Malach stared at the energy with wide eyes. "That would have killed me, wouldn't it?"

  "What the hell?" I asked through clenching teeth.

  Nash raised his swords toward the young woman and I readied an energy shield that surrounded us.

  "Look at all that power." Her cheery voice grated against me like a sword sawing against a brick wall. "Delicious."

  What?

  I nearly looked over my shoulder before I caught myself. I didn't understand what was happening and I couldn't take my attention off the extremely powerful energy still turning against Malach's chest.

  "Thank you for the gift, Eclipse," Cleo said. "I was feeling weary."

  She vanished and then appeared right beside Malach, tilting her head to inspect the energy.

  I grabbed Nash's wrist, my grip tight. "This answers whether we should trust her."

  Nash studied her for several more seconds before looking at me. "She tried to play us."

  "Or she was merely playing with us."

  "It's starting to dig into me more," Malach said.

  "You're fine," Cleo said. "Be patient. This isn't an easy attack to absorb."

  Nash looked at me with the same panic I felt growing on his expression. I tried to draw the power back to myself, but it was no use. They controlled it now, or at least, attempted to.

  All this time, it was her, wasn't it? She wasn't some innocent girl too afraid for her life to leave the cult. She didn't care about secretly helping us to assuage her guilt. The deranged girl only pretended to help to earn our trust, or maybe just to play with us.

  Her slender hand cupped the air around the energy. "Oh," she said with a note of pain in her voice. "It stings."

  I teleported behind her and tried to grab her in a headlock, but vanished, appearing on the other side of Malach.

  "Please, Eclipse." She wagged her finger at me. "We can waste our energy doing that all day. It's not worth the effort, is it?"

  I growled under my breath and ripped my sword free, pointing it at her. "You're the leader of the cult that wants to consume my power. You created the weapons that poison our energy and you were the link between Eskel and Malach."

  The girl dared to look bored and sighed. "Well, it's obvious now, isn't it? Aren't you ready to talk about something more interesting? Like what I can do with this tasty treat?"

  Nash shook his head. "We won't fall for your act again. Stop acting like a child and face us."

  She shot him a pouting look. "The cute ones are always so rude. You grow up with everyone falling over you and never learn how it feels to be mocked. You shouldn't hurt my feelings, War Chief. I do have a temper, you know."

  "I'm not doing this either," I said. "Malach, who is this and why are you working with someone like her?"

  This time she threw her head back and belted out a manic, hitching laugh. "He's not working with me. He works for me."

  Suddenly, her hands closed around the power and she jerked it to her chest as if it tried to fly away, which it may have, because I never stopped trying to drag it back to me.

  Her mouth opened wide and she shoved the ball of energy in. Her eyes bulged, her cheeks puffed out, and her face turned a crimson shade like the energy. I drew back, disgusted by the impossibility and the strangeness of it all.

  Covering her mouth with her hand, she tilted her head and screamed without opening her lips. The muffled sound grew as her nails cut into her cheeks.

  Nash and I both rushed for her at the same time. This time when she disappeared, I tried to follow, but I didn't sense her at all. Even when Flare teleported, I still felt her.

  She appeared behind Malach and shook her hands at us, as if pleading with us to stop.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Malach shot forward. His swords snaked out with a dangerous speed, and I raised my own to block the hit. Nash parried and nearly skewered our enemy's arm with one of his blades, but the other man twisted just enough to miss it. A sign that Nash's blades could hurt him, after all.

  Cleo fell onto her knees, her head hanging, and then went completely still. Malach teleported to her side, stunning me.

  We spent the entire life of our kingdom trying to train people to teleport and both of them could do this? Something was not right.

  He placed his hand on her head and she lifted her face. The curtain of her hair fell away to reveal a mad smile etched upon her face. Blood dripped from the ragged scratches from her nails. "Wow," she said with glee. Her eyes seemed to glow with the fire of my power that she'd consumed. "I've never tasted that much power before."

  We needed to run. I rarely accepted such an urge, but she'd just swallowed–literally swallowed–one of my most powerful attacks.

  "Max," Nash said.

  "I know." I reached for him.

  "You feel that Malach?" Cleo asked.

  He raised a hand in the air and curled it into a fist. The fire seemed to shine from his eyes as well. "Oh, yes, I do."

  I took Nash's hand to transport us, even though it seemed they might be able to follow. Even a few seconds away from them would help me to clear my mind.

  "Wait!" Cleo struggled to feet. "Malach, stand down. Please, Eclipse, don't leave yet. Please. We won't attack anymore. I promise."

  "You expect me to believe you aren't going to try to kill us," I said. "You could end the war today if you did."

  "We don't want to kill you, Max," Cleo said, dropping my title for my name. The cheerful sound in her voice darkened to malice. "Why waste all that wonderful energy?"

  "I'm not sure when we'll have the opportunity to talk again," Malach said. "If you plan to leave, let's talk first. No more playing around."

  They were only playing? "Can't you just follow us?" I asked.

  "Not unless you're near one of our bonds." Cleo pursed her lips. "I guess I shouldn't disclose information like that. I just really don't want you to leave without talking more. We worked hard for this opportunity."

  So we only needed to keep our distance from this pair and whoever else they'd attached to like parasites. Good to know. The only problem was that I knew Cleo had ulterior motives when she shared information. They likely wanted to create a false sense of security. Keeping us here also removed us from the battle and I needed to return to my people. This might be a total fabrication.

  "Tell us," Nash said. "Or we're leaving."

  "I want you to join us," Cleo said. "I'd let you be my true partner. If you'll just let me consume that incredible power, then I'll give you as much of a say as I have."

  "You'll give it to me, meaning you can take it away," I said. "No thanks."

  "We won't have to war," Cleo said. "Your people won't have to die. You can continue to rule exactly like you do now. Nothing has to change. There will be peace, though. And if you want to expand your peace, we can help you with that."

  "By expand my peace," I said, “you mean conquer Skia Hellig."

  "They will destroy themselves," Malach said. "Theus proved that. Betraying someone as powerful as you, even if allied with us, was a fool's move."

  "We could do so much good together," Cleo said.

  "That's what you care about?" Nash tilted his head. "You want to save the world."

  Cleo bit her lip and wiggled her brows. "Maybe. You never know. But I do want to partner with Max. So if she wants to do good, fine. Whatever keeps her happy."

  "I want to know what you actually want," I said.

  Anger tightened her eyes. "I told you before. We want to consume your power."

  "Now more than ever," Malach said. "It feels incredible."

  Cleo nodded. "When you bind to us–and you will–you'll be more powerful than ever. You'll finally be able to protect your people from any threat imaginable."

  I laughed. "Never."

  "You will," Cleo said. "If you won't, we at least will suck every last drop of energy from you. That will be a true disgrace, though. You're so much more than you understand." Her gaze shifted between Nash and me. "Both of you. If only you understand the heights you've risen to before."

  "What do you know about before?" Nash asked.

  A knowing smile curled her lips. "I know I see the god in you."

  Chills pricked my arms. "I'm tired of dealing with cryptic people."

  "You can't understand. That's why we must rely on vagaries. You panic so easily when it comes to the gods." Cleo uttered a pitying sigh. "If you grasped their true nature, you'd never fear again. The gods are not gods because they created our world or because they're in the Collective. Their rise to this position is why they're gods. The power they took for themselves, the strength they cultivated, the journey of enlightenment they mastered. Dr. Henderson didn't reach the Collective. These are more than just people."

  "I fail to see their brilliance," I said.

  "Because you're looking at the Collective, not the people who make it up. There's a difference and I'm not sure anyone anticipated that."

  "What does this have to do with me?"

  Cleo chuckled. "You sweet girl. Stop letting the Collective fool you. Take the answers for yourself. You can figure this out. I told you that there's a god in you, Max. There's one in Nash too." Her gaze darkened. "And when I consume you, then I too shall ascend to the Collective."

  Nash and I shared a look of agreement. I took his hand and both Malach and Cleo raised their palms to us at the same time, with the same hazy crimson energy gathering in their palm. They mirrored one another so well, I sensed what I couldn't see. A bond as real as the one Nash and I shared when we connected.

  I teleported us away before we wound up dead, having no idea what we really faced. Her uncanny smile being the last thing I saw.