“Don’t you want to please me? Make me happy? If you give me your father’s armies, win the centaurs back to my side… that would help me greatly. I will give myself to you if—”
Her sensual promises spiked into a screechy yelp. Liam snapped out of his desire at once. He shoved Aphrodite away and took a step back. His breathing had turned hot and heavy, his chest rising and falling sporadically. Liam sneered. He needed a shower after that loathsome denigration of his loyalties.
Fenrir was biting Aphrodite’s leg, pulling her away from Liam. His wolfdog had gotten his back.
A sinful thought raced past Liam’s mind as he unsheathed his dagger.
Should he kill Aphrodite now?
Perhaps that would be better for Cara. She didn’t deserve a mother who treated her this poorly, after all. And this act would tip the vassal war to the goddesses’ favor. Maybe he’d be able to use Aphrodite’s head as a bargaining chip.
Goddesses were difficult to kill, but not impossible. If he stabbed her enough times with his magicked dagger, she wouldn’t survive, and maybe with Fenrir distracting her, he stood a chance.
“My goddess!” someone shouted.
An explosion accompanied the frantic cry.
A messenger darted into the tent, his attire covered in blood. A deep gash marred the side of the left cheek, the skin surrounding the wound wrinkled and puckered.
“What is it?” Aphrodite said, her face a mask of rage. She turned toward the messenger with half her hair covering her face. She’d already kicked Fenrir off her ankle and subdued the dog with her magic.
“She’s here!”
“Who?” Aphrodite growled.
“Your daughter, my goddess.”
“Cara?” Liam asked. He abandoned his thoughts of Aphrodite and focused entirely on Cara. “Lead me to her.”
The messenger quivered. He looked like he’d just seen death itself. “She was here. Not anymore. She left the encampment in a state of disarray. We lost… lost many men, sir.”
Liam tried to remain levelheaded, but Cara always had a way of driving him crazy. “Where is she?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Liam strode toward the messenger and grabbed his collar. He lifted the messenger where he stood and said, “Tell me where she is, or I’ll break your fucking arms.”
“I can’t!”
“And why not?”
“She flew off. She came in so fast that nobody had time to subdue her. Not even Deimos. Took out a third of the camp and then escaped with what we have of the chiasma.”
Liam ran out of the tent, his eyes darting across the expanse. Wreckage surrounded him. Rubble and corpses and dying men. Liam tried to see past the carnage, searching for the love of his life.
The messenger stopped beside him.
Liam whipped toward the messenger. “Where is she?”
The messenger’s upper lip quivered. “I-I don’t…”
“Where is Cara?”
“She came and left like the wind, sir,” the messenger said, covering his face with his hands. “I’m so sorry, but I really have no idea.”
Liam pushed the messenger away, seeing no point in being close to him now that he was useless. He brushed his hand through his hair, willing himself to calm.
I’ll find you, he thought. Where are you?
He began a search around the perimeter, needing terribly to find Cara, but she was far too elusive, and he was met with disappointment.
Three
Cara
My head pounded. I pushed myself up into a seating position and drew my knees to my chest. I sat next to the crystalline lake of the chiasma, trying to remember how I’d gotten here in the first place.
And then it all hit me like a storm.
I shuddered. I’d gone on another killing spree. It wasn’t as bad as what happened when the angry entity had first taken over my body. But I’d caused more terrible deaths, nevertheless. Now, just like before, I was forced to face the horror of what I’d done. When the entity had control of my body, she enjoyed watching beheadings and disembowelments far too much, all while enjoying a good pot of stew. I’d tried to stop her when trapped inside her, but it was no use.
What did I do to deserve this? If the entire meaning of my existence was to destroy and kill, then I’d rather not exist at all.
I missed Pop-Tarts.
Red velvet cake.
Damn it, Cara, why do you always think about sugar when you’re upset?
I’d hated my apartment back on earth, but at least it was free of fucking genocide. I’d had enough of that shit. Couldn’t I go back to Earth, where most of the time my biggest problem was rent or what to eat for breakfast?
I wrapped my hand around my ankle. I was barely wearing anything. Just a simple frock. Despite my new, goddess-like body, the cold still chilled me. Or perhaps it was the fear that made me shiver. I needed to stop shaking. My teeth were chattering, and I thought I might bite my own tongue. My vision was still enhanced; my body still felt nimble. Trauma was, perhaps, the main thing that made me weak.
I blinked. I had full control over my body again. I reached around the edges of my mind. “Hello?” I called. My voice bounced off the cavern walls.
The entity had gone from my mind. I was myself again. Whole.
She hadn’t even said goodbye.
Good riddance.
I wasn’t going to miss that crazy thing one bit. It was great that she was gone.
But was she really gone?
I couldn’t believe it. I’d lived with her for so long, always so briefly aware of her presence that her absence made me feel like something was missing.
A hollow sensation flowed through me. It was the first time feeling this empty was a good thing.
Closing my eyes, I tipped my head toward the ceiling. Gradually, I embraced the sensation of being free. I didn’t have to live while being afraid of the entity anymore. I could be myself.
Even then, the weight of the crimes I’d been compelled to commit hung in my chest.
Best not to think about it. I was a goddess with a new body and less baggage to go with it. I’d come a long way from being the scared child at the orphanage. Maybe with this, I could rectify my mistakes. Find redemption and all that jazz.
It was a sickeningly positive way of looking forward.
Was there such a thing as too much positivity?
Did I really deserve to think like that after all I’d done?
“How long are you going to sit there like that for?”
I jolted, stunned by the new company. When I opened my eyes again, my eyes landed on a man I didn’t recognize. He smelled like fire. Even when I sat so far away—at least fifty feet—his presence was so bright and alarming that I couldn’t ignore him. How had I heard him so clearly?
The man wore no shirt. His only article of clothing was a loose pair of pants. He seemed vaguely familiar, but I failed to remember where I’d seen him before.
“Hello,” he said, his voice ringing clear. He lifted himself from his crouching position and ambled toward me. The man had bright orange hair. His eyes were like two big moons. He was tall, his body carved with perfection—muscular, tan, and lithe. The lights that reflected off the crystals next to the lake lit him, adding to his larger-than-life image.
He was the definition of beautiful.
A god.
My breathing grew shallower as the man neared. Up close, I noticed a symbol on his forehead. It was the sun and moon. The symbol reminded me of an intricate tattoo. As he knelt before me, I resisted the urge to brush my thumb across his forehead. He paused, his face merely inches from mine.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Cara,” I replied. My answer came as almost a choked whimper. I sensed hidden magic shifting inside this man. He held unimaginable strength. I quaked in his presence, shrinking back. With his moon-like eyes, he stared at me with heated intensity. Tension travelled down my spine as I inched backward.
/> “Beautiful name,” he said. “And what is mine?”
“Yours?” I asked, withholding disbelieving laughter. “Don’t you know your own name?” Had this guy been knocked on the head? I took ten points off his attractiveness for his daftness.
Then again, he didn’t really feel stupid. What he projected was… absent-minded innocence.
“No,” the man said.
“Hm.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he playing games with me? Acting all clueless so I’d let my guard down? Maybe he was sent by the goddess council. I wished they’d send me my vassals instead. I missed them so much. I’d do anything just to have my arms around them again, having them take care of me like they usually did. Now, alone with a stranger, I had to toughen up and be more cautious. “I’ll call you, uh, Amber, then. ‘Cause, you know…” I gestured at his hair.
The man glanced down, picking up the edge of his orange braid as he did so. “Amber. I like it.”
I thought he needed something more threatening, however. He had the presence of the sun.
“Are you a vassal?” I asked.
“What is a vassal?”
I blinked at him. Where had he been all this time? I thought that everyone in Haven knew about the vassals. Was he from Earth, perhaps? One of the poor, kidnapped souls like me? But that couldn’t be it. He held too much energy and power.
I offered him a one-shoulder shrug. “Vassals. Hm. They’re protectors of goddesses who are bound to indentured servitude. They have elemental powers. Sometimes they’re nice, sometimes they’re assholes, but they’re pretty awesome for the most part.”
Amber raised a brow, indicating that he didn’t understand a word I was saying.
I sighed. “What do I do with you?” What should I do with myself, even? Should I return to the goddesses? I figured that they were still mad after what I’d done the last time I came here. They all probably wanted me dead for killing their comrades.
I raised a hand. “Here,” I said. “Pull me up.”
Amber gave me a weird look, but he didn’t argue. He tugged my arm, helping me stand. I hissed when my skin met his. I let go of him and fell right back onto the ground. “What the hell? Why are you burning?”
I pressed my hands together to abate the stinging sensation. It disappeared quickly enough. My new body healed faster than my semi-human one.
“Am I?” Amber asked. He glanced at his hand and frowned.
“Yeah. You’re like a furnace,” I said.
Amber concentrated on his hand. He pursed his lips before offering me his palm again. “Try this.”
“I’m not touching you again.”
“It won’t burn. I promise.”
I wanted to decline, but Amber looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. Despite the power that simmered beneath his surface, he gave off an adorable vibe.
“Damn you,” I said. I reached out, accepting his hand. His temperature had dipped, and the handshake we shared was just like a normal one. This time, he helped pull me to standing. Now that we stood side to side, I noticed that Amber was three heads taller than me. He was taller than most of my vassals, even. His size was intimidating, but his cluelessness gave me second thoughts about whether I should be afraid of him.
Amber pulled my hand closer to his before brushing his lips across the back of it in a princely gesture. His action caught me off guard. I tried prying myself away, but his grip was as tight as iron. “I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to talk to you.”
“Have we met before?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Do you know anything?”
He shook his head and gave a dimpled smile. “Just that you’re with me.”
My insides coiled. I couldn’t decide whether his admission was strange or charming. I glanced to my side, temporarily avoiding his gaze, and blew out a weary breath.
Amber turned my head so that I faced him. He stared into my eyes, studying me with a curiosity that sent uneasiness zipping down my spine. He inspected me like I was something new to discover. He gently traced across my forehead, down my cheek. He stroked the side of my neck, and that was when I’d had enough. I moved backward and distanced myself from him. Amber continued staring at me with wonder. There was nothing wondrous about me, except for maybe a tongue that couldn’t control itself and an unexplained penchant for loving to lick things. The entity inside me had disappeared, which made me just another boring goddess.
“Don’t you want to go back to Earth?” he asked. “Do you miss the place? Don’t you want to continue singing? Making music? Goddess duties might be too much for a simple girl like you.”
I stilled. “How do you know so much about me?”
Amber cocked his head, his gaze unwavering. “It simply feels like I’ve known you for a long time.”
Amber creeped me out. I moved forward, heading toward the exit. I kept my wings hidden inside my back. They were heavy, and keeping them away made my walking easier. “Let’s go and find the goddesses. Maybe they’ll know what to do with you.” They’d probably make him a vassal. Or maybe, because of the goddesses’ powerful magic, they’d be able to give this guy his memory back. Maybe then he’d be able to answer some of my questions and stop freaking me out.
Amber followed me in silence as I trekked over the rocky surface. When we meandered through the passageway, he came a little too close. His temperature might have risen again. I sensed the prickling of his heat close to my back. I bit my inner cheek as I suffered his presence. It wasn’t that I hated him. I was just… too attracted to him. And that attraction made me feel like I was betraying my vassals. They were supposed to own my heart—every inch of it.
Amber was hot.
He looked like he was carved from marble.
That was all.
He didn’t even remember his own name. How could I like a guy who didn’t even know who he was? He could be hiding all sorts of red flags for all I knew.
We left the caverns and reached outside. I dreaded stepping back into the battlefield. I’d wondered if there’d be any more dead bodies there. A reminder of my crimes.
But there were none. Instead, I was greeted with a lush field of white, fresh flowers. The landscape looked like it’d been resurrected and had new life breathed into it. I blinked at the gorgeous sight. This truly reminded me of heaven. Maybe I’d died and gone someplace else.
Amber held my hand again, ensuring that he kept his temperature level so he didn’t burn me. He tugged at my arm, and once he captured my attention, he pointed to his right. The chiasma was supposed to be there.
I readied myself to peer upon the offensive, large orb.
I stilled from shock.
“Amber?” I said.
“Hm?”
I pointed at the sky. “You know that there was something here previously, right?”
He shook his head. “Like I said, I don’t know anything at all.”
I rubbed my thumb over my nose. “So, you can’t understand.”
I placed my hands on my hips, completely miffed. Nothing made sense. Not Amber. Not myself. Not anything.
I kept my neck craned up.
The chiasma was gone and all I saw was blue sky.
Four
Cara
“You don’t know your real name?” I asked, filling the silence.
Amber shook his head.
We walked through a hilly landscape, following a dirt path toward the Sanctuary. I should be able to contact my vassals from there. I wondered how Liam was doing. I prayed to Clotho, hoping she could hear me, for her to do her best to save Liam. Would she even want to listen to me after what I’d done? Did the goddesses care that I’d gone missing? I wondered if Aphrodite thought of me at all. Maybe not. My own mother only cared for Clotho.
I recalled Liam being injured when I left him. If he didn’t turn out to be safe, I wasn’t sure how I was going to live with myself.
The sun beat down on Amber and me. It was sweltering hot. Haven didn’t
usually have such extreme temperatures, but the weather had decided to be mean today. It might be linked to the disappearance of the chiasma.
How and why did that happen?
Was Haven going to collapse on itself?
Amber’s strides were longer than mine, but with my new, goddess-like body, I didn’t find it difficult to keep up. A small river ran next to us. It meandered through jagged arrangements of rocks, its colors complementing the off-blue shade of the grass that covered these hills. I had a feeling the river was connected to the chiasma’s lake, since remnants of the chiasma’s sparkles showed in it.
“And you don’t even know what you are,” I said, more as a statement than a question.
Amber nodded. A gentle smile curved his lips as we trekked onward. I could see the Sanctuary in the distance, but it still looked like a long walk away. I knew I’d be able to get there much more quickly if I flew, but I wasn’t certain if Amber could keep up.
“Are you lying to me?” I asked.
Amber raised a brow and offered me a sideways glance.
“Pretending like you don’t know who you are to hide your true motives. Never know who to trust these days.” Not even myself.
Amber chuckled and shook his head. In his low, smooth voice, he said, “You’re overthinking things.”
“Am I?” I sniffed. “Nothing’s making sense. The chiasma is gone. So is that thing inside me. And then you…” I studied Amber like he was a mystery I had to solve. “I don’t know anything about you.” The goddesses should have more answers, but our way back to the Sanctuary seemed like an awfully long distance. I didn’t enjoy Amber’s company, not with his silence. What would my vassals say about him? I noticed him walking too closely to me. Light grazes. Touches here and there, like the brushing of my hip or my fingertips. Was he interested in me? Or did he just do this with people because he didn’t know any better?
Goddess Academy: The Complete Reverse Harem Collection Page 56