Goddess of Pain

by Katie May

  “Em?” Her voice wobbles slightly. “Fuck, I’m so happy to see you!” Ignoring the blade still centimeters from her neck, she throws herself into my arms, sobbing. Instinctively, I drop the knife to my side before I regain my senses and shove her off of me.

  “I’m going to kill you!” I rage as her eyes once more widen imperceptibly. She looks exactly as I remember her—pert nose, elfin features, wide, circular eyes, and mousy brown hair. Fear dances in her eyes as she takes an automatic step back.

  “I don’t know what’s happening,” she whispers. “When I got my memories back on the blood moon…” She trails off, forking her fingers through her hair. “Who did this to us? What the fuck is going on?”

  “What?” I brandish the knife, eyeing her with barely veiled distaste. Does she really believe I’m that stupid? That her innocent act will work on me? “Don’t play fucking dumb.”

  “I got a text from the guys,” Rebecca continues, swallowing, “and I came right away.”

  My head spins like a tilt-a-whirl at an amusement park.

  “Rebecca, what do you—”

  Before I can finish my question, a third figure sidles up behind Rebecca and places a knife to her throat. She whimpers, thrashing, but the grip on her only tightens.

  Behind her, Athena smiles cruelly.

  “Let’s have a chat, shall we?”

  CHAPTER 27

  Do you have that one person you hate above anyone else? That one soul you would like to see burning in hell’s bowels while you pee on their grave?

  That’s Athena for me.

  I wouldn’t be able to tell you when, or even how, our rivalry began, only that it’s still present to this day.

  My hands are tied behind my back around the wooden kitchen chair, and my ankles are securely fastened to the legs of the chair. Athena gloats victoriously as she tightens the rope around my wrists.

  “I’ve waited too fucking long for this,” she muses, releasing a devilish, tinkling laugh.

  “I’m sorry,” Rebecca whispers. “I’m so sorry.” She begins to cry in earnest, fat, sloppy tears that cascade down her cheeks and into the column of her throat. She hasn’t stopped apologizing since we were captured by that bitch, Athena. Well, since she was captured, and Athena offered to spare her life if I willingly turned myself in.

  I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but one thing is clear—Rebecca is just as much a victim in all of this as I am.

  Tied to the chair next to me, she drops her chin to her chest as her body shakes with sobs. At first, I think she’s crying because she’s scared, but when she lifts her head, I see a steely determination that’s been absent in all the centuries I’ve known her.

  “If you hurt my men, so help me, I’ll kill you!” Her voice is capable of freezing lava. Those tear-stained eyes of her glisten with an almost elemental fury.

  Athena releases another high-pitched laugh as she moves to stand in front of me.

  “Those men you both care about? Henry, Ray, and Colton? They’re fine…for now.” Almost absently, she slides my knife between her pointer finger and thumb, and I can’t help but wish that she accidentally cuts herself and bleeds to death. A girl can only dream.

  There’s no denying that Athena is a beautiful goddess. If you were to see her on the street, you would instantly become mesmerized by her ethereal looks. Golden hair cascades in perfect ringlets down to the middle of her back. Her face is cherubic with red-painted lips, dewy features, and sea-blue eyes. She radiates light and purity—a fitting description, given that she’s the Goddess of Virtue.

  Gag.

  But her power has warped her over time, making her nearly unrecognizable. Now, she deems everyone who is different from her as sinful and deserving of death. She’s a tyrant through and through.

  Oh, and a major fucking bitch.

  “If you hurt my brothers…” I trail off, allowing the warning to settle in the air like an invisible, poisonous gas. Instead of looking properly threatened, as she should’ve been, Athena merely laughs, the noise grating on my nerves.

  “I missed this verbal sparring.” She pats my cheek condescendingly. “Haven’t you?”

  Without another word, she spins on her heel and stalks into the living room, humming softly beneath her breath. Unlike me and Rebecca, she’s dressed in the opulent gowns we always wore when we were in the Realm of the Gods. The silver clings to her figure like a second skin, pushing up her breasts before tapering outwards at her hips. A diamond tiara sits snugly in her mane of blonde hair, the jewel glimmering in the scarce moonlight pouring in through the kitchen window.

  “Fuck her,” I hiss, glaring at where she retreated to.

  “Athena’s behind this,” Rebecca whimpers, and I turn towards my best friend to see the tears already drying on her face. Nothing but grave determination emanates from her gray eyes as she stares at me.

  “Apparently so.”

  But how? What happened during those last few days in the Realm of the Gods? How did we end up here with our memories gone? She must’ve received help, but I can’t even begin to comprehend who would be dumb enough to cross me. To be quite honest, I don’t know a lot of gods and goddesses. I have a tendency to avoid other people and stick with those I’m familiar with.

  “Did you think…” Rebecca bites down on her lower lip. “Did you think I was involved?” The betrayal oozing from her voice is impossible to miss, and I instantly want to rebuke her claim, promise her that she was never a suspect.

  But that would be a lie, and our entire friendship is based on trust.

  “I thought you were behind this,” I admit after a moment, nodding my head once. Her expression shatters as if someone had thrown a rock in the serene pools of her eyes, rippling the water. “The fact that you’re dating my brothers? At the exact same time assassins were sent after me? And the fact that my brother had the number of the man who hired said assassins to kill me?” My voice rises in disbelief, and I can’t help but release a cold laugh. “Yeah, I was pretty damn suspicious of you, Beck. Especially when Desmond told me that you kissed him.”

  “Wait. Hold on.” Her face has drained of all color, making her brown hair appear almost black in the ribbons of moonlight. “Assassins? Assassins have been after you?” She whips her head from side to side rapidly, almost as if she’s in denial. “That’s fucking insane. And yes, I’m dating your brothers. But I had no idea they were your brothers until last night, when they started talking about you. I only recently got my memories returned, but before that, I thought I was a hairstylist from Brooklyn.” I can clearly see worry etched upon her beautiful face. “And you think I kissed Desmond? Desmond?!?” Her voice rises to a screech as her nose scrunches in disgust. “Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.”

  Indignation flares to life within me, and if I wasn’t contained to the chair, I would slap her. “He wouldn’t lie to me,” I hiss. “He told me that you kissed him and that he didn’t kiss you back.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that he didn’t kiss me back,” a coy voice states from the entryway. A moment later, Rebecca enters the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. Unlike the Rebecca tied to the chair, this one is wearing a tight black leather dress that accentuates her curves and knee-high boots.

  My head whips back and forth from the wide-eyed Rebecca sitting in the chair to the sexy, brazen Rebecca leaning against the doorframe.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I demand.

  As I watch, a white mist engulfs the sexy Rebecca like fireworks have just been set off. Her features change and contort—her nose becomes longer, her hair turns a sickly color of platinum, and her boobs become fuller. Where Rebecca once stood, is now…

  A completely unfamiliar goddess.

  “What?” I screech again, twisting my head to see a similar expression of confusion on Rebecca’s face. If this is the main evil villain, I’m gonna be so disappointed. Shouldn’t it be someone who’s always been a part of my life? Maybe the cook who was jealous of me for years
? That one girl I accidentally knocked into on my way through the palace halls?

  Books don’t usually end with the antagonist being a fucking stranger.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Just the girl who fucked Desmond,” she purrs, sliding a finger between the valley of her breasts. “Did he not tell you? When he thought I was Rebecca, he fucked me real hard. That man really has a big cock, wouldn’t you say?”

  I know that she’s trying to rile me up, and honestly? It might’ve worked before. But this is a new me, a better me, and I simply throw my head back and laugh in her face. Rebecca does as well, and it’s not long before we’re both giggling, tears streaming down our cheeks.

  “Do you really expect us to believe,” Rebecca begins around laughter, “that Desmond would lay a finger on me? Fuck you, bitch.”

  Irritation briefly flashes across the goddess’s face before she decides to switch tactics. “And Arsin…I didn’t even have to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. All I had to do was strip down, and he was on me.” She drops her hands to her nipples, pulling and tugging at them through the thin fabric of her dress.

  But of course, that just sends me and Rebecca into another peal of giggles.

  “Who the fuck even are you?” I ask, breathless. When her eyes harden, betraying the true extent of her animosity, I work to calm myself down. “Because you’re fucking crazy if you expect me to believe that my guys would ever touch you. Okay, maybe Avery would, but only to put his hands around your throat and suffocate you until you’re no longer breathing.” I shrug nonchalantly, adopting a bored expression as if I’m simply engaging in girl talk instead of being tied up as a hostage. “So fuck off.”

  Athena appears at that moment, wheeling an office chair full of supplies. I spot tweezers, a handgun, a blowtorch, a hammer, and a screwdriver.

  I’m just going to put this out there, but I do not think I like what she has planned.

  “I see you met my friend Mandy.” She nods towards the unfamiliar goddess, flashing blinding white teeth.

  “Who the fuck is she?” Rebecca and I ask in unison, and I swear Mandy—whoever the fuck she is—growls.

  “I’m the Goddess of Manipulation, you fucking whores!” she squeals, stomping her foot. Literally stomping her foot, as if she’s a three-year-old instead of a centuries-old goddess.

  “Goddess of Manipulation…” I scour my memories but come up blank. I’m pretty sure I heard of a Goddess of Manipulation before, but she’s never explicitly been on my radar.

  Well, isn’t this a metaphorical kick to the balls. One of the people behind this entire fucking mess is a complete and utter stranger.

  “You pretended to be me and kissed Desmond,” Rebecca reasons, and Mandy smiles like the cat who ate the canary. But what she doesn’t realize is that I’m a fucking lion, and I’m going to eat her for my next meal.

  No one touches my men and lives to talk about it.

  “That’s right.” She glances down at her nails almost absently.

  “Please don’t tell me that you did all of this because of a man,” I hiss, spewing daggers at first Mandy and then Athena. “Or men.” I’m not oblivious to Athena’s crush on Tate, but I do know that he despises her almost as much as I do.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Mandy cajoles, brushing at my hair. I attempt to twist my head away from her, but she merely grips my chin and holds me still. “It’s much more complicated than that.”

  “Then enlighten me.” My words are garbled from how tightly she’s holding me, but the pain only fuels my power. I need more.

  “All in good time,” Athena cheers, clapping her hands together. “But first…” She wheels the office chair closer to where I’m sitting and gestures towards the items with a dramatic flourish. “Let’s see how much pain the Goddess of Pain can withstand, shall we?”

  Another smile graces her angelic features, and this time, I can’t stop myself from nose diving straight into another memory.

  And I know that this one will change everything.

  I PLACE my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter as I race through the palace halls. On both sides of me, shiny suits of armor stand tall and proud, the hilts of their swords clutched in two hands over their hearts.

  Fuck, Tate’s face…

  I break into another string of giggles as I picture my lover’s wide eyes and snarling lips. It’s not technically my fault that he fell asleep naked in my bed. It is my fault that I gave his pubes a little…trim.

  I can hear his voice behind me, screaming my name in a tone that exhibits both amusement and fury. Because let’s be honest, no matter what I do, Tate will never remain mad at me.

  Glancing over my shoulder at the empty hall, I turn at the upcoming fork, taking a right towards the kitchens. And then, my feet stutter to a stop as my eyes focus on the scene before.

  It’s Desmond…and Rebecca.

  My confusion turns into dawning horror when I see my best friend stand up on her tiptoes and press her lips to Desmond’s. Shock splays across his face as his eyes bug out of his head.

  What?

  I volley my gaze between the two of them as tears prick my eyes. Pain like no other ruptures in my chest as I watch Desmond tentatively push her away, almost as if he’s afraid to hurt her. Confusion swims in his dark eyes as he says something to her, too softly for me to hear, and her lower lip protrudes into a pout.

  Tears well in her stunning emerald gaze. Something about that doesn’t sit right with me, but the pain is too overwhelming, too intense, for me to focus on.

  How could she do this to me?

  And how could Desmond let it happen?

  Logically, I know that he’s done nothing wrong. He didn’t kiss her back, and he pushed her away as soon as he overcame his shock. But try telling that to my juddering heart—every beat pounds with betrayal. Betrayal and a pain so intense that my power sparks to life on the tips of my fingers.

  Before they can see me, I turn on my heel and race in the opposite direction. I need to find Tate or any of my other lovers. I need them to hold me and assure me that they still love me.

  The farther away I walk, the clearer my head becomes. I almost feel…ridiculous. I won’t lie and say I didn’t feel jealousy when I saw Rebecca’s lips plastered to Desmond’s, but I know that her feelings aren’t reciprocated. Still, how could my best friend do this to me? She knows how much I love him, love all of them, and it feels as if she shoved her dainty hand in my chest and fucked up all my internal organs.

  There has to be a logical explanation.

  I repeat that in my head as I turn towards our shared bedroom, at the far end of the hall. When I left—well, when Tate began chasing me—Helio and Avery were still asleep, and Sin was in the showers, belting out the lyrics to an old song about a god giving all of his treasures in order to win the affection of the moon.

  “Guys,” I say immediately, pushing open the bedroom door.

  And freeze.

  Time stands still as pain bombards me from all directions. All I can do is stare in abject horror at the scene unfolding before me.

  An unfamiliar goddess with platinum-blonde hair is lying on my bed, naked. Helio fucks her from the front while Avery takes her ass from behind. Tate and Desmond are both caressing her bare breasts and plucking her nipples. Sin hovers near the edge of the bed, a familiar, mischievous smirk on his face as he drizzles hot wax across her bare chest.

  Pain.

  So much pain.

  I release an agonized scream as I watch the loves of my life fuck a different girl.

  How could they do this to me? It feels as if someone is repeatedly slashing a whip against my back. My legs are unsteady, almost like Jell-O, and I fall to my knees with another pained cry. None of them even so much as turns towards me as they continue to pleasure the unfamiliar girl. But she…

  She smiles, her lush lips curling upwards as her eyes slide in my direction. It’s impossible to miss the satisfied gleam in her emerald gaze.
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  It’s becoming harder and harder for me to untangle the toxic cocktail of mixed emotions. If I was in sound mind, I would realize that it’s virtually impossible for Desmond to have beat me to the bedroom from where he was at previously. I would remember that Tate was still chasing me through the halls.

  But I’m lost to the pain.

  “You can drop the illusion now,” a sly, albeit familiar, voice says. I don’t bother to lift my head as heels clank across the wooden floorboards.

  “But—” a whiny voice protests, but she’s cut off by what sounds like someone slapping her.

  “Drop it.”

  The moans, grunts, and cries of pleasure dissipate as quickly as they appear, but I’m unable to move. Unable to breathe.

  You see, pain works differently for me. I feel everything more intensely than an average god or goddess. Take a papercut, for example. On some, it’s a minor inconvenience, if that. On me, it’s a blistering stab of pain that fuels my fire. I can’t be the Goddess of Pain without experiencing it tenfold.

  The girl’s words filter to me, as if being heard through a long tunnel.

  Illusion?

  What?

  Rough hands grab beneath my shoulders and haul me into a chair. I feel the distinct press of rope tighten around both of my wrists and my ankles.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” the shrill voice questions warily.

  Blinking through my tears, I see two women standing before me. The one on the right, with a red handprint across her cheek, is the same fucker I saw just seconds ago in bed with my men. Only now, she’s dressed in a gorgeous emerald gown that heightens the green in her eyes. Those eyes tug at something in my memory, something important…

  Beside her, adopting her usual haughty air and smug smirk, is Athena herself.

  “Of course this is going to work,” Athena huffs, procuring a blue cloth bag from inside her dress pocket. “I wouldn’t have called you if it wouldn’t.” From the bag, she removes a gorgeous gemstone that glimmers in the candlelight. It appears to be a combination of a variety of colors—stripes of garnet red, topaz, and even jaundiced yellow.