Destruction’s Desire (Broken Souls Trilogy #2)

Chapter 42

Rule forty-two: Do not let matters of your life or death fall to a group vote.

M organa does not take the news well about Hades being real. But then again, I guess learning that you’re not the strongest creatures in the realms might make immortals a little uncomfortable.

She frowns at us, spinning her dagger as if considering where to impale it. “You’re telling me that souls are meant to go to the Underworld Realm? Just like in the silly stories mortals tell?”

Sin nods. “That’s what he said.”

Morgana narrows her eyes at him. “And why would we believe the man in the wall?”

I take offense to that. “Hey, he was good enough for you to send us through dangerous territory to gain information. But now you don’t believe him? ”

Morgana huffs, “I thought he’d give us real information, not spin fairytales.”

Sin’s thumb rubs gentle circles against the small of my back as he answers, “He’s not bluffing, Morgana. He took away my power for hours.”

Morgana blanches. “But if he’s telling the truth, then…” She shudders. “I figured the Fates have always eaten souls. That it was just what they do.” She takes another breath before continuing, “It’s just another reason to stop the Council. Was he able to give you any information about your powers?” she asks me.

Sin and I explain my Reaper powers and how I was immune to the Underworld spells.

Arianna is thrilled with the news. “This is so exciting! You’re a dark creature! Just like me!” She rushes over to pull me up off Sin’s lap. “I always knew we weren’t meant to be light creatures. The Guardians made sure of that when we were offered to the dark side of the moon.” She’s beaming, clearly excited to have something else in common.

Smiling at her apologetically, I burst her bubble. “That’s not all, Ari. You weren’t here when we discovered it, but Need imbued me with Creator energy.”

Arianna lets go of my hands, stepping back in shock. “Wait, what? Why in the Fates would she do that?”

I give a slight shrug. “We can’t be certain, but I’m guessing it’s to keep me collared and under her control.”

Magnus interrupts, “I knew your energy tasted different. This makes sense. There are so many energies inside you, it’s not leaving a clear signature.” He looks pleased to know his own powers were not the issue.

Just me. I’m the mess.

At least energetically.

Physically, mentally, and spiritually, I’m probably a mess, too.

Arianna frowns at me, looking confused. “How is it possible that you’re a Creator, Keeper and Reaper all at once? Those are very conflicting energies.”

I walk over to sit on the arm of the neighboring couch, tired of giving my back to half the room. “It isn’t,” I answer honestly. “The Creator and Keeper power cannot fully exist in me at the same time. One has to give out to the other.”

Morgana is directly across from me, and I see her figure it out before I continue, “Hades said that the only way to let the Creator power fully take root is for the Keeper bond to break. And the only way to break the Keeper bond is death.”

Arianna doesn’t let me continue. “That’s ridiculous. You’re not going to die, Vivi,” she says in a harder tone than I’ve heard from her before. Pools of darkness start to leak from her hands.

“Hades believes that ending my mortal life will likely allow the Creator energy to fully take hold and make me immortal,” I finish.

Sin and Arianna start yelling at once, and Rosie flies over to me, her wings twitching anxiously as she tries to reason with me. Magnus watches on curiously, but I keep my gaze centered on Morgana .

I know who holds the most power here, and she’s the ally I need if I have any chance of convincing one of them to kill me.

Morgana watches me curiously but doesn’t seem opposed to the idea. I press my case, “Leon almost got us back in the Underworld Realm. As long as I’m bonded to him, I’m at risk of betraying you all and going over to the Council. If you want me to fight for the right side of the war, then I need to get rid of the bond. Otherwise, your precious chosen one prophecy crap will be useless.”

Sin doesn’t like the sound of that, and he turns to Morgana. “There is no guarantee this will work. The easiest way to break the bond is for me to kill Leon. He’s still collared, and it would be easy for me to take him out.”

Morgana frowns at him. “Sin, you already know why we aren’t taking that path.”

Sin rakes his hands through his hair, agitation mounting. “Absolutely not. This isn’t happening. Killing her is unacceptable.” His tattoos flare, and he turns to me. “You are NOT dying. It’s too great of a risk to take.”

Looking around, I see that Rosie and Arianna look equally upset. Rosie is crying, and Arianna has created a puddle of darkness beneath her.

I swallow back the tears, threatening to break free. I never thought I would be so lucky to have so many people who cared about me. For so long, I thought I didn’t deserve happiness. That my past made me unworthy of ever finding love or friendship. And yet here I am, in a room full of people who are ready to go to war if it means not risking my life.

And that’s precisely why I need to do this.

I need to die.

I am far too much of a risk while bonded to Leon. I know full well how close I was to going to him back in the Underworld Realm. Once back in the grips of the Council, who knows what they would do to me to extract information about my friends? I’m a liability, and I refuse to put them at risk.

I turn to Sin, giving him a small smile. He shakes his head, and the glimpse of fear I saw in him earlier is back. “No. I’m not losing you.”

“It’s not your choice, Sin. It’s mine,” I say softly.

The rest of the room fades away. No one else matters.

Sin shakes his head again, taking a step towards me. “Not this choice. You don’t get to make this one.” His voice is hoarse, and his hands are shaking. Whether from rage or fear, I’m not sure.

“If you take this choice from me, you’re no better than they are,” I whisper back, feeling a tear fall.

Sin looks devastated by my words and stands in front of me. His hands cup my cheeks, and I can see the moisture in his own eyes. His gaze searches mine for a moment before he finally speaks, “You can’t ask this of me, kitten. I can’t do it. I can’t kill you.” His voice breaks in the last sentence.

My hand comes to his cheek in return, another tear spilling free. “I know, Sin. I’m not asking you to kill me. ”

“I’ll do it,” Morgana finally weighs in on my decision, her words pulling Sin and me out of our embrace.

I turn to her and find her staring at me with a solemn expression.

“I’ll kill you, Vivian,” she finishes, standing from her desk and walking towards me.