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Now, I’ve flown through a bright-purple twilight on an endless ocean breeze, lifted by the belief of a goddess and the love of my demigod.
It’s worth a moment’s celebration since I’m not so certain about measuring up to Rerek’s hex.
Though I send out another desperate wish that he’s getting pulverized nearby, it’s folly to think that the hex is so flimsy as to be tied to the demon’s physical force. Rerek’s wilier—and stronger—than that.
“Okay, okay,” I mutter, shaking out my fingers again. “So what now?”
And again, I’m overloaded with anxiety. Fear. All the atrocious what-ifs.
What if I can’t figure this out?
What if the hex is too strong to cut into?
What if Rerekisannihilated and Hades finds out—and decides to take his anger out on a pair of trapped Valaris?
“No.” I verbally pelt myself with it, at least fifty more times, but the mantra doesn’t help. The fear digs in. My mind spirals. My balance teeters. Though my feet are planted for now, this isn’t boding well for flying back to safety.
What would Hecate do?
I desperately scramble for the answer. Thankfully, there are a few that come.
Breathe.
Deeper.
Focus.
Slower.
Slow down. Slow down. Slow down.
And remarkably, I feel myself smiling.
The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
And filling my senses with the words of a rushed rabbit in Wonderland.
I am not crazy. My reality is just different than yours.
Lewis Carroll, in the nick of time again. Just repeating those two lines peels back my anxious veil, letting me see every necessary reality there is about this.
Rerek’s hex… It’s right here in front of me now, as visible as a bright-red fishing net that’s been wrapped around the villa. It vibrates with energy, like see-through power lines filled with chaotic currents. The bedlam is frightening to watch, as if just touching a cable will equal an awful demise. It’s a terror attack funneled into a two-inch tube and then woven into a giant trap.
But now I see…
That its most daunting strength is also its most glaring weakness.
Only the insane equate pain with success.
With that affirmation on repeat in my mind, I’m able to flow the energy in my veins toward the centers of my palms. From there, the brilliance spreads out into my fingers, taking over with tingling force…
As I lower them toward the glowing mesh at my feet.
As I wrap them around a couple of the tethers.
As I watch them burn the netting away.
“Whoa,” I choke out. It’s working!
