Live! Live!

It coated the soul box, strengthening it, keeping the soul from slipping out, and then filtered inside.

Live! Live!

“Yes, Alexis. A little bit longer. Just a little more… I couldn’t do this when I was alive. I couldn’t use this part of the magic, because I couldn’t open myself to it. I didn’t desire people to live, not after what they’d done to me. But you are pure. You can love. You have the full spectrum at your disposal.”

The soul shied away from my quicksilver touch at first, but then it started to drink in my offer. It regenerated, stronger and stronger until it filled the casing once again, like a flower blooming in the sun, more vibrant and alive than I’d found it.

“There you go. Now you must pull back gently. Very gently.” Harding’s touch coaxed me, his magic tracing mine and showing me what to do. “That’s right. Here we go—you must pull back without scaring him again, the silly little Zeus boy. So fragile after you get past all the hotheaded blustering.”

My magic retreated, ever so slowly, and I opened my eyes as I dissolved the remnants of the violet thread. The man blinked his eyes open, looking at me for one long beat before he sat up slowly and rubbed his head.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“Ta-da. Good job.” Harding patted me on the head, of all things. “Okay, gotta go. I shouldn’t be here. I do not want to get noticed, as you know. And don’t learn how to scare away my watchers. I like to know your progress.”

He stood and stepped back through the window into the other plane, disappearing into the swirling gray mists. Once he was through, reality pulled back down. He hadn’t even turned to wave goodbye.

I stared at the man I’d helped, trying to process everything. He stared back at me.

“Okay. Well.” Bria clapped the man on the back. “You’re alive.”

“What…” The man reached his hand up, probably to run it down his face, and then flinched. He touched the blood oozing down his chest. “What happened?”

“You got stabbed, but you’re good. You’re okay now.” I stood and braced my hands on my back, seeing a couple of the others rouse, lying in pools of their own blood. No spirits had popped out, though, and I could feel their souls bright and happy in their casings. “You would’ve died had I not intervened, so save me from the effort of having to knock you out, would ya? Take the loss. That was strangely taxing, even though I had help.”

He blinked at me a few more times, and I figured that was probably a yes. He was too confused to use his magic.

“Okay. That was anticlimactic for me.” Bria bounded up. “But that certain someone should not be here, Lexi. You can’t risk someone finding out.”

“I know, but…well, he offered, and I didn’t have any other choice. He’s the one who’s been watching—”

A muted thunderclap rang through the hall. I belatedly felt the enemy souls doing battle with our guys. “Dang it. Today is going to be a long day.”

11

Alexis

By midafternoon we had four hall battles behind us. The Hades people Boman and the others had engaged after our battle with Zander’s team had been an easy win. They’d used a bunch of stuff that probably worked on other people but didn’t faze my crew, not when they’d trained with me and I could literally scare someone to death. The third had been a nice reprieve. Jerry had turned to stone and handled the flares of sunlight and zips of light magic (Apollo magic, clearly) without effort. He’d then flattened everyone with rocks. That guy had been worth the hassle to get him.

The fourth had been a little hairy. The magic was more diverse, with some Hades, a Zeus, and a few others I didn’t recognize. They rattled our cages, so to speak, one reaching me with an invisible blade that opened a thick gash down my arm. Another got to Dylan with mind control, making him punch himself in the face three times before bashing his head against the wall. Jerry couldn’t walk forward because of a very precise windstorm. He bore it in stubborn silence.

While we were indisposed, Boman sliced through their line with his light and Donovan picked a couple of people up and slammed them against the wall. Henry stepped in front of Dylan, got the blast of mind-control magic, and reflected it while Daisy and Zorn and the cats sprinted down the hall after the enemy.

Daisy leapt at someone as if on springs. The girl was like a little jungle cat. She landed on him legs first, wrapped her thighs around his middle, and stabbed his breastplate, both hands gripping the hilt of the knife. The guy dropped like one of Jerry’s stones. Zorn disappeared, then reappeared, stabbing someone. Chaos clawed someone’s leg, and then let loose a roar that had everyone scattering from him like their asses were on fire.

He clearly had the ability to roar fear, one of Hades’s traits. That had been a nice surprise.

Havoc followed that up with her roar, moving spirit and flapping souls.

The battle hadn’t lasted much longer. Thane had watched the whole thing from ten feet behind us, leaning against the wall with this arms crossed over his chest.

Patched up with Boman’s help, we limped and trudged down the hall, looking for more trouble.

“When do we get to go home?” I asked, wiping my forearm against my forehead.