by Helen Scott
It felt like a thunderstorm had ended. Pressure that Dem hadn’t even noticed eased.
“I will be taking over the running of Eclipse while we find a suitable new candidate for your position. You are barred from the premises, and your bank accounts have been frozen while we assess what the company owes you, and,” he added in an ominous tone, “what you owe the company.”
The High Brother wiped one side of the dagger on Randall’s shoulder, and as he flipped it over to do it again, Randall rammed his head into the man’s stomach. The younger man stumbled and fell over, tripping on one of the small fractures in the ground.
“You little shit. You think I’d let you take everything from me without a fight?” He laughed, and there was an edge of mania to it, or maybe it was just desperation.
Randall lunged, and just as he was about to connect his teeth with the High Brother’s neck, flames burst out between them. Rearing back, Randall rolled to the side in an effort to avoid the flames, while the High Brother stood, his entire body blazing with fire, but none of it hurt him.
Groaning, Randall rolled over. “You have a fucking fire elemental as your Key? No wonder you think your shit doesn’t stink. Well, guess what, buddy.” The ground began to shake once more as he spoke.
Dem turned away, watching for large cracks like the one that had almost swallowed Alec, and saw Poseidon in the distance.
Shit.
He had no idea how the god had found them, but this had gone to hell in a hurry. The ground underneath Randall split, and he fell, disappearing into a massive chasm as it closed over him. Dem expected the sea god to come and declare his victory, but once he buried Randall, he simply nodded and turned away. None of the gods would tolerate people using their powers, not even the tiniest bit. It was one of the reasons the brothers still had jobs after all these years.
The High Brother’s flames died out, and he brushed off his untouched suit before looking at each of the brothers in turn. “I would like us to come to an agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?” Thad piped up.
“Simple. You leave us alone and we leave you alone.” The High Brother fiddled with a cuff link.
“And the Keys?” Hal asked.
“What about them?”
“Would you release them?” His burley brother spat the question through clenched teeth. He was the only one who had seen how a Key was kept, and though he’d described it to them, they all knew that it had impacted him in a way that nothing, other than Robin, had in many years.
“They are ours. We have no intention of relinquishing the small amount of control we have over this world just so your kind can rule it once more.” Anger blazed in his eyes.
The brothers looked at each other before Thad said, “Then there’s no deal.”
“Take a while and think about it. Look at what a single member could do. Imagine if I focused all our members on finding and destroying you? If you attack us, then we will retaliate, but if you don’t, then I will assume that you have accepted our deal, which, let’s be honest, would be best for everyone.” He turned on his heel, and Beatrice opened a portal. They both stepped through, and the brothers were left with three unconscious bodies in a graveyard.
“Well, that wasn’t what I expected to happen,” Alec said, running his hand through his hair before touching a tender spot on his jaw.
Chapter 26
Aster’s entire world had been turned upside down by the time Vivienne left. Hearing that small heartbeat had changed everything. It was like gravity had just shifted. All of a sudden, this little life inside her was no longer a threat. It was fragile and precious. Whether Dem wanted to be a part of its life or not, she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to protect it, like her mother had protected her.
Except she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
Ellie had come in shortly after Vivienne’s departure, and when Aster had shared her news, the other woman became more than just a friend; she became her sister. It was a subtle shift in the way she looked at the other woman that seemed strange at first, but they had been through something together. Without Ellie and Alec, Vivienne would never have come, nor would Aster have had the elixir, and she would still be worried that the baby was Randall’s, or worse, Leonard’s. How it was Dem’s, she didn’t know. She had taken her birth control religiously, until she couldn’t.
It was this burning desire to protect that tiny life inside her that had led her to their current predicament. She’d begged and pleaded with Ellie, pulling out all the stops, puppy dog eyes, promising things she could never guarantee. It was when her hand had hovered over her belly that the other woman finally relented.
They were going to summon Phobetor.
Ellie had told her earlier that Thad and Dem had wanted the summoning crystal for that exact reason. It was just a happy coincidence that they had to leave before they had a chance to use it. Thad had left the ominous-looking black crystal sitting on the kitchen counter with its accompanying scroll, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Depending on what one wanted to do, there were specific markings that went with the crystal.
Aster had been studying the scroll that contained the different patterns for a while now, making sure they were getting the chalk and salt combination correct, and that the pattern itself was correct. It was like looking at a mandala. All the little bits, everything, had to be just so or it threw the balance of the whole thing off.
The symbol was intricate, and it was obvious where the summonee would end up since there was a giant hole in the middle of the design. They had been working on drawing it for over an hour now, and Aster was starting to get antsy. The brothers could come back any moment and put a stop to this whole thing.
Biting her lip, she finished the curly line she’d been drawing with the chalk before pouring the chalk-salt combo over the top, being careful not to obscure the design. She’d always heard that salt protected against ghosts, but she thought that was just from one of her favorite TV shows. Now that she’d seen it on a scroll that was ancient as all hell, she took it a little more seriously.
Ellie stood, wiping chalky fingers on her jeans. “Everythin’ okay over there?”
“Yep, just finishing this line, and then I’m ready if you are.”
“Aye, may as well get this show on the road.”
Aster stood and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. It was beautiful in its own way. She had no idea what the symbols meant, but she knew that they would prevent Phobetor from getting out, kind of like a magical bubble that couldn’t be popped. Once summoned, all they had to do was smash the crystal, and he would be returned to wherever he’d come from, which would most likely be the Underworld.
She shuddered at the thought of seeing him again. Part of her wasn’t convinced that the unbreakable bubble would work, but she kept shutting that side of herself up. It had to work. Besides, if Thad and Dem had been planning on doing the same thing, then it couldn’t be that dangerous, right?
“Ready, love. Summon away,” Ellie said from the other side of the circle, her hands on her round hips.
They’d agreed to stand opposite each other so that if something did go wrong, the other could make a quick getaway. Better to give him two targets than one. They also both had some of the chalk-salt combo in their hands so that they could make sure nothing went wrong with the design. The crystal sat on the wall of Thad’s back patio, with the design taking up most of the space reserved for when he decided to grill out. There was an amazing pool just behind them, and forest on either side.
The words for the summoning ritual were fairly bland. Aster had quirked an eyebrow when she’d first read them, because she’d been expecting something in Latin, or something that was complicated and drawn out. It was none of those. The main thing was making sure she was as specific as possible when it came to his name. If she just said John, then it would try and summon every John in the world. Taking a breath, she said, “I summon th
ee Phobetor, son of Hypnos, brother of Morpheus.”
A giant brown bear appeared before them.
Aster shot a panicked look at Ellie. How the hell did she summon a bear? The shadows moved then, seeming to come and twine themselves around the bear, making the center of the circle as dark as night. When they cleared, Phobetor stood before them. His weird pale skin looked even worse up close, being almost gray in color. The leather pants she’d seen before still reminded her of a skirt, but it was the chains and horns that creeped her out the most.
“Little girl, what a mistake you have made.” His voice resonated, seeming to bounce off everything, echoing around them.
“Phobetor.” She inclined her head to show him the respect he expected as a god. “Did you talk to Lycus?”
“My son explained what happened. You may be related to me by blood, but we are not family. I do not claim you.”
A last ray of sunlight broke through the clouds as the sun set, and Phobetor leaned out of its way. He did it in a way that made it almost look like he was standing more aggressively, going toe-to-toe with the boundary, but Aster hadn’t missed the direction of that ray of sunlight.
“I don’t want you to. All I want is for you to leave me and my mother alone. That’s it.”
“It is funny how you are in such a similar predicament as your mother was. I wonder if your child will fall into the same trap.” He angled his yellow eyes down at her belly, which Aster covered protectively with her hand.
“My child is none of your business,” she said, her voice tight with restrained anger.
The veil that covered his eyes was made of the finest chains, and she couldn’t help but wonder why he wore it. It didn’t obscure his eyes from sight as she had thought it would, but it did lessen the impact of his intense gaze. A breeze from the ocean wafted up and ruffled her hair away from her bad eye.
“I could make it my business.”
“Please, just leave me alone! Why are you doing this?” Aster almost shrieked the question, before pushing her hair away. “Why did you need to take my eye?” she demanded, gesturing to her marked far and defunct eye.
“I never know what my powers will do . . .”
Phobetor continued talking, but all Aster could focus on was the line of the markings where the chalk-salt had blown away. She tried not to make it obvious that she was staring, but she could see a tendril of shadow making its way through the opening. Her eyes darted to Ellie, who immediately picked up on the fact that something was wrong. She signaled for Aster to start walking away from the area that was causing trouble, so she began pacing, slowly edging around the circle.
Her mind reconnected, and she started listening to what he was saying. “Besides, I haven’t sent your mother a nightmare in years.”
Thankfully he hadn’t seemed to notice she had stopped listening for a while there. She paused. He was much chattier than she’d expected, and she wondered how often he spoke to anyone outside of the Halls of Night.
“I don’t care what you have or haven’t done. I just care about what you will do. Leave me, my child, and my mother alone!”
“But you have such sweet nightmares. Your terror and heartbreak is delicious, like eating the sweetest fruit.” Phobetor’s black tongue came out and licked the pale skin of his fingertips, causing Aster to shudder in disgust.
“If you get off on nightmares so much, then go give them to someone who deserves them!” she shouted, continuing to inch her way around the circle until she could see Ellie getting close to the area where the lines were broken.
“That can be such hard work, though. You and your mother are low-hanging fruit, ripe for the taking.”
“There is a man locked in a cage in the basement whom I’ve been torturing for the last few weeks because he felt the same way. He’s killed more people than I care to think about, and yet, right now, he is helpless against me. Someone like him deserves your full attention, not me.”
“You flatter yourself,” he sneered. “No mortal gets my full attention, and no half-rate daughter of a goddess, either. I merely felt your powers as you began exploring your abilities to enter people’s dreams. At the time, I thought you had either stolen your powers or were siphoning them somehow. Now I understand that you are my granddaughter. That, however, does not mean you have the right to use those powers any way you want.”
“It’s not like I intended to use those powers! I didn’t even know I had them, not to mention where they came from. All I want is for you to leave us alone. Why won’t you do that?”
“You have yet to give me a reason as to why that will be to my benefit.”
“Because I have another one of those suckers,” Aster said, pointing an angry finger at the large black crystal. “I can set this whole thing up some place where we won’t be disturbed and leave you there for an amount of time that is of my choosing.”
Phobetor scowled at her in response.
A shrill scream pierced the air, and Aster moved so she could see Ellie. One of Phobetor’s shadowy tendrils had wrapped around her leg and was pulling her into the circle.
Running over, Aster pulled the chalky powder from her pocket and frantically began sprinkling it on the lines they had drawn out earlier.
“Do you really think something like this could contain me for long?”
“I’d find a way to make it permanent,” she growled as Ellie finally yanked her leg free from something that only seemed to take solid form when it wanted to. A shiver skated down her spine. She needed to bluff her way out of this. “This was a quick set-up. I’ve got a lovely cave in mind for you where the symbol will be permanent, as will your stay. I can even include some mirrors to bring the sunlight down to you. Wouldn’t that be nice?” She smiled at him, but it wasn’t a happy one. It was one that showed too many of her teeth and made her look a little crazy, which she kind of was at this point. She had just summoned the god of nightmares with no backup, after all.
Phobetor scowled at her.
“I can keep this up all day,” Aster said as she sprinkled more of the powder on the symbols, just to make sure everything was secure.
“Fine. I will think about it, but only if you throw in the man you said you have locked up. He will be fun to break if he is as guilty as you say.”
“I can secure you access to him through a fury once he’s in the Underworld, but if I do that, then you allow Lycus to see Chloe again if he so chooses.”
Phobetor’s eyebrows had shot up. At least, from what she could tell between the chain veil and the horns. The surprise didn’t last, though, as he snarled, “So she can corrupt him once more?”
“She never corrupted him! She loved him! You have no right to keep them apart if they want to be together.”
“I will ask Lycus what he wants. After all, Chloe may be too ugly for him now. He was such a shallow boy when he was growing up.”
“You leave my family alone. That includes everyone who lives on this island and both my mothers. If Lycus wants to see Chloe, then you allow that or so help me, I will confine you to a cave and let you rot.” Aster let the venom and frustration ring in her voice as she laid out the terms.
“I will consider it.”
“No! An agreement, or you stay right here. No one will be able to get to you, and I can make sure your stay on the island it as unpleasant as Leonard’s.”
Phobetor smashed his fist against the magic bubble that confined him, the magic rippling at the force of it, reminding Aster of sunlight glinting off water. His yellow eyes peered out at her from between the chains, giving her a hard look as if he were weighing her conviction to follow through on the threat.
She glowered at him, letting the darkness that had claimed part of her soul come to the forefront of her mind. If he wouldn’t leave her family alone, then she would find some way of hunting him down and returning the torment tenfold. It was what she was doing with Leonard, and if the brothers didn’t take care of Randall today, well, then she would find a way to to
rture him too. No more being the victim. No more letting others dictate the course of her life. She was in control, and she had another life depending on her to protect it.
Whatever the god of nightmares saw in her was enough for him to back away from the bubble.
“Do we have a deal?” She ground the words out.
He nodded.
“Say it.”
“We have a deal. I will leave you and your family alone.”
“And Lycus?”
Phobetor sighed dramatically. “If he chooses to see Chloe, then I will not stand in his way, nor will I injure or torment the damned woman.”
“Good.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, holding his yellow gaze and letting everything sink in.
“Let. Me. Go,” Phobetor said slowly, the demand clear even though his voice remained quiet.
Aster walked over to the crystal and picked it up, hefting it in her hand. She was about to throw it, but her vanity won out momentarily. “Can you heal this?” She whispered the question as she tilted her bad eye up to him.
“No. That being said, the eye is not my fault. That’s just a consequence of your power growing and evolving. No matter what I did, eventually after you used your power to access people’s dreams and memories enough, you would have lost your eye. My shadows just happened to latch on to it.”
“Figures,” Aster said before glancing over at where Ellie was sitting. “You okay?”
“Aye, just scared me is all.” She smiled even though her eyes were still bright with tears.
Smashing the crystal felt liberating, sending Phobetor back to where he came from and having dealt with the problem. He seemed fairly reasonable once he realized they were technically family. She hurried over to where Ellie sat and took a look at her leg. There was a red ring from where the shadow had circled her ankle, but other than that, she seemed fine, which was another big relief.