He pauses for a long second. “No…we told Nexus we controlled their mate bonds so they would worship us more.What is more sacred than a mate bond? But it is fate, the magic that governs, and no one can control or decide it. It is beyond life. We have discussed it many times, and perhaps it is easier to theorise that our mate bonds are chosen by the stars.”
My shoulders drop in relief. It was never them. “And the Vian king? The giant fuck-up you all made. Did you guide his soul here, make him whatever he is now on purpose?”
The nice smile he was giving me fades as fast as a storm on the horizon. He turns, walking away. “My siblings wish to meet you again.”
“Awesome,” I reply to his back, making him tense. He really does not like me, but that isn’t my problem. I eye his clothes, old-fashioned and all gold, as he walks me around the huge pillars and fog-covered gardens I can just about make out through the thick, dense fog. It’s not cold or hot here; I can’t feel the temperature, and it smells of nothing. It’s silent too. I think I’d end up going mad in a place like this. Of course, the other Gods are sitting on a row of thrones on top of a pool of water. Deep water. They know my fear, and they are using it. My Nexus, the actual snake, hisses loudly at them, the runes on her scales glowing white.
“Nexus?” I ask her, needing to be sure.
“I’m here,” purrs the snake from above me. “I’ve always been here. I’ve always been part of you. This is us.”
This is exactly how we were always meant to be, power returned and all. All five of the Gods watch me as their brother joins them. The one with the eagle sits on the far left, and it’s not hard to tell them apart—they all have animals. They also all look very alike—almost creepy. I know they are siblings, but it’s strange. One in the middle is bigger than them all, and he has a snake—not like mine at all, but dark brown and massive—coiling on the floor at his feet. Two others have wolves sitting at their feet. One is black, and the other is white. The last new God has abear sitting beside him, its head resting on his arm. The one with the eagle must be the mortal God. “You came to our world and yet you show nothing but contempt for life. You destroy and tear down hope in return for the prayers many give you. When was the last time one of you Gods helped a mortal?”
The Bear God leans forward. “Why help them? We owe them nothing.”
“You are their Gods!” I snap. “They pray to you when they cry, when they need help, and you do nothing!”
The God with the black wolf snorts in laughter. “Their cries are amusement for us. Why help when they would not cry anymore?”
There is no humanity left in them. I had to make sure. “Why have you called me here?”
“To stay with us, of course. Forever.” Fear locks my body down. “The Vian king—he has many names, but we will call him that for you—he is going to take over the world. There is nothing you can do. You would need the power of many Gods. You would need so much more than what you currently have to end him, and you will die trying. Or even worse, he will get hold of you, realise that he can use you to destroy cities without the twin. He will take any morality from you until you are that thing in the second vision. You are too dangerous to be left walking the earth as you are. You will stay here. We have decided and?—”
I laugh. I let my laugh echo around them, and I hope they get angry. Let them feel an inch of how angry they have made me by ruining my life over and over. They look startled first. Like I’ve done what no one has ever dared to do: interrupt them or laugh at them.
“You think I can control my Nexus? You linked us so she would have some kind of moral compass, but you were wrong. We are one person, one mind, and she is simply my darkest wish. You have invited a snake into your den, Gods, which isbasically like whispering to death itself and beckoning it inside. I am the Goddess of death.” I look at each of them one by one. “I’m not staying here. We are not staying here,” I correct. “And you, Gods, have been messing with my life for far too many years. I don’t know which one of you told my mother what was going to happen or showed her the vision. You scared her when she was pregnant, and you set my entire life in motion for one filled with misery. You set my twin sister up to die.”
All of them look at the God with the white wolf. He just shrugs. He doesn’t care. “It doesn’t matter,” I say. “Each one of you messed with my life. With my mates’ lives. I’m starting to realise that the world is probably better without Gods, don’t you think? What is the use of a God who ignores the cries of those who pray to them?”
“Who are you to threaten us?” The Bear God stands, his bear growling at me. “I gave Finnegan power through his Nexus; I made him strong and powerful for you. Each one of us has helped your mates!”
“No, you used them to spy on me and control me,” I correct them. “I realised it with Onyx. You do not have a connection to them because you want anything good for them. It is control. It is eyes on me.”
“She is wiser than she was in her past life,” the Snake God snarls.
“You may be Gods. But I am the Goddess of death, and I have decided your power is better suited somewhere else. With people who actually care.” My Nexus flies off my shoulder, transforming into a woman with long black hair, nails like spikes, and death rolling off her. She walks over the water, never sinking, and they try to run away. I watch as one by one she kills them, easily capturing their souls, draining their magic until she’s practically glowing. They fight back, but it’s nothing to her. One touch of death…and they are gone.
She transforms back into a snake, wrapping herself around me, and the power blasts into my soul. I look at the mess of dust on the pale water. “It’s time to act on our plan. We have all the power we need. Take us back home.”
“With pleasure.” She hisses before she slams us back into my body. The dagger slips out of my chest and onto the ground as I gasp, shaking on the sand.
“There she is!” Rhodes shouts, and I hear my mates running for me, right before Onyx picks me up, touching my face. I focus on breathing for a minute, not from death, but the pain of the power in my veins. “Why the fuck are you glowing?”
“Gwen, what—what happened to your hair, and who is the snake?” Finn leans down, and all my mates wait for my answer.
I touch the white hair and focus on shifting back. The magic humming through my body rolls off my skin, turning me back to normal. I’m still glowing though. “The Gods are dead.” I hold up a hand. “Don’t move, because I have a gift from them.”
My mates agree one by one. I let the magic of the Gods flow like a wire out of my hands in five streams of pure starlight magic. I send the magic into my mates, magic from the Bear God to Finnegan. Magic from the wolf twins into Hollis and Rhodes. The Snake God’s magic goes into Alek, and the Mortal God’s magic goes to Onyx. I don’t send anything to Severi, because he has enough power on his own. His magic is too strong. He does not need it. Severi simply watches everything unfold as my mates gasp and fall to their knees. Onyx does not let me go as he breathes through the magic.
“What did you just do?” Severi purrs at me.
“Severi is already practically a God, just as I am. Now all my mates are Gods, and we are immortal.” I look around at them. All of us on the ground of Starlight City. “It’s time to fix everything we can, don’t you think? We can have that dream. We have to fight for it.”
“And we will.” Severi kneels for me and kisses my head. “For the Nexus and Vian. For our future.”
For once, no one disagrees with Severi. The Vian king has no idea what is coming for him.
Chapter 13