“A little nudge in the right direction might be useful,” he replied sheepishly.
“Tap into every single intelligence source out there, in the US and beyond. I’ve already set it up for you after years of hard work, melding the minds of those in the upper echelons, so all you have to do is cherry pick and use all of that to your advantage. Every camera, every airport, every port of entry… but start in San Diego. This is Harley’s home, and all little birds come home to roost. They can’t help themselves, no matter how idiotic it is. She’s bound to stay close.”
“And what should I do when I find her? After all, we know she won’t be alone.”
I was starting to get a little peeved. “It doesn’t matter if she’s alone or not. Haven’t you been paying attention? She’s powerless now. They’re all human, and if you can’t take down a simple bunch of humans, then perhaps I ought to rethink your position here.”
His eyes widened. “My apologies, Eris. It slipped my mind. I suppose, as I still have abilities, I forgot that you had taken magic from those who would defy you.”
“Yes, well, you might be next in line to have your Chaos taken away if you disappoint me. Now, go after Harley and her irritating pals. Failure won’t be tolerated. As soon as you have her, check in with me.” It burned me up that I couldn’t retrieve her myself.
He bowed. “Yes, Eris.”
“Well then, what are you waiting for?”
Now that I’ve sent that delicious distraction on his merry way…
I was eager to make sure everything else was in place, and there was one specific thing on my mind. The Bestiary. It would only be a matter of time until all the covens belonged to me, but they would fall apart if I didn’t have Tobe where he was supposed to be, taking care of all those precious creatures locked up and giving their power to my cause. Call me vain, but I didn’t want Davin dropping his proverbial eaves on my concerns. He was loyal to me, but that loyalty came with provisions. He still hadn’t pledged, and I wasn’t about to give him another excuse to try to delay it.
I really should have just killed him. Men weren’t good for me. But, without Naima, I had a gap to fill, and Davin was the perfect size.
I needed a solitary spot to gather my remaining strength. I would need it if I was going to force Tobe to obey me. Purge beasts like him didn’t bend easily, and I could already sense the crack it was going to cause. So, I headed toward the far side of the ruins, where Gaia’s waterfall had started to trickle again. It’s not Gaia’s, it’s mine. I had to keep reminding myself that this otherworld belonged to me now.
I had almost reached my destination when two figures came sprinting across the barren wasteland. They skidded to a halt beside me, stooping to catch their breath. Weaklings. However, it wasn’t their stamina that concerned me—it was the looks on their faces.
“If you don’t have good news for me, you can turn right back around and scurry off until you do have good news,” I said stiffly, using one of the crumbling pillars of the old ruins to hide the oily black ooze that bled from every damned crack.
“We thought we should update you, Almighty Eris,” the first one rasped. He was a young man who looked more like a skeleton than a person. I had no idea how his stick legs were holding up the weight of him.
The second nodded. “We can’t find the Crowleys or Remington anywhere, and the Children have vanished. It’s this terrain, Eris. This world is so big, and we’ve got no lay of the land. Even with magic, they’re evading us.”
She was an older woman, maybe in her forties, but looking good for it. She barely had a peroxide-blonde hair out of place or a smear of smudged makeup, which made me wonder if she’d really given her all in the previous battle. I won’t have shirkers in my cult. I’d have to keep my eye on this one.
“Then you haven’t been looking hard enough.” My voice held a clear warning.
“We have, Goddess, I promise you,” Skeletor replied. “We’ve tried to track them, but we’re getting nothing back. It’s like they’ve completely disappeared. You’ve seen the landscape for yourself—it’s flat as a pancake. But we can’t find any trace of them anywhere.”
“Do I have to do everything myself?” I snapped. “What is the use of all of you if you can’t even find the flashing neon sign of our enemy in a flattened haystack? Should I giftwrap them for you? Would that make it easier?”
“We really have been trying, Eris,” the woman urged, her voice trembling.
I glared at her. “This is what I get for not vetting properly. A bunch of inept rookies who don’t know their ass from their elbow!”
Anger was building inside me, making my blood boil. I knew who was responsible for this little game of hide and seek. Gaia’s Children. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one forgetting that this otherworld belonged to me now. They were still working for her, even though they’d seen me squeeze the life out of her. I’d dragged her back by her hair, just to serve her right for daring to prance around in my image, and left her to disintegrate. They should have been bending to me by now.
Why is nothing going the way I planned?!
“Please, have mercy. We’re doing all we can,” Skeletor begged.
At least these two were afraid of me, which was more than I could say for these impudent Children of Gaia. Clearly, they hadn’t gotten a potent enough taste of my wrath earlier. Now, I was going to shove my power down their throats, until they friggin’ choked on it.
A blast of fury-driven Telekinesis exploded out of me. I was way past playing nice, and if it meant a couple more cracks in my face, then so be it.
Shivering tendrils shot out of me, bursting every which way like a web. They hardened as they hit solid flesh. My hands clenched tightly into fists until my knuckles turned white and fissures splintered all the way across the backs of my hands. Bits of skin flaked away, leaving a rippling black mass beneath, but I didn’t care. I wanted these sons of bitches, even if it cost me a few more hours of holding onto this body.
I yanked my arms up, the tendrils snapping right back like elastic bands, bringing my mortal enemies out of their hiding places. I didn’t have the energy to deal with the Elementals right then, but their time would come.
However, in the distance, four large humanoid figures emerged. Oh, well, out you come, then, you little worms.
One was made from shimmering water, one was forged from clouds, the third bristled with fire, and the fourth seemed to be crafted from the rock beneath their feet. Earth, Air, Water, and Fire had come out to get a closer look at their new queen. The poor saps were scowling right at me, no doubt grieving for Mommy Dearest, whom I’d pummeled into dust. All that power, all that confidence, and all that history, and it hadn’t done a single thing to save her.
I grinned at them, wanting them to feel my satisfaction, then approached the first line in the group I’d dragged out of their hidey-holes. Felicity and Cormac Crowley knelt beside Remington Knightshade, with Hiro Nomura and the other preceptors flanking them.
“Get up!” I commanded the front line.
Nomura was drenched in the blood of my cultists—actually dripping, as if he’d walked out of an action movie. He would be the perfect candidate for what I had planned, to show these ingrates once and for all that disobedience wouldn’t be tolerated.