“That leaves you and me, new girl.”
The Dragon pointed to a room well beyond Casey’s and Drew’s, and I could not help but feel as though we were being separated from the herd. Whether that was for their benefit, ours, or the Dragon’s, I could not be sure.
I drew a blade from my back just in case.
“You will find a private bathroom attached,” the Dragon said, “but I regret that there is only one bed in your room, where the others have two.”
“Not a problem,” Oz replied with smug satisfaction. “We don’t need two.”
The Dragon dared to let his amusement show. “I didn’t expect you would.”
“Keep speaking for me as though I am not here, Oz, and you will find yourself sleeping with Muses,” I said, heading toward the room. “Or the Dragon…”
I heard the Dragon wish Oz luck just as I opened the massive wooden door. The room was no less spectacular than the one I had just left. Gold and fire and dancing light filled the space, giving it a sense of grandeur, though it was far humbler in size and space. The bed sat against the far wall, spanning the vast majority of it. It was bigger than any I had ever seen.
“Perhaps this is normally the Dragon’s room,” I said, walking toward it. The midnight bedding seemed to absorb the light around it like a black hole.
“Or it’s made for creatures with wings—like you. And me.”
Suddenly weary, I sat down on the edge of the silk sheets and looked up at Oz, who hovered nearby.
“We need an actual plan,” I said, watching the light and shadow dance across his tight features.
“We do.” He took a step closer, the toes of his boots only inches from mine. “But that requires me knowing everything—which I don’t.”
His subtext was clear; it was time for me to tell him of Ares’ wish.
“When Ares found me, he made me an offer.”
“Which was…?”
“He would provide the way to kill Deimos’ brother if I agreed to take over the PC. To rule them as Sean does now.”
Oz’s expression grew grim. “And how would you do that? He can’t be killed. And even if he could—”
“I am aware of all that is flawed with his proposition, Oz,” I said, standing to face him. My chest grazed his torso, and his eyes dropped to where they touched, if only for a fraction of a second. “But that is not what concerns me.”
“Thank God something does—”
“Ares knows as well as we do that I cannot kill Sean, so he has a plan to be rid of him. One that does not involve his death, but his incarceration. In the Oudeis. For eternity.”
“Is that even possible?” Oz asked, genuine shock in his tone.
“Ares believes it is. It seems Deimos has informed him of my control over the Underworld—its attraction to me. When I argued that I had turned that power over to my father, Ares countered that I could take it back if I wished, even if only for a second. Enough time to unlock the Oudeis and entomb Sean there.”
“But if you can put him in, then why couldn’t you just let him back out once you got what you wanted? I mean, let’s face it, you’ve already done worse with the souls in there.”
“That is what does not sit well with me. Ares is, by all accounts, as smart as he is shrewd. He would surely know this and have accounted for it in his plan. He must have a way to stop me, and that is what weighs on my mind, because I fear Sean would all but volunteer to go if it would mean stopping the fear god. Which is why he cannot know.”
Oz contemplated my words in silence, then finally spoke. “I get that you care for your brother—and that you’re loyal to the PC—but I need to make something very clear. If push comes to shove where the fear asshole is concerned, I’ll fly Sean into the Underworld and chuck him into the Oudeis myself, because I only give a fuck about your existence, not his.”
“You do not have the power to do that,” I argued, leaning closer.
“Maybe not, but I’m willing to bet Hades does—or possibly even Casey. Who do you think he’d choose? You or Sean, especially if the latter is willing to go?”
Ice slid down my spine at the thought. “You told me once that you would never betray me,” I said, my voice as heated as it had ever been. “That would be the greatest betrayal of all. Going against my wishes to suit your selfish purpose—”
“It’s not selfish,” he all but growled.
“It most certainly is self-serving.”
He clenched his jaw to keep back his retort. For a few long moments, he just stood and stared, grinding his teeth until I wondered if they would shatter under the pressure. If, perhaps, he might as well.
“Sometimes decisions have to be made, and like it or not, you know I’m right about this one, if it indeed comes to that. Sean, Hades, even Casey, they all understand this. And if you have to take Sean’s place, then you’d better get real okay with that, and fast.”
“I will never do what Ares asked, no matter the price.” I pushed up onto my toes to glare directly into Oz’s eyes. “I do not fear my fate, but I do fear for my brothers. Do not cross me on this, Ozereus, because there will be no turning back if you do.”
Whether it was the set of my stare, the conviction in my voice, or the complete and utter lack of remorse I showed when I delivered those words, I could not be sure, but something shifted behind Oz’s eyes—uncertainty. Possibly regret.
Our silent battle waged until he turned to leave.
“You should get some rest,” he said, opening the door. With a flip of a switch, the firelight in the room dimmed to nothing, casting the room in near-darkness. Then he walked out, leaving me alone with my unanswered questions regarding Phobos, my twin, and whether or not Oz would forsake my wishes to fulfill his promise to my mother.
To keep me safe.
10
In the depths of my slumber, a voice found me. At first, it was a buzzing of sorts, like a swarm of bees, but it grew in proximity and volume until what had been only noise became a voice, deep and clear and terrifying.
“Your mind resists me when you are awake now,” Phobos said, his voice echoing in my mind, “so I have come to see you here—in your dreams.”
I searched the darkness but found nothing. No visions. No Phobos. Just infinite black.
“You will never be in my dreams,” I replied. “You are a thing of nightmares.”
“How you flatter me,” he said, his delight plain. “Tell me, Khara, where are you now?”
“Nowhere.”
“You cannot be nowhere.”
I focused on the darkness to keep my mind from betraying my location. In sleep, I could not manage to pull free of his hold, as I apparently had at the Victorian. Until I awoke or he released me, I was his prisoner.
“And yet I am…”
A chill settled around me. “It would be unwise to toy with me, Khara. Others have done so in the past. It did not end well for them.”
“Is that what happened to Eos?” I asked, baiting him. “Did she challenge you and pay the price?”
“Careful, now—”
“Or what? You will climb into my mind and kill me? I think not. You need me for whatever dark purpose you are set on enacting.”
“I cannot kill you here even if I wished to, that much is true. But I can bring you to heel in many creative ways. You’ve barely seen the lengths I’m willing to go to to secure what I want. Your ridiculous PC brother, the Underworld nymph—just the beginning. The veritable tip of the iceberg, as they say.”
“And you have barely seen the lengths I am willing to go in order to protect those I care for.”
Laughter rumbled through my head like thundering hooves. “I am counting on them…” His voice drifted off before he spoke again, any hint of amusement gone from his tone; only anger and mania were left in its wake. “I will remove any obstacle in my way to get to you, Khara—to do what I have wanted to for so long. But first I must find something before we can be together in the flesh. Once I do, I will come fo
r you. Only then will it be time…”
The pressure in my head increased to an unbearable level until, all at once, it relented with a loud, popping sound. I gasped as my eyes shot open, my unconscious struggle to escape his hold during our conversation apparent from the pace of my heart and the sweat coating my body.
As I sat up, I saw a spot in the darkness a shade blacker than the rest at the end of the bed. The silhouette of a body. Without thinking, I whipped a blade from the sheath on my leg and launched it at the shadow. The darkness dodged it, and I reached for another, prepared to throw it in my panic. But before I could let it fly, that shadow pounced, pinning my arms to the bed.
“It’s me, Khara,” Oz said, breathing nearly as hard as I was. “It’s me…” He held me there until the fight and the fear in my body gave way to calm, my normal state taking over. The aftereffects of Phobos’ hold on my slumbering mind wore off, leaving Oz and me in a compromising position. “Say something.”
“It appears my aim still needs work,” I replied. The rumble of his laughter coursed through me.
“I’m grateful for that at the moment. I knew you were pissed at me, but I didn’t expect to be dodging daggers when I returned.”
“He came to me in my sleep—the fear god.”
All humor left him in a second, his body suddenly rigid, prepared for a fight he could not yet have.
“What did you see? What did he say?”
He pulled away just enough to look at me in the darkness, as though he could see my expression without a shred of light. I felt him shift, the sound of rustling feathers echoing through the room. Then dim firelight illuminated the space, as well as the one still pinning both my arms and my body to the bed. The look on Oz’s face was full of anger, concern, and mixture of other emotions I could not yet place.
“I saw nothing, only heard him. He said things.”
Oz let out a sigh. “Your literal interpretation of my questions isn’t appreciated at the moment—”
“Where were you?” I asked as I tried to pull my arms from his grasp.
His hands gripped them tighter. “Out.”
“Out where?”
“In Detroit.”
“Must you be so literal?”
“I’m just following your lead—”
“For the first time in your life—”
“Frustrating, isn’t it?” he asked. I hesitated, loath to admit that it was indeed infuriating. My silence proved confirmation enough for the Dark One, and he let a wry smile overtake his expression. “Now, I asked first.”
“I will tell you nothing until you promise not to tell Sean of Ares’ proposition.”
His smile fell away in an instant. “Is that how you want things to be again?”
“What I want is your word that you will not create a situation that causes my brother to throw himself into the Oudeis in a misguided effort to save me.”
“So you want me to allow you to endanger yourself to spare Sean?”
“If that is how you wish to view it, then yes.”
“I can’t promise that,” he finally said, the words forced through clenched teeth.
“Why not?”
“You know why not…”
“If you tell him, I will be forced to despise you for eternity—or worse.” I shifted beneath him, pressing my hips tighter to his. “What a shame that would be, given how I have grown strangely fond of your unwavering presence in my life.”
“You’ve grown fond of a lot of me.”
I could feel the length of him pushing back. “I think, Oz, that perhaps you are illustrating just how fond you have grown of me.”
He leaned in close, his lips at my ear. “Maybe…”
With a tuck of his wings, he rolled off of me onto the empty spot beside me. He managed his way under the covers, then arranged them to his liking before closing his eyes.
“Is that it? You no longer wish to know of my dream?”
“Oh, I want to know, but I’m not willing to make you a promise I’ll break in a heartbeat if I need to. So you can go ahead and be pissed at me, or hate me for eternity, or whatever it is you think you can do to leverage me into swearing to you that I won’t sacrifice your brother, but it’s never going to work, new girl. I’d prefer your wrath to your death any day of the week.”
I stared at him, completely at a loss as to how to proceed. Oz was normally so overbearing and argumentative that his straightforward answer, combined with his placid appearance, had thrown me entirely. Perhaps there was no way to force his hand. Perhaps I would end up having to make good on my threat and hate him for eternity.
The pressure in my chest protested that possibility.
With no other viable course of action with Oz, I got up and turned off the firelight in the room, leaving us in total darkness. I made my way back to the bed and climbed in, keeping my distance from the angel at my side—the one now snoring lightly. He was still exhausted from his ordeal with Kaine and the Dark Ones, even if he did not let on.
The soft rhythm of his breathing lulled me into joining him in sleep, though the thought of Phobos returning to my dreams kept startling me awake. Try though I did, I could not shake the residual fear his visit had caused. I tossed and turned until sleep finally won out. The moment it did, I felt someone tugging on my mind, the coward having waited until I was in a state that would allow him to hold me. Just as fear blossomed in my gut, something seemed to cut the tether, freeing me from his grip. Instead of panic in my stomach, I felt a warm, welcome pressure grounding me—keeping me from being pulled further into Phobos’ trap.
I nestled into that feeling, doing all I could to remember it so I could call upon it in the future. I fell asleep with a sense of warmth and safety surrounding me, and I slept until a death cry rang out in the Dragon’s lair.
11
“It’s Sean!” Kierson and Pierson said in unison as they barged into my room.
I startled awake to find myself encased in a cocoon of black down, a male arm snaked around my waist. No matter how hard I fought to climb out, it was clear that Oz had no intention of letting that happen until he deemed it safe. Seconds later, his wing lifted as he released me and climbed from the bed. I followed his actions, rushing to my brothers who hovered in the doorway, breathing hard.
“He cannot be dead,” I said, stuffing down my rising uncertainty. Where Phobos was concerned, I was not sure certainty could be found.
“I know, but the vision—”
“—was of his death,” Pierson said, finishing for his twin.
“Last time you saw a death, it was my father’s, and it did not take place because we got there in time,” I said, pushing past them. “We must find him quickly.”
“We must do nothing,” Oz said, catching my arm.
I wheeled on him in an instant. “Has his alleged invincibility been so thoroughly tested that there is no chance he could fall at the fear god’s hands?” I searched the faces of my brothers, all of whom now surrounded us. It was clear from their expressions that none of them was willing to bet his life on what they had previously seen him survive—not even Muses, which spoke volumes. “Then we go,” I said, wrenching free of Oz’s grip and heading for the hidden exit.
“I can’t get a signal,” Kierson said from behind me as he tried to call the leader of the PC whose life was in danger. “We have to get above—quickly.”
“Think about this,” Oz said, following the group as we walked out into the sewer. “The last time this happened, do you really think it was because we got there first, or because Phobos was fucking with us—using your gifts to manipulate us?” Everyone stopped and turned to face the Dark One. “Does that asshole even know of Sean’s invincibility? He’s been AWOL for a long fucking time now. It’s entirely possible that he’s trying to draw us out with visions of your brother’s death because he thinks you’ll come running—which is exactly what you’re doing.”
“And if your theory is wrong?” I asked, lightning prickling i
n my veins.
“Then he has Sean and can’t kill him.”
“But you and I both know there are fates worse than death.”
His brown eyes narrowed at me. “Yeah, there are, which is why you’re not walking into this situation half-cocked and ready to blow. You need to take a second and think it through—like pre-feelings Khara would have.”
“I’ll go above and try to reach him,” Kierson said, stepping out into the sewer.
“Go with him,” Casey said to the Dragon. Without a word, he, too, disappeared.
“Do you expect me to wait here while Sean may be in danger?” I asked, my anger boiling over into my tone.
“I expect you to be smart about this, not a raging ball of lightning, fire, and emotion.”
“Then I think you are about to be sorely disappointed.”
I took off at a sprint through the narrow corridor and up the stairs, the cries of Oz and my brothers following close behind me. But I had an advantage none of them possessed—wings small enough to fit in the passageways. Speed that none of them could match below.
I remembered the way with ease and wove through the maze of stone tunnels whose stench was formidable. Near the exit, I overtook Kierson and the Dragon, and we emerged before the others. I quickly called Sean before Kierson had the chance.
“Khara—”
“Are you all right, Brother? Where are you?”
“I’m in Portsmouth. Shit is hitting the fan here. Why?”
I let out a breath of relief. “It is nothing. I am sorry to have alarmed you. But do me a favor, if you would.”
“Anything.”
“Be careful. The twins saw a vision of your death. I do not wish that fate to befall you.”
I could practically hear his smile through the phone. “He couldn’t kill me even if he wanted to.”
“Are you certain of that? I mean truly certain?”
“I am. I promise.”
I looked at Kierson and the Dragon as they hovered close, eyes scoping the surroundings for an unseen enemy; then Oz stuck his head through the manhole, and I realized that one may have just availed himself. His glowing white eyes were murderous, his anger plain.
Unmade (Unborn Book 4) Page 7