by Lila Jean
“Already on it,” Amy said in her ear. “There’s one headed your way.”
“Good.” Tina nodded and began to circle Cora as the woman spun her staff, no doubt looking for the perfect moment to slam it on the ground and make everyone as ill as possible. If Tina could focus on the fight, knowing full well that her men would be cared for, this would go faster.
“It can hurt you, too,” Draven snapped, clearly agitated with her order.
“Not in the same way,” she reminded him. When she had stabbed Ares with the glowing dagger, it had turned only a portion of his skin to ash, and the bleeding had stopped almost instantly.
Determined to end this quickly, Tina lifted her hands, connecting instantly with Cora’s pulse. She tightened her palms into fists, controlling the horrible woman’s pulse, forcing it to race faster. Cora shifted uncomfortably and attacked, bringing the staff down hard toward Tina’s head. Tina rolled out of the way, temporarily losing her grasp on Cora’s pulse, and the thundering heartbeat slowed again to normal.
Shit, Tina thought. She’s more resilient to my magic than regular humans, probably from all the gods her family killed and absorbed. Tina wrinkled her nose in loathing at the thought, but she had to focus, had to press on and figure something else out. Using her powers to burst Cora’s heart would take more effort, time, and energy than most, and considering how her attention was broken each time Cora attacked, that approach wasn’t going to work quite like Tina had hoped.
“Fine,” she muttered to herself, eyeing the dagger still laying on the floor nearby. “Plan B.”
Cora swiped at Tina with the staff, missing by inches, and Tina rolled toward the dagger that Cora had thrown at Killian, the one Tina had been forced to yank from his chest. Her hand hovered over it, remembering the agonizing pain she had felt when she’d first tried to grab the god weapons, but things were different now. With her access to Damara restored, she was a goddess again, and the blade would have to recognize that she had the power of one.
“Don’t you dare,” Cora seethed, raising her sword threateningly.
Tina smirked and grabbed the dagger by the hilt, pleased she had managed to irk Cora, to take something of power from a woman who thrived off of doing just that to everyone around her. Sure enough, the blade hummed to life, a little ball of energy in her palm, its magic and sheer grace almost awe-inspiring. Tina wanted nothing more than to fawn over it, to explore it, to study it, but she didn’t have the time.
“Guess it’s mine, now,” she said with a wink at her enemy.
Cora growled in anger as she swung her sword toward Tina’s neck, and Tina dodged it effortlessly. With a grunt of effort, Cora slammed the staff into the ground, and the golden ring of energy burst out from it in every direction. Tina ducked, barely missing the blow, but it hit a few of the wolves in the hall. They fell to the ground, heaving, lost in the curse of pestilence that damned staff emitted. Fast as lightning, Cora slammed the staff into Tina’s side, jarring her with a burst of electricity.
Tina gritted her teeth, holding her side with her free hand as her other tightened around the hilt of the dagger, ready to rain fire and brimstone down on this bitch. First, she had to get that staff away from Cora, and then the sword. Even though it didn’t have a sharp edge, the staff was clearly the bigger threat.
Cora attacked, furious and deadly, every blow from the staff quickly followed up with the sword. Tina dodged them, occasionally stabbing at Cora with the blade, knowing full well she had to treat this battle just like the one with Ares. Every blow had to be for the kill since Cora was brimming with stolen power that could take Tina out for good.
As the staff came down toward Tina’s head, she stabbed her dagger into Cora’s left shoulder and grabbed the staff with her other hand, focusing a surge of energy into the weapon as Cora yelled in pain, distracted by the dagger. With the staff in one hand, Tina grabbed the hilt of the dagger and kicked Cora in the chest, sending the woman staggering backward. With the same fluid motion, Tina wrenched the staff from Cora’s hand and dislodged the bloody blade from her body. Cora gasped with relief, not realizing the staff was missing until Tina waved it in her hand.
Cora still held the sword in her left hand, limp and grazing the floor as she glared at Tina, her right hand nursing the wounded shoulder.
“I don’t think you’ll need this anymore,” Tina said, lifting the staff and breaking it in half across her knee. After all, the true owner, the real god or goddess worthy of such a magnificent weapon, was gone, and there would never be a host to wield it again. Tina felt no need to preserve these weapons since their masters had been killed off long ago by the Stratford family.
“No!” Cora screamed as the magnificent staff fell to the floor, the energy leaving it like a soul leaving a body. The wood became dull, now nothing more than splinters on the floor, and Cora gritted her teeth in anger. “You bitch!”
“Oh, I’m the bitch?” Tina laughed and readjusted the dagger in her hand, ready for the unavoidable charge as Cora’s anger inevitably got the best of her.
Sure enough, Cora ran for her, swinging the blade with expert precision, trying desperately to drive it into her chest as the trident bounced against her waist. Tina would have to get that and destroy it quickly since it posed the greatest threat, but luckily the wound would prevent Cora from wielding the two weapons simultaneously.
Tina and Cora swung at each other, their skirts swishing as their deadly dance took them across the stone floor, Cora getting angrier and angrier with every missed blow. Tina baited the woman, trying to piss her off, knowing that the more unhinged Cora was, the better Tina’s chances of winning.
Get the sword, Tina told herself. Then the trident.
She swung her dagger, strategically timing it so that Cora would pull back, step away and regroup, and Tina used the moment to sweep out the woman’s legs. Cora fell onto her back, the sword clattering on the floor, giving Tina a better target than she had anticipated. Seizing the moment, Tina drove the dagger toward Cora’s chest, but Cora rolled away at the last minute. Instead of killing her, like Tina had hoped, she drove the magical dagger into the stone, the deafening clang of metal against rock echoing through the room.
When Cora rolled away, however, she had left the sword behind. Tina reached for it since her newfound dagger was stuck in the floor, and when her hand wrapped around the sword’s hilt, she realized why Cora liked it so much. Her body hummed with life and vigor, and when she lifted the blade, it was as if it weighed nothing at all.
Somehow, the metal spoke to her, more through feelings than words, but the sensations reverberated through her like wind through the sky. You are safe, she felt the blade say. I will protect you.
“Okay, that’s awesome,” she said under her breath, briefly pausing to admire the sword. “I don’t think I can destroy you.” She returned her attention to Cora, who whipped out the trident and hesitated, circling Tina, warier now as she was left with her final, and perhaps most devastating, weapon.
“You are dead,” Cora seethed, her hair messy and knotted, flying around her face as they fought. “I’m going to make every last breath of yours hurt.”
“Sweet talker,” Tina said with a playful wink, just to piss her off.
Cora yelled in anger and swung the trident at Tina’s face, her arms, everything she could. It was as though she realized this was it, her final chance, the last desperate moments for her to cling to life, but Tina refused to let this go on any longer. With one deft blow, she struck the trident with Cora’s own sword, bringing the edge of the blade down hard between two of the three prongs with such force that a massive crack formed in the base of the weapon. Fast as lightning, Tina lifted the sword and struck again, dealing the final blow. The trident broke in two and clattered to the floor, the shimmering metal fading, growing dim, and Tina felt a surge in power as her magic was restored to her. She smiled, briefly closing her eyes in instinctual joy as the power Cora had stolen was finally returned.
With no weapons left, Cora fell to her knees before Tina. “Please,” she begged, her voice choked with tears. “Tina, please. I concede.” She grabbed Tina’s skirts, bunching them in her hands, her mascara running as Tina looked down at her in revulsion. “You’ve taken everything from me, my home, my heritage, my power, my name.” She sobbed. “I’ve lost everything, thanks to you, but please at least leave me my life. I beg you.”
“Pathetic,” Tina said quietly, wrinkling her nose in disgust as the horrible woman tugged on the tattered remains of Tina’s beautiful gown.
“Please,” Cora said softly as the tears ran down her cheeks. “Let me live.” She looked up at Tina, finally looking her in the eye, and sniffled. “I can be useful. I still have contacts.” A brief and eager smile flashed across her face. “I can get you anything you want, I swear it. Name it, and it’s done.”
“There’s nothing—”
“Money,” Cora interrupted, her voice breaking as she desperately pleaded for her life. “Notoriety. Power. Any government you want will bow before you. Just name it, Tina.” Cora’s chest heaved with desperation as she sat on her heels, still clinging to Tina’s dress. “Name it, please.”
For a moment, Tina simply stood over Cora, fully accepting the fact that she could show this woman mercy. True, she had killed before, and even though she didn’t take any joy in taking a life, she would kill again if it meant protecting the five kingdoms and the men she loved.
Twice now, however, Tina had witnessed her princes in this same position, and each had chosen differently. In his mercy, Draven had reunited with his father and healed a kingdom. In his justice, Antony had saved Wolfcrest from a power-mad king who was doomed to destroy them all by pitting the kingdoms against each other from the start. And here, Tina had to make a similar choice, to spare the woman who had tried to kill her so many times, who had threatened her princes, before whom entire countries trembled in fear.
“You tried to kill my princes, the men I love most in this world,” Tina said, eyes narrowing, her hands balling into fists. “I should kill you for that alone, but no, you didn’t stop there. You’ve done everything in your power to destroy me, to toy with me, to break me before you killed the goddess I’m sworn to protect.”
Tina kicked Cora’s hands away, and the woman fell to the ground, glaring up at Tina through her alligator tears, the ruse failing. “You and your horrible family have done unspeakable things to the gods, and I refuse to allow it to continue. No, your family and your power ends here, today, with you.” Tina lifted her chin like a queen as she delivered the final verdict. “Nothing you have, nothing you can do, is worth letting you live, Cora Stratford.”
With that, Tina drove her dagger into Cora’s chest, not stopping until the hilt slammed into the skin. Cora gasped in pain and shock, grabbing the blade as she gasped for air, staring blankly at Tina as she groped for the weapon. Her hands wrapped around Tina’s, and Tina forced herself to watch Cora die, to drive home the responsibility she had taken on by delivering the verdict.
Cora’s skin slowly turned to ash, the gray color spreading over her skin, radiating from the wound like a rash as it consumed the woman entirely. Cora gasped, apparently unable to speak or make any noise at all, her face distorted in silent pain as the magic ate away at her body. Bit by bit, she faded to dust, crumbling until nothing remained of her but a pile of ash on the floor.
Just like that, the battle was over, and in her relief, Tina kicked the pile of cinders that was once the most powerful enemy she had ever faced. A small plume rose from her foot, but Cora Stratford was finally gone.
Victorious, Tina could only stare at the place where Cora had been, almost unable to fully believe that the fight for her life, for her princes’ lives, was over. With Cora’s death, the war had ended, and she and her men had finally won.
43
Draven
When Cora died, the room went deadly silent. Everyone held their breath, the collective sense of shock and relief overwhelming as they stared at the pile of ash on the floor that once was Cora Stratford.
For the first time, the rumbling sound of war filtered through the windows along the tops of the walls, and a massive shadow passed overhead, blocking out the sun as it flew by. A dragon, no doubt. The blistering patter of gunfire and the shrill yells of men at each other’s throats cut through the air, distant but nonetheless chilling.
“Anthony, call off your wolves!” Draven said, pointing toward the hallway.
The great black wolf nodded but, before running off, he sauntered toward Tina and pressed his face against hers, growling softly, almost intimately as he nuzzled against her. She chuckled and ran her hands over his face, closing her eyes as she leaned against the space between his eyes, his massive head nearly as large as her torso. When she released him, he bumped his nose playfully against her shoulder and bounded down the hallway, his wolves in tow as they sped away.
“Thank the gods you’re all right.” Flynn grabbed her and kissed her deeply, and Zane nuzzled her neck, purring happily as she rubbed his face. She beamed at them all, their beautiful and victorious goddess, the One Queen.
“Tina, thank goodness.” Killian wrapped his good arm around her and held her close, leaning his head against hers and sighing with relief even though he looked like he would pass out at any moment from the blood loss.
“Amy,” Tina said, her smile falling as she looked at Killian with worry. “Where’s that demigod medic?”
However, as the war raged outside, Draven had one more task to complete before he could celebrate with them.
“I knew you could do it,” he said happily, relief oozing from him as he pulled her close and planted a deep and passionate kiss on her mouth. She laughed beneath him, stealing breaths as he ravaged her, cradling her head in his hands. “Stay here, okay?”
“Draven, what—”
Draven backed up, giving his body over to his dragon and allowing himself to finally shift, backing up to the wall seconds before his full red dragon took over. Tina gasped and backed away, Flynn holding her tightly as he led her out of the way, and the demigod gave Draven a resolute nod. This was all part of the plan, after all.
Scales glistening in the sunlight that streamed through the windows, Draven pushed hard against the wall, elbowing it and beating it with his tail until it crumbled under his brute strength. Blocks of stone tumbled down the mountain, kicking against the edge and soaring toward the ground far below. Draven perched on the edge and spread his wings, roaring into the sky in victory before taking flight.
He soared through the air, toward the tallest spire of the Wolfcrest Stronghold compound, and once he reached it, he dug his powerful claws into the stone, his bright scales gleaming in the light like a beacon. He roared into the sky again, giving the victorious scream all his might, signaling to his armies that the war had ended. One by one, his dragons began to circle him, each of them roaring in answer, the sky filled with the shrill and terrifying calls of the most powerful beasts on earth. Several flew over the mountains to warn the other armies, as they had been instructed, and soon the deafening beat of hundreds of dragons’ wings cut through the air like helicopters as they swirled above him, roaring in Tina’s victory.
Noxxom Corporation was defeated. King William was dead. Cora Stratford was dead. The five princes now ruled as kings, the five kingdoms had officially united, and he could finally just live in peace with his mate and the brotherhood he so fiercely loved. Draven’s most powerful enemies, the last ones to threaten his mate and her right to rule as the One Queen, were gone, and they could finally rebuild from the ashes.
Draven sucked in a deep breath of relief, the fires in his chest blazing with pride and triumph, and he unleashed a blast of his unbeatable fire breath into the sky.
44
Tina
Roughly two days after the siege on the Wolfcrest Stronghold, Tina lay beneath a silk tent out in the gardens of Epara, sprawled across a dozen cloud-soft pillo
ws. Her head rested on Draven’s lap, and Anthony gently massaged her feet in the blissful silence of her home. Zane tapped away at a computer, hunting down a few final defectors loyal to King William who had fled after the battle ended. Killian and Flynn, meanwhile, played a game of chess as they lay sprawled across the grass in the sun beyond the shade of the tent. For a while, no one spoke as they all just enjoyed each other’s company, happy and content, finally at peace.
“You realize we will have to get to work soon, right?” Flynn said as he took one of Killian’s pawns. “There’s a lot of bureaucratic rigmarole waiting for us in order to establish Tina’s official rule.”
“Can’t you relax for two damn seconds?” Draven adjusted against the pillows, peeking through one eye at the demigod before he shot Tina a playful wink.
“I’m just glad the borders will open,” Tina said with a smile as she set her hands behind her head, comfortable and content. “It’s exciting to think that demigods and shifters are going to invite visitors now.”
“It’ll be a whole new tourist industry.” Killian nodded, rubbing his jaw as he surveyed the chessboard in front of him. “Not to mention the sheer excitement shifters will feel visiting the other kingdoms.” He chuckled. “It’s always been forbidden, and now suddenly we’re throwing the gates wide open.”
“The world finally feels calm again,” Anthony said, breaking his silence. Tina flashed him a broad smile, as she agreed completely. It truly did. With Cora’s death, it had seemed like the world had shifted on a deep and unconscious level, massively changing for the better.
Beside her, Tina’s phone vibrated, and she unlocked it to find a text from Amy.
Wolfcrest is going to throw a parade in your honor. Guess it’s time for another trip to the strip club to celebrate?
