by D. S. Murphy
“Come inside,” he said, taking a tarp and hanging it across the unfinished section of the tower. Inside it was bare, except for a few pots and pans, some tools and a rudimentary fire pit. Puriel tossed a log on the fire and blew on the embers until the flame caught the wood.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I said, trying again to lighten the mood. In one corner was a long mattress; in the other a desk and bookshelf. There were only a handful of volumes on the shelf, but I noticed a stack near the door.
“The others brought them,” he said, following my eyes. “They seem eager to donate to my re-education.”
“I’ll have to bring some of my favorites,” I said, earning a genuine smile.
“I’d like that,” he said, holding my gaze for the first time.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t feel more comfortable in the house? Or the hive?” I asked. Puriel’s structure reminded me a little bit too much of Able’s basement prison, and it bothered me that it was self-imposed, almost like he was trying to punish himself. I knew the hive was austere as well, and that the torches preferred to live simply, but at least they enjoyed each other’s company.
“It’s not safe,” he said finally, looking towards the horizon.
“You wouldn’t hurt anyone—”
“You don’t know that!” he interrupted. His muscles tensed and his eyes flashed with rage. I took a step back involuntarily. He noticed, and looked away, ashamed. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
“Sorry,” he said. “You don’t know what it’s like, dealing with these emotions. Anger, fear... hunger. At the lighthouse, I lost it. I wasn’t in control of myself. It was like, something else was driving me. I killed so many.”
“But you saved us,” I said, putting my hand on his arm. “And you saved Jessie. I saw you, she wouldn’t have made it without you. So even at your worst, you’re still you, you still know who your friends are.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But each time I let myself feed on magic with abandon, the thirst gets stronger, and it’s harder to resist. I don’t know what I’m capable of doing, and I’m certainly not going to risk it by living in the same house with that much magic. It’s too dangerous.”
“I just don’t want you to be alone,” I said.
“Solitude, discomfort. Two things I have very little knowledge of. I think it’s about time I got used to them. At least for a while.”
I nodded, though I didn’t really understand. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he’d gone through. I hated to see him like this, but maybe it was easier for him this way. He froze when I leaned in close and kissed him on the cheek to say goodbye.
I headed to Heph’s workshop next. I told myself it was just to thank him – if he hadn’t come to pick us up at just the right time, none of us would have made it back from Egypt. But secretly, there was something else. I couldn’t forget the feeling I had from holding the Eye. My fingertips burning, my brain on fire. I couldn’t navigate the stream of information, but I still felt changed somehow, like at one point I’d known everything, but had forgotten it all. There was an uncomfortable itch, like there was something on the edge of my awareness or the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
Heph wasn’t in the workshop, but I followed a trail of black wires and found a newly constructed shed halfway towards the woods. When I got closer I could see flashes of light coming from the large entrance. Heph was standing on some kind of scaffolding that looked like a lifeguard’s tower, with a long coat and a pair of aviator goggles. He’d erected a makeshift podium for the large crystal sphere, and it was flickering against his black rubber gloves like a lightbulb with a faulty connection.
He turned around when I shouted his name, and climbed down the wooden ladder. He took off the gloves and lifted his goggles before giving me a hug.
“This thing is incredible,” he said. “It could power a whole country for a thousand years, and can hold nearly a limitless amount of energy.”
“But it’s just a battery,” I said, folding my arms. I was tempted to ask if I could touch it, hoping to regain some of the power I’d felt before, but I knew it would be a disappointment without the emerald tablet.
“Yeah maybe,” Heph said, pulling a dollar bill out of his back pocket. “But check this out. Look, an eye on top of a pyramid. A symbol for knowledge and power. It’s been an esoteric symbol for thousands of years, but it was just a memory – an instructional manual for a lost technology. And now, it’s here.”
“Is it any good, without the tablet? I mean can it actually do anything?”
“I don’t know yet. But give me a few weeks, and who knows.”
“What does Able think?”
“He thinks Isis played you. That she never had the spell, but just needed your help to find the Eye and rebuild the lighthouse, so she could fry Hera.”
“That’s not true!” I said. “We didn’t even know Hera would come back. I’m still not sure why she did.”
“So she was just helping you out of the goodness of her heart?”
“What does it matter,” I asked. “She’s gone now.”
But was she? Suddenly I remembered the vision I’d seen in the tower. Isis’s head, disconnected cleanly from her body, dripping with fresh red blood. If she’d been crushed by the tower or drowned by the sea, then why didn’t I see that? Or did it mean, she was still out there somewhere, still alive?
If so, maybe not everything was lost. After all, she’s seen the tablet. Maybe she already found the spell, but just hadn’t had time to tell me yet. But if she was still alive, why hadn’t she contacted us yet? Was she still hiding in Egypt, bound to that ancient agreement between Zeus and Hera as a condition of her freedom?
“She wasn’t like that,” I said finally, half to myself. “She was brilliant, and funny, and kind. She reminded me of you, actually.”
I left Heph to his experiments and headed back towards the house. I was surprised nobody had told me to check in with Able and update him. He usually demanded a full report after one of my adventures. The silence was unnerving. I mean, maybe we did almost get killed, and trigger a largescale battle with Zeus’s forces, but we might have also brought home a new weapon, while maiming Hera in the process. Deep down though, I knew this mission had been a failure. We still couldn’t undo the thread, we’d destroyed an entire city, and my feelings for Sitri were even stronger than they’d been before I left.
But Able couldn’t know we’d slept together, unless Sitri told him. My cheeks flushed, and my chest tightened painfully. Is that why I hadn’t seen either of them yet since I woke up – they were sipping whiskey somewhere, discussing my sex life?
I was so distracted, I’d nearly walked past the mound piled up near a large hole in the ground before I realized they were bodies. Almost fifty, it looked like. I didn’t have to wonder where they came from. Some still had apples in their mouths, though the red hue had faded, leaving them lifeless and rotten, like the corpses that held them.
Zeus had enough power to follow us to Egypt and mount an attack, even while he continued to drop humans into Nevah. I thought he’d get tired of his little joke, or distracted. I had to admit, this psychological warfare was effective. The pile of bodies was impressively horrific, after only a week. I couldn’t imagine what it would look like in another year, or two.
As if on cue, I looked up to see a shadow moving behind the white clouds, just before the silver wings of the hunters emerged like a great whale, breaching for air. I clenched my fists, squinting my eyes, but the threads were too far away to reach, and obscured by the falling snow. I screamed in frustration, throwing a rock into the sky.
“I got this,” Mist said, appearing at my side. She nocked an arrow and shot it up into the sky, then five more in quick succession. Six of the hunters fell before they were able to drop their payload, falling along with the bodies they carried and being swallowed up in the woods. One fell not far from us, with one of Mist’s arrows sticking through his e
ye.
The startled expression on his beautiful face made me sick to my stomach. His one eye gazed longingly towards the sky as Mist put another arrow through his ear. I turned away and threw up into the bushes.
“At least it’ll send a message,” she said. “One of theirs for every human.”
“I thought you didn’t like humans,” I said, wiping my mouth.
“I’m coming around,” she smirked. “I mean, most you are basically useless. But you’re not as weak as I thought you were.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I said, without returning her smile.
“Heading inside?” she asked, nodding towards the house. “Alice has been baking cupcakes all day. I’m sure there’s a few left, if Dion and Heph haven’t already eaten them all.”
“I’ll see you later,” I said. “I have one more stop to make.”
***
I didn’t know what time it was, but the light was already fading as I headed towards Sitri’s cabin in the woods. My hands were freezing, even though I was wearing my leather gloves, and the snow was starting to stick. Warm lights beckoned from the main strip of the camp, and I could smell hot spiced wine and pots of hearty meat stew.
My stomach was still in knots, and I knew it wasn’t just about the growing pile of dead bodies in the meadow. It was a physical reminder that Zeus was still out there, that the conflict would continue, but there was nothing I could do about it today. I was worried about something else. Sitri and I still hadn’t talked since what happened between us.
I knocked timidly on Sitri’s door, wondering what to expect when he opened. Hope and fear competed for dominance in my chest. I wanted to see him again, to tell him I didn’t regret what happened, that I could still see the threads – that I felt stronger than ever, more certain, more confident.
I knew what I wanted, and I knew he wanted the same. But when he opened the door, I stood on the threshold awkwardly. He stepped aside and gestured for me to come in, then made some hot chocolate from a package. The tiny marshmallows were sickeningly sweet, but the cocoa was warm and soothing.
He sat next to me on the couch, and the heat between us grew unbearable. Finally, he turned towards me, with his lips parted. I thought he was going to kiss me, so I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his, just as he started to speak.
“Sorry,” I said mumbled, my cheeks burning as he pulled away.
“What happened in Egypt,” he said finally. “It was a mistake.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“Not for me,” I said.
“I will always be there to protect you. But only that. Nothing more.”
“So what does that mean, for us?” I asked, holding my breath.
“There is no us,” he said, turning away. “There can’t be. You’re too important.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What happened to not fighting someone else’s war?
“I just thought, after what happened in Egypt, things would be different.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I let the moment get away from me.”
“We did a little more than just kiss,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you seriously going to make me spell it out for you?” I shook my wrist, showing off the golden bracelet I’d found next to my bed after our night together.
“Did you pick that up in Egypt?” he asked. “It’s pretty.”
His clueless face sent a spike of terror through my heart. Something was wrong. My brow started to sweat and a chill ran down my spine.
“After the museum, back at the mansion,” I prompted. “In my room?”
His eyes were blank. He didn’t know what I was talking about.
It wasn’t him.
My face paled and my knees felt weak suddenly. I tried to stand up, but I leaned against the chair for support. Bile rose up in the back of my throat suddenly, and I realized the truth. The open window. The flutter of wings. The golden bracelet. It wasn’t a gift, I realized. It was payment for services rendered. I crossed my arms, shaking violently, then bent over and crouched on the floor.
“Kai, what is it,” Sitri asked, his arms around me. “You can tell me.” His eyes were full of concern, and worry. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t find the words. My tongue didn’t work. I’d heard all the stories. I’d been warned a thousand times. Zeus was a shapeshifter. He seduced girls by hiding his true identity. It all made sense now. Hera’s fury. Sitri’s distance.
I gasped for breath, tears filling my eyes as I realized part of me already knew. That night, he’d smelled different. He’d acted weird. He said everything I needed to hear, and used my attraction for Sitri against me. I’d been such a fool.
At JDRI, Sitri had saved me from being defiled by a guard. But we’d only postponed the inevitable. Now, in some bizarre twist of fate, Zeus had done it anyway, through the body of my savior. Even with everything else going on, a day after his wife had warned me to stay away from him, in the house of his former mistress, he’d found the time to visit my bedchamber and destroy my life. Hera was right. Zeus always gets what he wants.
END OF BOOK THREE
Thanks for reading! If you liked this story, make sure you sign up on my email list to get the fourth and final book later in 2019.
Author’s Note
This story evolved slowly, and the historical research and geography tripped me up for quite some time. Luckily, I was able to draw on some of my own experiences in Egypt, from my travels there when I was in university. One of my prized possessions is a small Isis statue I picked up near the Valley of the Kings.
As for the final twist, I debated whether it would be too shocking, but ultimately decided it’s in line with Greek mythology, which I’ve always tried to present in its brutal authenticity. If you are eager to find out what happens next, please leave a quick review on Amazon with your initial thoughts – your positive feedback will help motivate me to finish the series sooner.
Sincerely,
Derek Murphy