Hate

by Gemma Brocato

“Even with all the unknowns, you are performing admirably in this challenge. I feel stronger now than I did with the last go-round with Hunger. Keep up the good work. I love you, daughter.”

  His words were a sweet balm for her soul. Sure, they still didn’t exactly know the question Finn was meant to answer. That fact meant the challenge was far from over. But she had every confidence that together they would conquer hate.

  She hoped she wasn’t wrong.

  Twenty

  Bernie had done an incredible job keeping Dearly Beloved running smoothly while Aerie had split her focus. What Bernie hadn’t been able to do was soothe the ruffled pre-nuptial jitters of the bride sitting in front of Aerie right now.

  “I want my entire deposit back on everything. I hate him! I’m not marrying that son of a bitch,” Belinda Baker screeched for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. She’d dropped by without an appointment, ugly crying and wearing the biggest bridezilla attitude Aerie had seen since she’d inspired marriages between Lucrezia Borgia and her first two spouses.

  “I explained this to you at the beginning of the process.” Thank the goddess Aerie was great at multi-tasking. While she withdrew Belinda’s wedding event notebook, she discreetly probed the woman’s mind for clues as to what she was thinking. She was worried this was part of the challenge, an instance of Pierus ripping apart the happy couple she’d inspired. “You signed the contract when we first sat down. By the terms of the agreement, we only return fifty percent of the deposits for cancellations within three months of the wedding. You’re three days away from the biggest day of your life.”

  Aerie opened the notebook and tapped a finger on the line in the contract. While Belinda read, Aerie moved around the confusion in the bride’s mind, stroking a feather touch across the all-over-the-place emotions to calm her. Belinda’s lips moved, but her face relaxed as Aerie sifted through the woman’s thoughts.

  It was something she rarely did, intrude on a mortal’s thoughts. In this case, the action was warranted since she hadn’t been able to stop Belinda’s tears with simple platitudes and sound reasoning. She finally located the source of the emotional upheaval. Belinda’s fiancé, Greg, had said he loved her plump body. Thank the goddess it wasn’t anything to do with the challenge.

  Curbing her impatience to get Belinda to leave, Aerie prodded a thought deep within the bride’s mind to talk about the remark then go make up with the groom-to-be. Hiding her smile, she backed out of Belinda’s mind. She scattered thoughts of love, longing, and peace along the path of her retreat.

  Wiping tears from her cheek and accepting the tissue Aerie offered, Belinda drew a ragged breath. “Every bride wants to be beautiful on her wedding day. But I don’t think Greg will notice the pretty dress or my hair or anything. He’ll only see how chubby I am.”

  “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I know love when I see it.” Aerie pursed her lips and blew a nudge toward the woman. “Belinda, did he tell you to lose the weight?”

  “He’d never do that!”

  “Do you suppose you’ll be able to live without his love just because he made one ill-advised statement?” Aerie nudged a negative response into Belinda’s consciousness. Sure, it was cheating, but no way was she leaving this couple’s happily ever after to fate. Not when she was certain they belonged together.

  Belinda studied her hands, twirling the rock adorning her ring finger. Giving her head a tiny shake, she looked up. “I love him too much. I’d lose the weight if he asked, but he didn’t. He loves me just as I am.” She burst up from her chair. “I have to find him. I was awful to him last night. Don’t cancel anything. This wedding will happen on Saturday.”

  Aerie stood as Belinda scurried out the door with barely a backward wave. Propping her fingertips on the desk, she hung her head and blew out a breath. Episodes like what she’d just been through were draining, but that one had been especially tedious. A nagging thrum started in her head. She was still depleted from the last run-in with Pierus four days ago. Since then, she’d been in hurry up and wait mode.

  “Aerie?” Bernie stood in the doorway, the light from the windows reflected on her glasses. “Lily Winstead and her two adorable kids are here for her appointment. She’s been great about waiting while you handled Belinda’s crisis.”

  Straightening, Aerie rubbed a fist over the persistent ache in her sternum. A spot of cold bloomed at the base of her spine and she shivered. Perhaps Zeus and Pierus weren’t the only two deities being affected by the challenge this time.

  “Finn?” She called out to him in her mind.

  “Yeah, princess. Right here. What’s up?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m about to meet with Lily Winstead. Something feels off.”

  “Is Phillip there?”

  Bernie advanced into the office. “Aerie, are you okay?”

  Aerie nodded. “Yeah, send Lily in.” She reverted to her virtual conversation with Finn. “Yeah.”

  “Good. I need five minutes to wrap something up here. Sit tight, I’ll be there shortly.”

  The link popped as Finn shut it down. Aerie shoved away the unease nibbling at the edge of her mind and smiled as Lily ushered her sons into the office.

  Lily didn’t return the smile. In fact, her expression was vacant, as if she wasn’t really interested in being present. She poked the older boy hard on the shoulder. “Move, Scott. Ms. Thanos’s time is valuable.”

  Scott’s lower lip trembled.

  The ache in Aerie’s chest bloomed into a fierce stab. Where was the happy family she’d met a week ago? Indescribably tense, Aerie still managed to send the trio a smile. “Glad to see you today. Boys, I believe there are some cookies in the jar on the table. If it’s okay with your mom.” Aerie looked at Lily and saw a battle going on the woman’s face. “Lily?”

  A flicker of fear zipped through Lily’s eyes, but was gone almost instantly. If Aerie had blinked she might not have seen it. As Lily plopped down in the chair opposite the desk, Aerie caught a whiff of brimstone and stale spunk.

  Lykos had gotten to Lily.

  “Phillip! Come now.” Aerie scurried around the desk and was at Lily’s side in seconds. The woman’s arm was frigid to the touch, like she was encased in a block of ice. The odor grew sharper as she knelt next to her chair.

  Phillip barged into the office. “You okay?”

  “Shut the door. I’m fine. But Lily—” Aerie looked at the boys. Both kids were staring at their mother, confusion and worry evident on their faces. She picked her words carefully. “Lily isn’t feeling well. I think she has a case of Lykos.”

  The atmosphere pressed hard on her chest, accentuating the pain as Finn shifted into the room. Scott and Sam’s eyes grew wide as he suddenly materialized.

  “Finn, we need to work on cloaking with you.” Aerie hustled to the boys, and breathed a kiss on each of their cheeks. She despised nudging children, but in this case it was warranted. “Everything is fine, guys. Finn just has a tiny gift he might not have told you about before. And your mom will be okay. Hey, I have some Legos. Would you like to play with those?” She grabbed the large yellow bucket of bricks from a shelf. The colorful bits of plastic clattered when she spilled them on the table.

  While she settled them, Finn bent over Lily, trying to talk to her. She shrank back in her chair, clutching the arms tight enough that Aerie could see lines of red around the white in her knuckles.

  The air tightened again, and Lykos’s noxious, swampy odor swelled in her sinuses right before he appeared. Hate perched on his shoulder. She’d sprouted hair since the last time Aerie had seen her, the long blue-black curls falling along her sparsely feathered back.

  A sneer curled Lykos’s lips as he swept his hands in Finn’s direction. The unseen force he’d unleashed knocked Finn backward into Phillip. Both men flew across the room, crashing against a bookshelf. Hate flapped her featherless wings, the leathery gray skin creaking like a worn-out rocking chair. Tiny human fingers sprouted from the end of th
e wings, fingernails long and sharp, like the talons on her striated feet. A shudder rippled over Aerie’s body.

  Hate’s eyes glowed stark bloody crimson. The color reminded Aerie of the masterpiece Michelangelo had painted of The Last Judgment. Letting out an odd screechy sound, Hate clacked opened and closed her part-snout-part-beak mouth.

  Lykos strolled to Aerie’s side, and laid a hand on the crown of Scott’s head. The boy screamed, his eyes rolling backward in his sockets.

  Sam whimpered. “Don’t hurt my brother.”

  “You’re next, puny boy.” Lykos’s voice was guttural, as if brought forth from the depths of hell.

  “You leave them the fuck alone!” Finn threw himself against the barrier, bouncing back before trying again.

  “Aw, look who loves the tiny humans,” Lykos sneered with an evil chuckle. He diverted his gaze to Lily. “Perhaps, I’ll start with their mother. I know…I’ll instill in her the need to beat her children. Just as your father abused your mother. Suitable punishment for you, I believe.”

  “My father was an asshole, but he no longer defines my world.” Cobalt mist floated around Finn’s legs, but didn’t rise above his hips. Whatever Lykos was doing to hold them behind the barrier also prohibited them from misting into the Hollow. “You son of a bitch. I’ll kill you.” Finn’s eyes were determined when his gaze collided with Aerie’s.

  Lykos flexed his fingers on Scott’s scalp, making the boy groan, before shoving his head forward. Aerie shot her own hand between Scott’s forehead and the table, absorbing the pain the satyr would have inflicted on the boy.

  With predatory grace, Lykos prowled to Lily’s side.

  Laying hands on their heads, Aerie focused her energy on the two boys, doing her best to put a thrall on them. She nudged the boys into peaceful slumber and then sent an SOS to Mars and Aphrodite. She needed someone to come look after the boys while she dealt with Lykos and the bitch who’d ridden in on his shoulder.

  The satyr stroked his knuckles over Lily’s cheek then gripped her chin and lifted. He slanted his mouth over hers. After a violent shudder, Lily fell still, her eyes open and unblinking. Tears spilled over the lower lids.

  “No!” Finn roared. He strained forward but got swept back with a smooth flick of Lykos’s hand. Beside him, Phillip beat against an intangible barrier, electric blue light sparking as his fists connected with the blockade defining the perimeter Lykos had set.

  It was clear Lykos meant for Aerie to face him without assistance from her partisan or her lover.

  The door rattled, then harsh pounding erupted.

  “Lily!” Rod Farmer shouted for his fiancée from the outer office.

  Lily didn’t move or respond in any way as Lykos nearly ate her face with his aggressive kiss. The skin on her jaw blanched under the pressure from his fingers.

  Rod pounded again. “Come on, baby. I know you’re there. I love you. Don’t let him come between us.”

  Him had to be Lykos. The bastard had somehow gotten to Lily and had corrupted her with seeds of discontentment, possibly even hate. As Lykos deepened his evil kiss, the bitch sitting on his shoulder pecked and bit at Lily’s scalp. Lily’s eyes rolled back in her sockets, tears running in rivers down her cheeks.

  “Lily, open the door.” Rod’s cry was punctuated by the sound of gunfire and Bernie’s terrified shriek.

  “Lykos, you’ve been warned about casting charms on mortals,” Aerie growled. If Bernie had been injured, Aerie would personally rip the satyr’s nuts off and feed them to him. The level of emotion firing through her at the moment added a demonic quality to her voice. “Get your fucking lips off her.”

  Aerie lunged, arms extended and elbows locked. Drawing on centuries of martial arts training, and her most recent attacker avoidance class, she slammed her hands against the biggest target available, his upper chest. As she tackled him, a tearing sound rent the air. The seal between his mouth and Lily’s had torn in a jagged line, cutting her lips deeply. Crimson blood oozed from the supernatural wounds. Lily slumped sideways in the chair, then slid to the ground.

  Aerie ducked her shoulder and went after Lykos’s midsection.

  “Aerie, no!” Phillip yelled at the same time Finn bellowed, “God dammit!” The repeated punch of their hands created a flashing lightning display against the barrier Lykos had erected.

  She connected with an oomph. Lykos grunted. Hate hopped onto Aerie’s back and snarled her misshapen fingers in Aerie’s hair. The razor-like claws pierced the skin on her back. Pain roared up and down her spine. She ignored it in favor of focusing every ounce of her energy on defeating the goddessdamned satyr. She shoved her knee up to his oversized gonads, thrilled to feel a sickening squish and hear Lykos’s grunt of pain.

  When he gripped her bicep to push her away, she wrapped her arm around his wrist, locking it between her elbow and forearm. Pressing down, she bent it sharply backward. Centering her power in her arms, she dropped to her knees without releasing her grip. The sick sound of bones cracking made nausea pitch and roll in her gut, but she beat back the rising bile.

  When she released her hold, Lykos rolled to his side, clutching his broken wrist against his chest. Aerie taunted him, “Yeah, not so powerful now, are you?”

  “Aerie, get away from him,” Finn shouted, panic edging his voice.

  The pounding on the door intensified, as did the flashes of lightning illuminating the interior of her office.

  “Lily! Aerie!” Rod screamed. The pistol fired again, and the wood above her door splintered.

  Reaching behind her, she grasped Hate’s scrawny neck and pulled her free. The bitch’s talons shredded her skin as Aerie yanked her forward. Keeping the bird tucked tightly to her side, one hand over her eerie eyes, Aerie gave in to the anger clawing at her. What she was about to do could be considered an act of hate, but she was doing it for love of mortals.

  Lifting her foot, she re-centered her energy in her heel. She imagined her foot as powerful as Thor’s hammer, visualizing it shattering the wall Finn and Phillip were trapped behind. With all the power she could muster, she landed a solid blow to Lykos’s head.

  Behind her, a sound like cracking glass preceded a sudden explosion as Lykos’s eyes rolled backward. Finn raced past her and none-too-gently jerked Lykos’s arms behind his back. He snapped handcuffs on, cinching the bracelet around the satyr’s broken wrist tight enough to make the unconscious being groan.

  “Aerie, can you add some supernatural security to the cuffs so he can’t get free?” Phillip asked as he ripped off his shirt. He took custody of Hate and shrouded the beast within the fabric.

  Aerie squatted across from Finn, who had his knee jammed in the middle of Lykos’s spine. She crinkled her nose as Lykos’s noisome odor wafted upward. Would the smell go away once Zeus stripped him of his powers?

  With a brief smile at Finn, she touched her fingers to the links between the cuffs. Chanting in a lost Etruscan dialect, she imagined infusing the metal with a magnesium alloy known to be the strongest metal in the world. Then, for extra protection, she added a strengthened version of the mythic charm that had locked Pandora’s box, to keep Lykos from circumventing the lock with his powers once he regained consciousness.

  Finn grabbed her shoulders in a punishing grip, dragged her to her feet. He stepped over Lykos’s prone body and crushed her against his chest. His powerful arms around her back anchored her to him. She finally allowed the trembling to claim her, holding on for dear life.

  The atmosphere in her office all but solidified as Mars burst forth from the Hollow, followed by a squadron of uniformed guards.

  Aphrodite’s entrance was more graceful than that of Mars. She immediately went to Scott and Sam and laid her hands on their foreheads. She nodded to Aerie. “They are fine. Mnemosyne is on her way.”

  Hopefully the Goddess of Memory would be able to erase this episode from the mortals’ minds. If only she could erase Aerie’s memory of the awful sound of Lykos’s mouth being ripp
ed away from Lily’s.

  The banging on the door ceased and sounds of Rod sobbing were broken only by Bernie’s muffled words, instructing him to calm down.

  “Report!” Mars barked at Phillip.

  “Lykos charmed the mortal, Lily, and her fiancé. He is still beyond the door, but perhaps one of the other partisans can step through and relieve him of his gun. I believe Bernie fears for her life. Her memories will need to be cleansed as well.” Phillip shot an apologetic look at Aerie.

  Aerie shrugged. Not like she could control the next phase.

  Phillip continued, “Finn, can you contact Anson and let him know all is fine here, so he can circumvent any dispatches by the DCPD?”

  Finn nodded and plucked his phone from his hip pocket.

  One of the guards opened the door to the outer office and slipped through it. Rod huddled motionless on the floor near the door. Bernie was also frozen, one hand clutched to her throat. Mars had placed a thrall on the pair of them. Rod’s shoulders slumped, one hand limp on the wicked looking pistol. As the door swung shut, the guard divested Rod of the weapon.

  Finn’s arms tightened around her as he nudged Lykos with his foot. “This sack of shit physically hurt Lily. She needs the healer.”

  “Hygeia is coming now.” Mars’s words were punctuated by a pop as the healer slipped free of the Hollow.

  She went immediately to Lily and began administering to her, starting with the painful looking tears around her lips.

  With one hand on Finn’s chest, Aerie motioned to the bundle Phillip had cradled in his shirt. “We need a cage for that bitch.” The bitch in question squawked even though she was in the dark and should be mostly silent.

  Mars spread his hands wide and a wrought iron cage appeared from thin air. Holding it by the oversized ring at the top, he snapped his fingers and the medium-sized trap door opened. Phillip shoved his shirt and Hate through it, and none-too-gently shook the bird free of the cloth.

  Hate’s beak had already reverted to avian, although the color remained a human pigment. Pinfeathers sprouted in patches on the leathery flesh defining her wings. Hate’s shriek was outraged and piercing in its intensity. Plugging fingers into her ears, Aerie cringed as Hate’s voice filled her brain. Mars snapped his fingers again and a pitch-black shroud covered the cage. Thankfully, Hate went silent.