The long, stunning plume of her feathers was bright and ostentatious… and possibly her downfall. With a substance to grip on to, the fortress spell settled into place, and a burst of gold released the seven powerful beings who’d worked tirelessly to constrain her.

Dannie’s amused expression faded as she felt the power of their cage wrapping around her body. It was so fast that before she could lift her feathery red eyebrows, it was up to her neck. The strands tightened, cutting off her air, and when her head disappeared, I let out a breath, pulling myself to stand. My healing had already kicked in, and by the time I got dressed, any aches from my tiny battle with the goddess were gone.

“Did it work?” I asked, hurrying toward the others, surprised to see that Shadow still held one of golden strands.

“We just need to get the last link secured,” Reece grunted out. “She’s fighting harder than ever.”

Together, they pressed in with the final strands, and as it settled against Dannie, I had a brief moment of thinking we’d won. But the moment was over before we even had a chance to celebrate.

A sliver of red light escaped from the golden strands close to Dannie’s face, and before any of us could even react, she channeled her power so effectively that the fortress shattered, sending all of us flying. As I braced myself for impact, I ended up caged in strong arms that took the impact of the blow.

“You okay?” Shadow asked, his face close to mine.

I nodded. “Yeah, but fuck. It didn’t work! What do we do now? She’s too strong to take the stone from without weakening her first.”

He was on his feet in a heartbeat, holding me against him. “We try again,” he said quickly. “We learn where we went wrong and ensure it doesn’t happen twice.”

Angel huffed in closer, her wings springing free in an attempt to block us from Dannie’s view. “We’re bleeding energy, Shadow. I estimate we have one more shot in all of us.”

“That’s all we need,” Shadow said fiercely. “We’re fast learners.”

“One last time,” Lucien said.

“We’ve got this,” Len added, pulling more of his crystals free.

Galleli was on board as well. Let us begin.

With no time to waste, they formed a circle, preparing to weave another fortress. A stronger one.

Dannie, who was still floating nearby, seemingly none the worse for wear after exploding from her cage, tilted her head back and laughed. “My Darkor, you never used to be so stupid. You cannot best me.”

Her power rose up above her, and I knew she was going to destroy them before they had a chance to build a cage to fight her again. There was no way I could distract her for long enough to stop that.