Page 82 of Tangled Power
Luc took over the conversation, taking a step forward. “Is there a key?”
Rose’s gaze searched the room, her eyes landing on Aiden. “I think the best key would be the one on Aiden’s finger.”
The Compass Points and two gods turned to Aiden. He looked down at his hand. The gold triangle ring with the onyx center was still on his middle finger. “This ring?”
Rose couldn’t believe she’d missed it earlier. Of course he would be wearing it.
“Yes, Aterra’s artifact on the continent. This could strengthen Luc enough to break the lock.”
Aiden, to his credit, didn’t hesitate. He pulled the ring off and handed it to Luc. Rose noted the lack of objection from the other Compass Points. If they weren’t pressed for time, she’d take a moment to enjoy it. Only days ago, Juliette would certainly have objected, loudly, to offering Luc more power. He seemed to earn more of their trust by coming clean about his suspicions of his lineage.
“Won’t me putting it on strengthen Aterra?” Luc asked.
“We’ve proved it depends on your choices once wearing it,” Arie said.
Luc shook off the comment. His shoulders straightened as he resigned himself to whatever happened next. Slipping the ring on his finger, he stepped toward the cell.
A chill swept through the room.
“What do we have here?” came a cold and ageless voice from Aiden’s body. His eyes flashed gray as he spoke. Aterra had arrived.
“Aiden, you disappoint me,”Aterra said. This sounded odd coming from Aiden’s lips. “Just leading our guests to the one room in the heart of the mountain where we happen to be keeping a goddess as a long-term guest. Tsk, tsk.”
Rose rolled her eyes at the phrasing, but her mind worked quickly behind them. They needed more time. Luc needed a chance to get Aurora out. He knew what to try. He just needed to be able to get to the cell lock. Unfortunately, the only thing she could think of to give Luc time was to attack Aterra—as the Compass Points. That, however, also required Luc’s magic.
His power spun a tight circle around her as she thought. A protective bubble ready to defend. He had more than proved his power could do two things at once. She would have to trust that. She would also try old-fashioned distraction first, to see how long it bought them.
“Why him, Aterra?” Rose challenged since Aiden was saying nothing to defend himself. Could he speak while he was inhabited?
“He is irrelevant,” Aterra said, his power pulsing as it flooded into the room. The ground shook, and steam rose through the created cracks. This room was too small to fight the earth god. He could wipe them all out with one well-placed quake. The only positive was that he had worked so hard to create Luc. Surely, he wouldn’t wipe him out of existence so easily. When the steam cleared and she could see again, another being stood beside Aiden. His olive-colored skin, dark hair, and sharp featureslooked so much like Luc that she couldn’t believe Arie hadn’t questioned Luc’s parentage sooner.
Aiden opened and closed his mouth next to the god of earth. When was the last time he had seen the god instead of being inhabited? Aterra’s true gray gaze evaluated every person in the room, lingering longest on Luc.
“Ready to put that power to better use?” he asked.
Luc glared at his father. “You already have one puppet. I’m not sure why you need another.”
“He had power, though not enough,” Aterra responded, sounding bored. “He was desperate for attention and validation. And he was in a prime position to take the Norden seat and overrun the other Compass Points.”
Carter and Juliette blanched at the statement, though it seemed accurate from where Rose stood, though Aterra failed to mention that included blackmailing each of them with secrets of their courts—secrets only godly power could unearth.
“What did you even get out of it?” she asked as Luc’s hand palmed the dagger in hers. She needed to keep Aterra talking and focused on her. He pulled back on the blade, and she didn’t hear a hiss of pain as he wordlessly added his blood—Aterra’s blood—to the Suden artifact on his finger.
“Isn’t it obvious? The continent’s imbalance. A prime seat to watch the show. The best position to see if my plans for further power proved successful.” Aterra’s gaze fell again on Luc.
His body tensed next to her and angled slightly toward the cell that held Aurora. His power thrummed through the room like Aterra’s had moments earlier. Except his magic’s scent was infinitely more comforting than that of the god’s decrepit forest. Luc seemed intent on hurling the artifact into the lock. His earth magic would guide the needle point of the ring to enter the lock mechanism.
She hoped it worked. If Aterra got his hands on the artifact with Luc’s freely given blood on it… She didn’t want to wonder if that counted as Luc giving his will.
“But you didn’t even tell Luc your plan,” Rose challenged, drawing Aterra’s attention again. “How could you gain the power you sought if you didn’t ask for it?”
“He wasn’t ready.” Aterra glanced at Aiden. “And this one was serving his purpose well enough.”
Rose rolled her eyes.
“Aiden was well positioned to further the imbalance in a different way,” Aterra continued. “Through the affairs of fae and humans.” He paused to glare at Arie. “And imagine my delight when I realized using Aiden also displaced the rightful Norden Point for Aurora, further depreciating her power.” He flashed a feral grin.
Arie’s control snapped, and he lunged at Aterra.
