Exoria (The God Chronicles #5)

by Kamery Solomon

  Victory was so close I could taste it mixed with the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. Brushing dust from my eyes, chest heaving, I glared at Erebos, watching as he spun his twin blades in his hands. I’d managed to get him to drop them several times now, but without the extra help from Cristos and Arsenio, the fight had turned into one of wits as much as strength and skill.

  The Titan slowly stalked toward me, using my stolen helmet to send out magical urges of fear and abandonment, trying to make me succumb to all the powers he possessed. Blood ran down his chin, the black void of his eyes seeming to stare at me hungrily. His robes were in tatters now, singed and ripped from our scuffle. However, each step he took seemed to exude confidence and superiority, as if he were merely playing with me.

  “Do you give up yet, Hades?” Drawling on, he smiled, his teeth red from the amount of gore in his mouth.

  Other Books By Kamery Solomon

  Novellas

  Forever

  Hell Hall

  The God Chronicles

  Zeus

  Poseidon

  Hades

  Adrastia

  Exoria

  The Dreams Series

  Taking Chances

  Watching Over Me

  The Swept Away Saga

  Swept Away

  Carried Away

  Exoria

  By

  Kamery Solomon

  Happily Ever After Publishing - Arizona

  Copyright © 2016 Kamery Solomon

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Published by

  Happily Ever After Publishing

  Arizona

  Smashwords Ebook Edition

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This book is available in print and ebook format.

  For Jake—I’ve dedicated so many stories to you already, but I truly couldn’t create them without you.

  Acknowledgments

  I find the end of this series bitter sweet. Bitter because I am sad to say goodbye to the story, sweet because I am so happy to see it finished and able to be shared with the world. When I first had the idea for Zeus all those years ago, I never would have imagined that it would turn out like this. I couldn’t be more grateful for the experience.

  I would like to once again thank my husband, Jake for putting up with me. He has listened to so much whining and complaining, haha! There was never a time that I needed his help that he wasn’t there. He celebrated with me, pushed me through tough times, and offered advice on story lines that was so ridiculous, but somehow always got me back on the right track. Thank you, love!

  My mother is such an example to me. Besides doing all of her own author work, she helps edit all of my work, gives opinions on covers, and basically hashes out everything I need help with in my life. Everyone always says they have the best mother, but mine truly is the most awesome.

  Thank you to all of my readers as well. You made this series what it is. I hope that you are as satisfied with its ending as I am.

  ~Love always~

  Kamery

  Prologue

  Somewhere in the United States

  White and gray flakes flitted through the air, lighting softly on Logan’s short, blonde hair. Well, he hoped it was snow, anyway. There was still so much ash in the air, though, he couldn’t be certain.

  Glancing around, he took in the crush of people camped between the bare trees, a fearful air pressing down on everything. They had all been the lucky ones—they weren’t in, or around, the city when the bomb dropped. Some called it divine intervention that they were alive; others chalked it up to good luck. Logan felt more like he’d missed out on not having to see what was coming next.

  Shelters sat in the snow and ash, dirty pathways cutting through the powdery cover, and voices called to each other over the din of dishes clinking and weapons being loaded. Generators hummed alongside many of the spaces, the only things keeping everyone going at what was a mostly normal pace.

  “We found a broadcast!”

  The voice shouted from somewhere over to the left and Logan turned in that direction, eager to hear any news being shared. He wasn’t the only one, though; a crowd quickly gathered around him, heading in the same direction. Finally, he saw a man carefully moving an antennae set, his face a mask of concentration as he watched the small screen he was working with.

  The television was sitting in the opening of a tent, flashing pictures of some of the nuclear bombs that had been dropped, the reporter detailing which cities had been demolished.

  “Washington D. C., Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles have all been reported as destroyed, with minimal survivors,” she said grimly. “Authorities have issued a statement, barring anyone from entering the disaster zones. They are highly toxic. Anyone within a few miles risks radiation poisoning. It has come to our attention that many groups have gathered on the edges of these zones. The United States Military will be sending additional scouts to check and make sure you are at a safe distance, and possibly help rehome as many of you as possible in this time of great tragedy.”

  “And everyone else gets the fallout sickness.” Derek, Logan’s brother, muttered next to him. “These stupid masks they have us wearing aren’t going to do anything to save us.” He motioned to the cover on his face, his voice somewhat muffled behind it. They’d been issued the safety equipment when the first wave of military came through. The soldiers were long gone now, though, off to help the next group of people. Most of the troops were being readied for war. There weren’t enough to send some to each encampment.

  “They’re doing all they can,” Logan answered, adjusting his position so he could see the broadcast better when someone stepped in front of him. “There’s hardly anything left.”

  “We could go south,” Derek suggested. “To Texas. A guy on the other side of camp is predicting the wind patterns will keep the fallout away from that area for a little while. We might be able to work something out by the time it reaches us.”

  “Everything is either being sent to help those who were hit, or sent to war,” Logan repeated again, frustrated that they were having the same conversation once more. “It’s not just the States that were blown up, dude. Italy, Russia, China. Buckingham Palace is a pile of charred rubble right now. Jerusalem is a scorch mark. When I say there’s nothing left, I mean it! We’re not just trying to outrun fallout. We went from seven billion people on the planet to barely any. We’re all that’s left!”

  “Shhhh!” The woman in front of him turned around angrily and he paled at the sight of the little boy in front of her, the child’s eyes wide with fear.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, pulling his coat around him tighter.

  “Don’t apologize,” Derek said smoothly. “The world ended last week, kid. Life as we know it is over.”

  “Don’t listen to him, sweetie,” the woman crooned, glaring at Derek as she pulled her son into her arms. “God has a plan. It’s all going to work out.”

  Laughing, Derek rol
led his eyes, the attention of the other listeners turning from the news to him. “Lady, if there are any gods at all, they sure aren’t here helping us.”

  Chapter One

  Cristos

  “Let no Olympian call you brother.”

  Tears streamed down my mother’s face as they carried me away. The drops formed tiny dark spots on her golden dress, quickly drying as she turned away from me. It was odd, how I could remember every little detail of the moment that my life as I knew it completely ended. It was an instance I wanted desperately to lock away in the darkest part of my mind, but the more I tried to banish it, the clearer it became.

  The enchanted ceiling of the oval throne room on Olympus was foggy, clouds of gray and dim white swirling together. Zeus was out of sorts, the display matching his emotions. I half expected it to be bursting with lightning, an angry display of his rage towards me after I’d attacked him. Instead, it seemed my father was conflicted, maybe even sad that I was being banished to the fiery hell in Tartarus.

  The normally stark black and white marble on the floor and pillars somehow seemed subdued, as if it couldn’t shine as brightly as before. Perhaps it was because of the gods that stood in the area, their faces blank, eyes wide in shock.

  I guess they could have been round with anger as well. Generally speaking, anyone who attacked the King of the Gods wasn’t a welcome individual in the home of the great ruler.

  However, I wouldn’t fight against the guards, walking calmly with them to my fate. After all, it was one I’d brought upon myself. The Graeae had warned me that I would choose the demi-Titan over Zeus and be condemned to Tartarus. When the moment had arrived, there had been no other option for me.

  And there it was—another instant I achingly needed to forget, but could not erase from my mind. Avalon, my zoi mou, my life, was dead at the hands of Zeus.

  Her perfect brown hair had fanned out around her head, her body lighting up with the glow of lightning as he stabbed a bolt toward her. Guards held her steady, like some kind of sacrifice, all of them deaf to my screams and pleas to stop.

  Why would they have listened to me, though? She was a demi-Titan, the first of her kind, and an unknown threat to Olympus in a time of war. They didn’t have the memories of her laugh, or know the way her eyes sparkled when she was happy. How could they know what it felt like to hold her in my arms lovingly, to caress her skin, to kiss her lips? It wouldn’t even be a possibility to them, thinking of what it would be like to have her forever, to watch her bear my children, to need her so much it hurt to breathe. There was no contemplation of what it was like to love Avalon. Who’s to say I wouldn’t have done the same thing if I were in their shoes, not knowing the wondrous creation they condemned to death without a second thought?

  Helpless, I watched her death, furiously trying to call on the lightning powers I’d used to attack Zeus seconds earlier when he tried to end her the first time. The powers were new, though, and I didn’t even know how I’d managed to call them forward.

  Then, suddenly, Avalon changed. The Titan inside of her took over, wings sprouting from her back as she grew in size, her fingers turning into snakes. Before anyone even knew what was happening, the beast had torn Zeus’s heart from his chest and fled.

  But my Avalon was dead. Only the Titan remained now.

  And so, I was cast out, carried away into a hell that couldn’t be any worse than what I was already living. The woman I loved was gone, replaced by the monster she’d fought so desperately to control.

  Every day, all I could see was that moment—that last second I felt alive. It was my fault she’d been killed. If I’d never gone after her in the first place, trying to prove I would never pick a demi-Titan over my father, she would still be alive, working as an emergency medic in Russia, or whatever other part of the world needed her help.

  Some days, I tried to imagine what her life would have been like if she’d never met me. How much better would it be? Would she have ever discovered she was half monster? Was she happy without me?

  It was a bleak life in Tartarus. The longer a person was here, the more insane they would become, until they didn’t remember anything about their life before. My memories were painful, but I refused to lose them. Rehashing old wounds was all I had, now.

  Arms stretched to their full extent, I sighed, looking down at the hot sand beneath me. It was unclear how many days I’d been chained in this cell, on display for the entire world to see, if they wished. Mostly, I knelt down, the shackles around my wrists keeping me from lowering my arms at all. When I got tired of that, I stood, trying to ignore the pain of never being able to lower my hands all the way to my sides. Not that it mattered if I could touch my thighs or not; my hands were encased in metal as well, as if they were a dangerous weapon all on their own. Fire licked the stones around me, making them a molten color of red, but they would never melt. My constraints were anchored in those rock walls, the space just big enough to fit me. The heat from the fire burned me at every moment, the bare skin of my back constantly slick with sweat and stinging from the lick of the flames. Ahead of me, a wall of flames flickered, the space beyond that filled with more fire and brimstone.

  Sighing to myself, I closed my eyes, focusing on Avalon’s face. She was smiling in the memory, the wind blowing through her hair gently as she sat on the deck of the boat we’d sailed on together.

  The memory was shattered by the sound of footsteps, the fiery bars of my cell dissipating as someone entered my space. As I kept my head down, I recognized what could only be the voice of Hades.

  “So you’re Cristos, the nephew I never met.” His voice sounded offhand, as if he didn’t really care about anything.

  Annoyed, I rolled my eyes, wondering what he was doing here. Hades hadn’t done anything he was supposed to since the war first started, more than twenty years ago.

  “Perhaps you haven’t heard,” I replied, looking up as I let venom snake through my voice. “But I’m not family to any Olympian.”

  He was wearing all black, fire burning in his gaze, the flames flickering like they had a life of their own as he gazed down on me. There were subtle hints that he was no longer the once great King of the Underworld, that he had lost his mind and picked it up somewhere along the way. I could see the hysteria in his eyes, the pleading in the curve of his mouth, his bitter aging concealed under the slight stubble along his jaw. None of those things stopped him from acting like the godly king he was. In that instant, it became clear to me, he had only become because he wanted something. Unfortunately for him, I already knew I wouldn’t be doing anything he asked. I was content with living an eternity here, paying for what I’d done to Avalon.

  “That’s good, neither am I.” His reply was short, clipped even, as if I’d hit a nerve. “I’m well aware I’ve more than fallen down on the job in the eyes of my siblings.”

  “This is the first time you’ve been to Tartarus since The Undoing. I think it’s safe to say you’ve more than fallen down.” Smiling at him, I resisted the urge to make another dig at him. He seemed to be indifferent to anything, but there was a reason he’d come to see me. Waiting for him to get to the point was taking forever. Staring back at the ground, I pursed my lips and then sighed. “What are you doing here?”

  “Why, I’ve come to set you free.” He had the audacity to sound surprised, like he thought I would have figured that out already. “So you can go rescue your love from the Titans.”

  The declaration could not have stung me more. Flinching, I jerked my head up, glaring. What kind of joke was this, coming down here and poking at the fact that I’d lost her? “Avalon is dead,” I hissed, feeling like I was suddenly finding out why everyone hated him so much.

  Examining his fingernails, he seemed to brush off what I’d said. “Actually, she is quite the contrary. I had the guards search the whole place. She’s not here. No one’s seen her wandering around haunting people, either.”

  I couldn’t help it; hope blossomed within
me instantly. If she were truly alive . . . Everything would change right this minute. If she were dead, they should’ve been able to find her. She was murdered and died too young. According to the laws of death, she would be a Lost One, forever forced to relive her death with no memories of her life beforehand. She wouldn’t have been hard to find.

  What did Hades have to gain from lying to me, though? Could he prove she was alive? There’d be no way to find out for sure if I refused to help him with what he wanted now. The Lord of the Dead was a master of deals. If he promised me Avalon now, all I’d have to do is follow up on my end of the deal.

  Decision settled into me and I stared at him with determination. “What do you want me to do?” I asked.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere.” The smile that spread across his face almost made me wish I hadn’t agreed without knowing more. There was no going back now, though, and he knew it. I would do anything I had to if it meant getting Avalon back.

  “Would you like me to free your hands?” he asked, motioning to the chains that held my arms stretched out from my bare chest. “That can’t be comfortable.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I repeated, my voice barely a growl. Of course I was uncomfortable. I was chained to the walls of a room in literal Hell. Fire burned all around me, making the chains and the stones they were anchored into burn my uncovered skin. Even the sand beneath me felt like a bed of hot coals. Small talk wasn’t on the agenda here. He couldn’t dangle the possibility of Avalon returning in front of me and then take it away, not if I had anything to say about it.

  “Snappy, aren’t you?” It was the first real bit of anger I’d heard in his tone, the fire in his eyes flashing dangerously as he stared me down. “That’s enough of that. I’ll not be disrespected in my own home. You’ve made it clear that you think I’m a traitor to the Olympians. News flash, kid—you are, too. We have more than that in common, it would seem.”