My heart ached painfully for my dead friend but I had to know why all of this had happened. “That time on the basement stairs when it got really hot, that was you?”
“Yes,” he admitted, tears welling in his dying eyes. “I heard from the servants that you had angered the Kyrion and made him snap at them. I wanted you to leave before he fell further under your influence.”
“We were training, and things got a bit out of hand,” I explained vaguely, not wanted to dredge up what Bennett had put me through that day. “The note to send out the runners to Paris and the attack at the pool, was that you too?”
The guide’s brow knitted in confusion. “But you wrote the note? What attack?”
I stared at him. If neither of those had been Christos, who else was out to see me removed from the House of Chaos?
“Never mind,” I replied. “What I want to know is why you decided I had to die?”
His breath wheezed for a moment, and he coughed up more blood.
“My daughter, Selene, is a strong and dutiful woman. She has fought hard to get where she is today. I only wanted what was best for her and my people.” He grimaced as the coughing shifted the sword, and I reached to pull it free. His bloody hand grasped mine, clasping it with the sword to his punctured chest.
“No, my lady. If you pull the sword out the blood will flow free, and I will not be able to say what I need to. Today, when you damaged Kyrion Calidora’s painting, my daughter cried for the first time since the day our lady died. I could not stand to see my little girl in pain. I overheard a part of your argument with Kyrion Bennett in the conference room and saw that you are his weakness. I could not let you continue to hurt either of them.
“I have dishonored my daughter and betrayed my Kyrion with my actions.” Pain dug harsh lines across his brow as if his actions hurt worse than the sword buried in his chest. “I do not ask for me, but my daughter’s sake. I beg that you spare her the burden of my mistakes.” He gripped my hand tightly until I nodded, and the tension left his body. “I’m sorry, my lady. My daughter was wrong to try to force you into the likeness of Kyrion Calidora. Just as I was wrong. I let a father’s and soldier’s fears drive me to this disgrace.”
“Shhh. Save your strength,” I pulled at the rip in my shirt and pressed the torn cloth around his wound. My lonely highway trembled deep inside me as images of another man lying dead because of me and the body of my friend lying only feet away tried to overwhelm me. I pushed it back down and focused on the here and now.
“W-would you let me tell you my story, my lady?” Christos swallowed thickly, his eyes filling with tears. “Maybe someday you can find it in your heart to tell my daughter.”
“Stay with me, Christos, so you can tell her yourself,” I pleaded and mentally called out to Selene.
“It’s too late for me, my lady,” he gave me a tired smile. “Please.”
“Tell me your story,” I said, swallowing thickly as tears slipped down my cheeks. We had both lost enough today. “I’ll make sure your daughter knows it.”
His fingers trembled with his failing strength as he unzipped his chest pocket, pulling out a photo and a black medallion in the shape of the House of Chaos symbol and thrust them into my hand. “I met the love of my life the year after I finished my guide training,” he began with a wistful smile. “I was selected as guide for our House during the Games that year. Back then there were many spectators for the Games. Great feasts were had, and all manner of ceremonies took place, even bonds. My love was the only daughter of a powerful family there to complete the Bonding Ceremony with a man she had been promised to. We knew as soon as we saw each other that our bond was true, but her father would have never let her become the bond-mate of a guide with weaker powers than her own. We met in secret as often as we dared right up to the day of her bond ceremony.
“It broke my heart to see her claimed by another, but what could we do? She would never have survived life as an outcast,” he coughed, and blood flecked his beard. “I didn’t know she carried my child until she showed up at my station one day nearly five months later. Her family had disowned her. Kyrion Calidora heard our conversation and took her in. We were to be bonded, but she died giving birth to our daughter.” A single tear slipped from the corner of his eye as he turned his head toward me. Regret and longing were laid bare on his face. “I was too caught up in my own mourning to be a father. By the time I realized my error it was too late, and my daughter had become a strong, beautiful young woman. There is not a day that goes by that I do not regret never being there for her and telling her how much I have loved her.” His hand tightened on mine once more. “Please, if there is any mercy you can spare, not for me, but for her, will you tell her that her father died an honorable death?”
Tears continued to slip down my cheeks, and I swallowed down the lump in my throat to say, “I’ll tell her the truth. That you protected her and your people until your last breath.”
His gaze returned to the sky and a surprised smile bloomed across his face. “Milli, my love. I’ve missed you.”
His chest heaved a last ragged breath, and great wracking sobs shuddered through me. Was everyone around me destined to die? Was the future I saw in my dreams inevitable? No, I wouldn’t let that happen: I would save the people I loved or die trying.
I folded Christos’s hands across his chest. Then shoveled a hole in my lonely highway and tossed in the guilt and heartache to be taken out at a different time when I could deal with them. I stuffed the photo and medallion into my jeans pocket. Sobs continued to wrack me as I dragged myself across the ground to Grayson, pulling his still body into my arms and cradling him against my chest. Then I felt his heart beat faintly under my bloody fingertips. I gathered my powers once more and let them flow through me, but I didn’t know how to direct them. Healing had never been a conscious thing for me—it happened automatically when I was injured. The red flares I saw inside me were my fire power and the green were—apparently—my earth power. What did my healing power look like?
I bowed my head and pressed my cheek again Grayson’s. He was the only person who believed in me and stuck by me without fail. I couldn’t lose him. His chest lifted on one final shuddering breath, then went silent. An anguished wail spilled from my lips as I rocked his limp body and smoothed back a lock of his unruly hair.
Gods, please help me save him. I will do anything that you ask. Please!
24
I pressed my palms to Grayson’s lifeless chest and fire shot out around my hands burning away sections of his shirt. The fire died away and vines slithered from between my fingers to wrap around his torso. I angrily ripped the useless vines from him and tossed them aside. My right fist pounded against the stone floor, and I watched as my knuckles healed, but no light flared inside me that I could grab onto and force into Grayson. I couldn’t find the source of my healing powers no matter what I tried.
“Bring him back. Do you hear me. You fucking gods can’t have him.” I wiped the tears from my face and tipped my head back to shout at the starry sky above. “Damn you, help me! I’ll be the weapon in your war. I’ll piece together the prophecy. I’ll do whatever you want, just bring him back.”
The familiar thump-thump, whir, tickety-tock sound of the Moirai filled the air. Then the God of Chaos’s voice boomed, “Remember what you have promised, creation.”
Warmth built along my spine and a golden light glowed around my hands where they rested on Grayson’s chest. The warmth increased until I was sweating, and the light spread over his body, blinding me. My glowing ball of powers pulsed, growing larger. Then the world dropped away as we were teleported.
We landed in a meadow with Grayson still clutched tightly to my chest. The grass swayed around us, brushing along my arms and legs as if to comfort me. I recognized the training floor of Titan Tower, but something was different. The air felt oppressive and still, as if in anticipation of something. But my attention was captured by the faint rhythmic beat that wa
s growing under my palms. I held my breath, barely daring to believe that the God of Chaos would bring Grayson back to me. Suddenly, his body jerked in my arms, and he gasped for breath. I closed my eyes sending thanks up to the heavens.
Grayson’s eyes opened, and he looked up at me in confusion. “My lady, are you all right?”
I laughed feeling overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. Grayson gripped my hand in his as if he too needed that connection right now to reassure him that we were both alive.
“I’m fine,” I said, my voice raspy from the tears and shouting. “How do you feel?”
I helped Grayson to sit up and the cut on my thigh protested the movement. The bloody gash looked deeper than I had realized and burned as my weakened powers slowly began the healing process. Grayson ran his hands over his chest, wiping away the blood to reveal only a faint white line where the sword had pierced him. “I feel ... amazing. How can that be? I remember the guide stabbing me and going after you, my lady.”
“The important part is that we’re still alive,” I said, not wanting to talk about what happened with Christos or my deal with the devil—er, god, “but don’t ever jump in front of a sword like that again.”
“I cannot make that promise where you are concerned, my lady,” Grayson said, sounding sorry for worrying me but determined to do it again if necessary.
Before I could lecture him, shouts rang out around us as someone noticed our presence. I called out for a doctor, wanting to make sure Grayson was really ok. A few minutes later a doctor appeared next to us. He checked Grayson over, declaring him healthy but recommending rest after I explained what had happened. My identity wasn’t questioned here and within moments servants gathered around us clamoring to offer their assistance. I ordered Grayson to be taken to my old rooms on the contestants’ floor to rest. Thankfully, the doctor was in agreement and the shot he gave Grayson knocked him out before he could protest too much.
I refused to be carted off and used my Kyrion-in-training status for the first time to order them all away. My powers were replenishing, and I was nearly all healed. I didn’t need babysitters, I needed answers. Now that Grayson was safe, I could give my attention over to the growing feeling that something was wrong here. The servants had been very persistent about wanting me to leave this floor until I flat out refused. Why had the God of Chaos brought us here? What didn’t the servants want me to see?
Tree limbs groaned and popped in the forest several feet to my left. Whispers echoed through my head that I somehow knew came from them. The Goddess is woken. Dia has died. Gaia’s warrior Kòri is born. Dia is Chosen. Dia is Kòri. Dia is born. Dia. Dia. Dia. I envisioned a door in my mind and slammed it shut, locking out the cacophony of whispers. Three words they had said echoed through my mind. Dread pooled in my stomach as I frantically climbed to my feet under the sheer force of adrenaline. I had watched one person die today, and another be brought back from the dead. The pavement of my lonely highway strained with the pressure of the nightmares seeking to escape, and if anything had happened to Dia it would break wide open.
I started toward the elevators but stopped when I noticed a gathering near the lagoon. Not more than fifty yards away the six guides representing each House in the Games formed a wall around the lagoon area. Beyond them I could see the Kyrion, Dia’s grandmother, and another woman gathered around some kind of large egg-shaped rock. My heart beat heavily against my ribs as I approached the area not knowing what I would find but some sense telling me it wasn’t going to be good. The line of guides refused to allow me through, so I teleported to the other side slamming into a solid wall of muscle. Bennett gripped my arms, keeping me from darting around him.
“Lia, my gods, what happened to you?” Bennett brought my hands up between us and flecks of dried blood sloughed off. I couldn’t focus on the blood on my hands or it would pull me down into the pit of nightmares under my lonely highway.
“I’m fine,” I replied absently, as I peered around his shoulder. Jaxon leaned over the egg-like rock, caressing its surface. His hair was a mess, his usually spotless clothes were ripped and dirt-smeared. “Where’s Dia?”
“Were you attacked? Is this your blood?” Bennett gripped my shoulders trying to get my attention, but my senses were tingling telling me Dia was in trouble. That fickle-ass god wouldn’t make me trade one friend’s life for another, would he?
I called Dia’s name and asked where she was, but no one would answer me. I should have stayed. I shouldn’t have let Bennett take me away no matter how mad Dia had been. I should have made her talk to me and stayed to work this out. Oh gods, please don’t let her be dead. I would give up everything to keep my best friend safe. My powers grew as fear ate at me. Someone shouted that the meadow was growing taller and the trees were swaying restlessly. Fire ignited around my hands.
“Lia, you need to remain calm.” Bennett cupped my cheeks forcing my eyes up to his and ran his fingers through my now mostly shoulder-length hair to grip it at the base of my neck. “Look at me. Focus. I will tell you what we know, but you have to calm yourself.”
I swallowed down the fear that wanted to overtake me and took a shaky breath. “This is me being calm. Now, tell me what’s happened to Dia.”
He held me a moment longer, a flash of something that looked a lot like pain and longing darkening his eyes before the shields came down. “Jaxon and Dia have become bond-mates. He was tracking her progress in the competition through their connection. She won by finding the true entrance to Pètra Skià Kàstro—Stone Shadow Castle. But she opened a portal in one of the monoliths and fell through.”
My breath sucked between my teeth, and I gripped Bennett’s button-up shirt. Inarticulate sounds spilled from my lips as I tried to draw breath around the terror lodged in my throat. His hands grasped mine. “As best Jaxon can tell, she fell into the underworld and woke Gaia. After that, their connection cut off. All we know is that Dia used Jaxon’s Kyrion name—Eros—to call him to her. He teleported to Shadow Ridge where the castle sits and found the other contestants gathered around that egg-shaped boulder of lava rock.” Bennett nodded his head to the rock Jaxon was whispering to near the edge of the lagoon. “Jaxon has not been able to feel Dia through their connection but one of the contestants swore he saw her curled inside the rock.”
I rested my head against Bennett’s chest taking comfort from his nearness. His fingers brushed gently along my cheek, but he didn’t hug me to him or kiss my head. Then everything that had happened between us earlier hit me, and I pushed away from him.
“I want to see her,” I demanded.
“The rock is solid and has withstood all attempts to break the surface. We cannot use heavy equipment for fear of hurting Dia. There is nothing you can do.” The ruthless leader of the Paldimori stared down at me from the face of the man I loved. “The Kyrion are deliberating over other alternatives. You will wait here until we give you permission to approach the rock.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the Kyrion, who had been close enough to hear his order.
“Damn you, Bennett. Don’t pull that Kyrion bullshit with me. This is Dia we’re talking about, my best friend—my sister.” Green and red lights lit up my core reacting to my anger. My powers twined together even stronger than they had been before. They clamored to ride the wave of the jumbled ball of emotions building in me.
“Regardless, you will obey my orders,” Bennett said in a cold voice.
“Let me through,” I demanded, standing my ground. My voice cracked as I confessed, “I need to see Dia.”
For a split second his frosty look thawed, and I thought he would relent. “Stop,” Selene’s command split through the tense silence like a whip. She teleported across the area to stand by Bennett. The composed shell of the Diplomatic Doll had cracked revealing raw pain and a searing loathing entirely directed at me. I gulped at Selene’s white-knuckled grip on the sword at her hip, expecting her to behead me at any moment. The tension mounted as she communicate
d telepathically with Bennett, never moving her eyes off me.
Bennett took in my ripped shirt and bloody body. His face was pale as he insisted, “Tell me what happened at the temple.”
My throat locked up around the words. I looked down at my blood-stained hands seeing Christos’s face as he breathed his last breath. In my mind he morphed into the man from my time on the streets, those lifeless blue eyes accusing me as his blood dripped from the knife in my hand. My breath hitched when the scene in my head changed to the fork in the road on my lonely highway. The swirling wall of mists to my left turned darker and inky black tendrils spread across the landscape, leaving in its wake dozens of bodies. Bennett lying in a pool of blood. Molly crushed beneath a fallen wall. On and on it went. It shook me so badly that it took me a moment to realize Selene was talking.
“… ran her sword through Guide Christos Athan’s chest,” Selene accused.
“It was an accident!” I shouted, shoving my way free of the images that filled my mind like a horror show.
“As the desecration of Kyrion Calidora’s painting was an accident?” Selena asked with bitter disdain.
Several of the other Kyrion mumbled in outrage. A shield popped up around us like Jaxon had used at the police station to keep others from overhearing us. I could see it now, extending out around the three of us like a snow globe. The other Kyrion stood outside of our bubble watching with various reactions: Nyx and Tartarus seemed disappointed to be missing the drama, Erebus was quiet and watchful as always, while Gaia pursed her lips in typical disapproval where I was concerned. Jaxon was still trying to release Dia from the rock.
Hold on Dia, I’m coming for you.
“I shouldn’t have lost my temper and damaged your mother’s painting,” I admitted. “But I didn’t mean to kill Christos.” Thinking quickly, I made up the most believable lie that wouldn’t incriminate either of us. “There was a fight. One of the Omàda must have slipped into the city. It was dark and when I turned, he was just there.” I blocked out the feeling of the sword in my hand as I stood over the dying man. “Christos died trying to protect his people. Please you’ve got to believe me. I would never—”
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 65