I groaned, but the pain refused to leave my head.
“Of course,” Hansel replied, chuckling. “Let’s get you cleaned first.”
The rest of the night went by in a blur. I vaguely recalled him stripping me, tenderly peeling the fabric off my body and sponging me clean. He gave me a massage as he showered me, too, relieving the aching in my muscles.
Hansel cradled me in his arms. He hooked one arm around my torso, and another behind my knees. I sluggishly wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed myself to sink deeper into his embrace. “You’re really strong,” I said.
He chuckled again. “Thank you. Maybe we should get you drunk more often. I’m liking the compliments.”
“Your hair’s really pretty, too, and your muscles are super squeezable. Never let me go.” I yawned.
“Are you sure you’re not just referring to my biceps?”
“Biceps?”
“Nothing. Just remembering the first time we met. I was really happy that I was assigned to you.”
“Were you?”
“I was drawn to you the moment our eyes met.”
I hummed in satisfaction, liking how butterflies formed in my belly because of his admission. “You’re mine, Hansel.”
“That I am.”
“For how long?”
“As long as you want me to be yours. Hopefully forever.”
I kissed his jaw. “I’ll do my best to be a goddess after we save Devon. We’ll get everything sorted. Then we can stay together.”
“I’ll steal whatever time I have with you.”
I burped, ruining the sweet moment between us because my body just couldn’t seem to cooperate. Hansel didn’t seem to mind that I sounded disgusting, however. He leaned toward my forehead and planted a soft kiss there.
Theo was waiting for me in my bedroom. He’d fluffed up my pillows and lit scented candles, ensuring that my rest was as comfortable as possible. Hansel lowered me onto the bed, letting me sink softly into the cool, heavenly sheets.
“Tomorrow,” I drawled, unable to forget about Devon. “We have to get the life elixir as soon as possible.”
“We’ll worry about it later,” Theo said gruffly. He brushed my hair away from my face and pulled the quilt over me, tucking me in lovingly. “Focus on your own rest first.”
“That was good cake.”
“I’ll make sure you’re never lacking for cake,” Hansel said, chuckling.
I yawned again, then fell asleep right after that.
I woke up in the middle of the night.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept, but when I pried my eyelids open, the candles had been blown out and Theo and Hansel were gone. They must have gone back to their own rooms to sleep. I should ask them to start sleeping with me instead, although I wasn’t sure how they might feel about sharing the same bed. Nothing beat a good cuddle, and the thought of being sandwiched between Hansel and Theo excited me. Maybe that’d be too much to handle. It was possible to have too much love to go around.
Theo had left the curtains drawn, and outside the window, I saw the two moons of Haven shining brightly. It was still late at night, so I figured I should go back to sleep. I pulled the quilt closer to my face, snuggling deeper into the sheets, and my stomach grumbled.
Was I hungry?
That couldn’t be right. I’d eaten way too much yesterday. Then again, I had spent the last hour before I fell asleep puking into a bucket. Maybe I’d emptied the contents of my stomach so much that it was demanding to be filled again. A strange power tugged at the back of my mind, and somehow, I couldn’t help but feel like that power was what made me hungry. I clutched my stomach and willed it to stop grumbling so much. Stupid me and my killer appetite. I put it down to all that sugar I’d been shoving in my face. It gave me cravings at the worst times. Why didn’t being a half-blood also mean that I’d want food less? I got fat all the same. Back at the Sanctuary, I’d noticed some of the girls gaining weight because of the abundance of food. Only the goddesses seemed to have fast metabolisms and perfect bodies.
My stomach growled.
The hunger grew to unbearable levels, and my teeth ached. I looked around. What the hell was going on? A pull urged me to get out of bed and leave the room, and because I didn’t have much self-control, I pushed my quilt away and got out of bed. I slipped on the convenient pair of slippers Hansel had left at my bedside and moved toward the exit. Despite the moonlight, it was still difficult to see, and I had to squint to make out the dark edges of the furniture in the room.
I was so tired.
But being this hungry, there was no way for me to get any proper shuteye.
“Hansel? Theo?” I called as I pushed the door open. The corridors were empty. But of course they were. All my vassals had probably gone to bed, since it was the middle of the night.
I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I should fight through this tiredness and at least attempt to go back to sleep. No doubt I’d end up spending the next two hours tossing and turning while fighting hunger pangs, but I shouldn’t be wandering around a mystical centaur temple without permission to do so. Knowing myself, I’d likely trigger a trap and cause a giant explosion.
When I was about to return to the room and shut the door behind me, I spotted movement at the end of the corridor. A shadow zipped past the corridor again when I squinted to get a better look. I should be more afraid of strange, unexplained movements, but instead, the tug at the back of my mind drove me to curiosity, and I had an insane urge to find out what that thing was.
Damn. I was acting like one of those stupid people in horror movies who went after danger instead of running away. I blamed it all on the niggling, strange sensation at the back of my mind that made me unnaturally curious. I walked down the corridor, toward the shadow. Each time I made a turn and almost got lost, the shadow appeared, leading the way.
I made my way through the passageways, my slippers smacking loudly against the wooden tiles because I had no stealth skills, and climbed down a flight of marble stairs.
Where was this shadow leading me? It better not be someplace like the morgue. Slowly, doubts slithered through my thoughts. I really should be getting back.
Closer, a voice inside my head said.
Holy shit.
I stilled. Where the heck did that voice come from? My pulse raced. I spun around and climbed back up the stairs. Nope. My hunger pangs were getting unbearable, but I’d had enough of acting like some dumb chick in a horror movie. I was going to tuck myself back in, pretend my judgment had never faltered, and head off into the land of sweet dreams.
No! You can’t leave! Continue walking down the corridor.
“You need to take a chill pill,” I said to the voice. “Get out of my head.” I sounded confident, but inside, I’d turned into a nervous wreck. I hoped that the voice couldn’t sense my fear, considering it was inside me as well, sharing space with my emotions. “I’m going to bed.”
No! it shouted, this time in a nervous pitch.
I lost control of my limbs. They moved of their own volition. My eyes widened. What the hell? What was happening to me and why was I trapped in my own body? I fought against my limbs, tempted to yell obscenities at my legs and smack them, but my hands weren’t listening to me either. Mechanically, I continued walking until I reached a large garden with a purple tree growing in the middle of it.
I heard frogs croaking from the pond next to the tree. They sounded just as hungry as my stomach.
“Uh… Hansel?” I called, hoping he’d show up and save me from this nightmare. He was always there for me, and was it wrong for me to be this reliant on him?
Eat it.
“You don’t have to be so rude,” I said to the voice. “Can you say please?”
Eat it!
“Eat what, exactly?”
The fig.
“What fig?” I asked. “And I’m not going to do anything until you say please.”
Please eat the fig.
I raised
a brow. I didn’t expect the voice to respond to my reprimands. “You can let me go, you know. Give me back control of my limbs, because it’s really awkward not being able to move my arms the way I want to.” I thought I might push my luck.
Don’t make me repeat myself. Then, after some hesitance, the voice added, Please.
I snorted. At least whoever the voice belonged to knew how to be polite when carrying out their magical kidnapping. “I’m not sure what fig you’re—”
A magical force yanked my head upward. My eyes fell upon the fig the voice had been referring to. It was the first time I’d seen a glittering fig. Despite the dim moonlight, its purplish skin sparkled with faint twinkles of gold. My mouth watered at the sight, and it was impossible to resist. Eagerly, I reached up and plucked the fig from its branch. The texture was cooling and soft. I brought it closer to my lips, smelling its tempting scent. Then, unable to withstand the temptation, I bit into it.
I moaned and closed my eyes, reveling in the sensations that exploded in my mouth.
Never had I tasted anything this luxurious and sweet. This fig was heaven itself. A blessing from the goddesses. It was like fireworks inside my mouth. It was better than red velvet cake. More delicious than cake made from the blood of my enemies.
Okay, maybe that was a bad metaphor. The blood of my enemies didn’t sound very delicious.
Anyway, the fig was really, really tasty.
I opened my mouth, eager to take another bite, but something pressed into my back, digging into the area between my shoulder blades.
“That fruit isn’t for you to eat.”
I stilled. My grip over the fig slackened. “Uh, I can explain.” The thing that he’d pressed into my back felt sharp. A knife?
Benjie spun me around, then positioned the knife at my throat. He cornered me, and I backed away until my back pressed against the bark of the purple tree. “Explain, then.”
“There was this, uh, voice inside my head that led me here. It asked me to eat the fruit and was pretty adamant about it. I tried to ignore it and head back to bed, but it was really stubborn.”
“Is that so?” Benjie asked. “That sounds like convenient explanation. Any criminal can just blame the voices inside their head.”
“What’s the big deal?” I asked, shrugging. “It’s just a fruit.”
“What you just ate is the Fig of the Forest. Athena’s gift to the centaurs, the means we use to manage the forest, and a mark of power. I was meant to eat it tomorrow morning. The fruit is the reason we were celebrating today.”
No wonder it tasted so good. “Oh.” I lifted the fig and offered it to Benjie. “There’s still some left over.”
Benjie gaped at me, as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said.
“What?” I asked. “Seems fair. I only had one bite, and—” My headache and nausea returned, though strangely, my hunger pangs had disappeared.
Benjie took another step toward me. The knife dug deeper into my throat. “There is nothing fair about this. The powers of the hundred-year fig go to whoever takes the first bite.”
“So, I can talk to animals now?” I looked to the sky. “Will birds come and save me if I ask them to help me out?”
Benjie scowled. “No. I’m not sure how the powers work on half-bloods, just that it gives them the ability to talk to animals.”
“I don’t feel so good. You can lower your knife now. This headache is killing me as it is.”
“You’re in no position to negotiate. You owe the centaurs a great debt.”
Dread crawled its way up my chest. I’d gone and fucked up this whole mission now. Why couldn’t I have just stayed in bed like a good girl? “I’m guessing you’re not going to give me the life elixir?” How were we going to save Devon now?
Benjie shook his head. “Your debt is too great.”
“How can I repay it?” I pressed my lips together. “If you give me a ukulele, I can compose a song for you. Is that a fair exchange?”
Benjie looked at me like I was certifiably insane. Some people might vouch for the insane part, though I’d never been properly diagnosed. “You can pay for the fruit with your life,” Benjie said.
“I’ll pass,” I replied. “How about something else? My life isn’t really all that great. I mean, you’ll get a dead body, and what good will that do? I’ll be fertilizer, at best, and since I always mess up, I’ll probably be the kind of fertilizer that ends up killing all your plants.”
“You have the powers of the chiasma. Surely we can find a way to harvest it for a good cause.”
I frowned. “Was that what you were after?”
“King Axies will decide what to do with you.” Benjie unclasped ropes from the belt around his waist.
I didn’t want to be tied up, so I called to my love powers. It wasn’t ideal, but if Benjie fell in love with me, even for just a bit, I could convince him to pretend like none of this every happened and he’d let me go. I raised my hands, but before I could summon my powers, my nausea grew more intense. My powers wouldn’t appear. Something about the fig was interfering with them.
Benjie lifted my arm and began tightening the ropes around my wrist.
“I was hungry,” I said. “The fruit looked tasty. Surely I don’t have to die for such a simple mistake?”
“I can think of no other way you can repay us, other than your life, and centaurs believe in reciprocity.”
“I’ll add to that ukulele offer. How about washing your dishes? Everybody hates washing dishes.”
Benjie sighed. “You’re the noisiest criminal I’d ever had to arrest—”
Fire burst out in front of us, knocking Benjie backward. He patted his beard. A tuft had caught fire. A strong back appeared in front of me. It didn’t take long for me to recognize Liam and his long ponytail.
Liam sighed. “Why do you always get into trouble?”
“You’re protecting her now?” Benjie asked. “I thought we were friends.”
“I know what you did, Benjie,” Liam said. “I may be your friend, but as Cara’s vassal, it’s my duty to protect her from threats like you.”
“Figures.” Benjie grabbed the small horn strapped to his waist and blew into it. The horn blared. Torches on the walls that lined the courtyard lit up.
Liam grabbed me and pulled me with him. “Run,” he said.
He raised a hand behind him and summoned a wall of fire, separating us from Benjie. The fire licked across the ground, bathing the courtyard with its orange glow. Suddenly, I saw everything clearly, especially the frustration that contorted Benjie’s face.
Benjie tried getting past the wall of flames, but they burned too strongly.
“We’ll find you, Liam!” Benjie shouted. “The centaurs will have Cara!”
Liam burned a hedge that blocked our path. “This way,” he said. “I know the Garden well. They shouldn’t be able to find us if we use the routes I’m familiar with.”
“You’re helping me,” I said, surprised.
“What else can I do?” Liam asked. “It’s my job.”
“Just because it’s your job?” It was difficult to keep up with his pace, especially with how sick I was feeling, but I had to, since we had no time to waste.
“That’s all there is to it.”
My chest tightened, and strangely, I hoped that Liam had a better reason for wanting to help me.
Chapter 5
With Liam’s direction, we were out of the centaurs’ compound in no time. We didn’t even stumble across any of them, even though the entire temple was in an uproar. The lights flickering around us glowed with a venomous red.
I’d eaten the centaurs’ precious fig, and they wanted me to pay.
Liam led me through a forest. We’d stopped running about an hour ago, but since then, we’d been walking aimlessly. I wanted to rely on Liam for some direction, but as Benjie had said, Liam always got lost around these forests, and I couldn’t rely on him to lead the way properly.
“Wha
t now?” I asked. The sick feeling wouldn’t leave me, and all this exertion wasn’t helping. Hansel and Theo were still with the centaurs. I hoped they were okay. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost them as well.
“We’ll figure something out,” Liam replied.
“Which means we have nothing figured out.” I sighed. I pulled at Liam’s sleeve to slow him down. He’d been looking grumpy ever since we left, and I wished I had more cheerful company instead. “Can we take a break? I think I’m going to throw up again if I push myself any further.”
“Please don’t throw up. I don’t like the smell of vomit.” I noticed him slowing down for me.
“Geez. Thanks for your concern.”
“You’re welcome.”
Liam stopped. He’d picked a spot where there was a sturdy, comfortable rock that could serve as a seat. I sat on it, then rested my elbows on my thighs. I looked at the ground and blinked hard, hoping to get rid of the sickness. It barely lessened. “The centaurs want to kill me,” I said. “Didn’t think things would go that way.”
“I had a suspicion.”
“Did you?”
“King Axies had been looking at you strangely throughout the feast. I knew he had something up his sleeve.”
“Why do they want my life?”
“The centaurs are power-hungry. They don’t like that the goddess council has control over the chiasma, but their connection to the chiasma, and hence their powers, nowhere rival that of the goddesses.” Liam sat next to me, his thigh brushing mine. I tensed at his proximity. I didn’t notice how cold I felt until I sensed the warmth of his body, and thoughts about pulling him into an embrace ran through me. “Axies sensed the chiasma in you. He probably thinks he can use you for his experiments to gain more power. Losing control over the animals in the forests is a small price for something the centaurs have wanted for millennia.”
The Goddess Quest Page 5