Anubis scooped it up, hefted it in his palm a few times, and then set it beside him before resuming his casual search of the pile of items at his feet. Then he scowled. Maybe he had expected to find something specific inside. The Hammer? The Hourglass? The Hand of God? All were inside, safely tucked away. He lifted the satchel to his nose, sniffing. He snorted, and then stuck his whole freaking head inside, ears and all.
I blinked, sharing a stunned look with Carl and Talon. At least, I think their return look was stunned. The smear made it impossible to tell. Was there any danger to him sticking his head inside my pocket dimension? Could he see what I had hidden?
His muffled words made me flinch. “Something strange about this…”
Ice shot down my arms. “The satchel is very strong. Try slicing it,” I offered in what I hoped sounded a casual tone.
He pulled his head out, shook it like a dog would, and then studied me. His hand instantly changed to a black set of claws that matched the material of his mask – and he slashed at it.
Nothing happened to the bag. Anubis grunted in surprise. Then black shadows abruptly infused his arm and I felt the sudden power practically vibrating the air itself. He had turned on his godly steroids. The world dimmed at the arrival of the shadows around his arm, and screams echoed inside my cerebral cortex as he slashed again, a full body motion.
I hoped Darling and Dear had a good return policy. A dog destroyed my satchel.
Chapter 43
The smoke faded to reveal Anubis staring down at the satchel in disbelief. I tried to hide my own astonishment. Darling and Dear were hardcore, and apparently Anubis wasn’t on their email list if he couldn’t recognize it. At least I could tell Callie the leather-makers weren’t Egyptian.
He hung the satchel on the arm of the throne and was suddenly crawling around in the pile of weapons. I heard the Candy Skulls murmuring uneasily, and even Virgil’s eyes widened at the sight of his King on all fours digging through the items from my bag. He even scooped up a few to sniff, as if hoping to find it wasn’t what it appeared to be. Some illusion, perhaps.
He jumped to his feet, breathing heavily. “Fine. You may keep it,” he snapped.
The bag was suddenly on my shoulders again, sans the armory of weapons he had dumped onto the floor. I didn’t feel a thing. One moment he had been holding the bag, and the next it was on my shoulders.
I dipped my head gratefully, waiting. He tapped his obsidian mask, looking angrier by the second – even though his mask didn’t actually change. Something about his posture promised unrestrained fury, and he was struggling to keep that down. “None of the keys,” he muttered under his breath. Virgil frowned at him for the length of a heartbeat before his face returned to bland nothingness.
Keys? What was he talking about?
Anubis slammed his palm down onto the arm of the throne, and a dozen bolts of lightning lanced into the lava ocean behind him, either erupting in more pillars or destroying those already in existence, depending on which lightning bolt I focused on. “Bring them out,” he finally snapped at the Candy Skulls. He turned to me. “This is as much for you as it is for them, but speak quickly. You don’t have long…” Then he laughed, a sad, disgusted sound. Maybe Anubis had a few screws loose after spending so long in the Underworld. His people skills – and personal control – were sorely lacking. The absurdity of pressing for time in Hell, where everyone suffered for eternity.
He didn’t speak, and was obviously waiting for my parents to arrive. Or he had forgotten about us, because he was leaning back, staring up at the ceiling and breathing deeply, as if trying to calm himself.
Talon and Carl were only smudges of darkness, now, and I knew they wouldn’t last long. “Why do we look like this?” I asked Anubis, pointing at myself and then my companions.
He lowered his head very slowly, chest heaving in silence. I forced myself not to take a step back. “They are dying,” he finally said. “As powerful as they are, they cannot last long. Only a god can survive down here.” His eyes twinkled.
“That would have been nice to know ahead of time,” I growled, glaring daggers at Virgil.
Talon spoke up uncertainly. “We also glow gold?” he asked Anubis. I whipped my head to him. Talon was staring at his arms as if searching for proof.
“Gold?” I asked him. “No, you’re smudged gray, like a charcoal sketch.”
Talon and Carl both stiffened, then slowly turned to me. Anubis roared with laughter. He pointed down at the mirrored floor for me to look. I did, and almost jumped. Rings of concentric light spun about me – weak, but definitely noticeable. And my skin… glowed faintly. But my eyes… were sheets of molten gold. I looked from Talon and Carl back to myself. We looked nothing alike. When I had seen them staring at me, I had thought I wore the same smudged look. But I only saw the golden glow in the reflected floor, not when I looked at my arms directly.
“What is the meaning of this, Anubis?” I whispered.
He leaned forward, his pulsing aura directed solely at me, no longer amused. “You murdered a God. Athena… You’re still stained by it, but not enough. Never enough!” He cackled, a harsh, pitiful sound. I stared down at my skin, searching for the once-familiar golden veins as I tugged my sleeves back. I hadn’t seen them in quite some time. To be honest, I had thought they were long gone after I used the Hammer to destroy the tree and free my Beast, Kai.
After about ten seconds, I finally saw a flicker of golden light. So faint it was almost unnoticeable – I only saw it again because I stared for ten more seconds, and knew what I was looking for. As if it took a long time for that miniscule sliver of ichor to circulate through my body. I couldn’t see the rings of light rotating around me unless I looked at the reflection. Same with the eyes, obviously. And in the reflection, my very skin seemed to glow with the golden light, but when I looked with just my eyes, no such glow was visible. Was this how everyone saw me down here?
“It is not enough…” Anubis whispered to himself. No one else seemed to have heard. His head abruptly shot up, staring past us. “Say hello to mommy and daddy for me. But remember, your friends don’t have long…”
Anubis dismissed us with a flick of his hands.
And we were suddenly standing on the edge of a crumbling stone cliff overlooking the ocean of lava.
Chapter 44
Waves of magma at least a dozen feet tall slammed into each other as the sea raged. I stared across the ocean of liquid rock, trying not to flinch at the occasional lances of green and black lightning that struck down from the impossibly high ceiling where clouds of black, tinged with red festered. I frowned, staring at a tiny cliff in the distance. It looked like it bore a black throne… Was that Anubis? Where we had just been? No wonder I hadn’t seen the ceiling over the ocean. That cliff with the throne looked tiny and about to be swallowed up by the lava ocean.
I heard a grunt behind me and flinched. Two smudged faces stared across the ocean of fire at the black throne… at least I think they did. The lighter one spoke. “You should step back from the edge…” Carl said nervously.
I nodded, glancing down at the cracked, worn rock with sudden panic. I was only inches away from taking a dive.
The other figure – Talon – snorted in disbelief, pointing down at the ocean of fire.
I followed his gesture to see a lone boat zipping through the waves, looking like an elaborate canoe, but without a driver. A long black cord stretched from the back of the boat, tugging…
I blinked, my jaws falling open. A familiar robed figure gripped the cord with one hand, riding a long, thin sliver of stone like a wakeboard. His other hand held a beer. He poured it over his face, and I noticed the familiar, sewn up lips. He waved his beer at us and continued on, jumping over a particularly large wave, landing with a splash of magma.
“Charon…” a woman’s voice murmured behind me. “The only smile I have seen down here.”
I spun, heart wrenching into a knot. My mother stood before me,
smiling sadly. She looked gaunt, dirty, and hollow, but at least she wasn’t smudged. She wore tattered robes, like strips of dirty cloth that fluttered in the waves of heat. A sob bubbled up from her throat, her face anguished as she threw her arms out. I took two steps and scooped her up, crushing her to my chest.
She felt so real.
Not like a spirit at all. Which meant more to me than anything, that I was able to actually touch her rather than talking to her shade.
“Mom…” I whispered. The word broke her, and she almost collapsed in my arms, but I didn’t let her. I clutched the back of her head, mumbling incoherently, forgetting all questions in my sudden swell of emotion. My mother. She was sobbing into my neck, rubbing my back in soft circles like she had done whenever I had nightmares as a child. She even murmured the same words she had told me then, now. “We don’t tell fairy tales to teach you to fear monsters, but to teach you how to beat the monsters…”
I squeezed her harder, my vision a blur, my cheeks drenched with tears. “I know, mom. I know… I’m trying. I’m trying so hard…” I whispered, shaking.
A throat cleared and I stiffened, looking up. I wiped my eyes, staring at the other figure that I had completely forgotten. My dad. His face was pale, tear tracks trailing down from his eyes, smearing the soot on his bearded face. That was the only sign of his crying – just the tears – no sobbing, shaking, or shifting of jaw. Just tears.
“If that devil woman would let go for a moment… I would like to hold my son…” His false bravado did crack at that, but he weathered it well. Just one more tear rolling down his cheek.
My mom, Makayla, detached herself from me with a sad bubble of laughter. She shot him an arch look and then stepped aside. “Watch your tone, Calvin,” she whispered, tears pouring down her face as she watched the two of us as if witnessing an impossible dream come true.
I held my hand out for a shake, but gasped as he lunged at me as if to tackle me into the lake. He picked me up like I was a boy again, spinning me in circles as he gripped the back of my neck with his thick, calloused hand, holding me like a lifeline. “Nate,” he rasped, finally overcome with emotion as I felt him shudder as he held me tight, setting me back down.
I squeezed back just as tightly, missing his solidness. Like a boulder in a raging river. Even though he was overcome with emotion now, that inner confidence roaring inside him was still stronger than any man I had ever met. Not arrogance, like me, but a solid, unwavering center of self. “Wylde, dad. Wylde…” I whispered. He shuddered harder, his muscles bunching as if he’d just been struck by a whip, but it didn’t shake his embrace, as if knowing and accepting those lashes with pride and relief… that I finally knew the truth. My birth-name.
“Talon?” I heard my mother whisper in a throaty cry. “It is you! Talon the Devourer!” she shrieked, giggling delightedly. My dad finally set me down, gripping my shoulders as he stepped back, studying me with glistening, proud eyes. A flicker of something else danced there, too. Hope? That his choices had resulted in this… in me?
Then he shook his head and laughed, a pure, sharp sound like a struck bell. As if nothing could break him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, turning me back to my mom who was squeezing Talon as if he would disappear if she let go. He stood awkwardly, but he did brush his chin into her neck, and his tail curled around her lovingly. Fucking cats.
Carl cleared his throat, extending a hand towards my father. “Hello,” he said. “I am Carl.” My father hesitated only a moment before accepting, and pulling him in for a hug, slapping him on the back in gratitude. “Thank you. For keeping Nate… Wylde safe. Thank you for being his friend, Elder Carl…” Carl nodded, matter of factly, before they detached.
Then he turned to my mother, studying her. Then he took two strides towards her, wrapped her up in both arms to pick her up, and then spun her in a slow circle. She gasped in surprise, but it soon turned to a joyful laugh. He sniffed her hair loudly before setting her down. My dad looked startled at the greeting, but he didn’t interfere.
“My son,” my father said. I wiped my nose before turning to him, remembering Anubis’ warning about time. That my friends didn’t have long. “We should talk.”
I nodded, following as he led me a pace away from the edge of the cliff, a hundred feet above the raging ocean of lava. We sat down, Talon joining us to sit on my father’s other side. They embraced warmly, speaking softly to each other, but my attention was distracted by Carl as he spoke to my mother. I glanced back, staring in startled disbelief.
“I must know the secret,” he insisted. “A woman of your worldly experience must have vast understanding of the D…” If I had thought it impossible for a shade to blush, Carl just disproved it. Luckily, my father hadn’t heard. Elder or not, there were some things that just shouldn’t be asked of another man’s wife. Or a guy’s mom.
Fucking Carl…
To my surprised horror, my mother nodded with a wicked grin. “A little coaxing and passion can do wonders to find new life…” she began as they walked further away. Carl leaned in closer, nodding as he listened to her share the secrets of the D.
I was going to kill Alucard.
My father caught my attention with a question. “Is Falco well?” His face was guarded, as if unsure which lies to admit to first. I was angry, of course. All the secrets they had kept… but anger wouldn’t help anyone. This was the last I would ever see of them. What was done was done. Now was the time to make their choices mean something.
To turn this fucking lemon into lemonade.
Chapter 45
I took a deep breath and caught him up to speed, knowing we were short on time. To help me best, he needed to know everything that had happened. So that he would know if it tied into any of his… lies of omission. The schemes they had set up. He would be the most help if he knew the full story, so in quick strokes, I told him everything.
My mother and Carl joined us not long after I began, so didn’t miss much. Carl and Talon remained silent, seeming absorbed in Charon’s lava-boarding skills as he zipped back and forth before us like a frat boy showing off to a sorority. It gave my eyes something else to focus on as I spoke, which was better than staring into my parents’ faces, which were full of pain and guilt.
At all the pain I had been forced to endure because of them. They didn’t look regretful of their decision, only resolved to hear every dark detail. What they had put their son through. Like spanking a disobedient child – hating every second of it, but knowing that the child needed to learn this harsh lesson in order to grow.
Even if delivering the punishment made the parents cry with guilt for the rest of the night in the privacy of their own bedroom.
When I finished, they shared a thoughtful look, as if silently discussing what they needed to say and how it fit into what I had told them. They didn’t bother apologizing, or commenting on my new friends, asking about my love life, or anything like that. But I could tell they wanted to – desperately wanted to hear of at least one happy, frivolous moment in my life. But they knew that all my hardship was a result of their choices – and that it had led us to this cliff, me risking my soul to find them in the depths of Hell to finally get the answers I deserved.
The answers I needed.
“You’re glowing…” my dad finally said. “It’s beautiful.”
I nodded. “Apparently, not enough,” I sighed, feeling a brief flash of despair. Had this all been for nothing? What had Anubis been looking for? Keys? The Godly power flowing through my veins not being enough. Enough for what? Was he trying to use me? Take something from me? There was only one way to find out. I’d have to ask him.
My father interrupted my thoughts by suddenly grabbing me by the shirt under my jacket. He ripped it away in one swift motion and I gasped. Like yanking a table cloth from under a table set with china – not disturbing a single dish – my jacket remained in place. He tossed the shirt into the lava far below and then pointed at my chest. I looked down an
d saw the golden glow was much more prominent around… my heart. Still not strong, but definitely concentrated there.
“Follow your heart, my son,” my father whispered sadly. “It is stronger than it seems…”
“Right. My heart,” I mumbled with a frown. It sure didn’t look like there was enough of the golden light to make a difference. And make a difference with what, anyway?
My mother placed a hand on my thigh. “Have you met a boy all alone? One unbroken by hardship?” She sounded resigned – as if hoping and fearing the answer at the same time.
I thought about her question. Who did I know that hadn’t survived hardship? Tory had a whole school of kids who’d survived a terrible existence. I frowned as another face came to me. “Alex?” Pandora had sure been interested in him, and my parents had sure been interested in Pandora. I told them about Alex, what he’d been through in Fae. How I had kind of adopted him.
She sighed, drooping like a kite with cut strings. “This… Alex is vital to everything. Much like you, his situation is more than mere happenstance, whether he knows it or not.”
My dad spoke up, absently scratching the ground with a loose rock. “Family can save you. Protect your family, always. You never know when they will return the favor.” I frowned at his doodle, my skin suddenly standing up on edge.
Sorry. They’re listening… was scratched into the rock. My mother pointedly ignored it, gesturing at Charon as he did a barrel roll in the air. Only I had seen the message. My dad scuffed it out with a frustrated gesture, watching me out of the corner of his eyes.
We were being watched? I wasn’t that surprised, really, but it pissed me off. That here I was, having risked it all to talk to my parents, and that now that they were finally willing to speak openly, they feared doing so. Meaning whatever they were not saying was very, very important, and must be kept secret. I paid very close attention.
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