“Even if I hadn’t…” Rhea began.
“Even if I hadn’t…” Kala mimicked.
Rhea stood there, stunned. Apparently childish mimicking hadn’t been invented 2,000 years ago when she volunteered to slash her kids down here in the Underworld. The Titan didn’t know how to respond.
Physically, Kala had never felt worse in her life, not even when she’d had the stomach flu in basic training for three straight days of mud runs. Mentally, she kept her wits about her, trying to see any angle she could.
Rhea finally responded, “I’m not stupid. You’ll probably find some way to weasel out of the blade’s weakening spell. So just to be certain…”
Without warning, Rhea swung down with the dagger.
Kala was too weak to fight it off. Asmodeus was suddenly in front of her, trying to block the knife from hitting Kala. The dagger sliced his forearm to the bone.
“Damn, it,” Asmodeus grumbled. Now, neither one of them could use their powers.
It only excited Rhea. “Two down. Now where is that little Malak?”
“Right behind you, Titan,” Talan’s voice boomed with power.
Kala looked over to see a line of at least twenty Grigori facing Rhea.
Kala’s heart soared when Owen stepped forward from the middle of the line-up, rage in his voice. “And we’re not Malaks, we’re Grigori.”
Rhea’s face turned ashen in fear.
Kala never got tired of seeing that kind of reaction.
Chapter Sixteen
Owen’s hands glowed purple, bright against the gray landscape.
Kala had never seen him so angry, not even when she had snuck the car out and drove it to the beach when she was fifteen. He had definitely been irked then – but now? She could almost see his eyes turning red.
“Get away from my daughter!” Owen commanded.
Rhea was still reeling from the fact that she was now facing a phalanx of Grigori. “I didn’t believe it when Cronus told me,” she gasped. “You’re not supposed to exist anymore.”
Owen apparently wasn’t really in the mood to hear Rhea monologue: he pushed a stream of purple fire straight into her chest. She screamed in anguish as the fire wrapped itself around her arms and legs until Rhea was hog-tied with the flames.
Asmodeus couldn’t resist. He pushed her, making her fall hard on the ground.
The more the Titan struggled, the more flames were created. Within moments, Kala stared at a purple cocoon made of fire, Rhea’s screams silenced by the encasement.
Owen reached Kala’s side, hugging her tightly. “Are you okay?”
Her movements were sluggish from the power of the blade, but having Owen’s arms around her instantly made Kala feel better. “I am now.” They pulled away and Kala saw the rest of the Grigori ready for action. Rotoph, Ashliel and Antel were among them, already walking over to greet her with Talan by their side. This group was becoming Kala’s Grigori core of five. “How did you guys get down here? Talan said it was hard enough for him to get in here alone.”
Ashliel answered, “The Grigori united and we battled against Cronus and the other Titans. Zeus punched a hole in the Underworld’s protections and with Talan’s help we managed to bring in twenty-three Grigori.”
It suddenly made sense where Talan had disappeared to. “What about Zeus?” Kala wanted to know why Rhea’s favorite son hadn’t bothered to show up for his siblings’ breakout.
“Zeus and Hephaestus didn’t want to risk entering Hades’s domain,” Antel answered. “They still don’t trust their brother.”
Owen added, “And I don’t trust Zeus and Hephaestus, so it worked out perfectly.” He surveyed the area. “Do you know where Poseidon and the others are?”
“A mile north of here. They don’t look like they’re in good shape.” Kala motioned to her weakened state. “In fact, they look a lot like Asmodeus and I do right now.”
Owen glanced at Rotoph who nodded.
The Grigori appeared to be in a great mood. Kala figured it was because he was being let into the inner circle more and more. The fact that he was the one responsible for their imprisonment was something Kala wasn’t sure any of the Grigori would forgive, but since he was also the one responsible for helping them escape, they seemed to be giving him a second chance.
Rotoph pulled out a red marble the size of a tennis ball. Its surface was covered in runes similar to the ones etched on the Grigori blade. He showed it off with a smile. “A little remedy for your ails,” he said roguishly.
Being that Rotoph was the one who created the Grigori-power-sucking-blades with Hephaestus, it was one more thing on the long list of things he had to make up for. He placed the ball-like device in Kala’s hand.
She was surprised at how light it was. Kala had expected it to feel like a paperweight from the look of the marble-like material it was made from. A moment after the red ball touched her skin, the runes flared a bright yellow.
As if downing five Red Bulls in a row, Kala’s body surged with energy. She was more than fixed…
Kala was alive.
No longer in the muted gray tones of the dead, Kala was once again in full color.
Rotoph grinned in what Kala realized was an attempt at humbleness, but he had too much of an ego and failed miserably. “I added that resurrection rune just for you.”
He might as well have winked like a used car salesman, but Kala didn’t care. She felt so good, so alive, that she hugged Rotoph, which shocked everyone, including Rotoph.
“You’re welcome,” Rotoph said as he pulled out of the embrace. Looking down at the red device, he nodded toward Asmodeus. “May I?”
“Please do.” Asmodeus’s whole demeanor had perked up at seeing Kala cured of the Grigori blade’s effects. Kala handed the ball over to Asmodeus and watched as the runes came to life. His face flushed from rejuvenation and the wound on his forearm sealed shut. “Much better, thank you.”
No one replied back but Kala hadn’t expected them to. They tolerated Asmodeus because Kala had some kind of strange relationship with him. If she let Owen have his way, he’d have sent Asmodeus back to the 5th Level of Hell and thrown away the key. After Kala had set him free, Owen left any and all punishments of Asmodeus up to his daughter.
She had to give the Demon props for standing between her and the dagger and taking the blow. Frankly, Kala only found out less than two weeks ago that Demons, Malaks and gods existed, so she didn’t really know all that much about their true natures. Being raised in a world where people’s faith made it black and white – Demons were bad and Angels were good – Kala admittedly had a bit of a bias when it came to Demons. Though pretty much most of them had been dicks who wanted the world to end, and Asmodeus wasn’t much better in terms of his philosophy of life, he had proven to be a friend to her. At this point that was all that mattered to Kala.
Asmodeus handed the device back to Rotoph. The Demon looked slightly uncomfortable standing among a large group of Grigori, especially with a writhing Rhea-cocoon at their feet.
Owen glanced down at Rhea. “That fire won’t last long. We have to make this quick.”
Kala decided to take the reins. “Let’s get that device to the Olympians and find our way out of here then.”
Talan was the first to respond, following Kala at her side while she led the army of Grigori through the Underworld. She kept her guard up. Rhea might be taken care of, but there was still Hades to contend with and Kala somehow doubted he’d let them escape without a fight. At least she had more back up this time.
Without incident, however, Kala and the others arrived at the Olympian’s hiding spot. They were even more downtrodden than Kala had seen from a distance. Poseidon stared at the small gray campfire as if it possessed all of life’s secrets, not even noticing the large group of Grigori suddenly standing before him. Hera, Demeter and Hestia at least acknowledged their presence by slowly glancing up at them. The Olympians’ skin was so pale it was almost gray, like the rest of the Underworld, their cloth
es ragged. Kala noticed that they still managed to look like hungry supermodels though. Shocker. The supernatural world tended to produce ridiculously gorgeous specimens.
Examining them more closely, Kala saw the slashes on their arms that their mother had given to them over the years. It was no surprise that Poseidon had almost twice as many as the others. According to Zeus, Poseidon was the strongest of his brothers, so it made sense that he had probably tried to break free from time to time. Rhea would have had to deal with him much harsher than the others.
Hera was the first to speak, her words slow and forced as if she hadn’t said anything in a long time. “Who…are… you?”
Kala chose to be the voice of the group. “We’re the ones getting you out of here.”
Hera’s eyes lit up, though her speech was still sluggish, as if drunk. “But we’re so weak.”
“Not for long.” Kala nodded to Rotoph. He stepped forward with the red-runed ball, placing it in Hera’s hand.
The magic of Rotoph’s cure took longer with the Olympians than it had with Kala and Asmodeus, probably because they’d been slashed with the blade for so long. But when all four gods were back to themselves, Kala stared at them in wonder.
Hera was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, starting with her with long, flowing, black hair and dark black eyes to match. Hera’s skin was a golden brown, bestowing an almost Egyptian look about her. Demeter and Hestia were also stunning, though not in the same way as Hera. Demeter was of smaller stature, with long red hair and crystal blue eyes, her small nose and freckled face made Kala almost think of her as human, she was so cute. Hestia was long: long face, long nose, long limbs. Out of the three girls Kala found Hestia the most interesting looking, but knowing that Zeus had hooked up only with Hera and Demeter simply solidified Zeus’s shallowness. And they were his sisters.
Kala planned on never telling any of the Titans or Olympians she was their half-sister/aunt for fear of them coming on to her.
Poseidon was last to rejuvenate and his recovery took the longest. Watching as life was given back to him, Kala was stunned at seeing the Olympian. Poseidon looked the way Kala imagined a god to look. No more of good-looking humans in suits like Zeus or Cronus. Poseidon was almost seven feet tall and all muscle. His body was sculpted as if he had been chiseled in marble and his skin had a bluish teal tint to it that only emphasized that Poseidon belonged to the ocean. But it was his eyes that affected Kala the most: a deep green that bore into Kala as Poseidon stared down at her.
The ocean god sighed in contentment at being fully restored, and then examined all the people standing before him. “Where is Zeus?” he asked carefully.
Owen answered, “He was worried Hades would trap him down here with you, so we came to help.”
Poseidon placed a hand on Owen’s shoulder with affection. “It’s good to see you, Owen.”
Owen smiled. “You too, my friend.”
Kala knew she shouldn’t be surprised that Owen and Poseidon knew each other, but it just struck her as odd, especially since the Olympians had tried to take the Grigori down all those years ago. It just showed that some things in the supernatural world were simply about power and not personal relationships. But even stranger for Kala was remembering growing up with what she thought was an ex-Navy Seal, living a normal life, now to see him as a Grigori warrior pal-ing it up with the God of the Ocean? It made her head hurt.
Owen motioned to the east. “We’ll have to leave through there.”
Poseidon nodded in understanding. “It leads to the ocean, yes.” He surveyed the area. “Where’s mother?”
“I have her wrapped in Grigori fire for the time being, but she’s strong.” The urgency in Owen’s voice was enough to put Poseidon in action.
Poseidon turned to Hera, Hestia and Demeter, “Sisters, let’s leave this place.”
Demeter paused, unsure. “But Brother, this could be a trap. We were responsible for imprisoning the Grigori. They could be leading us to our death.”
Kala understood Demeter’s hesitation. Supernatural politics didn’t make much sense to her, either, but they needed to get out of there. “I get where you’re coming from, but we’re running out of time and standing around a campfire getting stabbed by your mommy every hour has to be better than death.”
Demeter eyed Kala carefully, as if trying to translate her words. Eventually, she nodded. “I will trust my brother’s decision.”
Poseidon shared one more look with Owen, as if weighing whether or not to give into Demeter’s warning. After a moment he began to walk east. “We’re leaving here now.”
Everyone appeared to agree with this consensus and the large group moved east with Poseidon.
Hera turned her head, sensing something that wasn’t there, then said, “Hades is back.” She glanced up at her brother, “Do you think he’s on our side?”
Poseidon barely shook his head in the negative. “If I know my brother, he’ll side with mother.”
Demeter was incredulous, “Even after being put to sleep for 2,000 years? And after his sisters and brother have been tortured just as long? I can’t believe it.”
Hestia gave her sister a look that suggested Demeter was insane. “You can’t? You do know Hades, right? He’d never go against mother.”
Kala didn’t want to join in the family squabble, but she thought she’d give them the information she had. “Last time I saw him, he was definitely on Team Rhea. He tried to stop us by setting an army of the dead on us.”
Hera snorted in irritation. “Hades is a fool and always has been.” Then she focused on Kala, curious. “I recognize the Grigori and the king of Demons, but who are you? You seem human.” The idea obviously confused her. “And you’re alive,” she added even more befuddled.
All the Olympians’ eyes were on Kala. She suddenly felt exposed. Kala would never tell them that she was half-Gaia, only Talan knew the truth of that, so she decided to go with what everyone else knew. “I am human. I got roped into the Atlas gig by accident and somehow I ate him.” That wasn’t vague at all.
Owen chimed in at their shocked faces, “I raised her, though she didn’t know I was Grigori. Kala has always been special.”
Such a dad.
Hera wasn’t letting it go, though. “How did you eat him?”
Kala shrugged. “Apparently, I have some Gaia-mojo inside me, but I really don’t know for sure. It seems to be a skill I have when my emotions run high. I almost consumed Cronus twice and Hades, too, when he turned my dead boyfriend into a puppet.”
Hera and the others kept to themselves after that. Kala could tell that they were processing the information and rating her threat level.
Poseidon was the first to talk, “You were raised by Owen?”
“Yes.” It was hard for Kala not to feel as if she was on trial.
Poseidon nodded, though, as if coming to some sort of conclusion in his head. “Then you’re trustworthy.” And that was all he said.
As far as deities went, Kala decided she liked this crew the best. Of course, she hadn’t seen them in a fight yet, but it already seemed they were a notch above Zeus and Cronus’s style of the nanny-nanny-poopy-pants variety.
Suddenly Kala was flying through the air at lightning speed, then slamming hard against a boulder.
Ouch.
Speaking of fights.
Kala was on her feet, whirling around to see whom her enemy was.
Rhea and Hades.
Apparently, they had targeted Kala and Owen as Kala saw that her father had been thrown against a boulder a few rocks down from her.
Take out the most dangerous first, she guessed.
Not that they needed to.
Kala almost gulped when she saw hundreds of dead soldiers charging the Grigori and the Olympians.
It was already a full out battle.
Rhea and Hades were busy with Asmodeus and Talan fighting side by side. Something Kala would probably never get used to. It still amazed her that Had
es could puppet so many dead bodies without having to concentrate directly on them. The zombies fought as if they had minds of their own. The Grigori were making quick work of them, but the dead’s sheer numbers kept the battle going – and their resilience to losing body parts.
Owen joined her side.
Kala instructed, “You take Rhea. I take Hades.”
Her father nodded, already in combat-mode. Not only was he a Grigori, he was also a Navy Seal and Kala put more value in the latter at the moment.
Poseidon had joined in Talan’s fight against Hades while Asmodeus tried to take down Rhea. A small part of Kala felt bad for Owen as he’d now have to fight by Asmodeus’s side, but she didn’t have time to worry about her adoptive father’s feelings.
Hades was the one that controlled the army of dead and Kala needed to take down the source.
Just as Kala and Owen arrived, Hera and Demeter launched themselves at their mother, clawing and ripping at Rhea, taking out a couple millennia of rage.
But no matter how many supernatural beings came at mother and son, nothing seemed to affect them. It was as if they were protected by some kind of force field cased around their skin.
Owen shot out his purple fire at Rhea once more, but this time she laughed and swatted it away as if it were nothing. It didn’t stop Owen, though; he jumped into the fight using his black fire to try and blind Rhea. But nothing anyone did was having any affect.
Before Kala jumped in herself she yelled her observation over the chaos. “They’re protected by something!”
No one acknowledged her, too wrapped up in tearing the enemy to shreds.
Kala knew she was alone on this one, but her knowledge of the supernatural was weak. How would she be able to figure out how they were shielding themselves? Wracking her Atlas brain was no help, big surprise. The Titan had stayed hidden most of his life, like a sniveling coward, so he almost knew less than she did about Hades and the Underworld.
Then something the Grigori angel Ashliel had said to her echoed in her brain: You do know the Grigori helped create the Underworld.
He may know something.
The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) Page 16
