Chapter 2 #2
“I was trying to give you an easy way out,” I said, my voice dropping low. “But you chose the hard way. So be it.”
Attack! Sy commanded.
I hurled a wave of dark flame at the demons as they lunged. It washed over them harmlessly, and they laughed, a grating, fiery sound. Luckily, I’d already ducked on instinct, their claws swiping the air where my head had been.
Shit. Of course they were fire demons. This was their turf. My flames wouldn’t even singe them.
Better to let Sy handle them, but those three seconds of vulnerability during a full shift were too risky.
Don’t worry. I’ve been practicing, Sy cut in.
She pushed through in a half-shift, something we’d never tried before. I felt my face morph, jaw hardening, fangs pressing past my gums. I glanced down: my limbs had lengthened, hands now ending in razor-sharp claws.
The demons halted mid-step, staring.
“You’re even uglier than before,” the demoness spat. “What kind of freak are you?”
“You’re one to talk,” I replied, my voice a layered echo of both me and Sy.
“You’re an abomination!” the demon barked.
“Would you prefer to be beheaded or disemboweled, amigo?” Sy asked, her tone sickly sweet.
“What the fuck?” the demon snarled, crimson eyes blazing with hellfire.
They charged again, boxing us in, one from the front, the other from the side.
I twisted away, their claws grazing empty air. My own claws extended as I summoned Deathsong. A low, eerie giggle echoed before the evil blade materialized from the mist and snapped into my palm.
Mistress! Deathsong chimed. I’m thrilled you called! I’ve never been to Hell before. Heard it’s…different. So exciting! If I had hands, I’d be rubbing them together.
I’d given Deathsong to my friend Rock. A nice person wouldn’t ask for a gift back, but this was an emergency.
We’re not that kind of nice, Sy cut in. We’ll decide later if we’re giving the blade away again. Rock will understand. If not, we’ll kick him in the nuts.
“Where did you get that blade?” the demoness demanded, eyes widening. “It’s rare!”
I’m glad you recognize quality, unholy creatures, Deathsong purred, breaching their mental shields.
Both demons blinked at the evil blade’s voice in their heads.
I seized the opening before they shook off their shock, moving with supernatural speed. In one fluid motion, I drove Deathsong up through the demon’s chest just as his claws swept toward my neck. Black blood gushed, splattering the volcanic rock.
Sy jumped in triumph inside my mind.
I yanked the blade free and pivoted left, but I’d underestimated the demoness. She was faster than her partner. Her talons raked my shoulder before I could bring Deathsong around in a sweeping arc.
I leapt high, the blade following in a flash, and her head tumbled from her shoulders. Her massive body staggered two more steps before collapsing.
That was fast, Sy remarked. You should’ve led with that. Would’ve saved us the sweat.
“I was trying to save lives,” I said, breath tight. “Even if they were demons.”
Kick the head, she urged.
I indulged her, planting my foot against the demoness’s severed head. It rolled down the slope, leaving a slick, dark trail behind.
“Let’s get going,” I said, opening my palm to dismiss Deathsong.
Mistress, let me stay, the evil blade pleaded. It’s my first time in Hell. I want to look around—maybe write a travel journal later.
You want to join me for a lava bath? I asked.
It paused. No. I appreciate the offer, but…
That’s what I thought, I said, and let it fade back into the mist.
I trudged toward the crater’s edge. The heat hit in waves, each fiercer than the last. Every breath felt like swallowing fire.
Below, a lake of magma churned with raw malevolence. The surface broke in places, revealing glimpses of something burning even deeper—the heart of the volcano, where the pull of the heavenly artifact hammered in my chest.
Heaven’s Arrow was hidden at the bottom.
Was I really going to do this?
My feet froze at the edge, overwhelmed by the blistering heat and the roar of the lava. Every muscle locked. This wasn’t like our usual fights, where we could punch our way out. This was a mission of self-annihilation, or close to it. The pain would be unimaginable.
And once I jumped, there was no going back.
And Sy and I would never be the same.
But I had to do this.
My hands trembled as heat engulfed me and chills snaked up my spine.
I swallowed, my thoughts settling on Killian—on the way his storm-blue eyes held mine when he claimed me before everyone. He’d always been so angry, so brutal…until me. For me, he’d thrown away his engagement, his father’s plans, everything. If I didn’t make it back to him…
You’ll return to him, Sy cut in, and I’ll get back to my sugar. We’re not dying in a lava pit.
Tears welled, then vaporized before they could fall. I wanted to return to him more than anything.
I thought of the other heirs, too. Arrogant, merciless, yet every one of them had stood between me and harm without hesitation.
Cade, with his disarming smile masking a blood curse.
Rowan, the bastard fae prince who’d awakened something new in Sy.
Silas, who’d bent over backward for me in the end.
And Louis, still craving my blood, yet willing to walk through fire to keep me safe.
And Bea waiting on that train.
They’d all come through for me. Now it was my turn.
For them, I’d burn again and again.
My legs stopped shaking.
Now, before it blows again, Sy urged, her voice steady despite the fear we shared. I’m with you. Two peas in a pod!
I sucked in one last breath of air that tasted like sulfur and death.
Two peas in a pod!
And I jumped.
The air boiled around me instantly, even with my dark flame shielding my skin. Agony seared through every cell, but I forced myself to dive deeper, shutting down every survival instinct, drowning out Sy’s silent scream.
She tried to pull the pain into herself, but she could no longer bear it as she curled helplessly inside me.
I couldn’t tell whether I was still falling into the inferno’s abyss or if the molten river was dragging me down. All I knew was I was swimming toward liquid sun.
Pain rose beyond comprehension, scorching away my consciousness.
My body disintegrated, flesh to ash, bones to dust. I tried to scream as every fiber vibrated with unholy agony, but I had no throat left. Not anymore.
Sy tried to scream too, but she was no longer inside me. Even without flesh, our pain was shared, doubled, feeding back on itself in an endless loop of torment.
We couldn’t escape. Not even into merciful death.
My essence alone sustained us. I wrapped all I had around Sy, now a single drop of blue liquid, shielding her with the last ounce of my goddess power. I wouldn’t let her dissolve in this inferno.
Doubts and regrets sliced through my scorched consciousness. Had I made another terrible mistake, risking Sy like this?
But we had no choice.
The final showdown against my father was inevitable, rushing toward us faster than lightning. I had to do this to save Sy. To save them all.
I roared without sound. My goddess power erupted as Sy’s primal magic surged into me, fueling what was left of us. We reformed even as we burned—caught in a brutal cycle of destruction and rebirth. Still, we pushed further, wading through molten rock that should have been impossible to navigate.
And there, at the bottom of the magma chamber, lay the obsidian arrow.
The oracle had called it golden, but she must have glimpsed it through layers of liquid fire in her vision. Now I saw its truth.
The arrow was breathtaking in the way only deadly things can be. Forged from the heart of a star, it thrummed with a power that made my teeth ache. Radiant runes glowed along the arrowhead in an ancient angelic language, and its fletching was woven from frozen flames.
My newly formed hand reached out, closing around the icy shaft. A shock of cold shot through me. The moment I gripped it, my body remade itself fully. Lava sheeted off my torso, no longer burning.
Daughter of Void, the celestial arrow chimed in my mind, its voice like a choir of angels clashing blades. You dare touch Heaven’s light with your unholy hands?
“Bite me,” I shot back. “Who gets to decide who’s worthy? It’s all just perspective, isn’t it?”
I tightened my grip, dark flame swirling around my hands as it met the holy power trying to burn through my darkness.
“Back off,” I growled. “My darkness belongs to me. I don’t need your self-righteous judgment.”
You seek to sever what was forged in the first fire. Do this, and you will always feel incomplete.
“I’ll lose more than that,” I said, my heart hollowing. “I’ll lose everything. But you have a purpose, too. I know you’ve been waiting for me.”
To pierce your heart, it replied, cold and certain.
Fuck off! Sy snarled at the arrow.
“You’ll know what to do when you find the Heavenly Arrow,” the oracle’s words echoed in my memory.
The arrow isn’t lying, I told Sy. It’s time we separate, and the only way to get it done is to drive this thing through my heart. Through our hearts.
Sy sucked in a sharp breath. After meeting the love of her life, she’d craved her own identity more than anything, but she didn’t want to leave me, either.
You won’t leave me, Sy, I lied. We’ll always be together. Just…in a different pod.
She nodded and clung to me, a silent storm of love and fear.
“I love you, Sy. Forever,” I whispered.
And I love you to the sun and back, Barbie.
This was the end of Sy and me sharing one body, one soul. But nothing stays the same forever.
The oracle had warned of the soul-tearing pain this would bring, worse than burning in the heart of a star. I’d told myself I was ready, but deep in my bones, I knew I never would be.
“See you on the other side, Sy,” I said.
Tears pricked behind my eyelids, but my hands were steady as I swung the arrow and drove it straight into the depths of my heart.