Avenging Heart

by Desni Dantone

  How was I going to convince the group that I knew the way into the underworld when I was the only one who could see the instructions?

  “Kris?” Nathan’s hands gripped my shoulders lightly. His eyes were lined with worry.

  “Nathan, I’m not going crazy,” I insisted. “I must be the only one who can see it.”

  He nodded slowly, his eyes lowering to the papers between us. “See what exactly?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. He believed me. Honestly, after all we had been through and had seen, how could he not? I stepped away from him to spread the papers out onto the counter.

  “Here.” I pointed to the first page. “Alec drew a rough map of the underworld—where things are in relation to each other. It’s really pretty basic. The hardest part is going to be getting out . . .”

  He had drawn the best route for escape, but warned me that he didn’t know how dangerous it might be. He took another way out to come visit me, but it was only an option for souls. There was only one way out for mortals that he was aware of. No one knew what obstacles awaited those that navigated it.

  “How do we get in?” Nathan asked.

  “The Diros Caves.” I shuffled the papers around until I found the one I needed. Scanning the instructions Alec had written there, I added, “We’re going to need a few things first.”

  ~ ~ ~

  While Nathan believed me without solid proof, the others weren’t as easy to convince.

  “We have two and a half days left to get this done,” I said as I scanned the eyes staring at me around the table. The café was busy that morning, forcing me to keep my voice lowered, despite my desire to shout my frustration.

  “So says . . . a ghost?” Kira inquired.

  “It’s Alec,” I corrected through clenched teeth.

  “Right. A ghost.” She rolled her eyes before turning to look out the window. Her guarded posture and undivided attention placed on her cup of steaming coffee made it clear that she had no interest in the rest of this conversation.

  The Queen Bitch has spoken.

  “It could happen,” Lillian muttered from beside me. Her eyes scanned the others at the table as if daring them to challenge her. “We all know communication with the dead is a real part of our world.”

  Jared’s arm struck the table with a thwack. “Okay,” he declared. “I wish we all could see what you see, but . . .”

  “You believe me?” I asked tentatively.

  “I believe Alec would attempt to communicate with you, yes. I’m having a hard time with this method of entering the underworld, but if he says that’s the way to do it . . .”

  “Can we get what we need around here?” Jas questioned.

  I started to answer when Queen Bitch’s snort interrupted me.

  “I can’t believe you guys are buying this crap,” she said. “The demigods are dead. We did what we came here to do. We should be boarding a plane, and getting out of this hellhole.”

  “The demigods are gone, but Circe’s curse is still on,” I explained. “My mother can help me to end it, and I need to find her. If you don’t want to help, then you can leave.”

  My hard gaze shifted from Kira toward the slight movement across the table from me. Nathan leaned back in his seat, and lifted a cup to his lips to conceal the smile threatening to break his resolve. His eyes darted to mine long enough for me to see the gleam of pride in them.

  To Jas, I answered, “It might take a few hours to gather everything we need, but we should be ready to go tonight after the caves close to the public.”

  Bruce cleared his throat as he leaned forward to place his elbows on the table. His eyes had been downcast since I arrived, but now, they lifted to meet mine. The sorrow in them was visible. Though everyone considered me the one who had taken Alec’s death the hardest, I suspected Bruce had a good deal of his own grief to contend with.

  “Can you communicate with him anytime, or only in a dream?” he asked me.

  “I don’t know. I know there are ways to communicate without using a dream, but I’ve never done it.”

  “You can do a spell,” Nathan suggested quietly.

  I started to tell Nathan that I had never been able to successfully contact the dead by using the conjuring spell I knew, but stopped when I remembered that I hadn’t tried since I reached my potential as an Incantator. I was able to do things now that I had never been able to do before.

  “I can try,” I offered, “but I need to go back to the hostel to get something.”

  Though it was possible to do the spell without using an object belonging to the one you were attempting to conjure, having something personal of theirs made it easier.

  Nathan went with me, and hovered in the door as I retrieved Alec’s bag from under his bed. Reaching into it, I found mostly clothes, along with his toothbrush, cologne, and a pack of condoms.

  I laughed as I tossed the square box onto the bed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  Nathan sauntered across the room, and took a seat on the bed. “It’s weird,” he muttered.

  I nodded. “I expected a bigger box.”

  “No. Him being gone . . . it’s weird.”

  I froze with my hand in the bag, and peeked up at Nathan. His head was lowered, but with the angle I had from the floor, I saw the hint of emotion on his face.

  It mirrored what I had felt yesterday. Seeing Alec last night, and knowing that I had the ability to see him again, had made his loss a little easier to handle today. But I still felt that tickle in the back of my throat at knowing he was really gone.

  I swallowed the grief, grabbed Alec’s toothbrush, and returned everything else to the bag before I stood. “I think this will work.”

  Nathan’s head bobbed, his eyes glued to the object in my hand, but he gave no indication of moving.

  “Nathan? Let’s go. We have a lot of work to do today.”

  “Yeah.” He took my outstretched hand as he stood. When I turned for the door, his grip tightened to hold me back. My eyes darted to his as he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I—”

  “Kris, Alec is dead.”

  I wrenched my hand free of his. “I know that.”

  “Do you?”

  “I watched him die,” I hissed. I spun away from him with a strangled cry. “What is with you? What are you trying to do?”

  He took slow, careful steps toward me. “I’m worried about you, that’s all.”

  “You’re worried, so you have to remind me that Alec is gone?”

  “You’re deflecting. You’re not accepting it.”

  “I’m trying to get a job done,” I countered his words. “I’m trying to save Callie before I lose her too. I made a promise to Alec that I would do it. If you don’t want to help, that’s your choice.”

  His bitter chuckle followed me to the door. He didn’t try to stop me, and he didn’t follow me—at least from what I saw—as I made my way downstairs and out onto the street.

  My eyes stung with unshed tears, but I refused to let them fall. My stride was hard and fast from the effort to not cry, combined with my irritation with Nathan.

  The others were on the beach, exactly where we had agreed to meet. They scattered as I approached the makeshift fire-pit I had instructed them to make.

  It started off as a deep hole in the sand. The fire was my creation.

  “Where’s, uh . . .” Jared started, forcing me to look up from the flames. He took one look at my face, and dropped the rest of his question.

  I held Alec’s toothbrush in my hand as I chanted the words to the spell. Then I tossed the brush into the fire. The results were instant, and I took a step back as Alec’s form filled the space in front of me.

  “Was that really necessary?” He rubbed his eyes with a groan.

  “What?” I asked him.

  “You don’t have to do all this. All you have to do is call for me, and I’ll come to you. For the next two and a half days, that is. This . . .” He waved a hand a
t the fire behind him. “This is a little disorienting for me.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know that,” I admitted with a small smile. “Sorry.”

  I glanced around at the others for their reactions to Alec’s appearance. I expected awe, but only saw confusion. And they were looking at me, not him. Nathan had joined us at some point. He hovered near the back, and watched me with visible concern.

  “They can’t see me,” Alec explained. “Only you can.”

  “Why only me?”

  “You’re the one with the ability to see the dead.”

  Oh, great. Now they were really going to think I was going crazy.

  “So what did you summon me for?” Alec asked.

  I laughed humorlessly. “To prove to them that my dream was real, and that you were able to come back and help. Apparently, that’s not going to work now . . .” If anything, the group looked one step closer to tossing me into a padded room. To them, I announced, “Apparently, I’m the only one who can see and talk to him.”

  Bruce’s eyebrows shot up. “So he’s . . .” His finger waved around at the spot in front of me. “He’s there now?”

  I nodded.

  “Honcho,” Alec whispered to me, causing me to swivel toward him. “Call him ‘Honcho.’ I never called him that name around anyone else.”

  “Honcho?” I asked Alec with a laugh.

  I heard Bruce’s sharp breath. His eyes were wide when they settled on me. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Alec just told me.”

  Alec’s arm shot out from behind me, and he pointed a finger at Jared. “Maverick.”

  I made a face. “Maverick? Really?” I supposed it made sense, considering he looked like a young Tom Cruise.

  Jared’s jaw dropped, and I knew I had caught his attention.

  I had no idea Alec had nicknames for everyone. But they all knew. Hell of a way to make them believe me . . . but it was working.

  Alec’s finger swung to Nathan next, and I held my breath as I waited for Alec to tell me his nickname. What followed was unexpected.

  “Tell him that he’s a lucky guy to have his mugshot on Google.”

  “What?” I laughed.

  “Just say it,” Alec insisted.

  I repeated Alec’s words to Nathan with a shrug. Though I had no idea what they meant, Nathan clearly did. He stared at me for several heavy seconds before his eyes darted to the spot beside me, where Alec stood.

  His voice was thick when he finally responded. “I know.”

  His eyes shifted to me. Though I didn’t know what had transpired between Alec and Nathan, I suspected it had something to do with me. That much was obvious from Nathan’s steady gaze on me.

  We may fight like an old married couple at times, but there was no doubt his love for me. Nor mine for him.

  Chapter 19

  To save time, we split up to go shopping for the items Alec suggested. By the time we all returned to the hostel later, we had an hour before the gates to the caves closed. It took us most of that time to gather our equipment, check and double check everything, and drive to the caves. We arrived when the last tour was leaving.

  Another twenty minutes before the workers left, and we attempted to pull off the craziest—and perhaps stupidest—stunt yet. I bounced on my toes where we waited behind the shrubs. My eyes darted to the mostly empty parking lot behind us. We were well hidden, and the encroaching darkness aided our cover, but I feared getting caught before we had a chance to follow through with our plan.

  And some plan it was. Wild . . . crazy . . . maybe even stupid. But necessary.

  I was scared. Of failure, and of the unknown. The chance for success, as small as it may be, kept me moving forward. Regardless, my nerves were a jumbled mess. I jumped at every sound, and watched every movement. I nearly screamed my head off when something brushed against my arm.

  “Kris?” Nathan whispered from behind me, and I put a hand to my galloping heart when I realized it had only been him.

  I peered over my shoulder, and he gave me a ‘come here’ nod. His hand took mine as he led me behind another shrub, out of ear shot of the others.

  I didn’t know what I expected. We hadn’t spoken since our argument earlier. I bit my lip nervously as I stared at his back. Then he turned, and I found myself wrapped up in his arms.

  I should have known I had no reason to be nervous. It was Nathan. Sure, I had seen him do some scary stuff, but he was always different with me. He rarely stayed mad at me long.

  I melted into him with a contented sigh, and wondered how I hadn’t found myself here hours ago. The answer came quickly—only because I was severely distracted. An impending trip to the underworld could do that. But now, I enjoyed the moment of bliss.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” I mumbled into his shirt. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. I want you with me.”

  “I know.” His hand stroked my hair gently. “I shouldn’t have pushed you about Alec. I just worry that . . .”

  “I’m not dealing with it?” I finished his thought when he trailed off.

  He was right, of course. I wasn’t dealing with Alec’s loss. I couldn’t even say the words—dead or death. Instead, I said ‘it’ or chose words like ‘gone’ or ‘lost.’ Knowing that I could see him just by saying his name certainly wasn’t helping me cope either.

  “I’m not,” I told Nathan honestly. “But I will.”

  He nodded, and pulled me back into his arms. We stayed there for several moments before he spoke. “Kris, don’t think any less of me for saying this, but . . .” His grip on me tightened, and he exhaled slowly. “I’ve been in a lot of dangerous situations where the outcome could have gone either way, but this is the first time that I can honestly say I have no idea what might happen. I’ve never been more scared than I am right now.”

  I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say. I was scared too—terrified actually. But to hear him say that he was too? Unexpected wasn’t a strong enough word.

  “If this is it . . . I want you to know how much I love you.”

  “Don’t,” I muttered. “Don’t you say goodbye to me.”

  His head lowered with a shake. “Right. We’re going to do this.” When he looked up again, all signs of doubt had vanished. In its place was the fierce determination I had come to know and recognize.

  Warrior-mode had kicked in.

  But a warrior could still kiss his girl. Which he did . . . well. With slow diligence, he gave me perhaps the best kiss of my life. A kiss I never wanted to end. When Jared called to us, alerting us that the entrance was clear, we only gripped each other tighter. We finally eased apart when we were ready, not because the time had come, not because the others were waiting for us, but because we had communicated to each other all that we needed to.

  One final gaze into his eyes gave me the push I needed, and we turned toward the cave together.

  Dressed head to toe in black, with bags strapped across our shoulders, we approached the entrance as a unified group. Fear was left behind in the shrubs. Determination rolled off of us in waves as we plunged headlong into the biggest unknown any of us would ever know.

  The gate at the entrance was simple to breach—even for a minor criminal. For me, one touch with my hand unlocked and pushed it open. Once inside, Nathan turned his flashlight to the panel fixed to the wall. Wires ran out of the top, and snaked far out into the cave. They attached to at least thirty switches.

  “What section are we going to?” Nathan called out.

  Jared moved to his side, carrying a map of the cave. Together, they referenced the map, then flicked the correct switch. Our destination was so far into the cave that the light they had turned on wasn’t visible from where we stood.

  A few more clicks, and lights began turning on in the distance. Enough to light our way to the section of the cave we needed to get to without drawing attention to the fact that the lights were on. The narrow steps to the base of the cave was left in the dark, and we use
d flashlights to navigate our way.

  The boats were tied to the small dock, exactly where we had boarded them for our tour last week. Once we had all climbed in, Bruce took over paddling while I looked between the map and what the lights illuminated around us. Finally, near the end of the line, I saw it.

  “There!” I pointed to the flat rock formation that jutted out of the water several yards away. Behind it, the smooth wall of the cave dropped beneath the water’s surface as far as the clear water allowed me to see. I gulped as I wondered how deep it went.

  Before we found out, we had to swim to the rock formation. Since the boats were anchored to the cables that ran above us, we were unable to reach the section of the cave we needed to with the boat. Why no one had thought to bring wire cutters baffled me now. It wasn’t a long swim—perhaps fifty yards. Since I was the only one who couldn’t swim, I supposed wire cutters hadn’t been on anyone’s priority list.

  We all stripped out of our clothes, revealing the bathing suits we wore underneath. Our clothes went into the water-proof bags we all carried. One by one, the group jumped into the water and began the swim.

  “Oh, shit, that’s cold!” Jas shouted when he broke the surface. His arms sliced through the water as he sped toward the rock, passing Kira in a blink.

  Nathan sucked in a breath as he lowered himself in. He held onto the side of the boat as he turned for me.

  I shook my head. “How about I just teleport?”

  “You need to save your energy. Come on. I’ll get you there.”

  “You need to save your energy too,” I pointed out. Carrying me through the water would only tire him out more, and I couldn’t have that.

  I eyed the rock formation, then him. His eyes narrowed when he realized my intentions. By the time his mouth opened with another argument, it was too late. I jumped to the rock formation, and glanced over my shoulder in time to see Nathan push off the boat with a shake of his head.

  While he and the rest of the group cut through the water toward me, I emptied the contents of my bag. I had everything out and ready to go by the time Jas pulled himself onto the rock ledge beside me.