I almost bled out on the floor of Caleb’s church bringing my baby into the world. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. There was no reality in which this monster was going to take my place. This wasn’t real. Eden was safe and sound.
This scenario was a distraction, nothing more.
“A stor!” Caleb’s voice broke through the haze of whatever trance my mother had me in.
“Come back, Sunshine. We need you. Eden needs you.”
The misty in-between place swam in and out of focus. I gave my mother a feral grin. “Nice try. You almost had me.”
She dropped her act instantly. “Oh well, can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Reaching for the hilt of the saber, I laughed. “Sure I can.”
Instant heat and humidity coated my skin as I returned to my body, the tropical air grounding me along with touches from my mates. My mother slowly advanced toward us, her armor already in place as she stepped on the bodies of the fallen, demons and humans alike.
“Go, Sunny. This is what we trained for.” Alek was at my ear, his presence a steady comfort amidst the chaos.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Noah added.
With a curt nod, I gripped the weapon tighter in my hand and summoned my own armor.
Then I took off at a dead run.
My mom continued her lazy stroll, but I practically parkoured my way across the death-strewn battleground. As promised, my men kept pace with me, mowing down the monsters who mistakenly thought to stop me. Meanwhile, she was laughing. The cunt was laughing at me, and she didn’t stop when I reached her.
“Oh, Sunday. We’ve done this before. You failed then, you’ll fail now, so why even try?”
I held up my blade and flashed her a wicked grin. “But it’s so fun to stab you, Mother.”
“You don’t even have Michael’s sword this time. What do you think that’s going to do? Just join us and share your power. You don’t have to die.”
“No . . . but you do.”
Without giving her a chance to prepare or counter the move, I thrust my sword forward. It slid through her armor like butter, and her eyes went comically wide.
“B-but . . . how?”
The shock on her face told me I’d hit my mark. She’d underestimated me and my weapon so drastically that she hadn’t made a single move to defend herself. Her hubris was the only reason this worked. It would likely be the same for the others. The heirs needed to act fast before the rest of the horsewomen caught on, or we’d be dead in the water and all of this would be for nothing. But I couldn’t worry about them right now. I needed to see this through.
“You were right about one thing, Mother. I don’t have Michael’s sword. I have something better. Something sure to finish the job this time.”
Twisting the hilt of the blade, I shoved it as deep as it would go and released my hold on the weapon. Blood poured from my mother’s mouth as she grabbed for the saber, but she didn’t have the strength to pull it free of her body. With a raspy gurgle, she fell to her knees, then crumpled to the ground, dark blood pooling around her.
“You did it, Sunny,” Alek said, coming up behind me.
“We thought the same thing last time. I’ll believe it’s over when the rest of them are gone.”
Caleb pointed to Rosie and her men, facing off with Pestilence on the other side of the beach. “Looks like we won’t have to wait long.”
Chapter
Forty
ROSIE
“What’s wrong with them?” I cried, looking from Asher to Pan, both of whom stood still as statues, eyes milky and unseeing.
“Th-they’re in a t-trance,” Ben said, waving his hand in front of Pan’s face.