The ground felt spongy. I kicked my shoes off and wiggled my toes in the cool moss. A sense of childlike joy overrode all the concerns and the tension I had been carrying since the dream slid away. A pod hanging a few inches above the ground caught my eye. It was maybe a foot taller than me, the surface a shiny, dark pinkish-purple. A darker seam ran down the front. I poked it with my finger and jumped back, half expecting an alien to pop out and start sucking on my brains.
When nothing happened, I moved closer to trace my finger along the waxy surface of the seam. The pod opened like a zipper, making me squeak in surprise. Nestled in the hollow curve of the pod were three large flat white seeds. This was looking eerily like a bad sci-fi movie where the curious idiot was poking at alien pods instead of running for her life. I took a step back and something pushed me from behind. I landed against the seeds with a muffled screech as they molded to my body like memory foam. I twisted about, fully intending to leap out when the seeds adjusted to cup my body perfectly. The pod tilted back until I was reclining. Then there was a rustling sound as the pod started to move.
“Whoa!” I shouted, bracing my palms against the walls of the pod.
From the opening of the seam, I watched in amazement as the tree branches carried the vine along. The pod stayed surprisingly stable as the tree moved me around the room. This couldn’t be real. Ouch, damn it! Ok, the pinch test says otherwise. Welcome to the island where Mother Nature took the right-to-work law to a whole new level. Your ficus wants to be a bank teller? Sure, why not!
Panic was threatening to overwhelm me. That, or hysteria. Any minute now I would be rocking in the corner, thumb in mouth, or running around screaming. What the hell kind of place was this?
Up and up the tree took me until it stopped before one of the highest bookshelves. Another vine slithered across the row of books and plucked one from the shelf. It came toward me, and I cringed. No more slithery things! Snakes and roots and vines, oh my!
The vine held what appeared to be an ancient book. The cover was a weathered brown with a few flecks of other colors here and there. The binding looked as if it had been replaced at some point, but so long ago that it barely held the thick, yellowed pages together. A familiar symbol was centered on the cover and surrounded by eighteen smaller symbols.
The vine carefully opened the book to a page filled with faded writing. Curiosity overcame panic for the moment, and I leaned forward to try to make out the words. The seeds immediately shifted to place me in a comfortable seated position from which to read the text. That’s handy. My clients would love something like this. If I had any left, that is.
Scanning the page, I began to read aloud the sections that were legible.
“… and God did seek companion opposite of his order, born of purest light and unquenchable darkness . . . Uh, something about the creator who was also the destroyer and balancing the two.” I skimmed along the page. It mentioned something about the companion becoming obsessed with creation. There were a lot of terrible and hideous beasts created before the companion got the bright idea to take a piece from himself. He finally made a son. Then the son created three brothers and two sisters. Together they ruled the Earth as the Primordial Gods. “The son was named after his father . . . Chaos.”
The vine closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.
My mind was whirling with everything that had just happened, but the one thought that kept popping into my head chilled me to the bone. Were the Kyrion the Primordial Gods? From the beginning there had been something different about this place and these people. This couldn’t be written off as a mental breakdown from stress or an overactive imagination. The tree had wanted me to see that book. That wasn’t freakin’ normal!
If I believed what was in that book, then there was a lot more going on here than rich people with too much time on their hands. Had my dream earlier been real? Had I somehow been mind-melded with the companion from the book? The whole creator and destroyer thing certainly fit. Was that what—or who—I was feeling within the statue?
It was almost as if there were two entities within the statue. One that had scraped out everything that was me and replaced it with the cold detachment from my dream. The other was something very sad and lonely. It sounded stupid, but I got the impression that the portion that called to me was searching for something and didn’t mean me harm. It needed me.
If any of that had been real, Chaos had saved me from a fate I’m sure I didn’t want to know about. Had he known what was happening because he had read this book, or was he really the son of a god?
The tree handed me back down to the ground, and I stepped out before the pod resealed itself. I was reaching for the seam again to see if the tree would show me something else when an annoyed voice startled me.
“Interesting that you were able to find this floor on your own.” Chaos’s condescending tone grated on my nerves. “It is not a place that is open to merely anyone. It is almost as if someone wants you to discover all of our secrets. What did the Tree of Knowledge show you, Potential Davies?”
I turned to face him. Oh no, that was so not fair. Muscular pecs and a washboard stomach had my hands twitching for something to draw with. Those smoothly toned muscles needed to be captured in charcoal, or maybe clay. The low band of his sweatpants revealed the V-line of his hips, and my tongue darted out to moisten my suddenly dry lips. My fingers itched to trace every line of those muscles—purely for artistic research, of course. Maybe my tongue too. Sweat beaded his skin as if he had come straight from a workout. My mind was conjuring up all kinds of things we could do to get sweaty, and they didn’t involve gym equipment.
“My eyes are up here, Potential,” Chaos’s rough voice growled, making me shiver.
I could feel the blush blooming on my skin as I dragged my eyes up to meet his. There was so much heat there my skin tingled. We stared at each other, and somehow the distance between us shrank until only inches separated us. He brushed a strand of loose hair over my shoulder.
“What did you learn?” he demanded.
“I . . . It wasn’t anything important,” I lied.
His eyes narrowed. “I find that doubtful. The tree showed you something. What did it think you needed to know?” His hand settled against the side of my neck, his thumb stroking my jumping pulse.
“That’s ridiculous. A tree doesn’t think,” I scoffed, trying hard to ignore the effect he was having on me. “Uh, that’s an interesting way to browse the library though. You could make a fortune on that technology.”
“That is the path you are choosing? Denial?” His fingers tightened on my neck. “Yes, I suppose you would. My father once told me that humans will rationalize anything. They blame great feats on an adrenaline rush or luck. It seems the bastard was right about something.”
Humans? Dear baby Jesus in the manger. “A-Are you saying that you’re not human?”
“Now that would be ‘ridiculous’, as you say,” he said with a mocking smile. “We are merely a society that chooses to maintain our privacy. Is that not what you have learned?”
“Maybe there’s more to your people than that. The things that’ve happened here—”
“Accidents or pranks,” he countered. “What else could they be?”
Pranks my ass. Damn stubborn man! We were getting nowhere. “Right. Well, it’s time I got back to bed. Don’t want to be late for training again. Goodnight.”
His hand tightened around my neck, preventing me from leaving. He studied me as if I were a fascinating puzzle that needed to be solved. His other hand came to rest on my hip, then slowly slid along the hem of my shirt before burrowing under to rest against the skin of my lower back. His fingers lightly caressed the still-tender skin. “Has anything else happened that you would like to tell me about?”
Your mouth looks yummy. If your chest keeps rubbing against me like that, I might spontaneously combust. Probably not what he was referring to, but still true. Breathlessly, I said, “Nope. Nothing
new going on here.”
“Hmm. Maybe there is more to you too.” He moved into me, pressing our bodies tightly together.
My breath escaped in a gasp at the evidence of his arousal. He stole the rest of my breath when his lips sipped softly from mine.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“Testing a theory,” he mumbled.
Then his tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip before he captured me in a slow deep kiss. Brain cells melted. Lightning shot through my body. This was a bad idea, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember why. Nothing else mattered except easing the ache he had created.
One hand drew arcs along my back, while his other sank into my loose hair, tugging my head back. His lips traveled straight down my neck to the curves of my breasts visible above my tank top. His tongue dipped into my cleavage at the same time that he pressed a knee up into my core. A low moan issued from my lips and I gripped his shoulders to keep my legs from collapsing. He palmed my breast, pushing it up for his seeking lips to find more of me. With the other hand he cupped my butt, forcing me to grind on his knee. Then suddenly it was gone.
A whimper escaped me. Nooo, bring it back!
There was a tug on my jeans as they were pushed down to mid-thigh. A shiver wracked me as the cool breeze caressed the wet cloth of my panties. Then long fingers tugged aside the wet fabric, exposing me fully. His mouth captured mine again as one finger traced me down below. His finger tapped against my clit, and I almost came on the spot. I gripped his spiky hair to pull him deeper into our kiss and my hips arched against the finger that was rubbing me just right. My world was preparing to go nuclear when he pulled back with a curse.
He gripped my shoulders roughly, putting distance between our bodies. “This is what I meant. You are a distraction. I am supposed to be dealing with the fallout from another attack, yet here I am with you.” His eyes blazed with a mixture of longing and disgust as he took in my half-naked state. “Every time you are near, I want to pin you to the floor and fuck you senseless. I will not let you turn me into my father. My control is essential. This will not happen again. Do you understand?”
My brain was still trying to clear the fog of lust. He shook me when I didn’t answer. “Y-Yes. But—”
“No. There is nothing between us. There will never be anything between us.” It sounded as if he was trying to convince us both. “I must go, but first you will tell me what you learned here.”
Anger flashed through me and wind swept through the room, sending the pods swinging in the trees. “I’m not one of your subjects to kiss your ass. If I learned anything here, it was meant for me, and doesn’t concern you. Let me go.”
“So be it.” A cold mask settled over his face. Then he turned and walked away, leaving me aching in more ways than one.
17
The fourth day of training, Molly and I were once again strapped into the chariot. The lanes had been erased from the dirt track this time. Gripping the reins with a bit more familiarity, I leaned into the chariot and waited for the signal. As soon as the flag dropped, we were off. After those first fumbles, I had taken to chariot racing like a natural. Molly kept asking if I’d had training somewhere. It felt right. Working with the horses. The thrill as we whipped down the track. The exhilaration of outmaneuvering the other drivers.
I was neck and neck with Kade in his green chariot down the straightaway. Taking the lead, I skidded around the first turn. One of the wheels left the ground, and I used my body to counterbalance, just as Molly had taught me. Clouds of dust kicked up all around us, and the noise would have been deafening if not for our helmets.
Mikhail pulled along beside me as we entered another straightaway. His gold chariot suddenly lurched toward me, attempting to cut me off. We were so close I could reach out and touch him. Our wheels bumped. Mikhail tried to correct too hard. The horses reared, and the pole that ran between them snapped. They were too close. We were going to crash.
“Yah! Yah!” I yelled at my team even though they couldn’t hear me.
Mikhail’s chariot veered over to where we had been a second ago. I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was ok. The broken pole dragging on the ground between the horses caught on something, and the chariot flipped up into the air, tipping wildly as it bore down on us. There was no time to alter course. We were going to be crushed.
Snapping the reins furiously, I did what I could to put distance between us. The gold chariot crashed down, clipping the back end of our platform. Molly was thrown forward into me, and we slammed against the front wall of the chariot. Pain blossomed along my ribs. Molly cussed virulently over the open speaker as she tried to shift her weight from me. Something was wrong. The chariot platform seemed to have more give and sway than before.
Chris in his white chariot pulled alongside me as the second curve came into view. He gave us a wide berth until we came to the turn and then suddenly crossed behind me to take the inside track. Leaning against the turn, I kept as close to his chariot as I dared.
C’mon guys, let’s win this.
Abruptly the platform beneath my feet cracked down the middle. Molly pitched into me again, and this time the chariot collapsed. Molly’s scream blared through my earpiece as we were thrown forward, hitting the ground with a jarring thud. My world turned into a topsy-turvy nightmare of pain and fear. There was no up or down, only the vacuum of silence created by the tornado of agony as it tossed me about.
Molly’s weight was banging against my back. Thank god, she’s still with me. Every ounce of strength I possessed was put into keeping my grip on the reins. My arms felt as if they were being pulled from their sockets, but I couldn’t let go. If we got disconnected from the horses, there was a real chance we could end up being trampled beneath the hooves of another team. I had to hang on.
A small section of the front panel was being dragged along by the cords latched to my tunic, straining my arms further. My fingers were going numb, but I locked my hands as tightly around the reins as I could. Molly shifted her weight against my back. I swallowed down the scream that tried to claw its way from my throat at the fresh shot of pain. My voice sounded ragged as I begged over our headsets, “Don’t. Move.”
“Sorry,” Molly gritted out. “Trying to cut the straps. Can you hang on?”
“Wait. Turn,” I gasped.
The horses took the turn, and we went into another tumble. My visor was coated with dirt, preventing me from seeing anything. That didn’t matter because the image of the horse’s deadly hooves thundering only feet in front of our faces was embedded in my brain.
Molly slammed heavily into my back. She gripped me tightly to keep us from rolling again until we were back on the straightaway.
“Now,” she shouted.
She shifted again. Her position was putting too much weight on my right side. I could feel my grip starting to slip. She fumbled a hand under my hip to reach the straps connected to the piece of the chariot we dragged with us. Then she leaned to the other side and repeated the process, an extremely risky move. One bump and that knife could cut into either one of us instead of the straps. When the last strap released, it lessened the sensation of being pulled in opposite directions. We might make it through this.
My grip abruptly gave out. Pain slammed into me. My eyes squeezed shut as I waited for the first hoof to land. The world turned eerily silent once more. Then we were moving again, but this felt different. My stomach dropped, and my head got fuzzy from the speed. Someone rolled me onto my back and removed the helmet. The tickle of soft grass pressed against my cheek. Bright light pushed against my closed eyelids. Was I dead? My eyes squinted open to find the anxious face of Chaos leaning over me.
“Damn it, I must be in hell,” I mumbled.
Strong hands cupped my face. Firm lips stole my breath. This hot and cold thing with him was going to give me whiplash. Chaos lifted his head to stare down at me. Unfortunately, my big inhale to rant at him made my chest feel full of broken glass. Crying out,
I tried to curl up into a ball, but that made it worse. My arms flopped uselessly. My skin was raw and burned everywhere the sun touched.
Molly knelt by my side as Chaos shouted orders above me. Her long-sleeved tunic was ripped in several places. Her hands were bloodstained and two of the fingers on her right hand were clearly broken. Whimpering, I could only take shallow breaths as I lay as still as possible trying to ease the pain.
“Hang on, Lia. The doctor will be here soon.” Molly pushed my damp hair out of my face. Even that small movement made me wince, and she withdrew her hand. “You were so brave. You saved us both. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve been around the Games since I was a kid.”
I tried to talk, but the pain had leached my voice from me. Molly gave me a sip of water from the palm of her hand. Where she got it from would have to be a question for another day. Waves of pain wracked me as she continued to talk. Soon the doctor came and with him fresh pain as he prodded my battered body. The diagnosis was cracked ribs, both shoulders dislocated, and sprained wrists. That was on top of all the cuts, scrapes, and bruises.
Bless that doctor; he prescribed some really potent painkillers that went to work almost immediately. Lots of bed rest was in my future. Chaos ordered a bedroom set up right there in the woods instead of making me suffer the journey all the way back to my own room. People scrambled in every direction to do his bidding. Mr. Bossybutt was handy to have around sometimes. I wonder if he does dishes? If you could get rid of the asshole and keep the sexy, women everywhere would be lining up to get one.
Grace came over and shook her head at the battered pair of us. She sent Molly to be looked over by the doctor and I could hear her complaining the whole way. Grace pulled my hair from its half dangling ponytail and brushed her fingers through it while humming softly. The sound coupled with the soothing motion was relaxing.
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 15