35. The Birth of a Demigod

"Naia, you're going to have to push for me." Positioned between Naia's legs, Yuki pulled her hair back in a ponytail. "It's time."

The hours of Naia's agony had bled on throughout the night into the dawn. A never-ending torment of pain, comparable to Malik's cleavers blending throughout her insides. Her head rolled back on the headboard as she cried, warring with the wave of time cresting over her head.

"Naia, baby." Ronin lightly pushed her hair from her neck. She'd never seen such a woeful look in his eyes before. Paired with his scrunched brow and the tugging of his lips, he appeared to be in pain, watching her weep. His arm hooked around her knee to help support it. "I need you to push. For me. Please."

Through a wailing contraction, she tasted the salt of her tears slipping throughher lips as she cried, "No, I don't want to."

Outside of Ronin's bedroom, rain pummeled against the window.

"Naia." Yuki's intense gaze bore into her, leaving no room for argument in her voice. "Now."

While Naia was immortal, her child was not. Two seconds of analyzing the serious look hardening in Yuki's eyes told Naia if she didn't start pushing, Ash could die.

Naia ground her teeth.

You will not be useless anymore.

She fisted her hands at her sides, refusing the hand Ronin offered her, knowing she'd crush his bones, and screamed against the excruciating pain as she pushed.

Yuki held her hand up for the syringe. Ronin passed it to her.

Naia shrieked louder as pressure tore between her legs.

"His head is out." From what Naia could see at this angle, Yuki's arms shuffled with haste. "Tell Avi to start the spell."

Ronin nodded and swiped his hand up, commanding the bedroom door to swing open and rebound off the wall. It was the signal.

"One more push, Naia. You're doing great." Yuki handed the syringe off to Ronin, its vial filled with cherry-red blood, fresh from her child's veins. Ronin tucked it away in his pocket.

The downpour roared harder outside.

Ronin's fingertips pressed into Naia's thigh as he brought his forehead to her temple. "I love you, Naia. Keep going."

Her heart raced; its rapid beats whirring the blood in her ears. She held her breath, trapping the sob in her lungs. How dare he. A just in-case I love you.

It infuriated her enough to force out a final push.

The sweetest wail filled the room—the most beautiful sound Naia had ever heard.

Ash had her moonlit silver strands and Ronin's eyes—dark and beautifully alive.

She blinked through her tears to look up at Ronin. He stared at their child in amazement. An awestruck sound left his mouth, eyes glistening as he turned and met her gaze.

She smiled and reached her arms out for Ash.

Tendrils of thick black smoke, flickering with topaz streaks, curled in the air and Cassian stepped out into the middle of the room. Dressed in a tailored suit with his light blonde strands slicked back. Naia's heart crawled up her throat.

He approached Yuki from behind. Her body stiffened as she swaddled Ash in a blanket. She took her time, delicately tucking the folds around his arms, as if the High God of Death didn't wait for her to hand him over.

Ronin slowly unbraided his arm from Naia's leg. He straightened with his eyes fixed on Cassian like a wolf preparing its attack.

Naia's chest heaved. The dampness of her own blood seeped down her thighs as she assessed how quickly she was healing.

The house trembled as a clash of thunder shook its foundation. A streak of lightning briefly illuminated the window.

Naia's eyes cut over to the darkening sky through the window. The wind howled mercilessly, causing the tops of the trees to bow. The downpour roared against the roof, deafening in the tense silence of the room. Naia had a terrible feeling the storm was Levina's and Mira's doing.

Cassian held out his large hands to Yuki. "I'll take what is mine now, Ms. Kahale."

Yuki's gaze flashed up onto Naia, holding the fierceness of a warrior. Slowly, she rotated to face the High God, the muscles of her jaws flexing, and Naia knew it was taking a decent amount of self-control to keep her mouth shut.

A sharp ardency rose up within her as she watched Cassian cradle her child. She ground her teeth, feeling the throbbing of her pulse in her gums. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

You cannot afford to be useless anymore, Naia.

"Enjoy your freedom, Little Goddess," Cassian said.

A thick shroud of smoke wrapped around him, and his form flickered. He appeared to be anchored in place, as if gravity refused to release its hold on him.

Cassian breathed out a humorless laugh, carefully eyeing Yuki, Ronin, and then Naia. "It seems you all intend to stop me."

Ronin jolted into motion first, the syringe secure in his grip.

From his wrist dripped a bleeding slit. A fine trail of his blood slithered across the floor and snapped at Cassian's ankle.

Cassian lifted his leg and raised an arm as he simultaneously disappeared.

An explosion rang through the air.

The house shook. Pieces of sheetrock and siding flung through the room. Naia sprung forward and winced. Debris sliced her legs and arms. The floor's jagged planks, warped from the explosion, puddled with rainwater. Wind violently entered the room and ripped down sketches from the wall, sending them swirling and fluttering.

The dust dispersed and Cassian and Ronin were gone, leaving a giant hole in the wall where the window used to be.

Yuki took off towards the door, pressing her palm on her forehead. Blood dripped past her fingers and down her jaw. She ripped the door open and looked over her shoulder at Naia. "I need to protect Avi!"

The witch sat on the living room floor, surrounded by a circle of lit candles and a lethal potion, chanting the incantation keeping the barrier containing Cassian alive. If his concentration broke, they'd be done for.

Disregarding the pain from childbirth between her legs, Naia crawled off the bed.

Theon appeared beside her as she planted her feet onto the wet floor. He turned to her and nodded, confirming Akane was hidden safely in the basement.

He held out his hand for her to grab onto. "If he dies for this, I will never forgive you, Lady Naia."

Naia quickly worked on a pair of leggings Ronin had specifically folded next to her bedside, ignoring the slick, sticky feel of her blood against the material.

She took hold of Theon. "I don't think I will forgive myself."

The floor beneath her feet melted away and drenched grass took its place. Theon let goof her. A rush ofmetallic invaded Naia's nostrils.

The Kahale's backyard had transformed into a battlefield, with mud and water rapidly overtaking the area. The clouds thrashed with thunder as fat raindrops beat down on the tops of Naia's shoulders. In a matter of seconds, her hair was drenched, but Ronin's briars remained intact. A thick, crimson overgrowth consumed the yard's clearing. Jagged vines arched over their heads, pulsing like a chamber of a heart. She sensed the magic sustaining their form against the rain.

"You cannot win against me, Mr. Kahale."Cassian made no effort to fight back, and this only seemed to inflame Ronin's patience.

Cassian's fighting was the epitome of elegance. A dance seamlessly spun with Ash tucked between his arm and the pocket of his blazer. A step this way and that, with graceful timing and a terrifying calm as he dodged Ronin's attacks.

At the sight of Ash in Cassian's possession, Naia's fingernails bit into her palms to control the quivering of her arms.

"I don't fucking care about winning or losing!" In a sharp motion, Ronin's arm lifted in the air. Two blood briars slashed across the damp earth, their needle-like ends glinting under the gray sky. "Give me back my child!"

Through the distance, she made out a sliver of scarlet sap unfurling from the syringe held in Ronin's secure grip—so tiny, the raindrops couldn't touch it.

Just one drop.

Ronin needed an opportunity, and Naia was going to create it for him.

She pushed off her feet. With her fist drawn, she reared her elbow back. Her knuckles met the soggy, solid earth, and water splashed into her eyes. Fissures cracked like an egg's shell across the soil beneath Cassian's feet.

He did not lose his balance and disappeared again, cloaking Ash with his power of invisibility.

Naia's throat constricted at the sight of her child vanishing.

Cassian reappeared a few yards away to her right. With ease, he casually bent his neck to miss the flying ice spears coming for his face.

Theon stepped up in front of Ronin and spread his arms wide. The rain falling from the sky halted mid-air and hung like suspended jewels, and solidified in an audible crunch, glimmering as they sharply spun and sailed for Cassian.

Naia caught the tail end of the High God's smirk before he went invisible again.

Theon snapped his arms down, and, like the pull of a string, the ice shards dove between where he assumed Cassian to be. Naia wanted to dispute for the sake of Ash's safety, but she trusted Theon not to hurt their child.

Cassian flickered back into sight, protected by a thick, black, wispy shield of fog. This was not the night nor shadows at his command, but blackness itself devouring the ice shards whole.

A powerful gust of wind plunged into Naia. She planted her heels firmly in the wet soil, using her core muscles to stay upright. Ronin staggered backwards from it, his fingers curling to steady the blood briars weaved all around them.

"This is pointless, Little Goddess," Cassian hummed. "Look around you. Do you not see what is happening?"

Naia could no longer disregard the ominous, turbulent clouds forming above them.

"Ronin!" she shouted, pointing towards the sea.

Ronin followed her gaze in the distance, where the silhouette of a tsunami emerged from behind the heavy sheet of the typhoon, heading straight for the island.

He cursed under his breath, lifting a hand towards the sky and began chanting an incantation in a language she did not understand. The sky lit up with a brilliant burst of white light, enclosing a thin veil stretching from the treetops to the shoreline.

Naia took off running. She snatched the syringe from Ronin's hand, and lunged for Cassian.

Dodging her, he fluidly sidestepped to evade the needle.

She swung again and again. With each attempt, he stealthily maneuvered her with precise and quick speed. She didn't dare let herself look at her child in his arms, or back at the tumultuous wall of water about to consume her father's island.

The heel of Cassian's palm lodged into her collarbone, barely exerting any force with the shove. The snap of her bone jarred up her neck and rattled in her skull. His hit forced her back, tumbling through the muddied grass. The syringe fumbled from her grasp. She cursed. Pushed up on her knees and reached for it.

Cassian's leather boot squashed down on the back of her hand. She lifted her chin. The curve of his lips was small, but victorious as he went to grab it.

Another set of energetic fingers beat him to it.

Naia spun her head.

Finnian twirled the syringe triumphantly, flashing the High God of Death and Curses a vicious smile."Too slow, Cassie."

"Finny, no!" Naia yelled.

Cassian growled and dove for Finnian.

Finnian's form evaporated into wispy ruby ribbons.

Cassian's shoulders tensed beneath the soaked material of his blazer. He whipped around and she flinched as his eyes, two dangerous golden chasms, pinned her.

Fucking Finnian.

She jumped to her feet and sprung for her child, overcome with the manic need to hold Ash—once.

Cassian caught her by the throat, his fingertips gouging into her neck. She could feel the bruises clotting beneath her skin.

"Naia!" Ronin yelled.

A slender dagger of ice sliced across Cassian's cheek.

Cassian flicked his head to the left, his top lip curled. Theon stalled in his step, eyes big, his knees buckling out from underneath him. He slapped his hand over his chest and grunted in pain.

"What did you do?" Naia rasped.

Cassian leaned in. "End the spell now, Little Goddess, or I will take you all with me into death?—"

Something sliced across Cassian's wrist like a bullet, splattering Naia's cheeks with his blood. He recoiled his arm, hissing between his teeth. Naia staggered backwards, turning her head towards Theon. He was still paralyzed on his knees, his body trembling.

The golden gleam of her hairpin circled around her like a bee.

Her lips parted, an elated burst of relief fueling her hope.

There was no time to ponder Wren's origins as the ground shook beneath Naia's feet. She turned and was met with a wall of waves, their white tips grazing the edges of the clouds, cresting over the island.

Naia stiffened as they collided into the magical barrier Ronin cast, resounding like two boats crashing into one another. The barrier groaned and creaked loudly, straining against the pressure.

Ronin's arm remained up, his lips murmuring the incantation.

Naia's heartbeat pounded painfully in her chest as cracks spiderwebbed across its delicate and translucent exterior.

No.

The barrier shattered like a sheet of glass.

Naia shrieked.

A surge of blistering heat rushed past her. The sight was magnificent as an inferno caged around the island, the monstrous flames taking the form of a familiar dragon and roaring its mouth wide and devouring the waves.

Steam spewed and dusted the air. A deafening sizzle echoed through the land.

Naia gaped in awe, fixed on the crackling wall of fire guarding the island.

Wren continued darting around, flying through a braided briar of Ronin's blood and dousing itself. Coated scarlet red, the hairpin flew across the land for Cassian.

Ronin noticed Wren's tactic and swiped his wrist, commanding the thorns of his briars to elongate further. Their sharp tips were a hairsbreadth from nicking Cassian's leg before he disappeared out of sight.

Theon extended his arms, manipulating a puddle until it solidified into a thin layer of ice. With a practiced movement of his hands, he raised the thin sheet. Cassian reappeared and Theon took his opportunity, sending the blade of ice across the air.

Cassian threw his palm up, and the ice peppered into hundreds of pieces. He sent them back towards Theon and Ronin. They swiftly dodged by conjuring icy barriers and a gruesome shield of blood.

Naia scanned their surroundings in hopes Finnian would still be around, but was stunned to find Solaris at her side. Tall, as radiant as a High God, peering out at the flames hissing against the turbulence of the sea rocking like a shaken cup.

"Solaris?"

He turned to look at her, brow soft, regarding her with an old adoration. "I will handle our mothers," he told her. "You get your child back."

Saving the island was his doing. He'd gone against Mira and Levina for the first time.

She shook her head, shocked and proud all at once, for she'd always known he had such bravery within him. "Why are you…?"

His mouth curved into a half-smile, the gesture broken and reassuring. "Because you've sacrificed enough, Naia."

Sacrifice. The word rang through her bones and snagged in her blood, the revelation slamming straight into her.

A dreadful melancholy sank through her as she looked back at the house holding Avi, Yuki, and Akane. The twenty minutes of the spell containing Cassian were wrapping up.

Naia gave Solaris's hand a squeeze, her lips wobbling as she smiled up at him. "Thank you, Solaris."

Solaris studied her face carefully at the sound of sorrowful resonance in her tone.

She dropped her hand to her side and made her way towards Theon.

Don't you dare do this, Naia. You deserve happiness.

Theon stood a good length away, watching as Ronin continued knitting blood briars. She came to a standstill at Theon's side. The pure shade of his hair, the skin of his cheeks, the front of his mask was drenched berry red, but he seemed to be collected after whatever pain Cassian had inflicted earlier.

Theon's gaze never shifted away from Ronin, and she expected nothing less. He seemed to always be watching Ronin with an ingrained motive to protect him.

Naia's view was filled with the gory, wine-colored streaked yard. The rain had let up. Ronin's skin had a ghostly pallor, while his forearms stood out with a striking, crimson shade, as if they had been submerged in paint. She was proud of his efforts to continue against a High God. He was wonderfully—stubbornly—resilient.

He must live. With Ash.

"Theon," she said without looking at him. "Always keep Ash and Ronin safe."

In her periphery, she saw the god's head whirl in her direction, eyes scouring the side of her face to try todecipher her statement.

"What are you doing?" His tone was urgent, demanding.

What had Ronin done to instill such unwavering loyalty in Theon? She was still painfully curious about Theon's life story.

A grin pulled at the corner of her mouth as she gave Theon a sidelong glance. "Tell Ash your story for me, okay?"

"You're an idiot." He dropped his chin, angling his face away from her. "I won't forgive you for this either."

Naia gave his bicep a lighthearted squeeze, forcing herself to smile through the moisture collecting in her eyes. "You are a kind person. Thank you for looking after me and Ash."

Theon did not spare her another look, as if he knew.

Drawing in a sharp breath, she straightened her shoulders and started forward.

She held her hand out. "Wren, come."

As if drawn by a magnet, the hairpin dutifully collided with her palm at her command.

"High God of Death and Curses," Naia declared. "Come to me and I shall break my curse."

The fighting ceased.

Her limbs threatened to tremble, but she tensed her muscles.

Ronin twisted around, his eyes widening on Naia.

Theon appeared behind him, and Naia met the god's gaze once more with a final request.

Theon's eyes grew dull and distant, pulling from her to Ronin.

Cassian appeared before her, unable to refuse the request, for it involved his curse.

His suit, once pristine, was now a mess of rain-soaked fabric and specks of blood. Not a drop on his skin.

They had been so close.

"Tell me," he said in a slow, tongue-rolling manner of speaking that made Naia's skin crawl, "how you intend to do so."

"My father broke his curse binding him to Kaimana. It was why, in the beginning, you told him he could not strike Mira. If he did so, he would be taken to Moros—away from his children. Yet, he did, knowing the consequences, which made it a grave sacrifice for him. Unknowingly, he broke his curse and freed himself, but he still had to face the consequences of his crime he committed long ago with his beloved and their child."

Cassian's eyes flashed with irritation, yet he remained silent. His reaction gave Naia the rush of confidence she needed to keep going. She'd hit the vein, and she clung to her victory for dear life, knowing if she stopped for a second to think about the reality of what she was doing, she would fall apart.

She clutched Wren in her grasp, using the prick of the hairpin's wings against the skin of her palm like a lifeline to keep herself afloat.

"Take me in place of my son," she said firmly. "My soul will be yours to do with whatever you wish. I hand over my freedom to you. You take me into your land, and I suffer for eternity. The sacrifice I am making, as my father did, pays the debt."

Ronin took a step towards her."Naia, stop!"

Theon's arms enclosed around Ronin's chest and yanked him back.

Ronin shouted furiously, fighting against Theon's inhuman strength.

Naia resisted the instinctive urge to look past Cassian onto Ronin.

A curse could not exist without a way to break it. There were rules, even for the High God of Death and Curses.

With a malevolent gleam in his eyes, Cassian took a menacing step, invading her space. A tremor rolled down her spine. "I will make your immortal life a living hell, Little Goddess. I hope you realize that."

The curling feathers of ink began receding on her fingers, the burden easing along with it.The curse had been a heavy burden chained to her back, and she hadn't realized its brevity until the moment the weight of it vanished. Only to be left with the harrowing reality awaiting her.

A life without Ronin or Ash.

Glimpses of such life flickered in her thoughts, constricting her airways, and bruising the inside of her chest. I don't want to do this?—

You must.

Yuki, Akane, and Avi emerged from the house as Ronin thrashed to free himself from Theon's hold.

Cassian handed Ash back over to Naia.

Finally.

She welled up, staring down at her child's face.He was asleep. With the horrific events unfolding around him, the remarkable ability to sleep undisturbed was noteworthy.

"You get it from your father," she murmured.

After sleeping beside him for nine months, she learned through a series of events how Ronin had the willpower to sleep through a hurricane.

Naia took in every small detail of her son's face. He had a freckle on the right side of his temple; thick, dark eyelashes, pink eyelids, and plump, squishy cheeks she wanted to poke and pinch.

Her heart capped with pride as she hugged Ash against her chest.

She brought her trembling lips to his smooth forehead and inhaled his fresh, baby scent.

"I love you, Ashy darling." She swallowed back her thick tears. For this moment, she would not waste it crying.

Naia walked to the others at a slow pace.

Ronin continued fighting against Theon, calling out her name. She ached everywhere, hearing his voice cracking in distress.

Naia squatted at eye level with Akane. "Can you do something for me?"

Akane managed a feeble nod, her eyes teeming with tears. "Anything for you."

Naia tucked a long, black strand behind her ear and gave her a small, wobbly smile. "Take Ash for me?"

She made a mhm sound between her crying, wiping away her falling tears with the back of her hand.

"And Wren." Naia secured her hairpin in the front pocket of Akane's jeans and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."

Naia handed her son off to his cousin and then turned to Yuki.

The woman jutted her jaw out, dark eyes pooling with tears of her own as she stared at Naia. "You bitch. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Naia huffed out a wistful laugh. "Don't let him grieve me for too long."

"I won't," Yuki promised. "Take care of yourself."

The words, Yuki's affection, were almost enough to fracture the dam of Naia's resolve. Her selfish instincts drove her to desperately grasp at anything within reach to change her mind.

She didn't have it in her to say words to the witch standing beside Yuki. He was already a weeping mess, face buried in his hands, his large shoulders shaking as they folded together. She pursed her lips to keep her own emotions at bay, embracing him in a massive hug.

"I am sorry I didn't get to live up to the promise I made you," she whispered.

"You already have." Avi's arms came around her, giving her a long squeeze.

Naia pulled away. Sucking in a deep breath, she turned and faced the man who was her undoing.

He threw himself like a storm against Theon's grip.

"Don't you fucking do this! You can't make plans without me!" His voice ruthlessly broke as he shouted.

Naia walked over to him and gently placed her hands on either side of his neck, feeling the tension in his muscles. Whenever she longed for a sense of calm, she would gravitate towards that spot, cherishing the reassuring beat of his pulse beneath her palms.

He stilled beneath her touch and she guided his nose to meet hers. "You made me a promise, remember?"

"Naia." His body went slack in Theon's hold. "Don't leave me." He cried softly. "I-I can't lose you. You do this and I'll kill every fucking deity, I swear!"

Naia closed her eyes from the pain cutting open her heart. She had no doubts the lengths he would go because of her decision, and as much as she wanted to be the one to pull him back from the darkness he came and went from, she had full faith Ash's presence alone would be enough to suffice.

"I have to do this, Ronin. For both of you. Let me do this."

A woeful sound cracked in the back of his throat and his shoulders shook as he wept.

"Tell him about me every day." She kissed him, tasting salt and iron on his lips.

The love she had for him filled every corner of her soul.

Naia pulled away with her forehead on his. "We will always find our way back to each other. I love you, Ronin."

He shook his head.

She knew he wouldn't say it. He didn't need to, and she didn't need to hear it. Saying it aloud meant it was finally over. The last of their time together—for this lifetime. It would be a deep ravine filled with the somber weight of grief and heartbreak for a while, but eventually, he would find his way back. He would raise their son and have the family he'd always longed for.

Rupturing through her chest, agony seared her body and emerged on the other side. Somewhere between releasing Ronin and making her way back to Cassian, the ache stretched into a fist-sized hole, and it was as if her heart had fallen out.

It was best to leave it behind with those to whom it belonged with.

Ronin roared out, reviving his blood briars back to life.

One shredded through Theon's backside. He collapsed, wheezing for breath. Another impaled Solaris as he dove to catch Ronin.Several severed through the air for Cassian.

The High God's reflexes were unmatchedas he maneuvered with little effort. Clearly displeased, he shot a deathly glare in Ronin's direction, telling Naia his patience was limited.

Naia spun on her heel, prepared to knock Ronin out to keep him from interfering, when she found Yuki's small frame tackling her brother from behind. She locked her petite arms around his torso, and wrapped her legs around his knees. Together, they both rolled onto the ground.

Ronin struggled to crawl up to his feet with Yuki strapped to his back.

Arms and legs kicking around, he bellowed Naia's name.

She gave him one final smile. "Please forgive me, Ronin."

And then she took the High God of Death's hand for the last time.