I continued to hold him, and heal his sores when they appeared. I was arranging his blankets around him again, when it suddenly felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Power roared over me, so strong it made my stomach turn, made me shiver uncontrollably.
I turned, keeping my body between Brennan and whatever this was now.
The being before me stood around seven feet tall. Skin that absorbed the meager light in the room. His eyes glowed white, like mine, and huge, black feathered wings sprouted from his muscular back. He wore a long black robe. His face was both frightening, due to the intensity of his gaze, and achingly beautiful. He watched me.
“Hello, little Fury,” he said in a voice older than time itself. I could barely breathe.
I bowed. “You are not Asclepias,” I said softly, feeling my power respond to him, welcome him.
“Rise, Fury. You bow to no one.”
I rose, and I watched him.
“I am not Asclepias. I am known by many names. I am Hel, and Lucifer, and Osiris. I am Pluto, Mictlantecuhtli, San La Muerte. Some simply refer to me as the Devil Himself. I prefer Hades.”
I stared. “Oh, shit.” It left my lips before I even thought, and I clamped my hands, horrified, over my mouth.
Hades laughed, and the building shook. He stopped, looked around. “Your mortal dwellings are not made for me,” he said.
I just stared some more, hands still clamped over my mouth. He watched me. “So, little Fury. Mollis. Your mother has told me about you. It is a pleasure to meet one of my own.”
I nodded, still unable to speak, though I did drop my hands back down to my sides.
“I heard your call. Asceplias is unlikely to hear your summons in time. Those of the Aether don’t live with the immediacy those of us from the Nether do.” He looked around me toward Brennan. “The Furies are in pursuit of the Nosoi now. This will be avenged.”
I watched him. “Can you fix him?”
He studied me. “You know that the dead are my domain. The Nether. Healing is of no interest to me.” My stomach sank. “However, you are a Fury, and valuable, and I am the Devil Himself, after all.”
“So,” he said, smiling at me, “shall we make a deal?”
I nodded.
“You will work for me, as your mother and aunts do, as a Fury. You will be present when I meet with other gods. In exchange, I will have Asclepias come here and heal him, as well as any others affected by the Nosoi and their nonsense.”
I studied him. “May I ask a question?”
He nodded.
“Did you do all of this? Did you send the demon after me last year? Are they breaking through because of you? Did you put the Nosoi up to this?”
He smiled. “My dear, do you think I’d have to play games if I decided I wanted you?”
I dropped my gaze. “But making a deal is not beneath you?”
He laughed. “I enjoy making deals.”
“Do you know who has been after me?”
I felt irritation, frustration from him. “I do not, little Fury. Your mother has filled me in, and it angers me greatly that someone in my realm is involved. We will find out who is playing these dangerous games.”
I nodded, looked back up at him. “You could have just forced me to come and work for you, couldn’t you?”
“Yes. I could have tried.” He sat in the chair next to Brennan’s bed, looked at him for a moment. “I have watched gods, humans, and other creatures for eons. Do you know what I love best about them?”
I shook my head.
“Their ability to choose. When you see which choices, which decisions, a being makes, you see what is truly meaningful to them. They may say many things, but the choices they make let you see their souls.”
“And what do you see in me?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I see that you will go to any means to protect those you care about. And that you care about many. I see that there is nothing you would not sacrifice to keep those you love, especially this shifter, safe.”
“So you want me to take my official role as a Fury. And you want me to be present when you meet with other gods,” I said, looking up at him. “Are we making a point?”
A smile quirked the corners of his mouth. “Possibly. What point do you think we make?”
“That you’re the one who has the godkiller,” I said softly. “Hades, as he is, is fearfully powerful. Hades, with a godkiller in his service…”
“Is even more terrifying, yes,” he said mildly. “You may not believe me, but I want you in my service more to protect everyone than anything else.”
I looked up at him, and I knew he could see the skepticism in my gaze. He smiled again. “Think, little Fury. At least a few gods know what you are. Likely, we deal with minor gods, otherwise we wouldn’t be here speaking to each other right now. My guess? Gods who are tied to either the Nether or the Aether, or they would have come after you more directly here in the mortal realm. Those gods crave power. They would use you as a weapon, to gain that power. We would have war, death.” He paused. “But, if it is clear that you belong to me, they would have to be stupid to try to take you or use you.”
“So. I would be spending a lot of time in the Nether.”
“Likely. Yes.”
“I have responsibilities here, Hades. People who need me.”
“So you do not want our deal?” he asked, watching me.
“I would like an addendum,” I said. He grinned.
“We shall see. What is it you want?”
“I ask that he and the other shifters be healed. And I ask for protection for him. Someone knows how important he is to me. He will be targeted again. You claim no one will come at me directly once you make it known that I serve you. I’m willing to risk myself. But they will still target those close to me, as they have been for over two years now. That…I’m not willing to risk it anymore.”
“That is something I cannot give you. I have already tampered with Fate by agreeing to save those destined for death, including this shifter. If he is destined to die at the hands of your enemies, I will not stop it from happening.”
I nearly growled in frustration.
“However, there is something you can do to protect him,” Hades said.
I looked at him, waiting.
“Claim him.”
“Meaning?”
“Claim him as yours. You forget that you are a powerful god in your own right. You would have the right to severely punish anyone who tried to take or harm what is yours. You would know if he was in danger, or injured. You would be able to find him, no matter how far apart you are.”
“How would others know he was claimed?”
“We’d be able to sense it. Even Earth-bound beings, would feel your claim on him. It’s almost a visible thing. It’s not common, because we gods are so far removed from the lives of mortals.”
“Will it hurt him?”
“No. It will make him stronger. Less susceptible to magic, illness. Harder to kill.”
“Will he know I’ve claimed him?” I asked, realizing it was something Brennan would never agree to, if it required any type of sacrifice on my behalf.
“No.”
“How do I do it?”
“You are a god. Listen to yourself, little Fury.”
“Why does everyone keep telling me that today?” I said in frustration.
Hades smiled. “Because it is the truth. And because you need to learn to believe in yourself.”
“You make it sound so simple,” I murmured, looking at Brennan again.
“Because it is. Do we have a deal, Mollis Cithaerus?” Hades asked, and I noted a bit of a sneer as he said the name. He reached his hand toward me. “I have him and the other shapeshifters healed, and you take your place among the Furies and attend me when I request it. When not attending to those duties, you shall dwell here in the mortal realm.”
I nodded, put my hand in his huge, strong grip. “We have a deal, Lord Hades,” I
whispered.
He smiled. “Excellent. I will send Asclepias to you immediately. And I will inform your mother of your decision.” He nodded, then disappeared, as if he’d never been there at all.
I went back to Brennan, brushed his hair back from his face. I’d just made a deal with the Devil Himself. I was about to lose a good portion of any freedom I’d had to run my life the way I wanted to. I’d have to find a way to keep everyone safe here, while fulfilling my duties in the Nether. I didn’t know how I would manage it, already overwhelmed at the prospect.
I ran my hand over Brennan’s cheek, the coarse hair of his beard.
Totally worth it.
♦ ♦ ♦
I was healing Brennan’s sores again when I felt a presence enter the room, looked up to see my prayers answered. A god. Clearly. He was kindly looking, with a long white beard and a shock of curly white hair that trailed down the back of his light blue robes. He carried a cracked, ancient-looking leather bag in his hands. In every way that Hades had been terrifying, this being was comforting.
I stood up, bowed to the being. He was insanely powerful. His power was different from mine. Warmer, brighter.
“Mollis. It is a pleasure, my dear. I wish we could have met under different circumstances. I am Asclepias, and I have come at Hades’ request.”
“Likewise,” I said, taking his hand in mine and shaking it. “There are no words to express my gratitude.” His skin was warm, almost hot, against mine. “You’re not of the Nether,” I said.
He smiled. “No. I am from the Aether. I am a friend to you, Fury.”
I nodded. “Can you fix him?” I asked, and I hated how childish, how vulnerable I sounded.
“Let’s have a look, shall we?” he said, and I stood aside and he approached the bed. He uncovered Brennan, started running his hands over Brennan’s body, specifically his chest, and I heard a low hum coming from the god.
As he did it, I felt Eunomia enter the room again. “Well done, demon girl,” she murmured. She stood next to me and took my hand. “Your aunts are tracking down the Nosoi,” she said quietly as we watched Asclepias check Brennan over. “Your mother is at the gateway. There is another disturbance there. A group got through and slayed the guards we had there. The other guards managed to fight them back, but there are at least three demons roaming your city.”
I shook my head. Knew I should go hunt them down before they could hurt anyone. Eunomia seemed to read what I was thinking. “Stay. That demon you showed mercy to? Levitt. He is hunting them. He’s been keeping an eye on the area as well.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, nodded. I really should check in and see if Levitt needed anything. I made a mental note of it. Later.
Brennan woke after Asclepias had been working at him for a few minutes, and I could hear him softly conversing with the god. After a while, Asclepias nodded. Then he turned to me. “You’ll want to get a basin of some kind, my dear. This is going to be messy.”
I went down to the kitchen and grabbed the small garbage can we used for recyclables, and brought it back into the room. Asclepias was running his hands over Brennan’s back. Bren was sitting upright in bed, legs over the side of the mattress, eyes closed. I could feel the power emanating from Asclepias, and I bowed my head in wonder and gratitude.
“Give him the basin,” Asclepias murmured, still focusing.
I handed Brennan the garbage pail, and he took it, eyes still closed. I watched as Asclepias continued to run his hands over Brennan’s back, rubbing some kind of spicy, herbal salve over his skin. The healer god’s power only increased, and the room thrummed with it. After a few minutes, Brennan heaved, and retched, and threw up reddish-black grossness into the trash can. It seemed to go on forever, and though he was in pain, I could feel him getting stronger again as it left his body.
After a few minutes of retching, Brennan slumped forward. I grabbed the can, and Asclepias caught Brennan and settled him back against the pillows. I took the can into the bathroom.
“If I flush this, is it going to hurt anyone?” I asked Asclepias.
“No, my dear. It’s quite all right. Now that it has been expelled from his body, it has lost all of its more dangerous qualities.”
I nodded, flushed it, and came back into the bedroom. Asclepias was running his hands over Bren’s chest again, and then he nodded, satisfied. Brennan was laying in bed now. His breathing was steady, and he already had some color to him again. I put my hand on his forehead, and he was not feverish or clammy.
I turned to Asclepias. “I cannot thank you enough,” I said, bowing to him.
“It was my pleasure, my dear. I will see to the rest of your shifters while I am here.”
“There are a few dozen of them.”
He smiled. “I am a god. I have all the time in the world.”
I smiled at him. “That seemed really nasty,” I said, leading him out of Brennan’s room, glancing back at Brennan’s sleeping form.
He nodded. “It was, as you say, nasty. As you saw, there was quite a lot of it in your friend. That much would have killed a weaker man days ago. Astonishing he fought it this long, really. It starts as nothing, and grows, and makes it impossible to breathe, essentially suffocating the shifter from the inside. Very bad,” he said, shaking his head. “I am ashamed that one of our kind caused this. I hope whichever of the Nosoi did it is punished, severely.”
“Oh, they will be,” I said, as mildly as possible, even as my need for vengeance roared through me.
We reached the main floor of the loft, and I called Anastasia over at the Grosse Pointe shifters headquarters to alert her to Asclepias’ imminent arrival and to tell her that he’d cured Brennan. She was happy, and promised me she wouldn’t let anyone freak out when Ascelpias appeared.
I thanked Asceplias over and over again before he left, and then went up to Brennan’s room. I ran my hand through his hair, down his cheek, and he nuzzled his face into my touch in his sleep. I stretched out next to him on the bed.
I watched him. And one word came to me: mine.
As terrified as I was of loving anyone again, as sure as I was that we would be a mistake, I couldn’t ignore my feelings for him anymore. Everything, including Nain’s blood still flowing through my veins, told me it was wrong. Why did my crazy, foolish heart keep insisting it was right, even when I tried to talk myself out of loving him?
Mine.
I moved my hand from his face, and placed it over his heart, felt it beat, strong and steady, under my palm. He rested easily now. It would take some time to regain the strength he’d lost. But he was safe. And I would make sure he stayed that way.
I decided to do what Hades said: I let instinct, whatever inner knowledge had prompted me to ask for Asclepias, take over. I would claim him. I would keep him safe.
I closed my eyes again, keeping my hand over his heart. I rid my mind of everything else, thought only of him. I don’t know how long I stayed that way. Memories flooded over me, a million moments of warmth and love between us, the many ways he’d saved me, protected my heart over the time we’d known each other.
I felt warmth inside of me. Bright, beautiful, like the sun.
Mine. Mine. Mine, pulsed in my mind, in my soul, in time with the beat of his heart under my hand.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
The warmth grew, and I felt the moment I’d fully claimed him. A warmth entered my soul, brightened all the dark corners of me, the places I tried to hide. Brennan, in his purest form. I felt tears leak from under my closed eyelids. I felt him, so clearly, as if there was a delicate, yet unbreakable chain linking his soul to mine. I couldn’t hear his thoughts. I still felt his emotions. But now, more than anything else….now I felt Brennan.
And he was more beautiful, more magical than I’d ever imagined.
I sat there, reveling in the sensation of having his soul linked to mine. I knew I should have felt guilty for doing this without asking him first. If this saved him from pain or danger even once
between now and then, it was worth it.
Mine.
Yeah. Ada had been right. Demons were territorial. If what I was feeling at that moment was any indication, though, demons had nothing on Furies.
Mine.
I opened my eyes, and watched him as he slept, and eventually felt my eyes drooping. I laid down next to him, dozed, feeling his heart beat in perfect time with mine.
Eunomia appeared not long after, breaking the peace.
“Mollis, they’re fighting to get through again. We need you now, girl.”
I cursed, and Eunomia grabbed me. “This will be unpleasant,” she warned, and we were not flying. Instead, we seemed to fall apart and pull ourselves back together seconds later in the Packard plant.
“So that’s how you get everywhere so quickly,” I muttered. “Handy.”
She grinned and disappeared again, going back to the Nether, and I started fighting. The stress over Brennan, my anger over being pulled away from him when by his side was where I really wanted to be, my desire to find and punish whoever had hurt him, all of it combined, and I felt my body nearly splitting at the seams with righteous, white hot rage. I exploded, much as I had on the night Nain died, unleashing my powers and reducing the dozen or so demons around me to dust.
I was not finished yet.
I stared, felt the gateway pulling for me. And this time I gave in. I leaped through. I wouldn’t wait anymore to see who else they would hurt, which of my loved ones they would target next. They wanted me so badly? Fine.
Time to take the fight to them.
Chapter Thirteen
When I arrived in the Nether, there was no time to think. I came out into a mob of angry, fighting demons and gods. I slashed out at demons, set more than a few ablaze, turned others to ash. It was easy for me to distinguish between the troublesome demons and those who worked to fight them. The problem demons all wore collars, chokers of heavy chain; the guards wore black uniforms, not unlike what I’d seen on my mother.
Broken: Hidden Book Two Page 12
