Goddess Ascending

by Heather Hildenbrand

  “What else did you find out?” I ask Finn, ignoring his question. “Anything about Aerina?”

  He watches me warily. “I’m still waiting to hear back,” he says.

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Helix warns, echoing my own impatience.

  “My contacts are doing their best,” Finn snaps. “If you think you can do any better—”

  “Stop it.” I hold up a hand, and they both shut up though neither of them stop glaring. “Finn, Helix is right. Whether you’ve heard back or not, we’re leaving. The longer we stay here, the more danger you’re in.”

  “Even if Nicnevin wasn’t in Vayda’s custody, I still wouldn’t care about the danger to me,” Finn scoffs.

  I blink, confused until I realize he must think Nicnevin’s been behind The Silenci’s attacks all along. For some reason, I decide not to correct him.

  “Well, I do.” I stand. “I care what happens to you, which is a real pain in the ass, you know that? Even after you lied to me about who both of us really are, I don’t want to see you get hurt.” I stab a finger against his shoulder, adding, “You might not deserve it right now, but you’re my family, Finn. Don’t forget that.”

  He nods. “All right. I’m sorry, El, I should have—”

  “Don’t,” I say, shaking my head and backing away. “Just no more lies, okay?”

  “Okay,” he says quietly. He stands and heads for the door. “I’m going to follow up with my contacts again before you go.”

  Helix turns and refills his cup, his shoulders rigid.

  “Why would Kol and Grim take Nicki there?” I ask quietly. “It makes no sense.”

  “Grim told me that he and Kol had orders from Vayda they couldn’t refuse. He said he would get back as soon as he could. That’s all he told me, I swear it to the gods.”

  Kol’s insistence I leave with Helix…Grim’s quick agreement…So many secrets. So many lies.

  A weight shifts inside of me.

  “Everyone has lied to me,” I whisper. “Even Aerina. Not a single person in my life has told me the truth about me. About them. I can’t handle anymore betrayal.”

  Helix meets my gaze.

  “I understand.” He looks at the door, indecision on his face.

  “What?”

  When he doesn’t answer, I lose my patience.

  “Helix, just tell me. I need someone to be honest with me right now. Please.”

  His green eyes harden. “It’s Finn. I know you two have a history, but I know how to read people. The Eggther, especially. We’re trained to be loyal and honest. It’s not only required if we’re going to build trust with our chosen, it’s a code. An honor system amongst each other. So I know how to read our kind, and I can tell you that he’s hiding something. I just don’t know what it is.”

  I sigh, nodding sadly. “I don’t think you’re wrong.”

  “You didn’t tell him about Nicki being innocent,” Helix says, approval in his eyes. “Why not?”

  “Two can play at this game,” I say.

  Helix follows me out of the kitchen to the living room. Finn has switched the lights on. It comforts me against the growing dark outside.

  He looks up from his pacing. At the sight of us both, he slides his phone away but not before I notice an open text screen.

  “El, before anything else happens,” Finn says, “I just want you to know that I really do consider you my family.” Something about this tone sets off warning bells.

  “Why are you saying this? What’s going on?”

  “Everything I’ve done is for your own good,” he says. “You won’t see that now, but eventually you’ll—”

  Hooves suddenly clatter on the roof above us, scraping over the shingles like thunder.

  “Shit,” Helix whispers. “They’ve found us.”

  Outside, something throws itself against the front door. The walls shake, and the demonic scream that follows strikes a chord deep inside me. A picture falls off the walls, and the glass shatters when it hits the dining room floor.

  I turn to Finn in horror. He’s pale and looking at the roof in confusion.

  “What the hell,” he breathes.

  “What did you do?” I demand.

  “El, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Finn says, anguished.

  Outside, a voice rises over the wail of The Silenci.

  “Elidi!”

  I freeze at the sound of my aunt calling my name. There’s no mistaking that Finn’s not nearly as surprised by the familiar voice.

  “Elidi!”

  I nearly trip over the couch to get to the window. Helix’s arm wraps around my waist, preventing me from getting too close.

  “Aerina!” I call when I see my aunt standing in the yard.

  Her clothes are torn and wrinkled in several places, and there’s a cut above her left eye. Flanked on both sides by demon-horses, she’s walking slowly toward the door with a clear limp.

  My breath catches, and I have to bite back the sob that clogs my throat.

  “She’s alive,” I breathe.

  “What the fuck?” Finn says as he stares in horror at Aerina.

  I try to move to the front door, but Helix holds me.

  “Elidi, you can’t,” he says softly against my ear. “The Silenci want this. They’re using her as bait.”

  My skin heats as my temper flares. The magic inside me surges to the surface.

  “What am I supposed to do, then? Stand here and watch her disappear again?”

  “Elidi,” Aerina calls again.

  I stare at her through the glass. Her features are pulled tight as if she’s in pain. She glances up at something or someone I can’t see.

  “Don’t come out,” she yells suddenly before she crumples with a scream.

  A swirl of darkness washes over her, clinging to her body like a shadow. My heart lurches into my throat as she remains still, and the cloud thickens, spreading over the yard like a midnight fog. Within seconds, Aerina is lost inside the murkiness.

  I scramble out of Helix’s hold, but he pulls me back.

  “You can’t go out there,” he says again, fighting to keep me from the door. “It’s a trap.”

  “I have to, Helix. Someone’s hurting her.”

  I slam my palm against his chest, and Helix flies backward, crashing into the wall. He sits up, dazed, and a patch of black energy stains his skin where my palm landed.

  “Shit,” he mutters.

  I can’t even bring myself to apologize. Instead, I scramble for the latch and slide it back.

  I barely twist the knob when strong arms lift me off the floor, and I’m carried across the room. I’m seconds from sending Finn across the room too when he places me on my feet again near the fireplace.

  “El, I didn’t know. I didn’t realize. I’m such an idiot.” He’s breathing heavily, and his expression is desperate now. “I thought it was a separate incident, an outside threat, but it wasn’t. Helix is right. It’s a trap. You can’t go out there.”

  A fist plows into the side of his face. I whirl to see Helix staring down at a crumpling Finn with a satisfied gleam. Finn moans from where he’s crouched on the floor.

  “What the fuck,” Finn sputters.

  “Don’t ever touch her again,” Helix warns.

  “We have bigger things to worry about,” I say.

  “You’re right. I’ll lead The Silenci away,” Helix says. “Then you can run. Take Aerina. Find the portal.”

  “Helix, they’ll kill you if you go out there alone.”

  “Not before I lead them away.” He shakes his head once. “I can’t let them have you. I won’t fail again.”

  “Helix.” I’m struck silent. It’s not just the words he’s saying but the casual way he’s said them. Like dying for me is no sacrifice at all if it means keeping me safe.

  “No one’s sacrificing themselves for me ever again,” I say. “Finn, tell them I’ll make a deal.”

  “What?” He blinks.

  “Wha
t kind of deal?” Helix asks.

  “Tell them I’ll surrender if they let Aerina go.”

  “No way,” Finn says at the same time Helix growls, “Hell no.”

  “Now you guys want to agree on something?”

  “El, you can’t do that,” Finn says. “She’ll kill you.”

  “Who will? Who is she?”

  Something hard hits the front window, and the glass shatters inward. I scream and duck, covering my face with my hands. Helix grabs me, tucking me in against his chest. Finn crowds in too, shielding me with his body.

  I wait for the sound of the howling to start up again, but everything has gone silent. When I straighten and push the guys away, I see a woman standing in the living room, brushing off shards of glass like they’re mothballs.

  Her eyes gleam pure black in the light of day, and the midnight fog curls in around her, cuddling up to her like a cozy blanket. Her hair, onyx and straight as a razorblade, hangs to her waist, and there’s something sensual yet dangerously terrifying about the pinprick of light gleaming from the center of her crazed irises. Everything about her screams of power.

  “Hello, Elidi. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” Her voice is low and rough, and the sound of it makes my skin crawl.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Nyx,” she says.

  “You’re a goddess.” It’s not even a question considering the sheer power clinging to her.

  But she nods. “I am the Goddess of Night. And I’ve come to let the darkness swallow you whole.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Helix is the first to move. He shoves away from me, shifting from human to wolf. His dark gray fur stands on end, and he unleashes a growl as he leaps at the night goddess. She raises her hand, and a wall of fog pours from her open palm. Helix is swallowed by the dark cloud, and there’s a thump as he’s driven sideways and into the wall. He grunts when he falls and hits the floor.

  For a moment, I can only stare, dumbfounded, at a power that looks a hell of a lot like my own fiery ribbons.

  “I brought your aunt home, and this is the thanks I get?” Nyx snaps. “You sick your dogs on me?”

  “You brought her here to get to me.”

  “I brought her here to show you what awaits you.” There’s malice in her tone that I don’t understand.

  “What the hell did I ever do to you?” I demand.

  “Ask your friend,” she says and raises her hand, pointing her palm at Finn as she steps closer.

  I jump in front of Finn, lifting my hands, and summon whatever power I possess. Nothing happens beyond a hot flash that warms my skin until I’m sweating and breathless. I grunt in frustration and fist my hands, ready to fight with what I have. Behind her, Helix has nearly torn free from the fog and is inching closer to Nyx.

  “What do you want?” I ask to buy time.

  She smiles, and it’s both beautiful and terrifying.

  “You, of course.”

  She sprays more fog, and this time I know it’s for me. It hits me like a wall of ice, and I’m driven back against the brick fireplace with a grunt.

  “Elidi!” Finn yells.

  The fog encircling my face is too dense to see through. I’m blind to what’s happening.

  From somewhere on my right, there’s a growl. Something crashes to my left, toward Nyx. She makes a sound of impatience a moment before the sound of hoofbeats fill the room.

  The fog invades my nose, licking its way down my throat and clogging my airways. The sound of my own gasps for air mixes with howls and growls filling the room. My head swims. I blink, determined to remain conscious. I try to call my powers again.

  The front door bangs open, and Nyx shrieks in fury. The fog choking my lungs suddenly begins to recede. I gasp for breath, and as soon as its hold is weak enough, I push my way out of the barrier.

  Chaos reigns in Finn’s living room. Finn and Helix have their backs to me, fighting off the three Silenci that have managed to wedge themselves into the house.

  Beyond them, I see Nyx. She’s clinging to the doorway, being pulled backward by some sort of magical lasso. I can’t see who’s on the other end, but whoever they are, they’ve given me the opening I need.

  I grab the candlestick from the mantle and leap at where Helix is crouched. At the same moment, Helix lunges, his body rising to meet mine. I’m driven upward, and the movement offers the height I need to clear The Silenci on his other side.

  Helix’s teeth sink into The Silenci’s throat just as my feet land on the floor behind them. I turn to face Nyx, the pointed end of the candlestick aimed at the dark goddess stumbling away from me.

  Nyx’s eyes widen at the sight of me coming for her. I swing the candlestick and feel the satisfying thud as it hits her skull. She stumbles sideways, and her eyes roll backward, but I can already see her grip on consciousness hasn’t quite slipped.

  I cock my arm back, ready to deliver a second blow.

  Her breath is ragged, but her hand comes up, stopping my next swing with a bolt of magic that drives me backward and clear off my feet.

  My ass hits the ground hard, and I wince. Just behind me, Helix continues to dodge and nip at The Silenci, and I roll away before I’m trampled in the chaos.

  Shit. This house is way too small for this.

  A bolt of fog tugs at my feet. I spring out of the way as a flash of light splits the sky outside. In the doorway, Nyx shudders then sways, and I finally see who’s on the other end of the glowing lasso.

  “Aerina!”

  “Hurry, Elidi! I can’t hold this bitch much longer,” Aerina calls back.

  I dart out the side door before Nyx can do anything to stop me. The ground is frigid against my bare feet, and I do my best to leap around the small patches of snow still remaining. My black leggings and pink sports bra do little to keep me warm, but I grit my teeth and keep moving.

  In the front yard, I spot Aerina struggling to hold Nyx on her magical leash. The Silenci are gathered around her, snorting and shoving against some kind of invisible barrier she’s created for herself.

  Sweat pours off her skin which is now glowing from the inside out.

  She sees me. “Inside the bubble. They can’t reach us here.”

  At her words, several Silenci look up and immediately charge at me.

  “I’ll deal with them,” I call back. “You deal with her.”

  “What?” Aerina shouts. “No, Elidi, you can’t—”

  The first demon-horse reaches me, and I use my forward momentum to launch myself around it before it can sink its teeth into my face. I hear the snap its sharpened canines make as I pass its hind legs.

  Holy shit, that was close. Too close.

  And another one is right behind the first.

  In seconds, I’m surrounded by four demon-horses. They’ve slowed down and are watching me with glowing eyes as they close in around me. My heartbeat thunders wildly in my chest.

  So this is how it ends, then. Eaten for lunch by four horse-demons.

  They inch closer, blotting out my view of Aerina, but I don’t call out. She needs to focus on Nyx.

  One of The Silenci darts forward, its sharp teeth snagging my shoulder and scraping deeply down my arm. Something thick drips from its teeth as it pulls away. I grunt, surprised at the way the bite burns, and realize there’s more than just pointed canines threatening me. The Silenci appear to have some sort of acid or poison in their mouths.

  I’m surrounded, bleeding, and possibly being poisoned to death already.

  A howl splits the air, and my blood runs cold at the high-pitched note it reaches before abruptly quieting. I can’t tell whether it was Finn or Helix. Neither one has ever made a sound like that before.

  Another Silenci nips at me, teeth out, and I swing, landing a right hook against its snout. It winces and retreats. I do the same with another, then another.

  By the time I’ve landed a hit on all four of them, they’ve backed away enough to allow me a littl
e space. I start to think I’ve got this when my right arm goes numb.

  Yep, definitely poison. I’m so screwed.

  Wings flap above me, and I glance up long enough to see more demon-horses in the sky. My stomach tightens, and I realize the reality of the situation: we’re not going to make it. If I’m going down, I’m going to go swinging. My good arm. I square my shoulders and bend my knees into a fighter’s stance.

  Before I can swing, a bolt of lightning shoots straight up into the sky. I blink, and the boom that accompanies it deafens even the banshee-howls of the monsters before me as the ground shakes beneath my feet.

  In the confusion, I cut a path out of my death-circle and run for Aerina.

  I spot her on the ground in a heap. Behind me, The Silenci are close on my heels. I can feel their breaths on my neck. One of them gets a mouthful of my hair and yanks. I scream as a chunk of it is ripped away, but I don’t stop running. Aerina hasn’t stirred, and the bubble of protection that was around her is gone.

  She’s exposed. We both are.

  An energy wells up inside me. Something bigger than the little tricks I’ve managed so far.

  Just before I reach Aerina, I whirl and lift my hand, aiming my palm at the demon-horses behind me. Something hot and wet shoots from my palm. Whatever it is coats the faces of the monsters, and they go crazy, veering away to stomp at the ground and toss their heads as they try to break free. From the weird contraction of their bodies, it looks like they’re suffocating.

  I fall to my knees beside Aerina and roll her gently over onto her back.

  Her face is pale inside the hood of her cloak. Her hair has turned stark white, and she looks aged by at least thirty years.

  “Aerina?” I press my fingers to her throat. No pulse. “Aerina, please wake up.”

  Zeus, Odin, or Whoever you are, if you exist at all, save my aunt.

  I shake her like an idiot then remember chest compressions. Before I can begin, there’s a sound behind me. I turn to see Nyx floating over the grass toward us, her mouth curled into evil happiness at the sight of Aerina on the ground.

  “Bitch!” I yell.

  I climb to my feet and angle myself protectively in front of my aunt. But Nyx barely glances at her.