Page 108 of A Bond in Flames

“It’s going to be okay.” I opened the cage strapped to my waist, and Hemy scurried out. “This is Hemlock, my familiar. He’s going to be sad without me. Can you look after him for me until I come back?”

Her eyes lit up as she gently stroked his back, nodding.

“Good girl. He likes lots of cuddles and treats. Do you think you can do that?”

She nodded again as I handed him to her. I kissed his furry little head. “Look after her,” I said to him.

He squeaked that he would, a fierce look on his sweet face.

I gave Marigold one more kiss, then started back the way we’d come.

The kind of power Death and Nox had wasn’t something I understood, but that went both ways. They didn’t understand magic. We worked on different frequencies; we drew our powers from different places, in different ways. That was my advantage, my only advantage. Still, I needed more than magic; I needed the power of a goddess.

This time, when I called for the mother, I did it with the magic of my family behind it, amplifying it. This time, I had the hat. The mother was volatile, and she hated being disturbed. But our coven had worshipped her faithfully for generations. We gave and we gave, and it was time she gave back.

Breathing deep, I let my soul call out her name, her true name.

Terra.

CHAPTER34

Death

“You took everything from me,”Nox screamed. “I created you and your brother. He wasmine, and you snatched him away.” Lightning danced across her fingers before she fired it at me.

I fired back, knocking it away easily. She screamed again, her fury cracking thunder above us. Nox was far older, and because of that, she had always been stronger than me, but she’d only stayed that way from the gifts she’d received from other gods—gifts she’d received from selling Somnus to whoever wanted to use him and his powers.

She didn’t have Somnus now, though, and she hadn’t for a very long time, and the gifts she’d been given had all been used up. She was weaker than me now. Fury burned in her eyes but also fear, because she knew it as well. Her skin and hair were singed from my lightning, and she was panting hard from the exertion.

The last time I’d been able to break through the block she had on my power was after she’d murdered my consort and stolen my child. Sheer rage had done it. She’d been stronger than she was now, and the curse had prevented me from taking Marigold from the Night Realm. I’d only been able to take her to my temple, so at least Nox couldn’t get near her.

Breaking the curse had been a massive drain on my mother, and once I got to her temple, I’d easily shattered the bind she had on me. My powers throbbed through me now, wild and unstoppable.

She swiped away the sweat that poured down her face with shaking hands and held them out in front of her.

I almost had her, and I would not leave until her body lay charred and broken on the ground, until I’d heard her scream in agony and not just fury. I couldn’t kill her, but I could break her. I could break her so badly that she would take centuries to recover.

My vision burned red as I slammed my staff on the ground and another bolt of lightning shot from the top of it. Dark laughter fell from me when it hit its mark, knocking her back. “You can’t win. You can barely stand,” I snarled and hit her with another bolt.

She flew back, slamming into a marble column, then hit the ground. I stalked toward her, towering over her, holding up my staff, that glowed bright with power.

A smirk curled her lips. “I murdered your consort once, and I will do it again. No matter how long it takes, I will take her from you.”

“You won’t get near her.”

“You know I can.” Triumph lit her eyes. “I already got to her once. I gave Fluke my blood to mark her so you couldn’t find her.” Her eyes flashed. “You love to punish me, you took you and your brother from me. So if I can’t be with my children, then neither can you. Marigold is mine, and you will never have another.” She smiled, and it was pure evil. “Fluke took her womb so if you ever did find her, she would never be able to give you another child. Now what do you say?”

“I say you are poison, and I will not stop until you are broken and alone,” I snarled with all the hatred in my heart.

She actually frowned in confusion. “Did you not hear me? She is barren.”

Nox truly thought I would reject Zinnia over her inability to bare children. “I already know the evil you did.”

“Then why are we fighting? What use is she to you now?”

Unconditional love wasn’t something she had ever understood. Loving someone with your whole heart and not asking for or wanting anything in return was foreign to her. “Use? I love her. She is all I need. All I will ever need.”

“I don’t believe you.” Nox shook her head, eyes wild. “Give me Somnus, and you can have Marigold.”

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