With a wave of my hand, the Anas blurred, speeding through what they were doing, what they had done. Then finally, I spotted something different.
I waved again. The scene froze. The pain inside my skull, no, my soul, was almost unbearable, power trying to claw its way free, screaming at me to let it go.
But I was implacable.
The scene started again, slow enough that I could watch.
Ana sat in the centre of the pattern on the floor. She drank from a ceramic mug. Something about her face, the way she was sitting. It wasn't Ana. It was Oko.
'Why ya come here then?' he asked.
I opened my mouth to reply, astonished, until I realized that Oko wasn't speaking to me. Of course not. I was seeing the past.
'I need your help,' a familiar voice replied.
I went cold.
'What kind of help?' Oko asked. 'I sense ya got great power in ya. What ya need me for?'
'For thisss!' the voice shrieked.
It was then I saw the shade of a young woman with alabaster skin, far paler than any human. Unmistakeable, even if she didn't have those familiar, blood red lips and gleaming black hair. Ekhidna.
The power was so painful now I could barely see, barely think. It was all-consuming. I was on fire. Everywhere. Everything. Each fibre of my being was being slowly and meticulously shredded. I could barely stifle my scream.
But I had to watch. I had to fight. I had to win. And I did. Barely. The power was pulling, and I was powerless to stop it. I couldn't contain it. But I could slow it. For seconds. Only seconds.
Ekhidna moved faster than a striking viper. But she didn't tackle Oko. Instead, she slipped something over his neck. But the effect was horrific.
Oko froze. I knew that look on his face. I must have looked the very same only minutes earlier. The look of being trapped, imprisoned inside a mortal body.
'Follow me,' Ekhidna commanded, getting to her feet with serpentine grace. 'I have work for you.'
Oko stood.
I detonated.
The scream of the power and the scream of my voice were one. It was too much. I was too much. I couldn't stop it any longer. I couldn't fight anymore.
I had lost.
"Hera! Now! You have to try now!" Sabine yelled.
But to me, her voice was a distant whisper. Far. So very far away.
"Hera. Go back. Please."
Not Sabine this time. Not a woman at all. But familiar.
Justin.
I looked around desperately. I couldn't see him. But I felt him, all around me. But he too was growing more distant with every passing moment. Fading, like I was flying past him.
"Hera!" his voice snapped. This voice didn't plead. It commanded.
I felt power. Not my power. Different power. Strong. Pulling me down. Fencing me in. Containing me.
I fought. It was pure instinct now. I longed to be free. I couldn't help it. It was my nature.
"Stop it! I'm helping you!"
Justin again. Less distant now. All around me again. Making me feel solid. Clear.
And that moment of clarity was all I needed.
With a cry of fury, exhaustion and pain, I forced myself down again. Back to the mortal world. Back to the room. Back to the body.
I built speed with every second. It was my only hope. I was out of fight again. I had no more energy left to struggle. Only the momentum of that cry. It alone would carry me back.
I slammed into the body with tremendous force. If that force had been physical, I would've obliterated it and probably the city along with it. But it wasn't physical. So the devastation of that shockwave would be felt elsewhere. Absorbed. But at a brutal price. I couldn't think about that now.
Because something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
I was rebounding.
The body couldn't contain me. It was too late. I was too great.
I was re-ascending. There would be nothing to stop me this time. Not me. Not Justin. Nothing.
Then I heard it. Softly at first, then louder, angrier. Over and over. Words. A chant. A voice I recognized. It crawled along me like thousands of ants. Then it started to crawl inside me.
I tore at myself. But I couldn't stop it. There were too many words, and they were already in too deep. They were pulling me down. Down. Down.
And inside.
I blinked.
I was inside the body.
Every part of it, of me, ached. I felt raw, exhausted, completely and utterly used.
But I was back.
The door flew open.
"What happened?" Demeter demanded, her eyes wide with panic.
"Magick," I croaked. "It's fine now. I saw what happened to Ana. Ekhidna took her."
But Demeter ignored me. She rushed to the body lying beside me.
"Hera!" she screamed wildly. "HERA!"
She was crying uncontrollably.
"Demeter!" I tried to interrupt. But my voice was so ragged, I could barely whisper. "Demeter!"
Still nothing. Just her sobbing. I hated that sound. It broke my heart.
I summoned every bit of strength in my mortal body.
"Demeter!" I snapped. "Get a hold of yourself!"
She whirled and stared at me. Her face was a mask of disbelief. Then, she tackled me.
"Hera, you're alive!" she cried with relief.
"Of course, I'm..." I started.
Then I saw it. The body. The one I'd been in.
I looked down and saw the spellbook, the one Demeter had given Sabine, the same one Sarah and Stella had used to call down Hecate the last time I was in the mortal world.
I pushed Demeter away weakly.
"What did she do?" I murmured. But I already knew.
Sabine had called me back into the only place she could. Herself.
I was alive.
But Sabine was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
We all stared silently for a long time.
"What do we do about …?" Carson finally asked, careful to avoid looking at the body.
"Leave it," I said.
"Just leave her here?" Demeter asked quietly.
"We can't waste any time," I replied. "And there's nothing we can do. What's done is done."
"So, that's it? We just leave her? Like garbage?" Carson whispered.
"There is no more her," I said bluntly. "She's gone. And unless any of us can raise the dead, that's a more or less permanent condition."
I took a deep breath. "No one wanted this to happen. But it did. We can't change that. What we can change is whether everyone else in the world, including all of us, dies too. We can still make sure her sacrifice wasn't for nothing. And we do that by saving Ares."
"But we can't heal him. We don't have Ana," Demeter reminded me.
"We have to go back to Erinle," I answered. "Besides, this concerns him now. Ekhidna captured an orisha. Erinle needs to know that."
"Do you think he can help Ares?" Demeter asked.
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"Erinle couldn't take years from you or Ares to heal Darren," Demeter said.
"So you think he can't give us years either," I finished.
I sighed. "I don't see what other choice we have. Ares isn't going to get better on his own. And we need him."
"There might be another way," Demeter said slowly. "The new Hero. Morgan. I left her in the car."
"You did what?" I exclaimed. "Alone? She could be dead by now!"
"I'm not a complete idiot," Demeter replied waspishly. "She's safe. Her powers are … remarkable."
"Remarkable how?" I asked.
"She controls time," Demeter said.
She smiled.
My jaw dropped.
"That's impossible," I replied.
"I thought so too," Demeter said. "But I made sure. I made her show me about a dozen times."
Carson was still staring silently at the body on the floor. I flicked my eyes between her and Demeter. Carefully, Demeter put her hands on
Carson's shoulders and steered her out of the room. I followed, shutting the door firmly behind me.
"Even gods aren't allowed to manipulate time," I said. "It violates the Necessity."
"But it's the Necessity that chooses the Heroes' powers, not us," Demeter countered. "It was awakened naturally. On its own."
"Natural or not, we're going to have to be careful," I said. "If we push too far, we risk breaking the Rules."
"So, what do we do?" Demeter asked.
"We'll train her to stop time," I decided. "Not to move it forward or backward. Stopping time is the least risky."
"But how can that help save Ares?" Demeter replied.
"If Morgan can stop time for the worst of Ares' injuries, his powers will have chance to regenerate his other injuries," I reasoned. "He'll heal, piece by piece."
"So his powers won't get overwhelmed," Demeter finished. She looked at the clock. "We'd better hurry."
"Yes," I agreed gravely, looking one last time at the door to the library, to where the body of an innocent girl lay. "Our time is running out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
"Hello, stranger."
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice.
"How..." I stopped myself. "You're telling me I dozed off in the car? Again?"
"All that dimension hopping really takes it out of you," Justin replied, grinning.
We were sitting in a field. We hadn't been here before. But the Dreamlands were always changing, and Justin had the power to change them too. Maybe he felt this would be nice. He did have a strange way of knowing me in a way that no one else ever had, not even my sisters. Certainly not Zeus. That had infuriated me when I'd first met Justin, mostly because it had scared me. He was just a mortal; I was a god. But things had changed. First, him. Then, me. Or maybe it was the other way around.
I almost couldn't see him at first. He was so faded, so colourless, and he seemed to shimmer as I watched. There, and then not there. I couldn't bear to watch it.
"You helped me," I said, keeping my eyes on the meadow.
Without realizing it, I started to put my head on his shoulder. I felt a moment of panic that there wouldn't be anything there, that I'd fall right through him and find myself alone. But to my amazement, he still felt real. His warmth, his smell, the softness of his skin and the hardness of his muscled shoulder under my head: none of that had changed. At least not yet.
"I helped you?" he echoed.
"You know you did," I replied. "When I left that body...that girl. You helped me go back."
"You wanted to go back," he replied.
"I had to go back," I corrected. "I'm not done what I came to do."
I paused. I hated to ruin the fantasy, and nothing ruined a good fantasy like a harsh truth. "But if you're just some figment in my dreams, how is that possible? I wasn't asleep."
"So, what are you saying?" Justin replied.
"I'm not saying anything," I snapped. "I'm asking. What are you?"
"You know who I am," he answered.
"Yes, but... are you alive?" I demanded.
The silence hung between us again. This time, it was heavy and sad.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe. In a way."
"What does that mean?" I pressed. "It's a yes or no question. You can't be sort of alive and sort of dead."
"Can't you?" Justin responded. He looked at me, and I forced myself to look back. There was no humour in his eyes. "Like you can be sort of a god and sort of a mortal."
"I am a god," I growled. "Mortal is just where I am."
"Exactly," he smiled.
"Exactly?" I repeated. My eyes went wide. "So, are you telling me that you're alive, but dead is just where you are? Like you're just stuck somewhere? Justin, this is important! I thought…"
"I don't know," he interrupted. Before I could snap at him again, he raised his hands. At least I thought he did. It was hard to tell. "Honestly, I don't know. The only times I remember are when we're together. I wish I knew what that meant."
"Me too," I murmured.
"Do you think..." he started.
"What?" I pressed.
Justin looked away. "Do you think you could find me? Bring me back?"
I laid my hand on his cheek and pushed his face until he was looking into my eyes.
"If there's even the smallest chance you're still alive," I said, "you better believe I'm going to try."
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
"We're here," Demeter informed me, as she gently shook me awake.
I didn't feel groggy at all. It was like I hadn't even been asleep. Everyone was piling out of the car: Carson; the new girl, Morgan; and Demeter.
But I caught Demeter before she could get out. One look in my eyes, and she shut the car door.
"Justin," she guessed.
"He's alive!" I blurted out.
"What?" Demeter gasped. "Are you serious? How can you be sure?"
"He basically told me," I replied. "There's a part of him there. In the Dreamlands. A real part of him, not just some dream."
"But if he were alive, he would've come back," Demeter pointed out.
"If he could," I replied. "But maybe he couldn't. I don't know. The one thing I do know is that he's alive, Demeter. Justin is alive!"
"You're sure?" Demeter pressed.
"I can feel it!" I told her. "I didn't want to believe it was possible. I told myself it wasn't. But what if it is? What if he's alive? I can still save him!"
"Then we'll save him," Demeter agreed. "Whatever it takes."
I hugged her so fiercely that I squeezed the breath right out of her. But she let me. When I saw everyone staring at us through the car window, I let her go.
"First, Ares," I told myself as much as her. "Then Justin."
Demeter nodded.
"Don't … tell anyone," I said, as she started to open the door. "Not yet."
She smiled and got out of the car. I followed suit.
I pushed away my thoughts of Justin. That had been difficult enough to do when I'd thought he was dead. Now that I knew he was still alive, it was next to impossible. My thoughts kept racing back to him, to saving him, to us being together again. Everything else seemed to pale in comparison.
But I forced myself to calm down. I didn't know for sure it was even true. Everything in me said it was true, screamed it was true. But that could just be because I desperately wanted it to be true. I had to take things one step at a time.
I forced myself to look at the new Hero, the key to saving Ares. As much as I loved Justin, and I did, Ares was family, and I loved him too. I couldn't lose another god.
His fate rested with this tiny mortal, staring wide-eyed at everyone. Her hand occasionally brushed the amulet seared into her chest. She'd get used to it, just like the others. But I'd have to watch her closely until I was sure she was making the transition. There'd been enough death already. More than enough. And we'd barely even begun.
All that was about to change. We were going to get them back. First, Ares. Then, Justin. We were going to turn back the clock. Morgan was the key.
"Morgan, come with me," I ordered. "Carson and Demeter, you two stay here. Keep a look out for Ekhidna. I doubt she's stupid enough to try anything, but I don't know how desperate she is. We'll need you to sound the alarm if she decides to come for Ares."
Morgan headed over to me. I made no secret of examining her. Not that you could tell much from how a person looked. Looking at me, people would think I was mortal, and they couldn't be more wrong.
I headed into the hospital. "You know who I am?"
"Yes," Morgan replied.
Her voice was quiet. Soft. She was just a little wisp of a girl: small and pale and white-blonde, like a tuft of cotton. She looked like she could be blown away by a stiff breeze. And yet inside was the most wondrous power, a power forbidden even to gods.
"Demeter explained what we need you to do?" I pressed.
"Yes," she replied.
I strained
to hear her. I'd have my work cut out for me if she fought the way she talked, which was barely.
"It sounds complicated, but it won't be," I assured her.
The concept itself was simple. It was just very difficult to actually do. It would take a lot of power and even more precision.
"Darren will tell you exactly where to use your power on Ares, and then you do it," I continued.
"Okay," she agreed.
"Do you have any questions?" I asked.
She was infuriating. And strange. Even as she walked, it seemed like she was drifting. Floating along. Being taken wherever she was led.
"Not really," she replied.
This girl was a completely mystery. Her eyes wandered around as we walked, taking everything in, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't really seeing anything at all.
Darren was at the front desk. He was dressed in a white lab coat. He even had a hospital id. He cocked his head when I walked right up to him.
"What's up, Sabine?" he asked.
"It's me, Darren," I answered.
His eyes widened. "But ... what ..."
"I'll explain later," I said. "Take us to him."
Darren led us down a corridor. He even nodded at staff as we passed. He was working it for all he was worth.
"How is he?" I asked.
"Stable," Darren said.
"I take it you've been busy," I guessed.
"I found some medical textbooks in an office," he admitted. "Read those. Only took a few minutes. Turning the pages is what takes the most time. Then I just went from office to office reading."
"All those unlocked offices," I murmured. "How lucky."
"Well, Jason helped a bit," Darren said. "Turning pages. Unlocking stuff. Anyway, all that info is up here now. Ask me anything. I know the answer. I'm a genius! And I'm loving it! Who would've thought?"
"Being smart agrees with you," I replied. It was true. He even spoke differently now. "And the i.d.?"
"You like it?" he replied, beaming. "Made it myself. Found a shady internet site about fake ids."
"I'm sure you did," I said. "Brushing up on your non-medical knowledge."
"I got bored with medicine," he said. "It gets so repetitive."
I rolled my eyes. Darren didn't notice. He was too busy with, well, himself. He was still Darren, after all.
Hera, Queen of Mortals (Goddess Unbound) Page 18
