“I’m here, Héctor!” I cried out. “I’m here!”
He pricked his ears as if he’d heard me. But in the ivory tower, its magic muted our mating bond, even temporarily.
I pushed my power to get through to the other side of the glass to get to Héctor, but the force field pushed me back.
“Would you slit the throat of your girlfriend’s mother?” Lilith asked sweetly, as if this was fun for her.
Mom could be a psycho bitch. It tasted vile when my mates and I were on the receiving end.
“It’s tempting,” Héctor said. “Especially after you tried to tempt me to hurt her.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was but testing you.” Lilith rammed her elbow at Héctor.
Héctor removed the blade and twisted his torso away from her reach. His boot connected to her middle, sending her flying backward toward the pool.
Lilith didn’t fall into the water. A pair of splendid silver wings whooshed out of her back. They gave a powerful boost, and she hovered in the air over the water.
Lucifer’s wings had degraded to chicken wings in the Void, but Mom became more powerful and never lost her archangel wings. She told me it was because of me. The Void rewarded her for giving birth to the firstborn daughter of the realm.
Lilith narrowed her furious silver eyes. “Mortal, you dare to challenge me?”
Héctor brought his longsword before him, bracing for the retaliation.
Lilith flapped her wings, ready to dive toward my beloved to strike him.
Demigod or not, Héctor remained an excellent swordsman. His skill was still there. But he wasn’t the same death demigod. He could die if she wounded him.
And she’d once been the general of the fallen angel army, who led the war against the heavenly battalion. Even Lucifer feared her. And like most powerful individuals, she could be crazy and unpredictable. I refused to risk my mate to her brand of crazy.
I had to claim my birthright to summon the true power of my Void magic. I’d been afraid that once I did that, the realm might never let me go, just as Mom had warned. But the primal need to protect my mates burned brightly in me, overpowering any dark fear.
I’m the first child of the Void, I declared silently and clearly.I now claim my birthright. I won’t be denied.
No longer would I be helpless, powerless, watching as my mates were molested, hurt, kept away from me. The Void was as much my realm as Lilith’s, and it was my turn to protect them.
My new power stirred and fluttered in my belly as my ruthless mother dove toward my beloved.
I roared in rage, claiming the powers in my blood that were my birthright.
Nothing and no one could stop me from reaching my Héctor.
CHAPTER 9
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The Void power brewed inside me, boiling as it rose to my summons. It burned with a furious heat, and I screamed from the pain. Something tore out of my back, a sudden burden so heavy I could barely stand.
I glanced back. A pair of blue wings had sprouted between my shoulder blades.
What the fuck?
But I didn’t have time to muse on the transformation. With a powerful flap of my new wings, which responded to my mental commands as easily as my other limbs, I flew toward the glass wall at high speed. My momentum and the Void magic I wielded broke through the magic barrier and smashed the walls all around.
“No!” I shouted, landing between my mother and my mate like a flash of blue lightning. “You won’t harm what’s mine, Mother!”
They each jumped back quickly, as neither wanted to hurt me.
“I was about to teach her a lesson, but I wouldn’t have injured your mother too badly,” Héctor said.