Page 52 of Gods and Graves

I don’t want to feel it, but I do. God help me, I do.

The magic surges in me, flooding my senses—sweet and intoxicating.

I can’t escape it. Aphrodite must’ve been holding back the last time we visited her.

This… This is like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

I can feel her power everywhere, crackling through the air like waves of electricity. It’s pure and intense and not hers.

I think of my guys.

That’s true love. Not…this. Not this twisted, demented emotion she’s attempting to make me feel. Fuck her.

I tighten my grip on the dagger, and despite the hallucinations and voices and agonizing pain…my mind is clearer than before.

I won’t let her control me.

Aphrodite laughs softly, a sound that chills me to the bone. “You think you can resist? You think you can stop me? You are nothing but a shadow, a whisper against the storm of desire.”

Does she hear herself? My god. Who talks like that in real life?

She’s probably the type who thinks she’s far more educated and posh than she truly is. She attends book clubs after reading the summaries on Wikipedia.

Bitch.

With a roar, I dive at her with my dagger, the blade slicing through the air with an audible hiss.

But she’s fast—too fast. She swirls away with a jovial laugh, her magic surging again. It wraps around my limbs, squeezing, suffocating. I gasp for air, but it’s like my body’s pinned by invisible hands.

My thoughts start to blur as her magic pokes and prods at my brain, whispering seductive promises, but I fight against it.

You love the guys.

You love the guys.

I love the guys.

I gather my strength and pull myself free, ripping through the magic by sheer force of will. Aphrodite’s eyes flash with surprise and then begrudging admiration.

“I can see why Ares loved you so much,” she muses, her power swirling around us like a tempest.

“Do you know what that fucker did to me?” I scream. “He hurt me. Beat me. Assaulted me. Left me for dead. He’s a monster.”

If I expected the Goddess of Love and Beauty to be sympathetic to me, I was sorely mistaken. She simply waves an errant hand in the air, her nostrils flaring.

“I don’t want to talk about that cheating, lying bastard a second longer. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you the second I found you, like the whore you are.” She raises her hand again, and this time, the earth beneath my feet cracks open, sending waves of molten energy rushing at me.

I leap to the side, my heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through me.

There’s no time to hesitate.

This time, there will be no second chances.

I had a life as Winnifred that ended horribly, and I refuse to allow that same fate to happen to Thea.

“Fuck you, bitch,” I hiss, charging at her again, my dagger a blur of silver in the air.

The magic crackles as the blade cuts through the pulse of energy she sends out, splintering the attack.

The goddess’s expression darkens. “You fight like you have nothing left to lose. But you do, Thea. You have everything to lose. Do you really think I’ll allow this slight to stand? If you give up now, I’ll leave your precious men alone, but if you don’t…”

She steps forward, her lips curling into a predatory smile. “I’ll fuck them until they forget you even exist. Then, when they’re so consumed by love for me, I’ll slit their fucking throats.”

A roar of rage bursts free.

She can threaten me all she wants, but the second she mentions my men? Yeah, the gloves have come off. She’ll fucking die.

I swipe at her repeatedly, forcing her back step after step—and straight onto my cactus.

She screams in pain, flicking her gaze towards the plant.

“What the fuck?” She lifts a foot to kick it away, but I slash at her before she can, cutting the fabric of her shirt.

No one is allowed to hurt Potty.

“Enough playing, you insolent bitch!” She lifts her arms in the air?—

Just as the door to her apartment is kicked open, my guys spilling inside, followed by a panting Athena.

“Thea!” Everett calls, relief overtaking his features.

They’re here.

My guys are here.

They found me.

I knew they would—that they wouldn’t stop—but to see the evidence firsthand…

Everything around me fades away.

The voices go silent, as if they’re holding their collective breaths. The blood dripping from the wall freezes, as do the shadowy monsters advancing in my direction.

A few things become painfully clear.

My men came for me, as they promised they would.

Aphrodite is a threat that needs to be stopped.

I’m the only one capable of doing that.

The goddess is currently distracted, her gaze homing in on my men, whom she deems the biggest threat.

Her mistake.

I don’t think, don’t give myself a chance to second-guess my decision.

I bring the dagger down into Aphrodite’s heart.

For a moment, nothing happens. We simply stand there, her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips parted.

But then the ground beneath us begins to shake and a wild wind whips through the apartment.

Furniture goes flying, and even Athena is knocked off her feet, slamming into the wall with an audible thump.

Spirit after spirit leaves the dagger in glittering silver orbs that fill the air like a million shooting stars.

Free. They’re free.

“No!” Aphrodite screams, twisting, blood foaming in her mouth.

Cracks materialize on her beautiful face like stone that has been dropped on concrete one too many times.

“The only thing capable of killing you is the same power you stole,” I whisper, my hands shaking from exertion. But I force myself to hold on, force myself to stare into her wide, terrified eyes. “Goodbye, Aphrodite. I hope you enjoy an eternity in Tartarus with Ares.”

My legs tremble and then give out. I drop to my knees, tears spilling down my cheeks.

“Someone stop her!” Athena yells. “This is killing her.”

But I can’t stop. I won’t. Not until all of the souls are free and Aphrodite is gone from this earth for good.

One final soul…

“Thea, baby, please. Stop,” Everett begs.

“Thea!” Krystian cries out.

Someone else is crying beside me.

Rafe.

I’m not sure he has ever cried before in his life.

“Sweetheart, stop. It’s over. Please,” Zaid pleads.

I can feel myself fading, dark splotches erupting across my vision.

And then Aphrodite shatters into a thousand pieces like a boulder that just exploded.

I fall, only to immediately be captured by strong arms.

Four faces surround me, peering down at me as if I’m their entire world.

I’m sorry, I want to say.

Please forgive me.

But I don’t have time for all of that. So instead, I say the only thing I can think of.

“I love you.”

And then I die.