Page 88 of Tangled Power
Aurora’s compass had served them well in finding Aterra and leading them to this final battle, but maybe it had chosen poorly when it first decided which god would make a sacrifice. What if Aterra had been the one to sacrifice himself? Wouldn’t Arie, Aurora, and Zrak have been better able to preserve the balance on the continent? This was the crux of Luc’s plan. They neededthree gods on the continent. He simply wanted to change which three.
The earth shook again as Luc glanced at Rose. She was tired. He could see it from where he stood. But she was so strong. Her dark brown hair, tied back for most of their journey, flew free as she fought for a few more steps. She was trying to back Aterra into the prison where he had held Aurora. Luc believed she could get him there if she wanted to, but he didn’t think it would keep him for long. Whether Luc willingly shared his power, the fact that he existed and was the Suden Point already strengthened the Suden god’s magic. Aterra needed separation from the continent for what he’d done—a price needed to be paid for the imbalance he created. Luc would ensure that Aterra alone bore the cost of his actions.
He looked down at the ring he’d slipped on his finger. It was gaudy as hell—a large gold triangle shape with an onyx stone carved to fit inside. He let a drop of his magic run over the onyx stone, and the familiar needle popped out.
Shaking his head again, he laughed a little at the fact that this needle, this weapon, had been used against him. In some ways, he was glad it had. It meant he knew that even someone with strong earth magic wasn’t immune to the strike. The impact would be different, but it would dosomething.
With others, like Aurora or the Norden elder, Samuel, it acted like limited mind control, overwriting what they thought they knew and inserting a new story. For a strong earth magic wielder, it was less about mind control and more about his body being at war with itself. Two powerful earth magics fighting inside a single host. It had felt like a poison ravaging his body. He hoped it felt the same to Aterra. It would buy Luc a few moments.
His steps took him across the cavern to Aterra’s side. Aterra—his father. Luc shook his head again. That would need furtherexamination at a more convenient time—just then was not it. Rose still held Aterra in place. No matter how he raged—he couldn’t break free. She must have realized that Luc was doingsomething. Though she never would have stopped if she’d known what would come next. He let go of the doubt. She would understand. He believed that, as he stabbed Aterra’s neck with the needle tip.
“What the?—”
Luc could only guess that Aterra was feeling the flow of foreign magic ripping through his veins. He only had moments to focus his power and get them to the more permanent holding place he had in mind.
“I need my magic back,” he sent to Rose through their bond. He had plenty to spare, but he needed every advantage and amplification to make this work.
Rose nodded, her face wrought with exhaustion and confusion, as she released the Compass Points’ unified power. Her trust in him was absolute enough to free the god they had contained.
Luc’s magic rushed back to him then, like a returning friend. Power flooded through him, and he tunneled down deeper into the vast reservoir within himself. He lifted the blade Rose made him and let his magic sprawl. It searched for weakness or thinness in the earth’s natural barriers. Carter had said the hole in Loch wasn’t just a void of darkness. It was a hole to somewhere, oralmostsomewhere. Luc had come dangerously close as a child to tearing a hole through planes of existence.
This place was too filled with wild magic not to already have a small crack for him to pry into. His magic found an opening in the cavern’s center, where he could imagine Zrak had set up the test for corrupted power. The god’s magic had left its mark, exposing a sliver of a break between this plane and one beyond. Luc ran to it, his magic pulling Aterra along behind him. Hispower gathering around and within him as he ran. With no hesitation, his last step was a wild lunge fueled by the depth of his power as he thrust the sword, amplifying his strength, into the sliver between planes.
The sword cut, just like he knew it would. It slid through the world like a knife through fabric, the tear like a drape of cloth billowing in the wind. What lay beyond, he’d find out shortly. He sliced deeper as the crack fought to close itself. This was no longer just a thinning between planes—it was a break. A hole big enough for someone to go through. Two someones if everything went according to plan.
The continent and the next plane fought to close the gap connecting them. Part of the natural balance between planes was this separation. That was fine with him. He didn’t want Aterra to have an escape route. He only needed this to work once.
Aterra’s eyes snapped open as his body fought off the internal magical attack. Luc was prepared, though. He already had his arms around Aterra and was diving headfirst through the opening he’d created.
“What are you—” Aterra couldn’t complete the sentence.
Darkness enclosed them as they fell beyond the veil, the crack Luc created neatly knitting itself closed behind them.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Apiercing scream filled Rose’s ears as she fell to her knees. It took her too long to realize it was her own. Her eyes widened at the impossibility of what unfolded in front of her. Luc had thrown himself and Aterra into a hole he’d created between planes. Rose didn’t have to imagine where it led. Luc had taken Aterra beyond the veil.
She gasped for breath, her magic straining to follow. The crack Luc had created disappeared before Rose could process what he was doing. She had no time to react. Wetness dripped on her hand, and she belatedly realized tears were streaming down her face.
Luc was beyond the veil now.
Luc was beyond the veil—where Zrak had banished himself. He had taken Aterra and flung himself into the unknown. His magic and its scent vacated the cavern. Emptiness crept in without its presence.
How had he known that would work? Rose closed her eyes as she tried to give herself a moment of grief before she started sketching plans in her mind. She couldn’t stop her brain from calculating, from thinking through options.
She would get him back.
Arms circled around her, and though she was still unused to his human form, Arie’s essence was inexplicably recognizable. She knew it was him without even looking.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me it was the only option,” Rose said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Arie shrugged. “It was his choice—and it was probably the best one you had.”
Rose nodded. Grief and practicality fought at the forefront of her thoughts. Carter could see spirits—maybe he could communicate through them. And Juliette communed with Zrak—he was also beyond the veil, wasn’t he? She had to be able to find a way to get to Luc.
“Do you think I can get him back?” She choked on the final word. A bottomless pit opened in her stomach. She had just found him. She wanted a life with him. No was not an acceptable answer.
“I, like Luc, believe you capable of anything, Rose.” He paused, letting that sink in. “Iknowyou will get him back.”
