I forced myself to release the energy I'd stolen, allowing it to return to the people around me. Famine tried to exert control over me again, but this time, I knew what she was doing and I fought back. I could feel it now, a duality where I needed to hold on to myself, to make myself strong so that I didn’t fade behind Famine. She would be the driving force if I let her, until we merged into one terrible, awful being that would drain the life out of every living thing in every realm, until there was nothing left.
Famine struggled harder, pouring more of her power over me, while attempting to reach out and steal life from everything around us. I countered her by sending out living energy into the surroundings with my Persephone powers, bringing the plants back to life around us, fighting her blight with my power of growth. That only made her more angry, but it also made me realize something—I was the direct counter of Famine. She made crops wither and die, and I made them grow and flourish.
I was Persephone, the goddess of spring and death. I was Eve, who had trapped the Four Horsemen originally. And I was Hannah, an angel of truth, and the motherfucking Demon Queen. Famine thought she could take over my body and raise my child as her own, but she had no idea how powerful I was. Especially because it wasn't just me. I had my daughter too, a little piece of Lucifer nestled in my body. My baby was strong, and together I knew we could subdue Famine and contain her.
My daughter kicked like she understood my need for us to fight together, and I drew on my love for Lucifer to center myself. I gazed upon my sons, all of them standing again and looking at me with such love it overwhelmed me. My family was my strength. Love gave me power.
This is my body, I told Famine. And you will submit to me.
Never, she cried, as she raged inside me. The overwhelming feeling of desperation, need, and hunger that could never be sated filled me, but I stared at my sons and pushed it down. I focused on life and love, using my memories of all my past lives to fuel me. I'd been reborn hundreds of times, my soul strengthening every time, and each life had given me a tiny bit more power. Enough power to defeat even an Elder God.
I forced Famine into a small space inside me, squeezing her tighter and tighter, draining her of strength and will until she faded away into nothing. The intense hunger and longing vanished, along with her presence. The only thing that remained was her power, coursing through my body like crackling electricity, now mine to control.
Famine was gone, and I remained.
No, that wasn't right.
I was Famine now.
An Elder God. A Horseman of the Apocalypse. A being powerful enough to stop War.
A black horse appeared out of the night and rode toward me, and I held out my hand to her nose. She breathed over me with warmth and recognition as she nudged against my fingers. I knew this horse, and it knew me. Misery, something inside me supplied. That was her name.
As I pondered this strange bond with this horse I'd just met, my sons rushed over to me. "What was that?” Belial’s knuckles were white around the hilt of Morningstar, which was glowing with both white and black light.
“Are you okay?” Kassiel asked.
Damien peered at me. "Is Famine in there?"
“I am Famine.” I stroked the horse’s flank, then turned to face them with wonder. "But I'm also still me."
Belial arched an eyebrow. "You defeated her?"
Kassiel grinned. "Of course she did."
"How?" Damien asked.
"I used my love for my family to give me strength," I said, rubbing my bump as I smiled at my sons.
"That's corny as fuck," Belial said, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe, but it worked, didn't it?" I gave each of them a warm hug, so relieved to still be myself, but now with added hope. If I could defeat Famine, then surely Lucifer could defeat War too. He just needed me to guide him and help him remember who he was.
I glanced around the area, and most of the shifters and imps had either fled or been killed. Most of my people were still standing, except for Callan and Zel. They were on the ground under a dead tree, and I rushed over to them.
"How is she?" I asked.
Callan looked up at me with a pained expression. "She needs a healer right away."
While Damien called for Mirabella to open the portal to Earth, I kneeled beside my best friend and placed my hand on her cheek. She was weak, and I felt her life force in a way I never had before. A little voice told me it would be so easy to drain her of what was left—the lingering remnant of Famine's essence, perhaps. Something I would have to learn to live with and control.
But if I could take energy and life, could I give it too? I was able to do it with plants, why not people?
I rested my hands over the huge, bloody gash in Zel's stomach, which I'd avoided looking at because it was too horrifying to consider. While angelic healers like Marcus used their connection to the light to heal, I was different, and my power came from nature. Just like Famine did before, I drew upon the life force of the plants around us, making the grass turn brown again. The tree over us withered and died, its leaves falling upon us like rain. I gathered all of it inside me, and then I funneled it into Zel.
The magic kicked her own immortal healing into overdrive, and she gasped as her eyes popped open. Her stomach knit back together and color returned to her face, while she stared at me with shock.
"What...?" she asked.
"I'll explain everything
