Tyler jumped, landing easily next to us. “I need to check on Danny,” he said. “He was turning back to human last I saw.”
“I’m right here, mate.” Danny strode toward us. He had a remnant piece of one of Selene’s sheets tied around his waist. He looked awful, pale and exhausted, but I was happy to see him alive. “Let’s get on with taking her apart, then. I’m ready to be done with this. Not quite the adventure I had hoped for, but I’ll take it as a win.”
“Are you completely healed from her spell?” I asked, scanning his body to make sure.
“Only thanks to your power and my wolf,” he said grimly. “Without it I would’ve been a goner. That Goddess packs a serious punch. It made the goat spell seem like a bloody tummy ache.”
I nodded. I could feel his relief in my blood. I was relieved too. “Before we do this, I need to check on Rourke,” I said. “He’s healing, but he’s too vulnerable. Then I will kill her personally. If for some reason we fail, I can’t leave him”—I won’t leave him—“at her mercy again.”
Naomi’s hand found my arm. “Go to him. I will start on Selene. I have waited years for my revenge and it starts now.” Her face hardened as she turned to the boys. “We will take her head first.” She glanced at me. “In the end we will need your power to kill her, no matter what we do here first.”
My eyes met hers, flashing violet. “It won’t take me long.”
She nodded.
I ran to Rourke. He was still unconscious, but his chest had knit together more, which was a welcome sight. Why isn’t he awake? My wolf growled and snapped her jaws. We broke the spell and he was moving. He should be awake by now.
Something was wrong.
“Wait!” I called over my shoulder. “He should’ve woken up by now. Something isn’t right.” Naomi met my stare across the room. She looked feral, her eyes a gleaming mercury in the pale candlelight. Whatever pain she endured once Eamon brought her here must have been immense. “I already crushed Selene’s spell out of his body. Why isn’t he awake?”
“I do not know,” Naomi replied. “Search for another reason. I will wait, but we have only a few minutes at most.” Killing Selene before we knew what she’d done to Rourke could be dangerous. Most spells vanished once the maker was dead, but someone as powerful as Selene could find a way do damage after her death. There was no question. She could have feasibly inserted something into his system only she could reverse and I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
I crouched down, placing my fingers on his forearm. Electricity jumped between us and his arm twitched in response. I ran my hands up to his hair as I gathered power to me, pulling hard on my resources. Then I placed both my hands on his shoulders and threw my senses into his body, testing for another reason why he wasn’t waking.
There it is! My wolf snapped her jaws.
It was barely detectable and it felt rough, like a prickly beard running along my mind. My head shot up quickly when I felt its ugly intent. “There’s something vile here! But it’s masked very well. It doesn’t even feel like her signature. Whatever it is, I think it’s preventing him from fully waking. I’m going to try and break it.” Naomi stood up and reached for something in Tyler’s outstretched hand.
“Be careful, Jess,” Tyler said. “Her spells are tricky.”
“We will wait to see if he wakes before we behead Selene,” Naomi said. “But in the meantime, I will give her another reason to stay asleep.” She crouched next to the Goddess, plunging another dart of Tally’s into Selene’s stomach. Selene’s body gave a gigantic lurch, but she stayed immobile. “We will not take undue risks.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Danny muttered to Naomi, shaking his head. “I think that dart went all the way through and lodged in the rocks below.”
“Oui,” Naomi said. “And it did not give her the pain she deserves, but it will have to do for now.” She turned to me, urging, “Hurry. We must not let her wake.”
There was no way I was arguing with Naomi. I worked fast. In one powerful thrust I shot my power into Rourke’s body, the gold of my essence covering the spell I’d found. It floated along the lines in his body, coating it like glue, but these spell lines were curiously blue, not Selene’s color at all. But they were definitely mingled with her essence. Tricky witch.
Once I coated the spell, I yanked my power back in a rush, pulling hard.
The spell snapped apart instantly, withering and evaporating like a flower dying on a vine.