Run #2
Prue released a long, trembling breath, then dropped the glass. Lagos rushed to her side, tugging on her hands to help her stand. Prue threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. “Goddess, Lagos! How did you get here? How—What was that smoke?”
“An elixir, courtesy of the fire witches,” Lagos explained. “Come, we don’t have much time. Evander and Cyrus are providing diversions so I can get you out.”
“Evander’s here?” Mona croaked. She was on the ground, struggling to rise. One side of her forehead was coated in blood from when Hyperion had thrown her.
“Of course he is.” Lagos blinked at Mona as if it made little sense that Evander wouldn’t come for her. “Cyrus was able to tear a hole through the wards with his Titan magic. But I don’t know if it will hold. We must move, quickly.”
“What about Cyrus and Evander?” Prue asked. “We can’t just leave them. They’ll be killed!”
“This is the plan, Prue,” Lagos said grimly. “They can’t withdraw until they know you’re safely outside the wards. We have to go. Now.”
Prue exchanged a panicked look with Mona, who nodded grimly.
“You agree with him?” Prue asked incredulously.
“If we want to save them, we have to get out of here first,” Mona insisted. “If we’re outside the wards, we’ll have our magic back. We can use it to tear this place apart from the outside.”
A knot formed in Prue’s throat. Shouts echoed around her. They were getting closer. She swallowed down the protest climbing up her throat and gave a stiff nod.
Lagos took her hand and started running. Prue’s steps were sluggish as the strength from her magic wore off. It seemed the witches’ elixir was only temporary. The three of them ran around the back side of the cottage, pausing when two Titans raced past.
“He’s over here!” one of them cried. “I saw him flying!”
“Evander,” Mona breathed, her eyes sparking with hope.
Prue was panting, a stitch forming in her side. Hot blood dripped from the side of her head. Her wound had reopened.
She wouldn’t last much longer.
“It’s just past that tree,” Lagos murmured, pointing to a jagged stump of a tree that marked the beginning of the dead forest.
“If we move from here, we’ll be exposed,” Mona said. “They’ll see us.”
Lagos pulled a glass vial from his pocket. It was filled with a liquid the same color as the smoke from earlier. “I have one left. We can use it now, but it won’t last long.” He glanced at Prue, then made a gruff noise of concern.
Prue shook her head. “I… can’t,” she wheezed. “Nothing… left.”
“I can do it,” Mona said. “Break the glass, and I’ll hold them off.”
“Mona,” Prue rasped. “Don’t.”
“I have no intention of dying today,” she said firmly. “I’ll be right behind you. I swear it.”
Prue nodded, somewhat appeased by this. Too often, her sister sacrificed herself to save others. She couldn’t bear to watch it happen again.
“All right,” Lagos whispered, glancing at them both. “Prepare yourselves.”
He hurled the glass to the ground.
And the three of them sprinted toward the trees.
Prue focused on her steps, one foot in front of the other, as she pushed as hard as she could. Move, she urged. Faster. Run! Her breaths seemed to tear through her chest. Pain lanced through her head, streaking across her brain like a line of fire.
The ground rumbled as Mona’s power surged to life. Cracks appeared, and thorny vines sprang forth.
Titans shouted from behind them. One of them cried out, but his voice was cut off. Prue envisioned one of Mona’s brambles strangling him.
They were so close now. Just a few more steps.
Mona screamed. Prue faltered, then released her hold on Lagos’s hand.
Atlas had Mona by the throat. His dark eyes bored into Prue’s as he squeezed. Mona’s body convulsed. She clawed at his hand, trying to loosen his grip.
“No!” Prue roared, barreling forward. She didn’t care that her energy was gone. She didn’t care if she had no strength left.
She would not lose her sister. Not today. Not ever.
Before she could crash into the Titan, Lagos surpassed her.
With his head bowed, he launched himself straight into Atlas’s chest, horns out.
A sickening crunch echoed around them as Lagos’s horns impaled the Titan.
But Lagos kept pushing, driving deeper into Atlas’s flesh.
The Titan shrieked, the sound piercing the air.
Atlas released Mona, who fell to the ground in a heap, gasping for air. Prue was at her side in an instant, helping her to her feet. Mona blinked at her, dazed, but still alive.
Thank the Goddess.
“Lagos!” Prue shrieked. Atlas’s arms were flailing as he tried to pull Lagos’s horns free. But the demon was relentless, shoving harder, his roars of fury feral and unhinged.
“Prue, I see it!” Mona cried, pointing toward the tree.
Prue followed her gaze and found a small rip gleaming through the tree bark. If she squinted, she could barely make out Cyrus’s face on the other side.
“Prue!” he shouted. His voice called to her soul, beckoning her, drawing her closer. She yearned to run to him.
But she couldn’t leave Lagos.
Mona tugged on her arm. “Prue.”
“No,” Prue wrenched her arm free and raced toward her friend. “Lagos!”
Atlas managed to wrench free, his chest soaked in blood. He shoved Lagos off him, then grasped the demon’s throat with both hands.
A scream ripped from Prue’s throat as Atlas met her gaze, then twisted hard.
The crack of Lagos’s broken neck resounded in the wood, ringing through Prue’s ears. She would never forget that sound. It seared into her brain, making her go cold with undeniable horror.
No. No—
“Prue, it’s closing!” Mona yelled. “We have to move!”
Prue could do nothing but stare in horror as Lagos’s body collapsed like a doll. He crumpled, falling to the earth. He did not move.
Atlas stalked toward them, his eyes dark with hunger.
“Forgive me, Prue,” Mona whispered. She summoned more vines, and they wrapped around Prue’s body, pinning her arms and legs together.
“No… No, Mona!” Prue thrashed against the restraints, but they held firm. “Mona, please! I can—I can bring him back. Please! We can still save him!”
Tears streamed down Mona’s face as she jerked Prue forward. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed before shoving Prue through the rip in the tree stump.
Prue fell forward, tumbling and rolling until strong arms caught her. Cyrus’s face swam into view, but Prue could barely see through the tears that blurred her vision.
Lagos. Lagos—
“Cyrus,” she said, shivering in his grasp. “Lagos. I can save him. We can save him. Bring him back. Earth magic. Life. We can—We can…”
“She’s in shock,” someone said. Evander perhaps?
“Close the rip!” Mona said. “Now! Atlas is coming.”
Lightning flashed, momentarily blinding Prue. She couldn’t stop muttering, her body cold. So cold.
“Lagos. Earth magic. Life. Bring him back. Back. Back…”
The snap of Lagos’s neck rang through her mind as Prue’s head slumped, and she succumbed to darkness.