Chapter 78
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Tovi
Red, rain, and retribution sang in Tovi’s blood.
This was for Lou. For the werewolves Visha had killed in the fighting rings. For the vampyrs she’d hung in Drystan. And most importantly, for Eldrick.
Because there was no world, no breathing without him in it. Tovi’s mind nor heart could fathom that bleak future.
“You will cause no more pain, Visha,” Tovi said through gritted teeth, plunging her blade farther into her sister’s chest.
Visha stared, wide-eyed. Blood dripped from her mouth. She swayed—once, twice—before she slumped forward.
Dead.
“NO!” Ingrid shouted, falling to her knees and trying to crawl towards Visha’s body. She writhed in the mud. “No.”
Her spell stopped. The dark magic ceased. The lake settled. The clouds stilled, and fresh rain began to overtake the scent of anise.
“You killed her,” Ingrid sobbed. “You killed your own sister!”
Tovi panted, heart pounding in her chest. She waited for the guilt to shower over her or the for the curse to rise and feed off her sweet vengeance, but it was rightness of the blade in her hand that grounded her. The blood dripping from it. The sight of Eldrick—the man she loved—alive.
Callum’s winds, not Ingrid’s, blustered over the lake and kissed Tovi’s cheeks, engulfing her in truth—their world was better off without her sister.
Ingrid collapsed, writhing in pain and clawing at her chest. Alone and broken, the witch sobbed.
“What’s happening?” Yennifer asked amongst the gathered group.
“They were mates.” Tovi pulled out her sword, coated in Verena blood, and strode towards Ingrid. “She’ll die, too, along with her darkness and that wretched spell.”
Ingrid’s bloodshot gaze snapped up to meet Tovi’s, and pure hatred pierced through her. Eldrick joined her side, his beastly energy wafting off him in waves.
The witch laughed and cried and wheezed. Blood coated her teeth and lips, yet she kept cackling. “You and your prophesied friend have doomed this world. She’s coming, princess.”
“Your spell failed,” Tovi hissed. “We won.”
“You’re wrong. I have nothing else to live for.” Ingrid slammed her hand onto the lake.
Magic prickled in the air, and the inky water slithered up Ingrid’s arm, and the witch began to chant. She resumed the spell with twice as much force as before.
“Stop!” Tovi yelled.
She took one step, and shadows as sharp as glass burst from Ingrid.
They bled across the lake’s shore and sliced Tovi’s exposed skin.
Eldrick growled and tackled her to the ground, and they huddled together, bracing against the onslaught of Ingrid’s dark magic.
Eldrick’s arms circled around her, and Tovi buried her face against his chest.
The entire world rattled with Ingrid’s last efforts as she drained her soul. Her skin shriveled and turned silver. Ingrid became nothing but a husk and then mere dust swallowed by the rain.
Ancient tongue hissed on in the wind, and then the land stilled. Tovi peered up at Eldrick, and for a breath, they studied one another.
The water of the lake burst into the skies, and both Tovi and Eldrick scrambled to standing. With weapons drawn, they gathered alongside the others as the land trembled.
Ingrid’s ether dissipated into the lake. The ceremonial candles burst into flames, and the same gray in Tovi’s homeland blanketed the sky above Torren.
The water in the lake vanished, revealing a set of ancient weathered stairs. At the bottom, a wrought iron gate hung lose off its hinges. Three moons were etched into the stone above the entrance, and deep beyond the darkness, demons screeched and bellowed.
Their cries grew louder and louder—
“Brace!” Bétar shouted.
Madras burst from the gates and sprinted up the stairs. A whole pack of them. They hopped from stairs to rocks, launching out of the drained lake and dashing up the mountains. Arrows flew one after the other past Tovi, hitting their marks. Two madras crumbled. The rest didn’t care.
Nathracha followed, slithering up the stairs. Linx threw an explosive. Pink burst across the stage, and the rock crumbled. One nathracha survived, snaking out of sight. Three italogs emerged and took flight, disinterested in Tovi and the others. The rain clouds swallowed their inky bodies whole.
One last italog, the largest of them all, pushed through the gates and crawled up the stairs.
“Tovi,” Eldrick said, grasping her wrist and pulling her back.
For a woman—no, a Goddess—rode atop the demon’s back. Beautiful and sharp. Hawklike nose. Hair pulled into a tiny bun. Deep-blue eyes pinning Tovi in place. She clicked her tongue, and the italog shot into the skies. A sword strapped to her back glinted.
“Who was that?” Eldrick asked, voice a mere breath.
“The Blood Goddess.”
She and the others turned to find Blair, Lorkan, Kade, and Evelyn standing at the tree line. Soaked, panting.
“How are you certain?” Tovi asked, dread creeping up her spine.
“Because Lorkan and I have seen that sword before in our research,” Blair said. “It appears Ingrid’s spell worked. We were too late.”
Tovi stumbled back as if Blair’s news had hit her in the gut.
A newness clung to the Daughter of the Goddess and Son of the God, and Tovi’s mind whirled with questions, but she couldn’t form any of them with the jarring truth flushing through her.
Tovi had failed.
Her greatest fear had come true. She’d chosen her heart, not her people. Of course Visha had been wretched, but Tovi had killed her to defend Eldrick. She hadn’t thought of consequence. Hadn’t considered Ingrid retaliating.
For she had forgotten entirely what and why she was fighting in the first place. Suddenly, her breastplate grew heavy. It pressed and pressed against her chest.
Love was a poison, and she’d let it infect her.
Tovi had helped release the Blood Goddess, the very deity who’d cursed her people.