I suddenly felt free from everything but rage and power.
“There’s my gorgeous monster,” Shade crooned. “Now… fight them. Make them pay for daring to hurt you.”
Compulsion shredded any remnants of restraint I’d managed to hold onto, fully unleashing the beast I usually fought so hard to contain. I would make them pay. I’d make them bleed and die for what they’d done to me.
Two children remained in the fountain, a dark-skinned boy and a towhead. Their eyes widened as they watched me.
“What are you doing to her?” the dark-skinned boy asked. “Stop it!” His image shimmered as he lurched away from me and headed for Shade, swinging a giant hammer. The hammer didn’t make sense. I’d seen it before and caused my vision to blur and my stomach to twist.
Demarco?
“Fight them!” Shade shouted.
The compulsion lurched me forward again. I knew I was being controlled, but I couldn’t break it. I wanted to hurt someone, and my entire being demanded it be the boys in front of me.
“You’re so beautiful,” Shade whispered. “So dark. Deadly. Powerful. They rejected you, Romi. Make them pay.”
He was right. They had rejected me, and now they would die. I stretched for the towhead, and my shadows wrapped around his throat.
“Romi!” he shouted. “Romi, I’m Tweety… and that’s Demarco. You know us. We’re friends.”
Regret and sorrow tugged at the back of my mind, but I was too far gone to even acknowledge them. “Thieves have no friends,” I said, squeezing his throat.
He dropped out of my grip, diving faster than any human could, and somersaulted away. Unable to stop my forward momentum in time, I passed through the wall behind him and emerged in some sort of storage area. Collecting the particles of myself, I shot back through it to renew my attack.
“D, do something!” the towhead shouted.
The dark-skinned kid with the hammer drifted from side to side watching me as he drew closer to the towhead. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Kiss her. It worked last time.”
A kiss? Another memory tugged at the back of my mind. My vision blurred and the fountain disappeared completely. We were in an office. We’d come looking for a goddess. Something had gone wrong, but I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around what.
“Where? She doesn’t have any lips.”
“Kill them!” Shade shouted.
His will slammed into me and the fountain returned. Hands outstretched, I dove at the two kids. They scattered, but not before my daggers raked each, one across the bicep, the other below the ribs. The coppery sweet scent of blood filled the air.
“Eris, this wasn’t the plan,” someone said.
I recognized the voice and focused on it.
Talon? Wondering where the son of Dolos had come from, I scanned the area, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
“But she’s gorgeous and powerful,” a woman’s voice whined. “Imagine the havoc she could wreak.”
“Dammit, Romi, that hurt!” the towhead shouted. Dark red lines spread across his side, soaking his shirt. He pressed a hand to wound and swore again.
“Eris,” Talon warned.
“Fine,” Eris pouted. “Hysminai, release her.”
I DON’T KNOW what happened, but it felt like a bucket of ice water doused my rage. The fire burning me up from the inside came to a screeching halt, leaving my body trembling and shadowy wisps extending outward like ripples. The International Fountain and Seattle backdrop disappeared completely this time, leaving me once again in Eileithyia’s stark, abandoned office. And the children I’d been attacking morphed into Demarco and Tweety.
No. It couldn’t be.
But the bleeding gashes across Demarco’s right bicep and Tweety’s left side brought my little nightmare to fruition. Shade. He’d sent me after them. I could still feel the residual pressure from my sire squeezing my insides to force me to do his will. He’d forced me to attack the only two friends I had.
How? I’m free.
I’d made a deal with Hades and Poseidon for my freedom and no matter how powerful Shade was, he shouldn’t be able to break it. So how had he controlled me? My cotton-filled head couldn’t seem to process the situation. Too many details didn’t make sense.
“Romi?” Demarco asked, easing forward. Concern creased his forehead as his silvery-blue eyes roamed over me.
“Stay back,” I snapped. Shade had forced me to attack the guys once, so he could do it again. Shadows already swarmed around me, getting dangerously close to the blacksmith. I focused on drawing them closer and stepped away.
Hand still pressed against his wounded side, Tweety asked, “What’s going on? She back yet?”
“I don’t know,” Demarco said over his shoulder before inching closer to me. “Can you materialize, Romi?”
Materialize?
Wondering what he was talking about, I looked down at myself. My body was completely MIA, and where it should be was covered in shadows. I was in shadow form. I’d partially turned to shadow once before, but this time there didn’t seem to be any of me left at all.
“Can you materialize?” Demarco repeated.
I didn’t even know how I was speaking since no matter how hard I puckered, I couldn’t see my lips. No nose either. “Do I have eyes?”
Demarco’s eyebrows shot up. “No. You’re all… there’s nothing but shadow.”
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, since I’d seen my sire in shadow form thousands of times, but I had so many questions. “How do I see? How am I speaking?”
“Don’t you think those are questions for another time?” Demarco asked, nodding toward something to the left of me.
I followed his gaze to find a crowd watching us. Talon, in all his spiky-haired, grinning glory, stood beside the silver-haired ninja who’d been speaking right before I’d been transported back in time to my childhood and forced to fight my friends. The knowing smirk she flashed made me feel unmasked, like she’d somehow managed to get into my brain and uncover all my secrets.
Talon had said Eris, but this wasn’t Eris. This was… Hysminai. Mention of the name sent my mind traipsing through the material I’d read on the miscreant. Hysminai, daughter of Eris, also the personification of fighting and battles.
Before I could fully grasp the level of crap we were in, movement drew my attention. A hissing adder snake entwined the arm of another woman, leading up to her shoulder where it disappeared behind long, unkempt locks so dark they looked almost purple. In the other hand, she held a burning torch, crackling with power and malice. Eyes the reddish-brown color of dried blood watched me with undisguised loathing. Her skin was so pale it bordered on translucent, contrasting starkly with the torn dark dress she wore.
Lips the same shade as her eyes turned up into the least friendly smirk I’d ever had the misfortune of coming across. “Hello, Romi. Good to see you again.”
It took everything in me not to dive under the nearest chair and hide from her bloody gaze.
“I don’t believe the two of you have been properly introduced,” Talon said. He cleared his throat and said, “Eris, meet Romi, granddaughter of Erebus.”
Eris, the goddess of strife and discord. So far I’d successfully stolen one of the five essences of Zeus, and of course, it had been from Eris. If she was here to get it back, she was about to be disappointed. “We don’t have the essence,” I blurted out. “We already handed it over to Athena.”
Eris’s face screwed up into a scowl. “I heard that old shrew was leading the charge. Figures. She’s always looking for a way to kiss dear ol’ dad’s cloud-covered ass.” She leaned against the wall and continued to study me. “I’m not here for the essence, though. Hell, I’m glad you took the thing off my hands. I don’t know why Mother gave it to me in the first place. I mean, look at me. Do I look like a babysitter?”
No, she absolutely did not. I had a son. Doreán was three now, and there’s no way I’d ever leave him with Eris
. Not even when he lived to be a hundred.
“No,” Tweety said, giving voice to my inner thoughts. “I’m the manny.”
Eris arched an eyebrow.
“Male nanny,” I explained. “I know you have kids who need babysitting, but you can’t have Tweety.”
Eris didn’t so much as crack a smile at my pathetic excuse for a joke. Of course her children were grown (despite Hysminai’s size), and each in charge of creating their own special flavor of chaos. Besides instigating battles, Hysminai was known for getting into people’s heads, stirring up their memories and emotions, and inciting fights.
I froze as the cotton inside my head began to dissolve. Finally lucid enough to connect the dots, I realized what had just happened. My sire hadn’t been controlling me at all. I was connected to Shade through the realm of Erebus and would be able to sense him if he was close. He wasn’t.
And why did it take me so long to figure that out?
Cursing my own stupidity, I glared at the ninja. “It wasn’t Shade. It was you.”
Eris nodded. “Your sire’s not the only one who can control you, Romi. You’d do well to remember that.”
I felt the threat deep in my own essence. It tugged at the shadows within me, enraging me for once again being the pawn of the gods.
Hysminai continued to gloat. “Your mind is incredible. So full of anger and resentment. Hurt. I hardly had to exert myself.”
Her words made me feel vulnerable and powerless. I wanted to wrap my shadows around her throat and squeeze them from her lips.
“Romi, as much as I hate to interrupt this...chat, we need to get out of here,” Demarco said, reminding me of his presence. “Can you materialize?” he asked again.
I tore my gaze from the goddesses to focus on the blacksmith. His worried expression fell on my teenage griffin sidekick, still cowering in the background. Tweety was afraid of my shadow form. His fear was dangerous. It disgusted me and made me want to lash out at him. I needed to change back before I did. Only one problem… I wasn’t even sure how I’d turned to shadow in the first place.
“Yes,” I replied, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. Shade changed forms all the time, and if my sire could do it, I could. I just needed to figure out how. “It’s not a big deal. Just give me a second.”
Tuning out the emotions of the people in the room, I willed myself to take on my human form.
Nothing happened.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Talon approaching.
“What do you want?” I hissed, wishing he’d step back so I could focus.
Like most people, Talon towered over me. He wasn’t wearing a glamour, so he looked completely otherworldly, from his wild green eyes to his crazy-sharp cheekbones, pointed chin, and Super Saiyan-like dark hair with red tips. He had a mischievous, dangerous attraction about him and a smirk that promised a good time. Thankfully, I was over my lifetime limit for bad decisions and felt no attraction to him whatsoever. Still, my heartrate skyrocketed as he neared.
He held his hands up as he approached. “Relax, Romi, I’m here to help you.”
Help me, right. Because as a son of the god of trickery, he was all about being helpful. “Stay back,” I warned.
He ignored my command and asked, “Have you shifted out of this form before?”
I thought about telling him to get lost, but I was beginning to worry I’d never materialize again. “Yes.” My gaze darted to Demarco. “But I had help.”
“Ah. It was unintentional. Okay.” He stopped inches from me, and although Demarco said I had no eyes, it seemed like Talon stared straight in to them. “Eris is right, you are beautiful,” he whispered. “So much power. You don’t even know what you can do.”
“I thought you said you were going to help me.”
“I can’t help you. I can only instruct you. Romi, your body is still there, it’s just been consumed by shadows.”
“Okay. But how do I get the shadows to un-consume it?”
“You have to release them. No, that won’t be enough. You have to push them away.”
“How do you know this?” I asked, extending my consciousness to reach all the shadows around me. I was a pro at pulling them to me, but I had no clue how to push them away. I gave those closest a little shove and they rippled away before clinging to me again, like they were charged with static.
“I have my sources,” Talon replied. “And you’re going to have to push a lot harder. You’ve pulled them to you and they recognize your blood. You’re going to have to motivate them to release their hold.”
Motivate the shadows to release me? Didn’t sound impossible at all. Not one little bit.
“Trust me, it’ll work,” Talon urged.
There was no way I’d ever trust the son of the god of trickery, but I couldn’t see where doing what he said would hurt. Well, unless I shoved the shadows away and they never came back. We’d be stuck in Sweden with basically whatever we had on us. Of course, we were currently in the same boat since I couldn’t travel with Demarco and Tweety in this form and I refused to leave them behind.
Resigned to give Talon’s suggestion another try, I shoved the shadows again, harder this time. The ripple expanded, but they returned.
Demarco’s eyes widened.
“Fascinating,” Talon said.
“Romi, I could see you for a second,” Tweety said, creeping closer. “He’s right, you are under there.”
I needed to shove harder. Closing my eyes, I focused on every ounce of shadow surrounding me and then, instead of extending my consciousness to cradle them to me, I did the opposite. Power pulsed outward, shoving the shadows away like a blast.
I heard a loud thud and opened my eyes. Demarco, Tweety, and Talon were laid out on the floor surrounding me. Demarco rubbed his head and slowly rose. Tweety groaned. Talon chuckled.
“Crap! I’m sorry,” I said, bending to help Tweety up.
The pale skin of my legs drew my attention. Confused, I did a quick full body scan and discovered I was naked. Completely, utterly bare-butt naked.
Dark fibers of what I suspected to be the remains of my clothes and boots floated around me, drifting to the floor.
“Uh, Romi—” Tweety started.
“Don’t say it, I already know.” I curled my body, flicked my long dark hair forward to hide my breasts, and flung my hands down to cover my sex as my cheeks burned.
“That might have been a little too hard,” Talon said, holding out a hand. Particles drifted between his fingers as his eyes raked over my body. “You weren’t supposed to explode your clothing.”
“Thaaaaanks." My voice practically dripped with sarcasm, though not nearly enough to cover my immense embarrassment. “I mean it, thank you so much for your helpful insight.”
Talon chuckled. “Anytime.”
THERE I CROUCHED—naked as the day I was born—in front of Eris, Hysminai, Talon, Demarco, and Tweety. While I was still trying to figure out how to rectify the situation, Demarco swooped in and slid his blue T-shirt over my head. It hung almost to my knees and the short sleeves came past my elbows.
A measure of decency restored, I stood and surveyed the room. Three against three. Not odds I’d take with the lives of myself and my friends in the balance. We couldn’t fight them. I needed to grab the guys and get us out of there.
“Are you okay?” Demarco asked, hovering beside me.
“Yes. Thank you. Are you? I’m sorry I threw you guys. Tweety, you all right?”
The griffin rubbed his shoulder, rotated it around once, and then gave me two thumbs up. “That was awesome, Romi. Totally worth the damage. You were like a human bomb. Or a demigod bomb. Or some sort of really cool exploding person.”
I made a mental note to check Tweety for a concussion as soon as we got out of there, which I intended to do immediately. Gesturing the guys over, I started tugging at the shadows hiding in the room. They were hesitant to come to me, and I had to silently coax and
forcefully drag them.
Now gloriously bare chested and still wielding his hammer, Demarco took his spot on my left and Tweety joined me on the right. As I slowly gathered shadows around us, I watched both Eris and Hysminai devouring Demarco’s chiseled pecs and abs with their gazes. I couldn’t blame them. His body would draw the attention of even the most pious of deities and the two of them were far from saints, but Demarco only had eyes for Talon. And the blacksmith definitely wasn’t swooning. Talon, on the other hand, had yet to take his eyes off me, and his attention was beginning to creep me out.
Forcing back a shudder, I straightened my shoulders and focused on the shadow work. It had never taken me this long to call them to me before, but at least they were coming.
“It would be a mistake to leave before you hear our proposal,” Talon said.
As if we wanted to hear anything the three of them had to say. I let my disgust seep through to my expression. “I think we’ve experienced enough for one day. Thanks anyway.”
“Is she always this big of a killjoy?” Eris asked, talking about me like I wasn’t in the room.
“I don’t know. I find her quite… entertaining myself.” Talon replied, still leering at me. “Eris, apologize for what you had Hysminai do to Romi.”
Eris snorted.
“Do you want to help her get Zeus’s essence from Ares or not?” Talon snapped.
Well, that got my attention. I felt my ears perk up as Eris’s glare shifted from Talon to me. “I’m not sorry, but I shouldn’t have done it if we’re to be allies,” she said.
Allies? Wondering when we’d crossed over into bizzaro land, I turned to the guys for help. “How long was I in shadow form? Did the world turn itself inside out or something? What’s going on?”
“This is news to us,” Demarco replied.
Things were already weird, but we needed to bail before they turned freaky. Keeping both eyes on the whack-jobs in front of me, I bent and retrieved my daggers and backpack.
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