Chapter Forty-Five
Tem pushed anyone in her way aside. When she reached Rowe, she stopped.
He watched her hungrily, his eyes roaming over her body.
She thought of the tournament, of the way he’d felt inside her.
She was drawn to his cock even now. It was a thing of terrible power, and Tem stared at it as he stepped closer.
“I am surprised at you, Temperance.”
So they were doing small talk. Great.
“Why?”
“You are without your husband.”
It reminded her of what Apollo had once said: You are without your chaperone. Tem no longer needed a chaperone. Tem only needed herself.
“He’s on his way.”
“Is he? And what condition will he be in when he arrives?”
Tem pictured the wound on Caspen’s neck, how it reopened when Rowe siphoned from him. “You tell me.”
Rowe laughed. “There is much to take from him, Temperance. I have barely begun.”
Tem knew he wasn’t just referring to Caspen’s power. He wanted to take Tem too. “You’ll never have me,” she said.
“And why is that?”
“Because you do not deserve me.”
Rowe laughed again. “We do not live in a world where we get what we deserve. When you want something, you must take it.”
“And what do you want?”
They circled each other as if they were two children in a schoolyard about to fight. And were they not? Tem had a score to settle. And the time to do it was now.
“I want what is best for my people.”
Tem cast her gaze around the cavern, where basilisks were brawling and bleeding. “Is this what’s best for your people?”
“This is necessary.”
Tem shook her head. “No. It’s not.”
“This is war, Temperance. It will be worth it in the end.”
“Even if it means hurting your own kind?”
“It is not the first time I have hurt my own kind.”
Tem frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I gave a warning, and you did not heed it.”
She stared at him, trying to understand. What warning had Rowe given? Then she understood. “You were responsible for the weasel?”
An evil smile split Rowe’s face. “Surely, you did not believe that some idiot human girl could have thought of it.”
Tem had thought that the weasel attack was orchestrated by Vera—but it was far too clever of a plot for her. She may be cruel, but she never could have thought of something so deadly. Gabriel had overheard her saying she was “taking orders.” Orders from Rowe.
“You can’t just use people like that.”
“I can. And when I am done using them, I can dispose of them.”
Tem felt a sudden strike of fear for Vera.
“But you knew what the weasel would do. How—how could you—how could you do that to your own people?”
Rowe shook his head. “I am a Seneca, Temperance. The Drakons are not my people.”
“But there were Senecas under the mountain too. Senecas who died.”
“They chose their side long ago. They remained after you wed Caspenon. They are traitors.”
“They were innocent,” Tem cried.
“And what do you know of such matters? You do not know what it means to sacrifice, to make choices for the greater good.”
“I know I would never betray my own kind.”
“You have no kind,” Rowe sneered. “You are half-human. A blunt. You do not understand what it means to be a basilisk. You never will.”
Tem hated how much his words hurt her. It was exactly what she’d said to herself her entire life—the type of jab that nothing could truly heal because it was true.
“You are a waste, Temperance,” Rowe continued, his voice low as he drew ever nearer. “Think of what you could have been. Think of what we could have done together.” He swung his arms wide. “We could have been unstoppable.”
Tem shook her head. She would never be like Rowe. She hated people like Rowe. She would never do what he had done—would never choose bloodshed over peace. Men like Rowe allowed injustice to occur as long as they could benefit from it. Men like Rowe were evil.
Tem was nearly blind with rage. Nothing existed within her but anger—pure fury threatening to split her apart at the seams. Her entire body vibrated with power; she’d never felt this whole before, as if all the facets of herself were drawing into a single, sharp pinnacle. It was electrifying.
Rowe’s eyes locked on hers. “So how does this end, Temperance? What are you going to do?”
They were nearly upon each other now.
“I’m going to stop you.”
“Stop me from doing what? From creating a better world—one where power is taken instead of given? A world with one quiver, the superior quiver?”
Tem shook her head. Mass death was not the solution. Wiping out one quiver was not going to solve any problems, only delay them. Tem couldn’t predict the future, could not know what the world would be like tomorrow morning. But it would be a world without Rowe.
Without further ado, she lunged.
By the time she reached him, Tem had transitioned.
It came easily to her now; there was no more barrier, no obstruction.
Now it was as simple as taking a breath of air.
Rowe transitioned too, gold spreading from his cock to sheath the rest of his body in gleaming metal scales.
Tem barely managed to dodge his gaping mouth as he surged at her with terrifying swiftness.
She had very little experience in her true form, and Rowe had had centuries.
But Tem was also a Hybreed. And she was not so easily deterred.
Tem lunged at him again, this time from the side. She threw her mouth open, scraping her fangs along his golden scales. Immediately, her skull rattled. The metal was hard and fortified with magic. She could not penetrate it.
Now, now, Temperance. You did not think it would be so easy, did you?
Tem ignored him.
You cannot hurt me, foolish girl. I am beyond pain.
Rowe was right. Nothing could hurt him. Power emanated off him in waves, destroying everything in his path.
Whenever another basilisk happened to come into his orbit, he tore their head from their shoulders so quickly Tem almost didn’t notice until they fell, headless, to the ground.
He was possessed with deadly power—he was an anomaly.
Tem threw herself against him with renewed vigor, doing everything she could to catch him off guard.
But Tem was not used to this form—she was not used to being this size or this shape.
And then he had her.
Rowe pulled her down onto the sand, wrapping his body around hers, crushing her with his horrible weight. Too late, Tem realized she was trapped. Rowe’s head was an inch from hers, his fangs fully bared. Saliva dripped from his open mouth as he berated her with his mind.
How dare you challenge me? I will kill you. And then I will kill Caspenon. And then I will kill everyone you have ever loved, including your little prince.
He’s a king.
Rowe laughed, deep and careless. He is nothing, and so are you.
His grip tightened. Tem strained against it, doing everything in her power to escape the crushing weight of his heavy gold body. Suddenly, another voice entered her mind:
I am near you, Tem. You must get away.
Caspen, I can’t. She was trapped beneath Rowe, their bodies writhing in the sand.
Run, Tem. NOW.
I can’t!
You must. I cannot resist for long.
You said there was another way.
I said you must run.
I CAN’T.
But she had to. If she didn’t move—if she did not manage to kill Rowe—there would be two powerful basilisks that wanted her dead.
Apollo, she cried, where are you?
I am with Caspenon. But I cannot hold him much longer, Temperance.
He sounded out of breath, as if he were under great physical strain. Tem could only imagine what it must be like to try to subdue a basilisk like Caspen, how difficult it would be to fight against the curse that fueled him.
Rowe’s grip was tightening. She knew he was siphoning from Caspen, becoming ever stronger. But no matter how much he siphoned, Caspen still had an extraordinary well of power within him: not just his own but his father’s.
Temperance. We are almost there. We are—
One minute Tem was on the ground, pinned beneath Rowe, and the next she was free.
Tem recognized Caspen’s obsidian-black scales as he threw Rowe off her, hurling his enormous body against the wall of the cavern.
Tem half expected Caspen to go after Rowe and finish him.
Instead, he turned to Tem. Before he could advance, Apollo appeared between them.
Tem lurched backward as brother fought brother, each of them barely gaining ground before losing it again.
Tem looked wildly around for Rowe, who was already coming back for her.
You cannot avoid me, Temperance. No matter how many bodyguards you have.
Tem didn’t bother informing him that Caspen was hardly her bodyguard right now.
It is only a matter of time before you give in. Just give in, Temperance.
Tem would not give in. Tem would fight.
Despite her body screaming in protest, she lunged at him again, and a moment later, they were fighting once more.
Every time Tem managed to evade Rowe, Caspen was upon her a moment later.
There was no reprieve from the attacks, no moment to rest. Whenever Caspen got too close, Apollo came between them.
He threw himself at his brother again and again, taking blow after blow.
Eventually, it was killing all four of them.
Such violence was unsustainable; someone had to end this.
They were not the only ones suffering. Tem saw glimpses of the battle around them. There was Cypress, fighting two basilisks at once. There was Adelaide, trapped in a headlock. At the sight of her, Tem remembered something she had said long ago:
If the legends are true, it means you can channel Kora.
It had seemed impossible at the time. Laughable, even. But all the other legends were true, were they not? Perhaps this one was too. The next time she had an opening, Tem hurled herself in the direction of the lake. She dove into the water, knowing the other three would soon follow.
Temperance? What are you—?