Illusions: A Grace Murphy Novel

by Nicole Hamlett

"Don't poke the snake, George." My breath hissed out between my teeth, and I swallowed a little blood. My stomach was not happy with me right now.

  "I feel drunk with power!" She raised her fist to the sky shaking the bloodied sword triumphantly.

  "Alright, there drunky drunkerson. Help me get to the palace. I'm not moving so hot on my own."

  "Oh." She shook herself and some of her joie de vivre shrunk. "Want me to carry you?"

  "You teleported here, right?"

  "Yeah, I heard you calling for me, and I just popped back here without thinking about it."

  "Well, then you can teleport us to the gates. Maybe in the time, it takes me to get there, some of these holes will have healed."

  "Grace," Her expression was dubious. "It's going to take the blink of an eye. Let me see if I can shrink back down and I should be able to do a bit of healing. I can't be in War mode and Healer mode at the same time." Her lips pursed like she thought that it was really too bad. It was too bad. She'd be an excellent giant healer.

  "Will you be able to grow big again?"

  "Mm, probably not. I have to be really mad. It's part of dad's thing. I don't need to be big, though. I've already got all of the information I need for us to complete the mission. Those guards are super easy to read when they're scared. I was just having fun." She shrugged. "That's all."

  "You did look like you were having fun. I hate to put a stop to it."

  "No," she shook her head. "I spend a lot of time reminding myself that I'm not just a war goddess. I'm a healer and an inventor and a friend. There's more to me than war mongering."

  She set me gently on the ground and screwed up her face. It took a few seconds, but she began to shrink down to her normal size. When she was finally done, she gave me her patented look of gentle exasperation. "Where in the world did you get a stab through the lung?"

  "Dmitri," I grumbled. "We're probably going to have to have a talk about you becoming a giant war machine. I didn't know you could do that."

  "Yeah," she blushed. "I haven't done it in a while. I'd rather not talk about it if you don't mind. It brings out a side of me that I'm not entirely comfortable with."

  "I can dig that." A blood bubble popped and splattered my nose, and we both reared back in disgust.

  "Here, let me seal those holes for you." She hurried forward and put her hands on either side of my body, covering the holes created by the sword. A healing warmth filled my body, and Georgie's essence poured over my wounds, fixing me as she explored the damage.

  "I could totally go for some mashed potatoes and gravy right now. And fried chicken! Oh god, I'm so hungry. I forgot how much energy that takes."

  “Did you make it inside?” Any intel right now would be a bonus. I struggled to my feet and picked up my discarded sword.

  “No, but I did get a sense of who was left in there.”

  “We’re gonna need to talk about why you didn’t see this coming, George. If Nemesis has blocks you can’t see past, it will be harder to tell who she’s been messing with.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Grace.” She sounded miserable.

  “Not your fault, babe. Don’t think twice about it. We’ll get it figured out.” I gave her a wide smile before turning back to Dmitri.

  The blade made a singing sound as it swished through the air and separated Dmitri’s head from the rest of his body. “Excellent!” My hands burned lava hot as I then incinerated the traitor’s skull. Fool me once…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  According to Georgie, the palace was nearly deserted. It seems that when Apollo found out that his home was under attack, he'd fled. "What a yellow-bellied dog!" I'd exclaimed.

  George agreed and then teleported me to the palace entrance. I’d healed enough that I could walk and we began searching the place room by room. There were still people here; we just didn’t know who. Most certainly Hecate was. I couldn’t see her abandoning her home turf so easily.

  Medusa, who had recently rejoined us, just shrugged, gave me a steely-eyed look and complained. "You didn't follow the plan."

  "I hadn't expected to get stabbed through the chest!" Was it defensive? Yes. Defensive, but accurate. I gave her a quick rundown of the brief fight with Dmitri. I also shared my concern regarding what Nemesis was coming back for.

  "Do you think it's the necklace that Hecate was wearing?" Georgie asked.

  "I absolutely do think that it was that," Medusa had answered grimly.

  "So now we have that to worry about. I wonder if Hecate will even tell us what to do with it, or how to use it. Do you think we can destroy it?"

  "NO!" they'd both yelled at the same time.

  "Remember how I was afraid that destroying the Obelisks would cause a backlash?" Medusa asked calmly. "Well if that necklace holds the power I expect, then demolishing it would explode this planet."

  "We don't want to explode planets today, Grace." George inserted.

  "Okay, we've got a definite nixing on the planet exploding. Do you think that Hecate will try to take us out with it? Actually, why hasn't she tried to take us out with it?" I frowned with confusion. "She's had plenty of opportunities to use it against us and hasn't. Is everyone agreed that it's more powerful than anything we could come up with on our own?"

  There was a round of agreement and nods.

  Our steps echoed against the tiles as we moved. The place was nearly deserted. Anyone we’d encountered had either fled or surrendered themselves immediately. Without a better way to contain them, George had teleported them into the forest on the other side of the bridge and had Porkchop watch over them.

  Porkchop was feeling awful for not having my back when Dmitri attacked me again. There was certainly enough guilt to go around. We’d both fallen for Dmitri’s ruse, so he was extra vigilant now.

  The dining room was up ahead, and George whispered that something was in there. She was getting faint neurological readings. Nerves were taut, and I felt like I would explode at the slightest provocation. The Kukris were getting slippery in my grip.

  “Is it her?” I whispered.

  “Grace, if it were Hecate, it wouldn’t be a faint signal. It would be blaring.” Medusa moved to the front of our little party and stepped up the pace. “Be bold or go home.”

  “Wait, going home is an option?”

  “No, Grace. It is not. Don’t forget the mission.” She grit out.

  “Guys, I don’t sense Aliana’s presence anywhere on this world now. I have her tagged. If she’s here, she’s not alive.” George’s voice was soft, sad. I grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  “I’m sorry that I couldn’t find her in time.” I was sorry. Somehow this mission had gone completely sideways from the very start. “You had one job, Grace,” I thought. Even though Nemesis had told us that Aliana was dead, a part of me had been hoping that she was still alive. Nemesis was an accomplished liar after all.

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Ms. Martyr.” Medusa snorted. “She was likely dead before you even got here. Hecate is efficient in her killing.” She waved a hand in front of her and both Georgiana, and I gasped. Sitting on the middle of the table with a piece of fruit stuffed in its mouth was Apollo’s head.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.” George’s hand flew to her lips, and she looked away.

  “It’s not decaying. I don’t think it’s been there long.” Medusa said, looking under the table, presumably for the rest of the body. “You’ve seen worse, Georgiana, so buck up.”

  “But not – Oh God.” Her body convulsed, and she turned away.

  “Does that mean we can re-attach it? More importantly, do we want to?” I asked. Apollo from everything I’d seen and heard was pretty much the worst. If it were left up to me, I’d leave him as is. Well no, I’d throw his head over a balcony and let the fish feast on him.

  “The Atlancean interference with this planet means that they look up to you people as gods. If he just disappears, that will probably throw this place into a chaotic mess. It’s eithe
r bring him back, or you guys have to send someone else to look after things while they adjust.”

  “And this is why you don’t set yourself up as a god somewhere. Too much responsibility,” I muttered.

  “It’s likely a moot point. I don’t see his body stashed in here. Hecate has probably disposed of it already.”

  “It takes a lot to destroy one of our bodies.” George had finished emptying her stomach and was back beside us, looking everywhere but at Apollo’s head.

  “Yes, I know.” Medusa murmured. “She likely used her amulet’s power.”

  “You just pulled a sword out of my lung, George. Why are you squeamish now?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the way the apple is stretching his mouth so wide. He looks like he’s screaming silently. It’s freaking me out.”

  I walked over to the table and plucked the apple out of Apollo’s mouth and threw it down. "Okay, so why hasn't Hecate used her necklace on us?" This was my sticking point. At any point, since Drew and I had landed on this planet, Hecate could have killed us. Effortlessly, for that matter.

  "Maybe it wipes her out too, and she would rather take a nap than eliminate us?" Georgie said with a tiny bit of hopefulness in her voice.

  "More likely she is aware of the prophecy regarding Grace and hasn’t decided if she’d be more comfortable with Nyx running things or not,” Medusa said. "Isn't that right, sister?" She turned to look at the spot behind me, and an ugly smile crossed her lips.

  Both George and my jaws dropped. Sister?

  "Okay," I held my arms up, palms facing outward and swiveled around to face Hecate. "Someone stop this rollercoaster because I'm done. Anyone else not know that these guys were sisters?"

  "I didn't know!" Georgie piped in.

  Well, that explained both why Diana sent Medusa here and why she didn't want to kill her sister.

  "So, what now?" Hecate drawled. "Are we going to have a fight? You want me to pull your snakes first, and we can brawl like we did when we were children?"

  Medusa let out a weary sigh. "Can't you just give up and we can take you home and figure out how to heal you?"

  Hecate tittered. "What fun is that? The most excitement I've had in centuries is when Nemesis showed up to stir the pot. Granted," She put a finger on her chin and frowned. "I didn't know it was her until recently. Her skill at subterfuge is exquisite.”

  "Are you sure it was Nemesis plaguing you, sister and not your own demons?" Medusa sounded calm, but there was an edge to her voice. Like she was coiled to spring.

  "Of course, it was her," Hecate snarled. "Her entire blasted family has been scrambling for power over Earth for eons. I didn't recognize her at first. It had been so long. When I saw through the illusion, I created the barrier. She wasn’t supposed to be able to use her power within a certain radius of the palace.

  "But what was she doing here?" I asked. What was Nemesis doing here? Why would she work towards driving Hecate into further madness?

  "Perhaps she wanted revenge? Maybe she wanted me to kill Apollo for her."

  I sucked in a breath. "Would you have killed Apollo?"

  She looked down at the head on the table, and I could see the sparks of madness flitting across her face. She was debating herself. I knew that look. I had that look all the time. Gods, I hoped I never end up like this. "Yes. But only I am allowed to kill him. He deserved to die. I have claimed the right." Hecate swallowed hard and tried for nonchalance. It didn’t work.

  "That right is acknowledged," The air pressure changed as if a giant gong had sounded in a small room. I had to pop my ears. What was that? I started to ask, but Medusa subtly shook her head at me.

  “Well, congratulations on a job well done. What did you do with his body?”

  “So you can put him back together? I think not.” She lunged at me, but Medusa moved to intercept.

  “Are you willing to allow Nemesis and her mother win? Not just in the here and the now, but on Earth as well? Have you forsaken your land so quickly?”

  “I was the one forsaken!” Hecate raged.

  “No,” I offered quietly. “You are still worshiped as a fair and wise goddess.”

  “Is this true?” She turned to Medusa with the question and received a single nod in response.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” She went from diabolical to a confused child within moments, and I knew without any hesitation that Hecate had definitely gone stark raving bonkers.

  Georgie finally piped up. "Okay, but Nemesis convinced Dmitri that he wanted to kill you. Why do that? What was the purpose?"

  This was such a tangled web; nobody would be able to make sense of it. No wonder Nemesis was so good at her mythos. Everyone just walked around confused assuming that she'd pulled one over on them. And she usually had. "I'm so confused right now," I finally admitted.

  "Oh yes, Dmitri. That poor loyal soul. I knew I forgot about some loose end. I just couldn't remember which. Killing me would be an easy way to get rid of me and get this.” She tapped the crystal hanging against her chest. “Dmitri has access to the entire palace. He could have taken me by surprise, I suppose."

  Ahh and now we'd gotten to the crux of it. "And what is that?" I asked, pointing at her amulet.

  "A way to destroy Nyx once and for all."

  I goggled at the thought of being able to annihilate Nyx. "Why haven't you used it?"

  Hecate looked down and grabbed hold of the crystal. "It would destroy all of the magic on the planet. It's grown too powerful. At first, it would have just taken mine and whomever I was using it against. But it's been taking power for too long. If you used this on Earth, all of your abilities, as well as any of the other gods, would be sucked up faster than you could run away. Anything magical would lose its essence. They might not die, but their powers are stripped right out of their souls."

  My gasp was audible. Medusa pressed a hand to my shoulder and squeezed. "Why haven't you destroyed it, sister?"

  Hecate's eyes darkened. Whether it was a memory or fear, her hands clenched around the stone. "I don't know what would happen were I to destroy it. At the least, I'd blow myself to pieces. At the worst, it would destroy this solar system." She paused and shrugged. "Or maybe not any of that. I can't say what will happen, but I have been too cowardly to chance it."

  "You could have destroyed your barrier years ago. The continued existence of that abomination made you more powerful; made that crystal more powerful."

  "Not with her here," she spat. Sparks formed at her fingertips, and I dove for the floor, convinced I was going to be lit up like the fourth of July.

  When nothing happened, I looked up confused.

  Medusa was staring at her sister, a profound look of sadness on her face. "Why couldn't you have listened when we warned you away from him?"

  “I loved him.” The answer was both complicated and simple at once. Love was a complex affair.

  “And this,” Medusa said, pointing to Apollo’s head. “was the fruition of your love. I am truly sorry.”

  "You have turned me to stone.” It wasn’t a question as much as a statement. Hecate's body from the elbows down had already turned to stone. This included her arms and hands, which explained why she hadn't fried me. “You would set me to such a torturous fate?"

  Medusa slid across the floor and gently removed the cord around Hecate's neck and held the talisman out to me. I hesitated. What in the Hell would I do with an artifact this powerful?

  "Wait!" I cried, remembering the reason why we’d come in the first place. Crap I was so bad at this. "Before you finish turning her. Is there anything we can do for Aliana? Where is she? She's the reason we came here, and I'd like to bring her home."

  "That whore!" Hecate spat. "She deserved everything she received at my hands."

  Medusa caressed Hecate's cheek with one hand and dropped the talisman into my palm with the other. "No sister. You were duped. It was never Aliana in Apollo's bed."

  "I saw it with my own eyes! You don't tell
me that wasn't real!"

  I shook my head sadly. "It was always Nemesis wearing Aliana's visage. Every. Time. You've tortured a poor innocent girl." I turned my head away so they wouldn't see the tear slip down my cheek. “In the end, this was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I thought about the servant in our room. Had it been Nemesis or Hecate posing as Aliana? I didn’t want to know. All I could think about was her ruined face. “Her lips –“ My words trailed off.

  Hecate reared her head and shoulders back. "What about her lips?"

  "They were sewn shut, you fucking monster." I lunged then, my anger getting the better of me. Medusa snatched me out of the air and slammed me into a chair.

  “Not now,” she growled.

  Hecate shrugged a shoulder and looked away. "I never would have done that. I like to hear them scream."

  My stomach clenched. "If not you, then who?"

  "Who else would have wanted her secret kept safe from your ears?"

  Well, that was just one more tally on the side of killing Nemesis. "Regardless, where are you keeping her?"

  "How should I know? I was done with her. What happens to her after that, is not my concern."

  "George?" She knew I wanted her to search through Hecate's mind to find out where our Hunter was being kept.

  "Got her." Georgie nodded at me and took my hand. "Let Medusa handle this. We'll go get Ali and then we can get out of here."

  "What about Apollo?"

  Medusa answered that. "Hecate has claimed his death as her own. We won’t be bringing him back. He can rot here."

  I didn't want to accept that, but when I considered resurrecting and then hunting Apollo down to bring him to justice, there was a pressure that kept me in place. That was an interesting magic, and eventually, I would want to find out how that worked.

  We found Aliana's body chained to a wall in the lower levels of the basement. The metal harness I'd seen earlier had nearly completely cut through her torso. My rage flared and I felt my skin turn to lava at the injustice done to this young woman.

  "George?" My voice sounded alien through my molten lips. "Take Aliana's body and warn Medusa that this building is coming down. I’ve reached the limit of what I can take today.”