The Heart of Arima.

by Emma V. Leech

  Chapter 47

  “Why have you brought us here?” I could hear the tremble in my voice and Corvus bent to kiss the top of my head.

  “It is the quickest route to where we must go, my heart.”

  I didn’t know whether Dis Pater would be aware we were here or not. I figured he probably would, and I guessed he could pop up anywhere, at any time. Being so close to his home made me feel sick. As my memories of my time here had been returning in earnest since I had heard his name, I also knew Hekatê's temple was just a little farther along the coast line and that didn’t help make me feel any happier.

  Corvus took my hand and we walked along the shore. It truly was a stunning place. If the circumstances were different, holding hands on the beach, in the sunshine, with Corvus would have been just about the most wonderful thing I could have imagined. As it was, all I wanted was to turn tail and get back in Charon’s boat.

  As we walked and the palace began to recede further into the horizon I felt my chest ease a little, to the point where I could take a breath. Until I realised we were almost at the temple. I looked up and saw shallow steps cut into the cliff face that edged the shore line, and knew she was waiting for me.

  I stopped, staring at the steps and knowing I had to go up them.

  “Jéhenne, what is it?”

  Corvus was looking at me and the others stopped to follow my eye line.

  “Her temple is up there.”

  “Hekatê?”

  Cain met my eyes and I nodded. “She’s waiting for me.”

  “Do you think we should go and meet her or wait for her to come to us?” He addressed the question to Corvus and I sighed inwardly. Heaven help the men that would ask my opinion.

  “No, Cain, she’s waiting for me.”

  He opened his mouth to protest, as did everyone else but I held up my hand to silence them.

  “Dis Pater said he would stop her from doing me any harm, I am ... under his protection.” I tried to ignore the look on Corvus’ face. He knew Dis Pater was the man I was running from but we hadn't acknowledged that fact. I hadn't spoken his name in front of him, as though if we didn't speak of him, maybe he wouldn't exist. “I have to go and speak to her alone. Maybe ... Maybe I can convince her to help me?”

  “Or maybe Dis Pater will just come and take you while you are alone?” I could hear the tension in Corvus’ voice and I squeezed his hand.

  “Please, you have to trust my judgment on this. Dis Pater knows I have to keep my deal with Sariel, he cannot interfere with that and he promised I would be safe from Hekatê.”

  “And you believe that?”

  “Sariel told me the same thing, and yes, I believe that.”

  “You’ve seen Sariel?” I saw Rodney jump out of the corner of my eye, as Corvus’ voice echoed around the cliffs.

  Oops.

  “Um, yes, actually. It was just before we left.” He was glaring at me. “I was going to tell you but ... But you distracted me.” I gave him a pointed look and his face softened a little. “I know we are going to face many things down here, Corvus, and for most of them I’m going to be glued to your side but ...this time I go alone. You have to trust me.”

  “You mean trust a god and an angel.” There was no doubt from his tone that Corvus thought these were the two least trustworthy creatures in the universe. I had to admit that I agreed with him but I also knew I was right. I reached up and kissed him before letting go of his hand and walking towards the steps.

  “Be careful, luv.”

  I waved at Rodney and nodded. I tried not to see the worried looks on everyone’s face, well everyone but Inés. She looked envious. Good grief, I would swap with her in a heartbeat. I walked up the shallow steps, pausing for a moment at the top to see the people I cared about most in the world waiting for me, before stepping up onto the cliff top and facing the temple.

  As I walked towards it I was struck by so many conflicting emotions. This had been a place I had loved. I had loved the woman inside it too and believed she had cared for me. I had been a very different person back then though. Who exactly I had been remained to be seen. Whether she could forgive me for changing was what I would have to face first. I had imagined I would be terrified at this encounter.

  I had been dreading it, going over and over in my mind what could happen. Yet now I felt calm, fatalistic. I had so little power over my destiny right now there was little point in stressing over everything I had to do. I just had to get through each day, each challenge. Look for a way, not a way out. Bloody hell, things must have been bad if I was repeating motivational quotes.

  The closer I got to the great building the more insignificant my existence began to feel, which was obviously the intention. The temple loomed over me, intimidating and impressive, the white marble hard to look at against the blue sky. Six vast pillars reached skywards at the front. The whole building was set up on a plinth with wide steps leading up to the entrance. Between the pillars, sitting like sentries, guarding her domain, large black dogs watched me take the steps. To my intense relief they didn’t growl or bark but just watched me, unblinking. Somehow it was just as disturbing. I reached the top step, feeling their eyes follow me, and walked towards the large arched opening in the inner wall that led to the interior of the sacred place.

  It was cool in here and I blinked, blinded by the low light after the glare outside. The smell hit me before my eyes had time to adjust, the smell of flowers: lilies, and roses, and dozens of other, more exotic blooms that didn’t even exist in the human world. Yet I knew them, knew their names, their uses, how to heal with them, how to kill. I swallowed as an echo of the person I had been passed over me like a dark shadow. I had liked the power; there was a large part of me that still did. I pushed the thought away, unwilling to find a comparison between the girl I had been here and me. We were different. I would never choose power over love. I would never do the things I knew she was capable of, things I was trying hard not to remember.

  I heard Hekatê’s laughter, soft and low. It drifted in the dark shadows of the temple, and the flickering light from dozens of oil lamps gave a warm glow to the vast space as I approached the altar. The scents became overwhelming here; cypress oil, sandalwood and myrrh sent soft grey smoke curling from sensors around the foot of the altar. The white marble floor gleamed in the lamp light, movement from the dancing flames giving life to the images of dogs, snakes and birds that were inlaid on the floor at my feet; so beautiful I felt guilty for walking upon it.

  She was standing behind the altar. For once her hair was loose though I saw a small iridescent snake coil around her neck and disappear into the thick tresses, which made me shudder. She was smiling at me kindly, but there was a hardness to her eyes that was hard to conceal. She didn’t fool me, though I didn’t think she was especially trying to either.

  I wondered if she'd try something, even with Dis Pater's command that she couldn't touch me? I had banished her from earth after all. I couldn't imagine she'd be too chuffed about that.

  “Jéhenne," she said, holding out her hands in greeting, her soft voice all mock sincerity and affection. "Or should I call you Jéhnina now, isn’t it confusing to have so many names. I find it quite tiresome.”

  “How many names have I got exactly, Hekatê?”

  She chuckled and walked down the steps to the altar. “Oh, I don’t think you will find that information here, my sweet child, much as I would like to give it to you.”

  “If you give me my name, I’ll give you the key.” For the merest second I saw something in her eyes, before she shook her head.

  “No. I will have the key returned, make no mistake but I will not give you your name. Dis Pater would not be pleased.”

  “Are you afraid of him?” If I had been hoping to taunt her, I was disappointed.

  “Afraid ...? No. I do however respect his power and I would be foolish indeed to anger him. This is the only reason you are still standing, dear one, do remember that.”

 
“If you don’t help me, I will never give it back to you.”

  She turned on me and I took an unwilling step backwards as the storm in her eyes turned the violet to dark grey. I heard thunder rumble though the walls of the temple.

  “I will have it back, Jéhenne. He is still obsessed with you after all this time but once you are here, once he has you, the novelty will wane and I will take my power back. You will never bend to his will, this much I know. You always were stubborn. You would rather submit to his displeasure than play the game wouldn’t you? Well, you will learn that his displeasure can be a terrible thing.” She stepped closer and touched her finger tip to my lips. My skin crawled with the contact and I wanted more than anything to slap her hand away but I didn’t flinch. “I will enjoy watching you destroy yourself. And when the time comes, I will take back what is mine.”

  I felt her tug at the key through the contact on my skin, just a small touch, just to let me know she could, and a slow smile curved over her lips. “Perhaps I will go and visit your handsome vampire once you are gone. He’s bound to be ...lonely. I think he would enjoy spending time with a goddess.”

  I knew, obviously, that she was baiting me but the flames rushed to my fingertips just the same, and she chuckled with delight. “Oh but there will be so much fun to be had once he has you again. You really should have just done what you were told. You will spend a very long time paying for that. I do hope he was worth it?”

  “Oh, he was. You will never know because he would never touch you, he loves me and only me. Do you know what that feels like, Hekatê?” I tilted my head, considering her with a smile that I knew would push all of her buttons. “No, of course you don’t, you are feared, worshiped, desired even, but never loved. I pity you.”

  For just a moment her fury was a terrifying thing as the storm in her eyes and the tension in her body charged the atmosphere in the room until I could barely breathe. Then, to my relief, she remembered Dis Pater’s command, and rearranged her face into one of calm serenity.

  Yeah right.

  “Welcome home, sweet Jenny.” She laughed, turning her back on me and walking slowly up the stairs to disappear once more behind the altar. The echo of her amusement rebounded around the temple, mocking me, and I gasped as hundreds of snakes appeared out of the shadows and made their way to the altar, twisting and writhing around each other and coiling around the vases of flowers. I swallowed as my last meal threatened to make an appearance and I turned to leave, only to find the dogs watching me. They sat either side of the only door out, lips drawn back over their teeth and the soft vibration of their growls sending the hairs on my arms standing on end. I walked slowly out, looking straight ahead, not daring to meet their eyes as the growling got louder. Once out the door, and blinking once again in the dazzling sunlight, I walked carefully down the steps, and ran.

  Chapter 48

  Corvus was at the top of the stairs before I even made it to the cliff and I threw myself into his arms, clinging to him like a child afraid of the dark.

  “Did she hurt you?”

  I shook my head, burying my face against his neck and breathing in his comforting, oh so familiar, scent. He picked me up and carried me back down the stairs and for a moment I let myself believe that he could protect me from everything, just like he wanted to. It was a lovely fairy story.

  The gang fussed over me and Rodney broke out a bar of chocolate, which was a bit on the sticky side in the heat but welcome nonetheless. Once I had finished upping my sugar intake against the shock, and despite Rodney’s protestation that I should be made a cup of tea pronto, we continued on our journey.

  The shore line turned to cliff face and we headed inland where the landscape began to change once more. It was greener, very lush and thick with trees, though somehow they were not of the friendly variety. I had never actually realized that I believed trees to be friendly but I could say with certainty that in the human world they were. In the Underworld not so much.

  I was utterly exhausted by now and glancing over at Inés I could see that she was flagging too. The vampires were fine of course, and Dimitri and Rodney. I looked at Cain and just couldn’t tell. I reckoned he could be at death’s door and he’d still have that impassive, ‘I don’t give a shit’ look on his face. Well I wasn’t about to be the weak link. I stiffened my aching spine and put my best foot forward, and inevitably tripped over a tree root to find myself sprawling face down in the undergrowth.

  “Always watch where you are putting your feet,” I heard Cain muttering behind me. It was one of the things he’d been trying to drill into me over the past months. Well apparently, he was a crap teacher. I didn’t dare look at him, because if he was smirking I was going to knock his bloody head off.

  Corvus helped me up and gently brushed dirt and grass from my face. “We are nearly there, my heart.”

  “Nearly where?” I spat out a piece of grass that seemed to have found its way into my mouth. I was really never going to be sophisticated and elegant. Admittedly these were trying circumstances but clean and standing upright was probably the best I could ever hope for, and frankly that was becoming more and more of a challenge.

  “There is a house up ahead. We cannot stay out here overnight; it is not safe.”

  I looked up as the trees creaked restlessly around us and I clambered to my feet.

  “OK, I’m sold. Let’s get going.”

  I moved closer to Corvus as the light began to fade. The trees were really freaking me out now. It wasn’t as if they were actually doing anything, but you knew they would do when your back was turned. Instinctively the group closed up and moved faster, until a small building appeared up ahead in a clearing in the woods. There was a small, plump woman standing in the doorway with a flaming torch in her hands.

  “Hurry!” she yelled at us, waving at the open door at her back. We didn’t need telling twice and everyone ran through the door, followed by the woman who slammed it shut and slid the bolts home. This must have activated a shed load of wards as I shivered furiously, backing away from the walls of the house. I squealed as something heavy smashed against the door, making it rattle in its frame and then a screeching sound that set my teeth on edge, as something else scraped against the shutters. I looked at Rodney who was wide eyed and staring at the shut door.

  “Bugger me.”

  “What he said,” I squealed, and then giggled a trifle hysterically.

  There was one more crash that shook the walls to their foundations and then it was quiet.

  “Well, it is good to see you again, Corvus, it’s been a long time.” The woman grinned at him, setting the torch into a holder on the wall. Corvus smiled back at her.

  “A very long time, Raeshe.”

  She was an older lady, maybe late fifties with long blonde hair, tied back into a plait, and a beautiful creamy complexion. Intelligent grey, blue eyes twinkled at us with a mischievous smile and I suddenly realised she was a faery. Well, hopefully that meant we would eat well tonight. My stomach growled audibly at the thought and she chuckled.

  “I’ll show you to your rooms and you can get cleaned up. Dinner for those who require it will be in about forty minutes.”

  “Thank you,” Corvus said and I nodded too, giving her a heartfelt smile.

  “Lovely, I’m bleedin’ starved. Me stomach thinks me throat’s been cut.”

  She laughed again and patted Rodney on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, you will be well fed. Now if you would like to follow me.”

  We were led deeper into the house which was charming and cosy. The stone walls were painted white but throws and cushions covered every surface. Your feet sunk into thick rugs as you trod on them and a general air of comfort and security surrounded the place. Bearing in mind what lurked outside I wondered if maybe she’d put a spell on us but to be honest, I didn’t care if she had. I hadn’t felt so relaxed and at home for some time. It was quite wonderful.

  After arranging everyone else’s rooms she finally showed
us to ours. It wasn’t large but once again it was exactly the kind of place you dreamt of after the kind of day we’d had. Lamplight shed a soft glow over the room and the floor was covered in rugs and furs. The large bed looked squashy and inviting, and a fire flickered merrily in the hearth.

  “Oh, this looks amazing.” I sighed.

  Raeshe smiled. “I’m so pleased you like it. I’m sure you’ll be comfortable here.”

  I sent the bed a longing look. “I’m sure too.”

  “Dinner in forty minutes, Corvus.” She gave him a pointed expression and he looked back at her with innocent eyes.

  “Of course, Raeshe.”

  She shut the door and left us alone and I sank down onto the bed, sitting on the edge. I reckoned if I laid down, I’d never get back up again. Corvus unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the floor and I looked up at him, catching the look in his eyes. Well, maybe I wasn’t that tired after all.

  We were late for dinner.

  Rodney smirked at me as we sat at the table and I pulled a face at him. Raeshe came into the room and tutted at Corvus, before supplying him with a bottle of the stuff he usually drank at home. He held the bottle up to me, offering to fill my glass with a smile and I rolled my eyes. He knew as well as I did, one mouthful would knock me unconscious for hours. He chuckled and filled his glass before passing it to Cyd who snatched it from his hand. Looking down at the wonderful spread on the table my stomach did a happy dance and growled audibly. Corvus lifted his eyebrows at me and I shrugged.

  “I did tell you I was hungry.”

  There were pies, and plates of fried chicken, roasted meats, some that defied identification as I knew no animals with that many legs, and great pots of stew. Steaming bowls of vegetables and gratins and lots of little savoury pastries with strange and wonderful fillings that simply melted in your mouth adorned the tabletop. Rodney with his newly discovered tastebuds had died and gone to heaven judging from the blissful expression on his face.