Chapter 27
AMRI
T he fighting was already tapering off, but the second Malik growled his command, the room stopped as if frozen. I watch my mate as he snarls at his goddess, but my attention keeps snagging on that fucking gold leash still gripped in Leonora’s hand, the other end wrapped around Malik’s arm.
Fuck no. Never again.
I’m about to charge over there and gnaw Leonora’s arm off again, but then Bodi and Rian start glowing, almost as bright as Malik, and the gold links of the chain dissolve.
With one hand on Malik’s back, Bodi rests his other on Malik’s arm, and Rian does the same.
Slowly, like smoke drifting into the air, golden magic spools from Leonora, floating and connecting with each Leo.
There are moans from the unconscious shifters as they come back to themselves.
There are tears in the eyes of others, awed gasps …
even a few of the hunters reluctantly look appreciative as the rush of magic leaving Leonora grows brighter and moves faster, returning to its original owners.
The goddess pales, and every eye in the room watches the brothers as Leonora lifts her arms. My beast growls in my head, sure the goddess is about to do something else horrible, but she just wraps her hands around Malik’s and tries to wrench his grip off her neck.
He squeezes tighter, indenting the skin of her throat. “Not until every Leo has all of their magic back.”
Her nails leave bloody tracks on the back of his hand as she snarls at him. “I’m your goddess! Your magic is mine! It belongs to me!”
“Wrong.” The disembodied voice is soft and feminine but filled with power.
I pop my ears as the room pressurizes, and then a blast of power ripples through the room like a shockwave. Yellow light blazes from a few yards to the right of where the brothers and Leonora stand, and all eyes turn towards it. I blink, unsure that I’m seeing what I’m seeing.
Gema, the goddess of the Gemini clan, glares at Leonora.
Her black hair is short and spiky, her neon yellow t-shirt cropped to reveal her toned stomach, and her cut-off black jean shorts show off miles of leg.
She scowls at Leonora, wrinkling her nose.
“What do you think you’re doing? Draining the magic of your clan?
You’re breaking all kinds of rules, Leonora.
I wasn’t even paying attention, and I felt the dip within the Zodiac. ”
Somehow Leonora manages to look haughty even with Malik’s grip still around her throat. “This is none of your business, Gema, go hyper-fixate on something. I’m busy, if you haven’t noticed.”
Even as she berates her fellow deity, the magic rushing out of her slows, stops, and reverses direction, feeding once more back into the goddess.
Like flipping a coin, the twin nature of Gema switches.
Her face softens, her t-shirt morphs into a long, yellow sundress, and her hair lengthens into long waves that dance around her shoulders.
“Come now, Leonora, be reasonable. If you were to take all the magic of your clan, there’d be no clan left for you to rule. Just give it back.”
Malik and his brothers, though standing still, stiffen, their backs flexing with the effort of fighting Leonora’s magic with theirs. As the tug-o-war continues, Leonora snaps her teeth at Malik with a growl. Her voice is strained as she keeps her eyes on my mate but says, “Fuck off, Gema.”
A little frown pulls at the Gemini goddess’ lips, and then she flips back to her short-haired version. With a roll of her eyes, Gema cocks out a hip and snaps her fingers.
Another blast of power rushes through the room, but this time, lavender light coalesces right behind Leonora. The goddess, still in Malik’s grip, can’t turn to see the newcomer, but judging by the scowl on her face, she either knows or suspects who has joined the party.
Justice, the god of Libra, stares at the back of Leonora’s head before shifting his gaze to Malik and his brothers.
A cape of white swan feathers drape from his shoulders all the way to the floor, and they flutter with the gentle swish of his magic.
His voice is smooth and calm as he says, “Leonora, you have gone too far.”
A frustrated growl of rage builds in Leonora’s throat and quickly turns into a primal scream.
She throws back her head, magic blasting out of her.
The brothers go flying several yards, but they each twist and land on their feet.
Then, like the push-pull of a tsunami, all the power that exploded out of Leonora goes rushing back to her.
With her head still thrown back, she opens her arms wide, screams still wrenching from her throat as she absorbs more and more magic .
She spins so quickly, her form blurs, and she grabs Justice’s chin like he’s a disobedient child. The Libra god frowns at her but does nothing as Leonora spits her words at him. “Too far? Have you come to judge me, Justice?”
I glance around the room. Shifters and witches stand still and silent, no one sure what to do, but being smart enough to not bring attention to themselves. One deity is a lot to deal with. Three? Well, yeah, best not to make any sudden moves.
Something scratches at the back of my mind, trying to pull my attention away from where Gema—back in her long-haired twin form—approaches Leonora and Justice.
My beast spins a tight circle in my head, making it hard to concentrate.
I try to tell her to calm down, but she’s insistent, even barking in my mind. “Hey. Hey. HEY!”
I mentally swat her away again, but she whacks me with her tail … hard. I turn my attention fully to her. “What?”
“Where’s the tooth?”
I jerk, eyes going wide. How could I forget?
I mean, a lot has been going on, but still …
With slow steps, I make my way over to Malik and his brothers.
I glance at Leonora where she’s yelling at Justice, and Gema is waving her hands at them, trying to calm the Leo goddess as the Libra god’s face gets redder with his growing anger.
Justice may be all about, well, justice, but that doesn’t mean he’s not above some righteous retribution.
If this escalates … I freeze in place, scanning the room for Mara.
Why hasn’t the Council intervened? This is exactly why it was created in the first place, to prevent war between the clans.
My beast snaps her jaws at me. “The tooth!”
Right. Focus.
I slip through the crowd, nobody taking notice as I use their bodies to shield my movements as much as possible, since their attention is on the rising tension between the deities. I slip into Rian’s mind as I continue moving towards him. “Where’s the Tooth of Sobek?”
He stiffens, but thankfully doesn’t turn to try to find me in the crowd. He keeps his gaze forward as he responds, “Shit. I don’t know. I lost it in the chaos. Fuck!”
Malik’s deep voice joins our conversation. “Give me a minute.”
Leonora’s raised voice distracts me as she throws her hands in the air and shouts at Justice, “You’re only here because Gema called and you came running like her little bitch.”
Gema, in her demure form, blushes, but narrows her eyes at Leonora. Justice just shakes his head, and says, “Really, Leonora? Petty insults?”
“Amri.” Malik whispers my name in my head, and I shiver. “Hold your hands out behind your back.”
I want to make some quip about kinks and safe words, but now obviously isn’t the time, and I do as I’m told. Something smooth and heavy lands in my palms, and I close my grip around the tooth. He gave it to me ? I figured he would want to use it.
Malik’s gaze is still focused forward on the bickering deities, so I can’t see his face as I ask, “Are you sure? Bodi? Rian?”
Rian says, “You’re small, strong, and fast.”
Bodi says, “Sadie and Kat are ready to coat you in a protection spell, and Hela is going to boost your speed.”
My grip turns sweaty, but I hold the tooth tightly as Malik says, “We trust you, little warrior. I trust you, but wait for our signal.”
“What signal?” As much as I want to deliver this blow to Leonora, nerves tremble down my limbs, and doubt creeps in. It should be one of them, right? The brothers have earned the right to do this. It shouldn’t be me.
My beast hops, her version of stomping her feet. “Our mate, that giant, powerful alpha over there is trusting us with this. Ovary up, woman!”
My lips quirk with a smile. “Ovary up?”
“Well, nut up doesn’t apply, does it?”
I shake my head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’re stalling.”
I straighten my spine, waiting for the signal.
Wait. Malik never told me what to look out for.
I’m about to ask again, but my mate holds out his hands, and his brothers take them.
Using the distraction that Justice and Gema have provided, Malik, Bodi, and Rian glow with a soft power of their magic.
It’s not blinding or forceful, but quiet and …
beautiful. Malik closes his eyes, and then Rian and Bodi do the same.
Golden mist comes off their skin like steam.
Tendrils of smoky magic curl along the ruined marble floor, touching and absorbing into each Leo it touches.
Are they … are they sharing their power with the clan?
One by one, the Leos in the room start to glow softly until each shifter looks lit from within. The three deities fall silent, and Leonora—eyes wide with panic—looks around the room.
Gema, flicking between her two twin forms, frowns at Malik and his brothers. “Are you certain?”
Certain of what? What’s going on? I don’t like this.
None of the brothers respond, keeping their eyes shut as magic continues to drift out of them.
My beast nudges me. “Now?”
I shake my head. I’m not certain, but I think we need to wait.
Still, I do need to be ready. When Rian said I’m small and fast, I think he meant for me to shift and use my smaller beast form to sneak up on Leonora, but I have a better idea, one I should have thought of much earlier, but again … it’s been a crazy few hours.
I position myself behind three shifters standing close together, using them to shield my movements as I clench the large tooth in my mouth—it almost doesn’t fit—and weave the signs and conjure my clothing.
I smile as I take the tooth with one hand and slip my other in my pocket.
As I activate the stone, I bite my lip to keep from hissing in pain.
There are three deities in this room and hundreds of shifters and witches.
This might be too much to ask of the concealment spell.
But as I watch, the tooth in my hand disappears, then my hand, my arm …
Bodi’s growl rattles my brain. “What the fuck.”
Before I can reassure him that I haven’t abandoned them and taken the weapon they fought so hard to find, Malik’s voice purrs. “She’s still here.”
Bodi pushes back. “But … I can’t sense her. I can’t even smell her.”
“Relax, big guy. I’m not going anywhere.” My voice in his head seems to calm Bodi slightly, but his back muscles still flex with tension.
Leonora spins in place, glaring at all her Leos, who are still glowing. Leonora turns on Malik who opens his eyes and stares right back at her as she sneers, “You wouldn’t.”
I can feel my moment approaching, so I creep towards Leonora on silent feet, careful not to bump into anyone in this crowded space.
Bodi, eyes open as he responds, “Wouldn’t we?”
Rian says, “What do you think we’ve been fighting for all this time?”
Leonora takes a step towards Malik and his brothers, but Justice places a hand on her shoulder.
Though his grip looks relaxed, Leonora is unable to take another step.
She jerks against his hold, but Justice does not yield.
He shakes his head, his fingers digging a little harder into her skin. “You brought this on yourself.”
I slink closer to Leonora, the stone in my pocket surely branding my skin. It’s a wonder that my pants haven’t caught fire.
Malik raises his voice, his words clear and confident as he says, “I am not stepping into her place. Neither are my brothers. But if you want to be free of Leonora, we have given you the power to do so.”
I stumble but easily catch myself before spinning to stare at my mate. What is he talking about? Silence stretches, expands, and scratches at my skin. Leonora has frozen in Justice’s grip, her eyes wide, tears pooling along her lashes. She shakes her head. “No.”
Movement from the edge of the room draws everyone’s attention.
Askari’s softly glowing form limps towards Malik.
Bruises still bloom across his skin, and a few burn marks still ooze and twitch, but the swelling around his eyes is gone, and his broken bones seem to have knitted back together.
The crowd of shifters and witches parts as Askari moves through the crowd.
He stumbles and hisses in pain, but a Leo reaches out and steadies him with a hand on his arm.
Askari smiles at the shifter, patting his hand with a kindly spoken, “Thank you, Nigil.” He then slips from the Leo’s grip and continues forward.
The room seems to be holding its breath—I know I am—as Askari stops in front of Malik, but he only looks at his alpha for a single heartbeat before turning around and looking Leonora in the eyes. “I want to be free.”