“Get her!” shrieked the blood-covered Rebel God.
Below, the woman hurled another bolt of lightning at me. I dodged, easily avoiding it. Had it been weaker?
Was she flagging?
Her shoulders were slightly slumped.
“Closer!” Nix yelled.
We were so close. Where was Jude, though? Had she succeeded? We couldn’t finish this before she and the guys were out of here.
My comms charm crackled, and Jude’s voice came through, as if she’d heard my thoughts.
“We’re done,” she said. “You need backup?”
I glanced around quickly. It was a mess, but we seemed to be holding our own. And they needed to get the hell out of here if Nix was almost done. If they didn’t make it out before the magic was gone, they could get caught here as the stronghold collapsed in on itself. And the Protectorate needed those records to help the people being tortured by the Rebel Gods.
“No, go!” I shouted. “Get out of here!”
“Roger.”
The woman raised her arms, and my stomach dropped. She’d pulled this trick with the rocks last time.
As if on cue, the broken marble from the ceiling rose off the ground. Her green eyes burned as she waved her hands in my direction. The rocks shot toward me, thousands of pounds of stone about to pulverize my bones.
My heart leapt into my chest.
I didn’t know if the rocks could hurt Mayhem, but I shouted, “Run, Mayhem!”
The little PugDragon yipped, but stayed flying at my side.
“Finished!” Nix shouted.
The woman sagged. Her rocks dropped to the ground right before they would have hit me.
Fear thundered in my ears.
Was her magic somehow tied to the eternal flame?
I called my dagger from the ether, ready to hurl it while she was down. If she wasn’t on her guard, I could hit her.
This was my chance.
I raised my arm, about to throw.
Kill shot.
Time slowed. My friends were still wrestling with the Rebel Gods as thunder began to shake the air. The stronghold was starting to collapse in on itself.
I focused my aim on the woman.
Her shoulders were slumped as she kneeled on the ground.
Something stilled my arm.
Wait.
I hesitated.
This was insane. Why would I wait?
Wait.
Look before you leap.
I lowered the dagger, staring at the woman.
The enormous roar shook the stronghold as Nix ran out of the temple, the rock clutched in her arm. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the black oil slicked away from the woman’s face, disappearing down her body.
Confusion fuzzed my mind.
Near her, the horned god seemed to notice that she had changed. He roared, then ran from his fight with Cade and grabbed the woman around the waist, lifting her up.
As he lifted her, I caught sight of her face.
Green eyes turned to blue.
Confusion.
Fear.
Rowan.
Chapter Fifteen
Someone in my mind screamed. Shock chilled my skin.
The woman was my sister.
In the flash of an eye, the other Rebel Gods ran from their fights and joined the horned god. I flew toward them, determined to reach Rowan.
But I was too far away.
The horned god threw a stone to the ground, and a blast of golden light plumed upward.
I made eye contact with Rowan as she was dragged into the light by the horned god, transporting away. I reached for her, tears blurring my vision.
Recognition flashed in her eyes, then she was gone.
“No!” I screamed, landing hard on the ground. “Rowan!”
Cade raced to me and grabbed my arm and pulled. “Come on! We have to get out of here.”
Del and Cass sprinted out of the temple. The constant roar of the world collapsing was nearly deafening.
That had been Rowan.
Ana ran up to me, tears in her eyes. “I saw her!”
I wasn’t crazy.
“Come on!” Cade shouted.
I snapped into action. He was right. Rowan was gone. And we had to get gone, or we’d be crushed within this world.
I sprinted out of the temple, my foot aching from the lightning blow. Cade and Ana ran at my side, Mayhem leading the way. All around, the world was lit with an orange glow. Dust billowed up from all sides, growing closer as the world collapsed from the outside in, toward the harbor in the middle.
I prayed that Jude was right—that the harbor would be the last thing to go because it was connected to the real world.
We raced across the courtyard, but the destruction was too fast. We were too slow.
Ahead of me, light shimmered around Cass as she transformed into a large griffon. The beast had the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. Massive wings flared high. Del and Nix leapt onto her back, and she took off into the air.
Next to me, Cade shifted into his wolf form, then howled. I jumped onto his back, Ana following. We clung to him as he sprinted through the city, his wolf speed blowing my hair back from my face. We raced after Cass, Nix, and Del, keeping up easily. Mayhem raced alongside, her dark eyes wide.
All around, dust billowed up as the destruction neared. Buildings cracked and toppled, and the roar of thunder grew louder.
Would we make it?
Fear chilled my skin as I began to breathe in the dust. It became hard to see.
When we spilled out into the harbor, the sight of the hippokampoi was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.
Aidan, Roarke, and Ares waited at the edge, their gazes glued to Cass, Nix, and Del. Cass landed, her claws clattering on the stone. Del and Nix leapt off her back and hugged Roarke and Ares.
Cass shifted back to human and yelled, “You shouldn’t have waited!”
“Ha!” Aidan climbed onto a hippokampoi. “As if we’d leave.”
They all piled onto hippokampoi.
Cade stopped in front of the water, and I jumped off his back. All around, the world was chaos. Destruction was breathing down our necks.
I scrambled onto the back of a hippokampoi and shouted, “Did Jude make it out?”
“She took the documents and left,” Ares said.
Thank fates.
Ana and Cade climbed on behind me, and the hippokampoi shot through the water, speeding toward the portal. I turned around to watch the world devour itself. Mayhem flew alongside, silent and determined.
There was nothing but dust and destruction. As the golden light of the portal flashed, I realized that for the first time, I felt no pain in my wings.
On the other side of the golden portal, Kart-hadasht was dead silent. The portal back to Edinburgh glowed orange. We scrambled off the hippokampoi, and Mayhem zipped for the portal.
I turned back to them. “Thank you.”
They each gave one of their burbly neighs, then swam off. I rushed through the orange portal with everyone else, spilling out into the darkened alley.
Tears stung my eyes, and my breath heaved. I sought Ana, grabbing her hands. “You saw her, right?”
Tears filled her eyes. “I did. I really did. It was Rowan.”
“Your sister?” Cade asked.
The others looked on, eyes wide.