Page 57 of Chaos Demons

“Ana,” I said. “Fen’s a world-ender. He’s no puppy.” But my caution was met with an even wider smile and a nod.

“I know,” she whispered, solid determination in her silver eyes. “I’ll do what I have to to get my guys back.” She stepped in and quickly kissed my cheek. “Don’t die.”

Then she was striding down the road toward the distant sound of destruction.

Don’t die?As if she wasn’t the one going to face a being that was meant to consume gods.

Shehadchanged.

“Is she an angel?” Trent whispered reverently as he and the others joined me.

“No, she’s a god,” Harmonia corrected him. “Eva, however,wouldbe the equivalent of an archangel.”

“Oh,” Trent said, blinking, confused and in complete awe. Then he turned to Eva and gave a tired smile. “Yeah… she is.”

Eva winked at him.

“A god?” I whispered. And that’s when all of Ana’s changes finally sunk in for me. Shewasa god. She certainly had more than two aspects now. I’d felt the aspect of war strongly within her as well as others I hadn’t been able to identify. “A god,” I repeated.

But even so… could she truly deal with Fen?

ANAIS

I walkedover piles of corpses, heading away from Calvary Cemetery. I didn’t know how many zompires we’d defeated, but it had been a lot.

And I didn’t feel tired at all.

My aspect of war was thrumming within me. Unlike my other aspects, which had taken some time to control — or to discover, in the case of my healing — this new aspect had settled in quickly.

For the first few moments of that fight, I’d been terrified, my body had been going through the motions as my mind screamed at how strange this was.

But then, I’d accepted it.

I’d always fought for what was right for my daughters and for me. Usually, before now, I’d fought with words. I hadn’t thought I was a violent person, but I could see now a need for violence in some circumstances to save those you love, not to mention to save the innocent. And zompires were completely lifeless, mindless things. They were already dead and it had become easier and easier to cut them down.

There were also other aspects simmering within me just beneath my awareness. I’d felt them bubbling up as I’d fought. Most were still mysteries, but one had become more apparent to me. I had somehow connected with Grey back there, speaking into his mind—

No, I’d spoken into his soul. I’d connected with him through our mutual love, using my aspect of love itself.

I didn’t have time to think about that now, but I did find it very curious. It would require some investigation… later.

For now, I needed to stop Fen. Oddly, I wasn’t concerned with how I’d stop him. Something told me my newfound aspect of love would help. The problem would be finding him… then getting to him.

I could hear the distant sounds of destruction, but that only gave me a rough direction. Then, as I thought about that, images flashed into my mind.

The first was of a woman riding a lion into battle, the second was a woman shifting into the form of a dove to soar through the skies. I didn’t understand where these visions had come from, but I innately knew I could do that. I could summon a lion to ride, or I could turn into a dove.

And, as a dove, I could fly up to get a better vantage point and find Fen, then swoop over to wherever he was.

I smiled. I’d always wanted to be able to fly.

Just like with my aspect of war, a part of me innately knew how to do this new thing. I latched onto the image of a dove and sort of pushed it from my mind into my body.

It happened in an instant, with no pain, almost effortless. I was flying, white wings driving me into the sky.

It seemed today had miracles around every corner.

Was this something all gods could do?

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