Goddess Of The Underworld. Chapter 81

“You are not a girl,” Saelira says, her voice now echoing with something vast. “You are a weapon forged in blood. But you were not made for him. You were made for war.”

My magic rises instinctively. I spread my arms, and the storm answers. Light cracks across the sky. My wings unfurl in a flare of silver and violet shadow, and the ground splits beneath my bare feet. Power floods my veins like wildfire and rain. Saelira throws a bolt of shadow at me without warning.

I raise a hand. The spell hits my palm and dissolves into petals.

She grins. “Reflexive transmutation. Not bad."

She sends another, this time a wave of ice laced with old curses.

I reach into the storm behind me and pull. The wind spirals forward, bending around me like a cloak, and the curse shatters against it. Then I move.

Faster than thought, I’m across the field. I don’t remember deciding to attack, only that the power inside me begged for release. My palm slams into the ground and the earth answers. A ring of violet fire erupts around Saelira, licking at her feet without burning. She raises a brow, unbothered.

“Elemental response. Veil-touched speed. Reaping control without focus. You’re instinctive. Wild.”

She steps over the fire and holds out her hand.

“Again.”

I’m panting now, magic buzzing so loud in my ears I can barely hear the trees. The stones around us are glowing faintly, reacting to my power. Or maybe bracing against it. Saelira, completely untouched and still composed, tilts her head. “You’ve only scratched the surface.”

I wipe my brow with the back of my hand. “Scratched is generous.”

A ripple of movement to my left draws my gaze. Layah is already stepping into the circle, shedding her cloak and stretching like a cat in sun.

“My turn,” she announces, eyes gleaming molten gold. “You didn’t think I was going to sit out, did you?”

Saelira watches her like a predator sizing up prey, or maybe kin recognizing kin. “You’re not just a hound.”

Layah grins. “Hardly.”

Then she explodes. Magic ripples off her like a detonation, the air thickening, shimmering with heat. Her body shifts fluidly with terrifying grace. She becomes something too large for skin and too ancient for words. Not fully beast. Her hound form towers, made of shadow and fire, with eyes that burn like dying suns.

The ground beneath her blackens. Even my mates flinch, instinctively stepping back. Haiden’s mouth hangs open. “That’s not hellhound magic.”

“It’s something older,” Saelira murmurs, fascination clear in her voice. “Deep well. Cursed and crowned.”

Layah lowers her massive head and releases a low, guttural sound that shudders through my bones. Then her form ripples again, shrinking, folding back into her petite, casually smug self.

She tosses her fur around like a flick of hair. “I’ve been practicing.”

“You’re a gatekeeper,” Saelira says slowly, stepping closer. “That’s what your kind was called before they were hunted out. Not just hellhounds. Guardians of the in-between. Veilwalkers.”

Layah’s expression flickers, something vulnerable just beneath the pride. “I didn’t know the name. Just the weight of it.”

Saelira nods once. “The Veil doesn’t open without a price. You’ll be the one paying it.”

Layah shrugs. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Saelira turns then to the others. “And you?” she asks the mates. “Do you understand what you’re bound to? This power, this storm, this girl made of magic and grief?”

“We do,” Noah answers, voice calm, resolute.

Xavier steps forward. “We’ve bled for her. We’ll bleed again.”

“Good,” Saelira says. “You’ll need to.”

She lifts her staff and strikes it against the stone floor. A pulse echoes outward, fading slowly.

Then silence. Her gaze sweeps the group, thoughtful and sharp.

“You’re not ready,” she says bluntly. “But you’re close. Closer than anyone else ever has been.”

My heart sinks slightly. “Then we keep training?”

Saelira nods. “Yes. And we start tonight.”

She turns to Mum. “She’s raw power. The kind that either saves the world or cracks it in half. She needs control. Precision and anchors.” Her eyes flick to the four mates and Layah. “She has them, but they must learn to wield her as she learns to wield herself.”

“And the cloaked children?” I ask.

“Time is short,” Saelira replies. “If they’re waking, if the bindings are breaking, then we’re racing against the unraveling of the world as we know it.”

She leans in, close enough I can feel her breath. “You are no longer the key, girl. You’re the gate. The moment you open fully… nothing will be the same.”

“I need to leave for a few hours,” I say once the magic has settled again, my voice cutting through the thick quiet that follows Saelira’s evaluation. All heads turn.

“To the Underworld,” I clarify. “There are things I need to take care of. People I need to speak with. It won’t take long. I’ll be back tonight.”

“You’re sure it can’t wait?” Elira asks carefully.

I shake my head. “The underworld needs constant attention. I need to make sure nothing’s bleeding through where it shouldn’t.”

Saelira tilts her head, intrigued. “You hold dominion below?”

“I was given it,” I say. “But it feels like I was born from it too.”

Layah raises a brow. “You’re just collecting titles now.”

Haiden grins. “Envy, Goddess of the Underworld, Key to the Veil, Walker Between Worlds, Professional Winged Badass.”

Levi smirks. “You forgot ‘heartbreaker’.”

Noah clears his throat. “Don’t forget ‘mine.’”

Mum gives a faint huff of amusement. “Go then. But be swift. If the veil thins while you're gone, we may not have time to chase after scattered shadows.”

I nod, already pulling on the magic that calls to me from deep beneath my skin. Cold and old and familiar. The Underworld answers like a whisper behind my ribs. My mates gather close, touching me in some way, an elbow to my side, a hand to my back, fingers brushing mine. Xavier murmurs something low to Haiden, and Layah rises to walk with us to the portal. With a sigh, the portal opens. It’s like exhaling magic. Darkness curls into form, velvet and dense and humming with echoes. I step forward first, the air warping around me. My mates follow without hesitation. Just before the shadows fully claim us, I turn back.

“I’ll be back before the moon climbs..”

Saelira nods, watching with something unreadable in her expression. “Go then, daughter of both worlds. The dead wait for no one.”

As we step through, the Underworld greets us like a lung pulling in air after drowning, hungry and expectant. The shadows know me here. They part with reverence. And somewhere deep, I feel the threads pulling taut. Something below remembers me and something new is watching.