Open Your Heart (Chosen By Fate Book 2)

by Aspen Winters

  I broke free of Ra's grip and walked out of the garden as fast as I could. I heard movement behind me and I knew Ace and Ra were both following me. I didn't stop though. I kept walking and I didn't even know where I was going.

  As I quickly turned around a corner, I ran into something. I looked up and saw Eros and Hades standing there. I had run right into Hades.

  "Clara?" Hades frowned, he must have noticed something wrong. He looked at me worriedly as he gently touched my cheek. "Why are you crying?"

  I had been in such a rush, I didn't even notice tears had started to fall. I didn't say anything, just bit my lip and looked at the floor.

  "It seems her sister is bonded to some gods. She was before Clara," Ra spoke up from behind me.

  I felt a hand go to my back and knew he was trying to comfort me. It wasn't working though.

  There was silence from the other two gods.

  I just stood there trying to get my emotions under control. I took a deep breath, wiping my tears off my cheek, trying to will them to stop.

  "Why don't we go to your room, little bonded?" Ra spoke, his voice by my ear.

  I nodded, still afraid if I opened my mouth I would let sobs escape. I felt Ra remove his hand, and the next thing I knew I was in someone's arms. I glanced up and saw Eros looking down at me with a small smile.

  "Hello, little dove. It is nice to see you, though I wish you were smiling." He gave me a small grin, and started walking.

  I didn't protest, I was mostly surprised he picked me up and was now taking long strides down the halls until we reached where I knew my room was. He went straight inside and sat me down on my bed.

  "There now, no one is around." He bent down so he was kneeling before me, and took my hands into his own, bringing them to his lips to give them a kiss.

  I had stopped crying while he was walking to my bedroom. I didn't like crying in front of other people. I would save it for when I was alone.

  "Are you feeling a bit better?" Hades asked, as he and Ra stood to the side of Eros.

  Ace was by Hades feet looking at me warily. He seemed to know that I was upset.

  "Yes. I am feeling a bit better. I am still in a bit of shock," I told them, my eyes going to Eros’ hands which still held mine. I glanced over at the other two, frowning.

  "Does it make me a bad sister that I didn't notice?" I paused, biting my lip as I continued, "I didn't notice that she was bonded. I couldn't tell."

  Eros moved and sat beside me, and pulled me into his lap. I gave a startled yelp, but didn't fight it. I looked up at his face and saw the worry embedded in his eyes.

  "Just put it out of your mind for now. You couldn't have known, she knew how to hide it well," Eros told me, running a hand through my hair as he calmed my nerves down.

  "How long have they been bonded?" I looked over to Ra who stood there, his expression sad as he looked at me.

  "For three years. I know that is when they found her," Ra told me.

  I felt ice in my heart. Three years. She had been bonded that long. I knew she couldn't have told me then, but she could have said something when she knew I was bonded too.

  "She would have been fifteen," I murmured, disbelief in my voice. I didn't know they could bond with humans that young.

  "They found her when she was young, yes. But a god would not do anything to the bonded to hurt them," Hades spoke up next, he must have known what was making me uncomfortable with the thought of Hope finding them so young.

  Today had gone from good to bad rather fast. I took a deep breath and gave a nod of thanks to Hades. It did make me feel better knowing that for sure. I still felt like I wanted to cry though.

  I bit my lip, I wasn't usually this type of person. I was usually stronger, but everything that has been happening hit me all at once. It was overwhelming.

  I breathed in his scent, as I closed my eyes. I could hear his heartbeat. It was different than a human's heartbeat. It beat faster than normal. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I hoped when I woke up that this was all a dream, but that was wishful thinking. Wishful thinking never got anyone anywhere.

  ~Hades~

  I watched as Clara fell asleep in Eros' arms. She was getting more comfortable around us, that was clear. I sighed as I looked over to Ra.

  "Why don't we go find the other two to give them an update? Eros and I had been on our way to talk to them about another problem...might as well add this in there too," I spoke, a grim look on my face as I turned my attention back to Clara.

  "We can all go. Clara probably wants time to herself. I have a feeling she was keeping her emotions in check," Eros said, shifting to stand up and laid Clara on the bed.

  The hellhound moved to Clara's side in an instant. I smiled at this. It was a good idea to give her him.

  “It may be a good idea to keep Clara away from her sister for now,” Ra spoke up, watching Clara sleep. He had a frown on his face, and his eyes cold.

  “Do you think she would actually agree to that…” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I knew she wouldn't. She would sleep and soon after the information processed she would want to confront her sister.

  Ra was silent for a few seconds before releasing a defeated sigh. “No. She wouldn't agree to that.”

  “We will just have to see what she wants to do once she has some time to think,” Eros said, pulling a light sheet over Clara's body. He lent down and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face, smiling softly.

  “She is slowly getting used to us. She may not fully want to be here yet, only because she had plans for her life and we weren't a part of it,” Eros said, voice soft as he stood up and turned to us.

  “That and she has trust issues galore. I am guessing it is because of her mother and maybe her father,” I spoke, pinching the bridge of my nose. Things kept getting more complicated with our Bonded. We just had to get her trust, and that took time.

  “I know she has problems with her mother. She never spoke of her biological father,” Ra told us, calculation look in his eyes as he frowned in thought.

  “She said her stepfather is nice. Strict and set in his way, but nice,” Ra finished.

  He must have had time to get that information out of Clara. She was telling us more about herself. That was good. She didn't need to keep her emotions bottled up.

  “She had a nightmare early this morning. I felt it through the bond,” Ra told us as he shifted, a frown on his face.

  “She didn't want to talk about it, but it was strong. I felt pure fear from her.”

  That wasn't good. What could she dream of that made her feel such strong fear?

  “She holds lots of secrets,” I muttered. I wanted to figure out all of her secrets. I wanted her to tell me how she felt, happy or sad.

  “Why are all…” Zeus load voice came through the door causing me to sigh.

  “Be silent,” Ra hissed out as he glanced over to Clara.

  She only shifted, staying asleep.

  I heard Eros sigh in relief.

  I looked to the door and Zeus and Poseidon stood there, but looked confused.

  “What is going on?” Poseidon inquired, looking between the three of us by Clara's bed.

  This was going to be an interesting conversation.

  “Why don't we go somewhere else so we don't wake Clara up with your loud obnoxious voices?” I held back a laugh at Zeus's offended face.

  The two gods looked at the sleeping form of our Bonded before nodding.

  I glanced back at her one last time before looking at her protector. “Keep her safe.”

  The hellhound gave a bark in understanding, curling up with Clara.

  All of us gathered in a meeting room not that far from Clara’s room. I could see that everyone was a bit on edge. I sighed, knowing I would start the conversation.

  “There are a couple of things we need to talk about. First, Eros and I ran into Ra and Clara when we were on our way to find you all.” I paused and looked over to Ra.

  He
nodded, he would explain what had happened this morning.

  “I went to Clara because she had a nightmare apparently. She didn’t want to go back to sleep so I took her to the garden.” He stopped looking at Poseidon and Zeus.

  “While we were there, Loki arrived. We talked and his bonded came into the garden.” Ra narrowed his eyes a bit before continuing, “His Bonded turned out to be Hope, Clara’s sister.”

  I could see the looks on the other two gods’ faces, surprise. They hadn’t a clue either, so this was going to be interesting to find out how that was hidden for so long.

  “Clara wasn't too happy. Hope knew Clara was bonded, but didn’t tell her,” Ra sighed, clearly unhappy with the situation.

  Clara wasn’t getting a break emotionally.

  “If she is Loki’s Bonded, that means she is the other three’s Bonded too…” Zeus said, a frown on his face. “They found their Bonded three years ago.”

  Ra nodded. “That is correct. Hope has been able to keep things secret rather well compared to others. Clara had no clue at all. Never even suspected anything going on with her sister.”

  “She hid things rather well then,” Poseidon murmured, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Clara was a bit emotional. She is asleep for now…” Eros put in, a sad smile on his lips.

  “That isn’t the only thing wrong.”

  This caught everyone’s attention, except for Eros, who know what was going on.

  “When I was in the Underworld...there were a few bonded who had passed on.”

  Silence came to the room. They knew what that meant. Things were progressing faster than they had all thought. I hadn’t thought things would happen this quickly either.

  Grimly Zeus asked, “How many passed on...did you recognize them?”

  I nodded. “It was two for minor gods, each had two bonded.” It was sad this happened. I knew what would become of the gods now that this had happened.

  “We will spread the word to the other gods. It is best that they don’t venture out of the safe zones unless in groups. It will be safer this way,” Poseidon spoke up, a dark look on his face.

  “We can’t take the chance of this happening again. If we all stay in groups, and all our humans stay in the safe zones, it will be safer.”

  I nodded, he was right. I knew a lot of the humans and gods would’t like this, but they would follow this just to play it safe. No one wanted to chance this happening to them.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Zeus and Eros snapped their heads up. That couldn’t be good.

  “Not possible.”

  A loud noise filled all of Olympus.

  I felt what they felt then. The barrier had fallen.

  ~Clara~

  I woke up hearing a loud sound, I took a deep breath in trying to figure out what happened. Memories of the morning came rushing back to me. I had fallen asleep on Eros. A blush crept on my cheeks, not something I had wanted to do.

  I looked at Ace and saw him standing on the bed, ears pointed and twitching as if listening to something.

  I frowned, sitting up. What was that sound.

  It was like a loud popping sounds and it felt like something in the air had shifted. I didn’t know what was going on.

  “Come on Ace. Let's go find out what is going on.” I didn’t know what was going on, but I could feel something was off.

  Ace gave a small growl, but leapt off the bed.

  I gave him a look, but said nothing. He must know something is wrong, he had never growled at me before.

  “Come on.” I pat my leg, trying to get the hellhound to follow me.

  He gave a whine and followed me out of the bedroom door. He stayed glued to my side as I started walking in the direction I usually went when with one of the gods. I didn’t remember the way that well, but I might run into someone on the way.

  My step echoed on the hard floor as I walked, it felt early and made the hair on my arms stand on end. Something felt wrong. I just didn’t have a clue as to why.

  I eventually found my way through the maze of hallways and outside. The sky was a blood red, making me on edge. It had never been anything but a pure blue since I had been there, and I didn’t see the gods wanting such a sky.

  “What is going on?” I asked myself, as I walked down a set of stairs. I was on the path that led to the stables eventually, or I think it led there. I wasn’t one hundred percent positive.

  Whatever was happening, I had a feeling it was bad. It was too silent right now. I glanced around me, a frown on my face, the feeling of unease growing with every step I took.

  `“Let's hurry and find someone, Ace,” I told the hellhound who was looking around with narrowed eyes.

  His red eyes seemed to be almost glowing right now. That was another sign something was going on.

  As I rounded a corner, I heard a dark chuckle and the sound of heavy footsteps. Ace moved in front of me a loud snarl leaving him as he bared his sharp teeth. A dark glow came from his eyes as he saw two figures appear.

  They looked like normal men, but what set them apart was the pointed ears and claws that were clasped around swords. I froze, as Ace leapt at one of the men. The man moved away from him quickly, too quickly.

  “A baby hellhound,” a voice behind me chuckled, sounding like ice.

  I turned around, and found myself slammed into the wall as he sneered down at me.

  “How...cute.”

  I gasped for breath, as the man's claws scraped against my neck, drawing blood. I could still hear Ace snarling, but I couldn’t see him anymore.

  I saw black spots in my vision, I couldn’t do anything to protect myself. I tried to get the fire to come forth. It flickered in my hands briefly, before the man chuckled squeezing my throat tighter.

  “None of that now, you aren—” He was cut off as he was pulled off of me.

  I coughed and took deep breaths of air, letting it fill my lungs.

  What just happened?

  I blinked looking at the intimidating person holding the man that had attacked me off the ground by the throat. He had dark raven black hair that was long and was pulled back into a low ponytail with a few long locks framing the left side of his face. What really caught my attention were his eyes, dark gold with a black ring around the outer edge of his eye.

  “Th…thank you,” I breathed out, putting a hand on my neck as I saw the man give me a smirk.

  “Not a problem. I did it to get this scum.” He paused as he moved his wrist to the left, causing a loud crack to ring out for all to hear.

  I paled as I watched the body fall to the ground. He killed him.

  “I am Anubis. Where are your Bonded Ones? You should not be by yourself.” He glanced around, a frown on his face as he tried to find my gods.

  I bit my lip, feeling intimidated as I shuffled my feet. “I don’t know...”

  Then there was silence before the god sighed.

  “It seems your guard is also done with the other one.”

  I turned to see Ace take another leap at the man’s throat, this time his sharp teeth meeting their jugular. Blood flowed onto the ground as another snap went through the air… Ace had bitten the man's head clear off. I felt sick. The head rolled on the ground as the body fell to its knees and slumped forward, the man's weapon falling out of his hands.

  “Such a good hellhound.” Anubis chuckled, his eyes gave a glint of approval as Ace made his way back to me.

  “Come. You shall be fine with my Bonded. I can stay with you until one of yours finds you.” He gave my head a small pat, making be feel a bit like a child.

  I just nodded, not saying anything as I slowly walked behind him. Ace followed beside me, his muzzle had blood on it making me shiver. I understood what Hades meant as extra protection now.

  Hellhounds could be rather deadly, and Ace wasn’t even fully grown yet.

  I was shaken out of my thoughts when I heard another crack go through the
air and flinched at the sound. I glanced around trying to see where it came from.

  “Do you know what is going on?” I asked Anubis. Maybe he could tell me what those people were. I thought Olympus was supposed to be safe.

  “Something happened to the barrier. This has never happened before. The only way someone can get through is from the help from a god.” There was sadness and fury in the god's voice.

  So a god betrayed another god. I bit my lip at this information. That meant this could happen again. I didn’t know if I felt safe here anymore.

  I was about to ask Anubis another question when an explosion rocked the ground, smoke going up into the air. I turned my wide eyes to the sky. I could see cracks.

  “Is that...the barrier?” I breathed out in shock, as cracks continued to form. I could hear it, it sounded like when glass was slowly breaking.

  Ace gave a low growl beside me. This wasn’t going to be good.

  I looked at Anubis, eyes wide as another explosion went off. I could see the smoke going black, then red and something large stepping into Olympus. Glowing orange eyes peeked through the smoke as a screeching noise went through the air.

  I gasped as I looked at it. The god let out a snarl as he saw the huge figure taking its first steps into what was supposed to be a safe haven for everyone.

  The Titans had broken into Olympus.

  ~End Book Two of the Chosen By Fate Series~

  Our One and Only

  Saiya Summers and Aspen Winters

  Chapter One

  Fairy Tale

  –noun

  1.) A story, usually for children, about elves, hobgoblins, dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures.

  2) Fiction, not real. Stories made for entertainment.

  There were the definitions that she had put into her head since she was young. Her mother and father didn't like her believing in such things, even if they were the ones who made her believe in such things in the beginning. It didn't help with the name they gave her somewhat contributed to fiction.