Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(91)

I struck again, intent on one thing. Getting to that soul.

Spirit wrapped around Valens’s spirit box and started to seep in. A shock of power from Kieran barreled into him a moment later. Together, we converged, taking Valens from both sides. He was forced to split his defense and offense. I clenched my teeth, desperately trying to ignore the painful stabs.

My spirit kept seeping in, the progress painfully slow. Kieran battered Valens with his magic and stuck his trident in a second time. Then a third. The water moved around us—pushing me away (Valens), then pulling me closer (Kieran). I released myself to the currents, losing my bearings and closing my eyes, focusing everything I had on reaching that spirit.

Valens yelled, the sound twisting through the water, a frustrated and pained sound. Currents continued to shift and change around me, Father and son fighting over my proximity to their battle.

His spirit box’s density shifted, then started the change. Valens froze for a brief moment.

That was the window Kieran needed.

A rush of his magic slammed into Valens, bending him in half. Backward. Valens’s spine cracked, a fearsome sound heard throughout the water. The prongs of the spirit box loosened with the prospect of death, ready to let go. I reached in…and grabbed his soul.





39





Kieran





Nearly spent in a way he had never been before, every inch of his body aching, Kieran watched in utter shock as his father’s body went limp. His head floated in the water. His legs drifted.

Valens’s spirit blinked in utter confusion at Alexis.

The Line materialized and pulsed below them, and Alexis looked back and forth between the two, then at Kieran, needing direction.

The waters stilled around them as Kieran let go of his magic. Silence filled the space, expectant.

They’d killed his father. He was an orphan.

An unexpected sadness filled him. He’d hated his father for so many things, but now that he’d gotten vengeance…it had left him feeling hollow.

He had to remember this wasn’t just about him. It was about his mother, and magical San Francisco, and all the people the Demigod had unlawfully killed for some reason or other. It was about the future, and the harmony between magical and non-magical societies. Killing his father was bigger than him.

“Send him across—” Kieran started to say, but a strange blurriness invaded the water, like the figure he and Bria had seen in the smoke the other day while Green’s body lay on the concrete. The soul connection weakened—and then began to blink out. The blurriness shot through the water and stopped by Valens’s spirit, somewhat obstructing Kieran’s view. Valens’s face changed to one of shock, then anger, then fear, before his spirit started to dissipate. It didn’t move toward the Line, it just…faded away.

“What’s happening?” he asked, starting over.

The blurred form turned, and Kieran could swear it looked right at him.

Save her.

The words echoed in his head as the blurry form faded away with his father’s spirit. A moment later, there was nothing left. They were both gone.

Alexis jolted. Her eyes snapped opened and she gasped, sucking in a lungful of water.

“Oh shit, no. Alexis!” Kieran could speak and pull oxygen from the water. This was his territory. But though his blood gift allowed his chosen few to spend longer than normal in the water, they couldn’t subsist here. If he didn’t get Alexis to the surface, she’d drown.

He rushed at her, dissipating the trident and wrapping his arm around her middle. She coughed and grabbed her throat, sucking in more water. Trying to get air.

He swam faster than he ever had in his life, straight up while parting the water at the surface to get her to the air faster.

“Hang on, baby,” he said, sheer terror stopping his heart. “Hang on. Almost there.”

He crested the surface he’d created, letting the water push him the rest of the way up to sea level. He pushed on her chest as she gagged. Water dribbled from her mouth. She coughed, clutching at him.

“Breathe, baby, it’s over. We made it,” he said, floating to the top and cradling her in his arms. “We made it. Breathe.”

Jack cut through the water, four boats held high with his tentacles. Each held a member of his Six, their faces pale, their eyes anxious. Zorn’s gaze found Alexis, gasping for breath.

He readied to dive into the water, just as at home there as Jack, though not nearly as powerful. The brunt of his power existed on land.

“I have her. Stay in the boat.” Kieran swam her closer and handed her up before climbing in himself.

She coughed and gagged, emptying the liquid in her lungs into the boat. She sucked in deeply, replacing the water with air.

“Is she okay?” Donovan brought his boat closer. The way it shook in the air indicated he was tired. They all were.

“Yes,” he said as a wave of relief washed over him. He hugged her close and looked up at the sky, a million emotions racing through him. “Yes.”

Zorn was lifted away and dumped into Donovan’s boat. “Sorry, bro. I’m about out of steam,” Donovan said.

Kieran looked down at Alexis’s beautiful face before brushing the wet hair off of her cheek. Her chest rose and fell, still gasping for air and coughing up water, but she was alive. They both were.