Desperation
PRUE
Prue’s head was a mass of muddled confusion. Oceanus had ripped through her, tearing apart her mind and her thoughts, infiltrating without permission. He had warped her senses, twisted her imagination, and painted Cyrus to be the villain.
She had lost all sense of control. All sense of who she was.
Everything she knew had been ripped from her.
And when Oceanus was jerked violently from her mind, the blazing clarity that overcame her was enough to make her ill.
Her stomach churned. Her skin pebbled. Her blood chilled.
She had no sense of right and wrong. She could only stare in numb horror while Cyrus lovingly stroked her—as if she needed comforting.
As if she hadn’t been about to impale him and watch the life leave his eyes.
She had been about to murder her husband. And if the strange pearly ghosts in the sky hadn’t stopped Oceanus, she would have done it.
“Prue, darling,” Cyrus whispered, still running his fingers through her hair. “Our fight isn’t over yet. Stay with me.”
Bile climbed up her throat and she swallowed hard, not wanting to vomit all over him. But Goddess, she couldn’t do this. The horrifying image of her hovering over Cyrus while he looked at her in terror and regret kept flashing through her mind.
She couldn’t escape it. This would haunt her forever.
“Prue.” Cyrus withdrew to look at her, his blue eyes intense and fierce.
He framed her face with both hands. “You did not kill me. I am still here. What Oceanus did to you was terrible, and he deserves to be punished for it. But I am still here.” He took her hand and pressed it to his chest. There, underneath his torn tunic, she could feel the rapid thundering of his heartbeat.
The pulsing rhythm was soothing to her. She closed her eyes, focusing on that familiar pounding.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
She listened to it for several long moments, blotting out everything else. The screams and screeches faded around her. All she felt, all she knew, was Cyrus’s heartbeat. Real and solid underneath her palm.
She exhaled, long and slow, letting her own pulse match his. When they were synchronized, she opened her eyes, her insides warming at the look of tender affection on his face.
“Thank you,” she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Please don’t ever let me do that again. If your life is in danger, you have to fight. Even if it’s against me.”
Cyrus gave her a pained look. “I can’t hurt you, Prue. I… can’t.” His voice was so broken, and she knew how much it ripped him apart to have blood on his hands.
He wasn’t always like this. The man she had first met—the arrogant deity who would do anything for power—barely batted an eye at the lives lost on his account.
Goddess, how far he’d come… How much he’d changed…
And she loved him all the more for it.
She brushed a lock of dark hair out of his face and fixed him with a hard stare. “I can handle a few bumps and bruises. I can’t handle a life without you. Promise me you’ll fight, even if it hurts me in the process.”
His eyes swam with despair, but her eyebrows lowered, and she glared.
“Promise,” she commanded.
His eyes closed, his expression crumpling with regret. “I… promise.” The words sounded uncertain and feeble, but she knew it was all she would get from him.
“Prue!” Mona shouted suddenly.
Prue turned to her sister, who was still in Evander’s arms. Her trousers were torn and bloodstained, but she had healed the gash there, and the color had returned to her cheeks.
“Listen,” Mona urged, raising a hand, her eyes distant.
Prue stilled, her ears straining. Around them, the sirens continued to screech. Shouts echoed, mingling with Oceanus’s roars of rage and anguish as he was attacked on two fronts.
Then, she heard it. A loud, echoing cry.
Prue stiffened, then looked at Mona with a frown. “What is that?”
Mona’s eyes widened, recognition lighting her features. “It’s Trivia!”
“Who is… Wait.” Prue’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Do you mean Pandora?”
“No. I mean—Well, yes.” Mona shook her head quickly. “It’s our sister, Prue. She’s somewhere close by.” Mona stood, scanning the foggy surroundings.
Something hissed nearby, and a shape emerged from the fog, slithering toward them. Prue was on her feet in an instant, her heart racing. Was it a serpent? Had one of the fire witches survived?
But when the shape reached them and halted, Prue found herself frowning again.
It was a vine. A thick, rope-like cord, similar to a liana.
Mona lunged, grabbing the vine and tugging hard. She closed her eyes, and earth magic filled the air. “Trivia!” Mona shouted, her voice echoing in the space around them.
Following her lead, Prue crouched to her side, conjuring her own magic to tug on the vine. It went taut, pulling on something within the mist. The end of the vine coiled next to them, gaining slack the more they tugged.
Prue’s magic could sense a powerful presence nearby. But there was so much magic around them that it was hard to tell where it was coming from. The sirens, the strange ghostly spirits, the fallen fire witches, or even Oceanus himself… It was too chaotic to make out a magical signature.
But then, she felt it. It smelled of the sea and palm fronds and home.
Prue’s heart lurched in her chest. “Mama,” she murmured.
Mona’s head whipped toward hers, and she inhaled deeply. “I sense it, too!” Her magic tugged harder, dragging more of the vine toward them.
A frantic urgency swept through Prue. Her mother was here. She could feel her. So close. So close…
Suddenly the vine snapped. Whatever weight it was carrying vanished, and the broken vine slid across the ground toward Prue and Mona, coming to a halt at their feet.
The two sisters stared at it in numb horror.
“What happened?” Cyrus asked, kneeling to inspect the vine.
“No!” shrieked a voice. It sounded close by, close enough for Prue and Mona to run to.
Prue moved toward the sound, but Cyrus grabbed her wrist.
“Prue…”
She turned to look at him, desperation pulsing through her. “Stay with Evander and the spirits. Keep watch in case Oceanus searches for us.”
Cyrus’s eyes burned with panic. “You can’t—”
“I have to,” Prue said softly. “It’s my mother. My sister. Cyrus, I have to. Please let me do this.”
His lips spread into a thin line, and then he nodded, releasing her hand.
Prue glanced at Mona, who was sharing a passionate kiss with Evander.
Goddess, Prue had never seen Mona like this with a man before.
Their mouths collided, tongues clashing with reckless abandon.
Prue’s normally shy, reserved sister looked like she was about to devour this man whole, without a thought of who was watching.
When they broke apart, Mona’s face was pink, but she looked determined. Without another word, the two sisters sprinted into the mist, heading toward the distant shouting. Prue’s legs pumped furiously, driving her farther and faster as she followed the scent of her mother’s magic.
She froze when a resonant crack echoed. There was something terrifying and final about that sound. It pulsed through her, making her tremble.
And then, the scent of her mother’s magic disappeared entirely. She couldn’t track it. There was no trace of it at all.
Horror pooled in her gut. No, no, no…
“Prue, look!” Mona cried from a few paces behind her.
Prue followed Mona’s gaze and squinted toward the sky. They were now far enough away from the ghosts to make out slices of pale blue sky, barely visible through the mist. And for a brief moment, Prue caught sight of some kind of creature flying through the air.
No, not flying. Falling.
Prue staggered back a few steps, trying to keep the figure in her sights. It pierced through the mist, careening toward them.
“Mona, get ready!” Prue shouted, spreading her arms and conjuring her magic. A canopy of leaves formed above them, creating a net to catch the figure.
Together, they backed up several steps. Then several more. The figure was racing toward them at breakneck speed, and Prue feared they wouldn’t catch it.
A heavy weight crashed into the leaves. Prue grunted, pain flaring up her arms as she struggled to keep the net upright. Beside her, Mona groaned, sinking to one knee from the force of it.
When the figure went still, they carefully lowered the bed of leaves to the ground and rushed forward. Prue’s heart tripped over itself at the sight of her mother lying in a crumpled heap. Her arms jutted out at odd angles, and there was something horribly wrong with her spine. It was…
“Goddess no,” Mona breathed, her eyes filling with tears. “Her spine is broken.”
Prue’s heart stopped for a full beat.
No.
No.
Gaia wasn’t dead. The Mother of Earth was not dead. She was too powerful for that.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Mona,” Prue said, her voice strangled. Goddess, she was truly going to be sick now. She shook her head, struggling to hold on to a semblance of her sanity.
Gaia wasn’t dead. If she was, Prue would break, and she wouldn’t come back from it. She could not survive another loss. She couldn’t.
Swallowing down her despair, she hurried to Gaia’s side, pressing her fingers into her mother’s cool flesh.
It was too cold. Not the warm softness of someone living.
Prue sucked in sharp, wheezing breaths. She couldn’t get enough air. Goddess, she was going to die here, right alongside her mother.
Except…
“Mona,” Prue said sharply. “Help me.”
“Prue—” Mona choked on a sob.
“Get over here and help me!” Prue shouted.
Mona stumbled forward, sniffing. She wiped her nose, her breath shuddering.
“We can bring her back,” Prue said.
“Prue, she’s gone,” Mona whispered.
“I know that!” Prue snapped. “But we can bring her back. This—This isn’t over. I sensed her magic just moments ago. It can’t have left her body yet.”
Not like Lagos, she thought. The Titans had stolen Lagos’s magic, using it for themselves.
Magic was part of the soul. Once separated, it was near impossible to reconcile the two.