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“You mortals have this saying that everything happens for a reason, and you know…I think I’m beginning to believe it. If Mira hadn’t betrayed Empyrea and given birth to you, then Akosua, Daughter of Michael and Wielder of Fire, might never have joined Chthonia.” That name, smushed between the diabolic bullshit, perforated the thin layer of confidence I’d just rebuilt. “And then we would never know how rich the Watchers’ Source is! Killing you is easier, but siphoning your powers is a far better strategy in the long run. Then not only can we infiltrate Mortal Earth—we can rule it.”

My head shook at the memory of Akosua standing beside my mom as they overlooked the Fall. She’d been so adamant about the consequences for choosing love; it didn’t make sense that she’d commit such a blatant form of treason herself. “Akosua swore to protect Earth. Not destroy it. Why would she be in on this? You’re lying.”

“You think your little meltdown at your Grad Night is what made the connection to the Watchers disappear?” Her lips curved into an evil smile. “You can thank Akosua for severing it.”

I gasped for that impossible breath, sputtering for the oxygen that’d been ripped from my lungs.

“It’s interesting…” Finis studied me intently, as if seeing me for the very first time. “You make it seem like Akosua is the problem, when your mother is the one who abandoned the Watchers and left Mortal Earth so vulnerable in the first place. Mira cared more about her own selfish needs than protecting humanity. I can see the family resemblance…”

Those words stilled the blood in my veins and lodged a ball of fear in my pipes. There was truth to them, truth that’d been warring against the lies I told myself.

“Did you ever stop to think maybe Akosua is just cleaning up her mess? That without the burden of Mira, she’s able to see clearly now?”

Only because I wouldn’t let myself think it, but the reality was those thoughts had already lodged themselves in the back of my mind since Madame Myrian’s.

“And maybe Chthonia’s mission speaks to her?”

See, that was the part I couldn’t wrap my head around. It just didn’t make sense. Steeling myself, I asked, “What exactly is Chthonia’s mission?”

“We want to bridge the realms, so angel and demon and every species in between can be together,” she hissed, now more creature than human. “You know what it’s like to walk alone—isn’t it cruel to keep us apart?” She cooed at the Source cradled in her arms like a newborn. “To keep you and your mother apart?”

The pit in my stomach could have swallowed me whole.

“You want this too, River.”

I hated to admit it, I didn’t even want to acknowledge it, but part of me did. What’d I’d do to see my mom again…I shook my head and pushed that tiny sliver of curiosity deep down inside, swearing to never be tempted by it again.

“You’re telling me you just want everyone to live happily ever after?” I didn’t buy that—I couldn’t buy that. This was a demon.

“Sometimes happiness must be sacrificed for the greater cause. You wouldn’t understand. Mira wasn’t the best example of that…” The demon’s shoulders jutted inward, a fresh batch of black feathers exploding from her back. She grimaced in pain, then released a sigh that sounded far too pleasurable for the circumstances. I felt myself moving backwards, but I was already up against the railing. “We’ll need to rebuild, and not everyone will be happy about it. Those who join us will be offered positions within the Court of the Cursed. But those against us, those not…convinced of our cause, will be rounded up after we breach the wards.”

How could any Nephilim—how could Ryder, how could Akosua—be okay with this? A flush of cool sweat coated the back of my neck. “And taken where, exactly? I’m sure you won’t be escorting them to the nearest five star hotel.”

“That’s on a need-to-know basis, but I can assure you, the accommodations are more than appropriate for the circumstances.”

“What kind of cause do you expect humans to support when you’re unleashing demons and rounding up anyone who opposes you like cattle?”

“Humans,” Finis spat, droplets of black spit sizzling on the sand-grouted floor. “They’re as many as deer yet they’re the chosen ones. The only thing they’re chosen for is reestablishing the glory Chthonia has always deserved.”

A tidal wave of guilt, of pain, of every emotion I liked to ignore swelled to life inside me. I wanted to hide, to feel nothing, but instead of shutting down, I let the final scene of that cursed, forgotten memory from when I was eight rise from the depths.

I hadn’t been able take my eyes off the figure in the storm because it had been her—my mom. Her brilliant pearly white wings, a blue-tinted aura haloing the crown of her head, the bead of light on the tip of her extended pointer finger shining like the beacon of a lighthouse. By that time, her body had already been swallowed by the ocean and there was nothing I could do but watch as her soul drifted upwards, summoned by storms and shadows. Lightning flashed, illuminating a being at the top of the tempest, their skeletal arms and charred black wings outstretched. Watching. Waiting. Just as I had been then, I wasn’t sure now if it was a demon, an angel, or the Creator themselves. Whatever it was, it took her, and as her screams blended with the bellows of the waves, so did the voices of three others: Swim. Far away.

Taking a ragged inhale, I made myself a vow—in the presence of Finis, in the midst of this destruction—that this mental anguish would no longer control me.

I was more than my grief. I was more than my trauma.

Most importantly, I was stronger for it.

Releasing the breath, I could practically hear the Source roaring within me. It crawled beneath my skin, uncurled my fingers, and…stung my toes? My eyeballs darted to my feet. The tide had risen, abnormally high, the cold water lapping my thick white soles and seeping into my socks. An icy shock of realization ran up my nerves and jolted my heart, and I knew, with or without the necklace, the element was waiting for me to summon it.

My gaze flicked back to the demonic woman before me, and I slowly raised my hands. The ocean followed, churning and channeling around my feet into a small vortex, readying itself for my command.

“What are you doing?” Finis’s question came out muffled between her viper fangs that continued to lengthen and sharpen. She coiled in on herself, and as her slithering body sprung forward, my outstretched arms shot out in front of me. The water rushed forward, crashing into the demon moments before her teeth sank into my neck. A deafening crack reverberated off the buildings as it smashed into her, solid as concrete. Liquid flooded her slitted nostrils, her mouth, her ears, every orifice it could slip in.

A heaviness settled over my wrists as pure, unfiltered power shot through my hands. But as long as the doctor still writhed, I wouldn’t stop, no matter if the pressure split my brain in two. No matter if I could feel the Source weighing on my muscles, dragging down my elbows, and my body shuddered with the effort.

Clenching my jaw, I bit against enamel and skin. The water sputtered just as surely as everything within me was tiring, flowing more like a kinked hose than a gushing river. Fever seared my skin, but I didn’t dare relax long enough to draw a breath.