Shadows of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 1)

by S. M. Schmitz

  Shadows of the Gods

  The Unbreakable Sword Series

  S.M. Schmitz

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Also by S.M. Schmitz

  Sample Chapter from Cities of the Gods

  Copyright © 2016 by S.M. Schmitz

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  Selena hid in the shadows of a nearby building as the men who had been chasing her for three days now rounded the corner of the street and weaved through the bodies on the crowded sidewalk. She retreated farther into the alleyway, but she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t block them from finding her. She had heard that some people could do that, but she’d never learned how. Besides, she was exhausted and was concentrating on just trying to stay upright. She hadn’t slept in almost three days.

  The conversations of pedestrians buzzed past her as people, ordinary people, normal people who had been allowed to have normal childhoods and normal lives, excitedly walked toward the nearby nightclub. Selena had no idea what time it was; she guessed it was getting close to midnight already, and yet, the popular club was still attracting swarms of friends and lovers and singles hoping to find some other normal person to hook up with. She envied them, even the lonely men and women looking to go home with someone for just one night.

  She’d never had a one-night stand. She couldn’t touch anyone she didn’t trust.

  Selena glimpsed the blonde hair of the tallest man who had been pursuing her. The man looked in her direction. He’d sensed her. It wouldn’t be long now, and her twenty-six years of trying to hide from them, trying to avoid becoming one of them, would be over, all because she’d been stupid enough to trust the wrong person. She whimpered softly to herself as she backed against the building’s wall and waited for them.

  A strong, firm arm wrapped around her and what felt like a gloved hand covered her mouth. She wanted to scream but she was too scared; she hadn’t seen anyone in this alleyway. She was so sure it had been empty when she ran into it to hide. A man’s voice whispered in her ear, “Be quiet if you want my help. Otherwise, I’ll let them take you.”

  Selena’s heart raced as she considered her options. She had no idea who was behind her, but he must know who was following her and why, which meant he was most likely not completely human either. He may be trying to escape them as well or worked with them and was trying to trick her. Regardless, they were going to catch her, so she decided to accept his help. She nodded to acknowledge she’d cooperate with him just as the five men appeared on the sidewalk in front of them.

  “Who the hell are you?” the blonde man asked. Selena assumed he was asking the guy behind her because they already knew who she was.

  “There are a lot of people around you. Willing to kill them just to get to her?” the man replied. He moved his hand away from Selena’s mouth, but his other hand held onto her arm. He pulled her farther back into the alleyway, which was barricaded by a large dumpster and the back of another building. Selena was far more concerned with where the hell he thought they were going than who he was at the moment.

  “A masked man saving a damsel in distress,” the blonde man said smiling. “How utterly superhero-ish.”

  Masked? Selena glanced over her shoulder, half expecting to see Spiderman attempting to rescue her, which actually would have been handy considering they could use a magical ability to shoot spider webs and escape right about now, but the man behind her was dressed nothing like Spiderman. He looked like he’d gone AWOL from the Navy SEALs, not like he’d stepped from the pages of a Marvel comic book.

  Great. A rogue special ops soldier wouldn’t do her any good now, and it was feasible he was just a human who had decided he didn’t like what these gods and demigods were doing.

  “I’m only going to ask you one more time,” the maybe-a-human-soldier said. “Are you really willing to let innocent people get killed over this woman?”

  The blonde man shrugged. “Apparently, you are.”

  “True, but I don’t work for a government agency that pretends to protect this country or its people.”

  “Wait,” Selena interrupted. “I’m not willing to let anyone die.”

  Both men ignored her.

  Typical.

  The blonde man shifted his gaze to the brick wall beside them and Selena only had time to gasp and duck before the wall exploded into fragments of brick and mortar that rained heavily on them. The man who still held her arm pulled her closer and covered her with his own body. She whimpered again because she’d witnessed what this blonde man could do, what his accomplices could do, and they apparently lacked her moral compass. And the man who was trying to help her would die for her.

  “Well,” the man murmured in her ear, “that was considerate of him. There’s a hole in the wall now. Let’s go.”

  Selena had a dozen reasons that was an incredibly stupid idea, starting with the fact that the damn building was on fire, but he tightened his arms around her and lifted her from the ground. She heard the blonde man yelling at him as the man in the black mask jumped through the burning hole and into the night club that was being evacuated.

  He set her down and pulled on her arm, and she blinked stupidly at the fiery wreckage behind them. She had no idea if any of the other guys out there could safely jump through fire. She had no idea how she hadn’t been burned. She had no idea how her rescuer hadn’t been burned either.

  The ear piercing wailing of the fire alarm inside the nightclub combined with the thick smoke made her feel like all of her senses were turned off. She couldn’t even think properly anymore. As he dragged her farther through the nightclub toward the rear exit where a long line of panicked people were pressing through the narrow doors, she stumbled and coughed and her head threatened to split open.

  He pushed through the crowd and they tumbled into the fresh, cool night air. Selena inhaled deep breaths and coughed again. He pulled on her arm and kept her walking.

  “They won’t be far behind us. We can’t stop.”

  “I can’t… breathe,” Selena protested.

  “You’ll have to.”

  Selena glanced over her shoulder to try to spot the men who had been following her. She groaned when she saw the tall blonde man’s head, bobbing and winding through the stunned crowd from the club.

  “Don’t worry,” the man said. “My car’s not too far.”

  “Your car?” Selena panted. “Batmobile?”

  The man turned his head toward her, but the lenses in his mask didn’t allow her to see his eyes. She had no idea if he was angry or amused.

  “I wish,” he finally responded.

  “Me, too,” Selena muttered.

  Selena saw the lights on what appeared to be a dark blue Volkswagen blink then the man stopped and opened the passenger door. She wanted to ask him if he was serious. She was really getting rescued by a mysterious masked stranger who drove a Jetta?

  She wasn’t stupid though. She’d wait u
ntil she was far away from the five men who were trying to kidnap her before letting him know he should upgrade his sedan for a Batmobile. Or at the very least, something cool enough to warrant running around New Orleans dressed like Snake Eyes rescuing people: something like a Porsche.

  Selena twisted around in her seat and watched the retreating crowd behind them; the men who were trying to abduct her would follow them. They had to have seen what kind of car they’d gotten into and they wouldn’t be far behind.

  They, at least, lived up to their stereotypes. She would recognize their black van with illegally dark tinted windows anywhere. She’d been trying to escape it for three years now.

  Her rescuer turned onto Tchoupitoulas and headed toward the interstate.

  “Where are we going?” Selena asked.

  “I-10.”

  Selena sighed and rubbed her eyes that still burned from the smoke inside the nightclub. “East, west? What city? Why?”

  “West. No city, provided they don’t follow us.”

  “What’s your name?”

  The man kept driving and didn’t answer her. Selena sighed again.

  “Fine,” she said. “Then I’m calling you Bruce Wayne.”

  Bruce shrugged. “Wish I had his money.”

  “Don’t we all,” she responded.

  “Yeah, then I could build a Batmobile.”

  “Well,” Selena yawned, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but a superhero probably shouldn’t be driving a Jetta.”

  Bruce shrugged again. “I never said I’m a superhero.”

  “Then why are you dressed like one? Sort of. Actually, you remind me more of Snake Eyes.”

  Bruce glanced at her, or at least turned his head in her direction, before facing toward the interstate again. “Snake Eyes? Who the hell is that?”

  “From G.I. Joe. Dude, do you live under a rock?” Selena retorted.

  Bruce shook his head. “Never read that one.”

  “I’ve never read them either, but I’ve still heard of him.”

  “I’ll look him up.”

  Selena couldn’t tell, but he sounded like he was smiling.

  “The mask is creeping me out,” she admitted.

  “Too bad.”

  “How can you even see where you’re driving?”

  “Lenses have image intensification.”

  “They have what?” Selena yawned again.

  “Night vision,” Bruce sighed.

  “You could have just said that.”

  “I did.”

  Selena turned in her seat again but all she could see were the yellow headlights of occasional cars. If the blonde man and his men had followed them, she couldn’t tell. “Does your image intensification allow you to see if there’s a black van behind us?”

  Bruce shook his head. “No, but I’m sure they’re back there somewhere.”

  “God,” she groaned.

  “Which one?” Bruce asked, and he sounded like he was smiling again.

  “Don’t know,” Selena mumbled, resting her head against the back of the seat. “I have no idea who I’m related to.”

  Bruce was quiet for a long time as they drove westward, and she’d almost fallen asleep when his voice surprised her and her eyes snapped open. “Me either.”

  Selena inhaled sharply and sat up. He was a demigod then, and not only that, but one who was as severed from his past as she was from hers. “Everyone I’ve ever met who’s like us tells me that’s why I can’t control it better. If I knew my ancestry, if I were connected to it, I’d be stronger.”

  “What is your gift?” he asked.

  Selena bit her lip and studied his dark profile. The last time she’d been completely honest and trusted someone with this knowledge, he’d betrayed her and she’d been running from the consequences since.

  “I’m telekinetic,” she finally said.

  “All this trouble for someone who’s telekinetic? They’ve got to have a hundred demigods who are telekinetic.”

  “Well,” Selena responded, “what is your gift? Other than suddenly appearing behind damsels in distress, scaring the shit out of them, but admittedly saving them from a fate they don’t want.”

  “You haven’t already figured it out?” he asked.

  Selena thought back to the burning wall, how he’d jumped through flames yet neither of them had been burned. She shook her head slowly. “Even firestarters wouldn’t have been able to protect me from flames.”

  “No,” he agreed. “But I’ve never met a firestarter who can control a fire once it’s ignited.”

  “A sun god,” Selena breathed.

  Bruce glanced in her direction again but didn’t confirm her suspicion that he was either a sun god or descended from one, and most likely not just any sun god. His lineage must come directly from a major pantheon or his power would be the same as any other firestarter they’d met – able to create fires from nothing but unable to control it once they set it free.

  “And you’re no ordinary telekinetic,” Bruce said. “They wouldn’t go through so much trouble for you if that’s all you could do.”

  “Says the man hiding behind a mask,” Selena snapped.

  Bruce seemed to think about it for a few seconds then shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  Selena put her head back on the seat and watched the dark interstate stretch endlessly before them. She had no idea where her real-life Batman was taking her, but as long as she wasn’t in the back of their van where she’d be forced to assume a role in a modern-day pantheon of deities who were willing to hurt and kill others under the illusion they were working with the Americans to protect this country, she didn’t care. She’d rather die in Gotham than live in a world that would insist she keep humans alive just so they could be tortured indefinitely. But with no ties to her pantheon, with no knowledge of her ancestry, Selena was on her own, and she couldn’t hide from them forever.

  Chapter Two

  Selena awoke when the car stopped, and she rubbed her eyes and looked around the darkness surrounding her as she tried to place where she was and who she was with. The dark profile in the driver’s seat startled her at first until she remembered the sun god who refused to tell her his real name, let alone take off his mask or gloves.

  The world outside the car was just as dark and unfamiliar though. They definitely weren’t in a city. There were no streetlights and the light reflecting from the waning moon did little to penetrate this much blackness.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  Bruce turned off the ignition and reached into his backseat, pulling out a backpack that didn’t look worthy of Batman either. He really needed to step up his game.

  “Atchafalaya Basin. That’s my camp up there.”

  Selena peered through the windshield, but she didn’t have image intensification lenses. She saw nothing but more darkness.

  “I’m not actually from Louisiana,” Selena admitted. “I just ended up in New Orleans trying to run from those guys. The Atchafawhatever means nothing to me.”

  “It’s a huge basin with thousands of camps scattered throughout the waterways. Nobody followed us off the interstate. Unless one of those men has psychic powers that can pinpoint a particular person from miles away, we’ll be safe here for a while.”

  Selena sighed and opened her car door as Bruce climbed out of his Jetta. “One of them is psychic. That’s how they’ve been able to find me no matter where I went.”

  She followed Bruce toward a small building that didn’t look nearly as rustic as she’d imagined. She held out hope it would have running water and a functioning bathroom. Bruce unlocked the door and motioned her inside.

  “Hurry. Unless your telekinesis works well enough to keep mosquitoes away.”

  “I don’t think anyone has powers that great,” Selena said. She hurried through the open door.

  Bruce locked it behind them then nodded toward the back. There was only one short hallway, a small kitchenette to her right, and a small living room wher
e they both stood now. “You can sleep in the bedroom in the back. The door on the left is the bathroom. I’m a light sleeper, so don’t try to kill me in my sleep.”

  Selena blinked at him. “Is that a joke?”

  “Depends. Are you going to try to kill me in my sleep?”

  “Depends,” Selena retorted. “You have anything here worth stealing? I’m thinking a Jetta isn’t really worth the trouble of committing murder.”

  Bruce nodded and told her it wasn’t even paid for yet. She smiled at him and shook her head. “All right then, Bruce Wayne. You’ll live through the night.”

  “If it were paid for, I wouldn’t though, right?” he asked.

  Selena shrugged. “I’ve always liked German cars. You’re just lucky it’s not a Porsche.”

  “Actually, if I were lucky, it would be a Porsche.”

  Selena snickered and eyed the dark fabric that covered his entire body. Whatever he was hiding, she wondered if it were as troublesome as her own secret. “Goodnight, Batman,” she said.

  “Goodnight, Robin,” he replied.

  Selena groaned and waved him off. “Lamest sidekick ever. I need to rethink your superhero affiliation.”

  Bruce sat on the sofa and even though she couldn’t see his face, she heard him yawning. It was almost four a.m. “As long as you don’t try to call me Snake Eyes, I don’t care.”

  “Don’t like snakes?”

  “No. Now I’m going to sleep.”

  Bruce stretched out on the sofa and didn’t bother taking off his boots or gloves. She’d already suspected he wouldn’t be taking off the mask, even to sleep. The whole situation just unnerved her. She understood the need for secrecy and privacy, but his refusal to tell her his name, to show her any part of his body, was far more bizarre than anything she’d encountered before.

  Selena felt along the walls of the narrow hallway until she found the door leading into the single bedroom of Batman’s camp along the Atchafalaya River Basin. She closed the door behind her then ran her fingers along the paneled walls until they felt a light switch. She flicked it on and squinted at the sudden onslaught of bright yellow light.