by S. E. Babin
A snort. “I’ll tell you all about what happened when you get over here and help me.”
“How do I know you’re not lying to me? How do I know you aren’t a monster?”
Maybe Hermes groaned in annoyance. “You don’t. Clotho sent me, but I lost the charm she gave me. I’m using everything I have to keep the magic out of my head.”
“Clotho?” I echoed. “That doesn’t sound like her.”
He growled. “People always forget themselves when they make friends with you. Now can you please get over here?”
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.
I stepped away from my path and followed the voice.
No monsters reached out to grab me, but the screaming in my head worsened. I began taking short and shallow breaths as I crept toward the voice I hoped was my friend. I still couldn’t see anything but bright white.
He kept speaking to me as I tried to find him. “Do you remember the paintball?”
“Of all the memories, Hermes,” I said with a laugh. “That game almost got me killed.”
“It was brilliant.”
“Brilliantly stupid,” I muttered under my breath.
“You underestimate yourself,” he said. “All the time.” His breath was coming in short gasps now. “You’re the only one who has ever been able to bring us all together.”
“Please don’t die,” I whispered. “I’m trying to find you.”
“You’ve made friends of the Fates and enemies of some of the most terrifying creatures in our history. Yet you’re still here.”
I kept walking, tears streaming down my face.
“You’ve found happiness and you’re about to be a mom. Two things you thought previously impossible.”
I tripped and stumbled over something warm. A large hand reached out to grab my ankle.
“Thank the gods,” hopefully Hermes whispered.
I scrambled to get a look at the man who had hold of me and let out a yelp of relief when it really was him. I moved across the floor to grab him. It was still way too bright for my eyes to comfortably adjust, but the man lying in front of me smiled and his familiar whiskey eyes crinkled.
“What do you need?” I asked.
His other hand reached out and stripped my mother’s charm from my neck.
“This will do,” Hermes whispered as his face morphed from my friend to the face of Uriel and disappeared in a split second leaving me lost, alone, and with zero protection against God’s magic.
My only thought was this was why the girl always died in the horror movies.
Because she’s too damn nice!
I stood just as the voices pounded against my shields. All I could do was walk and try to reach the outer edge of the veil so I could step into Paradise. God already knew I was here, just like Gabriel had warned me. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for a stupid trick like that. But if it would have been Hermes and he’d died because I didn’t believe him, I never would have forgiven myself.
The first of my secrets was revealed less than two minutes later. I felt it being pulled out of my head by a thin strand of magic and as much as I grasped for it, it refused to come back to me.
Wicked laughter filled the area.
I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
The second of my secrets came shortly after. The stone delivered with the message from Zeus and the subsequent massive screw up which shifted Artie from one of the Twelve Olympians to perilously mortal. It wasn’t one of my biggest secrets, but it was one of my most shameful.
The third put me on my knees.
I was younger. Much younger. Still unskilled in my magic and too arrogant to realize it, I’d matched two people who were absolutely toxic for each other Their flame burned brighter than a phoenix and so I thought their problems would dissipate. But as is common when a fire burns too hot, the flame spread and destroyed both of them in the process.
Six weeks after a wedding neither of their parents approved of and trapped by their love and my magic, the man’s jealousy bubbled over.
They found the woman’s body crumpled underneath the balcony of her honeymoon suite and the man in the middle of his floor, covered in blood, and sobbing her name.
I’d never told a soul about it. I couldn’t bear the guilt or sorrow and it wasn’t long after I swore off making matches unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Get out of my head, you ass hat!”
Slow laughter echoed around me.
One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of - my hand struck something pliable. I pushed, but it resisted. Could this be it? I shoved harder and knew I was onto something when the area around me begin to shudder.
So I pushed harder.
Memories poured out of my head as the agony increased in my soul. My other arm broke through the veil and I realized how dumb that was when I had no leverage and nothing to grab onto. I felt like I was going to fall face forward so I pulled my arm out and tried again. A blast threw me back.
“Surrender.”
I blew out a raspberry. “Subliminal messages do not work on me!”
I rubbed the back of my head and stood back up. I put a shield around myself to prevent injury just in case I was blown back again. I stood still for a moment as I waited for something else to happen.
Nothing. I took a deep breath just as the light dimmed and the end of the veil shimmered in front of me. I saw it for just a second before everything went pitch black.
“Crap,” I murmured just before something clawed through my shield. Pain raced down my arm. At that moment I decided I could stand there and let my soul be picked through or I could end this now.
I raced blindly ahead and jumped headfirst into what I hoped was the veil.
A roar of anger chased me. My heart pumped wildly and I encountered resistance at first before I fell and I was flung through to Paradise.
I landed with a groan and a mouthful of grass. Lifting my head up, I surveyed the area. It was beautiful, green and sunny. The sky was wrapped in an azure sky. I put my head down on my arms for a moment and groaned. It could have been worse I guess. What had saved me was keeping the charm for as long as I had. I wish I hadn’t had to relieve the memory of the match I made, but there was nothing to be done. Perhaps later I could somehow try to make amends.
I got up, wincing with pain. I felt like I’d just been beaten. Looking around I couldn’t see anything concerning, but there was a stillness in the air that made me nervous. I knew Hades was here, but I didn’t have a clue where I should start looking.
So I did was I had been doing since I got here.
I walked.
While I walked I looked for anything out of place. Anything that could lead me to my husband. As I searched for him I opened myself up to him, opened my mind and my heart and touched the place in myself where our magic merged.
A warmth filled me. One I’d never noticed before. I honed in on it and took a left between two trees. So far I could see nothing except for nature. Regardless of how I felt about God, he did know how to make a beautiful place. Here and on Earth. He was responsible for the place I lived at in Asheville. The land at least, not the house itself.
I shook my head. Why was I thinking positive thoughts about the man who betrayed my husband?
Something made me stop in my tracks. I listened but I could hear nothing. Some instinct inside of me told me to keep walking but to speed it up. My instincts betrayed me only a little while ago, but I decided hurrying couldn’t hurt a single thing.
A few minutes later I came to a dead end.
“Well, crap,” I muttered to myself. Betrayed by myself again.
I was about to turn around and head back when an unexplainable tug told me to stay. I frowned, but turned back to stare at the massive wall of greenery ahead of me. Ivy at least seven foot high, tangled together with brambles, stared back at me. If I tried to climb it, I would tear my hands up. I concentrated and sent a blast of magic at it.
/> It dissipated harmlessly into the wall.
My lips twisted to the side. I reached forward to touch it.
“I wouldn’t.”
I stiffened. The voice of my nightmares.
“This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real,” I whispered to myself.
“I can assure you it’s quite real, Abby. You don’t think God would miss the chance to have access to all the knowledge I had when I was alive, do you?”
I slowly turned my head.
Zeus stood before me.
As if my day could get any freaking worse.
Chapter 32
Baby Draco went absolutely apeshit. He hadn’t moved much since I’d left Olympus, but now he was wide awake and doing disco on my bladder.
Zeus’ smile widened. “Hello, Aphrodite.”
I tried to blink out but I couldn’t. My magic stalled.
His grin spread. “You’ll notice things work differently around here. You can’t escape here unless someone lets you.”
He held his hands up. “I’m not that someone. I’m trapped here, same as you.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Except you’re dead and I’m not.”
“Do we ever really die, Abby?”
I snorted. “I watched you die. Your immortality flowed back to the pool.”
“Yes, but here I live again.”
I couldn’t think of a worse scenario than Zeus giving God all of our secrets.
“So you’ve become a turncoat?”
Zeus laughed. “Who says I’m giving anything away?”
I crossed my arms. “You will if it benefits you.”
He shrugged one powerful shoulder. “So far it hasn’t benefited me.”
“Are you here to help me or hurt me?” I asked bluntly.
“Unfortunately, the spirits here cannot harm. As much as I’d love to tear you from limb to limb, my capabilities here are somewhat limited.”
His words sent a chill down my spine. “You kind of deserved it,” I said because I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“Perhaps,” he admitted. “But don’t think you did it all by yourself. Even you can’t be that foolish.”
His statement echoed the thoughts I’d had since his death. If I had help, who in the world could it have been? I school my features to offer no hint to my thoughts. “According to you, foolish is all I am. If you aren’t here to help me, then I hope you show yourself out. I don’t have time to talk.”
Zeus didn’t move.
I turned away from him and studied the wall of greenery in front of me.
“You won’t be able to save him, you know.”
I scoffed. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard the same thing from different people?”
“This is different. Hades entered this place hoping to reason with his father. But you and I both know you cannot reason with a psychopath.”
“So...what? He’s just stuck here?”
Zeus stepped closer to me. “Hades is never stuck here. Not really. He can leave any time he wishes.”
One suspicious eyebrow rose. “Elaborate,” I snapped.
Zeus tsked. “Always so impatient.”
“Zeus.”
He waved a hand at me. “Fine. Technically he is free to leave. Provided he is able to escape the trap his father laid.”
“I think you don’t know what technically means. If he can’t leave of his own free will, he’s stuck here too.”
“You’ll see when you find him,” Zeus said, an enigmatic tone in his voice that only served to annoy me.
“You didn’t help me. Go away.”
Zeus pointed to the greenery. “This is the way.” He bowed. “Despite my urge to tear you from limb to limb, I harbor no grudges for what happened.”
I blinked. “Wanting to tear me apart seems like a pretty big grudge, actually.”
He grinned right before he disappeared. “Consider it my constant state of mind when you’re involved,” he said.
“Jerk,” I muttered and turned to stare at the wall of greenery separating me from my husband.
I tried everything. Fire. Water. Destruction. Prayer. Begging. Nothing would open the wall for me. I even tried blinking through it, but that was one power that was definitely disabled. I enabled a shield around myself and stepped closer, only for it to be destroyed as soon as I got close enough to one of those wicked thorns.
I stepped back, madder than hell. “Stupid wall,” I muttered. I walked to the left and peered down as far as I can see. There was nothing but the wall. I did the same to the right.
Green. Green everywhere.
I tried wind next. If I could blow it over, I could just walk right on top of it.
All it did was mess my hair up. I growled in frustration. The merged magic in my heart began to pulsate and I had a thought.
A thought that could really hurt if I was wrong, but I’d tried everything but this.
I took a deep breath and stepped right into the brambles.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch,” I muttered on instinct, but realized seconds later that nothing was actually hurting. The wall had parted and I was in a small dark room.
Hades lay slumped in the corner unconscious.
Chapter 33
As shocking as that was, what was even worse was the familiar blond man leaning over him.
I didn’t hesitate for a single second. I blasted the Hermes wannabe with a massive hit of magic. He flew across the room and slumped down the wall, his face and expression of hurt and shock.
“Nice try, Uriel. I’m not falling for that crap.”
Not Hermes’ gaze narrowed. “What the hell, Abby? I was trying to help! Clotho sent me.”
I snorted. “Yeah, right. I might have fallen for it once, but I’m not doing it again.”
He looked utterly confused. “Abby, I’m serious. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who the hell is Uriel?”
My lips thinned. “Cut the crap. If you’re going to kill me, now is the time. I’m not here for you. I’m here to save my husband.”
“I know!” the man said, a note of exasperation in his voice. “Clotho found me on the farm, told me you were about to do something phenomenally stupid, and gave me the ability to come here.”
I paused. Now that sounded like Clotho. “What exactly did she say?”
He frowned. “She popped into my bathroom when I was in the shower, ripped open the damn curtain and said, ‘Abby is in Heaven about to get her ass kicked by God. She’s got a charm from Hecate that will help her pass through the veil, but is otherwise going in blind. I don’t have anyone else to ask. Help that idiot help herself,’ and then she handed me a charm and a key and left me standing half-shampooed.”
My mouth dropped open. “Hermes?” I whispered.
As he stood, he rolled his eyes and growled. “Yes, you idiot!”
I barrelled into him and gripped him in a massive hug. “Oh thank the gods.” I pushed him to arm’s length. “That damn woman gave you a key? Keto had to call in a favor!”
“Yeah,” he said, his tone grim. “Clotho is really pushing the envelope these days as a Fate.”
She really had been. She’d gotten in trouble before, but this one was a blatant violation. I wondered how she could explain this away. I shook my head and turned back to my husband.
“Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
Hermes shrugged. “He’s alive, but almost catatonic. I’ve been here for several minutes and have been unable to rouse him.”
“No reaction whatsoever?”
He shook his head. “If it’s a spell, it’s a powerful one.”
I reached into the pocket of my vest and pulled out the dagger and powder.
Hermes took a step back. “Are we here to murder him?” His tone sounded like he was only half kidding.
“Har har,” I said. “Clotho gave this to me and said I’d be able to briefly wrest control of him. Whatever that means. The only thing I can think is that he’s stuck inside of some
mental prison.”
It was the only thing it could be. He was lying there still as death, but every once in awhile his eyes would move rapidly. Nothing we did could wake him up. I stepped toward my husband, leaned down and brushed a lock of his dark hair away from his face.
“I’m sorry, Abs,” Hermes said as he crouched down beside me.
“Not your fault,” I said a little sharper more than I intended to. I handed him the powder. “Hang on to this and when I tell you to pour, pour.” I met his whiskey gaze. “Understand?”
He swallowed hard and nodded.
“Good.” I held my arm up and slashed hard enough to draw blood, let out a yelp, and immediately grabbed my husband’s arm and did the same. “Pour!” I gasped.
Hermes didn’t blink and dumped almost the entire pack of power on both of our wounds.
The world fell away.
Chapter 34
“Persephone?” I whispered and blinked my eyes several times to clear my vision. She couldn’t be here. She was back with her willfully ignorant husband about to have a baby.
But no. She was here. Right in front of my face.
And she was kissing my husband.
I stood up ready to blast her in the face with magic, but something made me pause. Everything was shadowy and slightly blurry. I stood carefully and looked around. I saw Persephone, Demeter, Zeus, Poseidon and God.
I stiffened but no one seemed to notice me. “What the hell?” I whispered to myself.
There were carbon copies of Hades everywhere. He was talking to God. Eating breakfast with Poseidon. Arguing with his father. Kissing Persephone.
Memories. I was in his memories. I took a hesitant step forward only to jerk and screech as a hand clamped itself around my arm.
“Wait!”
I spun around. “Hermes!” I screeched. “How -?”
He held up his bloody, white arm. “There was a little bit left over.”
I facepalmed. “Because it’s always super smart to mess around with magic meant for two people.”
He shrugged. “I learned from the best.”
I had to laugh. He was right. I never followed the rules and I wasn’t dead yet.