Broken: Hidden Book Two

by Vanderlinden, Colleen

  “She took to her training beautifully. At first, she just wanted to know she could protect herself. And then she wanted to be able to put the hurt on. Just like her hero does.”

  “I’m not a hero.”

  “To her? Yes you are.”

  I was silent in response, and he continued. “Anyway, she has been dedicated since the beginning. I don’t think there’s much more I can teach her. She likes swords, but I only know really basic shit with them. We might want to ask around.”

  I was about to ask how useful sword knowledge really was, when I remembered what had happened to the vampire I’d fought with. Beheaded, with a sword. By Nain. Since beheading was one of the only sure ways to kill a vampire, it made sense for her to know it.

  Brennan seemed to read my thoughts. “I’m pretty sure she’s going to specialize in bringing vampires to justice,” he said quietly.

  I nodded, still watching. Levitt was beginning to tire, but Shanti was still hitting, kicking, dancing as if she could do this forever. I felt frustration from Levitt, respect for his opponent. She was tireless, merciless. Her fangs lengthened in her mouth, adrenaline and the scent of Levitt’s blood apparently affecting her. I was impressed with her focus.

  After a few more minutes, she kicked out at him, and he fell. She was on him in an instant, rolling him over and pinning his arms behind his back, holding him down. He struggled against her, tried to get his bearings. Determined. He tried, and he failed.

  After a few minutes of trying to find some way out of Shanti’s iron grip, he rested his forehead against the wood floor. “I yield,” he muttered, out of breath.

  “Thank you,” Shanti said. Then she got up and held a hand out to him, pulling him up. He bowed in respect, and she bowed back. Then, he did something I would not have expected in a million years.

  Levitt pulled up the sleeve of the blue shirt he was wearing, and offered his arm, wrist up, to Shanti. She looked at him, questioning, confused.

  “You defeated me. It’s your right if you want, vamp,” he said, though there was more warmth in his tone than there had been before.

  Shanti looked at me questioningly, and I gave a small shrug.

  She was unsure. Worried. Tempted. Hungry. The fight had taken a lot of energy. I knew she worried about hurting people, still, even though she’d been around all of us for nearly six months now and had been good about managing her bloodlust. She was worried about losing control. Then I saw the moment she resolved to stay in control. She nodded, and took Levitt’s hand in hers, brought his wrist the rest of the way to her mouth.

  She kept her eyes on Levitt, I knew, to gauge any signs of pain or fear. Then she breathed a few breaths against his skin, and sank her fangs into his wrist.

  Levitt stood, quiet and calm, as she drank. I watched, knowing this was a defining moment for both of them, for all of us. Building trust, building bonds. I stayed in tune with Shanti, felt her become calmer, more peaceful, less hungry. After a few more moments, she withdrew from Levitt’s wrist, licking the puncture wounds to heal them. Levitt pulled his wrist back and nodded, and he and Shanti watched each other for a moment.

  “That was so much better than bagged blood,” Shanti said, then immediately ducked her head, embarrassed. “I mean…yeah. Good fight, demon.”

  Levitt grinned. “Good fight, vamp. I think you probably proved your point. Who the hell trained you to fight like that?”

  Shanti smiled and nodded toward Brennan. “He taught me everything I know,” she said.

  Brennan grinned. “I showed you what I know. I can’t take credit for vampire reflexes, though.”

  “I don’t suppose you’re taking on new students?” Levitt asked, laughing.

  “Anytime, man,” Brennan said. Then he looked at me. “So?”

  They were all watching me. I could feel the expectation, impatience from Shanti. I still didn’t like this. Hated it, in fact. But she had proven, beyond a doubt, that she could handle herself. And who the hell was I to tell her she couldn’t do her part?

  I nodded, slowly. “Okay. You win.” Shanti let out a little squeal, and clapped a couple of times. Levitt smiled, and Brennan walked up to her and they bumped fists, and then she pulled him into a hug, and he laughed.

  “But,” I said, and all three of them turned to look at me. “You need a partner.” My gaze landed on Levitt. “Any chance you’re looking to join us officially?”

  He looked dumbstruck. He stared at me, then glanced around the room. Shanti was watching him expectantly, and she laughed. “Duh. You’re surprised by this? Haven’t you already been helping?” Then she put it together. “Oh. Wait. You want him to be my partner?”

  I nodded.

  “Why not you? Or Brennan?”

  “Because I never know when I’m going to be around, and because Brennan has seven million things going on already and when he does hunt, he insists on hunting with me.”

  “Obviously,” Brennan murmured.

  “And,” I went on, “because you want to take on the lost girl duties, and Levitt has already been doing it. The imps have been working with him. So if you’re determined to find lost girls, you and Levitt should work together.”

  “You were letting him find them alone, though,” Shanti said. “Double standard much?”

  “Levitt, awesome as he is, is not as near and dear to my heart as you are. It has nothing to do, especially now, with believing you’re weak or unable to do this.”

  “Or because I’m a girl?” Shanti said.

  I raised my eyebrows and gestured at myself. Brennan laughed. “I’m the last one on Earth or anywhere else who’s going to pull the ‘you’re just a girl’ card, Shanti.”

  “I know. Sorry,” she said.

  I sighed. “Look. I love you, you little pain in the ass. Humor me in this, all right? Work with Levitt and the imps.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Um,” she glanced at Levitt. “You need to join the team now or I’m gonna kick your ass again.”

  Brennan snorted and I bit back a smile. Levitt watched her with a bored look. “I was going to join anyway, vamp. It’s an honor that the Angel considers me worthy.” Then he looked at me. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for all of the hard work you’ve already put in, and for doing this tonight. You’re welcome to move in. We have an empty room. Lots of food, as long as you beat Stone to it.”

  He stared at me. “Here? I could live here?”

  “Yeah. I need to apologize to you. I should have asked you before this. The imps told me you were making do, but…” I shrugged. “I am sorry I let you go and then left you to fend for yourself.”

  He shook his head vehemently. “No apologies are necessary. You gave me a second chance. I was squatting in an abandoned house. I was comfortable enough. It was much better than what I came from.”

  “Well. Nonetheless, if you’d like a home here, it’s yours,” I said.

  He bowed and thumped his fist to his chest. “Thank you.”

  “You can have the room next to Shanti’s,” I said, and Shanti walked off to show him where it was.

  “Those rooms have a connecting bathroom,” I said to Brennan, grimacing.

  “Please tell me you’re not getting all protective over your baby girl,” he said, laughing.

  “She is attracted to him.”

  “Let her deal with it.”

  “So you’re not going to hammer a bunch of boards over his side of the bathroom door for me?”

  “You could give him Nain’s room if you’re that worried about it,” he said, watching me.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “So, what? Are we going to keep it there as a shrine forever?”

  I glared at him, felt my shoulders tense. “We’ll keep it there, the way it is, until I feel up to going through all of his clothing and other stuff. When I’m ready, I’ll deal with it.”

  He watched me. I could sense irritation from him. “Yeah? When are you going to stop wearing that?” he asked, ge
sturing at my finger, where I still wore my ring.

  “Do you seriously want to do this now?” I asked him, meeting his eyes, and I could hear the snarl in my voice. He didn’t answer. “Why are you acting like this now?”

  He shook his head, wiped his hands over his face. I felt his irritation draw back, just a little. “I’m sorry. This…bringing people onto the team, watching this fight to see Shanti prove herself…this just all reminds me of him, and thinking of him inevitably makes me think of him and you. And he’s gone, but in some ways, it’s like he never left.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Nothing he said was inaccurate. Our day to day life was still imbued with Nain’s memory, traces of him still affecting every day of our existence. “Timing probably has something to do with it, too,” I said quietly.

  He nodded. “A year tomorrow.” Then he turned his gaze to me. “I’m guessing you won’t be around much the next day or so.”

  I gave a slight shake of my head. Knew it was selfish, that he was grieving in his own way, and I was leaving him to it. He took my hand.

  “It’s okay,” he said softly, pulling me into his arms. “Do what you have to do. I’m sorry I acted like an ass.”

  “I love you, Bren,” I said softly. I rested my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes.

  “I love you, too,” he said. “I feel like I’m constantly competing with a ghost, and there’s no way I can win.”

  “You’re the only one who sees it that way, babe,” I said. “Believe in us. I do. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes.”

  He held me tighter, and we stood in silence. I could hear his heartbeat, hear Shanti and Levitt talking in Levitt’s new room. I stood there, and my mind was flooded with memories of the man who’d brought us all together.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The next morning, Brennan was up and out of the loft before I was even awake. He knew me well enough to know that things would just be weird between us, considering what day it was. One year, to the day, since Nain’s death. And we both knew I was still carrying around a shitload of guilt, anger, confusion…just about everything it was possible to feel about a person, that was what I felt for Nain, a year later.

  So I got up, and I tossed on my Fury uniform. I had no idea what Brennan thought I’d be doing all day, but it didn’t involve sitting next to the spot Nain had died and crying. I had two meetings to be present for with Hades. And then, to honor my dead husband and try to assuage some of my own guilt, I was going to seriously start hunting the fucker who’d sent Astaroth after me in the first place. I'd lost Nain to them. Losing Brennan....losing Brennan was something I would not survive. Period.

  I had some ideas, now. Time spent in the Nether had not been wasted, and even though most of my time was spent punishing the wicked and attending to Hades, one hears things. And when someone, like me, who can sense emotions, is around enough, you get some ideas. There were gods who very clearly did not like me. That was one thing. My existence was the one threat in the entire cosmos to their own. I understood their dislike, their fear.

  Then, there were others. Others, who I felt active, strong hatred from. Those, who got a rabid look in their eyes every time they passed me in the streets of Hades’ city. There were not many. Dionysus, in his two visits to Hades so far, had been one who seemed ready to leap up and stake me through the heart. The Nosoi, as a whole, hated me, especially after one of their own had been punished severely. By me. I was less worried about them, though. They were being watched closely by my mother and aunts after that little fiasco, and I don’t think any of them even moved without one of the Furies knowing it.

  There were others. Hades’ wife, Persephone, hated my guts and had never hidden her feelings on my visits to their home. Hermes. Apollo. The gods from the Aether, especially, seemed to hate me. All the indications we’d had, though, were that my pesky god was from the Nether. He or she had contracted a demon to destroy me. Had contracted the Nosoi to target Brennan.

  I thought as I drove the Barracuda to the Packard plant. Bash and Dahael were subdued as well, riding in the back seat. The thing was, the Nether were my people. Gods. Whatever. Some of them didn’t like me, but I was theirs. It was like being part of some huge dysfunctional family. Everything in me told me that my enemy was not actually of the Nether, though they’d worked very hard to make it appear so. Which meant that I was probably dealing with a god from the Aether. Or a terrestrial god, like my father. So far, though, they seemed to keep to themselves. Including my father, who still hadn’t bothered to contact me.

  Maybe word traveled more slowly to mountain gods.

  I slowed the car and pulled over to the curb. “Guys,” I said softly to the imps. They both looked up at me, ears perking up at my voice. “I’m going to let you out here. I should not have brought you with me today.”

  “But…” Dahael began.

  “I need you to do something more important than wait outside the gate for me.”

  They both watched me, waiting. “Keep an eye on Brennan today. Okay?”

  “Is wild man in danger?” Bash asked in his hoarse little voice.

  “I don’t think so. But I just…I would feel better if you two watched over him. Today is making me jumpy, I guess.” They both nodded, thumped their chests, and left the car, slamming the passenger door behind them.

  I drove away, now feeling completely alone. The imps were my constant companions. I trusted them completely, which meant they needed to be with Bren. The feeling of dread that had been settling on me since I’d opened my eyes that morning was now a raging sense of foreboding. I pulled up outside the abandoned factory and made my way inside, through the crumbling doorway, into the rubble and litter-strewn interior. The graffiti was easy to see in the cool morning sunlight, and the smells of the factory, decay, urine, and dust, surrounded me.

  I hated it there.

  That hadn’t changed. I walked toward the gateway. I had told myself I wouldn’t do the stupid grieving thing here in the factory, but as I passed the spot where he’d died, I ended up going back and crouching next to the scorched concrete.

  “You left me that letter, remember? Telling me this was the only way. I wonder how much you knew. Whether you suspected any of the shit that would follow your death. How much of a joke is it that I practically became invincible because of your death, but if I’d been invincible in the first place you wouldn’t have had to die?” I took a breath, sat down. I was glad now that the imps were not with me. How crazy did I look, talking to an empty factory?

  “The Fates had a field day with us, didn’t they? Put us together, take you away from me, all to unlock my powers, undo the spells that hid me. For what? If I could find those three old hags, I’d love to know what they were thinking.” I sat in silence for a few minutes. At least I wasn’t crying.

  “I love you, I guess. Maybe not in the same way. Sometimes I suspect we were a farce, Bael. The gods played their games, and we were just two pawns in all of it. I’ll avenge you. Somehow, I’ll make whoever played this particular game pay. Then, maybe I can let you go. Maybe I’ll stop talking to you as if you can hear me. Maybe I can be the woman Brennan deserves. Probably not, but I hope so.” I paused, looked up at the broken windows.

  “I feel guilty about him. I shouldn’t, but I do. I love him, and I know he is meant for me, in every way. I feel guilty that I didn’t feel the same thing with you. And I feel guilty that I still think about you, when I have him beside me. Maybe my Nether side loves you, and my nature-god side loves Brennan.”

  I heard a distinctive “crack” and Eunomia landed beside me, then crouched down and put her thin arm around my shoulder.

  “There you are. I figured today might be a hard one for you, my friend,” she said quietly.

  “I am so confused, and angry, and just….this is all so stupid,” I said, and now the tears did threaten.

  She hugged me tighter to her. “It is. The Fates are jerks.”

  I laughed, a little.
“You sound like me now.”

  “Well, sometimes you make sense, demon girl.”

  “I miss him.”

  “Of course you do. I suspect he was the first being you ever really loved. Yes?” I nodded. Hadn’t really thought about it that way, but, yeah. She was right. “So it’s okay to miss him. And I heard part of what you said at the end. You shouldn’t feel guilty, either for loving and missing him, or for loving your shifter now. This is life. Things happen.”

  “Because of the Fates,” I said.

  She looked thoughtful. “Yes, and no.”

  “Meaning?”

  “The Fates put the pieces into place. They may put two people in the same city, but they don’t determine whether those people love or hate each other, should they meet. They put the game pieces on the board, but we decide how to play the game. They may put someone on the track toward early death, but that person’s actions determine whether they succumb or survive. The Fates make us decide who we are, how strong we can be.”

  “And who am I supposed to be, E?”

  “You are supposed to be Molly.”

  “Not Mollis Cithaerus?” I asked, hearing the sneer in my voice.

  “She is part of who you are. She is not all of you.”

  “I hate her. So much shit has happened because I’m a god, Fury, thing.”

  E gave me one of her knowing little smiles. “Yes. So much has. You’ve met and fallen in love with not one, but two amazing men. You’ve made friends you wouldn’t have made, had you just remained a simple vigilante. You have an adopted daughter. You are friends with me, which should be enough to make it all worthwhile,” she finished, and I laughed.

  I stood up, and she rose as well. “Don’t hate yourself. Not any part of you.”

  “Who I am puts the people I love in danger, though,” I said.

  She studied me. “Then eliminate the threats against them. It’s not like you are powerless.”

  “Doing that will only piss more gods off,” I said, walking toward the gate. “Where does it end?”

  “Are you becoming cautious in your old age, demon girl?” Eunomia asked, laughing.