Without a word, he rushed out the door and disappeared into the night.
“Fuck, Khara!” Casey snapped before launching past me to bury his fist in the wall next to the hole his ex-lover’s body had left behind. “You should have let me kill him! Now he knows where we live!”
“He will not be back,” I said. “His desire to live is too strong for that.”
“And if he tells others?” Pierson asked. He dared a look at my father, then back at me, his implication clear.
“Is this decrepit home of yours not warded properly?” Hades asked, looking around at what he undoubtedly viewed as squalor in comparison to his home in the Underworld.
“It is,” Pierson replied, the irritation in his tone plain.
“I guess we will see about that.”
Silence pressed upon the room like a brewing storm.
“I’m out of here,” Casey finally said. He stalked to the front door and disappeared through it, leaving the rest of us behind.
“Well, that was an interesting call,” Kierson said, a hesitant smile on his face.
“Killing the Dragon will not make things better for him,” I replied. “He just does not know that yet.”
Oz looked down at me, mischief in his eyes, and I knew the night would not be over soon.
“I leave you alone for one hour—one hour—and I come back to a shitshow.” A wicked smile cut through his countenance. “Maybe I shouldn’t leave you at all…”
“Or maybe you need not bother to return,” I countered.
“And miss all this? I think not, new girl.” His hand wrapped gently around my elbow and he pulled me closer. “You and I need to talk. Alone.”
I looked to my brothers. “Perhaps you should find Casey before he does something he will regret.”
They merely nodded in response, then headed out the front entrance.
“That thing sure is getting a lot of action tonight,” Oz said as he watched the door swing shut behind them.
“I am going back to bed,” Hades said before he disappeared up the stairs, leaving Oz and me alone, yet again.
“What do you wish to discuss, Oz?” I asked as I headed to the kitchen. All I wanted was food and sleep and perhaps a shower to wash the ash from my body. All I seemed destined for was yet another showdown with Oz that I was in no mood for.
“I think a recap of your evening is warranted first.” He leaned against the counter as I pulled a container filled with some meat-laden meal from the refrigerator. It smelled edible enough, so I pulled out a fork and stole bites whenever Oz found himself at a loss for words as I told him the tale of all that had occurred at the Masonic Temple.
“Casey and the Dragon, huh? Never would have put that together…”
“Perhaps you are not as clever as you like to think, Oz.”
He walked over, his body so close to the exposed bits of mine, and plucked the fork from my hand. He placed it in his mouth and wrapped his lips around it, withdrawing it so slowly that I wondered if I might starve in the process. I tried to focus on my hunger and not the other sensation coursing through my body at the sight of his full lips working against the metal.
“Was it clever to take on the Dragon when you had no idea if you could beat him?”
“We had little choice, and I decided that if I could slay Zeus, then I stood a fair chance against a damaged dragon.”
His narrowed eyes and the set of his jaw silently argued with my rationale.
“And now he knows your gift.”
I leaned against the fridge, arms folded. “What of it? That knowledge is of no help to anyone. It’s a warning to stay away, little more.”
“Maybe…just don’t develop a false sense of security because of it. You have no idea when you might face an enemy immune to your power.”
“You are not,” I said, taking the fork back and mimicking the show he had made of sucking it clean. The intensity in his warm brown eyes as he bore witness was something to behold. The fire behind them was undeniable—the warm glow of lust igniting them.
“No,” he said, biting the word out as though it pained him, “I’m not.”
The pressure building in the narrow space between us grew until it felt as though it might explode, blowing the two of us apart. Oz retreated a step to lean against the counter once again. He folded his arms across his chest and stared as I took another bite of my food. This time, I did not bother with theatrics. The tension in the room seemed far too volatile for that.
“Where were you this evening,” I asked, my tone casual.
“I had to meet with someone.”
“About my father? Persephone?”
“No. About you.”
I let the fork linger by my mouth for a moment before I set both it and the dish aside. Oz had my full attention, as was undoubtedly his goal.
“Who did you meet about me?” I asked, leaning back against the refrigerator door.
“Kaine.”
“Kaine?” I repeated. “Why?”
“Because he made it very clear in the alley that the little stunt I pulled in the Underworld wasn’t going to stave him off forever, new girl,” he explained, “so I decided to go on the offensive rather than wait around for him to show up again.”
“What did you do, Oz?”
“What I needed to—I bought you more time.”
“How?”
At that, he glowered. “However I needed to.”
“Ah,” I replied, feigning enlightenment, “we are back to that game again…how very unsatisfying this conversation will likely prove to be.”
“I don’t answer to you, remember?”
“How could I possibly forget? You lord that over me just as Deimos always did his power and position. For all that you despise him, you have much in common with my father’s second-in-command.”
“Tell me something, new girl, has Deimos ever sacrificed for you? Bled for you?” Answering his question would have done nothing to further my argument, so I remained silent, prepared to weather his storm. “Regardless of what I did to buy you time with the Dark Ones, that time isn’t infinite, and neither is my patience. I’ve said this before: you can’t play both sides. I won’t allow it. And trust me when I tell you, Kaine is not one you want to play with.”
“Neither is Deimos,” I added. That sentiment did little to improve his mood. “Tell me something, Oz: where am I right now?” I slowly closed the distance between us. “Am I not here with you?”
“Not by choice—”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Does that really matter now? Fate has set something in motion that I do not understand but will not turn my back on. Your presence in my life, though loathsome at times, has kept me alive until I was capable of doing so on my own. All I have ever asked of you in return was disclosure—a small request—and yet, even now, you cannot oblige it. So I will ask you once more: what did you do to buy me more time with Kaine and the Dark Ones?”
His jaw worked furiously, his teeth grinding hard. Oz was no fool; he knew if he did not handle the situation well, things between us would forever change. Judging by the set of his brow and the sharpness of his gaze, that was not an outcome he desired.
“I called in a past debt. Once the Underworld is restored, our time runs out.”
“And what then?” I asked, incredulity leaking into my tone.
“He’ll come to collect you—”
“Collect me?” I scoffed.
“I’m not actually going to let that happen,” Oz said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “But he has plans for you, Khara, and though I don’t know what, I know they can’t be good. Or noble. Or sane...”
“A weapon,” I mused aloud. “You said others would seek to use me as a weapon.”
“Most likely.”
“But I am not some insipid, powerless twit who can be owned or manipulated.”
“You don’t know what he’s capable of—”
“Nor does he know what I can do. Perhaps I should show him.”<
br />
“No,” Oz replied, his hand shooting to my arm. “If you ever encounter him, you need to keep your abilities hidden, do you understand?”
“No, I do not—”
“You have to trust me, Khara. You can’t.” Thinly veiled under all his anger and chaos was an urgency I could not unsee. A desperation that could not be ignored. “Not until I tell you it’s safe.”
I stared at him, so many things between us unspoken and yet palpable in the air.
“Help me restore my father’s reign and I will follow your directive regarding Kaine.”
His grip on my bicep loosened slightly and a ghost of a smile crossed his face. “I like how you added that little proviso at the end. You’re learning, new girl.”
I returned his expression. “I have an excellent teacher.”
His malicious smile returned. “I’m glad you’ve finally come to that realization.”
“Indeed. Now, if we are quite finished, I would like to get some rest.” He stepped back to allow me passage. “I will prepare a cot for you.”
“I don’t think I’m ready to move in with you just yet,” he said, smile turning mischievous. “That’s a bit next level for me.” He made his way through the living room toward the stairs.
“Where will you sleep?”
“Sleep? There’s no time for that. Someone needs to stay up and keep watch over your father.”
“He is my responsibility—”
“I can babysit Daddy while you get some rest. Threatening unsavory supernaturals is rather exhausting for a newbie like you.”
He flashed me a final grin before disappearing toward the second floor.
I quickly retreated to the stony basement, wondering how well his presence would be received by my father.
My hopes were far from high.
6
I awoke in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of bickering in the living room. I quickly dressed and made my way upstairs, concerned that yet another near-death fight could break out at any moment. When I arrived in the room full of arguing males, I could barely hear the knock at the door. They either did not hear it at all or did not care to see who was there. While they fought amongst themselves, I made my way to the foyer, the rapping at the door synchronized with the punctuated sound of my boots on the hardwood. When I finally reached the massive wooden door, I pulled it open to the most unexpected sight.
For once in my existence, I found myself unsure of how to react.
“It has come to my attention that you’ve been looking for me,” Persephone said tersely. “How convenient for me, given that I have been searching for you.”
The argument in the living room ceased in an instant.
“I think that an unwise decision,” I replied, forcing my words through a tightly clenched jaw. Anger had apparently won over my initial surprise at seeing my traitorous sister.
“Do you think me a fool?” she asked, looking past me into the house. “Would I seek out those who would wish me harm if I were, in fact, guilty of the crime for which they demand retribution?” I stared at her defiantly. “No, I think not, sister mine. What you should be wondering right now, Khara, rather than contemplating how best to kill me is: why am I here?”
Though I desperately wanted to dismiss her question as little more than one of her manipulations, there was an undeniable truth to it. To come to my brothers’ home was to deliver herself to a squad of executioners. Surely she knew this, if indeed she knew that we were looking for her. So why then had she come? To kill her without learning the motive for her actions would have been rash, an act of the heart, not the mind. Emotions may have coursed through my body, but they did not own me. My mind was far too strong for that.
“An excellent question, indeed, Persephone; one that I shall enjoy watching you answer as you stare down the blades of my brothers’ swords,” I said, stepping aside so she could enter. A wall of angry PC males awaited her entry. Just as she was about to pass, I caught her arm, gripping it tightly. “I suggest you make a compelling argument, Sister. And make it fast. The time for your games is over. Your family and your home have turned on you. You have nothing left. Now would be the time to throw caution to the wind and do something that I suspect will pain you greatly: tell the truth.”
Her eyes widened as my hand constricted her bicep, causing her pain. What I did not expect to find in her expression was fear; it flashed through her countenance as she stared at me, just as it had her mother’s when I visited her.
“Think of me what you will, Khara, but I would never have wished Hades harm.”
“I do not believe you,” I whispered, leaning in closer to her.
“You do not have to,” she replied, her normal arrogance returning. “As long as Hades knows the truth, that is all that matters to me. That is why I’m here. I need to find him.”
My eyes narrowed at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I need to find him. He had not returned to the Underworld when I departed. He is vulnerable above. I need to know that he made it back safely and was able to quell the darkness brewing below.”
“And you need us for that,” I said, my words a statement, not a question.
“Yes.” The word slid past her lips like a serpent’s tongue darting out. “I need you to go back and find him.”
“No,” I replied. “I will not go back there.” My thoughts wandered to the call of the darkness she spoke of. The memory caressed my mind sweetly.
“You would leave him to his fate?” she hissed, thrusting her face into mine. Her features were pinched together in anger.
“No, dear sister. I am afraid that was your path. I—and my brothers—have kept him safe in the wake of your treachery.”
Her face went slack. “He is here?”
Before I could answer, she wrenched her arm from my grasp and ran through the foyer, pushing her way past my brothers and Oz into the main living area where Hades stood silent, an ominous sign indeed. I followed Persephone into the room and watched as she stared at her husband—the one whom she had betrayed. My gaze darted back and forth between my father and her, assessing their reactions. Hades stood stoically, a mask of indifference on his face. Persephone, however, shook lightly as tears rolled down her cheeks. She reached for him, walking toward him tentatively. When he made no move to reach for her, her hand fell, smoothing her silk skirt.
“I know what you must think,” she started, her voice cracking as she spoke, “but I assure you, my love, that I did not know anything about my father... about Zeus...”
“That’s very interesting,” Oz said from behind me, perched, as always, on the once-grand stairway, “because you shouldn’t have known about your father at all. Even now.”
Her expression tensed before anger overtook it. “When I wish to address you, Dark One, I will. Until then, I demand your silence.”
Oz laughed heartily at her command. “And when I want to take orders from a woman, I’ll let Khara know. Until then, I suggest you start spilling the details of your plan. My patience with you has grown extremely thin over the past few days, but my memory of what you did and who you endangered has not,” he said, stepping around me to close in on Persephone. “I don’t take kindly to those who waste my time and fuck up my plans. You have done both.”
“Oz,” Hades boomed, drawing the dark angel’s attention away from Persephone, “let her speak. She owes us all an explanation. I want to hear this.”
“My love, I know how it looks, how all of it must seem, but I can assure you that when I went to Khara and asked her to help me, it was because I feared for you. I would never wish you harm. You know this. I know you know this to be true.”
“The Dark One raises an interesting point, though,” my father countered, stepping closer to his wife. “If you had nothing to do with Zeus’ release—if you were truly ignorant of the consequences that would arise from your actions—then how is it you know of his emergence at all? You were below when all this occurred. No one has
returned to tell you, and you have had no contact with anyone aware of his brief escape, so tell me, love, how did you know that he tried to kill me? That any of what happened had to do with him at all?”
The tension in the room grew so thick that I found it difficult to breathe without heightening the anticipation further. Persephone looked hesitant, her gaze dropping to the floor as she bought herself time to concoct an answer. It was not the gesture of an innocent being.
“I didn’t. Not initially,” she said softly. “But the second you left the Underworld, it was very apparent that something was wrong. Hecate came to me, greatly distressed. The gates to every field had opened upon your departure. She could not close them alone, and by the time the two of us endeavored to, it was too late. All who were kept behind the magical veils had been released to freely roam your domain. It was utter chaos.”
Hades stared at her, his desire to believe her story plain in his expression.
“What of Zeus?” he demanded.
“That was a detail that came to light once I was forced above.”
“Forced?” Oz interrupted, his tone laced with incredulity.
“Yes,” she replied, shooting him a scathing look. “I did not run away, as you seem to assume. I was driven from the Underworld by a force I don’t understand. It was as though it spit me out. I could not have stayed, even though I wanted to. I was trying to restore order there, awaiting my husband’s return. Neither of those things occurred.”
“Nobody above would have known that Zeus had returned. Only those in this room were privy to that knowledge,” Pierson stated. “I’m quite certain you did not learn this from one of us.”
Again, Persephone squirmed inelegantly under the scrutiny she received.
“That is not entirely true,” I said, garnering a variety of hostile looks from the others in the room. Particularly from Oz. “Deimos knew of Zeus’ return, as did Hermes.”
“Hermes did not say that,” Oz countered.
“No, but he certainly did allude to that fact, did he not? He seemed all too pleased that there was going to be a reckoning; that punishment soon awaited us. Surely that was no coincidence.”
Unspoken (Unborn Book 3) Page 4