Book 3 - Chapter 17
The silence after the collapse was suffocating.
Dust hung in the air like ash, glowing faintly in the fractured light bleeding from shattered runes. The tunnel was done, folded into jagged shards of stone and steel. The gods stood scattered, their towering forms rippling with fury and fear, their voices hushed for the first time since this nightmare began.
And then the laughter came.
Low at first, curling through the wreckage like smoke. Then louder, sharper, slicing through the silence like a blade. It wasn’t the gods. It wasn’t Jasper.
It was him.
The entity stepped forward, and the world bent around him.
He wasn’t like the gods, no elegance of flame, no purity of shadow. He was a contradiction given flesh. His body was a silhouette carved from midnight, its surface rippling like molten glass, veins of silver fire crawling across his skin in jagged patterns that pulsed like a heartbeat. His limbs were long, his joints askew, moving with a grace that felt predatory. His face was a mask of beauty and horror, smooth, flawless, but split by a mouth that curled into a smile too sharp, too wide, too knowing.
And his eyes God, his eyes burned with a light that wasn’t fire. It was cold, merciless, like suns dying in the void.
“Well,” he said, his voice silk dipped in venom, dripping with sarcasm. “This is cozy. A family reunion, and I wasn’t invited.”
The gods hissed, their voices slicing through the air like whips. “You were bound,” one snarled, its form rippling with fury. “You cannot interfere.”
The entity tilted his head, and the motion was wrong, too slow, too deliberate, like a predator savouring the moment before the kill.
“Bound?” he echoed, his tone mocking.
“Oh, sweet summer children. I wasn’t bound. I was bored.”
He spread his arms wide, his smile widening into something monstrous. “And look, my patience paid off. She woke up.”
His gaze locked on me, and the world narrowed to that single point of burning light. My breath hitched. My chest constricts as power surges through my veins, raw and feral, curling around my bones like chains.
The gods moved as one, their voice curling through the chaos like silk and steel. “The promise must be kept,” they said, their words slicing through the storm like blades. “The blood must bind.”
The entity laughed a sound like glass shattering, beautiful and cruel. “Oh, darling,” he purred. His tone dripping with sarcasm, “You had your chance. Fourteen days every cycle. Fourteen days to play nice. Fourteen days to pretend you still had control. And now?” His smile sharpened, his voice curling like smoke. “Now the game changes.”
Jasper stepped forward, his blade burning like a star, his body a storm of light and shadow. “Stay away from her,” he snarled. His voice raw, feral.
The entity’s laugh was soft, almost amused.
“Adorable,” he murmured, his tone curling with mockery. “You think you matter.”
His gaze flickered to Jasper, and the air bent, pressing against my chest until every breath felt like drowning. “Protector,” he said, his voice curling like venom. “You shouldn’t exist. And yet here you are, how quaint.”
The gods surged forward, their forms blurring into storms of shadow and flame. Jasper roared, his blade flashing, his movements faster, sharper, inhuman. Sparks rained like meteors, the air thick with the stench of burning magic. The tunnel shook, dust raining from the ceiling as power clashed against power.
And the entity?
He didn’t move.
He watched.
His smile widened, dripping with sarcasm.
“Oh, look at you,” he purred, his tine curling like smoke. “Swinging that little toothpick like it means something. How precious”
And then it happened.
The fire roaring through my veins surged, bending the air, warping the light, pressing against my skin until every breath felt like drowning. My fingers clawed at the cracked floor, nails rippling from the beds, blood slicking the concrete, but I didn’t feel pain. I didn’t feel anything except the hunger curling through my bones like chains.
The light exploded, blinding, searing, casting the wreckage in a storm of brilliance.
For a heartbeat, the darkness recoiled, the shadows shrinking back. And in the light, I saw it.
Not Jasper.
Not the gods.
Me.
I was standing.
Not crawling
Not broken
Standing.
And the fire roaring through my veins wasn’t just power.
It was hunger.
The entity's laugh was soft, curling through the chaos like silk. “Well, well,” he murmured. His tone dripped with sarcasm. “Look who finally decided to RSVP.”
His eyes burned brighter, molten silver searing through the black. “Welcome,” he said softly, his voice curling like smoke and steel, “To what you are.”
The gods recoiled, their forms rippling like storms torn by wind. “It cannot be,” one hissed, its voice sharp with fury. “She is not ready.”
The entity laughed a sound like shattering glass, beautiful and cruel. “Ready?” he echoed, his tone mocking. “Oh, darling, she was born ready. You didn’t want to admit it.”
His gaze locked on me, and the world bent around that single point of burning light.
“Now,” he said softly, his voice curling like venom, “choose.”
My breath hitched, my chest constricting as the whisper curled tighter, threading through my veins like fire.
“Choose what?” My voice was a blade of panic, sharp and trembling.
The entity’s smile widened, too sharp, too knowing. “Which world burns?” he said.
The ground split wider, jagged cracks tearing through the concrete like veins of fire. The walls screamed, runes bleeding light as the tunnel warped, folding in on itself like paper in a storm. The air was a furnace now, thick and choking, filled with screams and howls and the thunder of claws against steel.
The supers were coming.
The gods were here.
And I…..
I was something else.
Jasper roared, his blade flashing, his body a wall of light and fury. “Don’t listen to him!” he shouted, his voice raw and desperate. “You’re not what he says!”
The entity’s laugh was soft, curling through the chaos like silk. “Oh, golden boy,” he purred, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “You really think she’s yours? How precious”
His voice sharpened, slicing through the storm like a blade. “She’s not yours,” he said softly, his tone curling like venom. “She’s mine.”
Runes crawled across my skin like living fire pulsing in rhythm with a heartbeat that wasn’t mine. My eyes burned brighter, molten silver searing through the black. And when I spoke, my voice wasn’t my own.
“Burn,” I whispered
The entity smiled a slow, terrible smile that showed too many teeth.
“Good girl” he said softly
And the world went black.