Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“They would come at our call,” Rhad stubbornly upheld.
Scylla pursed her lips. “Perhaps, but they would die if they did. Even with their armies in your pocket you’d be no match for the collective force we possess.”
Honestly, she could be right.
“Deimos is just a place,” said Eacus. “Claiming it won’t make you Sovereigns.”
“No,” allowed Daedalus, “but dethroning you three will make the dominions bow to us.”
“Us,” Minos echoed. “The four of you intend to rule as one?” He let out a derisive snort. “That would never happen. You would kill each …”
The rest of his words got lost as a ringing sound built in my ears. It got louder and louder, until it was all I could hear. A crazy energy surged through me out of nowhere, flooding every part of me; awakening every nerve-ending; making my heart beat fast and erratically.
The energy kept building and building. My scalp tingled. The pads of my fingers buzzed. Vibrations ran through my teeth. My veins felt as though they were clogged by thick heat.
The sensations repeatedly stabbed at me—foreign and frightening and other.
I was distantly conscious of the sky turning black, of a breeze picking up, of a sense of static snapping the air taut. But I had no mental room to ponder on it. Not now, when I felt overloaded with energy that threatened to split me in half. It made my head feel heavy and full and overstretched.
Lightning flashed, zigzagging across the sky. Cracks of thunder boomed so loud I thought something had exploded. A howling wind abruptly picked up, whooshing over my skin and tossing my curls everywhere.
Then it happened.
Something slipped into my mind. Something powerful and timeless and ethereal. Something that pushed my own consciousness aside as it lowered my bow and arrow. “You would disregard what was declared by us?” The female voice was deep, cold, and echoed with a dozen other muted voices.
The robed figures stared up at me, their lips parted, their expressions various degrees of shocked.
Yeah, well, their shock had nothing on mine. Because the being currently wearing my skin was an actual goddess. Hellyne, Goddess of Fate and Rebirth.
I sensed the officiates near me begin to edge away, and I couldn’t say I blamed them.
She lifted a brow imperiously. “No one will speak?” A mocking huff. “You had plenty to say mere moments ago.”
Theseus cleared his throat. “Hellyne,” he realized, a combination of awe and fear in his tone.
“Yes, though I speak for all of us,” she said, her voice again carrying the muffled whispers of others—some male, some female.
Dread flickering in his eyes, Theseus raised his hands. “We mean no disrespect by coming here. Not to you. The Sovereigns have lost their way. They no longer lead, they only dominate. They do not deserve seats of power.”
“And you do?” She challenged.
He lowered his arms to his sides. “If we were to take the thrones at Deimos, we would rule fairly.”
“Deimos is not yours to claim. It was never yours.” Hellyne slowly turned her head to sweep her gaze over the Sovereigns. “Or yours. You rule in our steed; no more. And I would have to agree that you have lost your way.”
“We merely ensure that the half-bloods ruling the dominions get no grand ideas to overthrow us,” said Minos.
She flicked up a brow. “And the humans? What grand ideas could they possibly have? What makes you believe you have the right to treat them as you do?”
Minos visibly fought a snarl. “If it bothers you so much, why have you not interfered? You care nothing for what goes on in this realm, in truth. You care nothing for us.”
“You care nothing for yourselves. None of you do,” Hellyne accused, addressing the Sovereigns and robed figures below. “You only seek to destroy and fight and conquer. Your hunger for power has eaten away at your honor, mercy, and sense of loyalty.”
Just then, I sensed the laelaps creeping along the battlement to gather around me. No, around her.
“It isn’t power we seek, it’s an end to the current way of things,” Daedalus swore.
Hellyne shot him a dismissive glance even as she absently petted the dogs. “What you seek is war. Always war. You have fought among yourselves since you were children.”
“If that was all we wanted,” Scylla timidly argued, “we would have come here with an intent to attack. We didn’t.”
“But you plan to do so in the near future,” Hellyne pointed out. “You would ruin this city and kill its people in your bid to acquire it.”
Her cheeks crimson, Medea flapped a hand toward the Sovereigns. “You would leave them on the throne? They do not honor any of you.”
Hellyne granted her an arch look. “Nor do you. Only the humans have continued to honor us and pass on our teachings. Even though our children mistreat them, they have still not forsaken us.”