Gods damn it, My Prison. He was wide open. You know better, Nether complained, and I ignored her. I needed a fucking backseat brawler like I need a hole in the head.
He struck, hard, and I jumped back again, then slashed out, catching him across the forearm. He hissed and leapt back, then noticed that everyone else was drawing near again. He moved as if to push them away again, but I jumped on him before he could, slashing at him, then grabbing his wrist so he couldn’t rematerialize away again. I was so focused on his sword arm that the bone-rattling punch to my jaw completely took me by surprise, and he shook me off with a laugh.
“This is the immortal everyone’s so afraid of?” he taunted, flipping his sword in his hand and catching it expertly by the grip as I stood up. I could feel the bones in my jaw knitting back together, but in the meantime, my jaw hung open awkwardly and I had to fight not to cry. Cuts, gunshots… those hurt, but I’m used to them. Flesh tears and then almost immediately repairs itself.
Bone, though? The sensation of bones regrowing, melding back together after being shattered, the feel of little shards of broken bone moving beneath my flesh… ugh. Besides hurting like a bitch, it was a disgusting process in general.
I held my hand out, sending a blast of energy at him, shoving him back the same way he had with my friends, and he was up again and advancing on me almost immediately. His sword came up, and soon all I could do was try to keep up with him, though I did wonder where the fuck everyone else was. I’m not exactly known for my sword-fighting prowess.
Nether seemed to be having almost the same thoughts, except not.
You are going easy on him, My Prison, she prattled. You know this is not your father, no matter how much he looks like him.
Do you really think this is easy? I thought at her, wincing as he sliced across my wrist, thankful for the armor I was wearing. My hand would have been on the ground without it. I met another slash with my blade and quickly glanced around.
Nain and the others were otherwise engaged, I realized with some surprise. I’d been so focused on my fight with Hades, so freaked out by his sudden appearance, that I hadn’t let the knowledge that Nain and the others were fighting filter through. A few dozen of those little armored beings from before had shown up, and Nain, Brennan, Heph, my mom, E, and Athena were doing their best to fight them back. In my concern, I forgot about the asshole who was not my father and had the air knocked from my lungs when he used his power to push me back, making me fly across the forest and crash into an enormous pine tree. He was on me in a flash, sword slashing across my stomach, my arms, my legs, revealing the thin armor beneath the tattered fabric.
“Weakling,” he spat after realizing what was keeping his blade from breaking through.
I raised my sword.
Too slow, My Prison. And you are holding back, Nether said, and in the next breath, Hades was hit with a pure white blast of energy, something I’d only ever seen Nether do.
You know I could have done much more damage than that. I was holding back for you. You need to finish this, she said. I stalked over to Hades, who was getting to his feet, slowly. He winced and looked at me with a mix of fear and hatred in his eyes.
“Unnatural,” he snarled.
“You’re one to talk,” I muttered. I glanced at my friends. Hades had succeeded in drawing me away from them, and even if they were nearby, they were clearly busy. I raised my sword and was about to slash out at Hades when we were surrounded by a large group of the armored beings, each of them holding sleek, silvery-green guns up, aimed at our heads.
“You will comply. Set your weapons aside and get on the ground,” one of them said in the same robotic voice the first one we’d met had had.
Are you a telepath? I thought toward Hades.
Yes.
My gut twisted. I’d never thought to hear my father’s voice in my mind again and it hit me harder than I thought it would. I mean… this wasn’t him, obviously. But he wore his body and spoke with his voice and it was too much. I took a breath and pushed it aside.
Their tech can kill us. Demeter is dead because of them.
Bullshit.
Hey, if you want to let them use you as target practice, go ahead, I thought at him. But if you want to get out of this shit alive, then we’re going to need to fight them. I can kick your ass later.
I sensed humor from him instead of anger, and that, almost more than anything else, cemented the fact that no matter what he looked like, this was not my father. Hades could have a sense of humor when he was in a decent mood, but never over something like this. Questions of his superiority were never a source of humor.
Why shouldn’t I just let them kill you? he asked as we moved, back to back, ready to fight them off.
Because what if the power dies with me?
I sensed his irritation. He’d already had the same thought.
For now, we fight on the same side, usurper.
I took a breath and gave him the mental signal. We each slashed out at our attackers, Hades running one through with his blade, while I removed the head of another.
“This armor they wear is worthless,” he said as he slashed out at another one.
“The armor is weaponized. Stay alert,” I said, grunting as I one of them shot at me and I dodged it, barely.
You two need to get back over here so we can face them together, Nain thought at me, and I relayed it to Hades. In the next instant, I was back-to-back with Nain, and Hades was back-to-back with my mother.
Hm. He’d done it as naturally as if it was something he’d done a million times before. I didn’t have time to think about it at the moment, and I was trying to get a feel for their weapons. They didn’t shoot bullets. It was some kind of laser-light looking thing, but it seemed an awful lot like the same thing that had killed Demeter.
We fought, all of us dodging those flashes of light from their weapons. I set a couple of them on fire, Nain and Heph removed more than a few body parts with their axes, and my mother, E, Athena, and Hades all worked deftly with their swords or daggers while Brennan tore into them with claws and teeth.
But we were tiring and they just kept coming.
My mom fell, and I sensed her irritation more than anything else. She’s not used to having anyone else get the upper hand. At the same time, Hades’ rage seemed to increase tenfold, and he slashed out at our attackers like he was possessed.
This is not healing, Mollis, my mom thought at me.
Go home, I told her. I don’t want you to end up like Demeter. Call Asclepius as soon as you get there.
I can still fight.
Go, I thought more forcefully, glancing back and meeting her eyes for just a moment.
She gave a slow nod, and then she was gone, the sense of her frustration, anger, and embarrassment still lingering for just a moment, the way you can smell the perfume of someone who’s recently walked through a room.
It felt like we fought forever. The bodies of the little armored beings littered the ground at our feet. Hephaestus had been grazed by a few of their shots, and his black armor was torn and stained red at those places. Nain had let his demon go, and stood there in full demon form.
Wait… that was not possible. I nearly took a shot to the chest from one of the armored things and dodged it just in time.
How?
Nain had lost his demonic form twice in his life now. The first time, a witch had spelled him and he’d lost it. The second time, he’d given it up willingly in exchange for an enchanted Christmas gift for me. He’d been all too happy to give it away. He’d found himself slipping into that form too often, and he was strong, more brutal in that guise than he liked to be. He’d felt out of control wearing his demonic skin.
Yet here he was, fully demon.
But… different. I know Nain’s demon as well as I know his human one. His skin turns a dark reddish-black. His muscles become even bulkier. His eyes glow red, and his teeth sharpen to deadly points. I know all of that.
Wh
at I know for sure is that my mate does not have horns. And yet, there he was, swinging his ax, muttering and cursing in a way that would make the most vile creatures of the Nether cringe, and he had what looked to be small nubs of horn protruding from the sides of his head.
My Prison! Nether shrieked in my mind, and it was enough to make me react just in time, ducking as one of those laser bullets or whatever the fuck they were came at me.
Persephone had come to in all of the chaos, but she was useless, standing there staring at Hades. I rematerialized to her and tugged her behind me.
“Wake the fuck up. We’re under attack. And that’s not him. It’s his body, but that’s not my father. And I am going to kill you as soon as we manage not to die here,” I muttered, pulling both of us down to avoid another laser, then slashing out at our nearest attacker.
We were all slowing. I knew my arm wouldn’t take much more slashing and stabbing. E had been hit once as well, her thigh burned and bloody. She kept fighting, her face a feral grimace as she stabbed her attackers. Brennan fought at her back, and they spun, crouched, and stabbed in tandem, like some kind of deadly dance that only they knew, like they were so in tune to one another that all it took was the smallest movement to signal what would happen next.
But they, too, were tiring. I was tiring. Athena had taken more injuries than most of us and with arguably our best fighter slowing, we were in rough shape.
And then Hephaestus was hit again, a blast to his bad leg, and he went down with a roar.
“Grab Heph and let’s get the hell out of here,” I shouted. We knew where the breach was now. We could come back, more of us, fully healthy, and continue this another time. I got a hand on Nain, and I saw Athena take Heph’s hand.
I focused on rematerializing, ready for that sensation of being pulled apart and put back together again back at home.
Nothing.
I tried again, and I felt the panic of my fellow immortals and realized they were having the same issue.
Again.
Nothing.
“Fuck,” I roared, and Nether let loose on our surrounding attackers, mowing them down with her energy blast as if they were nothing, my fear and rage fueling her, her fear and rage making her even stronger than she usually was.
Almost as soon as those armored beings fell, twice as many appeared, taking their places. One of them raised a hand, and I was sure this was some kind of signal that we were all about to be killed. They had us surrounded. Outnumbered. We were wounded and tired. There was no fight here anymore.
Instead, the shooting stopped. Nain held my hand tightly. He was angry, confused. Remorseful. I felt it from all of our companions. We were not accustomed to losing. And now, remarkably, though most of us had lived our lives in solitude for a very long time, we all had people back home that we cared about, people who would be left behind, who would mourn us if we were gone.
I lifted my sword again, and the beings tensed.
“Mollis Eth-Hades,” the being who had raised his hand to stop the fighting said in a loud robotic voice. “You have fought valiantly but this battle is over. My Lord does not wish to see you or your companions dead at this time. You will come with us as honored guests.”
“And if we don’t?”
There were a few tense moments of silence.
“You will,” the being said. “You can not teleport away. You are wounded and outnumbered. You will come with us, or your companions will die.”
“Just take me, then. Let them go home.”
“No,” Nain said, and I felt the same stubbornness from the rest of my friends.
“We cannot allow that,” the being said.
“He only wants me,” I pressed. “I know that. I talked to him.”
“Yes,” the being nodded. “But my Lord knows that the immortals you have with you can be used to make you compliant.”
Its words sent ice through my veins. He’d hurt or kill them if I didn’t do what he wanted, if I didn’t give him what he wanted.
We stay with you. We’ll figure something out, Nain said in my mind. Don’t even fucking think of giving him what he wants. Your body and heart are already claimed, and I’m sure the fuck not letting you go, Molls.
If he hurts you…
He’s not having you.
The finality in his tone, in his emotions, let me know that there was no arguing with him.
We stay, demon girl, E thought at me. We will not leave you.
I knew she spoke for both herself and Brennan. A look at Athena and Heph showed the same determination in their faces.
“We should at least try to get Heph sent home,” I said quietly.
“Fuck that, queenie,” Heph muttered.
“Your kids. Meaghan,” I pressed.
“If I go running home while our world is still in danger, I’m not worthy of any of them. I’m staying,” Hephaestus rumbled.
“I would love to go home,” Persephone said.
“None of you are leaving here,” the armored thing said. “The question is, are you going to continue to fight us until you are all injured and incapable of fighting, or will you come now?”
I met Nain’s eyes. Blue eyes. He’d slipped out of his demon form while we’d been talking, and for the first time ever, I was relieved. Those horns had not belonged there, and I had no idea what it meant. Did demons evolve? Was he still in adolescent demonhood? There is still so much I don’t know. Why demons had two forms in the first place, for example. And why it was that he’d been able to get rid of his true, demonic form at all, and keep the glamour that made him look human. More mysteries, and I knew I was not smart enough to solve them all.
It wasn’t like that was at the top of my priority list at the moment anyway.
“We’ll come now,” I said, and the little armored thing nodded.
“My Lord knew you could be made to see reason,” it said. With a gesture, the attacking force around us mostly left, marching toward the area Nain had identified as the breach, and then promptly disappearing.
“What if we can’t get through?” I asked the leader.
“These walls were created by Nyx. We have no doubt you can travel the breach,” it said. It nodded, and then we were marched forward. I had a moment of gleeful hope when I realized they had forgotten to seize our weapons.
And then I realized that we’d been practically helpless outside of their realm. Chances were good that whatever we were walking into, our weapons would be even more useless.
They arranged us so that we walked in single-file, me first, then Nain, and then the rest of them. Persephone still stumbled along dumbly, as if she had no idea what was going on and didn’t care. The only thing she saw was Hades.
Which meant she’d be useless and we’d have to carry her ass when we found a way out of here. I knew Hades would fight. He wanted my power for himself.
I knew that once we stepped through the breach, our chances of getting away from Volodhal and his minions were slim to nothing. Unless I gave him what he wanted. Maybe he could be convinced to let them go.
Even as I thought it, I knew it wouldn’t happen. He wanted my world to burn. That started with the beings Nyx and her kind had created. The immortals would be the first to be destroyed, so trampling the rest of my realm would be easy. There would be no one left to defend it.
My only chance would be killing Volodhal and then finding a way home. Which meant I’d have to get close to him. My path forward was clear. He’d thought to use my friends and family as bargaining chips, but I held the biggest bargaining chip of all: myself.
I closed my eyes as I stepped through the breach, felt my realm tugging at me as if it didn’t want to let go, and I felt my heart break a little bit.
I’ll be back, I promised. My realm, my kids, my city. I’ll be back.
Chapter Thirteen
I don’t know what I expected when I walked through the breach and into Volodhal’s realm. Fire and brimstone, maybe. Darkness and death and decay. U
gliness.
Instead, when I stepped through, it was to feel the warmth of a sun on my face, a warm breeze that carried the scents of fruit and flowers. When I opened my eyes, I saw that we were surrounded by a vast city, one unlike anything I’ve seen before except maybe in science fiction movies. The buildings soared up into a bright blue sky, smooth, flowing shapes made of some sort of mirror-like material that reflected the blueness of the sky and everything else around them. Small ships flew silently overhead in ordered lines, and beings walked past us. Beautiful, human-like, every single one of them. I wondered if, beneath the beauty, they all looked like Volodhal.
They were so like the people of my realm. Brothers and sisters. Was this Nyx’s influence on this realm? Were these her children as well?
I don’t know how I knew, but I did. The beings on this world were hers. Hers and Volodhal’s together. I could feel her in them the same way I could feel her in other immortals of my own realm.
She’d said she’d once loved someone, a being of great power, a being who would destroy our world in his rage over losing her. She’d never thought to share that she’d created life with him, that my realm wasn’t the only one she’d given life to.
We were directed forward, along the immaculately clean street between the buildings. The people or whatever they were watched us pass silently, continuing with their business even with the obvious strangeness among them. Despite everyone’s fear and anger, I could feel Heph’s excitement. My friend loves seeing new things, new technology, and there has been nothing new to him in a very long time. I knew he was cataloging all of it, trying to figure out how it worked. The silent, tiny ships above us, the doors that seemed to shimmer and allow beings to pass through them, even the material the buildings were made of.
I took a deep breath. I was glad he’d come after all. We would need to learn all we could about this place and its technology if we had a chance in hell of fighting back.
We drew nearer to what was clearly a palace. In some ways, it was like castles from my own world, soaring turrets, banners bearing what looked to be a coat of arms fluttering in the breeze. The crenellations along the top of the first level of the three-story palace were flowing like waves, and it took me a moment to realize that they were the same shape as Volodhal’s horns. Unlike the other buildings with their mirrored finishes, the palace was white, but with a pearlescent luster. I knew that if I reached out and touched it, it would be smooth as glass.
Godkiller (Hidden: Godkiller Saga Book 1) Page 12
