`You speak for Darla?' Ivy moved closer, the tendrils of fog caressing her.
`No.' Nikki turned to Ivy. `I am Darla.'
Ruth shivered. Everything about Nikki had become alien. The scales had now covered her face.
Murmurs ran through the crowd and Renee made a low sound in her throat. Ruth struggled to keep Renee in sight as Nikki turned to face her.
`Treaty.'
Ruth stared at the dark hand being offered.
`What she offers is true.'
`It cannot be.' Mason stepped forward. `It is false, like everything that comes from the darkness. False.' He stepped closer, drawing Renee after him, her hair shifting into a tight mane.
Ruth struggled to breathe.
`Here you must lead, Ruth. The Hunter must not speak for you. He is blinded by his anger and will not see the truth. Only as Mason can he see the truth in those around him.'
`Let her speak, Mason, please.' Ruth let Gaia go and slipped past him to Nikki. To Darla. `We need to understand what's being offered.'
She looked at him and her stomach churned. His face was hard, eyes black. Her Mason had gone. Butcher stared back.
`No!' he spat. `Everything they offer is false, just like the Bloodells.' He stepped towards her, holding his hand out for her to take. `They trap people with false dreams and then tear them apart. I've seen it too many times to let this go on. Unnaturals cannot be trusted. We're leaving.'
Ruth pulled back from his hand. No. He needed to listen.
`You're wrong, Mason.' Ruth clenched her hands. `Our life has been shit since this all started, all the fighting and killing. This family can't go on like this. We can't do this alone anymore.'
`Alone? We're a strong family Ruth, and what they're doing isn't for us. They're offering false hope, using what you desire to twist your view of what is happening. We must leave.' He reached for her again, his teeth bared at Nikki.
Ruth slapped his hand away. He couldn't see how much they needed allies. Gaia was right.
`Give me my Mason back right now. Not this ugly thing. Let me see my Mason.'
`Mum!' Wilson joined Mason. `Stop it, Dad's right. We need to leave. This is all wrong.'
`No, it isn't.' The sand moved under her and they weren't listening. The were both blinded by anger. She felt it at her core. Peace with the Darkells meant stability and safety for them. More than that if she could believe Gaia at all.
`How can you trust them, Ruth? Why trust them after all that's happened to us?'
`Because I want to. Because I want us to have some sort of life together. Mason, it's terrifying for me knowing that any second you can become that, that thing. And it's infecting Wil as well. I won't let you make him into that.' She saw a flicker of indecision in his eyes.
`That's it, we're out of here.' Wilson grabbed Mason. `If we go, Mum will have to follow us.'
They couldn't leave. She wouldn't let them. Mason was in there. She'd seen him.
`No, Wilson!' Her connection with the earth flared and she understood what she could do. The sand obeyed. They would not leave.
Energy coursed through her. The elements would obey. They would not leave.
`Holy shit.' Wilson jumped back as someone screamed. `The sand. It's become a wall.'
Ruth commanded the sand. A wall of sand formed around the clearing. No one was leaving. `Give me back Mason. Show me the man I love!'
Wind came and her own anger flared as Butcher, still before her, stood defiant. `Show me!' The air roared. Trees cracked but she did not care. Huge water spouts exploded into life, spraying everybody with seawater. The island shook and Darkells women fell around her.
`Mum.' Wilson's voice was lost in the roaring wind. Ruth only saw Mason, the darkness and hate fading in his eyes. He had heard. His face softened and colour bled into his eyes.
`Mason.' She let her own anger go and the island fell silent. Her legs grew heavy. She needed to sit down.
`I don't know if I can do this.' He moved towards her. `It's hard for me to accept that what they offer is real.'
Ruth grabbed his arm before she fell. `I believe what they say, and more. Can you believe too, for me? Can you believe in me?'
His hands held her, warm and soft. Her Mason. She closed her eyes for a second, listening to his heartbeat slow. Ruth felt his hand touch her face and she opened her eyes.
`I believe in you.' He half-smiled and looked past her. `What is it you offer?'
`Treaty,' Nikki boomed again, her hand held out to Ruth.
Ivy nodded at Ruth. `A treaty with the Goddess Darla means that our clans will be joined. What she offers is…' Ivy turned to Nikki. `Magi, Darla, are you sure about this? He's—'
`Treaty.' Ice cold energy crackled and Ivy staggered then bowed her head.
Ruth remembered to breathe.
`The Goddess Darla offers her treaty with the Douglas Clan and her children — us.'
Mason nodded at the women behind Ivy. `How do we know they will keep the treaty?'
`Her word is binding, Mason,' Ivy said looking up. `If Darla makes treaty with you then it is a law we dare not break.'
`None will break it,' Tashia said. She stood beside Ivy, looking every part a warrior, her silver tattoos bright upon her skin.
`Like you, Mason, our clan laws run deep in our blood.' Tashia crossed her arms. `See the truth of my words, Mason. I am flesh and blood before you, not one possessed by another. I know you have the gift. See into my eyes.'
`Aye,' he nodded. `There is no lie in your words. I believe you.'
`So what do we do next?' Ruth asked. She was relieved, but Nikki's alien appearance continued to unnerve her.
`Treaty.' Nikki's hand hadn't moved and Ruth looked at it surrounded by its dark energy. Cold and dark, and offered to them. Mason moved and she moved with him. Wilson joined them, standing quietly.
`Treaty it is, then.' Mason paused, then took the dark hand in his own. `We will honour the treaty. Our word is binding, Darla. The Douglas clan does not break its word.'
`Bonded we are,' Nikki's voice deepened and she stepped closer. Ruth shivered. Cold radiated from the reptilian scales that covered Nikki's familiar face.
`Done. What's next then?'
`Blessing.' The goddess glanced at Ruth, the darkness in her eyes thickening and she moved impossibly fast, burying the dark hand in Mason's chest.
Ruth hauled on the hand, blood spraying across her and across Wilson as he wrapped his arms around her.
Ruth screamed. `No. You promised treaty. Let him go!'
`Blessing.' Nikki smiled.
Tears burnt Ruth's eyes. She could hear Wilson screaming at her but his words were lost to her. How could they do this? She dug her fingers deep into Nikki's scaled arm. `Let him go!'
The goddess smiled and nodded. `Blessing…comes.'
Ruth froze. Mason stiffened. A tendril of black fog raced down Nikki's arm and into Mason before spreading into her, a cold searing presence.
Nikki's face faded into the darkness. `Blessing for you all.'
`Damn it.' Mullet lent against the railing of the Monarch. `Bloody bladder.' He whistled as he emptied it. `What the—?'
The Monarch rocked, making him grab the