by Jodi Lamm
She shook her head.
“If you don’t take his soul, you and I will be consumed.”
“I can’t.”
“Maddy…”
“I won’t!”
“You’re not bound to protect him any more. If you let him live, he’ll kill us both!”
“No.”
Then Maddy felt Marcus release the spirits he’d been holding within himself. They came to her. They filled her. And she screamed as the most powerful of their memories, their loss, their pain consumed her.
“This is what we’ll suffer forever unless you take his soul,” Marcus said. His face contorted as he struggled against the flow of selves, containing them again. “It will drive us mad. Do you understand? You’re condemning us to hell!”
Maddy approached Jas, who waited, his arms still bound to the branch over his head. He raised his eyes as she drew close. He was beautiful again, but this time, it wasn’t her duty to him that made him so. He was beautiful because he was fragile, because he was temporary and precious. She put her ear to his bare chest and listened. His heart beat faster at her touch. He was afraid of her.
“Madeleine.” Jas’ voice was quiet, but with her ear against his ribcage, each syllable filled her whole world. “It’s all right.” He pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “It’s what I deserve.”
What he deserved? For what? For being born a Titan? For being manipulated and deceived by the man who raised him? “No.” She clenched her teeth and whirled around to face Marcus. “I won’t kill him.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “You can’t still love him.”
“You’re right.” Maddy glared back. “But I can choose who I want to be, and I don’t want to be a monster.”
Marcus laughed, but Maddy could tell he was afraid. “You’re already a monster, Maddy. You’re a destructive, empty creature. Only his soul will fill you. Only his soul will ward off the spirits. You’ll be like an angel, if you’re strong enough to follow through. You’ll have a god’s soul in an eternal body. It’s our only chance. Maddy. Maddy, are you even listening?”
“I can hear you,” Maddy said, but she didn’t move. She caught her breath as her brother’s expression changed and all his triumph melted away.
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go,” he said. “I’ve waited a thousand years, and this isn’t how it’s supposed to go.” He held his head in his hands. “Why are you doing this? You aren’t bound to protect him. He isn’t your god any more.” He paused and looked up again. “Maybe I’m still the devil to you. Maybe. But the woman chose the devil, you said.”
“Because the devil needed her more.” Maddy backed away while Marcus advanced.
“You think he needs you more than me?” He jabbed a finger toward Jas. “He doesn’t even want to live!”
Maddy shook her head. She could feel the chaos in Marcus, the almost childish panic filling him now. His entire world was crashing down around them both. She forced herself to look him in the eyes. Tears lingered on the edges of his lids. He was losing the battle and all his pride with it.
“I want to free you,” she said as gently as she could, “but not at the cost of anyone’s life. There must be some other way.”
The thread of selves circled between them and surged through her. Maddy felt as though whoever had been pulling that cord through her body had a burst of strength and energy. The speed at which her world spun made it difficult to focus. But she saw Marcus’ jaw lock shut. She saw him slam his foot into the mirrored floor, and the cracks that jutted away from him like a million erratic steam engines.
“There is no other way!” he cried. Now his hands were on Maddy, and he threw her away from Jas. Her head hit a mirrored wall with a crack, and the sound of splitting ice filled her ears. One drop of blood barely had time to trickle down her face before her head had healed. No physical injury crippled her, but Marcus pushed the selves ever faster between them until she struggled to move in the wake of their combined pain.
Simon’s boy had suffered the selves enough in his past to overcome them now. And he did. “It’ll be a mercy to kill you when I’m through,” he said to Jas, drawing closer and closer to the Titan. “You’ll beg her to kill you, and she’ll claim your soul to save it from the void.”
“Marcus, stop!” Maddy screamed the command.
But Marcus had already learned to resist her. He lunged, and for a moment the world stopped. Then, before he could touch the Titan, something threw him across the throne room. He hit a wall and slumped down under a rain of mirror shards.
It was Kaspar. They had forgotten the child, the Titan’s new guardian. Maddy bowed her head. How she regretted ever having given up the position.
Marcus shook the glass from his hair and rose to his feet. Kaspar, on all fours, arched his back like a cat, ready to defend. Maddy crawled toward Jas as Marcus and Kaspar clashed again, but the scuffle didn’t last long enough. Marcus may have been partially crippled by selves, but Kaspar was too young, too weak to fight him.
“No you don’t.” Marcus threw Maddy back again with a violent gust of wind. This time she slid across the floor and collided with the huddled mass of Eli Mahler.
“Little one,” Eli said into Maddy’s ear, sending a chill all through her. “Can you save my son?” He laid a shaking hand on her shoulder.
Maddy pushed his hand away. She wanted to snap at him and say, “Which one?” But the question didn’t matter. Saving one meant saving the other.
Across the room, the hurricane of two battling golems raged on. Kaspar threw himself at Marcus every time Marcus moved to attack the Titan. And Marcus threw Kaspar off again and again. The mirrors all around them shattered as the child hit each wall, slammed into the floor, and even hit the ceiling. Raining shards of glass sliced through Jas’ skin and left marks all over Kaspar, but the child would not let up. He knew, instinctively, every time he needed to move, every hit he needed to make. He felt when his creator was in danger, and he acted accordingly. He would go on like this forever, if he had to, because a protector was all he was.
Maddy almost wished she could join Kaspar in ignorant battle, but merely fighting Marcus would not stop him, and eventually Marcus would find a way past them both. She scanned the room as subtly as she could manage. The soldier’s bodies were littered with broken glass. The queen still lay at the base of the stairs to her throne, her gown blossoming out all around her. Maddy winced at the sight of so much death. She would never let Marcus have Jas. Never. No matter what mistakes he had made, Jas loved her. She knew it now.
If he loves you, he won’t be able to harm you. Maddy turned to see Will, his hands bound before him, his gag soaking wet with tears…
And she suddenly understood what she had to do. Because in so many of her stories, the savior was love. Because she believed in those stories. And because she saw love waiting to save them all, bound and gagged in the middle of the floor.
She caught Will’s eye and showed him her hands. He cocked his head, not understanding until Maddy removed her brother’s ring. It took seconds for her to slide it across the floor. But in those seconds, Marcus made his move.
26: Monstrous Creatures
A whirlwind coiled like a python around Kaspar, temporarily immobilizing him. By the time he found his feet again, Marcus had already begun pulling the air from Jas’ lungs. Kaspar slowed to a dizzy stumble, and Marcus moved to tear into his prey.
But Maddy saw the devil pause as she released ownership of him, and when he moved again, his hands were trembling. He reached for Jas. Maddy flinched, but Marcus only touched the Titan’s mouth with a strange and aching tenderness. Something in Maddy fell to pieces in that moment, and she knew that what she and Marcus felt was William Taylor’s private anguish.
Marcus whirled around to face her. “What did you do?”
Maddy shrank from him.
Will opened his hands and gazed at the little treasure he’d pressed into his palm only moments ago. Before Marcus cou
ld fully register his sister’s betrayal, Will slipped the ring onto the first knuckle of his little finger, and balled his hands into fists to prevent anyone from removing it.
“I see.” Marcus glared at Will when he caught sight of the ring. “She gave me away. But your secret’s out now, Taylor, isn’t it? Give me the ring and I won’t say another word about it.”
Will bent double over his own hands in a futile attempt to hide them, and Maddy was behind him before Marcus could make another move. The selves had gone. She could think clearly. She removed Will’s gag and said, “Command him. Now!”
“S-stay where you are, Marcus Lavoie!” Will tightened his fists, until Maddy’s hands ached from it.
Marcus laughed. “You think you can control me?” But he didn’t move.
Will trembled as he stared into the face of his new slave, and Maddy worried for him. He wore the key to the most powerful known weapon on his little finger, but his fear of rejection was far greater than his desire to preserve himself. He was weak. She could feel it.
Marcus smirked. He felt it, too. “Shall I tell the Titan how you really feel about him? Or would you rather I show him?”
“Command him to be silent,” Maddy said into Will’s ear.
Will shook his head. “It’s too late for that, I’m sure,” he said. “James isn’t stupid.” Then, with a courage even Maddy didn’t expect from him, he rose to his feet and looked his golem in the eye. “Marcus Lavoie, release the Titan without injuring him.”
Marcus opened his mouth to protest, but Will didn’t even let him begin. “Do it!” Will pointed at Jas for emphasis. “Right now.”
Marcus bore his teeth and snarled like an animal, but he moved to obey all the same, stepping over the bodies of the soldiers he’d killed as he went. “You have one year left to live, Taylor.” Marcus effortlessly broke the chains that bound Jas. “It doesn’t take me long to resist a new master, and when I do, I’ll take ownership back and kill you for this.”
Jas dropped his arms and rubbed them. He refused to take his eyes off Marcus, but still managed to limp across the room, trip over a soldier’s musket and right himself again.
Maddy’s stomach turned as the Titan made his way toward the master of her master. She could feel the terror in Will. His heart beat too fast. His palms were sweating. He tried not to face Jas, but everywhere else he looked, he saw the many-mirrored reflections of what he so desperately wanted to escape. He longed for something, anything to take his attention away from Jas, who now stood in front of him, poised to take his hand.
“William, it’s not…” Jas cleared his throat. “I mean I’ve known for a long time. I didn’t let on because I… I didn’t want to hurt you.” He stared at the ceiling, still holding his empty hand across the void. “That probably doesn’t make you feel better.”
“It does,” Maddy answered for Will automatically. The feeling of something precious slipping through her fingers began to ebb. Will’s pain lingered, but the panic, the tightness in his chest, the fire in his head shrank to a low hiss.
“You saved my life.” Jas finally dropped his hand to his side.
“You should thank your golem,” Will said.
“That’s not what I meant.” Jas threw his arms around his friend before Will had the chance to protest. “You were always the only friend, the only anybody I ever had. I’d have gone crazy without you… I did go crazy without you.” He tried to laugh and squeezed Will all the tighter. Will towered over him, hesitating.
The feeling took a few seconds to reach Maddy, but when it did, she caught her breath. The pain overwhelmed her and tears poured from her eyes, though she couldn’t make a sound. She felt the blade twist in her, but the sting was welcome. Jas was welcome. She turned to see Marcus, who dug his fingers into his palms and wept with his eyes closed.
When Will finally embraced his friend back, Maddy laughed for him. She thought she would crumble under the weight of his happiness. The pain remained, but she knew, had there been no pain in that bliss, neither she nor Marcus would have been able to share it.
Maddy closed her eyes to soak in every wave of feeling that came from Will. When she opened them again, she found Jas standing in front of her, his face inches from hers. She jumped back, but he caught her arm. “Madeleine,” he said in a hushed voice, “I don’t deserve this. You could have taken my soul and lived forever without a master.” He smiled. “Mercy like that is not typical of monstrous creatures.”
Was he trying to convince her she was no monster, after all? But she knew he was wrong. She knew she had given up her only chance to be anything more than clay. And in half a breath, she thought she could still take him, so quick he’d never know what hit him. She could break his neck in less than a second. She tried to turn away from him, but he caught her other arm.
“Just let me thank you, Maddy. I mean if it weren’t for you…” Jas paused and seemed to consider the horror of what might have been. “I owe you everything.” He wrapped his arms around her, and for the first time, she felt his embrace without the pull of her slavery. It felt like a memory of home. “I owe you tomorrow,” he said. His lips were so close they brushed against the skin of her cheek as he spoke. “And the day after that, and the day after that.” He turned her insides into a flock of hummingbirds.
“Please, stop.” Maddy whispered the words she didn’t really mean, though part of her knew the fluttering inside her belonged to someone else. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“But I do.” Jas looked hurt. “What you sacrificed for me—”
“Don’t.”
“A soul, Madeleine. You could have had—”
“Don’t remind me!” Her already swollen eyes stung with fresh tears. “What if I change my mind? There’s still time for me to change my mind, isn’t there?”
Jas shuddered.
“If I had a soul, you could love me without feeling sick, without hating yourself, without becoming the beast I saw in my brother. If I had a soul, I could love you back without using someone else’s broken heart to do it. But if I had a soul, you’d be dead.” She sobbed and shook her head. “So what good is a soul to me? I am what I am. The only one who needs me to be anything else is you.”
Jas bowed his head, and in the silence he left, Maddy considered breaking his arm to escape him, running away forever, slipping from master to master like Marcus had done. But before she could muster the courage she needed, Jas spoke.
“I was wrong.” He lifted her face to his. “About everything.” Then he kissed her. He pressed his lips to hers without the trembling she remembered from their lessons, without the struggle, without the shame. He kissed her and said, “Forgive me, Maddy. You are all I want in the world.”
Epilogue
Outside, a tall, weary man in a soldier’s uniform walked away from the palace. Behind him followed a shorter boy, also in uniform, dragging the crown prince after them.
“So we’re just going to leave them there?”
Will nodded.
“You’re going to leave a Titan alone with my sister?”
“He won’t hurt her. He loves her.”
“And now she can love him back thanks to you, eh?” Marcus sneered. “How pathetic.”
Will ignored his companion’s impertinence. “I understand you collect stories, Lavoie. Is that true?”
Marcus stopped walking so abruptly his new ward nearly collided with him. “How is that at all relevant?”
Will turned back to face him. “It’s something we have in common. I also learned all I could about the stories that might provoke a Titan’s belief—albeit for a different reason—and I noticed a troubling pattern whenever I read about the gods: they do all they can to obligate people to love them, and when that doesn’t work, they resort to coercion.”
“And?” Marcus crossed his arms and waited.
“And… What would you say if I told you I planned to fall in love with Madeleine, so you could use my heart the way you used James’?”
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“I’d say you were a fool. Something like that can’t be forced.”
“Exactly.” Will grinned. “I think that’s a lesson every god should learn, don’t you? And who better to teach it than the god’s own creation?”
“I see your point, but I don’t see how using my sister for your own ends is ethical.”
“It isn’t. But you forget, our situation wasn’t my idea; it was hers. And she can end it as soon as she feels it’s gone too far. Anyway, I always believed a soul was something people had to cultivate on their own. There might be a chance she’ll learn to love, with enough practice.” Will turned away and continued down the road. “One day, even you might find you’ve made a soul out of all your experiences.”
Marcus hoisted Kaspar onto his back and rolled his eyes. “In that case, many thanks for making me the official nanny. I’m sure that will help speed the process along.”
“Maybe it will. Regardless, you’re the only one strong enough to raise the boy.”
“It’s a golem, not a boy, and I don’t intend to raise it. I’ll keep it from taking the Titan’s soul until my sister has come to her senses. That’s all.” He did his best to look sinister as he added, “And I still intend to kill you.”
“I know.”
“Do you really?”
“Yes,” Will said, “but I am hoping you’ll change your mind. I honestly think you were happy as your mother’s son. And I think you might enjoy being part of a family again.”
“What I’d enjoy,” Marcus closed his eyes and concentrated on mustering enough contempt to finish his insult, “is never having met you in the first place.” He was a rattlesnake without venom.
They walked in silence some time before either of them spoke again.