I reached out with my mind, and whatever outside power that sang reached back. It wasn’t just one voice, but a multitude, and within that chorus I recognized voices I had heard before, but only deep within the darkness of my earliest memories.
It was the Mother Dragon, Gaia, and many more. These were divine voices, including one whose charming, handsome face I knew well: Dionysus. The gods were singing to me.
I tilted my head back and spread my arms, bared my naked body to the heavens, and released the power of my lungs in an answering song. With that song, I opened my soul to them, showing them that I had succeeded, that I was now their subject and would not abuse the gift they were about to give me.
I sensed rather than heard their approval, and as the wind picked up to a turbulent howl, I struggled to stand my ground. Their song eventually broke through Ouranos’ storm, enveloping me in a pocket of utter calm even more serene than the blankets of West Wind Ozzie had surrounded us with while we made love.
Then their power blazed into me from all sides, seeking out the merged fragments of my newly completed soul, heating it to a molten, white-gold glow as brilliant as a star and transforming it into a single, indestructible whole.
In my mind, I heard a message merged from all their voices.
“Chimera, you must hide this power from Ouranos in order to defeat him. Let him believe he still needs to petition us to grant your divinity. He will still believe you weak, but strong enough to endure greater torture, and his desire to inflict it on you will be the distraction you need to strike him down. But do not try to kill him; you will only waste your energy. Find a way to neutralize him, and you will have earned the power we grant you now.”
I acknowledged their missive, as well as their warning. Death would have been too good for him, anyway.
All I really wanted was to be with my mates, undisturbed and allowed to follow through on my original promise to find mates for the bloodline. But I didn’t share that detail. I knew peace wouldn’t be granted to any of us until this task was complete, and I didn’t intend to fail.
I drifted back to my chambers and found them undisturbed. The room was dim, the windows revealing the storm still churning around the castle.
I took some time to test my new powers. My soul was complete, and with the infusion of divine power, there should have been no limit to what I was capable of.
I thought for a moment, pondering how I could best make use of my abilities to trick Ouranos, to make him believe I feared him enough to incite his arousal, to push him into the throes of his rage-filled passion. I’d seen him lose himself when his poor victim was beneath him, strapped down to the awful contraption inside the abyss of torment in the center of the castle.
Could I find a way to use my magic to fake it?
The solution came to me, and I reached deep within to test the power. With the final fragment locking the others down and the gods’ magic sealing them, my soul no longer felt like a collection of ill-fitting parts rattling within me. They were one, the four elements burning brilliantly around a central core.
It was this core I focused on to cast the spell I needed. The human piece Bodhi had given me carried the essence of what I would create to trick Ouranos.
I closed my eyes and extended my consciousness out into the room, searching for the pieces I needed to build my decoy. The very walls provided the matter needed to transmute flesh and bone. From within my lungs came the fire to give it warmth, and I drew water from the pipes beneath the floor to fill its cells and grant it the supple give of human flesh.
The air around me shimmered with heat as all the pieces came together, forming a figure while I moved my hands to mold the shape. Every so often I would pause to take stock of my own physiology. This creation needed to be perfect. Even though it was only a conjured stand-in, it needed to hold up to the scrutiny of a god.
Finally all it needed was breath, which would bind with the other elements to give it life. I braced myself and opened my eyes. My mirror-image looked back at me, eyes open but unseeing, skin ashen without the flow of blood to color it—or fire, as would be the case with this creature. It would not possess true life, but a facsimile of it.
Stepping closer, I bracketed my replica’s face with my hands, pressed my lips to hers, and exhaled a long breath. I filled her lungs with my magic, commanding the air to ignite the blaze that substituted for a soul. Beneath my hands her skin warmed, and a pulse began to beat.
When I pulled back, her eyes were still blank and unseeing, but she breathed. Physically she was perfect, right down to the faintly glowing dragon mark that graced the upper curve of her left breast.
My own pulse raced in excitement that I was capable of creating something so perfect, and I understood why Ouranos wanted me. It also became painfully clear why I needed to do everything in my power to ensure he never controlled me.
I suspected that he intended to break me before petitioning the gods for my divinity, so I’d have the power to bear his new race of creatures, but no will to fight back. He’d have a rude awakening when he discovered my surprise.
The back of my neck prickled with awareness of his approach, and I sped up the finishing touches on my doppelgänger. I cupped the side of her face as if performing a meld, placing two fingers on her temple and my thumb beneath her chin. The mental link formed instantly; she had no mind or will to block me.
I pushed a measure of my spirit into her, which included a simple script designed to convince Ouranos she was me. She would argue with him until he overpowered her, and then nothing would be left in her but raw fear, the one thing I knew he couldn’t resist.
My awareness spiked. Ouranos was close now, nearly to the top of the stairs, no doubt drawing out the anticipation of coming to get me.
Finally I touched the dragon mark on my reflection’s breast, pouring one last dose of pure dragon fire into her womb. It was my failsafe—a self-destruct that probably wouldn’t damage him, but would hopefully cause him pain.
The real purpose was simply to put her out of her misery when the time came. Even though I hadn’t imbued her with the ability to actually feel anything, only to react and behave as I chose, I didn’t like the idea of Ouranos enjoying her counterfeit pain any longer than necessary.
I exhaled a breath to clothe her, and just as the door creaked open, I dematerialized, hovering in the air to observe and ensure my creation had the desired effect.
She inhaled sharply, eyes widening as Ouranos entered and crossed his arms.
“I was just coming to you,” she said, and I projected just enough irritation for a subtle downward twitch of her lips that he would easily pick up on.
He sauntered close and looked her up and down. “You look no different,” he rumbled, gripping her chin between thumb and forefinger and tilting her head back and forth.
She jerked out of his grasp and scowled. “I didn’t realize you could see my soul.”
Despite the fact that she was no more than a ventriloquist’s dummy, albeit one with some ability to react to stimuli, it was still incredibly eerie seeing a replica of myself being manhandled by the god. My gut twinged in sympathy when Ouranos grabbed her by the nape and hauled her close, leaning in until their noses brushed.
“No, but for a girl who just got fucked on my roof, and supposedly thoroughly enough to give you a soul, you look a little too neat and tidy.”
She snorted in his face, fists clenching at her sides. Impulsively I directed my perception to see through her eyes. I wasn’t surprised by the malice lurking deep inside Ouranos’ stare.
“I have lovers who make me happy. It’s easy to look good when you’re happy. Or is that not an emotion you’re familiar with, either?”
“I hope you soaked up whatever happiness you could from those fools. The next time you see them, you’ll be no more than my little bitch, taking my cock like the whore you are. By the time the gods see fit to grant you full ascension, you will be completely under my control. I intend to
break you, chimera, something I think your precious mates would just love to see.”
I tore my attention away from her mind. My mates would never have to witness this monster lay a finger on me. By the time my doppelgänger had served her purpose, Ouranos would no longer be able to hurt anyone.
Disgusted, I drifted from the room, maintaining a connection with my doppelgänger to ensure Ouranos continued to behave as predictably as I hoped. When I reappeared in the core of the fortress, I could sense Ouranos escalating his confrontation with my copy. She remained belligerent—probably more than I would have been—and he soon lost patience.
A moment later, I sensed his rough grip on her arms and their relocation to the platform just above where I now stood, staring into Fate’s cage.
“What, pray tell, is so amusing to you right now, Deva?” Fate asked, standing near the bars. He was in his sleek male shape again, the one he’d used to seduce the Mother Dragon.
I offered him a full smile. “Ouranos is about to fall into a trap. Would you like to watch while I fulfill my promise to you?”
His eyes lit up. “Oh, really? Does this abundance of confidence you have now mean what I think it means?”
“The gods came through,” I said. “And Ouranos is none the wiser. He seems intent on torturing me before allowing me to ascend. He just doesn’t know it’s a little too late for that.”
To illustrate my new power, I walked to the bars of the cage and pressed my hands against them.
Electricity surged into me, so strong that I would have been jolted backward before, but now I only soaked it up. I held the bars tighter, absorbing every ounce of the magic that had held Fate captive until they began to dim.
When they darkened to cold steel, I focused on the molecules beneath my hands, rearranging them piece by piece until they twisted around on themselves, creating an oblong opening tall enough for someone to walk through.
He stood inside, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, nodding slowly. “Impressive.”
I turned and knelt next to the cage my three hounds were still trapped inside and repeated the process, only to discover their cage had no physical bars at all. Once I’d absorbed the energy, the cage disappeared entirely, and I was surrounded by three enthusiastic creatures warbling and bouncing around me.
Their enthusiasm seemed more frantic than happy, however, which made no sense—until I realized that I wasn’t looking at three hounds. All four of them were here.
My stomach lurched at the sight of Blaze, who hadn’t been in the cage before, who I believed had escaped and gone to help my mates find me.
“Why are you back here, Blaze?” I asked, reaching out a hand to him. He was more subdued than the others, a low, plaintive whine emanating from his throat.
That was when I heard a sound that made my blood turn to ice. A dragon’s resonant roar echoed around us, shaking the castle. I stood, staring at the ceiling. The roar had originated from directly above us, and its familiar pitch was tinged with the most heartbreaking mix of rage and despair I’d ever heard.
29
Deva
“No . . . Please let that be some trick of his,” I whispered. “He said he wouldn’t hurt them!”
Then came another roar, more primal and animalistic. I didn’t recognize it specifically, but could tell it belonged to a male ursa. I listened harder, my heart pounding and my insides a roiling mess. I could make out two other male voices. Voices that belonged to my other mates.
My eyes went wide as I pieced together what must have been happening: Ouranos had taken my double to his torture contraption, and true to his word, he intended to make my mates watch while he tried to break her.
“Keep your wits, Deva,” Fate snapped, and I jerked my head back to meet his gaze. “If you fail, you will get no other chance.”
I swallowed, struggling to control the urge to drift up to the platform and show my mates that I was fine. I gave Fate a nod and wrung my hands. “I need to let them know that isn’t me.”
“Isn’t you?” Fate asked, tilting his head back. Beneath the strident sounds of the men shouting, we could make out my doppelgänger’s more pitiful cries, and I winced at the rhythmic grunts punctuating her pleas for mercy. In the midst of it all, Ouranos laughed and taunted.
Fate let out a bitter snort. “You figured him out, didn’t you? I commend you for your resourcefulness, and your ability. If you managed to fool all of them, that’s certainly a testament to your new power as a goddess.”
I gritted my teeth. “I only need it to beat him,” I said. “The gods can have it back when I’m done.”
“Their gift should not be taken lightly. If you beat him, you will have earned it. Now, are you going to stand here, or are you going to act?”
I took a deep breath and clenched my fists, then splayed my fingers. I was ready to go up there and wrap my hands around his throat, but that wouldn’t be enough to destroy a man like him. He would probably enjoy another tussle with me anyway, especially if he got a second shot at it after exhausting the sample he was busy with now.
I suppressed the painful churn in my belly at my mates’ roars and protests, but took comfort in the fact that I didn’t hear Ozzie among them. Not that it was good that the other four had been captured, but at least one piece of my heart would be spared the sight of watching Ouranos rape me, even if it wasn’t really me.
I closed my eyes and centered myself, then dematerialized into a drift, floating up through the floor to hover invisible above the platform. Ouranos loomed large in the center, but he wasn’t in the throes of raping my double like I’d thought.
She was bound face-down to his table, wrists and ankles locked in steel shackles. Like before, he’d adjusted the table so that it was bent in the center at an acute angle, forcing her ass in the air to endure the strikes of a whip crafted of bright white electricity.
Every time he struck, she jerked and cried out, and he taunted her with the promises of the greater pain he intended to inflict on her with his cock. Unlike his last encounter with the real me, he was fully hard, his cock straining at the loose-fitting gray pants he wore, his bearded face split in a deranged grin.
Around the half of the circular platform in front of her, four of my mates stood, shackled with cords of lightning the way Ouranos had bound me earlier and forced me to witness his torture of the other woman. Rohan’s enormous gold dragon bellowed and yanked at the crackling rope around his neck and feet, and deep inside my soul, I sensed his agony.
Beside him, Keagan snarled and snapped, an enormous brown bear whose fur smoked where his bindings burned him. Bodhi looked utterly stunned and deathly pale, his jaw clenched and his cheeks wet with tears, and Llyr raged in full primal shift, fists twisted in the cords and yanking so hard the veins in his neck and arms looked like they might burst.
“I will kill you!” he spat. “If you touch her with that foul dick, I’ll fucking cut it off and feed it to you, you bastard!”
Ouranos laughed. “You will never free yourselves. Making her see you all suffer through this performance is even better torture than the whip.”
As if on cue, my double cried out a very convincing “please, let them go!” that prompted me to send a tendril of magic into her mind to be sure she wasn’t really feeling anything. Thankfully, there was nothing there. Not even the strike of the whip registered beyond the triggering of the proper reaction dredged up from the ancient satyr memories I rarely visited.
But Ouranos still believed she was real, and I needed him to keep believing that. So when Rohan shrank down to a huddled, wailing mess of a man, it was all I could do not to materialize and go to him.
“It’s not her. It can’t be her!” he cried, shaking his head and yanking at his hair.
I reached into my soul, tentatively touching our bond, careful not to betray the truth to him yet.
Then I realized what the real issue was—he wasn’t tuning in on my double’s non-existent suffering. She was only a puppet with no fe
elings of her own, after all.
But this entire tower was filled with hundreds of other women who had all endured rape and torture at the hands of this god. My poor empathic lover didn’t stand a chance against all this torment.
That pain pierced my heart even worse, but it allowed me to chance a quick message to at least ease his mind a little. “Rohan, I am here. What you see is not the truth. Hold yourself together and we will defeat him.”
His body stilled for only a moment before another wave of agonized sobs ripped through him. I sensed his relief in those cries, but knew the god was too distracted to tell the difference.
“Tell me what to do,” he replied.
“Don’t let the others know yet. We need to maintain the ruse. But the second you get free, we need to release the women in this place. When the tower falls, I want them all far from harm.”
“Understood.”
Ouranos swung his whip once more in a blinding strike across my double’s back. Her skin was covered in crisscrossing red welts, but hadn’t broken or bled. I’d imbued her with the durability of the stone this castle was crafted from; it would take more than that to damage her.
Sweat glistened on the god’s brow, and his divine aura flared with desire that only intensified the louder she wailed. I increased the volume of her cries and was gratified to see his arousal grow to match.
His gaze dropped between her thighs and he tossed the whip aside, yanking at the ties to his trousers and pulling out his cock. My mates howled in protest, but they didn’t know that this was what I’d intended. I needed Ouranos to use her for my plan to work. Once he penetrated her, all I had to do was twist the magic, and he’d regret ever setting his sights on me or any other woman.
Stepping close to her, he reached out and grabbed her hip. The contraption was on an oiled track that allowed him to slide her toward his enormous, bulging cock. I grimaced, wishing I didn’t have to watch this play out, but I needed to know the right moment to spring my trap.
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