Chapter 106
Ivy
For a moment, I felt relief. But it was quickly overshadowed by the pulsing power in my hands. Nyx’s skull burned with a violet light, reminding me too much of my magic. The hollow eye sockets went from an eerie black to something else, like it’d been lit from within.
My hands trembled, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from it. On the breeze, I heard a whisper. Choose, it said, sounding like Nyx herself.
Choose what? I asked, the power flickering inside me, matching the flickering of the skull.
Your destiny.
What choice was there to make? I had to be Queen—that was what Nyx made certain of.
And the creatures of Nyx…they would want that.
Especially after everything Dante had done, wouldn’t they need me to take my place as Queen?
Like Pandora and all the women who came after her, wasn’t it my turn to do what they’d done and rule?
But it wasn’t what I wanted. It was the last thing I wanted.
I didn’t want my babies growing up like Adrian, feeling like they didn’t matter. I didn’t want to place this kind of burden on them. And I didn’t want to bring my baby sisters back into a world where there would always be a threat against me. I couldn’t do that to them again.
Being Queen was the one thing I didn’t want, but I would do it if it meant what was best for everyone. But I knew the creatures didn’t need a Queen unwilling to rule them, who did it because she had to.
They didn’t need me.
What would happen? I asked silently, closing my eyes.
On the breeze, I felt a comforting warmth. The power will always be yours, until another is born to take it, Nyx said quietly. But the time of Queens could be over. If you think the world doesn’t need you.
I shuddered, feeling tears slide down my cheeks as I lifted my face to the sky. And if I think they don’t?
Then we will see how strong our creatures truly are, she replied. Perhaps the era of my Queens must come to an end, as it was always meant to. But not for all.
My skin prickled as power swelled, lifting my hair. What does that mean? The skull in my hands started to chill, though I kept hold of the bone. Nyx? What are you doing?
The world I first built needs a Prima, she replied. So summon one.
Tears continued to fall from my eyes as I searched the magic for my connection to the Old World. The creatures known as Primals, born from what was left of Nyx’s power, who fought tirelessly for their homes, were exhausted. They were losing their will to fight the terrifying creatures hunting them.
I remembered Xerxes’s story about the Prima. How they needed one for their world, how they thought birth rates had dropped because another had not made herself known.
There was only one female pregnant with a little girl. One who could hold the title of Prima for Xerxes’s people.
So, I touched the unborn child with the magic she needed. Guilt washed through me, pain burning deep in my chest as I passed on something I no longer wanted to hold onto another who had no choice.
She will know what to do, Nyx whispered, as her world is different to our own. And the Primals have different needs. They need hope.
I released a breath of understanding. As I pulled back, the air shifted, wind picking up my hair. The Underworld will need a new Elysian monarch, Nyx added, a ruler to take the throne Rhadamanthus has given up.
My sweet Elysian King, who no longer wanted his crown.
Silently, I reached for him, felt his ancient, deadly power meet mine like old friends, and with it, his soul burned to life on my hand.
Both greeted me with the knowledge that it was time to move on.
To find another worthy of it. And so, I pulled the power from Damon and set it free to seek a new ruler, a demon worthy of it, and his soul I released to him with a promise of forever.
The Fae, I said quietly, looking upon their war-stricken realm. What about them?
What do you wish to do? Nyx asked, curious.
They knew what they wanted. They always knew what they wanted.
They wanted their own Queen. Their own world back. The Fae were never supposed to exist amongst us forever as creatures of Nyx.
Give them their High Queen back, I said. Return to them their own ruler.
Then let it be, Nyx whispered, pulling me into the realms of Fae.
With magic I knew would no longer be mine, I rebuilt their ancient palace.
I gave back the original power Queen Titania had bestowed upon Pandora, passing it onto the island and giving the land—ancient and powerful—the right to find their rightful Queen once more.
And then I cut myself from Faery once and for all, leaving only a thread of power between us should their new Queen ever need me.
And what will you do, Daughter? Nyx asked as we returned to the palace. What will your destiny hold?
My stomach turned as I considered what I would want for the first time in months. Not what would be expected of me. What I wanted for myself—for my mates.
I thought about the beautiful house on the secluded island where I could safely raise my little sisters and the twins, where I could live the quiet, comfortable life I always wanted growing up.
I never wanted the pressure or expectations that came with ruling.
The thought of it made me nauseous. I’d always pushed it down because I thought accepting my fate was the right thing to do.
If I had the power to do it, then I should use it to do good.
But I considered the creatures who would be left with the aftermath of the destruction. Who had already been hurt by Dante, exploited and forever changed. I thought about how they needed something stable—and I wasn’t that ruler.
You are a catalyst for change, Sable had told me in my dreams. And she’d warned me I would be forced to make a choice. To choose my path.
At every step of the way, I’d had choices stolen from me. Decided by higher powers. Choices that should have been mine were ripped from my hands before I even knew what I was holding on to in the name of fate and destiny.
I didn’t want to be that higher power for anyone else.
The power must be mine though, doesn’t it? I asked Nyx, prying my eyes open. The world around me was still while I lowered my face from the sky, finding the Goddess standing where Dante once did.
“Yes,” she said, the cowl slipping down her head to reveal her youthful face. “A Daughter of Nyx must hold my power.”
“But not a Queen?”
Something like hope flickered in her silver eyes as she shook her head.
“Not anymore.” Her gaze dropped to the skull in my hands, pain crossing her features.
Her last connection to our world. “The women who came before you did their jobs beautifully,” she murmured, meeting my stare. “And you are doing yours just as well.”
I blinked hard, though the tears didn’t stop falling. “I think it’s time for a new era.” I glanced down at Dante, pain constricting in my chest. “Not the world he foresaw, but something else. Something the creatures of Nyx can find pride in. Something that is theirs to claim.”
“And what do you wish to happen, Daughter?” Nyx didn’t move as I turned towards the battle frozen behind me, and my mates—my amazing, loving mates—were around me, surrounding the barrier around Nyx, Dante, and me.
I took them all in, a lump forming in my throat. “You know, back home in my world, we don’t really have use for monarchies anymore,” I murmured, shivering as the Goddess joined me in observing the battle. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t corruption or war or useless deaths.”
Nyx hummed under her breath. “There are opportunities for more creatures like Dante to infiltrate our systems if you step down.”
“I know,” I replied honestly. “But it didn’t stop him from trying regardless. He still saw a weakness and he exploited it.”
“As do all like him,” she said, looking down at the rotting male behind us. “That does not answer my question.”
“Would I be selfish if I said I wanted to step down as Queen and give them the power to rule themselves?” I asked, staring at the agents—the other creatures—who came to fight with us against Dante’s forces.
Who were putting themselves at risk by helping my mates.
The Wrath demons brought to Avalon by the Elysian demons.
Creatures from the city who sought out the battle. Agents who stayed, returning to fight.
Nyx stepped forward, her face a careful mask of calm as she observed her creatures. I couldn’t help but watch her as she took them in; from those wounded and still rising to keep fighting, to those who knew they couldn’t win and yet risked their lives anyway.
Something softened in her expression as she cocked her head.
“Perhaps,” she replied finally. “But it would be no different to what I had to do, I think.” As she turned back to me, the mask slipped, and her true form revealed itself.
The half skeletal side of her face lit up with the same markings as the skull, though rather than the violet that mimicked my magic, it was silver.
“My power created Pandora to forge balance. At the time, the world needed a Queen. There was no unity between my creatures. There was no real peace. But the world is different. You are different. And it is time we reflect that.”
Nyx waved her hand, and the scene shifted from the frozen image we’d observed to the rush of battle once more.
The sound of gunshots rang through the air, the rumble of earth shifting beneath our feet.
I felt the air whip around me from the Aither Fae and Wrath demons flying above us, the force of their wings slapping my cheek.
The noise of battle echoed in my ears, drowning out the thundering beat of my heart.
But one by one, the creatures around us noticed the being standing beside me and they paused, staring in awe at the Goddess Nyx.
Her magic rushed through the courtyard, lifting the hair of my arms and trickling not only over my body, but over the fight.
Guns suddenly went quiet, and those in the air dropped to the uneven ground.
“My children,” Nyx said, raising her hands.
“I have failed you. I allowed for a corruption that never should have seen the light of day. I tried and I failed to squash it, and for that, you have paid with your lives—your fates.” Those final words were spoken to me as she turned to face me. “And my Daughter has paid dearly.”
On the ground behind us, Dante writhed, making a pained sound. But not even his army paid attention to him. They were glued to the Goddess and her words, not the male they once chose as their King.
Several creatures dropped to their knees. Others stumbled, as if finally awakening from a sleep they had no idea they’d been in.
“We are at a turning point, and it is time for change,” she continued, tearing her silver eyes from me to stare out over the crowd of gathering creatures.
I felt the presence of my mates as they stumbled towards me, but they never breached the small barrier that cut us off from them, that kept me and Nyx separate.
Nyx brought her hands above her head, looking up to the sky as it cleared, and the moon no longer in full lunar eclipse.
“We are at a crossroads that requires great sacrifice.” Her face lifted, moonlight glinting off the exposed bone in her face.
“And our world requires change. Our Queen must choose her fate. And you must decide your own.”