The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

do it, Mort,” she saidquietly, pitching her voice beneath the hearing range of hercompanions. “I watched it with Rose and Dorian. I can’t leaveyou.”

Yes, yes you can!I shouted at her mentally, but naturally shecouldn’t hear me.

“Don’t,” said my treacherous otherself. “I have an idea.”

She still thought she was speaking tome. I was livid, shaking and furious to the core of mybeing.

Penny’s eyes changed, as hopeflickered again.

“I need your love,” my bastarddoppelganger told her. “I need a little more power to dothis.”

“To do what?” she whispered. I couldfeel her breath on my face.

“I can save the children,” he told herheartlessly, playing on her most vulnerable emotions.

Until that moment in my life, I hadonly thought I understood the depths that hate can reach, but inthat place I discovered its fathomless extent. I hated myself, myother self, in a way that was beyond comprehension.

“How?” she said, glancing back to makesure the others hadn’t gotten close enough to hear.

“I just need enough strength to stand,to restore my body. One person would be enough, but…,” he stoppeddramatically, letting the sentence finish itself.

Walter coughed. “We have to go,Penelope. I’m sorry, but we’ve taken too long,” he saiddelicately.

“We need to go now!” restated Garethin a much louder voice.

Penny’s eyes searched mine, seeing allthe feverish intensity that my demon-birthed twin could put inthem. “Only you, Mordecai, I’ve never loved another—only you,” shesaid urgently, and then she kissed me.

YES! Brexus was elated. The sick bastard had been fantasizingabout this since he first thought of my wife. Her aythar entered mymouth with a sweet taste that reminded me of nothing else. Thedemon was drawing it out, but not as quickly as he could. In thepast he had killed men within less than a second, but he took histime now.

I could feel her love radiatingthrough me, like a beacon calling to my soul. I cried and rejoicedas our spirits touched again, hating myself for the comfort it gaveme to feel her again.

I love you,she said through the bars of my spellwovencage.

And then I realized what washappening.

My alter-ego was funneling her aythardirectly to me. Using his meager strength, he was warping the cage,trying to let her life, her love, her aythar—reach me.

Pulling gently, Brexus drained my wifeuntil the flame that warmed her flesh was flickering in the cold,and he gave all that he received to me. At the end, I thought herflame would expire, but he stopped, severing theconnection.

Unconscious, Penny’s near lifelessform collapsed over my body then, and a shout went up from theothers. Leaping forward, Gareth pulled her away from me.

“Foolish woman!” he shouted. “What hasshe done?”

Walter was stunned motionless, but thetwo gods didn’t seem concerned.

“We can carry her,” saidDoron.

The Lady of the Evening Star nodded,“She’s still alive. I will care for her.”

Trapped in my body, I heard somethingthen, something I hadn’t heard in a while—the voice of theearth.

Talk to yourfriends, Brexus told me. My lips were myown again.

Why? I asked him.

I love her too. It was agift, he answered.

The heart of the world beat stronglybeneath me.

“Gareth,” I said suddenly, strugglingto sit up. My body was thoroughly dead. It was like trying tocontrol a marionette. Thankfully, Brexus helped, he had had a lotmore experience at it. I realized then that he was alsoconsiderably weaker than I was. He had absorbed none of the aytharPenny had given us.

Gareth Gaelyn looked at me with aprofound intensity. My apparent assault on Penny had angered him,but he wasn’t sure why I hadn’t finished her. “What?”

“I can hear the earth again,” I saidsimply.

“How will that help you?”

“Don’t leave. I have an idea. If itdoesn’t work you can escape later,” I said nodding atWalter.

“We have little choice now,” he statedbluntly. “She delayed us too long.” Gathering Penny into his arms,he stepped back toward the others and vanished.

Chapter 45

Standing proved to be toodifficult, so I opted to sit on the stone. Funeral bier, I thought absently.Mal’goroth was coming to me anyway. Since he was the one with allthe strength, he could do all the walking too.

As I sat, I enjoyed the air. It was myfirst time to experience it first-hand in a long time. My sense oftouch was badly skewed, but anything was better than the emptinessinside my cage. Brexus was still weak, and with my new strength,meager as it was, I could sample everything around medirectly.

It would have been a nice time forbirdsong, but some bastard had blown all the trees down and scaredthem away.

My apologies,came Brexus’ thought in my mind.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I repliedgenerously. “What you did was extremely clever. It was Mal’gorothwho tore all this up.”

Most of it happened whenthe stasis enchantment broke, he remindedme.

“You remember it your way, I’llremember it mine,” I said firmly. “I’ll blame him for all ofit.”

Fair enough,he agreed. Those diamondcubes were the work of genius. Your crafting skills are withoutcompare.

Since I had created themwhile still alive, I realized that it meant I shared the guilt forthe destruction they had caused, but I decided not to dwell on it.My other self was kind enough to stick to the positive,thankfully. I wasn’t very happy with whatyou did with them in Albamarl, I repliedwith a strong sense of reprimand.

I have an angerproblem, admitted Brexus.

“Well, I’ll probably have nightmaresover that for the rest of my life,” I shot back.

Somehow, I’m not tooworried about that, he responded with asarcastic air.

“I suppose you’re right,” I agreed,stifling a laugh, “if Peter ever gets around to keeping hispromise.”

He will,said Brexus.

“You know him well, to be so certain,”I conceded.

As well as you.

“You really have lost your mind,haven’t you?” said Mal’goroth.

I had felt his arrival long before hegot close enough to speak, so I wasn’t startled in the least. “Iprefer to think that I have gained an extra one,” I retortedcleverly. Of course he didn’t quite get the joke.

That was funny,Brexus assured me.

“Thank you,” Iresponded. At least you understandme, I added silently.

Mal’goroth watched me carefully. “Idid not expect to see you moving so soon,” he commented. “Didsomeone try to help you?”

I had expected that question. It wasthe one I worried about the most. If my over-endowed enemy