Goddess Games

by A Lonergan

  I silently cursed Crawley for not trusting me more with important information. I couldn’t blame him completely though, he hadn’t anticipated dying. Who would?

  I paused to catch my breath for a second. I listened to my surroundings again but couldn’t hear my pursuer. I turned in a small circle to take in my surroundings and try to regroup.

  Adrenaline was still pumping through my body at full force, and as much as I wanted to give up, I knew I had to go on. I knew there was no point in being a coward, and there wasn’t going to be a good place for me in the underworld if I didn’t do something to change my situation. I was about to sink into the snow to catch my breath when a sparkle in the tree line caught my attention.

  I pushed the wretched bag up my shoulder again and made my way toward the odd sight in the opening of the woods. The hardened snow crunched under my feet even though I tried to tread lightly. The snow was falling from the sky in large clumps but I didn’t want to leave an obvious trail.

  The trees glimmered as I got closer. I reached my fingertips out to touch the sparkles and ice hit my lungs. I was thrown through, what I imagined to be, a portal. I lost all sense of what was up and what was down. If I had to guess, this is what Alice had felt like when she fell down the rabbit hole. Colors swirled around me and nausea pulled at my stomach. I had to close my eyes to keep myself from vomiting. I knew for a fact that vomiting wasn’t going to make the situation any better.

  When I was finally discarded from the portal, my head swam and my limbs felt like soggy noodles. I struggled to pull my eyes open and rolled onto my stomach, trying unsuccessfully to avoid the huge duffle bag that was pressed against me. I opened my mouth to yawn and found myself eating a fur rug. I gagged and my eyes shot open. I was lying on a huge white faux rug in the middle of a living room, at least I hoped it was fake. My noodle limbs fumbled under my body as I scrambled to stand up.

  I expected trouble and put myself into a fighting stance, ready to take on whatever was thrown at me. But I was met with nothing but silence and the distant sound of water dripping into an empty sink.

  “Hello?” My voice echoed around the dark cabin. I threw the burden of a bag onto a large couch in the far corner of the room and searched the wall for a light switch. When my hand met the wood on the wall, the room lit up and I was sucked into another vision.

  “Keenan, it’s perfect!” A woman’s voice washed over the room. Her laugh floated down the hallway before she sauntered into the empty room. Her hair was long and blonde, her face was rosy with windburn, and her eyes captivated me for a brief second.

  They were gold.

  “You really think so?” A younger Keenan flipped the light switch and the room was engulfed in a soft light. His hair was cropped short and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Keenan leaned against the wood paneled wall and watched the young woman with amusement on his face.. Love shone so brightly on his face that I could almost feel it.

  “Yes, honestly. It’s in the middle of nowhere, cozy, and the view is breath taking.” Her voice faded off in sadness.

  “What is it, Chloe?”

  “This isn’t the valley, Kee. This isn’t your home. Maybe for a weekend getaway...” The room was so full of sadness that I almost choked on it.

  Keenan shook his head and walked away from her. She opened her mouth then closed it, resembling a fish.

  The scene fast-forwarded and the house was completely furnished but something was missing. Something was wrong.

  “Where is she, Keenan?” I walked toward the familiar voice. It led me up the stairs at the back of the cabin and down the hallway to a nursery.

  “Kee, don’t tell him okay? Don’t be a pawn to the gods.” Keenan was standing on one end of the nursery and Chloe was on the other. Apollo had one of his wide hands wrapped around her throat and the other on her protruding belly.

  “You’ll tell me, Keenan. You know you will. It’s that or I’ll kill them.” His words were clipped, as if there were more pressing matters he needed to attend to. After all, he was a god.

  I closed my eyes in an attempt to keep the images from entering my mind, but I still see the scene unfolding. Chloe’s eyes turned white.

  “Know this and know it well, the spilling of my blood will spell. Apollo will forever be banned and my death will be avenged. Hecate will–” She was cut off by Apollo shoving his hand into her chest and yanking her heart out. My breath stuck in my throat. I stood mortified, knowing there was nothing I could do but wanting to change it all.

  “Oh, how I hate the mess but love the drama.” Apollo tossed Chloe’s heart to the side and vanished with a flash of light. Keenan rushed to the woman’s side and cradled her limp body.

  I was forced out of the vision so quickly my knees buckled. Tears threated my eyes but didn’t spill over. Apollo had killed an innocent woman just upstairs. I closed my eyes and felt my heart shatter for Keenan. I remembered what Chloe had said before Apollo had taken her life and wondered what it meant.

  “Her blood would spell,” I whispered the words to myself and I was pulled into another vision.

  “I don’t want your cabin, Keenan.” Crawley’s southern accent washed over me and I couldn’t control the tears that fell from my eyes. I looked around frantically, hoping to catch a glimpse of him just one more time.

  Keenan came into the kitchen first and pulled a water bottle out of the fridge. “I built this home for her. I can’t stay here.”

  “I’m on the hunt for Jessa. I can’t own or keep up this cabin.” Crawley walked right through me and leaned against the island in the middle of the room.

  “Then just hold onto it for me. Your line of work makes your life complicated and dangerous; Chloe’s blood will protect you here. She made it so before Apollo took her life. Hecate’s blood ran strong though her veins.”

  I braced myself on the back of the love seat and tried to get my emotions in check. I let out a sob and wiped my nose. Hearing Crawley’s voice hadn’t been enough, but somehow, I had been able to find the safe house without him. I wondered if he was still helping me from beyond the grave. I knew it was a ridiculous thought; Hades was merciless and wouldn’t grant that kind of request. In all of the myths and stories I had read, Hades didn’t do anything unless he got something in return. There wasn’t much the dead could give, so why would he help Crawley?

  He wouldn’t.

  Chapter 18

  I jerked awake to the sound of footsteps on the stairs. I clutched Crawley’s jacket closer to my body as if he would somehow protect me in spirit. I slid my legs off the leather couch and tried to catch my breath. I had never been so jumpy in my life. I needed to get a grip on myself.

  And, dammit, if this house was haunted, I didn’t think I could handle it on top of everything else. The footsteps stopped, I decided to investigate. The suspense was killing me.

  I checked the duffel bag for my gun but came up empty.

  Of course.

  I took a deep breath and hoped my body would know what to do to defend myself. I didn’t know if I had it in me to kill someone. I took a deep breath again. When had my life taken such a huge turn?

  Oh yeah, it had been this way from the start. My memories had just been stolen from me when I was a child. Duh.

  I went up the stairs as slowly as I could. The top step let out a groan but I wasn’t worried about it. Curiosity was burning me from the inside out. The light was on in the room at the end of the hallway and was shining under the door. It was the nursery from my vision. My heart was going 90 to nothing and my feet were sweating, probably leaving a trail across the wood floor.

  I held my breath as I turned the cold doorknob. The scene before me made me pause. Tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t hold back the sniffle.

  Keenan was kneeling on the floor holding a baby blanket to his face. The tears I was desperately trying to hold in spilled over. Keenan stood up. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, but he looked more like a warrior than he ever had.
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br />   “I’m glad to see you guys made it here safely.” His voice was low and steady; he didn’t sound like he had been crying at all. I wondered how long he had been holding it all in until I realized he thought Crawley was here too.

  I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes. There was no use in getting more emotional. I had cried more tears in the last few days than I had in my life. Crying hadn’t been welcomed, and if I did cry, I was always alone and it was always short-lived. I didn’t know where all of these emotions had sprung from but I needed them to tone it down. I was turning into a wreck.

  “Crawley didn’t make it,” I said.

  Acceptance flashed across his face. He nodded, but then confusion clouded his eyes. “Then how did you make it here?”

  “I’m not sure myself. I’m probably more confused about this than anyone else.”

  Keenan placed the baby blanket over the side of the white crib in the corner of the room and led the way out.

  He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to me. “What do you know?” His voice was barely higher than a whisper.

  “Chloe, she was your wife.” Keenan grimaced at the sentence. “She was pregnant when–”

  “You don’t need to say it. Did Crawley tell you?”

  I shook my head, unable to form the right words. I didn’t know how to tell him that I had seen everything, that I had heard his dead wife’s voice, or that I wanted to stop it but couldn’t.

  He didn’t say anything and threw himself on one of the couches. “You’re welcome to stay anywhere in the house. It might be odd for you, but I only come here every once in a while. Sometimes I feel like I can still feel her here, even though I know she isn’t.” He gave me a small smile. “I just try to remember the small things about her. Everything in the cabin is new except the nursery.”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sorry everything with Apollo keeps coming back to haunt you.” I gulped. “I’m sorry that she died because of me and my family.” I didn’t know how I had come to that conclusion but it made sense. I knew he would correct me if I was wrong.

  “You don’t have to do this.” He sat up and raked his fingers through his long hair. I kept silent, no longer sure what to say or how to feel. It was all just too much. My head was spinning.

  First Crawley, now this.

  “There’s a nice spare bedroom; it’s the first door on the left.” Keenan’s voice was empty and his eyes didn’t look as sad as they had been. “I don’t usually stay but I’ll be here in the morning. You probably have a lot of questions and I have some of my own.”

  I didn’t reply as I walked up the shiny, wooden stairs. The duffle bag started to slide down my shoulder but this time I didn’t fix it; I let it drag behind me down the hallway.

  The room was spacious, with a large window that took up the entire back wall. It looked like the room dropped off into a dark abyss. I was sure it was lovely during the daytime but nighttime? I was going to keep my distance. The bed was probably a king size and it was close to the window but not too close.

  If I was going to stay here for a while, curtains would have to be put up. I could do a few nights sleeping next to it but doubted I could do it for a long period of time. A week was pushing it. I pulled Crawley’s jacket out of the bag at my feet and took my time getting into bed. Questions swirled in my mind.

  Could I trust Keenan?

  How was I able to find this place? How old is Keenan really? How old was Crawley? Did it really matter?

  I’m losing everyone left and right; how is this worth it?

  I sunk down onto the corner of the bed and put my head into my hands. The wind whistled and pushed against the window in earnest. For a moment, I wondered just how much I cared about these stupid Games. Was my heart as cold as the weather outside my window? When had life become so terrible?

  I pulled Crawley’s jacket around me and inhaled his fading scent before my body finally succumbed to the exhaustion that had been pulling at me for so long.

  The light shining through the glass wall was enough to drive anyone crazy. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the flat pillow over my face. It didn’t matter though; I was wide-awake and had definitely woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I kicked the covers off and went to the bag on the floor. The stupid bag that I now had to bring everywhere with me.

  I preferred it when Crawley was the one that had to tote it around. Sorrow surrounded me and I bit my lip to keep the depressing thoughts from entering my mind. There was no use in bringing myself down. I had to stay alive, and if I wasn’t going to do it for myself, then I was going to do it for Crawley.

  I peeled my dirty clothes off and tossed them into the corner. I really hoped this place had a washer and dryer because running out of clothes wasn’t going to be an option, and stinking wasn’t going to be one either. I yanked another plain sweater over my head and considered the thick leggings at the bottom of the bag. I decided they would probably give me more flexibility than the jeans and yanked them on. I didn’t bother with my hair and kept it tucked in the inside of my shirt. I wasn’t exactly looking to impress anyone.

  Not like there was anyone to impress. Keenan was great to look at but that was about it. Distractions were never good. Crawley had been enough, and I couldn’t handle any more heartbreak either. Apollo was ruthless and didn’t need to know my weaknesses. Crawley had been an obvious one that I hadn’t wanted to admit to myself.

  I pulled the door open so hard I thought I was going to yank it off of its hinges. The wood groaned and flexed before I let it go.

  Yep, definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

  The smell of food met my nose and my stomach growled. I took the stairs two at a time, finally excited for something. Food always made the day better. I skipped around the back of the stairs. The kitchen was directly behind them and the living room was right in front of the kitchen. The open floor plan was really nice with daylight shining through the windows. My sense of impending doom subsided a little.

  Keenan stood by the large, gas stainless steel stove and was stirring a large bowl. He had a white towel thrown over his broad shoulder and resembled a lumberjack in a plaid shirt and jeans with suspenders. That was new.

  He poured whatever he was mixing into a large skillet on the stove. It immediately started to bubble and crackle.

  “I hope you like your eggs scrambled; it’s my favorite,” he said.

  “Um, well, I’ll eat anything. I’m just glad you have real food and I don’t have to eat another granola bar.” My stomach growled in approval.

  He fluffed the eggs for a few minutes before scooping some onto a plate and setting it in front of me. As soon as I had a fork, I dug in. I didn’t care if Keenan had started eating or not. The food hit my tongue and I moaned while shoveling more of the delicious breakfast down my throat. I didn’t stop until every morsel was in my mouth. I couldn’t tell if the food was that good or if I was just that hungry.

  When I set my fork down and looked up, I found Keenan staring at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw. It wasn’t the first time I had shocked someone like that. It probably wouldn’t be the last either. I shrugged my shoulders and watched Keenan slowly devour his food. I could tell he was just as hungry as I was, but he obviously had more manners.

  Had it really been that long since I’d had a real meal? I couldn’t remember. I remembered the greasy French fries at the airport but couldn’t think of anything after that that would constitute as a real meal. I hopped down from the bar stool and brought my plate with me to the sink. The water was ice cold; I jumped back out of reflex – right into Keenan’s chest. I quickly moved away from him.

  “Sorry, I’m just so jumpy lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I didn’t know why I was apologizing so much. He had been the one in my personal space, not the other way around. He leaned against the cabinets across from me and folded his tan arms over his chest.

  I recognized the gesture almost immediately. Cr
awley had done the same thing many times.

  “So, I’m going to take it that you and Crawley are a lot older than I thought,” I said.

  He chuckled and nodded. “It’s not hard for Crawley to use compulsion to get what he wants...” He cleared his throat and looked to the floor. “Gods, that doesn’t get any easier and it’s only been a day since I found out.”

  I didn’t know what to say to make it right. I stayed silent, knowing it was my best option. I bit my bottom lip and tasted blood.

  “What’s compulsion?” I asked.

  “Now that’s hard to describe. It’s something that came with his ability to shift. It was the goddess’ way of protecting him, giving him something to use to cover his tracks.” He picked the skillet up off the stove. “He wasn’t the first one gifted with the bear soul. When I was little and would watch him shift, I would get so jealous and pray to Artemis that she would bless me too.”

  “Why didn’t she?”

  “Because it wasn’t my path. The bear was given to those that would protect her line, but eventually, the families separated and we lost yours. We were able to stay in the valley but your family couldn’t. I’m sure Apollo had something to do with it, but it made it hard for my ancestors to find yours and when Apollo found them, they were the first to be killed.” Keenan scrubbed the pan and rinsed it off. He turned away from me and leaned against the sink.

  “Crawley mentioned something about Callisto?”

  “I’m surprised you don’t know.” His eyes met mine and he smiled. “She was one of Artemis’ nymphs that fell pregnant even though she had vowed celibacy. Artemis came upon her while she was bathing and became enraged when she saw that she was with child. She turned her into a beast, and when she had the child, Artemis put her into the stars.” Keenan got a faraway look in his eyes before he continued. “Years later, Artemis knew what it was like to fall in love and regretted her actions, which is rare for the gods. She couldn’t fix what she had done to Callisto but she took Arcas, Callisto’s son, under her protection. One night he shifted into a bear and that’s about all that I know about it. Our family has always served yours. It was common knowledge among the Elders, but it doesn’t really matter now. ”