by Anna Edwards
Glancing down shakily, I watch the blood flow down from the wound he’s left. I know it’s only the beginning. One moment in the nightmarish hours that I face ahead of me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
MARS
“Welcome, Mars, please take a seat. Would you care for a drink?” Pluto knows I’m there even before I have a chance to thrust my spear through his chest. Proserpina, his forced consort, stands next to the dark-haired figure of my uncle. Her eyes are sunken, and I know she mourns the loss of her freedom from the surface. She still has to endure many long months of winter down here. I tip my chin toward her to leave. She looks at Pluto, who nonchalantly waves her away.
“I want them back now!”
“I wasn’t aware this was a fancy-dress party.” Pluto looks at my clothing–the outfit of a gladiator ready to do battle for what is his.
“I’m reminding you of the strength I possess. Enough games.” I point my spear directly at his chest and start to put my weight behind it. “This is a battle you won’t win. I’ll see to that.”
“You’re so boring and predictable, Mars. Just like your father.” Pluto clicks his fingers, and my spear is sent flying across the space to embed in the rock formations that adorn the room. “I’m glad your son is different. He has a darkness about him. It must be from his whore of a mother. She really will open her legs for anyone of us. I’m surprised you’ve allowed him to stay with her. She’s faithless to all, except her own cause, and that’s power.”
“I didn’t come here for a boring lecture. I came here for my son and Vicky.” I turn and start to walk away from him. “It seems I’ll have to tear the Underworld apart to find them. Mind you, with a click of my fingers, I can have the Underworld destroy itself. War doesn’t only apply to the humans. It’s everywhere.”
“But you can’t control those with no souls. They’re already dead or indebted to me, so a war with them is inconsequential.”
I twist back to my uncle and send, directly at him, a blast of energy so powerful that I know when it hits there will be little left of the demonic monster who plagues me. It doesn’t hit, though, for Orcus appears and diverts it through a wall in a burning explosion of rock and lava.
“Stop wasting your energy and my time.” Pluto bangs his hand down hard on his desk. “Every moment you continue with your false belief that I’ll just hand over my two prized possessions, you allow another part of both of them to die.” He smirks. “Not that I doubt there’s much beauty left in Venus after I marked her as my own.” I’m transfixed with the fury cascading through my veins. My blood is boiling to the point my body will explode. Pluto runs his tongue over his teeth. “I bet she still feels me inside her, and my cum still drying between her legs, but that’ll be nothing compared to what your son’s doing to her. Beauty is only skin deep, and by the time Luigi has finished with her, Venus will have little skin left that isn’t sliced away from her body. Don’t you sense it, Mars, the darkness prevailing here in the Underworld? It’s growing. I’m going to welcome two new members to my team. Your son’s a natural–I feel it in my bones. He’s born with a darkness only two parents who control war could give him. He’ll be strong–he’ll be powerful. He’ll be mine, unless you give me what I want.”
I allow my mind to connect to Vicky and my son. I can feel the agony the woman I love is in. Her mind, no matter how hard she fights, is losing its ability to see any beauty in the world. She’ll be Pluto’s soon, I know it. And my son, he’s terrified, doing spiteful things to a woman he respects and worships because he has no choice. He’s so young he doesn’t understand his ability to fight. I’ve done that to him by protecting him from what the world can be. I’ve caused him to see only good when in reality evil is around every corner and is stronger than rightness will ever be.
My rage explodes, and ball after ball of energy is sent flying toward Pluto and Orcus. They’re deflected, and the room burns brightly with the after effects of my inability to control my emotions. I want Pluto dead. I want the whole fucking world dead. I just want Vicky and Luigi safe. I send another burst of fury, and this time, it rebounds and strikes me on the chest plate. It knocks the breath out of my body, and I collapse to the floor, gasping for air.
“Feeble. Weak. You’re no God of War.” Pluto stalks toward me. “You allow humans to live in peace. They shouldn’t even be here on this planet. We should be allowed the freedom we had in the years of old. The darkness needs to take over again and rule as it did then.”
“Never!” I shout and push myself back up.
“It’s time you listen to me. Vicky will die before the sun sets in Rome unless you submit to me. Luigi will join my forces as my chief torturer. He’ll be what Marco was: depraved, savage, all the things you hate. He’ll no longer be yours. You have a choice.” Pluto expels his own powerful blasts of energy toward me, and I’m sent flying across the room. Allow war to rule.”
“Never.”
“Allow your emotions to cloud everything, not just here in Rome, but all over the world. Let a chorus of battle cries echo through every street, in every country, and across the world. Let human kill human over nothing more than a piece of bread. Allow Armageddon to sweep its way through the human race, so I may emerge a victorious ruler.
“Never,” I choke out as Pluto’s eyes grow wider and wider with the thought of the undefeatable power he can possess with my help. “I’ll never destroy the world.”
Pluto turns to Orcus.
“Bring him.”
I lose control of my own body. I don’t know what power causes this to happen, but I follow behind Pluto as he leaves the decimated room we were in and strides purposefully through the corridors of the Underworld. I hear eerie screams and bloodcurdling shouts, calling out from everywhere around me. Wailing moans cause me to shiver. I try to shut my mind to the suffering that’s threatening to erupt from my continuing down the path I am.
Pluto pushes a door open, and I see Luigi inside with two men. They’re forcing him to push a knife into the stomach of a woman strapped to a chair. She’s wearing only a bikini, and I know instantly it’s Vicky. She looks up toward me, her eyes black and un-life like. Blood and cuts mar her beautiful skin, but it’s the sound of weeping in the room, which causes my heart to tear itself in two. My son, my little boy, cries because he’s the one doing these things to her. My body’s given its own free governance over movement again, but I’ve no longer got any fight left in me. I allow my centurion outfit to vanish, and the clothes of a regular human male to appear again: a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. Simple, nothing with any bravado. It feels surreal. Surely the man who is about to end the world, as we know it, should wear golden robes or a glittering cloak. But no, I wear simple clothes. I shut my eyes and allow my emotions to engulf the part of my brain that controls how my actions affect the Earth. War breaks out almost instantaneously. The languages may be different, but the cries are the same.
“Death to traitors.”
Guns fire, bombs explode, and people weep for losses.
“It’s done,” I utter and collapse onto the floor.
“It’s far from done.” Pluto comes close to my ear. He pushes a knife into my hand, which I recognize as a weapon that can kill gods. We believed it was lost, but Pluto had it all the time. “I’ll have Orcus take them back to your land in Tuscany, but only after I get word.”
“Word?” I look down at the knife and up at Pluto.
“There’s only one person who can stop what’s happening now, and I want him dead.”
“Who?” I ask, my tone laced with confusion and exhaustion.
“Jupiter, your father.” Pluto spits down into my face.
“No!” Vicky shouts.
Luigi turns around to face me. “Papa.” He tries to run to me, but one of the men grabs him by the scruff of the neck and holds him tightly.
“It’s ok,” I try to reassure. “We’ll go home soon. Everything’ll be alright.”
“Mars, no.” Vicky whimpe
rs and tries to move, but her body is almost beyond broken. Her inability to see beauty anymore is seeping from her pores and filling the room with a pungent mold. She’s still not in control of her powers, though, so she can’t see the destruction comes from her. I want to run to them, embrace them, and reassure them everything’ll be alright, but I know the world has changed, now. I tighten my grip around the knife, take one final look at the two people who mean the world to me, and dematerialize.
When I reappear in my body, I’m in my father’s office. He’s sitting at his desk, his head bowed, and his fingers rubbing against his temples. I know he’s listening-in to the suffering happening in the world. He looks old. For the first time in his life, I don’t see him as the strong person I love and worship. He’s tired of fighting endless battles for so many millions of years. He brings his head up, and I see the defeat in his eyes.
“You’ve come to kill me,” he states and stands up. His arms fall to his side, offering himself no means of protection against what I’m about to do.
“I have to.”
“My grandson, my first one.”
“He has him.” My voice breaks. I can barely hear it over the sounds of murder and violence filling my head. I just want it to stop. People think being a god is a gift, but to me, it’s nothing more than torture. I bring the knife up and dematerialize again. This time, I reappear behind my father and plunge the weapon through his back. “I have to save him, I’m sorry.”
Without allowing myself to think about what I’m doing, because the consequences will destroy me, I focus on Luigi and Vicky and transport my father and I back to Pluto’s world. The God of the Underworld’s eyes grow wide with surprise when I appear and pull the knife from my father’s back, allowing his dying body to slump down onto the floor.
“Now, give me what’s mine.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
VICKY
I can’t tear my gaze away from the man on the floor. Mars’ father.
Blood begins to spread beneath him where he’s lying still and lifeless.
Pluto stands, gloating.
He’s won.
Mars’ dark eyes meet mine. They’re full of pain. Defeat. He’s letting loose war on the world to save us. Destroying mankind.
“Don’t do this...please you have to stop.” My voice cracks on the last word. “You still have time to stop this.”
I don’t want to be the cause of this destruction. I know in my heart it means the end of the God of War. He’ll fall to his dark side.
That’s Pluto’s plan.
The evil male in question turns to survey me coldly. “Vicky, Vicky, you still cling to hope when there’s none left.”
“There’s always hope.”
I can barely breathe through the pain. Even the smallest movement sends it rippling through the cuts littering my skin.
Luigi's weeping still echoes through my head. The tormented expression on the boy’s face as his eyes pleaded in silence for forgiveness.
It entwines with Mars’ agony, becoming my own. We’re bound. All three of us in this moment.
Yet, through it all, I feel a flicker of something fierce.
Love.
I love them. Father and son.
It surges up from the recesses of my heart and soul. Not something quiet and soft.
No, this is thundering. Deafening.
They’ve risked everything for me.
Like a changing tide, it sweeps over me, through me, filling every cell in my body with the warmth of light.
Pluto’s dark devious eyes narrow on Mars. “You can have them when mankind is wiped from the planet.”
“That wasn’t the agreement,” the God of War growls.
“It is now. Get on the floor and grovel at my feet. Show them you’re defeated, and I might give you one of them back.”
This monster has no plans to let us go. Even I can see that.
“Papa,” Luigi’s whisper is frightened. He’s trying to be brave, but it doesn’t prevent the tears sliding down his pale, trembling cheeks. Watching his father, a man who’s been his strength, made to beg will break him further.
Enough. I’ve had enough.
Hate, rage, pain, and love. I feel them building, swelling.
There’s a melting pot inside me, fusing them together to become something stronger.
Raw and primal, it explodes out of me in a shockwave.
The force sends everyone in the room crashing back and off their feet.
Handcuffs keeping me bound to the chair are gone, and I rise from the seat.
Vengeance.
It burns through my blood.
With it comes power.
Everything else is forgotten but this new pulsing need.
“Vicky?”
Ignoring Luigi’s soft call, I stalk with purpose to the dark-haired male as he staggers to stand.
“Your heart’s a cold empty stone in your chest.” Stabbing him in that area with a finger, I force Pluto back against the wall. “I can see it now. Dull and lifeless.”
His lips curl up with an unpleasant smile. “Venus, I was wondering what would finally push you over the edge. Was it seeing how weak Mars truly is?”
“Vicky, what are you doing?” Mars’ question is a low, icy mutter behind me.
I don’t bother to look back. My whole focus is on this vile man. “Take your father and son with you…..and leave.” The authority and confidence in my voice shakes the room.
“No. Pluto is mine.”
Turning my head, my eyes flash a warning. I may love him, but he won’t have my prey until I’m done.
Battle and bloodshed seep from him in an unseen cloud that I can sense through the tingling of my skin. Nostrils flared, his intense eyes are wild. He looks unhinged. Demented with something he can no longer control.
The two men who were teaching Luigi how to torture scramble to their feet. In seconds, they’re on Mars.
He grunts as a knife finds its way into his thigh, and with a roar, he falls seamlessly into fighting.
Have I lost him? Has this finally tipped Mars over?
Cruel hands grip my forearms, bringing me back to the deadly God of the Underworld I still have pinned down.
“You can’t beat me. It’s already too late, and you, my dear, don’t have the power to kill me.”
His scoffing tone sets my teeth on edge.
“Who said anything about killing you?” Pressing my palm flat, I concentrate on the steady beat, which lies beneath.
He’s dead inside, even though he’s living. There’s nothing soft in him. Ambition and hatred drive him. No goodness. No light.
That’s about to change. I’m going to give him a gift that I know will also become his greatest anguish.
Energy pours from my skin, pure and golden. All my love for Mars. Everything I feel for him with every fiber of my being.
I give Pluto a taste of something, which can bring both joy and heartache. Just one ember. Enough to ignite a spark that will only grow with time.
The hands gripping my arms jerk up to encircle my throat. Squeezing, Pluto begins to choke me.
It’s too late. The seed of love is planted. My true powers have finally been set free. Both beautiful and frightening. Pluto with his twisted plans has unwittingly unlocked them, just not in the way he desired.
“What did you do?” he hisses.
Even though he’s strangling the breath from me, I can’t stop my smile. Defiance dancing in the depth of my eyes. He’s screwed for eternity, and we both know it.
Does he feel it already germinating? The beauty of the emotion.
“You’ve cursed me.” Shoving me aside, he stumbles from the wall. “Orcus. Kill them all.”
A male appears. Huge and hulking, he radiates death.
“Vicky, take Luigi and my father and get out of here, now!” Mars shouts–his intentions clear. His voice is barely recognizable, drenched in something sinister and menacing.
I don’t questio
n or argue.
The boy meets me halfway. Clambering over the dead bodies his father has left, he takes my hand. Crouching together over his grandfather, I check for a pulse. Weak and thready, but the life signs are there.
“Can you teleport?”
Luigi shakes his head. “No, but you can, now. You’ve had your awakening. That ability will be yours.”
I can? At least something I’m relieved to hear.
Mars is already battling when I look up. My need to see him is like my need to breathe. I don’t want to leave him. The thought sends my stomach churning.
“You come back to us. You hear me, Mars? We need you.” I tell him not even sure he hears me as he trades blow after blow.
Pluto’s attention snaps our way. I know, then, our time is up.
Clutching the boy and his Grandfather, I close my eyes, letting something familiar swim through my head.
“Luigi!” A familiar female voice sobs the child's name.
Bellona.
Opening my eyes, I see the interior of Mars’ villa. Relief causes my shoulders to slump.
“Mamma, Grandfather is hurt. Please, we must help him.”
“Get a towel quickly,” I tell him. “We need to stem the flow of blood.”
To be honest, I’m surprised Jupiter’s lasted this long.
Obeying my command, Luigi dashes across the room, heading for the downstairs bathroom. Seconds later, he’s back with what I need.
From her place curled up on the corner of the sofa, his mother’s eyes drop to the still bleeding male. Her beautiful face is puffy and swollen from tears. “Who?”
“Mars,” I tell her grimly. Pressing the material to my patient’s stab wound, I pray we can get him medical attention before he bleeds out completely.
“Where is he now?”
“Facing down Pluto and Orcus. We need to get his father to a hospital. If he’s a god, why isn’t he healing?”
“If it was inflicted in the Underworld, it slows our naturally fast ability to heal. It makes us more vulnerable.” Crawling from her position, she moves down to the floor to join us, taking her shaking son in her arms. “Apollo. Hercules.”