I glanced into Jade’s dimming eyes. Then…. Somehow, I peered into her past, catching only a glimpse but seeing everything I needed to know. She walked from her high school, a kind but naïve first-year, cheery, ready to get back to her family. As she approached her home, a man with two guns broke in.
He shot and killed them all: parents, uncle and aunt, cousins, siblings, and grandmother, robbing the family afterwards. He ran right past the poor girl, huge grin on his face, carrying a bag of cash and items, and sped off. She was hit with a sense of trauma that was powerful enough to make her suicidal. Afterwards, she often cursed gods, angels, and anything holy. Calling it all fake. That they let her family die. She stopped going to school, socializing, and sat around each day in pure gloom.
Then one day she finally snapped. Midnight, Jade found a bridge, ready to jump and end it all. That’s when Amelia appeared in full glory, wings glistening, heavenly-light illuminating the dark area. She took some of Jade’s pain and turned it into power. They had a long talk. And that led to today.
I actually felt a tear dropped from—just kidding, I didn’t. Humans were still a shaky topic for me. I don’t know if I would ever trust them.
“Jade,” I said. “Today isn’t your day, it’s not your time. So, wake up.” I effortlessly pushed that blurry figure back into her body, my own heavenly-light engulfing her. What I somehow pulled off wasn’t resurrection. That’s impossible for me. Stopping death is the most difficult ability among all power-users. How I made this happen is beyond me.
That stunt drained my tank. Still, the color returned to Jade, and she seemed to heal instantly. Amelia could fine-tune things later. I turned to Yulese. He was smiling.
“This act would’ve normally moved me to vouch for you,” he said. “There really is good somewhere in that bitter head of yours. Still, a hunt is a hunt and you killed my servants. A twenty-eight century Hell sentence should be good enough, though. Consider that mercy.”
The force I charged was still in my hand. I made eye contact with Amelia. We had one chance at this.
I rushed forward and attacked Yulese. I had no real training but I had lived among demons, fighting for my sanity for years. That was better than nothing.
Yulese blocked my punches with a single finger and then kicked me to the ground. Before he could pursue me, Amelia unleashed a flurry of arrows. The shots were true to their aim but Yulese was prepared. He made a billboard appear in his grasps, blocking the arrows. He exhaled in relief.
“I’m no fool to how deadly your arrows are, Lady Amelia, but as long as I’m not caught in the volley, I’ll be fine.”
I knocked him off his feet with a leg sweep. I pushed my excitement of that actually working to the side and dove on top, whaling on his face. He knocked me off after four punches. Amelia was right behind him. Before he could react, she rammed a huge sword that she manifested through his chest. Yulese laughed.
“Lady Amelia, you may have the best tracking, and the best aim, even the most grace when firing that bow but you lack raw power in anything else. But to be fair, I can stop time inside my body, preventing injury, rendering someone as powerful as you useless.” He backhanded her so hard that she spiraled twenty feet before landing. “I’ll deal with you later, so I suggest you stay there. My son may want a child as soon as possible. Conus and your father should have no problem allowing this arranged wedding to happen.”
Yulese turned to me. Sadly, I still lay on the ground. He walked over to me, turning my head so that I could see his smile “At least you tried, Epex, but it’s time for disobedient rebels to sink back into Hell. Or in your case, the depths.”
I simply laughed at his arrogant declaration. Yulese looked at me, confused.
“I don’t think so, Yulese,” I said as I placed my hand on the circle that we both had contact with. Remember when I said I generated a lot of force. Well, that was no joke. I converted the force into power .then tunneled it through the deity-trapper. The circle shined a bright neon blue. I quickly rolled out of it. Yulese struggled, eyes widened. The circle held him.
“What’s going on?” he snarled. “Why can’t I move? Why I can’t use power? What did you do to me?” He struggled frantically, flailing his arms and straining against the circle. The trapper didn’t budge, not even a bit.
I shrugged. “Oh, nothing too spectacular. Just scrapped off your immortality and trapped you. I’d need far more power to do this to Conus, but to a hunter like you, this deity-trapper was a piece of cake.”
It wasn’t, but his desperate expression revealed that he didn’t catch on to the bluff. Had I not somehow charged that crazy amount of force or if I had wasted it with some big bash, we’d all be dead. Also…if Yulese were smart enough, he’d break out of such a low-powered circle. This couldn’t be compared to the one I spent years charging.
I picked up Jade’s gun from the sidewalk.
Yulese’s eyes widened. “Epex you don’t want to do this. YOU CANNOT DO THIS.” I cocked the pistol.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can,” I said, aiming for the forehead. “See ya.” I squeezed the trigger.
The god burst into flames as he squealed his last breath. “I hope the universe reincarnates you into a human, so you can see what it’s like to be powerless.” I turned to the restaurant door. “Stop crying. Come out and help them.”
They tended the wounds, showing that they had hunted with Amelia for years, applying bandages and healing ointments and what not. I was sort of impressed.
The time freeze slowly wore off.
“Take Jade to the car. Amelia will be fine,” I said.
They nodded. The last thing we needed was to be near the destruction: arrows, broken restaurant door, shattered windows, giant fucking billboard in the middle of the parking lot.
We got the hell out of there.
Chapter Ten
The rest of the trip was just amazing.
What’s better than a silent drive of gloom? Absolutely nothing! No pop music, just serious faces, and a sleeping Jade.
Well, okay, I’m glad none of us got the smite hand from the god but that’s beside the point. Ever sat in a car with a bunch of noisy women that you have no shot with—in the middle seat with nothing to distract you. Not even the outside window. Yes, it sucks. It’s like a nuclear showdown of pop culture, something about favorite singers, college exams, and other shit I couldn’t understand. Tuning it out was next to impossible, even when I attempted to think of how screwed I was going to be when Conus caught up to me.
Amelia stared out the window, lost in thought. I napped for like an hour, woke up to silence and found myself smiling. Well, I kept the smile to myself, hidden behind a false serious face but damned happy. Not only was the drive just awesome, but I actually killed a hunter.
I know it’s not something people should be excited about but I am the god-slayer. I sighed. Fuck, I’m the god-slayer. And now that I’d killed a god, they’d never leave me alone, adding this to the treason list.
Well, it’s not like they planned to let me walk away after posing a threat to their great and mighty Conus. I had simply bought myself more time until either another tracker rose to the challenge or I bumped into a hunter.
Nevertheless, I did get something out of this: a new method I could try to help us take down the immortals. I just hoped that we’d be stealthy enough to avoid confrontation. There are many things I wanted to learn about the human world. I didn’t have time to waste with fighting vengeful gods.
Because of traffic, a meal stop, and supposedly smooth driving, we arrived at Amanda’s house at about six that evening. Let’s not forget that fighting Yulese, his time-freezes included, acted as the biggest slowdown factor here. We were all beat.
Amanda’s house was pretty big. On the outside, it didn’t seem like much, just a plain white boring house with a flower garden in front of it. Little did the people of the city know, she lived in a six-bedroom house of awesomeness. High quality furniture, those things
called HDTVs which I’ll tinker with later, and air conditioner. Maybe Amelia blessed her to be so lucky.
I don’t know if the god or goddess blessing thing is true but if it is, I’m jealous. Demigods have no such ability. Of course, if I did, I’d bless myself so much that I’d become invisible to all hunters alive. I’d also somehow become richer than Bill Gates.
Amanda showed us to our rooms, inviting us to make ourselves at home.
“Hi…I’d like to have your blessing and protection,” she said as everyone else scattered about, settling into their rooms, tired faces evident.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said as I sat on the king-size bed. “Thanks for letting me crash here.” She looked as if she wanted to bow, but nodded instead. “Look Amanda, I’m half human, so don’t treat me any different, okay?”
“But —”
“If I wanted to be treated like nobility, I would’ve just ascended to Paradise Realm, took the throne, and lived there. And I’m pretty sure Amelia said the same words.” I knew she did. The goody goody Venus Clan in her wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I flashed her a smile. “I’m just glad we made it out alive today.”
She smiled. “Me too.” The ginger nodded and left.
After showering and manifesting a new set of clothes, while dissolving the old ones, I laid back comfortably, sighed, and relaxed. The sun went down as the late seven o’ clock sky peered upon us.
I could vaguely hear a hushed conversation in another room, though I couldn’t quite make out the words. I charged a super tiny bit of force and used it to close the door without getting up. Sleep is the most comfortable, efficient way of refilling a lost power tank. I closed my eyes.
I think maybe three hours passed before I entered the dream world. This was a good sign: three or more hours of uninterrupted sleep meant no assassins. I found myself in a strange place this time, a grassland of blue glass, bubbles everywhere, a giant rainbow in the sky, the sun smiling. This looked like something out of a children’s fairytale. Either that or I was high. I read about what humans did to themselves on their free time. Don’t worry, no judging from me.
I walked around this bizarre fluff land, taking notice of the butterflies, kittens, rabbits, and fairies. Yes, there were freaking fairies flying around. In the dream world, mythological creatures exist for the most part. Well, they exist in the real world too but humans hide them behind stupid folktales and legends. Nobody just makes this shit up—there’s truth glistening in every tale. Just hope that you don’t encounter any of the freaks, and you’ll be good to go.
I made sure to keep my distance from the creatures. Fairies were an all-female entity. Nobody knew what happened to the males. Paradise Realm lore once stated that their sex drives sprang out of control when they made contact with human male visitors.
Humans would think it a sweet dream, cheating on their loved ones, believing it not to be real. Yet the emotionally-attached fairies would start visiting all of their dreams, ensnaring the male in a way that ensured he’d never wake up. Free energy for them. Coma in the real world. Shitty tradeoff for a dream girl. The doctors wouldn’t know that the poor guy was bewitched. There is a dream angel that roams about but it would take her a while to travel to each and every dream, spot the fairy enchanter, and save the guy.
Just then, one of the fairies jerked her head in my direction, predatory gold eyes settling on me. I immediately forced myself to wake up. Five in the morning. Sheesh. But…someone was in my bed, sleep. I pulled the blankets back to reveal a sleeping goddess in a white night gown.
“Amelia, what the hell,” I said softly with a sigh. “Almost thought you were hunter.”
She slowly opened her eyes, sly smile on her face. “Everyone’s asleep. Shall we mate? I want our child t—”
I lightly laughed. She didn’t look amused. “You’re serious?” Goddess knowledge flooded my head. It’s nothing unknown in Paradise Realm that deity women are very easily impregnated. I think pregnancies lasted only a week. And from what I remembered—they’re frantically serious about motherhood—like a bird guarding its nest. Oh and there’s no such thing as casual sex or intimacy.
I could go on with the list but you get the point. Bad idea, bad timing, no protection, and hunters.
“Of course,” she whispered. “Why not? We’re bonded. It’s okay.” She straddled me. At the rise of the boner, I was tempted to just give in and screw her brains out. But I had to be the counter to her naivety.
She believed in the predetermined love of Paradise Realm and its lore of having children and one big happy family. The bonding is common in the realm, so she’s not crazy. She’s also not the one in serious trouble, and thus not realizing the danger I’m in. Either that or she doesn’t care, confident that she’d be able to protect me or that I’d dig myself out of trouble. Too bad I had to be the realist here.
“There are a lot of things wrong with that, but let me ask the obvious. Why would you want a child at a time like this? What if a hunter tries to kill it?”
“You will not refer to our child as an it. Besides, our baby wouldn’t be on the wanted list. And…we’re not planning to be seen by hunters.”
“Yeah, not happening,” I said. “Let’s be a bit realistic here, Amelia, and put aside the predetermined love thing.”
She ignored my reasonable statement and smiled. “Come on. You’d be a great father. One better than Conus.”
“That’s not much of a milestone.” I laughed, ignoring her poor waves of seduction. “And we’ve got plenty of time to discuss that, assuming I live through this shit. We’re only eighteen.”
“Nineteen. My birthday was last week.”
I shrugged. “I still have another month,” I said, sending her a glare. She knew it didn’t make a difference but I threw the words in just to be annoying. “Still, even if we weren’t being pursued by deadly hunters, neither of us are ready for something as ridiculous as parenthood, Paradise Realm trained or not. I appreciate you saving my ass back there but I don’t buy much into this bounded crap. I’m not obligated to anyone.”
Amelia caressed my cheek, then surprisingly changed the subject. “You’ve been out of touch from Paradise Realm for a long time. Did you ever get homesick?” She looked me in the eyes, as if searching for something.
“When you’re burning in agony from thousands of degrees hellfire, anywhere is a better place. Even being dead,” I said, softly pushing her off to the side. She surprised me with a quick kiss which nearly sent me into a spiral of confusion. It wasn’t the first time she done it, but I’m not going to think about how someone encouraged her to do so on my tenth birthday.
“I will heal your mind, no matter how long it takes,” Amelia said. “And I won’t let anyone else have you.”
“You’re a persistent goddess,” I said turning to the side. “I’ve heard most human women have sex without any intention of bearing a child. Casually.”
“That’s recklessness,” Amelia said.
“Not necessarily,” I pushed, amused. “There are some legends of goddesses going casual with human men. Desires exist in them too.”
“I doubt it. Epex, you are of Paradise Realm. Not human. You can’t simply ignore your heritage. Remember that.”
Watch me try, I thought then sighed. “Naïve goddess, rebellious demigod. We’re quite the pair.” I closed my eyes. I cared little about the lives of others…At least I tried to convince myself of that.
Everyone was up and about around eight o’ clock. Even Jade, fully healed thanks to Amelia. She showered me with a morning hug, thanking me and all that human gratefulness stuff. I shrugged it off, not caring too much for emotions. We beat the guy. Enough said.
“Please let me show you around Middleburg,” Jade said insistently.
“I don’t—”
“And we need to get you a phone.”
I stopped my declination, giving her a look that noted she had my attention. H
ow bad could going to the mall with a bunch of women be? Don’t answer that question.
Chapter Eleven
Middleburg, North Carolina was huge, noisy, and full of life. Cars honked, thousands of humans walked and crossed streets, and colors flashed everywhere. I found myself gawking at the many different fashion senses out there. Like every goddamn sense of the rainbow. I considered contacting a leprechaun to tear him a new one. Do not leave your goddamn rainbows out for the human taking. Look what they’ve done with it.
The roads were a bit curvy in the paths we took. Everyone was here except Amanda. She had class this morning. At least Keisha was a better driver, enticing me with actual smooth driving and less road rage. Thankfully the pop music was on low. Jade and I were in the back—and she could not get enough of teasing the goddess. The jealous act was funny at first but when Amelia pulled her off with force, I gestured for Jade to take the games down a notch.
Goddesses, love, and jealousy is something that dove as far back as the beginning of human history. That aside, I felt hyped for what could be a day of electronics and videogames. Stuff that I never had as a child were finally going to be in my hands. The thoughts were strong enough to make me forget that every god in Paradise Realm wanted to kill me. It’s a good thing they aren’t as humans described them: omnipresent, all-knowing, infinite power. That stuff is usually divided, with an exception of omnipresence. Unless a god decides to somehow become air, that’s impossible in the literal sense.
When we pulled up to the city’s mall, a cold sense of “fffuuuuccckkk” rushed through me. I could see grins curving on the faces of the girls. So much for my day of electronics and cool gadgets. I’m starting to think women have some kind of hatred for anything with a computer chip. Smartphones being the exception to that. That was a joke.
“I call dibs on Epex as my bag holder,” Keisha said as we stepped out of the vehicle, locking the doors.
Hell to Pay (Blood for Soul Book 1) Page 5