Chapter 99

A groan breaks from Orion as he dashes from Laila’s side, running towards the water, splashing in and going for the closest girl – for Cadence – helping her stand straight, untying her hands so that she can steady herself. Laila follows a moment later, shifting into her seal to get through the water faster so she can help.

I let them handle it, my job there done.

I glance up at the wraiths, flicking my hand through the air, hurling them all away back into the sky to…well, to wherever the fuck they came from.

And then I turn back to Death, who stares at me still, less with anger now and more with…

With awe.

With fear.

“You really shouldn’t have fucked with me,” I say, not bothering to amplify my voice anymore as I begin to walk through the waves towards the shore. I know he can hear me. I know he’s listening. “Because you’ve woken something in me now. And you really, really should have let it rest.”

I keep my eyes fixed on my enemy as I emerge from the water. Behind me I can feel my ghost boy following me, trailing me with every step, a low, proud growl echoing in his throat.

Death just folds his arms, watching me come. “You overstep, girl,” he snaps as I stand before him on the shore, my water-logged shoes sinking into the sand. “There is a great deal more at stake in this Game than you understand –“

I roll my eyes, baring my fangs at him. “This Game is done,” I snap, cutting him off, perhaps snatching his voice away for a moment to do it. I don’t know – my power, I can feel it moving beyond me now, working my will even without my direction.

Death’s eyes widen as he stares at me.

“I’m well aware,” I continue, advancing towards him as I speak, tilting my head back to look into his face, “that this fucking display had nothing to do with your prophecies.”

I gesture out towards the girls that Laila and Orion continue to help, several more of the Top contestants venturing out into the water to likewise lend aid.

“No,” slowly I shake my head. “This had everything to do with you seizing control, with seeking to control Orion. And because you know his loyalties are moving to me, you sought to keep me out. You really, really shouldn’t have done that.”

I cross my arms now, allowing Death’s voice to come back if I ever took it, wanting to hear himself dig himself deeper. My wolf growls eagerly in my soul, scratching eagerly at the ground of my soul like she’s holding herself back, her fur newly alight with my power, nearly glowing.

“You are nothing but a foolish child,” Death snarls, stepping towards me.

Slowly, I begin to smile.

“Whose hubris makes her overstep her power. This Game –“

“Is my Game now,” I hiss, whipping my hand in front of his face and snatching it into a fist like I’m grasping a fly out of the air. “Mine. You have run it into the ground, and now it is mine. I claim it. I make the rules – me and me alone.”

“I am done with you,” the God growls, stepping towards me, leering over me, his dark power beginning to seep from his body, to pool around him. “Damn the consequences – damn what that Goddess makes me pay –“

He snarls, knocking my hand aside with his arm before snatching my throat in his hand, beginning to squeeze. Behind me, Anton gasps – but I just smile, pretty and sweet.

Because as much as he squeezes, my body doesn’t give, hard as iron beneath his hand. Unbreakable.

Death growls, tightening his fist, and then hurls his magic at me. Anton shouts in fear but the God’s dark magic washes over me in a steady stream, lifting into the air to dissipate harmlessly like steam.

The God’s eyes go wide as he realizes that he is…utterly powerless against me.

That my words were true – that by some miracle, I’m more powerful than him.

That my words were prophecy in themselves – a prophecy of my own making.

He woke something in me. And he really, really shouldn’t have.

My smile widens, slow and pretty, showing him my sharp little teth.

Death snatches his hand away, snarling at me, and then fixes his eyes on Anton. He snarls and then reaches for my ghost, twisting his fingers in the air.

I spin, horrified when I see the result of his magic – his intent –

Anton, my handmaid, slowly going to pieces before me – disintegrating at the edges, floating away into the air –

His eyes fly to mine, terrified, and I gasp, reaching for him.

My fingers curl around Anton’s wrist and I tug, hard, pulling him towards me. he stumbles forward and I move my eyes fast to the pieces of him in the air, commanding them all back, pulling them all together. They obey, Anton’s edges returning, sharp and clear.

“You bitch,” Death snarls.

I whip my head back to the God, livid now, my hand locked around Anton’s arm, holding him steady, in one piece. My wolf howls, scrabbling at the edge of my soul, trying to break through – to check, to make sure –

“Who taught you that,” Death seethes, looming over me again, “who gave you the right to touch my powers – to command the dead –“

“Me,” I snap, my voice low and boiling, smoldering with rage and flame.

I take a step forward, pulling Anton with me, and I’m not surprised when Death takes a step back. No, not surprised at all. I advance more, forcing him to give up more space.

“You try to take what is mine?” I intone, my words thunder and storm. “Beyond trying to kill me today, to wipe me out like some bothersome mite, you try to take him!?”

I feel it when my eyes go black.

Feel the lightning begin to spark across my features, in my mouth, across my palm as I raise it towards the God of Death.

“For that,” I say, my voice echoing lurid and two-toned, “you will yield me more than this Game. I will take your crown, and I will take your throne, and I will take your land –“

The God stares at me, horror and terror in his expression.

“And when I am finished,” I rage, “you will thank me for leaving you with your damned head!”

I let the lightening simmer for a moment between us, let him feel the reality of my promise.

The Death god pales further, stepping back. “This is not done,” he whispers.

Lightening cracks in the sky, striking the space before us, inches from his face. Death stumbles back three more steps as I straighten, my eyes clearing, my hand dropping to my side.

“Yes,” I say, bland, straightening my shoulders. “Yes, it is.”

I turn my head to look over at the girls who stumble out of the water, leaning on other contestants’ shoulders, sobbing and crying, clutching their chests where their lungs again and again, by some miracle, fill with air.

“If a single one of them shows up dead, and you will follow,” I say, setting my shoulders back.

“You will have no more succor in my palace - ” Death snarls.

“Oh, shut up,” I sigh, waving a hand at him, wanting this done, sick of my own dramatics. “It will all be mine soon.”

“This is war.” The God of Death takes one final step towards me.

I turn my eyes back to him, narrowing them, peering at him through my dark lashes. “Good. I welcome it.”

Then I wave a dismissive hand, vanishing him away – back to the palace – back to…wherever the fuck he wants to go.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

I turn to Anton, looking up into his face, his wrist still held close in my fist. He stares down at me, looking strange, half freaked out half…fucking thrilled, like he just went on one hell of a roller coaster ride and can’t wait to do it again.

“You all right?” I ask on a sigh, my eyes tracing around the edges of him, desperate to assure myself that he’s okay – that none of him was lost.

“I’m good, June,” he whispers, stepping close, cupping my cheek in his hand. My eyes drift shut, a little whine creeping up my throat, because his touch isn’t a tingle anymore. It’s – it’s a real palm. Not fully substantial – not really. But…enough. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” I sigh, shaking my head. “Are you sure I didn’t die?”

“Not really,” Anton sighs, stepping forward and wrapping me up in his arms.

I rest my head against his chest, feeling very exhausted and very overwhelmed, even as anger and rage still pump through me.

“But if you’re dead,” Anton murmurs, pressing a simple kiss to my hair, “you’re one hell of a fucking terror as a ghost.”

A laugh huffs from my lips, a smile curling them.

“J-Juniper?”

I lift my head, giving my friend a tiny smile. “Hey Laila. Are you okay?”

“Um!” she says, tucking her hands behind her back, glancing over her shoulder towards Orion, who likewise walks over to us, his head hanging.

I laugh a little at her non-answer. “It’s cool, I’m not sure if I’m okay either.”

“You’re okay,” Anton murmurs and I lean further against him, trusting him completely in this moment, because I no longer have a conception of reality at all anymore. “You’re fantastic, June. Completely fantastic.”