bChapter /bb88 /b

bEnvy /b

D

The walls breathe. I swear they do, slow exhales of chilled air brushing against my neck like fingers trailing over my skin. Noah is silent beside me, the tension between us is louder than the runes etched into the narrow walls. It’s not fear. It’s knowing. Dread wrapped in certainty. The shaft opens into a chamber that hums with old power, power that was never meant to wake. And yet here we are. The floor is obsidian stone, carved with runes I recognize only in memory. My steps falter as the whispers sound, not jumbled, but clear now. Calling. Guiding. Familiar. Then I see them. Suspended in the heart of the roomb, /bbetween two towering ck spires, bis /ba boy. No older than seven. Pale. Weightless. Floating midair bas /bthough held by invisible strings. Below him, the stone is cracked and glowing, the lines of the runes pulsing weakly, like a dying heartbeat. But he is not alone. To his left, tethered by thick veins of magic that wrap around her limbs and throat, floats a woman. A witch. Her hair coils like ink in water, suspended, unmoving. Her eyes are shut, her face serene, but beneath her skin, bI /bsee it. The strain. The tension. She’s the one holding the boy in stasis. And she’s losing.

“Noah,” I whisper, not daring to step forward. “He’s alive.”

He swears under his breath. “How?”

“I don’t know. I…” My hand lifts on instinct, like muscle memory. I press my palm to the closest stone, and my magic rushes forward like a dam breaking. Everythinges back to me. iThe /iscreaming. iThe /iichanting/i. iThe /iichildren /iilined /iiup /iiin /ia icircle/ii, /iihands /iisped/ii, /itears ion /iitheir /icheeks. biThe /i/bwitches iare /iforming runes in iblood/i. iMarcus /iiis /iiat /iithe /iicenter/i. biI/i/bb, /bon ithe /iistone /iib/ii, /iithe /iilock /ito itheir /iikey/i. iBut /iithe /iboy… ithe /iiboy /iiscreamed /iloudest.

i“/iiHe’s /itoo istrong/i!” ithe /iiwitches /iihad /iicried/i. “iHe’s /iitearing /iithrough /iithe /iispell/ii!/ii” /i

iAnd /iithen /iishe /icame. iThe /iiwitch /iiwho /iifloats /iibeside /ihim nowi. /iiShe /icast ithe /iistasis /iispell /ito itrap /ithem iboth/ii, /iito /iihalt /iiwhat /iihad /iialready /iibegun/i. iAnd /iiin /iidoing /iiso/i, ishe /iistalled /iithe unraveling/i.

I look up at the young boyb, /bso innocent in all of this. We all were. Spells fade, and this one is dying. I fall to my knees.

Noah grips my shoulder, grounding me. “Envy. Look at me. What do we do?b” /b

I shake my head. “I don’t know!”

Before I can rise, footsteps echo behind us, deliberate and slow. Felix. He steps into the chamber like he’s been here before. His face is grave, but not surprised. “I was wondering when you’de to this ceb./b”

“You knew?b” /bbI /bdemand.

He nodsb. /b

“She’s dying,” I whisper. “The spell is dying.”

“Yes,” Felix agrees. “And if it breaks without control, the veil will copse entirely. The realms will bleed together. There won’t be death or life…just chaos.”

I rise slowly. “Then I have to stop it.”

Felix’s eyes lock on mine. “No. You have bto /blet it fall. Recreate the veils. Shape the boundary between realms in your image. Only a true goddess can do that.”

“But I’m not…”

“You areb,/bb” /bhe says firmly, “But you haven’t awakened fully yet.”

I freeze. “Then how do I change that?”

He steps forward and speaks softly, reverently.

“You mark them.”

(What?”

“Your mates. The bonds you’ve formed…those ties are sacred, but they remain iplete. You need to mark them. Through them, you stabilize

1:04 PM P

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your magic. With them, byou /bunlock your divine right. You don’t just destroy bthe /bold veilsb, /bEnvy. You rece them with something that answers to

byou/b.”

My heart thundersb. /bb“/bbIf /bI do that, will the child survive?”

“Yesb. /bYou’ll be able to free him, bI /bbelieve.”

Noah speaks gently. “Then we do it. You mark us. All of bus/bb. /bTogether.b” /b

I nod, chest rising with new resolve. “I’ll break the veil. I’ll create a new oneb./bb” /b

“When you dob…/b” Felix warns, his voice blow /band sharp, “The veils will drop. All of them. The Underworld, the Mortal Realmb, /beven the Divine nesb, /bthey will bbleed /binto one anotherb. /bThere will bbe /bno boundary between life and deathb, /bspirit and flesh. It will be utter chaos. And Marcus… he won’t sit idle.”

He looks at me, something like sorrow flickering in his eyesb. /b“He’s been waiting for this. Preparing. The spell breaking won’t just give you powerb, /bit’ll free whatever he’s been keeping caged inside you, what he’s been trying bto /bbcontrol/bb. /bYou’ll have momentsb, /bEnvyb. /bSeconds, maybe. You’ll need to act fast. Recreate the veils. Reshape the world before they btear /bthemselves apart.”

I nod slowlyb, /bthough my chest tightens with the weight of it allb. /bMy fingers twitchb, /bthe runes on the walls humming like they’re listening.

I’m going to need Theo,” I say, my voice steadier than bI /bbfeel/b. “And Zion, and my brother’s, they have been waiting for something like this, even if they didn’t know it yet. They have their own armiesb. /bTheir own magicb./bb” /b

Felix arches a brow. “You trust themb?/bb” /b

“With my life,” I answer without hesitation. “If we can rally enough peopleb…/benough powerb, /bwe can hold the realms long enough for bme /bbto /breshape them.”

Noah steps beside me, his jaw bset/b. “You won’t be aloneb./bb” /b

“I knowb,/bb” /bbI /bsay quietly, eyes drifting back to the suspended boyb, /bto the witch. “But I’ll need more than bstrength/bb. /bI’ll need loyalty. Willingnessb. /bPeople who believe that the world isn’t beyond saving.”

Felix’s gaze sharpensb. /b“That belief starts with byou/b.”

A deep breath. The bair /bbis /bgetting bheavier/bb, /blike even the magic is bracing for impact.

“We’ll gather bour /ballies. bI /bbdon’t /bbcare /bwhat realm or bspecies /bthey belong to: Faeb, /bShifterb, /bSeerb, /bGod, or Ghost. If they want a future, they’ll fight for

it.”

Felix gives ba /bslow nod. “Then get bready/b. Because bonce /byou mark byour /bmatesb… /bthere’s no turning back.”

bThis /bworkb, /bbGoddess /bof bthe /bbUnderworld /bbby /bbSheridan /bbHartin/bb, /bbis /bban /bbexclusive /bintellectual property blegally contracted /bbwith /bbNovelSnack/b. bAny /breproductionb, /bbdistribution/bb, /bbor /bbupload /bboutside /bbNovelFlow/bb, /bAnyStoriesb, /bbNovGo/bb, /bband Readink /bbis /bunauthorized band constitutes /bbcopyright /bbinfringement/bb. /b

bChapter /bbComments /b

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