“So you lied to spare Hades’ feelings and to trick Khara into agreeing to swallow the Underworld—that’s the gist?” Oz asked, though it was not really a question.
Persephone merely nodded.
“Do we trust her?” Casey asked from behind me. “Or do we kill her and tell Hades the souls got her?”
“I know what I’d do,” Oz said, “but it’s Khara’s call. If she sees a reason to keep her around, I’ll allow it.” He took a step toward Persephone to tower over her. “I’ll also put an end to this bitch if I find out she lied about anything else.” He flashed her a warning look. “And I mean anything.”
“She lives,” I said, casting Oz a glance as he turned to me. “For now…”
“Where are they?” I asked as Persephone and Oz rushed through the Victorian, calling for the others. It became clear within moments that they were gone. All of them—Hades, too.
“They wouldn’t have moved him unless it was absolutely necessary,” Casey said as if reading my mind.
“Where is my husband?” Persephone all but growled. Her composure was coming unwound by the second, and I feared what would happen if it was lost altogether. Above or not, she still had magic to call, and if angry enough, I knew she would.
“Save that wrath for whoever has driven them away,” I told her, taking her by the arm and leading her to the door.
“Fuck!” Casey shouted, frustration plaguing his features. He turned his attention to Oz. “One of two things happened here: they were either driven out or taken.”
“I know…” was Oz’s only response. He looked at Aery, still weak and unconscious in his arms, the question of what to do with her plain in his hesitation.
A squeak of the front door pulled our collective attention to the foyer. Casey charged, weapons drawn, and stopped short just before the door, blocking our view of what awaited him.
“I come in peacccce.” I knew that voice: that hissing lisp. I headed toward Casey and found him face to face with Azriel, the former head of the gargoyles—the one the others had claimed was dead. The one whose remains Casey had seen with his own eyes.
The gargoyle turned to me and smiled, exposing his undershot jaw full of teeth, save one; the snaggle tooth too large for his face. The one Casey had found in a pool of liquid remains just before the Soul Stealers attacked the Victorian.
Either the dead had arisen, or Azriel, far craftier than I would have guessed, had faked his own death.
“It isss good to sssee you again.” He bowed his head with respect, then looked to Casey, no hint of that smile still present. “Your brothersss have fled with the Sssoul Keeper.”
“Why?” Casey demanded as Oz and Persephone crammed into the tiny space with us.
“He hasss been found,” was the creature’s only answer.
“Where did they go?” Oz asked. The look on Casey’s face said he already knew.
“One of two safehouses,” he explained. “We will have to hit them both.”
“There isss no time for that,” Azriel said. “I cannot imagine they have long now.”
“Then we have to split up,” Casey growled, looking at the meager reinforcements we could provide, especially if we were to cleave in half. “We’ll have to leave Aery downstairs on her own for now.”
“Where are Khara and I headed?” Oz asked.
“You need to fly Persephone to St. Agnes School. If they’re not there, meet Khara and me at the Packard Auto Plant.”
“I’m not taking—”
“We do not have time for this,” I snapped, taking Casey by the arm. “Take the queen and search for them. I will see you soon either way.”
I was halfway into the yard before Azriel’s words halted me.
“Be careful, Princesss. The godsss will not be happy to sssee you…”
“Which ones?” I asked, ignoring the queen’s dumbfounded expression. That was a matter to deal with later.
“The onesss that essscaped the Oudeisss,” was his only reply.
The ones that were undoubtedly corporeal again. They had come for my father—to finish what Zeus started.
“Do not fear for me, Azriel. Fear for them because once I find them, they will taste eternal death.”
I turned to Casey, his dark eyes full of rage and vengeance, and smiled a wicked smile.
“Are you ready to end some gods for good?” I asked. He gripped the hilt of the weapon Deimos had given him for precisely that task.
“With fucking pleasure, sis.”
I grabbed hold of him and shot into the sky, Casey directing me toward our target. I could hear Oz shouting at me as we left, but the harsh late winter winds stole those words before they ever met my ears.
“How far?” I asked Casey.
“A mile, maybe. But if the boys bailed for cover there, then shit is bad, Khara. Really bad. Pierson has it warded and magically fortified, but not against the gods. There was no reason to. Ares couldn’t hurt any of us even if he wanted to, and the others that remained on Earth had no real power. He never could have foreseen this.”
“It is my fault,” I said under my breath, “and I intend to make it right.”
With a surge of fortitude, I flew faster than ever before, weaving through the clouds until Casey saw our destination. I shot through the air like an arrow with him in my grasp, headed right for the entrance to the building. He seemed sure that the wards would recognize us both, but I was not convinced, so I landed with enough distance to avoid being struck down by magic the second my feet hit the ground. Though I was certain I’d survive it, we had no time to lose. Every second they were embroiled in battle with the gods was a moment closer to death for them all.
We heard noises from inside, the muffled sounds of a fight somewhere deep in the massive building.
“There,” Casey said, running toward a wing of the old factory. I followed behind, arms and legs pumping fast. The windows along the way had all been smashed and broken over the years as the building slowly rotted from disuse. The battle noise grew louder as we approached.
“Can you get us through that?” he asked, pointing to a section of windows that had been torn out, frame and all, leaving an opening large enough for me to fly through if I tucked my wings tight in a freefall.
I did not bother to respond. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his chest and shot into the air, doing a quick loop over the building to position myself. The margin for error was narrow, and I knew I had only one chance to get this right. Once the others learned of our presence, we would no longer have the element of surprise on our side.
And we would need it to face the gods.
“Keep your arms in tight,” I said to Casey as we surged toward the tiny space. I said a little prayer to the gods we were about to slay that there would be enough room for us to make it. I clutched Casey tighter as we descended on the window. I felt my tucked-in wings scrape against the wood, but the pain only made me sharper—my head clearer. And I would need both, for what we landed amid was nothing short of a war.
14
Drew, Kierson, and Pierson had tightened their ranks around my father, each brandishing a blade. From what I could tell, only one was a weapon Deimos had provided to kill those who had escaped the Oudeis. Closing in on them were four gods, taunting my father as they circled the group. Outnumbered and potentially overpowered, my brothers held their ground, prepared to fight to the death to maintain my father’s life so he could one day regain his throne. For the good of the world above, they did this.
And for me as well.
Because they loved me.
Casey and I struck the ground with such force that it shook, garnering the gods’ attention. They turned to face us, their expressions a mask of annoyance. Then realization dawned, and a mix of emotions twisted their features. Anger. Fear. Anticipation.
I let my wings snap wide, a show of strength as Casey and I stormed toward them. Though I had no weapon to wield, I trusted that Zeus’ lightning would be enough. It had bested h
im; I assumed it could defeat them as well.
“The vessel has arrived,” a beautiful female called, her voice as soft and melodious as her flowing blonde hair.
“Aphrodite,” I replied, my voice as poisonous and deadly as venom. I took in the others, making note of who had come for my father—and who had not. “I see Athena and Apollo have decided to join you in your quest to usurp my father. Artemis too. The warriors have teamed up to what? Take over the Underworld? Command an army of the dead to overtake the living?” I asked as we approached. “An unwise decision regardless of the reason.”
“Who is this petulant child?” Apollo asked, staring at me with disgust.
“She is the one that freed us,” Athena said with a beautiful smile that camouflaged the warrior she was. The deeds she was capable of committing in the name of war and self-interest.
“Ah, yes,” he replied, looking none too impressed. “Come to take us back, have you?” He turned his back on Kierson to approach me. “That will not be happening, little girl,” he said, “but I should thank you for releasing us before I end you. It seems only fair.”
“It’s new girl,” Oz growled from the window above where he perched, Persephone in his lap. “And if you touch her, I’ll give you eternal death.”
He jumped down, landing soft as a feather with Persephone. She scowled at the gods threatening her husband as though that alone could slay them. The fire behind her eyes made me question if perhaps it could.
“Hades,” she called, her voice calm and smooth and full of the power she held below, “what shall we do with them?”
“Do with us?” Athena asked, choking on a laugh. “You are no longer in the Underworld, Queen of the Dead. Your power here is not nearly as strong. Even we know this.”
“Care to test the veracity of that statement?” Persephone asked, drawing a blade from her robe. Athena’s gaze never faltered, and I realized that she did not recognize it for what it was: an instrument of final death for her and the others. Persephone began to chant under her breath, her guttural mutterings a call to the death magic she wielded. And though there were no dead to call upon—no sacrifices to fuel her—the blind rage in her eyes said all that was needed. That vengeance alone would spark her magic.
She lunged at Athena, blade raised to strike. The goddess of war met her blow with a sword of her own, and the battle ensued the moment the vicious clang rang out around us.
With the numbers in our favor, I assumed it would not take long to bring them down, but I was sorely mistaken because they were not alone. Out of an adjoining room, hidden by the shadows, came a small army of demigods—their former servants and devoted followers—and though I recognized none, it mattered not. Their numbers alone were staggering. If we did not dispatch them, we would surely fail.
Oz ran toward the mob, wings extended, at the ready to slice through them. But unlike in the Underworld, these souls were not without weapons of their own. Oz did not make it far before the crowd swallowed him up and he disappeared.
Casey had made his way to Kierson, Pierson, and Drew, and together they split their attention between Aphrodite, Apollo, and Artemis. Drew held a blade that could dispatch them forever and buried it deep in Aphrodite’s side. She withered into nothing more than a wispy black shadow, then, with a resounding pop, disappeared entirely. Artemis and Apollo didn’t hesitate, but rather fought harder against the twins. Pierson froze for a moment, a vision striking him at the worst moment possible. As Apollo’s blade was about to crash down upon him, Drew stabbed the god’s belly, then twisted the blade. Apollo, like Aphrodite, disappeared.
Two gods down. Two, and an army, to go.
Hades ran to my side and I ushered him closer, protecting him with my wings.
“Help her!” he shouted at me as he watched Athena slice through Persephone’s arm. Blood shot high in the sky, and I wondered how she hadn’t lopped it off. Persephone screamed and dropped her weapon, clasping her wounded arm to her chest.
Athena laughed. “Weak, just as I said.” She hovered above my adoptive sister as Zeus had over my father just before he planned to kill him.
Anger coursed through my veins at the memory, and I raised my hands to Athena and channeled it through my fingertips. Lightning blinded those nearby as it shot through Athena, her body jerking with white fire. I could hear the sizzle as it cooked from the inside. I stopped just before she died, then walked to Persephone. I hauled her up from where she sat on the ground and handed her weapon to her.
“Finish what you started,” I said, staring at her with eyes as devoid of sympathy as I felt.
She clutched the pommel in her hand, then drove the blade through Athena’s heart.
Seeing the futility in the battle, Artemis attempted to run, but I was having none of that. She had come for my father—threatened my brothers. She would suffer.
She ran toward the army, screaming for them to retreat. I followed her, launching myself into the fray, lightning shooting from my hands. Demigods flew from my path as I blasted them with electricity, but I was careful not to use it on her. No, I had other plans for the last of the gods brazen enough to come after my family—to try to cut my father down and claim his throne.
I still could not see Oz in the mass of fighters now confused as to their orders, but Artemis was right in front of me, headed for an exit. She crashed upon it, then bounced back. It was locked, and she was trapped. I heard my brothers behind me, their battle cries spurring me on as I stalked toward the cornered goddess about to meet her end.
She raised her weapon to me. “I will take you with me.”
“No,” I replied simply, “you will not.”
Stopping at the same distance the Soul Stealer had from me the night Oz threw me off the roof and my wings came, I called upon that feeling of darkness—of emptiness—that he had created when he tried to separate me from my soul. Then I turned it on Artemis. With a great inhale, I called her essence to me, draining her body of that which made it whole. Wisps of shadow spilled from her mouth, dancing through the air toward me as I called it forth. Her mouth twisted in agony as I pulled her soul to me without effort. Once I had it all locked away tight inside me, I walked over to her, her vacant eyes fixed on mine.
“Tell me how you found him,” I said, “and I will make this painless.”
She blinked twice, then opened her mouth. The name that escaped on her whisper made me cry out with rage.
“For your compliance,” I finally said once my anger released my tongue. I swiped my blackened wing across her body, freeing her head from her neck. It sailed through the air, an example of what would soon happen to any still standing. A bloodied hand snagged the severed head from the air. Oz looked at the goddess of the hunt’s face, then tucked it under his arm.
“Still keeping things entertaining,” he said, heading toward me, “but your lack of basic combat skills is a problem, new girl. You can’t always depend on your fancy tricks. One day, they might fail where a blade would succeed.”
He tossed me the head, and I let it fall at my feet.
“Perhaps,” I said, looking at the gashes in his shirt, “I will allow you to train me later—once your wounds have been attended to.”
He looked down at his bleeding chest, then back at me. “Aw, you care. I’m touched. Really. But I’m fine, no thanks to you. You could have busted out that lightning shit a little earlier, you know? Maybe my shirt would have survived this ordeal…”
I looked at the tattered fabric that hung from his torso. “I shall buy you another,” I said as I turned away. “Maybe two, if you ask nicely.”
His laughter followed me over to my brothers, Hades, and Persephone. My father clutched his bride like she was his lifeline that had nearly been severed. Whatever animosity he’d felt at her revealed secret had fallen away when he saw her take on a goddess for him. In truth, my respect for her had gone up tenfold in that moment as well.
“Thanks for the help, sis,” Kierson said, wrapping his arms ar
ound me. “We kinda got caught off guard.”
“He means we were totally ambushed,” Pierson corrected. “We narrowly escaped the Victorian only to be hijacked the moment we walked into this building.”
“It’s as if they knew where we’d be,” Kierson added, confusion in his voice.
“They must have,” Drew said, his voice quiet and meek.
“I guess the safehouse isn’t so safe now,” Oz said, coming to stand at my side.
“Neither is the Victorian,” Pierson replied. “The Dragon’s lips are looser than we’d bargained for.”
“It was not the Dragon,” I said. My statement garnered their collective attention.
“How do you know?” he asked, stepping closer. “How can you be certain?”
“Because I asked Artemis who betrayed us before I cut off her head.”
“It’s over there, if you don’t believe her,” Oz said, pointing in the direction of the severed head.
I shot him a sideward glance. “It was Demeter.”
Silence hung around us for a moment before Casey broke it.
“Then that bitch is gonna pay—once we find her. For now, we need to get back to the house. Pierson has some work to do…”
He shot his intellectual brother a dark look before heading for the door.
“Where is Muses?” I asked, only then realizing that he was neither at the Victorian when we arrived nor the battle.
“Who the fuck knows,” Kierson exhaled. “But that’s Muses. You can’t count on him for anything.”
“Except to be a selfish dick. That you can bet on every time,” Casey muttered under his breath.
Drew let out a little laugh and we all turned to stare at him. His smile slowly faded, and I would have given anything to see it return.
Unspoken (Unborn Book 3) Page 11