Page 19 of Wild Ivy
“Yes,” David says.
“Wonderful,” Bram says. “Although, I feel better about winning now.”
“Right?” I snort and then focus as a terrifying creature that looks about a thousand years old snarls in my face, his putrid breath and straggly hair plastered to his head with grease, making me want to throw up.
“Stay back,” I warn the guys. “This is going to get ugly.”
“Uglier than him?” Torin mutters, but I see them all take giant steps back. I don’t blame them. I would too, if I could.
The souls press in, their faces contorted with rage and madness. I can feel their fury, their desperation to remain free of Death’s grasp. But I’m Death now, and I won’t let them escape again.
I raise my hands, channelling every ounce of power I can muster. “It’s time to go back where you belong,” I growl.
A wave of dark energy pulses out from me, washing over the spectral horde. Many of them shriek and dissolve instantly, sucked back into the void. But others resist, pushing back against my power. Lilith is there, struggling against the tide of power, but she can’t escape me. Not this time.
“Back in your box, bitch,” I spit out, keeping an eye out for Morrigan, but she is nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck,” I grunt, straining to maintain control. My planted feet sink into the forest floor as the pressure from the souls weighs me down before it dissipates into nothing.
As the last of the spectral horde fades away, I stumble backwards, exhausted. Torin catches me before I can fall.
“You okay?” he asks, steadying me.
I nod weakly. “Just peachy. Nothing like absorbing thousands of psychotic souls to start your day.”
“That was... disturbing,” Bram says, looking around the now-empty forest.
“No shit,” Tate mutters. “So what now? We’ve got all the escaped souls back where they belong. How do we reset the timeline?”
I straighten up, taking a deep breath. “Mazzarat? Any tips?”
His voice echoes in my mind. “The hard part is done. I’m impressed, girl. I expected that to be a lot harder for you.”
“Fuck off, you old fucker,” I snap. “I’m not some little girl playing the part. I’m the real deal.”
“Oh, yes, you are,” he says, in a way creepy enough for my skin to crawl.
But then he seems to snap out of it. “The world is primed. Combine your powers and focus on the moment you want to return to. The exact moment before you reversed time.”
“And how do we do that without tearing reality apart?” Bram asks.
“Very carefully,” he states again.
I nod, trying to ignore the exhaustion weighing me down. “Okay, let’s do this before I pass out.”
We form a circle, joining hands.
I take a deep breath, feeling the power of Death buzzing through me as I join hands with the guys. “Okay, everyone focus on that moment right before we reversed time. Picture it clearly in your minds.”
I close my eyes, recalling the chaos and desperation of that moment. The sickening feeling of being torn apart across realities is easy to remember.
Our collective power builds, swirling around us in a vortex of energy. The air crackles with electricity.
“Now,” Mazzarat’s voice echoes in my mind again.
We all concentrate, channelling our power towards that focal point in time. Reality bends and warps around us. Trees blur and twist, the ground ripples like water. I grit my teeth against the strain, feeling like my atoms are being pulled apart.
I scream as the vortex intensifies and the world fractures, splintering into shards of possibility. I catch glimpses of alternate timelines again. Versions where we failed, where we never met, where everything went wrong. But I push past them, zeroing in on that crucial moment.
