Hate

by Gemma Brocato

  Closing her eyes, Aerie squared her shoulders. She summoned her mist form, praying she didn’t get sucked into the ether as the Hollow pulled back. Opening a small portal into the Hollow, she isolated one of the power streams, then harnessed it with her mind. She tested the strength of the flow with a gentle tug, then shortened her grip on it, drawing it closer.

  A surge of power jolted into Aerie’s frame, making her stumble forward. Finn balanced her, drawing her incorporeal body close against his. He wrapped his arms around her, about where her waist would be.

  A blast of heat seared through her as the Hollow released the electrical stream she’d tethered. Aerie’s muscles contracted painfully, arching her back against Finn, her head slamming against his chin.

  The nausea intensified as she infused the net with the new power. Despite the burn pouring into her from all the joined energy, she shivered. And the smell; something oily and rank filled her sinuses. Her stomach heaved, but she swallowed hard, shoving the bile down until her task was completed. She could be sick later. Visualizing a fog bank in her mind, she pressed her hands to her lips, then spread her arms wide, as if blowing a kiss. The fog she’d only imagined actually rose through the lacy web, covering the turf on the football field, swirling around the team and the fans surrounding them, muffling the jeers and catcalls of the angry mob.

  When the cloud reached the band, all music ceased. Silence, sudden and unnerving, reigned over the stadium. The fog continued to build as Aerie lifted her arms overhead. Tendrils of vapor climbed the concrete steps, encasing rows upon rows of fans in an impenetrable blanket.

  “Keep going, Aerie. They’re almost calm,” Clio encouraged her.

  Aerie welcomed the extra push of power each of her sisters funneled to her.

  The band’s trumpet section blared out the first chords of the University’s fight song. The drummers joined, pounding a syncopated rhythm, and caught up to the trumpets. Clarinets and trombones switched their tune as well, adding more harmony.

  The cloud covering the stands seethed, retracted, and then seethed again, undulating like a wave upon a shore. As it moved, so did the unnaturally still fans. One by one, the people in the stands slid back to normal. Fans throughout the stadium began singing the fight song, as if nothing untoward had happened.

  “You did it!” Phillip’s jubilant voice rose above the sound of the band.

  Battling fatigue, Aerie reeled back on the Hollow’s energy. The icy wave burned as she funneled power through her body, and returned it into the void. She attempted to shift back to human form, but her body wouldn’t coalesce. Glancing at her mist, she was dismayed to see it more a pale buttery shade than her normal sunny golden yellow. Finn’s hand glowed cobalt where he touched her mist.

  “Mars,” she spoke directly into his mind. “I can’t retake my human form. Something is wrong. I think I’m depleted.”

  “What?” Shock filled his voice. “Muses! Get over here.”

  His outburst drew her sisters’ attention from the football field.

  Corie gasped. “Aerie, what happened?”

  Opening her mouth to speak, she was too weak to force her lips to move to form the words. She gave over to the floating sensation, riding the waves of fatigue and nausea battling for dominance inside her. Exhaustion took precedence, rendering her in a state near unconsciousness. The muffled voices of her sisters filled her mind, thoughts of concern, upset…and anger? The very air tightened around her, then popped suddenly.

  Gentle hands touched her mist, filling the cold cavity that normally housed her life force. She easily identified which sister added her energy as one by one, they reached for her. She forced her mind to count as sweet, welcomed heat flowed into her. Five…six…seven. Her sisters were pulling her back from the waves. Finally her mist crystallized back to human form. Feeling brittle, she slumped in Finn’s arms. Dizziness catapulted over her. With it came a wash of sickness that climbed her throat like a tidal wave. She lurched forward and crashed to her hands and knees, fighting the clench of her stomach.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Sweet, gentle Terri was worried.

  “Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s just showboating for her mortal.” Shocking venom filled Callie’s tone.

  Seven. Only seven of her sisters offered replenishment. Callie had abstained. What the hell?

  She didn’t have the strength to focus on Callie’s betrayal. Aerie rested her arm on the metal stadium bench, and nestled her forehead on the cool aluminum. Finn tried to lift her, but she weakly batted his hands away. “Need a minute,” she croaked.

  A small, cool hand stroked the back of her neck, and an infusion of energy swelled in her body. She cracked one eye open and lifted her head enough to see the healer Hygeia standing above her. Just beyond, Eirenne hovered, wringing her hands together like a distraught debutante.

  “Hey girl,” Aerie squeaked out, shoving the words past the nausea still trying to rise in her throat. “Why are you here?”

  Finn plopped down behind her, and drew her onto his lap. Curling against him, she fought the queasiness and absolute lack of energy. She took comfort in the grip of his arms, the solidity of his thighs under her butt. Powerful heat from Hygeia’s hand continued to surge at Aerie’s neck, but it was the smooth movement of Finn’s hand sliding up and down her spine that touched her more.

  Eirenne stooped down and hit Aerie with a solemn gaze. “Hygeia and I were playing darts at The Forum when she got the emergency call. I believe the exact message, which, by the way, everyone in close proximity to H heard, was ‘Get your healing ass here pronto.’” Eirenne tossed a saucy glance over Aerie’s head. From the grumbling behind her, Aerie was certain the look was aimed at Mars.

  The stench that had pervaded Aerie’s sinuses intensified, and she finally placed the odor.

  “Lykos.” Aerie lifted her head as Finn’s hands tightened on her shoulders.

  The satyr sauntered toward them. Aerie shrank against Finn’s chest, burrowing into a safe zone. She resisted the urge to pinch her nostrils shut against Lykos’s offensive smell but wasn’t above burying her nose in the neck of her shirt. She’d rather smell her own sour sweat than his funk. She slipped off Finn’s lap, but remained huddled close to his side on the cold stadium bench.

  “You have some nerve, showing your gorgeous puss around here,” Mel barked at the newcomer.

  “Mel!” Lia jerked her twin backward. “Don’t go calling him pretty. It will go to his head.”

  Lykos swept a gaze over Lia’s clown pajamas and smirked. “Looks like we caught some of you unaware.”

  Aerie’s chest seized, squeezing in tight. Her ribs brushed the iron constriction with each shallow inhalation. “What do you want, Lykos?”

  Wings flapped overhead, the monstrous noise rising above the sound of the band playing a Top Forty tune. A black and white feather drifted onto Aerie’s lap, but she lacked the will to brush it away. She stared at Lykos in revulsion as Hate dropped onto his shoulder, and snuggled her misshapen birdy head against his rugged jawline. Using only the tip of one finger, Lykos urged her stubby snout away. The hard shell of the bird’s beak had started morphing to human.

  “Goddess, she’s uglier than any of her sisters were during their morph.” Clio snuck the thought into Aerie’s mind.

  “It looks like someone has a crush on Lykos.” Lia’s voice singsonged in behind Clio’s thought.

  Hate squawked and screeched, like she’d heard the thought.

  Oily black mist twisted like a vortex behind Lykos and with a bright pop of light, Pierus burst forth from the Hollow. Before his mist fully dissipated, Aerie noted a pulsing pustule of rusty red near where a mortal heart resided. The bands tightened around her chest with his appearance. Breathing was fast becoming a priority.

  Eirenne strode to Lykos and jabbed a finger into his brawny chest. “You will release the restriction on Aerie this minute.”

  Lykos smirked. “And if I don’t?”

  “You r
isk banishment to an uninhabited island. Devoid of people with only goats to keep you company,” Eirenne threatened, sweeping a cold gaze down his body, cocking one eyebrow when her eyes hit his crotch. It was good to have the justice goddess on her side.

  The bands pinched tighter for a moment, then, with a negligent wave of his hand, the constriction eased. Bracing one hand on the metal bench, Aerie struggled to rise; her legs limp and trembling. Finn grasped her elbow and tucked his arm around her waist, helping her to her feet. Once there, he didn’t leave her side. Phillip crowded in on her left, presenting a solid team.

  She faced Pierus. “We’ve stopped you again. This challenge is over.”

  Cocking his head to the side, Pierus tsked against his teeth, brushing an invisible speck of lint from the lapel of his costly suit. “Is it? What makes you think you’ve won?”

  Aerie swept her arm in a circle, indicating the normal pep rally happening behind them. “Look around you, Pierus. Everything is as it should be.”

  “Perhaps,” he said as he slid a nonchalant glance around the stadium. “Perhaps not. I do not believe I am done toying with you yet.” He flicked his fingers toward her.

  Queasiness exploded in her stomach, rising up her throat in an inexorable wave. She bent double, only remaining on her feet thanks to Finn and Phillip supporting her. Her gut heaved, trying to rid itself of the giant ball of sludge sitting just under her solar plexus.

  Mars growled and closed the distance to Pierus in the blink of an eye. The god’s hands wrapped around Pierus’s neck and the lesser deity’s face turned red. “Fuck you, Pierus. You will undo whatever you have done to Aerie. Right. Now.” Mars’s voice boomed like thunder.

  As his color deepened to purple, Pierus wiggled his finger under Mars’s nose. “She absorbed all the negativity from the charm Hate cast on the humans. I can fix her, but you will not like the cure.” His voice was strained and raspy.

  Aerie’s body heaved as viscous sickness roiled through her.

  “Fix her now.” Mars shoved away from Pierus.

  The god stumbled, then corrected himself. Shooting the cuffs on his suit, he nodded to Lykos.

  Clutching her belly and looking up from her bent-over position, Aerie didn’t miss Lykos’s smug smile. He strolled to Aerie’s side, tucked a finger under her chin and lifted, drawing her upright. Tipping his head from side-to-side, his devilish smile widened, and deep crimson flickered in his eyes.

  “To fix what ails you, little Muse, I must kiss the pain away.”

  “No fucking way!” Finn exploded behind her.

  “Lykos, no!” Callie shouted at the same time. She leaped toward the satyr and grabbed his bicep. “You don’t need to kiss her to make her better.”

  Lykos looked Callie up and down, his gaze dismissive. “It is the only way to suck the poison from her.”

  Aerie retched again. If she hurled, she was aiming for his expensive Italian loafers. “I’ll do it. But no tongue, you got that?”

  “I knew you’d see reason.” His smile turned wolfish, and he licked his lips.

  “Aerie, I don’t want you doing this. There must be another way. Can’t she fix you?” Finn gestured wildly toward Hygeia.

  The healer shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what ails her. What poison they used. What was injected into her via supernatural means I cannot determine. It appears Lykos’s solution is the only way.”

  Pain ripped through Aerie as though she were being torn in two. She groaned. “Do it now, Lykos.”

  He licked his lips, a long slow, anticipatory lap around his mouth. His stench overpowered Aerie as he leaned into her. Goddess, she was going to throw up. Hopefully, she’d do it in his mouth.

  He leaned in and sniffed her like a cat searching for a place to claim. “Mmm, you smell delicious. Like freshly fucked woman. I’m going to like this.”

  The sweep of his tongue around the perimeter of her mouth aroused a different type of revulsion. The touch of his lips burned through her, igniting a flame deep between her legs. As the pain in her gut eased, the tingling escalated in her body. She jammed the brakes hard on the overwhelming urge to kiss him back. He was only doing this to cleanse her of whatever poison she’d taken on during her fight to calm the pep rally. Still, as he continued to kiss her, her body betrayed her, closing the gap between sanity and orgasm. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of coming, despite the damp heat burgeoning between her legs. Sucking a deep breath through her nose helped. The stench made her gag but took her mind away from her body’s response to the satyr’s kiss.

  The corner of Lykos’s mouth curled a scant second before he thrust his tongue past the barrier of her lips. Desire spiked instantly but she quelled it and bit down hard.

  He yelped and jumped away from her. “Little vixen.” He spat on the ground, the crimson stain dark against the gray concrete.

  Her stomach returned to completely normal. Scrubbing the back of her hand over her mouth, Aerie squared her shoulders. “I told you no tongue.” She reached for Finn’s hand.

  Lykos slicked his tongue against his lips, a drop of blood leaking from the corner. “You’ll pay for that, bitch.”

  “And you’ll pay for all that has transpired here tonight as well,” Aerie retorted, pleased that her voice no longer sounded weak. She cast a speculative glance at Pierus. “Zeus isn’t the only god suffering from this challenge. You’re growing weaker as well. I saw it when you emerged from the Hollow. How much longer can you hold out as we continue to defeat your daughters?’

  Giving no response other than to flick his fingers under his chin, like a big kiss off, Pierus beckoned Hate to his side, and together they vanished into the Hollow.

  With a puff of stinky smoke and spunk, Lykos disappeared right after them.

  Aerie dusted her fingers together and turned to face Finn, shoulders raised, knowing he’d be unhappy with her.

  What surprised her was the look of animosity reflected in Callie’s azure eyes. Aerie cringed away from the venom seething just below the surface of her sister’s glare.

  “Why the hell did you kiss him, you bitch?” Callie demanded, her tone harsh and guttural. “I could kill you for that.”

  Nineteen

  “Back off,” Finn ordered. He turned his attention to Aerie. He didn’t like seeing another man’s lips on hers, but he liked even less seeing her experience the amount of pain he’d witnessed. Both had ripped his guts to shreds.

  Pushing away his jealousy, he cupped her nape, and drew her to him. “Are you okay?”

  Aerie flicked her gaze to him, gave him a gentle smile and a nod. “Fine. I’m so sorry. I would have never allowed him near me,” she whispered.

  “I’m just glad you’re better. Jesus, Aerie, I thought you were going to die.”

  Drawing her knuckles over the stubble on his jaw, she held his gaze momentarily. “The thought crossed my mind, too.

  Callie grabbed Aerie’s shoulder and jerked her from Finn’s arms.

  “Hey! Dammit, Callie, that hurt!” Aerie knocked her hand away and rubbed the muscles Callie had dug into.

  “Probably not nearly as much as seeing you kiss Lykos hurt me.” If steam could have come from the woman’s ears it would have. She leaned in and sniffed the air near Aerie’s mouth. Her nostrils flared, like she’d caught a whiff of something offensive. “I can smell him on you.”

  Aerie stepped back, bumping into Finn’s chest. “Goddess, Callie, we all stink like him right now. Anytime we’re in close proximity to a satyr you know that stank gets on you. You practically have to bathe in tomato juice to cut the smell.”

  “It’s worse on you. He shouldn’t have kissed you. He should only be kissing…” She trailed off, clenching her fingers into tight fists. She went up on her toes like a boxer getting ready to release a knockout punch.

  Finn stepped in front of Aerie, tucking her safely behind him. He put as much don’t-give-me-no-shit attitude into his voice as he’d use with a convicted felon. �
�Lady, back the hell off. Aerie’s had enough today.”

  Two of the other Muses Finn couldn’t name stepped toward Callie but she shook off their approach with one hand held up in their direction. They both lurched to a stop, mouths hanging open like they hit a wall she’d erected.

  “Stop right there.” Holding her other sisters in place with one hand, Callie spun her attention back to Aerie. The woman shook her head. “Not until I’ve had my say. You don’t get to make out with Lykos. You’ve known he’s been mine forever.”

  “What the fuck, Callie? You’ve hated him since the second century when he tried to trick Gaia away from Zeus. Are you freaking crazy?” Aerie clutched his waist and tried to shove him out of the way.

  “Dammit, Aerie! Calm down. You were just on death’s door.” Finn couldn’t kill the urge to protect. The air tightened around his chest and his vision clouded. Fuck, knowing you’re somehow immortal doesn’t stop the blackouts when you’re pissed. He grabbed Aerie’s hand. If he was blinking out, he’d take her with him.

  Callie lunged, raking her long fingernails across his cheek. He ducked but Aerie didn’t. Callie tangled her fingers in Aerie’s hair and jerked hard. Aerie howled and tried to retreat, but Callie’s grip was too intense.

  “Calliope, cease this moment!” Mars’s thunderous voice caused the partisan guards lining up around the group to flinch. Even Finn could see flickering in the shimmering mask they’d constructed around the immortals. They were in danger of discovery by the people attending the pep rally.

  “Fuck off, Mars. I’m pissed at her and she’s going to pay.” Callie’s muscles bunched as she prepared to pull Aerie’s hair again.

  Finn caught Callie’s wrist in a viselike grip and bore down hard, squeezing the fine bones until he could have snapped them like twigs. Callie screeched in pain, and released her grip on Aerie’s fine red hair. Mars grasped Callie around the waist and hauled her back against his chest. He spared a look at Finn. “Go!”

  Pulling Aerie around in front of him, Finn secured an arm around her waist. “Hold on, princess.” He held his breath, shot them six inches off the ground, and misted both of them out of harm’s way.