stated emphatically. "Kaedan has no use for dragons, and as Grand Warlock, he doesn't have to get anywhere near some dragon Duke. Poor Aleksander endured far too much. I know we thought nothing would happen to him, but it did. Let's get him and Rafe together."

"Absolutely not," Justice argued. "Certain titles were handed out in a different order. I have a terrific idea for how it could affect Rafe's life. That must happen before he meets Aleksander."

"Aleksander is already King," Eternity remarked. "He can't be given that title first."

"I know that," Justice replied. "What I want to do is have someone else get their title first. Essentially an adopted son for Molly. Another brother for Rafe. That is how it alters Rafe's journey."

"That is annoyingly vague," Fate retorted.

"And you've already told us countless times that you want Kaedan and Brogan," Death said, opening her eyes and glaring at Fate. "It doesn't matter what argument Justice gives or what information she hands out. You've dug your heels in and refuse to be swayed."

"That is true, Fate," Eternity said. "You must be more flexible. There are plenty of options, and we agreed that this was a group project."

"When someone offers me a believable argument that another couple would be better at this point than Brogan and Kaedan, I will be flexible," Fate insisted haughtily. "No one has brought forth a couple that someone else isn't against."

"Nor have we agreed on any other twists," Justice commented. "If we don't find a way to compromise, our project will remain forever locked in the 1500s."

"I think it's best if we each pick a couple and put together a cohesive argument to present to the group," Eternity suggested. "Additionally, we should each provide a list of proposed twists we can vote on. Majority rules."

"Eternity's plan has merit," Death said.

"Only if you agree to cast a vote for a couple," Justice stated. "You can skip picking one, but there are five of us. We need a tiebreaker."

"Agreed," Fate added while Life and Eternity nodded.

"Very well, I'll vote. Now, can we please watch the parade without any damn bickering?" Death asked, desperate for a subject change. She was sick of listening to her sisters argue, and it unnerved her every time they insisted she be further involved in anything. Her little friend group was still new and fresh enough—after she'd spent so many millennia stuck in solitude and misunderstood—that it overwhelmed her in a beautiful way. But she damn well refused to cry in front of anyone, even if her tears were ones of happiness.

"Yes, let's," Life replied. "They have worked so hard for today, and I'm excited to watch the performers."

"The magical floats are my favorite thing," Eternity said, anticipation making her silver eyes glow. "They are going to wow the onlookers."

"And my gorgeous Grant has planned security so well," Death boasted.

"Yes, but the poor man is sweating through his uniform with nerves," Fate commented.

"It is his first large-scale project; his stress is understandable," Justice remarked. "Speaking of Grant, are we going to push him closer to learning about his death?"

"No," Death said. "Fallen knights are not supposed to know about their previous lives. It shocked me that his former beau agreed to meet with him, but that toad Reginald isn't going to tell anyone about how he murdered Grant."

"Even if some poor soul stumbles upon Grant's buried skeletal remains, Reginald's father has too much power. I fear it will get swept under the rug and the murder will never be publicly solved anyway," Eternity lamented.

"There were no fractures to Grant's bones when Reginald strangled him," Death stated, her mouth pinched. "At this point, it would be difficult to prove he was murdered. The only clue is that someone buried him. Without proof, there will be no charges pressed. It would be an impossible case to prosecute."

"I really wish I'd created humans," Fate said. "I'd smite that horrid man. Then again, the creator of humans was Folly, and the last thing I want to be is her ."

"You didn't notice Roman's wizard mate had died, and you allowed him to be re-birthed as a human. Fallen knights are not supposed to be paired with humans. You should pay more attention to your matches and worry less about things beyond your powers," Justice remarked, narrowing her eyes at her sister. "And the last thing you should do is find additional trouble."

"I already told you I assumed Grente the Green was still living in his stupid, cold, lonely home while Roman pined for him," Fate said. "It's Life's fault Grente was turned into a human."

"Because I didn't know his soul belonged to Roman," Life exclaimed.

"We cannot argue that it hasn't worked out admirably," Death remarked, searching for common ground between her sisters.

"Thank you for recognizing my genius," Fate said.

"But you must be mindful, Fate, otherwise rules get bent unintentionally. Life had no clue she was inadvertently pairing Roman with a human," Death warned. "Our rules exist for varied reasons. Do not convince yourself that it is fine for them to be bent at will. Goddesses willing to thwart the rules stray from what they were created for and turn into menaces like Folly."

Fate's mouth flattened into a thin line, and she fixed her enraged blue stare at Death. "It wasn't my fault some goddess killed Grente. I put couples together so they can love and support one another. My job isn't to seed chaos by convincing people to use poor judgment or act absurdly. That was Folly's mission. She ran with the chaos thing and decided she loved danger. This bent rule gave a couple love, Death. It hurt no one."

"Not that I want to toss aside rules myself, but Fate has a point," Eternity remarked.

"Please don't encourage her," Justice said.

"Yes, or our dear sister will produce a sword and run her through," Death drawled.

"Hush," Life ordered, lifting her arms to signal them to stop talking.

Fate rolled her eyes. "Sorry, we're ruining the parade for you."

"No, no," Eternity remarked, closing her eyes. "Something is wrong."

The words were barely out of Eternity's mouth when a massive plume of smoke in several colors of the rainbow filled the entire viewing mirror, obscuring the parade.

Death clenched her fists as her senses told her the impossible was happening. A scream resonated from her very soul as resurrected spirits lifted from the bodies of sentinels, fallen knights, and reapers. Her people were dying, and no wizard potion that existed was capable of hurting them thanks to Chander's resurrection spells.

Her shrieking was so loud, the stones of her castle rattled. Panic set in for the souls that usually rested comfortably within her large ebirlloba . Death wished she could comfort them. But she could not. Fury as she had never known filled her. While no wizard potion could harm her people, every goddess was capable of killing whenever they wanted. And she recognized the woman wreaking havoc on the streets below.

Death rose to her feet and snapped her mouth shut. Without a word, she teleported to earth. It unsettled her immediately. Death had never visited before, and the lack of magic was strange. But Death had no time to worry about her frivolous personal concerns.

A goddess laughed, her dark hair swirling amid the charged air of the wizard potions.

"Death," Justice shouted, appearing on the road beside her.

"Throw your power into me, Death," Life ordered.

Shocked at the command, Death hesitated. To combine life magic with that of the undead would be horribly painful for them both. But she understood why. They had to stop the souls rapidly lifting toward Death's realm.

Digging from the depths of her soul, Death shoved her power at her sister. It was too much. Life was thrown to the ground, but she offered no complaints. Gritting her teeth, Life threw out her own essence. Death wanted to scream at the pain, but she did not.

Eternity appeared and added her magic to the mix. Not to be outdone, Fate arrived, and together, they stopped the destruction. Or at least halted it for the moment.

"Stop time," Justice demanded, throwing out another stream of sorcery. It took a combination of goddesses to do as she ordered, but again Death didn't argue.

Instead, she gave her full attention to the still-cackling goddess. Death stalked toward her sister and cocked her head as her hands turned to bone. With skeletal fingers, she grasped Folly's throat.

"You have broken your last rule," Death growled.

Despite her precarious position, Folly laughed again. Her eyes were crimson. That was new. When they were last together, Folly had had pretty green irises.

"You can't kill me," Folly offered in a sing-song voice. "It would upset the balance of power and end this world. Or at least every magical element in it. Well, the resurrected ones beyond this street would live. But your sisters would lack the ability to create anything capable of standing near your creations."

Death hated that Folly was right. Somehow, her sister had gained the ability to increase her sorcery to a level it should not have been able to reach. If Death killed her, it'd make her stronger than any other goddess by almost immeasurable means.

"Death does not want your power," Justice said, summoning a golden lasso that she quickly twisted around Folly's wrists. "She has no evil inside her. But she is not wrong. You will not break another rule. We will see to it."

Folly smirked. "You say that as if I acted alone. I have allies. Some of them walk among you without you even knowing it. Your lovely sisters lying to your face as they plot with me behind your back. Do to me what you will, but this war is not over. And your creations will all die."

"We don't have to listen to her shit," Fate spat. "Take her crazy ass to the Tier'llomen and figure out her punishment. Secrets do not stay hidden forever, Folly. You may have been stupid enough to waltz down this road decimating everything, but you had a purpose. Maybe you were tired of hiding. Perhaps you thought Death would kill you and upset the balance, which might summon Mother from her travels. I don't know. But you miscalculated. Probably because you're an idiot. And any goddess who aided you these past millennia is also stupid. Without you telling them what to do, what do you think is going to happen?"

Folly's gaze narrowed, and she tried to wiggle out of Death's hold, but her sister gave her no quarter. "We have people on this planet of yours aiding us too."

"Yeah, a bunch of dumb, disgruntled wizards," Fate said. "Good job, Folly."

"You call them stupid, but they have outsmarted your people for years."

Death tightened her hold and took great delight in Folly's gasp for air. A lack of breathing could not kill a goddess, but it caused grave discomfort. Something Folly was due after all the people she'd hurt through the years. "Because goddesses like you have hidden them or helped them stay out of reach."

"Just kill me," Folly taunted. "That's what you want, Death."

"Can we get rid of this asshole so we can clean up this mess and have a damn parade?" Fate demanded with a toss of her red locks.

Eternity laughed so hard she bent over. "She really thought Death would do something to potentially summon Mother or to unbalance us. You're right, Fate, she's a moron."

"Perhaps not," Justice said, gently tugging Folly out of Death's grasp. "I doubt she lacks intelligence. But she is short-sighted and a poor judge of character. Something far too common among our sisters. She counted on her belief that Death would strike without thought. Or that our sister is consumed with power. A misconception which has grown as Death's sorcery has increased."

"Exactly," Folly shouted. "She grows stronger daily. That is not by accident. You stand by her side, yet you resent her. We all do. The wizards lack the power to hurt the undead. I don't. Her people will die unless you five break the rules and undo my actions. You're just as corrupt as you believe me to be. The joke is on you. I will summon all of you to the Tier'llomen and make you stand before our sisters to be punished because I know you won't let any of these people die."

Fate slapped her hands on her hips and huffed out a breath. "Okay, so sparing people is bad, but letting them die is good. Each person you've had a hand in killing has added to Death's power. You're literally helping her become a stronger sorcerer, then warning us not to trust her. When did you lose your damn mind?"

"Fix this," Justice said, waving her hand around the decimated parade and half-dead souls hanging in the air. "I'll take Folly back."

A second later, Justice and Folly were gone.

"How did she grow her power?" Fate asked.

"By breaking the biggest rule of them all," Life answered. "She took power from other goddesses, either with or without their consent."

"She will have to be put in stasis. Unless we can strip her power, she cannot die," Death warned.

"The question is, what is she after?" Eternity asked. "As long as our sisters are alive, there will always be balance. Life readily takes from the ebirlloba to rebirth."

"You think she wanted to summon Mother," Death responded.

"Why?" Fate asked. "Mother would be furious."

"A question only Folly can answer," Life said. "I thought once we tracked her down, we would know peace. But now our task is larger than we could've imagined."

"We have to find anyone who has aided her," Death said. "And accept that Folly's capture was far too easy. She hasn't avoided us for untold centuries to suddenly pop into the middle of a street without a plan. We must stay on our toes. This is far from over."

"Agreed," Eternity remarked. "But for now, we need to bend some rules to save our people. And rewind time so they have no memory of today's events. We will take them back to the moments before the parade started."

"Good, because we missed it," Fate said. "Bending the rules in this case is no issue either, so spare me any lectures. Folly started this; we will finish it no matter how long it takes. Then we will wait to discover what is next for Folly and her allies."

"Do not save the meddling wizards who threw the potions," Eternity ordered. "They have little power and no connection to the higher-level wizards responsible for the attacks on our Council. They were seduced into joining the group with empty promises of grander things coming to them, but their destiny was to die today. Without Folly's intervention, the fallen knights and sentinels would've arrested them and handed them death sentences for their crimes."

"Good point. Once our task is done, we will present ourselves in the Tier'llomen to have our punishment decided," Death stated.

Fate sighed. "I knew you were going to say that. You really can't stand a bent rule. I hate punishments."

"The important thing is that we stand together and ensure that Death's punishment requires no time away from the ebirlloba ," Life said. "She has souls to care for, and they are more important than any other task we share among us. In fact, they need reassurance immediately. The ebirlloba still trembles with your anger."

Death bit her lip, then pulled herself together enough to give her sister a wobbly smile. "Thank you, I would worry for them."

Life walked over and kissed her cheek. "They need you. And these poor people need us, so we can tackle punishment later. And we have a grand mystery to solve. None of our sisters can get away with what Folly has done or how they have aided her. Folly is also far from done with her mischief. She is far too intelligent to have not considered how any of us would react to her appearance today. We have much to do, but our sleuthing cannot begin today. Let's fix this."

Nodding, Death threw a bolt of power out and waited for her sister's magic to twist around it so they would cause each other no pain as they undid Folly's latest heinous act.