“Kill them all?” Diana echoed blankly.

“Any human that Nemesis can use. I thought that was obvious, Diana. I can’t allow Nemesis to find a host; do you know how powerful he would be? No, he must die. First the people at the lake. It will be easier. Then Perdido Beach. There are many hiding places in Perdido Beach. I know.” She nodded smugly. “How many humans are alive in this small universe of ours?”

“Gaia, you can’t—”

Diana felt herself slammed to the ground, hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Then she was hurled straight up into the air, flying, arms windmilling, screaming in terror.

She began to drop. The drop onto hard stone would surely kill her.

Please, yes, let me die.

But Gaia stopped her fall just two feet from impact. Gaia’s child’s face was twisted into a sneer. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do, Mother.”

She let Diana go so that she would fall the last two feet.

Light, Chapter 12