A disembodied announcer’s voice began to speak. “Our first player is Sophie.”
I continued struggling until a large hologram of me, asleep and drooling back on Jack’s beach, appeared in mid-air. I froze in stunned surprise. It was a PR disaster in terms of me presenting myself as a kick-ass goddess but I did seem to be getting some well-deserved rest. The announcer continued. “Goddess of Spring, lately reduced to human form, favorite activities include whining about her status, believing her father loves her, and looking for her mother who doesn’t seem to give a damn.”
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.
“Tricks and illusions,” Kai murmured in my ear.
Theo’s hologram had joined mine. It was of him at about age ten. I knew that because I remembered the T-shirt he’d loved wearing that year. I’d forgotten how young he’d looked at that age, though. In my shock, I’d missed the beginning of his intro. “… now, without powers, Prometheus enjoys once more putting human lives in jeopardy in his certainly doomed-to-fail revenge quest.”
Theo muttered something in Greek.
Festos got the shortest intro of all. “Lame. Doubtful this knight will jump any pieces.” His accompanying hologram made his bad foot seem enormously disproportioned to the rest of him.
I’d never seen Festos so angry. It was terrifying. I could practically see fire boiling under the surface of his skin. It was only when Theo clasped the back of Festos’ neck and spoke to him insistently and soothingly, that he calmed down.
My foot tapped nervously as I waited for Jack to get through this crap so I could find out what had happened to Hannah. I gnawed on my index finger.
“Today’s final warrior is Kyrillos.” Of course Kai’s hologram captured him fighting some serpenty thing I’d never seen before. Black light exploded from his fingers, his arms were tensed, showing his muscles at maximum flex, while his eyes blazed with power, focus, and adrenaline. You could tell he was getting quite the rush.
Couldn’t wait to hear what he said about Kai. “Son of Hades. Prince of the Underworld, skilled fighter. Voted sexiest bachelor seven times by Theoi magazine.”
“Trash rag,” Festos scoffed.
I yanked myself out of Kai’s grasp and turned back to look at him. He stared back at me, completely unreadable.
I willed him to do something to reassure me. Yes, Jack loved his tricks, and yes, he was messing with our heads. I mean, could he have been more obvious with our crap intros versus Kai’s amazing one? I wasn’t stupid. It was psychological divide and conquer so we wouldn’t work effectively as a team.
Yeah, yeah. Still … Why wasn’t Kai taking a firmer stand here?
My insecurity grew a little hotter. And where was Hannah? Seriously freaking out about that.
“Players,” Jack faced us somberly, our holograms still hanging in the air, “today you fight for valor, honor, and prizes. So let’s tell them what they’ll win.”
The music broke out into a cheesy, light refrain as the announcer came back on and Bethany’s face popped up in hologram form. Damn, she even looked good see-through. “Should our team make it through the game successfully,” he said, “good-looking and all-around charming genius Jack Wing will terminate the campaign around Bethany Russo-Hill.”
Jack took his cue. “Here at Endgame, only the best succeed. It is a test not only of fighting prowess, but teamwork, agility, and competence in the face of adversity.”
This was all part of the show’s schtick.
“You must be prepared for whatever you might find … on the board!”
I braced myself for the opening twist he liked to throw in. Like immediately pulling one person off the team or blindfolding everyone. Although this hellscape seemed to be one heck of a twist in itself.
Instead, the gold door at the top swung open. Somehow, it seemed to rush down toward us, all the better to show us what lay beyond.
It was Hannah.
Jack really was all about the punches to the gut. I eyed him, gauging if I could take him out with a few well-placed vines and get my friend back.
He raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to try it.
I knew with a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t go well.
I swung my gaze back to Hannah. Now mud-free, she wore a pawn tunic as well. Jack had her gagged and tied upright on a platform. A large golden blade appeared, hanging in mid-air a few feet away, poised as if to cut off her head.
She turned wide, panicked eyes to me.
More than one of us gave a horrified gasp.
I tried to rush forward but was rooted to the spot. And not by Kai. I just couldn’t move. No problem. Ribbony light shot out of my palms. I’d slash through Hannah’s ropes with them and grab her, Jack be damned.
The door immediately slammed shut and sped back to its original position way, way up top.
“There are three challenges,” I heard Jack say, rage clouding my vision. “For every challenge you fail to meet, the blade will advance. Two failures and she will die.”
“We’ll save her,” Theo said, grim determination in his voice.
Jack gave a small shrug of indifference, as if to say “you can try.” “First, you’ll have to capture the rook.”
“Or your version, thereof,” Theo challenged.
Jack inclined his head, eyes gleaming. “Just so.”
Bring it. It was one thing for me to face injury or death but this was Hannah. My most bestest and very human friend.
Therefore, failure was not an option.
Saving humanity would mean nothing in a world without Hannah.
“Let the journey to checkmate commence!” Jack cried and disappeared.
Game on.
Fifteen
I took a deep breath, ducked under the archway, and started up the the stairs with my team.
If this played out like the real game, then one of the millions of squares would rise, revealing a door. We’d have to go through it and complete the challenge on the other side. If we were successful, we’d be led back to the board to continue. If not, well, we’d still be back on the board, but with a very deadly first strike.
Generally, three strikes and the door at the far end wouldn’t open. You’d be sent home in disgrace with a cheap consolation prize.
If Hannah was going to live, we could only get one strike.
I was determined even that wasn’t going to happen.
And who knew where we’d be set back after each challenge? If we reset to the bottom foyer each time, we’d be here forever. With time running out before my meeting at Hope Park tomorrow morning, we had to get through this game as quickly and carefully as possible.
I crept forward tentatively, sticking with the “hug right wall” principal, eyes darting around. “A little caution,” I said as Kai strode past me, grabbed my hand and pulled me along in his wake.
He didn’t break his stride. “We’re on the clock. The sooner we get through this, the better.” He sounded all business.
Any closeness we’d had after that glorious kiss, imagined or otherwise, was definitely dead after Jack had set us at odds. Rationally, I knew it wasn’t Kai’s fault, but I already struggled with enough self-doubt where he was concerned. Whatever I knew intellectually about Jack’s mind games didn’t help with the emotional reaction, not to mention having to fight the constant arrow-induced urge to rub myself all over the Prince of Darkness. “Not sure what date vibe you’re going for here,” I asked him.
Kai flashed me an amused smile. “Memorable.”
I snorted as we hit the landing on the third story. “My time with you is consistently that.”
A black tile silently rose up before us, pulling up a door attached below it. “Here we go,” I said nervously. The door opened and it wasn’t so much a case of stepping inside as being sucked through.
Jack had spared no expense at throwing us into real scenarios. No soundstage sets for us. We were outside. On location as it were.
Our challenge was ob
vious and literal. We really did have to capture a rook—or castle. Jack had started us off with that old classic; jump across rocks without falling into the moat, then climb up the castle wall at the far end and make it to safety. The rocks would be slippery and the black team would be firing on us.
I was right about the idea, but not the execution. This wasn’t a fake set piece of a castle with a “wall” the warriors could scale with only a bit of trouble and a lot of teamwork.
No, we found ourselves facing a real moat, maybe thirty feet across, surrounding an actual castle wall, which from here looked to be built of impossibly slick giant black rocks.
A path of worn boulders jutted out from the water. And by water, I meant the same corrosive orange and red toxic substance found in the River Styx. One drop of that stuff on you and you’d start to sizzle away in a very unpleasant manner.
I jumped as an arrow whizzed past my head. “First one to get your attention. Next one to kill you,” a male voice called out.
I believed him, which was why I edged behind Kai.
“Yoo hoo, Apollo,” Festos waved to one of the two figures standing atop the castle wall using us for target practice.
Kai sent up a shield of light as Theo surveyed the moat.
I stared up at the two archers, one male, one female. Both had dark hair and eerily glowing green eyes that I could see from where I peeked out from behind Kai. Since the only other beings I knew with freaky lit up retinas were the Photokia, I took their presence as a bad sign.
They were clad in identical leather leggings and long-sleeved blue shirts. Each one had a black knight piece embroidered across their chest. And both held wicked looking bows, bags of arrows slung across their backs.
“Artemis and Apollo,” Theo murmured for my clarification as we all crept closer to the castle. “Apollo, God of Sun and Truth, and his Goddess of the Hunt twin, Artemis. Both deadly archers.”
“Isn’t she famous for being the ultimate virgin?” Past English class lectures filtering through.
Festos snorted. “Technically. But there’s a lot of wiggle room before you do the deed. And Artemis is legendary for her wiggling.”
Fascinating. That certainly hadn’t been taught in class.
Another arrow whipped at Kai’s head. He deflected it at the last second by slicing it in two with his black light.
“You slimy jerkbag,” Artemis yelled from Apollo’s left side.
Kai muttered something under his breath.
“You messed around with Artemis?” Theo asked. “You couldn’t find a scorpion to fondle?”
Poor Artemis. Even if she was a giant hypocrite for catting around while promoting her V-card status, I understood being left in Kai’s wake.
“Grow up and get over it,” Kai yelled back at Artemis.
She gave an outraged gasp. “It was only two months ago!”
I did the math. Two months ago put us back in November. Which was after he’d kissed me. “Arrgghhh!” I yelled, shoved Kai out of the way, ducked out from under his shield, and ran toward the moat, snapping a long vine out of my right palm.
“Sophie!” Kai growled.
My brazen approach must have startled Apollo and Artemis because I didn’t find myself immediately impaled by their arrows.
I heard Kai swear behind me. The boy was not pleased.
Yeah, well reciprocated by infinity. I blamed Aphrodite for the anger and jealousy that had ripped through me. Technically, I’d already broken up with him by the point he’d wiggled with Artemis, so he had been free to do as he pleased.
Right. Tell that to the arrow. Aphrodite’s, not the ones firing directly at me. I was barely keeping them at bay with my palm blasts of light.
“You tried to sleep with my … Kai?” I snaked a vine up at Artemis and essentially slapped her across the face with it.
Light totally shouldn’t behave that way, but man, was I petty enough to be glad it did.
“Catfight!” Festos cried.
“You were dead,” she growled, slicing my vine with her arrow.
Neat trick, but I had plenty more where that came from.
Of course, so did she.
“Please,” I scoffed, “the second he kissed me, I hit every Greek’s radar.”
I heard Festos sigh as he unleashed his fire, burning up most of the arrows before they got close.
“That’s true,” Apollo said, having paused his pointy barrage to give his twin a few choice words about the stupidity of getting involved with Kai.
“See? Skank,” I called out, happy to have an ally here.
“Don’t talk to my sister that way,” Apollo roared, letting his arrows loose on us.
Once again, I’d gone too far. I was really going to have to work on that.
Theo jumped into motion, racing ahead of me while snapping his chain to knock away the arrows that Festos missed.
“Would you all get the hell back under the shield?” Kai demanded.
We ignored him. “Cover me, boys, I’m getting up close and personal.” I fired a vine up at the castle wall, feeling gratified when Apollo and Artemis yelped and took a step back. All I’d really wanted to do was wrap one end across the wall and swing myself to the stone closest to the castle.
Festos put a restraining hand on me before I Tarzaned over. “Hang tight.” He unleashed a lava flow that in seconds had totally covered the lethal moat water.
Meanwhile, Kai had taken a running jump and leaped up to the top of the wall, which never failed to impress. As did the fact that he took on Artemis and Apollo at once, distracting them from shooting off more arrows.
Festos’ voice broke into my admiration. “Proceed.” He pointed at the red hot lava, which cooled at an unnaturally rapid rate but still looked pretty hot. “Carefully.”
“Gotcha.” I swung myself across the moat, since walking on it would have melted my feet and I didn’t trust my balance on those pointy boulders. At least I couldn’t get splashed by stray drops of face-be-gone.
I came so close.
I made it across before either of the twins could cut me down. But what I didn’t count on was that when I landed on one tiny, flat spot on my chosen boulder, I’d set off some kind of motion sensor, causing the stone to rock violently. I yelped. Kai glanced down. A infinitesimal distraction for him that allowed Artemis to cut my vine.
I managed to fire out another one with my other hand and catch myself. I pulled myself upward toward the top of the castle wall.
I raised my eyes skyward to see how much farther I had to go just in time to catch Artemis’ evil smile as she ripped the end of my vine off the wall and held it in her hand.
Thus began the tug of war for my ribbon of light, Kai and Artemis grappling for control, while I swayed and bobbed dangerously close to the “let’s not test the temperature with my face” lava.
I tried to fire a vine elsewhere on the castle wall, but my light just slid off. The top was the only place it would grip and while Artemis had me fast in her hold, Apollo ensured my vines wouldn’t land anywhere stable.
WHACK! Artemis cracked me into the castle wall. “Quit tenderizing me.” I let out a stream of particularly inventive swear words.
“Thesi, sweets, Sophie just gave me the best idea for our date,” Festos called out from where he was trying to melt Apollo with an impressive stream of fire.
“Which I have not yet agreed to,” Theo said, still swatting away arrows.
I was fighting a wall and the wall was winning.
It was bad enough I had to compete with the memory of Persephone. There was no way I was going to be humiliated by Kai’s never-ending harem.
It was time for everyone, especially Kai, to realize that Sophie Bloom was a girl to be reckoned with. A girl who did not accept sloppy seconds. I snapped my light back in, freeing me from Artemis but crashing me down onto the only mildly molten ground. The position was perfect for firing a solid blast of green light from my palms up at Artemis.
It didn’t ob
literate her, but she staggered back in pain.
I turned to Theo and Festos. “Coming, boys?” I managed to vine the three of us to the top of the castle wall to find Kai looking like he was casually swatting away flies as both Artemis and Apollo came at him in furious battle mode.
I wrapped Artemis up in my vines and began to smack her around into the castle stones. “How do you like it?” I accented each smack.
Behind me, Festos gave a not-so-smothered laugh.
I glanced over to find Kai watching me with an amused look. “Yes?” I asked him, giving Artemis another thwap.
“You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“I am not cute. Or jealous.”
Kai shook his head, “Adorably green. Occasionally bitchy, but adorable.”
I gave a little “grrr.”
Artemis spewed out a series of impressively foul names at me, and somehow managed to brandish a razor-sharp hunting knife. She freed herself from my light vines, springing into action the second my ribbons fell from her and loosing a torrent of arrows that were undoubtably going to bullseye my forehead.
Or they would have except Theo, Festos, and I were now pros at this and jointly knocked them down, as Kai disarmed her, tossing Artemis’ weapons over the castle wall.
Apollo stepped forward, using his bow like a spear, Artemis at his side, ready for hand-to-hand combat.
I stepped forward to jump into the fray but was stopped by Kai growling “Don’t even think it” at me.
He was pure lethal motion as he took them on, yet seemed relaxed.
“Excuse me, I have every right to fight,” I said, ducking to avoid the back end of Apollo’s bow.
“Humor me,” he said, aiming a sharp point of toxic black light that came very close to reducing Artemis’ arm to ashy waste.
“Not in my job description,” I replied.
Festos and Theo tried to get in on the action but Kai shot them a raised eyebrow in an “I think not” manner as he sailed around in a brutal roundhouse kick to Artemis’ chest, which knocked her back.
Unfortunately, even that didn’t shut her up.
“Go away, little girl,” Artemis told me. She ducked under Kai’s light to get in close to him and purr, “Fighting as foreplay. You do know how to show a goddess a good time.”
My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy Book Two) Page 21