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CHAPTER 5

NOVA

“I better be in one piece!” Not giving them a moment to respond, I turned to look at Isis and Osiris. “Both of you know that being separated into pieces is a no-go. I mean, that’s literally what got us here, when Set did that to you—so I am going to need to be fully restored. Not just me, though—all ten of us—or else the dark ones can come and eat everything up. I will not be saving the world as a severed head.”

Everett chuckled, and I could feel the humor from the rest of my men through my bonds—even from Ramsey—and it made me relax a bit. See? They would ensure I wasn’t just a severed head. They loved me too much.

“It’s not the physical body I’m worried about,” Venus explained. “I’m more worried about your magic and the distinct parts of it that you’ve separated out through your bonds. You’ve essentially thrown nine ‘Nova’ level power structures into your mates.”

“So what you’re saying…” I drew the words out.

“Don’t,” River huffed.

“Is that I’m inside of them?” I finished, trying to keep a serious expression. Fox’s chuckle as August shook his head in my peripheral almost made me lose my cool.

“Yes,” Venus agreed.

Isis sighed, shaking her head and pinning me with a look. “Focus, Nova.”

“I am!” I argued. “I just needed some understanding here.”

“I thought it was funny,” Anubis said, and Danu nodded enthusiastically in agreement. I was a huge fan of their relationship—especially since they were so supportive of my dumb humor.

“Okay, okay.” I waved my hand. “So why are you worried about the power split?”

“How are you supposed to use it when it’s not fully accessible?”

“Oh!” I clapped my hands together, understanding where she was going. “No, I won’t be keeping it. The guardians of the garden tasked me with giving the magic out to the leaders I deem worthy of helping our cause. I have a running list.”

Venus looked relieved. “Okay, that is much easier to figure out than trying to use it mid-battle.”

“I also predict that it will allow you a connection with those you pick,” Danu pointed out.

“What were the guardians like?” Hecate asked. “Actually, what happened when you even got to the garden?”

I kept forgetting that many of the gods gathered probably only had pieces of the story—like how Venus knew we’d been trying to find the garden, but not about the Old Realm of the Ethereal Sea beforehand. As allies, I did feel like they deserved the full story about the garden and what had led up to that.

“Oh, I suppose I should explain that,” I hummed in amusement. “Alright, so when we couldn’t contact Hecate in the Horde, I managed to get in contact with someone who knew about the prophecy…”

I purposefully kept Apep’s name out of the tale for now—we could dive into that later if needed. Instead, for the next fifteen minutes of story time, I sort of forgot that this was my actual life we were talking about. I forgot that I was the one who’d done all of this, and it was only afterward when they were all staring at me in shock that I realized how crazy our journey had been.

“That’s wild.” Hecate shook her head, eyes wide in amazement. “And the fact that the Titans have been able to leave this entire time? Such bullshit! I guess Dad just never had enough free time to come see us.” Hecate’s face was filled with hurt, her brow pinched as her consort ran a hand up and down her back in comfort, but Volkan visibly relaxed. If Hecate had kept their father’s ability to visit them a secret, he would’ve considered it a partial betrayal.

“I had a feeling that the story with the Titans wasn’t entirely true,” Venus said.

“That’s because Zeus has convinced himself that it always has to be him and his buddies against the world,” Osiris said, taking a long sip of his wine. It did make me wonder when dinner would be served. Unfortunately, I had a feeling it wouldn’t come until after the other very important discussions we needed to have.

“Zeus.” Isis’s nose scrunched up at the mention of his name.

“We don’t like him?” Danu asked.

“You would loathe him,” Anubis said. “So much so that I never want you around him.” I was nearly positive that he was just being possessive over her, but at the same time, it wouldn’t particularly surprise me to find out that Zeus was an asshole.

“So yeah,” I said, gathering everyone’s attention back to me. “Pretty much my job is to go to all our allies and grant them the power to help in the upcoming war. Something I’m hoping will be fairly easy once I get back into my physical body.”

“And necessary,” Isis agreed. “I feel much better knowing that you won’t be walking around like a ticking time bomb of power.”

My nuclear power plant analogy didn’t seem that far off now, did it?

Osiris spoke next. “Your power is most likely being dulled because of your lack of physical body—although that’s just a theory. Once you’re connected with your body, the merger of magic, spirit, and body will probably cause quite the explosion. You may feel overwhelmed by the magic, so plan to move quickly once you’re on Earth.”

“It’ll be fascinating how the magic works once you’re there,” Hecate said. “And if they can utilize it at all,” she added, referring to my men.

“Actually, that reminds me.” I shifted in my chair, my thoughts going a million miles an hour as I tried to sort through my own list of things I wanted to talk about. “If I’m going to gather allies, we need to talk about who exactly that entails—outside of my running list—and more importantly…who it doesn’t include.”

“I can somewhat answer that last part,” Anubis said. “I’ve been able to infiltrate most of the courts under the guise of official business—or social in the case of someone like Set—and I have a pretty good sense of where to start. Any of the gods of old, specifically the founders and any of the primordial creatures associated with them, should be viewed as enemies. Gods like Titania. Oberon’s status remains unknown, but if he’s around I would include him with her. Ra as well as possibly Atum from the Egyptian sector, Ymir from the Norse sector, and Inanna from the Summarian sector. Those I can pretty much confirm are part of the power drainage issue, but there are many, many potential others, including any younger gods the older ones may have recruited.”

Wonderful. I was going to need a better grasp on who our enemies were, because I couldn’t afford to walk into this blind. Thank the Maker my instincts had led me to a group of people who, despite their faults, I could trust.

Bayton’s statement about how everyone had something to gain in this situation rang in my head. Almost everyone here had made their intentions clear, so I felt as though I could trust their opinions on who to be wary of.

“Don’t forget Nyx and Apep,” Isis said.

I shook my head. “Apep is an ally.”

Isis and Osiris stared at me like I was fucking crazy as I smirked, glad I’d left this part of the story for last. “When I was in the Horde, the person who knew about the prophecy? It was Apep. He appeared to me and pledged his allegiance.” I showed the mark he left on me and then shrugged casually. “He doesn’t want his territory encroached on.”

“I have never heard of Apep pledging himself to anyone,” Osiris said quietly, looking slightly baffled.

“He must really be hoping to take down Ra with this,” Isis concluded, frowning. “If you trust him, Nova, then we can consider him an ally.”

I briefly remembered Ra and Apep having some kind of eternal fight but couldn’t remember the details. The reality of wanting revenge against the god made a bit more sense in why Apep was willing to involve himself in something like this.

“Maybe we have other unlikely allies as well,” Hecate spoke up.

“It’s possible. I can reach out to the creatures that serve me,” Phorcys offered as I nodded, liking the sound of that.

“I think we should all do that.” Danu sat up straighter. “The time for quiet is over. After that surge of power, the Titans being back and leaving the garden, the old gods will want to enact their plans. We have no need to continue acting in secret.”

“You’re right,” Isis agreed. “We need to prepare for war.”

“Which means we need to get out of here,” I said, breaking into the conversation. “I have no idea how much time passes down here compared to Earth, or what’s happened since we’ve been here.”

“It’s one-fourth the time of Earth, so if you’re down here for twelve hours, it’s four on Earth,” Osiris explained.

Better than the other fucking realms we had been to.

“Earth is much the same since you died…the God realm, not so much,” Isis said. “The council can surely sense something has changed, and it won’t be long before they gather to figure it out. And once they realize the Titans are back, they may declare war on them to distract from the larger and more pressing threat.”

Which was themselves, for the record. I mean, an argument could be made it was also the world eaters, but I really felt like this would all go a lot more smoothly if the old gods weren’t making a mess of everything.

“Right. Well, I plan on releasing this magic to allies on Earth, the Horde, and in the God realm before gathering together for this little war. I presume I have enough time to do that, but every day counts at this point.”

“Horde first,” Cassian suggested. I agreed—it was by far the safest option.

“And then we can decide between the God realm and Earth after that.”

“You’ll need an efficient way to travel,” Hecate pointed out. “Set’s bounty on you has inspired…many. The hunt has increased tenfold.”

“What an asshole.” I shook my head with frustration. Go figure that both father figures in my life—Earnest and Set—were more of an annoyance than anything. And to think at one point they’d each represented such a large threat. “I’ve used the portal orbs from Gray?—”

“You won’t need those anymore,” Volkan explained, interrupting me. “We won’t need jets or portals anywhere. You’ll be able to create a portal like we did on that island back in Bora Bora. I know you don’t feel it yet, αγαπο?λα μου , but the power you have means that portalling will be absolutely nothing for you.”

“Are you sure?” I asked softly, concerned about putting my men in danger.

“Absolutely,” he assured me, his face so extremely serious it eased the worry in my chest.

“Anything else?” I asked the group and was met by shakes of the head and silence.

Understood.

“We leave in the morning for the Horde, then,” I said officially. “I need a more comprehensive list of who we can trust and not trust before we go. I’m not as familiar with the God realm as I should be.”

Osiris snapped his fingers, and paper and pencils appeared in front of us on the table. As they began discussing some of the older gods, I took a steadying breath, mentally sorting through everything we’d just discussed. Putting aside the humor and the bold attitude, my chest was tight with apprehension over everything to come.

The moment we stepped out of the realm, we’d be embarking on a mission with farther reaching consequences to anything we’d dealt with to date. The moment we left here, there was only one end to our story, and it was defeating the dark ones.

“I’m going to take a breather!” I announced, not ashamed of needing a moment to myself. Stepping out of the room, I inhaled the scent of incense and slowly made my way toward a bench, ignoring the guards that stood to either side of the door.

I could feel the worry through the bonds with my men, but to their credit they didn’t follow—yet.

Closing my eyes, I let my hands drift up to the necklace that Ram and Nour had given to me, the warmth of it comforting. I had so many marks on my body and so many from my men, that in times like this, when the world felt like chaos—and not the fun kind—they truly grounded me. My bonds held me like tethers to reality and I knew that despite all the odds being against us in so many ways that we would find a way past this. We had to —we had way too much ahead of us for our future.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” A soft feminine voice broke my thoughts, and my eyes opened to find a woman standing nearby. I moved over to make room, her sleek gold armor shining under the ceiling lights as she leaned back against the wall. I noticed she had a scar that went from her temple down to her jawline, a savage wound showing the type of fights she had engaged in.

It was obvious she was a soldier of some kind, but the way she lounged was so casual and relaxed that I wondered if maybe the outfit was just for fun. I also had a sneaking suspicion she was a spirit.

“You seemed deep in thought. Hopefully I didn’t interrupt you,” she said, her gaze meeting mine.

My brows rose because holy crap, I knew exactly who this was! How could I not? Her umber skin and dark wavy hair were a near match, and those silver eyes…I mean, did Nour and Ramsey even get anything from their asshole father?

“You’re Ram and Nour’s mom,” I said, the small smile that graced her lips confirming the statement.

“I am, and you’re the descendant.” She spoke with clarity that told me she was well aware of everything going on. “You’re also engaged to my sons.”

“The necklace,” I breathed out, reaching up to touch the marking with my fingers. “Did I…I must have called you here by accident. I’m sorry.” I was going to feel like shit if my magic had pulled her from her restful slumber.

“Don’t be; I was happy to feel the pull,” she said. “It’s good to speak to you.”

“I should get Ram and Nour—” I said, starting to stand up.

“No,” she said, her tone still soft. “My sons wouldn’t be able to see. They don’t have death magic in the same way you do.”

Oh. So it wasn’t just the necklace. Fascinating.

“How are they doing?” she asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

“Good,” I answered without a doubt. “They are good. They’ve told me about you, and I’ve met Ramses-the-not-so-great.”

Her smile was filled with amusement at Ramses’ nickname. “Good. Please tell them, if you have a chance, that I think about them every day, watch over them when I can, and that I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer.”

Shit. My eyes prickled at the unexpected emotion. Of course I would tell them, but I somehow didn’t feel worthy to deliver such an important message to them.

“I can do that,” I assured her before something occurred to me. “We aren’t down here because we?—”

“I know they aren’t dead. I know how important they’ve become,” she said with a hint of pride. “I can’t do anything from this side besides offer advice, but I want to give you something.”

She slowly reached a hand forward to touch the necklace, the metal warming at her pulse of magic. When I looked down, the necklace was glowing.

“It’s what is left of my healing power. It’s not much, but it’s something.” She squeezed my hand. “I have to go, but please tell them I said hi.”

“I’ll tell them everything,” I promised her.

A soft wind broke through the hallway, and all of a sudden life seemed to snap back into place. The soldiers resumed their watch, fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot, and noises from down the hall sounded. Had I just sunk into a different form of reality? Like how Everett did on Earth? I hadn’t even realized that those things had stopped.

Standing, I made my way across the hall to a mirrored surface that sat in front of a statue of Osiris, a flame burning light and reflecting a warm glow around the small shrine. In the mirror I examined the necklace, looking over the gold and silver lined sigil that now pulsed with power under my touch. A small smile tugged at my lips.

So we could see spirits down here. More than see—also talk to them. I would have to tell Everett. More importantly, though, I needed to speak to Nour and Ramsey.

“Sunshine?”

Ramsey and Nour were striding toward me from the throne room. I should’ve known they’d sensed something happening, especially since it had to do with the necklace.

“What’s going on?” Nour asked, looking over me with concern.

“I just met someone who blessed my necklace,” I said quietly, motioning toward the piece of jewelry.

“ Our necklace?” Ramsey demanded, crouching down to get a better look as I sat back on the bench. Nour joined me, intertwining our fingers as he brushed his lips against my skin.

“It was actually your mom.”

Both men froze as I bit down on my lip, feeling suddenly nervous about their reaction. “What do you mean?” Nour asked, his eyes filled with a hope that he was trying to hide. I didn’t like that at all.

“I have some death magic— clearly —and I was touching the necklace and she appeared…” My brow furrowed, expressing my doubts about how it had fully gone down. “I tried to convince her to let me get you two, but she said you wouldn’t be able to see her.”

“What else did she say?” Ram asked, his gaze filled with warmth—not frustration, to my relief.

“She said, ‘Please tell them that I think about them every day, watch over them when I can, and that I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer.’”

Our bond exploded with heavy emotion, everything from grief to joy. Ramsey nodded in understanding, smoothing a hand over my leg as he looked down in thought. Nour ran his fingers over my back before kissing my shoulder.

“She also infused the necklace with healing magic to help us as much as she could,” I said, closing my eyes. “She seemed amazing.”

“I never thought you would get to meet her,” Nour breathed. “I’m glad you did, moonbeam.”

“I am too,” Ramsey said, his jaw tight with his attempt to fully control his emotions. I could feel them, though—they were so intense, and the strongest one that toppled over the others was a sense of relief. A sense of closure.

“I want to put her blessing to good use,” I said. “This isn’t going to be the thing to defeat us. If the old gods want a war while we’re trying to save the planet from cosmic primordial entities…then that is exactly what we are going to give them.”