MARS
The harpies surrounded Nyx from all directions, swooping down around her, scratching at her body and cutting her, making it so she couldn’t move. I pulled myself up from the claws of the harpy who held me, swung around, and sat on her back so it’d be easier for her.
“Tell them to grab her and fly her far away,” I said, leaning down to speak in her ear.
“Will do,” she said to me before cawing at the others in another language.
After a couple moments, the others cawed back, and four harpies flew down to grab Nyx by the limbs. They seized her body and took flight in a tight flock of birds, drifting over the horizon and heading toward somewhere—hopefully far, far away from here.
“They’re heading to our home in the forest,” she said, following her flock from behind in a slower direction, taking one last swoop around the battlefield. “It’s far enough away from here that, hopefully, she won’t be able to use her powers.”
She continued talking, but my eyes landed on Aurora, who was lying in the middle of the battlefield. Her arms and legs and chest and body were covered with open wounds. She was bleeding profusely. And she looked drained of energy as more wolves ran at her.
I grasped some feathers in my fists and clenched my jaw. “Kitten, stay strong.”
For a moment, she looked around, tired. The next moment, she glanced up at me through teary eyes and smiled.
“Take her away,” Aurora said. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle it down here.”
And while I so desperately wanted to save her, I needed to remember that Aurora wasn’t the helpless woman I’d found in the forest long ago. Hell, she was never helpless. But now, she was stronger and faster and more loving than I could ever be.
“She’ll be safe,” the harpy said to me, flying us away and toward her home. “Believe.”
Believe.
Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from my mate and focused on the sight ahead of us. I couldn’t think about Aurora, nor could I worry about her. We needed to get this done and over with now, and we were so fucking close.
“Fly faster,” I said.
The harpy flew faster to catch up with her flock, but they seemed like they were nowhere to be found. I stared down through the trees, hoping to spot them to see if they had landed earlier than expected.
“There!” I shouted, pointing to a clearing. “Right there.”
After a couple moments, the harpy carrying me suddenly fell right out of the air. Her wings stopped flapping, her heavy body descending at an alarming pace—a pace that signified that she didn’t have control of her body anymore.
I braced for impact and scanned the forest, catching Nyx standing in front of all the other harpies, who seemed to be dropping out of thin air too. Once we collided with the dirt, my body rolled four times, and I came to a stop.
Everything in me ached like fucking hell, but I refused to let her control me too. She tried to get in like she had last time. She tried to show me images of my daughter and what I’d left back home. But I refused to accept them.
They were lies fabricated from her ugly head.
Despite her strength, I stood up and bared my teeth at her. “I’m going to kill you.”
“You’re strong, Mars,” she said, smirking. “Almost as strong as your mate.”
“Maybe you’re just not strong enough,” I said, stepping forward and lengthening my nails into sharp talons. “Maybe you’ve exceeded your strength this time, Nyx. You’re too far away from those hellhounds to control them any longer, and now, you can’t control me.”
She cackled menacingly. “Never underestimate the power of a goddess, especially one of the underworld. We always have a backup plan, a plan B in case someone—like you—tries to fuck up our day.”
“You have no backup plan,” I said between gritted teeth. “Hella won’t help you. Fenris won’t help you. Your wolves won’t help you. You’re all alone this time. It’s just god against god, and I will kill you.”
“I’m never alone,” she said, glancing over my shoulder and smirking even wider. “I’ve always got someone willing to follow me through the depths of hell, just to kill her own son.”
My entire body froze, a distinct scent drifting through my nostrils. “What did you say?” I asked, my voice barely coming out because I knew that scent. I had grown up with that scent. That scent belonged to my mother.
I turned around and stood face-to-face with a skin-and-bones monster I’d once called Mom.