Page 107 of Courting War
“I could restore your humanity, or I could alter the spell to give you the ability to choose who you turn to stone and give you the ability to switch between forms.”
“You would do this?” Medusa asked, her voice melodic and wary.
Theo ran her tongue along her teeth, trying to figure out how to convince them. “I’ve made many mistakes in my long life, and I can’t take most of them back, but I can help you.” She tried to pour as much sincerity into the words as possible.
The sisters glanced at each other, conversing silently.
Medusa stroked one of her snakes. “Would you offer this to all of us?”
Without hesitation. “Yes.”
“Then we shall take it.”
Theo pulled out the spell book. It pulsed like a beating heart in the palm of a hand. It cooed, sounded as soft as hummingbird wings, and smelled of fresh daisies.
It seemed to be in a good mood.
Havyn appeared next to Theo and pulled the book from her hands. On its own, the book turned to the spell they needed, and it smiled with rotting teeth at Havyn. Turning to the gorgons, Havyn said, “I need your blood, scales from your snakes, three stones, and sea salt.”
The gorgons all leaped into action, gathering the needed ingredients quickly.
Following the instructions, Havyn placed the stones at the center of the now-cleared tea table and poured the salt into a circle around them. Havyn sprinkled the snake scales atop each of the rocks. When she finished the setup, she asked each gorgon to cut her palm and spill its blood.
The drips sounded like raindrops in a light spring shower asthey danced along the stones, sprinkling like seeping pomegranate juice.
In an ancient tongue, Havyn spoke the spell, the words at once filled with the lightness of dragonfly wings and the darkness of the sea before a storm.
The spell was physical, coating their skin with moon-ray thistles and chocolate candies. It vibrated and hummed, the magic coiling through the air like all the vipers in the room. Its presence was both overwhelming and comforting. But the spell didn’t just show up through touch. It was also all soft glows and moonshine—a silver Aurora Polaris gently swaying in the wind.
As soon as the spell hit, it was gone just as quickly, leaving three gorgons staring at their arms and wondering if it worked.
Instinctively, Medusa pulled her magic inward and shifted forms from monster to legendary beauty. Her sisters followed suit.
“Oh, thank you, thank you.” Medusa leaped at Theo and curled her into a massive hug, pulling Havyn in too. Theo stilled, utterly unaccustomed to gratitude.
Chapter Thirty-Two
THEODRA
Anxious Ex-God
PALACE BALCONY, CITY OF THE GODS
Death and War strolled atop the balconies of the volcanic palace in sullen silence, having returned from their outing. Havyn’s ink-like cloak flowed in a phantom wind behind her, and her footfalls felt aimless but were anything but. Havyn had a rhyme and reason for all that she did.
The challenge was to figure out those reasons.
“You owe me a soul.” And there it was.
Theo flinched, despite expecting the words to come. It was the deal they’d made for Cecile’s life, but the words cut open Theo’s sternum and wrenched out her heart.
Because no words ever felt more painful.
The wind howled through the birch trees flanking the banks of the Deus River. Theo’s eyes locked on the tree’s limbs, climbing out of the ground like a witch’s claws with overgrown fingernails that curled in on themselves. Sailboat rigging thumped against masts, and an errant human whistled in the distance, the sound distorted and fraying at its seams and mixing with the wind’s cruel aria. A thick fog hung like a rotten net, invading the pristine balcony, and clinging to Theo’s pores.
Despite having no god magic, the atmosphere mirrored Theo’s emotions like she was twisting them and compelling them to her will. She was all stiff spines, tense muscles, fire, and pure battle. “The deal was for a human soul that I love, and I do not love any humans.”
Havyn’s blood-red lips curled. “Don’t you?”
