Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set

by T. L. Callahan

  My heart clenched, and my panting breaths hitched. I was back in the flower field as another image filled my head of Molly West kneeling over my dead body, sobbing. A scream pierced the air, and Grace’s body fell to the ground, her neck bent at an odd angle. Molly stumbled away from my body to throw herself across Grace’s lifeless form, sobbing even harder.

  Then I was back in the gym once more with my ragged breaths fogging the mirror as I struggled to bank the fire that was now licking up its surface. Another photo slammed against the glass. This was a more recent picture of Molly—the girl who had become my friend before I had gotten her mother killed.

  “Is this the friend you abandoned to mourn you and her mother?” Bennett asked coldly, watching me squirm as if I were a bug on a windshield. “Your healing powers brought you back from the brink of death. But you never told Molly that, did you? She did not take the news of your return to the island well.”

  No, she hadn’t. Grief and regret filled me until my skin felt too uncomfortable to contain me. I had never gotten to tell Molly I was still alive, or how sorry I was for her mother’s death. There had been a brief moment of shock and happiness on Molly’s face when I had returned to Sotirìa days ago. That had quickly been replaced by a seething hatred, and then an icy wall of indifference as she walked away without a word. I couldn’t blame her. Bennett had kicked me off the island for my own safety after I had recovered from the arrow wound, but Natalie had found me and tried to kill me again. Then I had been in training trying to control my powers, so I didn’t accidentally kill someone. All that time had passed, and I had never reached out to Molly. Now it was too late, and there was no excuse in the world that was going to make things ok between us. But I wasn’t going to stop trying to reach Molly—or Dia.

  Power burned through my veins as the anger, fear, and pain ripped up portions of my lonely highway, leaving me exposed. In my mind, white light poured from my eyes again as I floated off the ground. Bennett stood beside me with his arms folded across his chest. “All of our lives are in your hands. Save us, Chosen.”

  The power swelled in me, feeding off the tidal wave of emotions. My shield lay in broken shards: the glass not strong enough to contain it any longer. Flares of white and red power lashed at me, looking for a way out. All the emotions pouring through me teased around the lights, stoking them higher. There was no way to close this Pandora’s box. If only I could teleport away somewhere that I couldn’t hurt anyone.

  But that wouldn’t solve the problem because the problem was me. It was time I hung up my running shoes. The power was inside me. It wasn’t like I could just rip it out. Holy shit! That’s it. I had been trying all this time to box it in, just like I had stuffed my emotions under my highway. Neither were meant to be imprisoned. The words Bennett had said to me earlier echoed through my head: “The power is a part of you. Embrace it and control it.”

  Instead of trying to put a shield around my emotions and my powers, I braided them together. Strands of anger, grief, and pain, I wove with the red flares of power. I stared in awe as my powers stopped fighting me. Before I could rethink my actions, I pulled open the door on my side of our connection. Bennett materialized at the threshold of his door, watching me closely. I held my chaotic ball of emotion-fueled powers in my hands. My gaze never broke from his as I held out my hands, offering him the powers he had wanted months ago when he tricked me into forming this bond. Now through our bond, I felt his surprise and his reluctance.

  “I do not want your powers, Lia,” he said.

  “I know you would never take them from me now,” I responded. I had been cautiously dipping my toe into this relationship waiting to get hurt again, but I couldn’t keep doing that to us. I needed to find a way past my own insecurities and fears. My love for this man was no small thing: it felt as vast and endless as the heavens. We were connected on every level, and it was time I stopped denying that. “I’m asking you to help me. To share the powers and show me how to use them.”

  A smile lit up Bennett’s face, and he reached for me. His calloused hands wrapped around mine, and the light pulsed between us as if it too was happy. Bennett didn’t try to force the light in any direction, mold it, or suppress it as I had done. He simply let it sink into him, caressing it, almost as if he were petting an animal. When he had gotten a feel for the power, his movements turned fluid and sure as he slowly began to pull on it. The power shot out through his body, filling him and shifting wherever he commanded. I copied his movements, and the power flowed through me, lighting up every cell of my body. I held up my hand and a flame flickered on my palm. Bennett smiled at me with pride. I had missed his smile so much.

  I pulled on more of the power, but it came forward too quickly. Suddenly, I was back in the Emerald Rainforest watching Dia being claimed by the Goddess Gaia. Her blood rained down on the ground; her mouth stretched wide in a silent scream. The power swelled through my body and burst out of me in a wave of white-hot fire incinerating everything around me: people, trees, and animals turned to ash before my eyes. Then I was back in the gym, my screams bouncing off the concrete walls. Bennett’s strong arms were around me rocking me back and forth.

  “It is not real, Lia. It is not real. Dia is fine. They are all fine. You did not hurt anyone.”

  “I killed ...” My hoarse voice tapered off into nothing.

  “It was a dreamscape,” Bennett explained, cupping my face in his hands and forcing me to focus on him. “It was not real. I had to reach your true emotions, not the surface that you let me skim.”

  “I ...” My fingers dug into his forearms to anchor me in the present, as my mind struggled to sort out truth from fiction. “Damn you, Bennett. Don’t ever do that to me again!”

  We were going to have to talk about our communication issues soon. I knew why he had done what he did, but I was so not ok with it. The dizzying mix of emotions and power I had expended had taken a huge toll. I dropped my head down to my chest, breathing deeply and tried to get my racing heart to calm down. God, that had been awful.

  As soon as we finished our training, Bennett was back to being his normal self, but I was finding it hard to switch gears that quickly. How could he go from being the brutal Kyrion to my loving boyfriend so easily? I felt terrible as pain flashed across his face when I flinched away from his kiss, but I couldn’t help it.

  “I cannot make promises where you are concerned,” Bennett declared.

  Forcing my emotions to the surface by dredging up all of those bad memories was a calculated move. Selene’s words came back to haunt me: “A Kyrion has to make hard decisions for the good of their people.” This had all the earmarks of Kyrion Chaos’s maneuvering. The problem was I was starting to wonder how much of Bennett was the asshat Kyrion Chaos, and how much of him was the man I had fallen in love with?

  “You can’t be a dictator about everything. And I’m really emphasizing the ‘dick’ part here.” I scowled at him, releasing my grip on his arms as the tension faded away. “I’ll admit that we made progress, but we’re gonna have a chat about your methods.”

  For a moment there my power had become a part of me, and we had worked in unison. That was a huge step forward, not only with my powers, but with our bond. For the first time Bennett and I had worked as a team. It gave me hope that we would work through all other challenges together.

  “There are some things I will not negotiate on,” Bennett stated firmly. “Your safety is one of them. But I look forward to hearing what will no doubt be your very colorful complaints about my methods,” he said wryly and tugged at a sweaty lock of my hair. “The progress you made today was far beyond anything we have achieved in our weeks of training. That was a brilliant move, learning to use your power by watching me through our connection.”

  “I don’t like you very much right now,” I grumbled and punched his shoulder. “You better make it up to me with chocolate or orgasms. Actually, I think both will be the price for the torture you put me through.”


  Bennett pulled me up off the mats as he rose, “I am sure I can work out a repayment schedule.”

  “Score one for the new kid.” I pumped my fist in the air. “I tamed the power beast and earned yummy prizes.” We stepped off the mats and I used one of the towels the servants had provided to wipe away the sweat. “Hey, I noticed something when I was reliving when Dia was being claimed. My powers were changing at the same time hers were. That can’t be a coincidence.”

  “No, there are few coincidences where the gods are involved. Do you think the Chosen share a connection similar to the bond?”

  “I don’t know, but the power that filled me that night was intense. If we get a boost every time a Chosen is claimed, I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to control it.” The grim looks on the faces of the other Kyrion when I had gotten that power boost flashed through my mind. I would be even more dangerous, and the other Kyrion knew it.

  10

  Bennett had been called away again as soon as we finished training. I refused an escort and took my time coming up the stairs from the basement. A million thoughts rolled through my head about Bennett’s behavior, my upcoming ‘wedding,’ the strange whispers I was hearing, and how I was going to plan a coronation. But overriding them all was an increasing urgency to continue my quest. It nagged at me like a mosquito bite that I was trying desperately not to scratch.

  As I neared the middle of the stairs, a cold draft caused me to shiver. Titan’s words floated through my head in a lilting female voice. “Find the twin Houses.” A picture flashed through my mind of two symbols: one a leaping stag silhouetted against a hunter’s moon and the second was the sun I had seen in my father’s study. The sun symbol for the House of Light—my father’s House.

  “Go now,” whispered that same female voice. The same voice I realized that had been trying to convince me to leave since this morning. The stairwell suddenly went dark and the air heated. A hard shudder wracked my body as it went from freezing cold to burning hot in only seconds. I struggled to breathe in the scorching air as I leaned against the wall for support, dropping to my knees as dry coughs seized my lungs. Then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over.

  “My lady,” Grayson called, coming into view at the top of the stairs. His boyish smile quickly turned to a look of concern as he spotted me kneeling on the steps and rushed down to help me to my feet. “What has happened, Adelfì?” he asked, calling me the Greek word for “sister” in his lightly accented Spanish voice. He had explained that the title meant something more like “one to whom I am sworn to serve and protect above all others.”

  I hadn’t found out until about a week ago when we were sparring, and I had ripped his shirt that Grayson was now marked with a small symbol over his ribs similar to mine where his original House of Shadows symbol once was. The idiot had forsaken his House allegiance and was now bound only to me. I had begged him to undo it, but he had told me he couldn’t be released until he had fulfilled his oath. The stubborn ass was going to get himself killed, and I already had too many deaths haunting me. The sight of James’s body lying broken in a field of hyacinths filled my mind. Dead eyes, their pale blue staring at me accusingly came next. My eyes prickled with the threat of tears, and I quickly turned away to continue up the stairs. Grayson followed more slowly, checking over the stairwell for any threats.

  “I’m ok,” I assured him when we reached the top. What had happened on the stairs was suspicious, but I hadn’t seen or heard anything to indicate where it came from. I wouldn’t make accusations against Bennett’s people without some kind of proof. I could only imagine how the people would react to their new Kyrion starting a witch hunt over a hot spot in the basement. “I must have been a little more worn out by training than I thought.”

  Grayson eyed me for a moment but then nodded. “You have been training hard, my lady. A break would be good.” He shifted uncomfortably as if there was something else he wanted to say.

  “C’mon, spit it out.” I nudged him with my elbow.

  “It is not my place to tell you this, my lady, but I think you should know. Kyrion Chaos ...” I held my breath as I waited for Grayson to reveal what Bennett was keeping from me. “He arranged a picnic for you this evening by the hot springs.”

  “Huh?” That wasn’t what I had expected him to say at all.

  “He has been trying to abide by your dating agreement, my lady,” Grayson’s cheeks flushed as he struggled to not give Bennett away.

  Relief hit me, and I dropped my arm around Grayson’s shoulders giving him a squeeze. Bennett hadn’t been hiding some dark secret. He had been taking dating advice and planning our dates with Grayson’s help. A giddy feeling of happiness filled me. “Someone has been studying up on dating.”

  “Uhm, well ...” Grayson seemed flustered for the first time ever.

  “It’s ok.” I laughed and patted his arm. “I knew Bennett was getting pointers from someone. I’d rather it be you than his brother. Jaxon’s idea of romance includes cheesy pickup lines and invitations to a hotel room.” That was how Jaxon had tried to hit on Dia the first time they’d met. Thoughts of my best friend put a damper on my giddy relief. I couldn’t teleport myself back to Sotirìa to check on her myself, so I had asked Grayson to do it. He had confirmed she was fine, but I was still worried. Please keep yourself safe, Dia.

  We moved down the hall toward the grand staircase. “Bennett probably ordered you to provide him a list of things boyfriends are supposed to do. I know the candlelit dinner a couple of weeks ago wasn’t his idea. If he becomes an overbearing ass with all the ordering people around that he seems to enjoy, you need to tell me, ok?”

  “He is the leader of all Paldimori, my lady.” Grayson neatly side-stepped my question. “He was the first ever to be born with the Archigós—the supreme leader mark. Kyrion Chaos has been trained since birth in his duties. He is confident and in control at all times, for that is what our people require of him. It is only where you are concerned that he is unsure of himself. If I may make a suggestion, my lady, please be patient with him.”

  Deep down, I felt a little more of my lonely highway crumble to dust. “He’s trying to do things the human way for me; the least I can do is be patient while we both figure this relationship out. Thanks, Grayson,” I said, discreetly giving his hand a squeeze in case anyone saw us. I was trying really hard not to break any more of the rules here.

  We passed by the hall that led to the library, and I could swear I heard the ticking of that countdown clock. I thought about the symbols I had imagined earlier and made a decision. I couldn’t roam around the world looking for the twin Houses right now, but I had somewhere else to finish searching. I pulled away and patted Grayson on the shoulder. “I won’t say a word to Bennett that you spilled his little secret but I need you to help me with something.”

  “My lady, I pledged myself as your personal servant and protector,” Grayson said with pride. “As my Kyrion and my Adelfì, I am yours to command.”

  “How about I just ask nicely?” I smiled mischievously. “Will you please take me to Mercer Island?”

  Grayson looked uneasily around the hallway. “I do not think leaving the House grounds is a good idea. I heard the servants talking about attacks along the towers at the base of this mountain. Our enemies have never attacked so openly in broad daylight before.”

  Grayson motioned for me to walk in front of him as a servant entered the hallway and gave me a passing bow. Several grim-looking Talosi exited the conference room as we were about to pass by. We stopped to watch as they paired off and headed to their assignments. When the doorway cleared, I saw Bennett and Selene facing a wall of monitors. A couple of other people sat at the U-shaped conference table that took up the middle of the room, their attention also on the monitors. The image of a burned-out square tower with bodies lying on the ground filled the TV screens. Men, women, and children—their bodies lying bloody and broken—were stacked up against the wall of the stone tower as if they
had tried to huddle there for protection. The body of a Talos soldier hung by a noose from the top of the tower, various weapons still embedded in his body, his blood staining the stone wall.

  Selene walked over to close the door before I could see anything more. Was this why they were meeting so often? My eyes met Selene’s just before the door closed, and I was almost knocked off my feet by the violence lurking there. It was a threat issued loud and clear that whoever had hurt her people would pay.

  Grayson and I didn’t speak again until we were standing outside my bedroom doors.

  “The image on the TV in the conference room,” I ventured hesitantly, “was that from today? What happened?”

  “Yes, my lady,” Grayson responded looking old beyond his twenty years. “An outcast village in the valley—people who choose not to pledge themselves to this House—were attacked. Several people fled here likely hoping to be granted mercy and taken in, but they only made it as far as one of the guard towers.”

  My stomach turned at the senseless killing. Our enemies wanted to wipe us from the earth all because the Paldimori were different from them, and they considered us weak. Grayson had once said that the Paldimori were hiding in the shadows. Maybe it was time for them to stop hiding and fight back. It was something to discuss with Bennett later.

  “What did you mean when you said they came here looking for mercy?” I waved to indicate this whole big cobbled together mansion that had plenty of room. “They’re descendants of the House of Chaos, right? Why wouldn’t they stay here?”

  Grayson rubbed the back of his neck looking uncomfortable. “The law says that those who refuse to pledge loyalty to a House are considered outcast. They are afforded none of the protections of the House, my lady.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” My hands landed on my hips as I glared at him. “I’m not pledged to this House either. Are you going to kick me out and leave me for our enemies to torture?”