by Katie May
“But—”
“You want the power, don’t you?” Athena snaps. When the other girl blanches, Athena softens her tone. “Mandy, I promise you this is going to work. Your illusion was absolutely perfect.”
“I just don’t understand. Doesn’t she gain more power from being in pain?” the girl—Mandy—inquires.
It’s only then that my awareness begins to trickle back to me. First, it’s slow, like water rushing from a faucet. And then, it consumes me like a waterfall.
“What the fuck is happening?” I demand, thrashing. My eyes flicker to the empty bed, and Athena’s words from before plays on repeat.
Illusion.
It was nothing but an illusion.
But why?
What does Athena have to gain from making me feel emotional pain? She, more than anyone, knows that my powers only increase when I feel any type of pain, emotional or physical.
Athena smiles slowly, gracefully gliding forward with the gemstone extended. She rests it against my forehead, only exacerbating my confusion.
“You’re powerful, Emily,” she whispers as her free hand travels to my cheek, cupping it gently. I attempt to twist away from her, but she only tightens her grip, forcing me to maintain eye contact. “Almost too powerful. And I can’t have that.”
“Fuck off, you jealous bitch,” I seethe.
“But there’s a way to change that,” she continues, her hand tightening on my cheek to the point of pain. I allow it to flow through me, replenishing my power reserve, as blood drips down my cheeks from her fingernails. “You have Tate.” For a brief moment, pure anguish reflects in her gaze before she quickly smooths over her expression. “You have all of them. And I have…no one.”
“So you’re fucking jealous of my boyfriends?” I demand, irritation lacing my voice.
Abruptly, she wrenches her hand away, and the pain from her nails diminishes as if it had never been there in the first place. Fuck. I need that pain. I need it.
Resisting the urge to growl, I begin to twist my wrists in the tight confines. Each tug causes the ropes to scratch at my skin, eliciting tiny stabs of pain. But I need more if I’m going to escape.
How did I not realize this was a trap?
“So who are you?” I query, turning towards the Mandy chick. I’m hoping that if I stall for time, I’ll be able to come up with a way to escape this mess.
Mandy pushes out her chest and fluffs her sleek hair. “Mandy. Goddess of Manipulation.”
Yup. Never heard of her in my life.
“Athena needed my help,” she huffs when I don’t outwardly respond. “She said that I’ll have unimaginable power—”
“Shut up, Mandy,” Athena interrupts, casting her ‘friend’ a side-eyed glare.
Mandy forges on, oblivious to the ire spewing from the Goddess of Virtue’s eyes. “All I had to do was make you feel the worst kind of emotional pain so we could subdue you. But when my first attempt didn’t work, I created an illusion.” She sighs wistfully, sliding her hand along the bed almost as if she wishes it to be real.
“And what the fuck are you going to do?” I demand, not at all concerned. By now, my guys will be looking for me. I’d say that Athena and Mandy have only a few more minutes…give or take.
“We’re going to take away your ability to feel pain,” Athena says bluntly, and my insides turn cold.
“What?” I ask as the first drizzle of unease slides down the nape of my neck like an icy rain. I switch my gaze from a grinning Mandy to a smug Athena. “Are you joking?”
Without my ability to feel pain…
I’ll be virtually powerless. I need pain. To heal. To fight. Without it, I’ll be…nothing.
“I had my friend—the God of Minerals—find this special rock for me,” Athena drawls, flashing me a saccharine sweet smile. “It’s actually supposed to help most gods and goddesses. It’s designed to take away your ability to feel pain. Permanently.”
The gemstone suddenly feels like ice against my forehead, and I know I’m panting. My eyes flicker wildly from woman to woman, hoping one of them will see reason.
“If you do this, my men won’t hesitate to kill you,” I attempt to reason, but Athena merely laughs.
“But by then, I’ll be more powerful than your teeny, tiny brain can even begin to comprehend.” Her fingers on her free hand scrub at the indent between my eyebrows, almost as if she’s attempting to rub the crease away. “Because this stone will store all of your pain.” Her smile radiates pure evil. “All of your power. And the moment I consume it, I’ll be unstoppable.”
“You mean we’ll be unstoppable,” Mandy pipes in, face creasing with irritation.
“Don’t be stupid.” I swivel my head slightly to address the Goddess of Manipulation. “You know that Athena won’t share any of my power with you. That is, if it even works the way she thinks it’s going to. And that’s also assuming you’ll be able to get out of here in one piece.”
“Oh, that?” Mandy snorts. “No problem.” Her body shimmers, sparkling white mist encircling her, and where she once stood, now stands…me. I watch my lips peel back into a tight-lipped smile, and when she speaks, it’s my voice I hear. “I don’t think anyone is going to stop me from leaving, do you?”
Athena begins to mutter beneath her breath, the unfamiliar words rolling from her tongue like poison. I can’t tell what language it is, but whatever she says causes the gemstone to glow blindingly. Where it once felt like an icicle against my skin now feels like a sauna. I’m fucking burning alive.
I try to call on the pain that I’m feeling, try to smite the bitch to kingdom come, but my power won’t react when I call it, almost as if it’s locked away and I no longer have the key needed to access it. Panic unfurls in my gut at the realization that Athena is ripping my powers from me.
“Em!” a familiar voice screams from down the hall. “Where the fuck are you?”
Tate.
I practically sob in relief.
“Pooky!” Sin’s voice joins his. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
“Pooky, really?” Avery asks dryly.
“It’s cute,” Sin defends.
Mandy, still wearing my face, begins to smirk, pushing up her—my—breasts.
“I guess this is where I come in,” she purrs as I thrash in the chair, attempting to escape the restrictive bindings. “But don’t worry. I won’t fuck them too hard.”
Before I can scream at her, beg her to change her mind, she skips out of the room. I hear my voice farther down the hall exclaim, “Guys! I’m here!” before their voices fade away.
No. No. No. No.
This can’t be happening.
I remember what Athena said before, about how the gemstone pulls away my pain.
But what if I have no pain? What if I empty myself, so I feel nothing at all?
I have no idea if it’ll fucking work, but at this point, I’m desperate. Already, I can feel myself draining piece by piece, as if Athena is taking more than just my power, but my entire soul. But maybe my power is tied to my soul. Maybe they’re so delicately intertwined that one can’t exist without the other.
With skilled practice, I steady my thumping heart and close my eyes. I don’t think about the pain ricocheting through my head. The betrayal from Rebecca’s kiss with Desmond…or Mandy’s kiss with Desmond, now that I know the truth. I eradicate the image of Mandy fucking all of my men from my mind.
And then, I settle into a semblance of peace. It’s grave and tenuous at best, almost wobbly in foundation, but it’s better than the turbulent emotions that were once cascading through my veins.
The door to the room is kicked open, and Athena drops the stone with a startled yelp. Her body is tossed across the room with a sickening thud.
Sin hovers over me, body shaking with an almost elemental fury as flames dance in his palms.
Desmond stands in the entryway, holding a squirming Mandy. Avery, Helio, and Tate rush into the room as well, Rebecc
a on their heels.
“Are you okay?” Tate demands instantly, moving to stand behind me and untying my arms. Helio drops to his knees in front of me to remove the rope from my ankles as well.
“I’m fine,” I reply shakily. My body feels unnaturally tired, as if I ran twenty miles without stopping, and my throat is dry.
“Mandy!” Athena screeches as Sin advances on her like an avenging, beautiful angel. “Do something!”
Mandy panics, eyes flashing from face to face, and Desmond growls at her in warning.
“If you even so much as twitch—” But before he can finish his threat, Mandy closes her eyes.
And then…
I wake up in a shitty apartment, smiling serenely at my best friend, Avery, as he moves around the small kitchen.
I wake up as Emily Lopez.
CHAPTER 28
I come back to myself with a gasp, heart racing and hands sweaty.
“Em? Em? Em?!?” Rebecca’s urgent voice penetrates the remaining fog in my mind. I jerk my head in her direction to see her staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. “Oh, fuck. Are you okay? What happened? You totally passed out.”
“Are they here?” I whisper desperately, pulling at the rope securing my hands together. And…they give way. Somehow, the rope has loosened.
“No. They left a little bit ago,” Rebecca replies, her voice just as quiet as mine. “What the fuck happened?”
“I got my memories back,” I admit as I struggle against the ropes. My hands wiggle back and forth, and I bite down on my lower lip.
“What the fuck do they want?”
“My power,” I admit, and finally, fucking finally, I’m able to pull my hands free. I nearly sob in relief as I quickly shake the rope onto the floor.
“Your power? How the fuck can they…? Em!” Her voice drops to a hiss. “Be careful.”
“I will be,” I assure her as I move to the rope around my ankles, nimbly untying them as well. Now free, I crawl past Rebecca towards the knife drawer and grab the biggest fucking knife I can find. Rebecca waits patiently as I cut through the rope. “They’re behind this entire thing,” I admit as I slice through the rope. “Mandy has the power of illusion, obviously. But apparently, that can extend to perception as well. She made us believe we had these lives here on Earth, and she planted false memories into the humans’ minds as well. It’s fucking powerful magic, if I’m being honest.”
“How long have we been here?” Rebecca whispers when I finally free her hands. I work on one of her ankles while she tugs on the other.
“A little less than a year,” I say, my mind flashing back to the first memory I had on Earth. It was the day Avery attempted to make me a fancy dinner. I’d just been on a date that ended in a disaster, and he was trying to make me feel better. Now, looking back at it, I wonder if the failed date was just another fake memory Mandy had implanted in my head.
“That fucking bitch,” she seethes, gracefully straightening to her full height when the last coil of rope falls away from her.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” I cast a glance in both directions. “You’re going to leave out the back door.” Racing towards the notepad my brothers always keep by the landline, I scribble down Avery’s phone number. “Call him. Tell him where I am. They’ll come for me.”
“What the fuck? No!” She shakes her head vehemently. “I’m not leaving you behind.”
“You don’t have a choice.” I level her with a no-nonsense look. “Because I’m going to finish this once and for all.”
“But—”
“Even if Bitch One and Bitch Two have only been here a few hours, their time on the Earthen realm will have dampened their powers,” I explain. “This might be my only chance to take them out for good.”
“But—”
“They’ll just keep coming after us. You know that. Athena is certifiably insane and obsessed with me. Rebecca, please. I’m a fighter. I trained for this, but I won’t be able to do what I need to if I’m worried about you,” I beg, taking her hands in both of mine. Indecision still wars across her pretty face, but she concedes with a slow, reluctant bob of her head.
“Fine. But you can bet your ass I’ll kill you if you die.” She quickly wraps me in her arms, her frail body trembling slightly. “Be safe.”
“Always.”
With one more squeeze, Rebecca dashes out the backdoor. I can only pray that Avery answers her call—and doesn’t kill her when he finds her.
Clutching the knife in my hand, I stealthily tiptoe towards the living room.
“…are you sure? …work? …don’t know.” Mandy’s voice reaches me from down the hall, and I automatically turn in that direction. I don’t know how long I’ve been sleeping, but it was long enough for the sun to begin peeking through the boughs of trees. Orange light filters through the closed blinds, illuminating Mandy’s sleek hair as she talks with Athena.
I hear what sounds like a door slamming shut—no doubt, Athena has left—and I watch Mandy exhale noisily. Her power really is unparalleled. Distorting our memories? Bringing us to the Earthen realm? Making entire towns believe that we were always supposed to be here? If she wasn’t such a raging bitch, I would want her to be an ally. But alas, she tried to kill me, and I can’t allow her to live.
Just before she can turn and spot me, I lunge at her with the blade raised. The moment it would’ve connected with skin, she disappears from view.
What the hell?
“Did you really think you could get the drop on me?” An invisible fist flies at my face, whipping my head to the side. I taste blood in my mouth, the coppery flavor eerily familiar to me. Let’s be honest—I’ve eaten my own blood way too many times.
“Fuck you,” I whisper as three more punches are leveled at my face. The first one grazes the side of my cheek, but the next two I’m able to duck and twist away from. I can feel her foot on my back, shoving me towards the ground, but when I whirl around with my knife, she’s nowhere to be seen.
“I’m the Goddess of Manipulation, you dumb bitch.” Her voice seems to be coming in all directions. The ceiling. The corner of the room. Behind the couch. The fireplace.
I push myself onto my hands and knees, but immediately, Mandy stomps her invisible heel onto my fingers. Bones crunch, and I release a pained wail as I cradle my broken hand to my chest.
“Not so strong, are you?” she taunts. And suddenly, there are two of her. No, three. No… I count at least a dozen Mandys circling me like a pack of wild, starving wolves. Her eyes glow maliciously as one of the Mandy clones rushes at me. I lift my knife protectively, but she simply glides through both the blade and my body like mist. Before I can even catch my bearings, the real Mandy jumps on me from behind and begins to slam my face repeatedly into the floorboards. Her knees rest on each of my arms, making moving virtually impossible.
With each new burst of pain, my power begins to grow and grow like a weed wrecking havoc. No amount of poison will be able to kill it.
“You. Stupid. Bitch.” She slams my face down a tenth time, and I swear I see stars dancing in my vision. I’m sure I’m a hot fucking mess, but right now, my power doesn’t want to focus on healing me.
It wants to destroy Mandy, the Goddess of Manipulation.
“You’re really not that special,” she sneers, wrapping my hair around her fist and tugging my head back. “When Athena contacted me about this job, I was a little hesitant. After all, everyone in the Realm of the Gods has heard of the great and feared Goddess of Pain. But you’re actually quite pathetic. Honestly. I don’t understand what those guys see in you. Oh well. I’m sure once you’re dead, it won’t be too hard to—”
Before she can finish whatever vulgar, idiotic thing she was going to say, my power explodes out of me. Literally explodes, like a burst of errant fireworks.
Mandy releases my hair, no doubt taking a few strands with her, and my face collapses once more on the floor, in a puddle of my own blood.
He
r screams reach me from behind, and I slowly twist myself onto my back.
Agonizing pain is etched upon her beautiful face as my power eats away at her flesh. As I watch, mesmerized, her skin crackles like rivulets of lava are coursing through her body. A black, tar-like substance oozes from her eyes, ears, and opened mouth, but it doesn’t hinder her petrified screams.
Her panic-filled eyes meet mine, and then…she explodes. Literally fucking explodes, blood raining in all different directions.
Oh. My. God.
I’ve been alive for centuries, but never before has my power behaved like that. It’s almost as if, in that moment, it had a life of its own, as if it sensed that this woman wanted to take it from me. It exploded out of me like a churning volcano, decimating everything in the general vicinity.
Body shaking like a leaf in the wind, I stumble to my feet, placing a blood-soaked hand against the wall. I can barely walk, barely breathe, and I know that I have a few broken ribs. I squeeze my eyelids shut and attempt to call on the pain circulating through me, but before I can even mend my broken fingers, a familiar gasp reaches my ears.
“Don’t fucking move,” Athena hisses, and I wrench my eyes open to see the Goddess of Virtue standing in the doorway. In her arms, with a knife to his throat, is my older brother Henry.
Raw panic courses through me, overriding even the physical pain of my bruised and battered body.
“Let him go.”
“Emmy?” Henry’s voice is choked with emotion—fear and worry being the two most prominent. “What’s happening? Who did this to you?”
Fear sparks in my chest as I hold his icy blue gaze.
“You’ll be okay,” I assure him, my voice trembling. To Athena, I whisper, “Let him go. He has nothing to do with this.”
Athena makes a face as she shrugs her shoulders. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see, you killed my partner.”
“You would’ve killed her yourself after this was over with,” I scoff. Because I have no doubt in my mind that that was Athena’s original intention. She wouldn’t have wanted to share her powers with anyone, let alone a ditzy, power-hungry goddess.