“And she survived this asshole with them,” Oz said, pulling Phobos’ head from my hand. He held up the grim reminder, then threw it off the mountaintop. “I’d say a few of our lessons stuck.”
Sean, who had loomed on the fringes of the group, took a step closer. The pain in the depths of his bright green eyes was apology enough, but he provided one all the same.
“Khara…I’m so sorry.” He stopped short of me and lifted his gaze to Oz. “For everything.”
“But not everything is your fault, Brother.” His emerald stare snapped back to me, and I forced a smile. “Though we are immortal, I have recently learned that life is too short to harbor ill will for family—though I make exception for Ares.” He smiled back but did not move, and it took only a moment for me to realize why. He was still uncertain. So, with a shameful lack of grace, I staggered over and wrapped my arms around him. “All is well, Sean. And all is forgiven.”
The tension in his shoulders melted away at my words. He hugged me tightly, then let me go.
“We must get you to the Healer,” Trey said.
I nodded in response, then scanned the crowd of PC, looking for someone I had yet to see. Her absence set my heart racing. “Where is my mother?”
“Celia, Raze, and Kaine went to the Underworld to inform Hades and Persephone of what happened,” Drew answered. “She is likely still there now.”
“Take me there at once,” I said to Trey. I stepped toward him, and my ankle twisted out from beneath me. Every available hand nearby shot out to break my inevitable fall, but it was Oz who caught me from behind and pulled me against his chest.
“Can you transport us all at once?” he asked Trey.
My brother’s expression was as filled with exhaustion from his most recent journey as it was with uncertainty at my request.
“Take them,” Cass said, stepping forward from the mass of ghostly souls. “The fallen will wait.”
Sean walked over to join him. “And I’ll wait with them.” A sad and wistful expression overtook his countenance. Cass and the others looked much the same.
“Then I will see you soon, Brothers.”
Casey, Drew, Kierson, Pierson, Oz, and I huddled near Trey and placed our hands on him. Oz’s grip on me tightened further, and he dipped his head to my ear. “This is how close I will be to you from now on.” His voice was a dark rumble in my ear. “Fight me about it, and I’ll find a creative way to join us at the hip. Permanently.”
“Is that meant to be a threat?” I countered as I craned my head to look up at him. “Because I rather like the thought of us locked together—in a fashion.”
“Aw, shit,” Kierson groaned. “It’s going to be a long ride…”
“That’s the plan,” Oz replied with a laugh.
It was quickly followed by the familiar sensation of darkness that accompanied Trey’s ability. We arrived moments later on the gate side of the Acheron. Gathered on the far side, in the Great Hall, stood my father and his wife, along with Aery, Deimos, Kaine, Raze, and my mother.
The look of relief on her face at the sight of me was one I would never forget.
While Aery flew over the river to collect my brothers, Oz took to the air with me in his arms. He landed before Hades and the others, then released me just enough for my father to hug me gently. When he let me go, he surveyed the state of my obvious injuries and frowned.
“It is a long story,” I said, “but I shall explain in a moment.”
“After you hug me, too?” My mother rushed over, arms open wide, and wrapped them around me. “Are you okay, my darling?”
“I will be, but I will need the Healer to ensure that end.” My mother pushed me away and stared, concern etching her brow. “The short of it, as I understand, is that my vessel abilities were sacrificed to destroy Phobos’ realm.”
That got everyone’s attention—especially Deimos’. “And where is he now?”
“Beheaded at the top of Mount Olympus.”
The god of terror’s eyes went wide. “How?”
“Khara kicked his ass,” Oz answered on my behalf.
I looked back at him, then at my brothers. “I had a little help.”
“But you lost your powers in the process?” Hades asked. “All of them?”
I nodded. “I still have my wings, though, so that is something.”
“She thought that killing Phobos might return them to her,” Drew said as he approached, with the others and Aery right behind him, “but it didn’t.”
Deimos remained silent. But Persephone, who had been quiet until then, leaned toward my father and whispered something in his ear. The King of the Dead started, and his gaze cut down to her. “Excuse us,” he said with a curt nod. Then he turned and took his wife’s elbow to escort her gently from the room.
“What’s that about?” Kierson asked.
I shrugged, then winced at the lancing pain in my dislocated shoulder. “With those two, it is impossible to know.”
“Trey,” Oz called over my head, “time to go get that Healer.”
Our quiet brother disappeared from sight in an instant.
But it was not his reappearance with the petite girl that brought a collective gasp from the group. It was Persephone’s and Hades’. They stalked back into the Great Hall in triumphant fashion, a smile on her face and determination on his.
“I have something even better than the Healer for you, my dear sister.”
She and Hades stepped aside to reveal the nearly faded soul of Phobos.
“You have not fully destroyed him, my princess,” Hades said. “Not permanently...”
It was then that I realized what I had not before that moment; I had not killed him with obsidian. I had not wiped out his existence entirely. I had used a normal weapon against a being far beyond normal, and though it had succeeded in ending his life, it had not erased his soul.
I looked back at my mottled grey wings and sighed. “I cannot do what you suggest, Father.”
Oz shifted behind me. “Maybe you can’t, but I sure as fuck can.” Before I could even begin to argue, he stormed toward where the shadowy presence loomed next to Hades and stopped only feet away. “Khara got her vengeance tonight,” he said, voice low and menacing as ever, “but I didn’t.” The shadowy essence of Phobos looked at him. A grim smile formed in that darkness, and Oz’s wings twitched. “You tried to take something from me, and you failed.” The tip of his wing rose slowly, aimed at the head of Phobos’ soul. Hades took a step back. “But I won’t.” His wing lanced forward and pierced the twisting shadow, and a shrill scream filled the vast space as the last shred of Phobos’ existence disappeared forever.
Oz looked over his shoulder and locked his eyes on mine.
And then I felt it. A surge of magic and power and that bottomless nothing flooded into me like the first soul I had ever stolen, filling me. Reviving me. Healing me. I felt my skin knit back together, my shoulder slide into place, and myriad other injuries slowly disappear, until I could stand tall and unhindered.
“Feeling better, new girl?”
I nodded as I caught my breath. “Was that as satisfying as you hoped it would be?”
My question was met with a smug smirk. “Not even close, but it’ll have to do.”
“Are they all back?” Kierson asked. “Your powers?”
“Shall I try to shoot you with lightning to see?”
“Don’t you dare mess with my man!” Aery shouted as she slung her arm around his shoulder. Then she winked at me. “That’s my job.”
“Khara,” Drew called, drawing my attention, “let’s get you home. You need some rest. You can test your abilities after that.”
“Your brother is right,” Hades agreed. “But make sure you return soon to visit. I miss you.” His eyes drifted to his wife, then back. “We both do.”
Persephone shrugged. “She is surprisingly entertaining. I see why you care for her so much.”
Hades embraced me, then let me go, as though he fi
nally fully realized that the Underworld was no longer my home. The others stood next to Trey, awaiting Oz, the other angels, and me.
“I think I would prefer to fly,” I said, “if it is all the same to you.”
Casey looked to Oz, then nodded. “Keep an eye on her,” he said before Kaine, Raze, and my mother joined the group, and they all disappeared.
I walked over to the Acheron, my grey wings twitching behind me.
“No way, new girl,” Oz said, scooping me up. “You didn’t survive all that shit to plummet into the river of death.” Before I could begin to argue, he was well above the water in question, headed for the far shore.
“Oz,” I said, staring up from where he pinned me to his body. I took his lack of response as permission to continue. “What happened when I disappeared?”
I felt him go rigid. “Everything just stopped. Without Phobos there, the PC regained their minds. Sean flew into action and rallied the troops. Kaine, Raze, and your mother went to the Underworld.” He was silent for a moment. “And I lost my fucking mind.”
“I saw no other way,” I said softly.
“Yeah, I got that, new girl, but next time do me a favor and don’t be a hero.”
I craned my neck to look at him. “Would I not look good in a cape?” I held my smile back as long as I could before I failed.
“If you’re naked under it, maybe.”
More silence.
“I will need to speak to Sean when we return home. He and I still have much to discuss.”
“I’d prefer not to talk about your brother right now. I’m still picturing you in that cape…”
“Tell me something, Oz. In all the time we have spent together, you have refused constantly to disclose why you and my twin detest each other. Your animosity appears to run deep and is mutual. I can only imagine the reason behind it to be a matter of epic proportions.”
The Dark One grew quiet again for a moment as we neared the gates. Then he looked at me, amusement in his eyes. “I think the truth might disappoint you.”
“Your news disappoints me often. I will survive it, I am certain.”
His smirk grew wider. “Have you ever asked Sean?”
“Once.”
“And?”
“He did not wish to tell me, either.”
At that, he scoffed. “Of course he didn’t—because he started the whole thing.”
“You sound like a toddler.”
“And he acted like one.”
I rolled my eyes as we broke free of the Underworld and took to the sky. “What, precisely, did he do?”
His smile waned long enough to let his anger show through. “He called me a cheater.”
I gaped in disbelief. “That is all? He called you a cheater?”
Oz looked at me and laughed; my expression must have been entertaining. “We were playing something similar to poker, and he called me a cheater. It was all downhill from there.”
“So, all these centuries—all this hatred—is based upon him calling you a name?”
He shrugged. “I mean, it escalated from there.”
There was so much to unpack in his answer that I took a moment to sift through it before responding.
“Does this mean you were once…friends?”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I didn’t think he was a total fucking dick, so…”
“He cares for me in his own way. At least you share that in common.”
He lifted higher into the clouds. “Do we?” That infuriating smug countenance met my glare. “Listen, I’m willing to play nice from now on if he is—provided he admits that he was wrong about that game—”
“Which he will never do.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not so sure about that. We all seem to make exceptions where you’re concerned.”
He broke through the clouds to the rising dawn.
“You two are far too alike for your own good,” I said as I shifted in his arms.
“Do me a favor: if you ever plan to tell him that, make sure I’m there.”
I stifled my amusement. “Consider it done.”
We flew the rest of the way back to the Victorian, hidden beyond the clouds and steeped in companionable silence. Because that was how we worked—how we operated best. Convention had no place in our relationship, however one chose to define it. We were us, and that was all we needed to be.
Our fate was ours to claim.
27
I collapsed into a deep sleep not long after we arrived in Detroit, and there was no longer a fear god to disturb my slumber. There was, however, an acrid stench that woke me up many hours later—along with the familiar sound of males shouting. A fight was brewing nearby, and I was on my feet and out the window in a flash to assess the situation.
To find the enemy.
What I found was most unexpected.
Smoke from what appeared to be a contained fire of some sort plumed up to where I stood on the rooftop. I hopped down, my grey wings controlling my fall, and landed next to where my brothers were clustered around Oz and a foreign contraption, each one yelling instructions at the others.
“Which of you would like to explain what it is that you are doing right now? Because whatever it is, I cannot imagine you are doing it properly—”
“Your idiot brother over here,” Oz said, gesturing to Kierson, “has no fucking idea how to cook, which is fascinating given how much he eats.”
“Maybe if you’d stop butting in,” Kierson growled as he tried to push Oz away from the flaming device he seemed to be guarding.
“If I stopped butting in, we’d be eating the equivalent of charred dicks for dinner.”
At his response, I pushed my way through my brothers to see what was happening.
“It’s probably best to leave him to it,” Raze called from deeper in the backyard. I looked to find my mother and Kaine standing next to him, the three of them clearly amused by the spectacle that was Oz and my brothers.
When I pushed through the crowd to reach Oz, I found him standing before a grate, flames shooting between the rails, and blackened cylindrical objects spread out all over the surface. I looked at the Dark One, my features twisted with confusion.
“It’s a grill,” he said, as though that were enough explanation. Seeing that it wasn’t, he continued. “It’s for cooking food.”
“That does not look like food.”
At that, he smiled. “You can thank Tweedle Dum over here for that.”
The arguing began once again, and I decided that the best course of action was to back away and take refuge in the house. There would be no intervening—even though I did have my abilities back. They would have to sort things out on their own.
But I would enjoy watching the battle.
I sneaked in through the back door and peeked through the living room windows at my brothers. At the Dragon and Aery conspiring together in the back corner, no doubt about how best to defuse the situation. At my mother smiling when Kaine bent close to whisper in her ear, much to Raze’s discontent. At Oz, who seemed all too pleased to fan the flames now shooting high into the air. I thought about my life before I had arrived in Detroit. Before my wings had been born. Before everything about my being had changed. I watched them argue, laugh, and fight. I watched them bond over the mundane, just as they had over the deadly. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they had become a family, though a dysfunctional one to be certain.
Then Oz spotted me observing them from inside the living room, and he stepped up to the wall of windows and leaned against it, just as he had the night I had turned him into what he was now—a Dark One. Moments later, he was in the house, standing behind me.
“Something wrong?” he asked, his whisper tickling my ear.
“No. Quite the opposite, I think.” I turned to find him looking at me curiously.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning all is well. Perhaps better than I ever could have imagined.”
Concern etche
d his brow. He took me by the shoulders and thrust his face in mine.
“You’re freaking me out, new girl.”
I shrugged him off and headed toward the kitchen. “I am—”
“—fine. I know. But you’re acting weird, and I want to know why. Does it have to do with Phobos?”
I leaned my hip against the counter and folded my arms across my chest. “No. It has to do with you. With me. With everyone outside.”
His dismay grew. “You lost me.”
“I feel…” I stopped for a moment, unable to capture the emotion I felt—for I had never experienced it before. Did not recognize it. “Content, perhaps?”
“Content…you mean, like...happy?”
“Yes. That. That is what I am.”
He shook his head. “We’re going to have to work on your face, then, because that is not the face of happiness.”
I canted my head. “And are you happy, Dark One? Are you even capable of such an emotion?”
He scoffed. “If you are, then I’m pretty sure I am.”
“Indeed…”
He pushed off the wall at his back and stalked toward me. “Tell me something, new girl. Why are you happy?”
I pondered his question as he stopped only inches before me. His vast form hemmed me in against the counter, and his eyes slid down my body as he awaited my answer. The weight of his gaze on my chest made it hard to think.
“I am happy to be here with my brothers—to have survived all that I have since I emerged from the Underworld and landed in Detroit.”
He shifted toward me. “Anything else?”
“Perhaps I am happy for other reasons as well.”
“Such as?”
“Such as the ever-present thorn in my side that is you.”
“Thorn in your side…I thought we were past all that?”
“We will never be past that,” I replied as his hands grazed my thighs, “but that is the appeal between us, I think. It will never be easy or comfortable or ordinary. We will never be like others.” My gaze drifted to where Aery now stood outside, wrapped in Kierson’s arms. “We will never be like that.”
“They are not creatures of darkness, as we are,” he said, voice low and deep in my ear. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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