Destined (Goddess of Fate Book 4)

by Tamara Hart Heiner

  I lifted my eyes and stared at him. “Our friends? You sided with them. Or were you only using them to get back at me?”

  He gave me a pained look. “I am always fighting against someone close to me. It’s been my brother and mother for centuries. But after you betrayed me—I had to take the chance. Join them if it meant getting you back. And, if I’m perfectly honest, I did want to hurt you. I am sorry.” Jumis extended a hand. “Come. All is forgiven, all is as it should be. The battle still rages up top, and you and I will fight beside each other for our family, as we always have.”

  Was he out of his mind? What made him think we were suddenly going to be all hunky-dory good together? I glanced at Aaron, who stood silently watching us, one arm hanging loosely while the other hand pressed against his side, blood coating his fingers, his face a mask of pain. He leaned up against the wall as if it took too much effort to stand, and his breathing was shallow. I tried not to panic. I needed to get him out of here, get him help.

  “Aaron conquered Velns.” I gestured in the direction of Velns’ body. “Aaron’s the hero now.”

  Jealousy flashed through Jumis’ eyes, raw and transparent. But his smile only grew wider. “You are the hero. Aaron is simply lucky he gets to live.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “That can’t be,” I said, my mind racing. “Aaron freed Saule.”

  “Aaron did not free Saule. He left her locked in her cell. You unlocked her door and gave her the raskovnik. You freed Saule. Not Aaron.”

  No. My knees crumpled, and Aaron lurched forward and caught me before I hit the ground.

  I was the hero. Not Aaron. He wouldn’t be able to challenge Jumis for me.

  “Sorry,” he whispered, his lips caressing my cheek. “I’m sorry, Jayne.”

  “Come to me, Dekla,” Jumis bellowed, still extending his hands.

  I heard the command in his voice, but I didn’t feel it. Nothing urged me onward, urged me to obey him. I stood up and blinked at him, salty tears racing down my face. “I won’t. I won’t come to you.”

  His brow furrowed in confusion, and he said again, “Come to me, Dekla. You belong to me.”

  Nothing happened, and I laughed in spite of the tears rolling down my face, the pain burning my heart. “Saule is free! I don’t have to submit to you anymore. I don’t belong to you!”

  Understanding flashed across his face, but he remained calm. “You swore on your soul that you would be my wife. You cannot break that oath.”

  And then something clicked into place, something that I wished I had remembered earlier. “My mortal soul,” I whispered.

  Jumis cocked his head. “What?”

  I lifted my chin, triumph sparking in my chest like a firecracker about to go off. “My mortal soul! I swore on my mortal soul that I would be your wife.”

  He still just stared at me, but I thought I saw the skin around his eyes tighten.

  I threw my hands down and thrust my head back and yelled at the cavern ceiling, “I am not mortal!” I lowered my head and glowered at him. “There is no part of a mortal soul left in me. I am immortal. I swore an oath that is now meaningless. The bond is broken.”

  He looked at his wrist and thrust his arm out, and the bonds we had forged together when I made my promise flashed green on his skin. Then he looked at my arm. I lifted it as well, held it out.

  Nothing. No green runes, no flashing. “I am not yours,” I repeated. “And I am not Dekla. I am Jayne.”

  “No!” he shouted, and the emotional onslaught lashed out like a tidal wave, knocking me back against the dirt wall. He turned his angry gaze on Aaron, but I snarled and leapt forward, grabbing the sword I had plunged into Velns and jerking it out in one swift motion. I stood in front of Aaron, and only when I felt the heat rolling off my skin did I realize I was on fire.

  Apparently even down here I could manifest my powers, if I had to.

  “It’s over. You’ve lost. I don’t want to kill you.” My voice trembled slightly, betraying my feelings. “Dekla loved you. I carry those emotions inside of me. You would’ve always been someone special to me. Just not in the way you wanted.”

  The fight went out of him. He grabbed his hair with both hands and screamed. And then he whirled around and disappeared in a haze of smoke.

  I remained where I was a moment longer, wielding a sword in my hands, the fire arcing along its length.

  “Jayne,” Aaron whispered.

  I turned around at the sound of his voice. I let the sword drop from my hands and rushed to his side. With a cry I gripped his face, careful of the gash on his cheek. I caressed his forehead, pushed his hair back, touched him like I hadn’t been able to for weeks. His fingers slipped through my hair, tangling themselves in my curls, and then we were kissing, mouths opening to each other, pulling each other closer, breathing each other in.

  And then he grunted and said, “Ow,” and I remembered where we were and what had happened.

  “Oh! You’re injured!” My hands hovered near his shoulders, afraid to touch him again, but I couldn’t keep the silly, euphoric grin off my face.

  “I’m all right.” Aaron stroked my face with his hand, his blue eyes intense as he studied me. “Are you really free?”

  I bowed my forehead to meet his. “I’m really free.”

  A sudden brightness filled the cavern, and a female cleared her throat. “If you two are ready, we have a war to end.”

  I turned from Aaron to see Saule. Her entire being radiated light, from her white-gold hair to her fair skin. My heart leapt with joy to see her. “Saule! I’m so sorry I left you.”

  “I got myself free. You did the right thing.”

  Her words registered then, and my blood ran cold. “Is the war not over?”

  She shook her head. “Jods has lost his power over me, but he still has his mother. Velu Mate will fight until there is a victor.” She looked at Aaron. “You might not have conquered Velns, but you are the chosen champion. You must return with us and fight.” She put her hand against the dirt wall. The dirt morphed and reshaped itself into a narrow set of earthen stairs. They glowed slightly with a golden hue, beckoning us upward.

  “Looks like our way out,” I said.

  Saule looked us over, her eyes lingering on Aaron’s injuries. “Take your weapons. Jayne, when you get to the meadow, find Ragana and have her heal him. Then stand at the Tree.”

  The Tree of Life. It wasn’t destroyed.

  “Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

  “I will. But Velns captured other creatures from Slitere, and I have only freed half of them. Do not wait for me. Hurry.” With those words, she turned on her heel and ran out.

  I sheathed the cursed sword in Aaron’s belt and wrapped the one he’d brought in my gown. We didn’t speak as we climbed the stairs, though Aaron’s hand remained clasped tightly in mine. His breathing grew more raspy with each step, his feet dragging, and my worry increased. I didn’t dare check his fate. He’d fulfilled his purpose, but I would not allow there to be any other destiny for him except life.

  I sensed the time and distance between the land of the dead to the land of the living, but it felt as if I were stuck in one of my visions, knowing that time wasn’t actually passing. Aaron was mortal, though, and I remembered how disorienting it had been for me when I was. His fingers clenched mine from time to time, but otherwise, he gave no indication of discomfort.

  I felt my powers return to me as we neared the surface. My fatigue diminished and I straighted my shoulders, inhaling as if the air tasted sweeter. The stairs glowed brighter, until I realized it wasn’t the stairs themselves that glowed, but light traveling down to where we stood. The surface was in sight. I quickened my pace, anxious to see what would greet us.

  The acrid scent of smoke reached me first. Burning. The meadow was burning.

  I removed my sword and lashed out at the first dark beings I saw. I summoned the fire from within my core, turning the sword into a fiery lance.

 
“The tree,” Aaron said, closing in behind me. “She said to go the tree.”

  Yes, she had. But she also said to heal him first. He had withdrawn his sword also but could only lift with one hand, and his muscles trembled with the effort. His face contorted as he sliced threw a jackal-man, and I gritted my teeth, imaging the pain he must be in. My eyes shot around, seeking out my sister with her gown of blue. If I found her, Trey and Meredith would be nearby.

  Bodies littered the ground, and I felt a moment of terror. They were mostly vadatajs and jackals and a few beings who must have been lesser gods from the underworld. But also minor gods and goddesses lay among the dead, and dozens of sprites.

  “Beth!” I shouted, brandishing my sword to ward off any attackers while I called out to her with my soul energy.

  She responded in an instant, and I honed in on her signal.

  “Come,” I said. I guarded Aaron as we picked our way over the bodies.

  The fighting had concentrated around the Tree of Life, but even I could see the battle was nearly over. Jods’ army had fallen, leaving only two dozen creatures fighting for him. Jods remained behind them, encouraging them forward.

  Meredith stood on the outskirts, calling forth rain to quench the fires. My chest tightened to see Velu Mate and Perkons locked in a lightning bolt shooting match. Beth stood back to back with another goddess, swords slashing as they cut down attackers. Trey hovered near Beth, casting protective shields before any soldier could catch her unawares.

  “Meredith!” I called.

  She spun at the sound of her name, and a smile swept over her face. “Jayne!” She ran to us, giving me a quick hug before turning to Aaron. “Well done, Aaron! The moment Velns was vanquished, every mortal fighting in Jods’ army lost consciousness. Ursins is returning them to Earth.”

  “I didn’t actually—” Aaron began, but I interrupted him.

  “Meredith, he’s badly injured. Heal him so we can keep fighting.”

  “Of course.” She scratched the runes on her arm, then placed her hands on Aaron’s injuries, murmuring as she did so. He groaned as his body stitched itself together again.

  “I’m ready now,” he said, pulling out his own sword. “Let’s end this.” He lashed out a jackal who happened to pass too close, and a moment later the jackal’s head rolled to the ground. I flanked him. With my powers back, my sword and shield had appeared on my person, and I held my sword at the ready.

  “Go,” Aaron said. “I don’t need your protection.”

  I begged to differ. But Meredith prodded me.

  “Help Perkons with Velu Mate. She’s a piece of work.”

  She was indeed. For every lightning strike Perkons threw at her, she lifted reanimated corpses from the ground and sent them staggering into the midst of the gods, wielding their deadly swords. I joined the ranks severing arms so the dead bodies couldn’t harm anyone.

  Velu Mate cackled. “I can do this for an eternity! I have an unending army of dead at my disposal! I only need to summon them to the meadow!”

  “The tree!” Jods shouted. “Cut it down!”

  A shaft of light appeared in front of the tree. I shielded my eyes against the brightness, and when my vision cleared, Saule stood in front of us. Behind her, swords at the ready, were another dozen deity, looking holy and righteous in their fierceness.

  “Saule,” Meness said, hero-worship on his face.

  She cast him a smile before glowering at Velu Mate.

  “One chance,” she said. “I’m giving you one chance to take your son and leave this realm before we strike you down and strip you both of your powers.”

  A dark cloud formed over the tree, thundering ominously.

  “You don’t intimidate me,” the hag shouted. “The darkness easily overshadows the light!”

  “So be it,” Saule said, and her eyes flashed like fire moments before every vadatajs and jackal still standing collapsed to the ground.

  Startled, I knelt by one and placed a hand on his chest, but there was no soul light. “Dead,” I said, getting to my feet. “They are all dead.”

  “I pulled their souls from their bodies,” Saule said. “Tonight they return to the underworld.”

  My gaze turned to Jods, who looked ready to run.

  But Velu Mate laughed and lifted her hands, and every single dead body, including those of our own gods and goddesses, lifted from the ground. She spun her twisted fingers around each other, and then the bodies lurched forward, necks at odd angles, faces in permanent grimaces, gripping deadly weapons in their hands.

  “Cut them down,” Perkons said, his voice grim. He faced an approaching goddess and sliced through her torso.

  Velu Mate’s evil laugh filled the air. The wind whistled, gathering momentum, pulling leaves into a circular funnel.

  I saw Aaron collapse only a few feet from Velu Mate, and I gasped. What happened? How had I missed an attack on him?

  Before I could rush to his side, his body reanimated, all at odd angles, and lurched forward.

  No. It wasn’t possible. After everything I’d done to save him, and him to save me, I couldn’t lose him now, with victory so close. My sword lowered, my heart breaking.

  And then his head tilted slightly, enough to meet my eye. And he winked.

  He winked.

  I almost laughed out loud, I was so relieved. He was playing possum! “Clever boy,” I murmured, and then I had to defend myself from a real zombie.

  I wasn’t the only one he’d fooled. Velu Mate paid him no heed as he staggered nearer. My heart pounded in my neck, and I couldn’t breathe. He lifted his sword and brought it down on her shoulder.

  In an instant everything stopped. The wind went still. The thunder cloud dissipated. The dead bodies collapsed in broken heaps on the charred grass. It all ceased. The only thing left was Velu Mate’s scream as her powers rushed out of her. She spun to face Aaron, fingers bent into hooks, and launched herself at his face.

  Both of them vanished behind the mob of deity who rushed to Aaron’s defense.

  But Perkons did not jump into the melee. His whip lashed out and grabbed Jods around the thigh before the god could even think of leaving. Golden chains wrapped around Jods’ arms, like the ones I’d seen on Laima when I first arrived in Slitere.

  “It is over,” Perkons bellowed. “We have won the war.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The next hour was bittersweet as we all took a part in caring for the dead. Jods’ army had been completely destroyed. Only he and Velu Mate remained. He was imprisoned while she was mortal, and, to quote Jumis’ eloquent words, “lucky to be alive.”

  “It will grow back,” Perkons said, touching the shoulder of a goddess who stood crying over the burnt forest. “Just like last time.”

  He turned his sad eyes to the bodies of the gods and goddesses and sprites laid out in careful rows. I followed his gaze, my heart clenching when I saw Laima. Some things would never be the same.

  “Friends and family,” Perkons said, his voice reaching every ear, “I know this is a time of mourning. But we must cast that behind us and focus on our victory here. Return to your homes to change, to let out your emotions, and then return. A celebration is in order.”

  I looked around for Aaron, but Perkons was speaking to him, pointing him in the direction of the heroes’ lodge. My hands fluttered over my gown, torn and burned and dirty.

  Beth stopped in front of me, her eyes teary. “Jayne.”

  “Beth.” I wrapped my arms around her and we cried.

  My things were still at Jumis’ house. I entered with some trepidation, fearing he might be here. But he had been cast out, stripped of rank, and could no longer enter this realm at will.

  My closet held a surprise for me. It no longer contained only orange gowns, but white also. I fought back the tears and then took a shower, relishing in the hot water falling over my shoulders. Sometimes even goddesses needed a shower.

  Perkons’ message to return to the clearing
came half an hour later. I dressed in one of the white gowns, in honor of Laima.

  The meadow still held the haunted, hollow look of a recent battle. But Perkons’ court had been decked out in splendor, decorative ribbons and vines and flowers. I gathered with the other deity in the back of the hall, finding my sister and Meredith and Trey. They stood near Ursins, and he nodded as I approached.

  Perkons sat on his throne. To his right sat Mara, and to his left sat Meness with Saule at his side. Flowers adorned her radiant white hair, and both of them beamed. A halo of light surrounded them.

  And behind them were Jods and Velu Mate, chained and in a golden cage much like the one Jods had used to hold the souls Samantha captured. A table laden with fruits and goblets was beside the thrones.

  “Bring forth the champion,” Perkons boomed, and two guards stepped forward, flanking Aaron between them. He no longer wore his armor but a simple linen shirt with loose pants. I couldn’t help smiling when I saw him. He looked more casual than I’d ever seen. The guards marched him in front of the dais, and Aaron dropped to one knee, bowing his head.

  The rest of the pantheon let out a celebratory cry. Brilliant flashes of color filled the sky like some kind of heavenly fireworks, and a matching joy erupted in my heart, dispelling my earlier sorrow. I laughed and clapped my hands, feeling as if the moments of despair were fleeting next to the eternal happiness available to us.

  “Turns out he was worthy of my ring,” Ursins said, almost grudgingly.

  “I knew he would do it,” Beth whispered, looping her arm through mine.

  “You knew this would be the outcome?” I said skeptically.

  Her grin turned both sheepish and sly. “Each choice he made pushed him closer to it.”

  Perkons spoke from across the meadow, his voice piercing my mind and my ears at the same time.

  “My brothers and sisters,” he said, “we celebrate a great victory today. Velns and Jods have been defeated, and the balance between life and death will be restored. We have lost many, and we mourn for those we loved. They will not be forgotten.” His eyes glittered. “But the war has been fought, we have emerged victorious, and our beloved Saule has been released to us. We must recognize what we have gained as well.”