A weak smile lifted one corner of my lips. “I can’t keep the door open much longer. I have to focus on Nick.”
“We understand. Danaus told me to tell you that ‘he will be your Rowe,’ whatever that means.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I quickly looked away from Our Liege and turned my attention back to my father. I knew what it meant. Danaus intended to spend the rest of his life fighting to find a way to open the doors to the naturi world again to set me free, just as Rowe had in an effort to free his queen, Aurora. I could ask for no greater gift.
“Son of the dawn?” Nick said as he stood, brushing himself off. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but this is a family affair.”
“As head of the nightwalkers, this is now a nightwalker affair. If Mira wishes to enter the chamber and hold this world together, there is nothing I can do but help her,” Adio said in an easygoing manner that was more than a little frightening to hear. For a moment I was convinced that Adio would have been content to have either or both of us trapped in this world, he only lacked the ability to close the doors again.
To prove his point, Adio waved one of his hands toward me and I floated off my feet toward the crystal chamber. My stomach twisted into a knot as I approached the tiny prison, but I didn’t hesitate to grab the sides and try to pull myself in. At the same moment, Nick screamed in frustration and used his own powers to pull me away, once again slamming me to the ground. However, this time Adio was there to soften the blow.
Rolling to my feet, I grabbed as much energy as my body would hold and threw it at Nick. I could only guess that Adio felt what I was doing because he mimicked my move, succeeding in shoving the god back until he was pinned against the vines. With my left hand, I tore a limb off a nearby tree and bashed Nick in the face with it, hoping to disorient him.
The god crumpled to his knees, shaking his bleeding head. I seized the opportunity and ran for the crystal chamber once again. “Get ready to close it!” I screamed at Adio.
Getting my hands on the edges of the chamber, I pulled myself in and was immediately encased in the feeling of something draining away my energy like a great suction pump. My eyelids flickered for a moment as I tried to focus over the disorienting feeling. Nick bellowed and lunged at me, his foot stepping onto the edge of the chamber at the same time his hand grabbed my arm to pull me out.
Clenching my teeth against my growing lethargy, I grabbed both of Nick’s arms and pulled him into the chamber while I slid around to the opening. He screamed, but the sound was cut off as I released one of his arms long enough to smash my fist into his nose. Nick released me to cover his broken nose, allowing me the chance to fall out of the opening. My legs scraped against large chunks of crystal as they rushed back into place to cover the opening. If I had hesitated a second longer, Adio would have closed us both in the chamber together.
I lay on my back for a second, trying to get my head to stop spinning while energy seeped back into my frame. I could feel the door to this world starting to close as I weakened. We needed to get out of there.
“Mira, help me!” Adio cried, drawing my attention back to him and the crystal chamber. I looked up to find Nick pounding against the crystal with both of his fists, screaming at me, while Adio used his own powers to mend the broken bits. I added my own energy, sealing my father away.
After a couple seconds I noticed that the chamber seemed to grow stronger and thicker as it absorbed his powers. I looked around the world to find that the leaves on trees were quickly growing black and falling off, while the ground split open and spouts of fire shot up. While the great creator goddess had created a second earth with her powers, the god of chaos was creating a world much more akin to the human idea of Hell.
“I think it would be a good time to beat a hasty retreat,” Adio said, grabbing my elbow. While I gathered up all the energy I had to focus on keeping the door open, Adio teleported us from the crystal chamber to the doorway, which was quickly closing. I pushed Adio through the opening and then dove through myself, landing in a heap on top of him. I summoned up enough energy to roll over Our Liege and lie on my back in the grass, letting the energy from the earth seep back into the frame as I closed my eyes.
“You seemed a little eager to close up that chamber,” I criticized, opening my eyes to find him sitting next to me, staring down at my scratched and bloody face. A smirk twisted his full lips.
“While the thought of locking you both away and out of my hair was tempting, I feared that if you were locked away, I would not be able to escape that world myself,” he admitted.
“Oh, yeah, I would have definitely kept you trapped if I was to be locked for eternity in a crystal chamber with Nick,” I said with a soft chuckle.
Adio smiled down at me. “The great trickster god tricked by his own daughter. It seems fitting.”
“I just hope it holds for a few millennia,” I grumbled. With muscles protesting, I pushed into a seated position and looked around the empty plaza. The stars still twinkled above and a steady wind swept across the silent ruins. The world seemed untouched by the feat we had accomplished, which was exactly as I hoped it would be.
Adio pushed to his feet and offered me his hand. “Come on. There is someone who is waiting for you.”
We walked across the plaza and down to the small clearing that held the only tree that grew in the ruins of Machu Picchu. Danaus knelt beside the figure that lay in the grass beneath the tree, but I noticed that his eyes were not on her, but staring in our direction, anxious and fearful. His shoulders slumped as we came into view and his head bowed as I heard a heavy sigh slip past his parted lips.
Standing over the goddess, I noticed that her heartbeat seemed a little stronger than before, and her breathing was deeper and more even. To my surprise, her eyelids fluttered and opened, pinning me with an intense stare. I fell into those brown eyes, losing all sense of time and place. Machu Picchu slipped away along with the rest of the world. There was just the swirl of energy that had taken on a variety of colors and shades as they danced around me and the goddess. Not only was she alive, but she was growing stronger with each passing second.
Fear trembled through me, but I didn’t question the choice I had made. The great creator goddess had to be a more benevolent force for the earth than the god of chaos. My only concern was that I might have separated her even farther from her mate, who was still trapped with the bori.
And then she smiled at me. The world came back into focus, and I watched as she sank into the earth as if returning back to the womb of her own birth. The earth closed in around her so that there was no mark left of her ever being present. There was nothing left but a new layer of energy dancing in the air, caressing my flesh, taking the place of Nick’s cold touch.
“She’s gone,” Danaus murmured, rising to his feet.
I extended my hand to him and he tightly clasped it in his large one. “She’s home.”
“I think it’s time we did that as well,” Danaus said as he pulled me closer.
Wincing, I raised my hand to shield my eyes. “We can’t.” The sky around us was quickly turning from dark blue to slate gray as the sun rose in the east. By now the sun would already be up in Savannah, and I could not even begin to guess at what might be a suitable hiding place in the city at the moment.
“Allow me,” Adio said, placing a hand on both our shoulders. In the blink of an eye we were enveloped in darkness, only to reappear less than a second later. The ground shifted beneath my feet and the air was considerably warmer than the mountains of Peru. “Consider this a belated honeymoon,” Adio added, and then quickly disappeared again.
Danaus stood close beside me, one arm wrapped around my waist as we gazed over at our new surroundings. We stood on a white beach just at the shoreline. The air was silent except for the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, while lights lit tall buildings in the distance. At the edge of the beach was a well-lit road lined with swaying palm trees. The thick scent of flowers filled the air.