He shrugged. “It feels like shit, but it’s healing. I’ve felt worse.”
I wiped the dried blood off the back of my neck and looked around at the landscape. The air was still again, laced with the stench of sulfur and rotting flesh. Steam escaped from the ground around us as the hellhound corpses began to evaporate.
I pushed myself up, leaning on Dragos’s good shoulder. “More will come. We got lucky with the water, but we should get going.”
Dragos nodded. “We fought well together. It was like the old days. Remind me to not ever get on your bad side again.”
I chuckled. We might not have drunk from the river of forgetfulness, but for some reason I didn’t want to remember why I ever wanted to kill him in the first place. Just for this one moment, while the adrenaline still coursed through my veins, I just wanted to bask in our victory.
Dragos held up The Keeper’s compass. “We have to cross there. And then…you’re up.”
A shiver ran through me. The Styx was the river of hatred, and I had to dive right into it. The darkness inside me was already too much to bear. The river would amplify it. I would be risking my sanity, my will, and the very core of my soul for a piece of fruit. The Fates had better be right.
Eleven
Standing at the edge of the River Styx and gazing in gave new meaning to the concept of forbidden fruit. It was hard to believe that the seeds from one pomegranate would give me the power to end the Serpent Bearers and the Order of Lamia, but three months ago I didn’t think I could take down the Consilium with a flower either, but I did.
According to my visions from the Fates, there was a tunnel at the bottom of the river that would lead to a small alcove. There, I would find Hera’s pomegranate. Sounded easy enough. Lack of oxygen didn’t affect me, and there weren’t any demons I’d have to contend with. If I could just control my emotions, then this should be a quick grab, but I knew better than anyone that everything came at a price.
Dragos’s jaw tightened. “If you’re not out in an hour, I’m diving in after you.”
I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. One of us needs to walk out of here alive. The water will drive you mad.”
Dragos placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “We are both walking out of here. I won’t leave without you.”
I squeezed his hand and forced a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. See you on the other side?”
In an unexpected move, he cupped my face with his hands and pressed his lips to mine. I didn’t pull away this time. It was the most tender kiss he’d ever given me. I choked back a sob as that familiar guilt crept into my veins.
He bowed his head. “Sorry, I know you asked me not to do that. I had to one last time. See you on the other side.”
I took a deep breath and plunged into the river.
The water filled my lungs on impact. I forced myself to open my eyes. Panic set in as I was met by total darkness. Relax, Gray. You can do this. Channeling my Narcissus magic, I found my bearings and pushed my way to the bottom.
It was covered in bones. They gave way under my feet as I walked. The weight of the water was not a factor. Like the Siren’s song, the space around me was hollow and filled me with horror and dread.
The trail before me was lit by the ghosts of fireflies. Exuding puffs of smoke, they fluttered and pulsed on the verge of burning out. An ache grew in my heart. A pain and longing so strong it scorched my lungs. I willed my feet to keep moving.
The tunnel was close. The entrance was etched into the river wall, charred black and bleeding. I clenched my fists. Anger coursed through my veins as flashes of my human life invaded my mind. Images of running through Pendle Forest as a child, fresh and innocent. Before the flames surrounded me. Memories of a life stolen.
My lungs tightened. I didn’t need air. Why did it hurt? My legs were heavy. I used all my will to lift them up and forward. My body trembled as the rage permeated. All their faces flashed in front of me—Aldric, Dragos, Tobias, Pythia…Jane. I opened my mouth to scream but only a burst of water erupted out. Tiny bubbles floated away into the abyss.
An urgency came over me as I charged forward, toward the tunnel. The chaos inside of me scratched at my throat. I wanted to smash the ground. Darkness enveloped me. Almost there. I had to fight. This feeling, it wasn’t real. I had to keep pushing.
I reached out and touched the edges of the tunnel with my fingertips. Locking on, I pulled myself in. The momentum plunged me forward and through. The walls scraped my flesh like sandpaper.
The alcove was circular, and barely big enough for one. With my feet planted, I began to dig. I thrust my hands into the soil and winced. It was hotter than fire. I closed my eyes and shook it off.
Rocks and dirt sprayed out around me as I dug. My heart raced, and I couldn’t catch my breath. What if I die down here? I couldn’t think about that now. My fingernails were caked with mud. It oozed down my palms, stinging every nerve.
I was willing to dig a hole into the middle of the Underworld if I had to. Desperation fueled me. I cried out and dove down as far as I could. I pulled out chunks of rock and obsidian and flung them behind me. Just when I was about to lose my mind, my hand hit something smooth and solid.
I pulled it out of the ground, slow and steady, as if it might break. I brushed the dirt off and held it up. Tears filled my eyes. It was beautiful. Blood red and perfectly round. Hera’s pomegranate.
I stuffed it into my pocket and swam back out. I let out a gasp when the sulfuric air hit my lungs as I breached the surface. My head pounded, and my limbs throbbed as I dragged myself onto the river bank. The residue of the water dripped down me as traces of rage began to subside.
I buried my head into the dead grass. The stench of rotting flesh burned my nose. I rolled over and wondered why it was so quiet.
“Dragos, I did it.” He didn’t respond.
“Dragos?” I sprang to my feet and looked around.
All the blood rushed to my feet. He was gone.
Twelve
Dragos was not a coward and he wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have left me or wandered off. Bile rose up in my throat. I cupped the pomegranate in my coat pocket and scanned the terrain in every direction. Nothing. Even the jagged ground was quiet.
My heart raced. I could go further and search for him, but I couldn’t handle more than three hellhounds on my own. I could wait here a bit longer, but if I got ambushed again, no one would be coming to my rescue. There was only one person who could help me now. Seven.
I sprinted all the way back to the ship, through the empty Mourning Fields and past the skeleton trees. It was like déjà vu, except this time I was alone. Seven knew as soon as I approached. His face drained of color when he looked into my eyes. He lifted me up as if I weighed nothing and pulled me over the side of the ship.
I collapsed into tears. “I don’t know where he is. They must have planned it the whole time. They waited until I was in the river.”
Seven stiffened. “He must be in Tartarus. That’s where they tried to take me. There’s nothing you can do for him now. I’m sorry.”
I snapped, “No. I will not accept that. We have to get him out. I came back to get you. You have to help me.” Tartarus was a dungeon where souls were punished for eternity.
Seven grabbed me by the shoulders. “You don’t understand. We can’t get him out. Not like this. Not now.”
I screamed and pounded my fists on the wood. Seven grabbed me before I could destroy the ship.
“You need to make a choice, Gray. We try to help Dragos now and risk never getting out, or we rescue Aldric and come back for Dragos when we have more allies.”
The weight of his words crushed me like a ton of bricks. An ache twisted in my gut like a knife. I had chosen to love Aldric, but when it came to life or death, I never thought I would have to choose between letting one live and the other one die. Not after everything we’d been through.
Seven was right. We didn’t stand a chance in Tartarus.
It was ruled by Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. He was a shape shifting hellhound and second in command to Hades himself. We couldn’t just walk in there and free Dragos. We would need a plan and reinforcements.
I wiped my cheeks and nodded slowly. I went to the edge of the ship and looked out. I whispered into the wind, hoping it would carry my words to him. “I will come back for you.”
Someday we would all have to answer for our sins. We would have to pay for feeding the monster inside us. Today, I was paying for mine. Aldric and Dragos were both lost to me. Our links were severed. My heart was darker than the irises of my eyes, which had not changed back since we left the Underworld.
All that existed was pain. My enemies would soon feel it too. I would split this world in half if that’s what it took. This war began a long time ago. When it was child’s play. For most of our kind, it was just a myth. For some, a distant memory. For me, it was as real as the flesh on my bones. But I was done being a pawn in it. Now, I was the war, and I would destroy them all.
Seven took me back to my ship in the Sea of Magia. His eyes glowed like amber stones as he faced me. It dawned on me that his eyes always stayed the same color. They didn’t shift with emotion like the rest of ours did. I wondered, was it voluntary? Did he have a control that we did not? Or perhaps it was just another mystery of his that I would never know.
His deep voice shook me out of my reverie. “Gather the others. When you find out where they are keeping Aldric, send word and I will meet you wherever you need me to.”
I snickered. “The others. You mean Valentina? There is no one else. I have no one else.” I hadn’t felt this lost since I first left London. When I woke up from that coma and thought that my own father was trying to kill me.
Seven gently squeezed my shoulder. “Have faith, Gray Wynter. You will find others. The gods have not abandoned you.”
Then why did it feel like they had? I hugged him goodbye and tossed my things over the side of my ship. Instead of going into the Hall of Secrets, I decided to sail straight for New Orleans. I had to retrace Aldric’s steps. There must have been something I missed—a trail of breadcrumbs for me to find. There had to be. I had nothing else to go on.
I turned the key to the Three Blind Mice and flipped on the lights. It was deserted. In Aldric’s absence, it appeared that the staff had abandoned their jobs. Dirty glasses and crumpled napkins littered the tops of the tables. Notices from his distributors covered the ground by the front door. They had stopped filling orders.
Traces of tobacco and whiskey lingered. I went to the bar and found a clean glass to pour myself a drink. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as the whiskey swirled in my mouth and warmed my chest. My head pounded. How did everything get so screwed up?
Just a few days ago, Aldric and I had been planning our future, wrapped in each other’s arms. Now, here I sat, alone again, in a room full of ghosts. I gripped the bar, digging my nails into the wood. I cried out and threw my drink against the wall. Shards of glass and whiskey sprayed through the air like confetti.
“Shall I pour you another?” A figure lingered in the shadows.
My eyes shifted to black as I crouched down with my weapons out in front of me.
He stepped forward and I almost fell over from shock. Tobias.
I tightened my grip around my daggers. “Don’t come any closer.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
Tobias raised his hands in surrender. “I received your message, Gray. I’m here to help.”
My pulse raced. I searched his face for any hint of malice. My heart beat faster as he stepped closer.
“Gray, there’s much you do not know. If you did, you would not fear me right now. Please, I’m your father. Let me help.”
Hearing him say the words out loud sent me into a black hole of despair. I collapsed into tears on the ground, my daggers clanking down next to me. Tobias placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, careful not to overstep.
I looked up through glassy eyes. “What did you do with all the humans?”
His eyes darkened. “I had to move them for their own protection.”
Confusion set in. “I don’t understand. I saw what you were doing to them. You turned them into blood bags.” I couldn’t hide the contempt in my voice.
Tobias sighed. “That’s not what they were. Those humans are all direct descendants of Consilium members, just like Aldric. We were turning them into Dhampirs. To make them stronger.”
I clenched my fists as the veins popped out of my neck. “You can’t just turn people to do your bidding. People have lives, hopes, and dreams. Like I did once.”
His eyes filled with sadness. “They were all given a choice. And they chose to join me. They chose to live. If you had only come with me that day in Lucien’s compound, I could have explained it to you then.”
I still didn’t understand. So, he was creating a hybrid army with humans who chose to join? That still didn’t make it right.
My hands shook as I poured myself another glass. “Protecting them from what?”
Tobias hesitated. He poured himself a drink and looked deep into my eyes. “From your mother, Jezebel.”
My stomach lurched. It felt like the air was knocked out of me. “Jane told me she was dead. I assume that was a lie too?”
Tobias smiled softly. “Jezebel leads the Order of Lamia. Jane thought she was dead. I told everyone she killed herself because I was too ashamed of what she really was. A monster. When I discovered her plans to sacrifice you, I ordered Dragos to put you in that coma. Your friend, Valentina, almost cost you your life when she summoned Jane to wake you up. And she ruined my plans for Lycos. But, alas, I let it go because of what she means to you. Everything I’ve done is to protect you. We are not the enemy, Gray. We never were.”
The ground felt like it was moving out from under me. My head spun as bile crept up my throat. I couldn’t breathe. My chest heaved. I gripped the bar to steady myself. How could I be so stupid?
My eyes burned black. “You’re all crazy. What parents use their own daughter as a pawn against each other?”
Tobias snapped, “You’re not a pawn, Gray. You’re the war. Jezebel could never have children. She prayed to Lamia and offered up her soul so you could be born. Lamia answered her prayers and turned her into a monster. You are a direct descendant of the gods, and the only one who can destroy her.”
This can’t be happening. My entire life was just one lie after another. Every time I thought I was closer to the truth, the rug just kept getting yanked out from underneath me. I wasn’t abandoned or unloved, I was cursed.
I took a deep breath and sat down. “She took Aldric to lure me, didn’t she?”
Tobias nodded. “She knows you will go to the ends of the world for him.”
My stomach twisted in knots. “We have another problem.”
Tobias raised an eyebrow.
“Dragos is in Tartarus.” The blood in my veins was thickening like black sludge.
His eyes widened. “We will have to get him out. We need him.”
The realization that Dragos didn’t betray me only made me angrier. All this time, I hated him, tortured him, and made him suffer. While all he was trying to do was protect me. Why didn’t he just tell me the truth? My resolve to free him was even stronger now. He deserved retribution.
I picked up my daggers from the ground and sheathed them. “I’m going to need an army.”
Tobias’s eyes lit up. “And you shall have one.”
Thirteen
I didn’t know who I was anymore. Maybe I never did. I was made up of ancient dust and particles of destruction, held together with borrowed blood and forgotten flesh. A stranger to myself, to my very own bones. I couldn’t feel my soul. What if I didn’t belong here?
I still didn’t trust Tobias. I needed to get Dragos out of the Underworld. I needed everyone. Valentina, The Keeper, and Seven, especially. Yet if what Tobias said was true, I would also need Arcadia and the Rougarou.
I escorted Tobias onto my ship, guiding him forward. I still couldn’t believe he let me blind him with the Obscuro spell. Another gesture of trust, he had said. Until I knew for sure, I couldn’t risk the location of the Hall of Secrets. I calibrated the navigator for the Sea of Magia and hopped off the ship.
“There’s one more thing I have to do before we leave.” I rolled up my sleeve and sliced open my arm.
I squeezed the blood onto my fingertips and began furiously scribbling with it on the side of the ship. I used it as paint, creating broad strokes across the wood. I stepped back, satisfied with my work.
Tobias strained an ear. “What does it say?”
A devilish smile spread across my lips. “Deam Morte.” Goddess of Death.
Tobias remained quiet except for the sound of his heartbeat thumping in his chest. I, on the other hand, simmered in the quiet chaos of my rage as the ship moved out to sea, letting my eyes remain as black as night.
As we neared the Hall of Secrets, I removed the spell on Tobias’s sight. He blinked a few times and then his mouth dropped open. His eyes widened in wonder.
I chuckled. “You look the same way I did the first time I saw it. This is a special place.”
He nodded. “Legend does not do it justice.”
I turned to face him. “I need you to get Arcadia to join us. If she does not, I will consider her an enemy.”
Tobias furrowed his brow. “You are the only one who can make that happen, Gray. There’s only one way she will agree to that.”
My eyes darkened. I knew exactly what she wanted. “Fine. I will release Pythia, but I’m not giving her back her magic.”
How many devils would I have to make deals with before I could send them all back to the ground? Despite what Tobias told me about the real reason for the Consilium’s existence, I still loathed Pythia and everything she stood for.
Tobias nodded. “Thank you. I will send word to Arcadia.”
Flesh and Bone (Blood and Darkness Book 2) Page 7