My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

Phospherocious (Part 2)

I tried in vain to break free of my prison. "There wasn't much to it. To me. Sophie Bloom, the girl who flew under the radar. Hoping to feel worthy one day. With my mom. Then with Kai."

The words tumbled out. The stone slithered over my shoulders. I wouldn't be able to talk soon. "History repeating indeed. Persephone and I were exactly the same. When nothing worked to make us feel better, we raged and fought and ignored and yearned and hurt."

But what about filling that need with love for ourselves? Had anyone ever asked me that, I'd have scoffed at them. Of course I loved myself, blah blah blah. But I hadn't. Not really. Even once I'd been restored to my goddess status, I'd spent so much time trying to find external validation.

My chest grew hot and tight. Persephone and I? We were worthy and worth love. Anyone who thought otherwise or tried to make us feel that it was conditional? That was their problem. Not ours. "We never believed how powerful we were. Not like superpowered. Amazing. Alive. We couldn't because we never loved ourselves."

A knot deep in my chest, deep in my heart, loosened, and I cried. For lost years. For broken hearts. For never feeling good enough, when that had never ever been the case. Ugly soul wrenching tears poured from me.

My compassion for Persephone felt absolute. Utter alignment and understanding. Her and I were one and the same.

The stone stopped moving at the base of my throat. The pomegranate tree had burned down to a twisted stump. But there was still life in it. Seeing that, my crying changed. It was no longer about grief. It became about hope.

Kiki sensed the change. "Say it."

I could barely get the words out. To me, always so flip, it was terrifying to say something this real. Part of me was still scared that if I voiced the words, the mocking laughter would return. I believed what I was about to say, but it was still so fragile. Its roots in me were still so shallow that this new Sophie ecosystem could be destroyed in a breath.

The rock rose to press against my jaw. It was now or never.

"It's not about being the best Sophie and Persephone, or even the best Sophie or Persephone. Just the best person. And for the first time in my life, I love that person. All of her." I could barely speak. The stone choked me, distorting my words.

But no one laughed. I was going to be all right.

Better than all right.

I raised my chin up and met Kiki's eyes. "I am divine." On every level.

Kiki beamed at me. "That's all you ever needed to understand." She pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Now end this."

In the next breath I found myself back on Earth.

On fire.

But I was free of the rock.

It was hard to tell if the apocalypse was still in full swing, or who was fighting who, because the flames consumed me. Happily, they were of some magical variety that didn't hurt, but I could still only see orange and blue dancing before my eyes. Only hear a crackling roar.

This was it. The final piece. The way to defeat Zeus and Hades. And why I was on fire. I had to become the ward of love that would keep Earth safe. So many times I'd pulled fury and fire and lightning into myself and projected it back to the world. Now, I simply loved.

For the first time in my life, I truly understood peace.

I felt flames shoot from my body to the heavens and beyond. Felt them burrow deep into the ground as I created a ward to not only keep Earth safe from the gods' destruction, but also to heal all the damage they'd taken in the name of their war.

"All You Need is Love" played over and over in my head. The happiest of soundtracks.

I lost all sense of time as I surrendered. To the flames, and to love. I closed my eyes. My heart felt calm and full.

Creating the ward felt like having a blood transfusion. My ordinary plasma was replaced with some new elixir that pounded warmth and strength and hope and fabulous life through my veins. The stronger the ward grew, the stronger the earth grew, the stronger and better I felt.

It was a rush. One I hated to leave. But I couldn't stand there impersonating a bonfire forever. I had a life to live. And what a magnificent life it was going to be.

As the orchestral sounds of The Beatles' song ebbed away, I knew it was time to bond the ward into place. The flames flared bright and hot, and then winked out.