by VS Winters
His face looked different, almost contemplative and comforting. He no longer looked like he was angry at me, but I could sense the suspicion behind his eyes. He didn't fully trust what I was saying, which meant I couldn't fully trust him. There was a pull between us, something I had been trying to ignore since the first moment I saw him, but I knew that I had to keep my distance. I didn't know what he wanted that power for, and I didn't know what he would do to get it.
"If the magic is truly yours, you can't give it away. You can't eject it from yourself because it is part of you."
I chuckled at the statement. "My entire life has been a series of debacles. Luck never found me, and I was just flying under the radar, trying to get by. It's hard to believe that I had some sort of heated magical power that suddenly became stronger than I am. Don't you think that if I had powers my whole life that I would know about it? Don't you think I would've used them against the Fury before that moment when she touched me? Sure, I'm not the bravest person in the world, but I'm not stupid. I know how to protect myself. I know what I'm capable of."
Both of his brows lifted and he stepped forward toward me again. "But do you? Do you know what you're fully capable of?"
"Well, I… I…" He stepped toward me again, and I couldn't tell if my words were jumbled because I didn't know the answer, or because I could feel him so close to me and all I wanted to do was reach out to him.
Whatever the reason, my words caught in my throat and I juggled them angrily until finally I just let out a deep sigh and turned my face away from him. "I don't know what you want from me. I don't have the answers you're looking for, and trust me, I don't want to be someone who has a power that everyone wants to take from me. If you want it, then most likely others want it as well. Others who wouldn't stop at cutting open my palm."
When my eyes shifted back toward his, he gave me an agreeing nod. "Whatever it is, the power brought the Furies toward you and they weren't themselves. It seems that you might be in some danger."
I tilted my head to the left sarcastically. "You think? Are you just now figuring this out? I know you've got this whole weird, shady, I-don't-know-who-I-am thing going on, but you were the least of my worries. Sure, apparently, I have this great magic that I can protect myself with, but I have no idea how to use it. I just want to go home. And I want everyone to just leave me alone."
My voice cracked as I finished, feeling myself at the end of my rope. I leaned hard against the bookcase and slid back down, pulling my knees to my chest and staring off away from Crius. I wasn't sure if he was going to take me home or not, but I was tired of talking about it. My head hurt, my hand hurt, and those sultry storm eyes were making it hard to even concentrate on how to get home. It was too much.
Chapter Six
He left me there in that storeroom again, but that time, there was no master plan to escape. I was exhausted, and I knew that it was all up to him in the end.
I could have ideas of grandeur about a grand escape out of a tiny window, past a Cerberean dog, and out into the great beyond, but who was I kidding?
Half the time, I tripped over my own feet. I wasn't stealthy unless my life was in imminent danger, and that was usually just luck. I was just going to have to wait. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would be waiting for, but it would happen regardless of whether I made them chase after me or not. I figured collecting my strength was the best option.
Sitting there in the darkness, I tried to let my mind clear. It had been a long time since that level of exhaustion could be felt deep down into my bones. Yet, there was a lingering sense of constant uneasiness. It was as if somewhere in my body, something was constantly watching out for danger. I wanted to explore it further, to try to figure out where it was coming from, but my mortal side, my human, just could not muster up the strength. I wavered in and out of sleep, jumping at any small sound that lingered in the darkness, and waited.
Eyes open, I stared at the gap between the door and the floor, watching for a shadow to approach. I wanted to be ready for anything as I wasn't sure exactly what Crius was doing out in the speakeasy. There was a connection between us that made me want to trust him, and even more so, made me want to be near him, at his side. But there was also an unwavering fear that went along with it. I had no idea why I was where I was or why Mr. Strange and Sexy was so familiar to me. It was very confusing.
I had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually the shadow I was looking for approached the door. My shoulders pulled back despite the pain and I narrowed my eyes, waiting for the door to open. As it did, I put my arm up, shielding my eyes from the light that blasted into the room from the other side. As the door closed, I could see Crius quietly latching the lock and turning to me. "I'm sorry that took so long. I had to make…decisions."
"And?" I asked.
He breathed heavily as he walked toward me. Normally I would flinch, move back in protection, but as soon as he was near, I could feel some sort of protective force radiating around us. He bent down on one knee and reached over, taking my hand and looking beneath the bloodstained fabric. "It seems to have started to heal. I wasn't sure whether or not this light would heal you faster, but it seems your human side has more control over your healing abilities."
I pulled my hand back, massaging the pulse point on my wrist, trying to ease the pain. "What do you mean, my human side? I am human."
He stood up, reaching down, and grabbing me underneath the arm. "We'll see." He carefully lifted me to my feet and took a step back before our eyes could catch again like before. "For now, you can go home."
I let out a deep breath. "Thank the gods."
"But not without protection," Crius added, making me flinch.
I eyed him for a moment, wondering if it was even worth fighting him on that point. "What kind of protection are we talking about here? Like some guys at the front door, or someone following me around every step?"
He lifted an eyebrow and I felt that heat radiate back through my body. "Whatever it takes. But no, I won't start out with someone following you through the house. I do need you to come back here though, and check in with me. I'll send for you or come get you when I need you. I don't know if I can say this will all blow over. From what it looks like, it's not something like that. I can't promise that we won't have to try to take that light from you again, or need you to help us, but for right now, I can get you back home where you're comfortable."
I pressed my tongue against the back of my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him. I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, but he seemed pretty genuine, and all I wanted to do was go home. "All right. At this point I'll agree to just about anything. Are we leaving soon or should I take another long break staring off into nothing?"
He took a deep breath and nodded his head toward the door. "Come on. I pulled the car up out front."
Those were the words I wanted to hear. I followed after him, staying close as possible as the others in the bar stared me down. I couldn't tell if they didn't like me or if they were just curious. It didn't matter. I was getting out of there and going home, and that was all that I could think about. Crius ushered me through the front door past the three-headed dog, and directly into the car so fast I could barely look around. He shut the door behind me and I buckled my seatbelt, thinking about the speed with which I awoke on the way over.
He was in the driver’s seat before I could even hear the door open and the roar of the engine muffled all of the other sounds around us. I couldn't tell whether it was still dark or it was just always dark wherever we were. "Where are we?"
Crius kept his face emotionless and his eyes straight ahead as he drove, not answering me. I let out a sigh and leaned my head against the side of the door, letting the darkness swirl around us. I closed my eyes, listening to the hum of the engine and feeling the momentum of the car. It was lulling, a vibration that calmed every part of my body. I drifted in and out of sleep as we drove, only opening my eyes from time to time to catch a glimpse of th
e red sky or the mirrorlike surface of the strange river that ran along the road.
"Hey," Crius's voice echoed in my head, shaking me from my slumber.
Sitting up, I wiped the drool from my chin and looked around. I was back home, sitting out front of my little house with my van parked in the driveway. It looked so serene and calm, just how I had left it, minus the strange vines wrapping themselves around the columns heading to the front door. I turned to look for Crius but he was already out of the car. My side opened up and his large, manly arm jutted across me, clicking off my seatbelt. He offered his hand for me to get out of the car, but I didn't want him to think that I was too weak to take care of myself. The last thing I needed was another trip back to the speakeasy.
"I've got this," I said, shaking my head as I held back a grunt climbing out of the car.
I stood up tall and straight and stretched my arms over my head, cracking my neck back and forth. Crius stood on the sidewalk looking back and forth down the street. "I don't sense anything strange, though it's hard to tell here when this magic has taken over everything."
My eyes shifted to his as I lowered my arms back down. "Where did this magic come from? Was it from the gods?"
Crius shrugged. "You're talking to the guy that barely remembers what his name is. I have no idea where this magic came from, but I do know that it wasn't meant for here. It's doing strange things, things that humans eventually won't be able to deal with. But that's the least of my worries right now."
"What are your worries?" I asked curiously.
His eyes shifted from mine as he turned and started to walk up the walkway. "My people, whatever this is going around, the infection that's spreading quickly. Finding an end to it, that's my focus. I don't know why it's my focus, but I just feel that it needs to be."
As I slowly followed behind him, I started to get the feeling that he was just as lost as I was. He seemed to be struggling, stumbling through everything. When we made it to the front door, he stood there closely, the smell of his skin, that spiciness and sweat permeating my senses. There was that want again, that need that pulled me to be closer to him. The way that he held his hands gripped around the sheath of a dagger on his hip made me think he felt it too, but was trying to fight it off.
As I reached for the handle, Crius cleared his throat. "Maybe… Maybe I should just take a look around the house."
I tossed open the door and stepped inside, wanting him to believe that I could take care of myself, even if at that point I wasn't exactly sure I could. I didn't know what happened to the strong girl that made it through the war, but I had all kinds of emotions and senses pulling me around and I just wanted to lay still for a while. However, as I began to walk down the hallway, I realized that my home wasn't quite as I left it.
Vines had crept in through the entire house, running up the walls and over the ceilings, with large flowery blooms opening and closing as if the inside of my house had become a forest. The only thing that was missing was the sound of wildlife and trees, but I was afraid to say that out loud as I didn't know what would erupt next.
With wide eyes I turned to Crius. "I think the magic took over my house. That, or I've strangely become one with nature."
Crius looked around him as if he had never seen anything like it before. While that should've made me uncomfortable, the flowers and vines pulsing with life and magic comforted me. Movement brought my attention next to me, shoulder high. A shelf of vines swirled in circles holding a trickle of water that shimmered with a rainbow of colors. I stared down into the water, moving closer as it rippled. Narrowing my eyes, I stared harder, finding that the water was offering me some sort of vision. There were people, movements, colors, but I couldn't make out what they were.
Crius shuffled along the floor, bringing my attention back to him. "I think I'll be fine here. I can always wind myself up in some of these vines and hide from anything trying to get me."
Crius didn't find my joke funny, and I wasn't even sure it was a joke. He turned to walk toward the door, opening it up. Outside on the stoop, two large creatures walked up the steps and stood tall and proud on each side of the door. "Your guards will be right here. If you need anything, yell for them."
"Don't you think it will be a little bit suspicious having two non-mortal creatures standing in my doorway?"
Crius blinked at me for a moment and turned to them. Both held long poles, each with a different sharp weapon attached to the top. They rapped the bottom of the poles twice on the porch boards. Their bodies began to twist and contort, extra arms moving inward, gnarled skin smoothing, and their color lightening. After a few moments, and me thinking I had completely lost it or smelled some sort of poisonous flower inside the house, both of the guards resembled tall, muscular men.
I puffed out my cheeks, tilting my head to the side. "Okay, that fixed that, then."
Crius nodded, pausing a moment as if he wanted to say something, but then turned and walked out of the house, shutting the door behind him. I turned back to the hallway, watching the vines move and the flowers open and shut all around me. It wasn't my first choice, but it was definitely better than Furies hiding in the shadows. I wasn't exactly sure what to do next, but sleep was definitely on the top of my list.
Chapter Seven
I felt like I was in a perpetual state of darkness, and even when I closed my eyes, surrounded by the foliage that was definitely making me think twice about trimming hedges again, I felt alone and in a void. I drifted off to sleep and into a world where I couldn't tell what was a dream and what was not. I stood within a large room, the floors gleaming and smooth, pictures hung all around the walls, and a fire in a fireplace across the room. Floating flames drifted across the ceiling, lighting the room enough to comfortably see all around me.
As I took a step forward, I put my hand to my stomach, feeling the sensation that I'd only felt once before but had ignored. For split moment when the Fury had touched me in the hallway of my home, I felt like it was me she was touching, but also like someone else was there too. It was hard to describe, as if another soul had intermingled with mine, taking up my body and moving with me. In the dream, I sensed that other being even stronger than before. They were guiding me, trying to show me something.
From the corner of my eye a light flickered and I moved toward it. A bookshelf, a large one full of leather-bound books. The volumes stacked meticulously by size lined the shelves, all except for the middle one. I could see frames with pictures in them and small trinkets laid out across the shelf. I had a feeling, something that bubbled in the pit of my stomach, telling me to look at the pictures. I approached slowly and with concern, unsure of what I would find with every step I took. My feet were bare, but the ground was warm, and I could feel the silky material of the dress I was wearing sliding back and forth across my thighs.
One of the pictures, the one right in the center, the largest of them all, shimmered with a light. I put my hand up as I walked forward, reaching for it. I somehow knew it was exactly the picture I needed to look at. Whatever was on it was going to give me answers, answers that I needed very badly. The light was dim in that part of the room and as I reached for the picture to pick it up, a voice rang out, shuddering all around me. In that moment, it felt as if the other person inside of me retreated, hidden within me somewhere that I couldn't detect. I blinked my eyes, feeling the world around me begin to fade away and crumble beneath me.
A hand gripped my arm and I gasped, opening my eyes wide. When I did, I found myself awake in my bed, the vines moving and twisting around the room. I sat straight up, ready for a fight until my vision settled on the green-skinned beautiful nymph I had seen Crius talking to in the speakeasy. I put my hand to my chest breathing heavily. "How did you…? Why are you…?"
She stared at me curiously, her hair drifting perfectly over her shoulders, her lips curled just slightly in a frown. "He told you he would summon you when he needed you."
My brow furrowed. "Crius? I thoug
ht he would come and get me."
The nymph cleared her throat and stood up from the bed, walking over to one of the blooms on the wall. "Sorry to disappoint you. Trust me, this is not where I want to be. It'll be quicker for me to get you back. Come on. Throw some clothes on, this is time sensitive."
The irritation in her voice made me want to fight with her, to make her go back and tell Crius to come get me himself, but if he'd sent her, I assumed it was important. Taking a deep breath, I climbed out of bed, carefully reached into the dresser, and pulled out a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. I flipped my feet into a pair of sandals and pulled my hair back into a ponytail, trying not to let the nymph see me glance in the small bit of mirror that was left showing on the wall.
She sighed irritably, and I turned to her, finding her still staring down at the flower. "Did you drive here?"
The nymph laughed as if she were amused by the stupid mortal. She took a step away from the wall and lifted her arm, rolling it in a circle in front of her. As she did, sparks shot from her fingertips and created a swirling crack in the very existence that I was standing in. At first it was dark, but quickly I could see through, finding the front of the speakeasy on the other side. It was a portal of some sort, something I had only seen one other time—and that was with one of the gods.
The nymph nodded, rolling her eyes. "Come on."
Licking my lips nervously, I hurried forward and followed her through, carefully stepping from my bedroom into the warmth of wherever the speakeasy had been hidden. As I did, the portal snapped shut and I whipped around at the sound, finding nothing there but darkness. The nymph sighed louder, walking over and snapping her fingers. "I know this is all magical to you, but can you move it? Crius is inside waiting for you."
I was too distracted to care about her snappy personality so I turned and followed her inside. As I walked through the doors, I realized that it was nothing like it was the last time I was there. There was no one in it except for Crius and someone very tightly strapped to a chair in the center of the room. Her ankles were bound, her wrists were bound, and her head was tilted forward with dark hair cascading over her face.
