With the same rattling screech that I’d heard before, the creature from the abyss thrust long arms with wicked claws over the edge, followed by a long green head and flashing eyes.
Aaron turned me around and pushed me toward the tunnel. “Go!”
I stumbled and whirled back, not about to leave him, but he was right on my heels. His hand touched my shoulder, urging me onward.
The leviathan reared back, front legs pawing outward, and I halted, afraid it meant to attack. But then I saw where its eyes focused: on the creature. The leviathan sucked in a deep breath. Aaron paused long enough to pull out a sword and sever the rope connecting him to the beast, and then he shoved me into a dark tunnel.
Behind us fire exploded, and I screamed as it lit the walls of our escape path. I covered my head with my arms and ran blindly onward.
“You can stop now.” Aaron gripped my arm, drawing me to a halt.
I turned around to face him, shaking, trying to catch my breath, wishing tears weren’t trailing down my cheeks. “How do you know that creature’s not right behind us?”
“I told the leviathan to drive it back. I can’t control it without the rope, but I know it will do what I commanded.”
His other arm came forward, clasping me by the elbow. My panic slowly dissipated, leaving me weak-kneed with relief. And it occurred to me that we were alone for the first time since he broke up with me in my bedroom in New Jersey. Not counting the moment where I stalked him in his sleep.
“What are you doing here, Jayne?”
Fire still flickered at the mouth of the tunnel, casting eerie lights and shadows behind him. I drank in his touch, wishing he would stroke my face, hungry to feel his mouth on mine. But even with his face hidden by silhouette, I could tell from his posture that he wasn’t in the kissing mood. “I came to help you.” Since he ended up being the one to save me, that had obviously not gone according to plan. “But you’ve managed to get this far on your own.” I looked at him with a sense of wonder. “How did you get past the vadatajs?”
“The ring one of the gods gave me. I used it to exorcise the evil from their bodies. Without that to keep them alive, they shriveled up and died. Quite nasty.”
I pictured the charred, maggot-covered bodies in my head. “But they were burned.”
“Were they? Must have been the leviathan. Both he and the lizard creature emerged from the abyss, but I freed the leviathan. He fought back the other creature with his fire. Maybe it burnt up the demons, also. We escaped into one of the tunnels.”
“How did you know I was there?”
“I heard the creature shrieking first. I worried it was coming after us. I would not have come back, though, if I hadn’t heard you scream.”
I swallowed. “You heard me scream? You knew it was me?”
His cheeks lifted in a half smile. “While I’m quite familiar with your voice, I don’t think you have ever graced my eardrums with a scream.”
I scowled and whacked him on the shoulder, then winced and shook my hand. “Ow. How thick is your armor? I think I broke a finger.”
He stepped back and gave me a careful look. The fire had faded behind him, and I could only see him by the light of the moon bracelet. “But you can’t be injured.” He sounded uncertain.
“Sure, I can. Jods hurt Jumis.” I lowered my voice. “But besides that, something’s wrong. Velns’ creatures breeched the meadow and—I don’t have my powers anymore. I think I’m mortal again.”
A heavy silence followed my pronouncement, and Aaron lowered his head. “Jayne. Why couldn’t you stay where it was safe?”
“Did you hear what I said?” I asked, indignation bristling. “It’s not safe above! I came to make sure you succeed, if it’s not too late. Because if you don’t, all of us will die!”
“Then go home, Jayne. Go live out a normal life.”
My heart’s desire. “Not without you.”
He gave an unbelieving laugh. “And you thought you were going to help me? It looks like I will spend my time protecting you.”
“Well, so sorry to be a liability,” I said defensively.
“Hey.” His tone softened. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I didn’t come unarmed.” I reached into my gown and withdrew the cursed sword. “Jumis is coming to kill you. He thinks if he does, I’ll love him again.”
Aaron glanced at it. “I’ve got a sword. Use that to defend yourself.”
“Your sword isn’t cursed,” I insisted. “Your quest was never to kill Velns; just free Saule and take away his power. That’s changed now. The gods are willing to kill Velns to end this.”
Aaron didn’t look convinced. “I can beat him without a magic sword. And if Jumis dares appear, I’ll kill him with my own hands.” Still, he reached out and took my sword, sheathing in the empty scabbard on his belt. “And you can’t help me defeat Velns, or I won’t be considered the victor. My part is almost done. I found where he’s got Saule locked up.”
“Where?” I looked around.
“Back this way. I was about to unlock the door with the raskovnik when I heard the screaming.”
“And Velns? Where is he? Have you seen him?”
“No.” Aaron shook his head. “I think he underestimated how quickly I would get past his traps.”
That didn’t sound like a mistake Velns would make. A prickle of warning shivered down my spine. “You don’t know where he is?”
“Let’s free Saule and then search for Velns. Without being able to draw on her powers, he’ll be weaker. I’ll beat him easily.”
He took my hand and pulled me onward, but I followed half-heartedly.
“Something’s not right with this,” I said. “Velns knows you’re here. Why wouldn’t he be watching you?”
“I don’t know. But I’m using that to my advantage.”
The tunnel changed from dirt beneath our feet to a slick, polished rock. Doorways appeared in the corridor, all without knobs or windows.
“Where are we?” I whispered. This reminded me of the hallways Jumis had taken me through before we freed the souls from Samantha.
“Some kind of prison, I guess.” Aaron stopped before the last door. “Saule is in here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she called out to me.”
“What if it’s a trap?”
“See for yourself. Saule?” he called.
“Here! I’m still here.”
A voice that sounded like liquid gold reached out from behind the door. I gasped as memories of her kindness washed over me. While I revered Mara as our Great Mother, Saule was the woman who had been the nurturing figure in Dekla’s life. She should never have been locked away. I grabbed the knob and twisted in, thrusting my body against the solid door. “Let her out!”
“I plan to.” Aaron pushed me aside and pulled out the the leaves Laima had given him.
The floor under us began to shake, and then the wall beside me trembled before crumbling into a pile of dirt. A gaping hole appeared where the wall had been, and a long tentacle very much resembling the arm of an octopus reached out. It wrapped itself around Aaron’s torso and lifted him in the air.
“Free her!” Aaron shouted, tossing a handful of the raskovnik at me.
The herbs fluttered to my feet, and the tentacle dragged Aaron into the hole in the wall.
“Aaron!” I wanted to leap after him. I forced my trembling hands to retrieve the leaves first. How did they unlock the door? I pressed them to the door, and it swung open.
Saule was chained up inside, all four limbs, neck, and waist manacled to the walls and floor. I suppressed a sob at the sight, and my heart lurched. I wanted to run to her, to hug her, but I didn’t even have time to unlock all her manacles. Instead, I threw the raskovnik at her feet.
“I’m so sorry, Saule. I have to go. I have to save Aaron!” I ran from her cell and stumbled through the hole after Aaron.
The darkness quickly engulfed me, the little bracel
et doing little to penetrate it. I climbed the dirt as quickly as possible, my fingernails raking through the loose debris.
I crested over a small hill and tumbled down the other side. A light filled the dark room in front of me, and I straightened up to see Aaron on one side of the cavern, crouched in a fighting stance with a sword in one hand. We seemed to be in a dungeon of sorts, with chains dangling from the floors. The light came from a torch glowing brightly from a sconce on the wall. It cast a dull glow on a gash across Aaron’s cheek.
I pivoted to see what he faced. Straight across from him was a beast with six wiggly arms, like a land-born squid. Three of the tentacles clutched swords in their grip, and they lashed out at Aaron, coming at him from multiple directions. Aaron was fast on his feet, slashing at the creeping tentacles, but one of them took a swipe at his arm.
“Ahh!” He let out a quick cry and risked a glance at his forearm. The armor had been cut, and blood seeped from the wound. He lifted his face, revealing eyes dark with determination and rage.
The tentacled beast rumbled and lashed out again. Even though Aaron parried and beat off two of the tentacles, the third slashed across his ribcage, again slicing the armor as if it were paper. Aaron sucked in a breath and pressed a hand to his side. Blood darkened his fingers.
The beast shook as it rumbled, all six arms bouncing up and down. Laughing. It was laughing at him. Then it rocketed forward.
“No!” I screamed, jumping in front of Aaron. I spread my arms wide in Aaron’s defense, not caring if I interfered with his quest. I would die before I let this octopus beast hurt him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Step out of the way, Jayne,” Aaron said through gritted teeth, and I sent him a dark look, not appreciating being ordered by anybody.
“You are in no condition to fight,” I said.
He righted himself, lifting his sword hand. “Don’t need your help.”
His words stung, because I’d given everything up so I could be here for him, because nothing mattered more to me than his life. I brushed aside my hurt feelings, knowing he spoke from a place of pain and desperation.
A tentacle shot past me, faster than I expected. It wrapped itself around Aaron’s sword. It attempted to yank it from his grip, but Aaron removed a dagger from his hip and slashed through the tentacle. A scream echoed through the small chamber, and the severed tentacle released the sword.
His fighting reaction had been faster than mine. Was this a result of becoming mortal again? My instincts were slowed?
My surprise must’ve shown on my face, because Aaron flashed me a grim smile. “I told you I’ve got this. Let me finish this quest!”
I stepped back. Yes, he was injured and bleeding, but so far Aaron had managed to conquer every obstacle on his own. I’d seen the bodies of the damned littering the underworld. Each one of us had bequeathed him with a token to help in his time of need, and he’d used them to defeat the vadatajs, cross the chasm, tame the leviathan, and see in the dark.
I had not given him a token. Jumis had not allowed it. With a sudden thought, I reached under the belt around my dress. Where was it? I had put it here—or was it in a different dress? My fingers caressed something soft and downy, and I removed the single feather I had placed there. I grasped it with my fingertips. Something warm pulsed within the shaft, and I sensed residual energy, even if I couldn’t see it. As Aaron persisted against the tentacled monster, I placed the feather in the palm of my hand and blew it toward him.
“Aaron. Catch.”
He lifted his eyes and saw the feather. His hand reached up and caught it.
The feather erupted when he touched it. A blinding light wreathed his arm, then his whole body. Bright orange, like the color of my feathers when I transformed.
But it wasn’t feathers. The tentacles attempted to wrap around Aaron’s body, but with an unearthly screech, they backed away. Flames curled around Aaron’s torso, flickering and crackling.
“Phoenix,” I whispered in awe. I’d gifted him with the flame of the phoenix.
Aaron glanced down at his arm, an expression of wonder on his face. He didn’t waste another moment, but lunged forward and hacked off another tentacle. The beast tried to grab him, but it howled in agony if it got to close to the fire. It stumbled back, colliding with the wall behind it hard enough to bring down a cascade of black soil.
Aaron didn’t give any ground. He lunged forward, hacking and thrusting, and another tentacle flew off. Hissing and wailing, the creature shrank in on itself, the limbs sucking into the torso while it elongated and stubs grew from the bottom, lengthening into legs. Only after it finished transforming to a humanoid figure did my mind fill in the blanks.
Velns, god of the underworld, stood before us. He was missing an arm and a few fingers and covered in blood.
His limbs would grow back, given the chance. The blessing of immortality.
But I knew Aaron wouldn’t give him that chance. His chest heaved. He unsheathed the cursed blade I’d given him, the one with the ability to kill a god. Sweat glistened on his face, jaw locked in determination.
“Stop!” Velns gasped out, falling to his knees. He lifted up the bloody stub of one arm and the hand with missing fingers of the other in a gesture of supplication. “I surrender. Grant me my life, and I will free Saule. I will make you my champion.”
“I will free Saule without your help,” Aaron said. He pressed the point of the blade against Velns’ neck.
“If you kill me, you’ll be stuck here, taking my place. Didn’t they tell you that?”
Aaron hesitated, shooting me a questioning glance, and I could only shrug. I didn’t know the answer to that. Velns leapt at the opening.
“But you can still be the victor. If I surrender, it’s over. You win.”
I held my breath, heart hammering in my neck. It was true; Velns didn’t have to die for Aaron to be victorious. Could this be it? Was Aaron about to end the war?
“No!”
A new voice roared through the cavern, reverberating off the wall behind me.
Jumis.
I had all but forgotten him. He came raging through, swiveling his sword like a ninja warrior, rage and determination in his eyes.
Jumis came at Aaron with all of his strength, knocking the dark sword from Aaron’s grip and forcing him to step backward. Aaron fumbled with his belt and managed to remove his dagger, which he used to defend against the blows from Jumis’ sword. The power of my token was wearing off, leaving Aaron’s only shield his bloody armor. And it was clear from the way he tripped over his feet that he was exhausted. His pale face had a glistening sheen to it. How much blood had he lost? I could still lose him.
Velns instantly got to his feet and grabbed one of his swords in his functioning hand. His surrender hadn’t lasted long. He and Jumis converged on Aaron.
The cursed sword lay forgotten. No one was watching me, and I darted forward. I hefted it, feeling its weight, feeling the dark power that would allow it to take the life of an immortal being. I darted behind Velns, wielding the sword, borrowing from Dekla’s fighting moves.
“Jayne, no!” Aaron said, but he was out of breath, panting, sweat clinging to his face and more blood oozing from his wounds.
So much for a surprise attack. Velns turned and saw me. I knew from the expression on his face that this was personal. He attacked me with all the vengeance of an angry god whose takeover plot had been foiled.
But I had just as much anger, and mine was from defending a loved one. And for all the humans on earth whose lives had ended prematurely because of this one god. He was the one who powered Jods so he could corrupt Samantha. He was the one who started the whole power trip.
My fury fueled me. I stayed well away from his blade, knowing it would be as lethal as my own.
A grunt and a cry came from beside us, and my heart squeezed at the mortal sound. Velns’ eyes darted toward Aaron and Jumis, and for a split second, he was not watching me. That was when I
struck.
He was in full body armor, and my sword met with resistance. I didn’t let that stop me. He swiveled toward me, dropping his own sword to try to grasp mine, but I pushed harder, harder than I had with Samantha, and the sword punched through.
He didn’t scream. He didn’t cry. His eyes went wide with disbelief, his bloody fingers clutching the blade.
The mist I’d seen when Laima died began to rise from him. The cavern shook, and I released the sword to rush to Aaron’s side, spreading my arms protectively to shield him from any falling rock. Aaron grabbed me and pulled me against him, forming a shell around me. He didn’t let me go, even though I wanted to be the one protecting him. I felt his blood soaking through my gown in various places, hot and sticky.
The quake only lasted a moment, and then Velns collapsed and went still.
“You killed him,” Jumis said.
He no longer sounded angry. His tone was one of surprise, almost amusement. I gave Aaron a once-over to make sure he was alive. He had a new gash on his thigh, but he was still standing. That would have to be good enough for now. I turned to face Jumis, prepared to fight with my hands. But Jumis dropped his sword to the ground.
He was smiling. The tunic of grain he wore across his chest was shredded and disintegrating. Sweat glistened on his face, but he looked smug.
“You won the war, Jayne. You killed Velns. Saule is free. Jods will be defeated and be forced to retreat from the meadow.”
I held my fingers out in front of me, examining them. “It’s too late. Jods has already won. I’m not a goddess anymore.”
Jumis scoffed, suffering an eye roll. “Of course you are.”
“Then why can’t I use my powers?”
“Because you are not a goddess of the underworld. You have no powers here. You are not like me or Jods, who have been granted access to both realms.”
I sucked in a breath as an overwhelming sense of relief hit me. “Nobody told me.” But who would? Laima, if she’d been alive. Trey probably hadn’t known.
“Our friends are saved. Humanity is saved.”
Destined (Goddess of Fate Book 4) Page 16
