Crazier still, I had an honest to god wolf’s tail, and what’s more, as I reached up and touched my face, I felt tufted ears, and an elongated snout filled with teeth perfect for snarling down Little Red Riding Hood.
There was just one problem. I had somehow grown several feet taller and gained a couple hundred pounds of muscles which had torn most of my clothing to shreds. I still was wearing enough to be decent, but only because tattered clothing still covered my bits.
Yeah, okay, it was a bit freaky all things considering, but I’d just fought off a golem made from metal birds and accepted the power of an ancient Egyptian wolf. This was probably the power I’d gained from Wepwawet, and something told me this was going to be one of the least weird things that happened to me today.
“Sweet!” I cried, walking past her down the hill with the guardian over my shoulder. I felt great. Better than great. And now I could change into a werewolf? That was awesome. Assuming I could change back, of course. “Say, can I change back to normal?”
“Probably.” She paused and looked me up and down, clearly thinking. “The problem is that this means at least one of your parents was a guardian. Otherwise the sacred heart wouldn’t have let you gain wolf form.”
I stopped in my tracks and stared at her. Had she just told me I was descended from the same race of people as the guy I was carrying down the hill? How was that even possible? No, surely that was wrong. Except … maybe it wasn’t? I didn’t know anything about my mom and dad. My adopted father had never talked about them. I’d never pushed the issue because, well, it seemed ungrateful and pointless. They were gone, and if my adoptive father didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t going to make him.
But now I had a link to my parents. A tenuous link to them, sure, but a link nonetheless. Maybe this guy could take me back to his people and … what? No. I couldn’t get my hopes up. Following that rabbit trail would only lead to pain and suffering. And where did those lead? To the dark side. Nope, I was not going that route, I was strictly a Yoda kind of guy. Emperor Palpatine could go take a flying leap off a short cliff, Padme be damned.
“That’s interesting,” I said, carefully studying her for a reaction. “But how does that matter right now?”
Aziza’s eyes dropped to her feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. “Only three guardians have ever successfully fused with a sacred heart. All three were incredibly powerful.”
“That doesn’t sound that bad.” I took a deep breath to keep from yelling at her. She was starting to scare me, and the longer she took to tell me what was going on, the more worried I got. “Can you just tell me why you’re so concerned?”
“Guardian physiology doesn’t really mesh well with sacred hearts. All three of them were driven insane by their power. They killed a lot of people before they were stopped. That’s why when the guardian appeared, he wanted to hide it, to keep it from being used by another guardian.” Aziza swallowed even harder. “You’ve just absorbed the magical equivalent of godhood, and even if it doesn’t wind up turning you into a vicious, unstoppable megalomaniac, everyone will be trying to hunt you down and kill you anyway. The gods aren’t exactly the trusting sort.” She looked up at me with unshed tears in her eyes. “On the plus side, you’re probably only half guardian, so you have that going for you.”
5
“How am I supposed to respond to that?” I snapped, unable to keep the fear and hurt from leaking into my voice. Aziza had just told me the device I’d uncovered buried beneath the temple of Isis was going to turn me into a bloodthirsty psychopath because, apparently, my birth parents were descended from supernatural ancient Egyptian warriors. Seriously? That couldn’t be real, and if it was, it was total bullshit.
“I have no idea,” Aziza replied, looking away from me and staring off into the clouds. “If I’d known …”
“You’d have what? Left me to get eaten by the wendigos?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Yes. It would have been a far nicer fate, and yes, I realize that’s saying something.” She turned and looked back at me, and her face could have been carved from granite. “But as I said, you’re likely only half-guardian, and if that’s the case, your human side should be able to contain the power.” She nodded so fervently I actually believed her. “It’s entirely possible you have the best of both worlds.”
“How do we find out for sure?” I asked, rubbing my chin. If what she said was true, then one of my parents was human, and that might let me have my cake and not die when eating it. I liked that idea a lot. Okay, more than a lot. A metric ton.
“I don’t really know. The guardian might be the one to ask.” She gestured toward the unconscious guardian.
“Right, so back to plan A. Save the schmuck.” I stomped past her transparent ass while carrying the unconscious form of the very person who was likely going to try to slit my throat the second he woke up. That was some serious crap.
“Where are you carrying him?” Aziza asked after I’d made it about thirty feet. I ignored her and kept walking. Stupid, no good ghost, making me open a Pandora’s box. “Luke, I asked you a question.”
I whirled around and poked her in the chest with my index finger, only my finger went through her chest an inch or so. “To someone who can help him.” I glared at her so hard it actually hurt my face muscles.
“Okay, okay,” Aziza replied, taking a step back and holding her hands out in front of herself in the universal sign for “please don’t kill me, you crazy psycho.” It was a little annoying since she was the one being a jerk. “Luke, where are you taking the unconscious guardian? Specifically.”
“Down to the base camp so he can get medical treatment, or tea, or I don’t know, but I’m like this close to losing my ability to even.” I threw my free hand out in exasperation. “What do you think I’m doing? Taking him to a quiet place to kill him? Let’s be real here, that’s the smart play, isn’t it?”
“I suppose … but you probably want to change back to human form first. Humans tend to not deal well with werewolves,” Aziza said, glancing away from my face as she spoke the last part. “Besides, there’s an easier way now that you have magic.” She stared off into the clouds high above, and for some reason, I got the impression she was looking for something in the heavens. “You can use your magic to help him.”
“You mean I didn’t need to carry him at all?” I nearly screamed before dropping the guy onto the stone like it was somehow his fault for being unconscious. Which, I guess, it sort of was. I mean, what kind of rescuer needs to get rescued by the rescuee? Not a very good one. I kicked him, but not that hard. I swear. Okay, okay, it was a little hard. But could you really blame me?
“No, you didn’t have to carry him,” Aziza said, not bothering to comment when I kicked the guy again.
“Great. So, how do I heal him?” I glared daggers at the ghost who was doing a very good job of looking innocuous.
“Grab the golden bracelet on his wrist and concentrate on sending your magic into him.” Aziza knelt down over the fallen guardian and pointed at a shiny piece of metal wrapped around the man’s wrist.
I let out a long sigh before following suit. As I reached out to touch the bracelet on the guardian’s wrist, a spark of purple energy leaped from my finger and struck the object. A faint glow surrounded it, and I glanced uncertainly to Aziza, still expecting her to help me even though she’d infused me with a magic artifact. Yeah, I was way too trusting.
“That’s it. Now, just concentrate on him waking up.” Aziza smiled at me reassuringly.
I wrapped my hand around the bracelet and willed the guy to get better. The metal began to pulse beneath my touch, growing so hot I could barely keep holding onto his wrist. I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes, trying my best to block out the pain.
“Luke! Stop!” Aziza cried, and my eyes snapped open. Gray and purple light spilled from beneath my hand in arcs of jagged lightning. I snatched my hand back to see the bangle glowing like a nucle
ar weapon. What the hell was going on?
“What’s wrong?” I asked just before the bracelet exploded, throwing me backward over the edge of the cliff in a flurry of debris. I fell for what felt like forever as purple light leaped from my body in streams. I reached out, trying to use my power to slow down, but before I could even begin to concentrate on doing so, I smashed into the foundation of an ancient house at the base of the huge hill. Everything inside me snapped, crackled, and popped.
As the stone beneath me shattered to dust, and I plunged into the darkness beneath, my vision went seven kinds of blurry. Breath shot from my lips, and I struggled to even breathe. Then I smashed into a cold pool of water. I gasped involuntarily, sucking down a mouthful of frozen liquid that tasted of old sweat socks and slime. I simultaneously gagged and screamed as I drifted down through the murky water.
My back hit the silty ground, and for a moment, I lay there unable to make my body respond to the most basic commands. The tiniest pinprick of light glimmered overhead, and as I reached out toward it like I could somehow grab hold of it and use it to pull myself to the surface, the ground beneath me lurched.
A whirlpool opened in the sand beneath me, sending my entire world into a tailspin. My lungs burned as I tried to get my legs underneath me and push toward the surface, but as I did so, my limbs pushed down through the sand. I screamed, releasing a torrent of bubbles far smaller than I should have as my entire body was sucked down into the spinning sand.
Spots danced across my vision as I reached out, trying one last time to grab for something, anything that could save me. My fingers gouged into the churning earth, but try as I might, I couldn’t get ahold of anything. Then, as my head was pulled beneath the swirling, all-consuming sand, everything faded to black.
6
I awoke back in human form, shivering on top of a rusty metal grate. Blue-flamed torches flickered along the walls, casting shadows that danced across the small room like demonic ballerinas. Every glistening marble surface looked slick and wet. Fungus clung to the cracks in the stone walls, reminding me of old dungeons in horrible movies. The only thing missing was an old skeleton still shackled to the wall with rusty manacles.
The smell of mold and rot hung in the air as I sucked in a deep breath and looked around. I wasn’t quite sure where I was since the walls and ceiling had no obvious exits but judging by the sounds coming through the grating beneath me, there was some sort of river rushing by beneath the floor.
“Where am I and what happened to the guardian?” I asked aloud even though I didn’t expect anyone to respond. The last thing I remembered was being thrown from the temple of Isis and falling into the catacombs beneath Delos. Then the floor had turned into quicksand and pulled me beneath the Earth like I’d offended Gaia herself. Stupid Gaia. What had I ever done to her?
“I’m not quite sure on both accounts,” Aziza replied, popping into existence in front of me wearing jeans and a white t-shirt that looked incredibly similar to what Gina had been wearing earlier. Interesting.
“Very helpful,” I muttered, getting to my feet and spinning in a slow circle. My body ached in a way I hadn’t expected, reminding me of the time I’d run a marathon without training. Let me tell you, I’ll never do that again, and not just because I still have scars from the chaffing.
“If you’re looking for the exit, it’s that way.” Aziza pointed at one of the walls, but it seemed indistinguishable from the others.
“How do you know?” I asked, already walking toward the wall she’d specified, and trying to ignore how the cold grate felt on my bare feet. Instead, I just tried to be thankful for what remained of my tattered clothing.
I touched the wall because it wasn’t like I had any other ideas. Well, I had one, but I wasn’t ready to try to magic my way into the river running below me just yet. Just because it sounded like a river didn’t mean it wasn’t filled with acid or crocodiles.
Besides, Aziza had said sacred hearts drove people insane. For all I knew, using my newfound powers was like taking a bullet train to crazy town even if I was only half guardian.
“I’m incorporeal, remember? I just stuck my head through the walls and looked until I found one with a passage behind it. The other three walls are surrounded by dirt for at least a hundred or so feet in each direction, so they are probably a no go.” She shot me a dazzling smile, and honestly, I let her have it because she deserved it.
“That’s a neat trick,” I said, running my hands over the slick, wet stone once more. Despite appearing to be white marble, the stone was warm and spongey to the touch, reminding me of a hot-blooded toad. I suppressed a shiver and glanced at the ghost. “But why are you helping me?”
“I’m not helping you per se,” Aziza replied, looking away from me and studying the ceiling like she expected to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything among the stones. “It’s more that I need someone to help me, and you bonded with the sacred heart so quickly …” Her voice was so quiet I probably wouldn’t have heard her if the room hadn’t been as silent as a tomb.
“Come again?” I spun on my heel and fixed my steely eyes on the ghost.
“My essence was bound to my sacred heart.” She swallowed, which was weird. I’d seen her do it a couple times now, but she was a ghost. It wasn’t like she had saliva. “It’s what anchored me to this plane.” She gestured feebly at the room. “By absorbing the sacred heart, you became that anchor.” She smiled weakly. “And now I need your help.”
The world started to spin on its own, and the reason I didn’t fall flat on my face was that I was already leaning against the wall. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me from slowly sliding down the stone until my butt was firmly planted on the wet grate.
“Is that why you asked me to hide the sacred heart and then to absorb it?” I asked, my voice strangely calm and forceful even though everything inside me was being torn in a million directions. “Were you worried someone was going to destroy the sacred heart and send you off to the never, never?” I waved my hand through the air before she could even respond, brushing the thought away. “Doesn’t matter anyway since it’s done.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What did you need help with?”
“It doesn’t matter right now, Luke.” Aziza shrugged. “All that matters right now is unlocking your latent powers, so we can escape from this tomb before this chamber fills with water and you drown.”
“You’re bluffing,” I replied, hoping it was true as I stared down into the grate. Did the water sound closer or was it just me reacting to her words? God, I really hoped it was the second one.
“Maybe, maybe not. You want to wait here and find out?” She raised an eyebrow at me. “I can wait for a long time since I don’t need to eat or drink.”
“No. Let’s do this.” I got to my feet. “How do I get through the door?”
“I’m glad I found someone like you, Luke. You’re decidedly less whiney than I thought you’d be,” Aziza replied, moving past me and pointing to a small indentation in the stone. “You need to activate this keystone with your power. It will allow the door to open.”
“Thanks, I guess.” I knelt down next to the spot and peered at it. The room was too dark for me to make out much, but it looked like some Egyptian hieroglyphs were etched into the marble. A tingle ran down my spine as I studied them. Something about the sight of them tickled at the back of my brain, only I couldn’t quite place it.
“So, uh, how do I do that?” I gestured at the wall. “Despite being a werewolf, I’m really new to the whole doing magic thing.” I smirked. “Pretend this is my first time and go there.”
“Right, sorry,” she said as she approached and knelt down beside me. Then she placed her palm over the indent. “Do this.”
I sighed and followed suit, resting my hand inside her ghostly one. The tingle of cold from touching her set my nerves ablaze, but I ignored it as the apparition regarded me thoughtfully.
“Now what?” I asked when she d
idn’t say anything and the passage still hadn’t opened.
“Now reach out to it with your mind,” she replied, nodding toward the spot as she pulled her hand back. The moment she stopped touching me, I felt better. I hadn’t realized it, but I’d been coiled up like a high-pressure spring. Now, my muscles had relaxed, and as they did, I realized I could sense the call of the mechanism under my hand. It was a soft pulse of energy like a match struck in my mind, and as I focused on it, I realized it was like a metaphysical light switch. All I had to do was flip it on.
“Open sesame,” I said, concentrating on flipping the magical switch. It was way easier than I’d thought it would be because as my power reached out and communed with the mechanism, purple light lit the underside of my palm, casting dancing shadows across the space.
The sound of grinding stone filled my ears, and the entire room shook, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Instinctively, I covered my mouth with the crook of my elbow in an effort to keep from breathing in the mold, rot, and whatever else was falling over me, but I needn’t have bothered because while the grinding of stone grew louder, the room stopped shaking.
A loud screech filled my ears as the door slid down into the floor like it was straight out of a science fiction movie and not a piece of stone beneath a centuries-old temple.
Unfortunately, that’s not what screeched at me. No, standing behind the door were three more of those metallic birds, and as they narrowed their hungry eyes at me, I scrambled backward in shock.
“How did they get there?!” I snapped, my hands coming up into a fighting stance. Only, instead of approaching, the birds unfurled their wings like they were trying to make themselves appear larger than they were. I wasn’t quite sure why because they were almost as big as I was, which for a bird, was pretty damned fearsome.
King of the Gods Page 4