Strength (Curse of the Gods #4)(72)

He just shook his head, his expression almost pained. “This is not the sort of attire you want to fight a god in.”

“Might give her an advantage,” Aros said, his eyes practically the colour of melted gold as they met mine. “I’d definitely lose.”

Rome’s voice sounded strained. “One: we do not want Rau looking at her like that. Ever. Two: we would all have to kill him on the spot, and that would just get messy.”

Killing a god wasn’t something they could easily achieve, but we all knew what he meant. “We have the chains now, Willa,” Yael reminded me. “Killing just got a hell of a lot easier.”

My attention was drawn back to the scene on the cliff again. Rau was still just standing there, the first lot of sleepers about to reach him.

“There have to be thousands of them,” I murmured. We didn’t have them in the seventh ring—one of the few good things about living in the outer areas of Minatsol. But I’d heard the stories. The venom in one bite was strong enough to kill ten sols. That’s how deadly they were.

Warmth moved down my spine; I recognised the Trickery straight away, and barely even flinched. I didn’t turn from the scene to see what Siret had clothed me in. It really didn’t matter, it had to be better than what I’d had on.

“Got it.” Coen’s low voice caused me to jump. I spun around to find him looking a little windswept, the engraved chains in his hands, before a scream from behind had us all whipping back toward where Rau and the Bestiary sol were facing off. Fire had ripped across the top of the cliff, engulfing all of the deadly creatures, as well as the Bestiary sol who controlled them. Before anyone could say anything, I snatched the chains off Coen and dove for the doorway.

Strong arms wrapped around my biceps, halting me mid-step.

“No, Willa!” Yael snapped. “You’ll get yourself killed running in like that. Give the chains to us.”

With a shake of my head, I wrapped both arms tightly around them. “No. I’m the only one who has a chance of getting close enough to Rau to use them. I need to stop this now.”

I knew there was no way they were going to let me just walk over to him, but I couldn’t listen to the screams of that sol for another click and not do something.

Freeze them. The thought pushed through my mind with force, almost seeming to slam into the Abcurses. I knew the only reason I got away with it was because the last thing they expected was for me to use my powers against them. So they had no shields against me. Freeze them! I mentally screamed this time.

All sounds faded away.

Even the birds that had been screeching in the sky went quiet. I managed to wiggle myself out of Yael’s hold. Thankfully, he’d been trying to swing me around, so his grip was loose. Taking in the scene, I scrambled into the hall. Everyone was frozen. Not just the Abcurses, but all of the sols, gods, and … even Rau.

Holy fucking shit. This was my shot. My chance to take him down.

I sprinted forward, stepping my way around burning animals, the fire eerily still. I was running as fast as my legs could move, eyes locked on the prize, chains clinking in my hands. I had no idea how long my freezing power would last. Probably not long enough, but this was my only shot. All of the gods would be on guard against this sort of attack if they had even a moment to recover. If I’d learned anything from those bitches who could change their appearance, it was that you might fool a god once or twice, but the moment they caught on to what you could do, there was no way to fool them again.

From the corner of my right eye, I caught movement—it was already wearing off. I cried out in pain, pushing my body faster and harder than I had ever thought possible, reaching Rau just as his eyes snapped to me. I took one of the cuffs and slammed it around his right wrist. As I went to click the left into place, his arm shot out, the movement blurred with speed. Before I could do anything, the second cuff clicked into place.

On my wrist.

“Activate,” he said, the maniacal hint of a laugh underlying the word.





Sixteen





Having my soul torn from my body and catapulted through time and space into a banishment realm was far less painful than I’d anticipated—but it didn’t seem to be the same for Rau, whose high-pitched screams kept me company until my eyes opened again.

There was some disorientation, and it took me some time to understand why everything was muted, the colours dull and washed out. The landscape also left something to be desired, taking its inspiration from the outer rings of Minatsol. Barren of life.

Maybe this was another dimension of Minastol? Like a plane of existence that sols and dwellers couldn’t see, but that existed side by side with ours? The way Topia and Minatsol did?

The rambling of my thoughts appeared to be getting worse.

“How dare you use Crowe’s chains on me.” Those hard words snapped me out of my delirium. My reality rushed in, slamming into me with the force of an enraged bullsen.

Rau. Banishment realm. Fuck.

I spun around to face him, moving much faster than I would have been able to in Minatsol. My hands were up in front of me in the same instant, as I prepared myself for a fight.

I felt solid and alive but looking down at my skin and clothes, which were almost grey in colour, I realised I was just as washed out as the rest of this land. And I was back in the shirt, because apparently Trickery clothing did not travel across realms.