My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

The End Of The World As We Know It (Part 2)

Festos spoke the words and brought our ward down.

I raised my face to the sky, feeling the wind on my cheeks as the minions swarmed to the attack. The war had begun.

Now. Persephone's voice swirled in my head. This time, I let her have her way. I mentally removed every block, every civilized impulse I had, and unleashed my full furious power.

Kai and I fell into a pattern. I blasted shockwave after shockwave, clearing the sky with each discharge. But in seconds more came back. That's what happens with an endless supply of minions.

My ears rang with each explosion, until I felt like I existed inside of an endlessly ringing bell.

Kai handled the minions that got too close to Festos. He was Fee's personal bodyguard, keeping him safe while he chanted the cleansing ritual.

I could see Fee's body trembling with grief, but he kept going. And if he could, then I could too. His determination in the face of such insane loss, recharged me just as much as the magic ring on my finger.

I fired again and again, staying rooted to the spot, and forcing extra power from deep within the earth. I wiggled my bare feet into the dirt, digging my toes in deeper.

At least it didn't stay dark. Between fireballs, lightning strikes, my shockwaves and Kai's black light, it was quite the dazzling illumination.

My eyes closed. I didn't need to see the Photokia and Pyrosim to know where they were. I could sense them, millions and millions, swarming me. More than I could count. More than I could process.

It was a plague of minions. The world was so thick with them that I was amazed there was still room for air. Their fireballs burned my skin and sparked my hair. Their lightning arced through my body.

The air was heat and smoke and burning destruction. Every particle glided over my skin in electric vibrations that shocked the tiny hairs on my arms. Black ash rained down, covering me in a blanket of soot. I took it all in and used it. Turned it around and sent it back with every shockwave I fired.

I felt untouchable. Even with all the hits I was taking, my healing abilities kept up pretty well. I had never been more a goddess, more every-inch powerful. Persephone settled into my skin, connected to me in a way that had never happened before. We were in perfect synch. We were the vanquishers and our enemies would go down tasting our wrath.

Until I heard the laughter. The mocking from my vision. It rolled through me with such contempt that I could taste it. My eyes shot open and flicked to Kai. I wanted to know if he heard it, too. But there was no way to ask over the roar of noise. Over the ringing in my ears.

He understood though. He nodded and tilted his head up.

Zeus and Hades had arrived. They landed on the ground with perfect grace, about twenty feet away. I'd seen them both in their towering god forms, but this was different. For all the times when I'd confronted them and mouthed off to them and mocked them? There was nothing vaguely amusing about either of them now.

I shivered. A splinter of doubt wedged its way into my heart. I may have been a goddess, but they were truly the lords of all gods.

They weren't even angry. It was as if we were as much beneath their notice as ants. Suddenly I knew where the laughter—in my vision and in real life—had come from. We amused them. Kai and I. Their silly children throwing a temper tantrum. Zeus and Hades looked at us with exasperation and resignation. Like our fun was over now. It was time for the grown-ups to dole out the punishment.

I wondered how I had ever been deluded enough to think myself equal to them.

Except ...

Since our punishment was death—ours and all humans—so that the gods could freely roam, I wasn't going to roll over and accept whatever they intended to dish out. I sidled over to Kai and Festos, still blasting away at the minions. The magic ring may have been recharging me but using so much power made me feel wonky. Light-headed.

My human form strained to contain my power. My limbs trembled. My skin felt tight, stretched to its limit and ready to tear. My light wanted to break free, unhindered by my puny mortal body.

I was burning up. Sweat streamed down the back of my neck and under the elastic of my bra. My hair was plastered in limp, damp strands. Moss green spots danced in front of my eyes. More and more with every shockwave I fired.

I stumbled, anxious that my power would kill me before the gods did. We'd been so happy that Festos had found a way to recharge me, that we hadn't stopped to consider whether or not I could handle a continuous re-up. Whether perhaps the reason I had to rest between blasts was because my body couldn't take it.

If this were a video game, my life bar would have been blinking red. And I'd be ignoring it. Voluntarily shortening my life span to keep firing at the minions. Keep trying to save the world.

I burrowed my feet deeper into the earth and looked over at the guys. Festos had finished the cleansing, which meant that Kai and I were good to go. Seconds, Soph. Hang on a few more.