by J J King
Desperation to stop the heat, to end the suffering, to save her own life overwhelmed Cate and she reached for the last dregs of her magic, to fight back, but there was nothing left.
All she had to do was stop, she thought. Stop, give up, and the magics would break, the’d have failed but the pain would be gone.
It was like being touched by the sun, an inconceivable heat that pushed against her brain and left her blind. Cate cried out and prayed for release, for help, for something she didn’t quite understand and found the answer on the edge of unconsciousness.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“This is my gift.”
Nyx had whispered those words with a soft kiss that had seemed a simple act of kindness at the time but now, as the impossible heat opened, blossoming like a precious flower, releasing wave after wave of pure magic into her, Cate knew it really had been a gift.
Her mind sharpened and the emptiness in the pit of her stomach where her magic had once been was replaced in an instant by a steady pulse of power so pure it made tears stream from her eyes. Cate felt time slow down and glanced over at Morpheus to see if he was responsible. He was holding Medusa in his arms, straining to hold her back while she struggled to get to Poseidon. Cate frowned as she watched them, they were moving so slow, like one of those scenes in a film where they slow everything down to show the protagonist perform the perfect kick. She lifted a finger into the air and curled it, altering the flow of magic. Immediately, time returned to normal.
Huh.
Cate climbed to her feet with a smile on her lips and what felt like a blanket of calm surrounding her. She knew things were bad, she could see the results of their failure all around her, but none of it touched her. Her mind was quiet.
She looked down at her entwined hands first and felt the still-working spell that kept them from slipping apart. It held them together, literally, when she’d been unable to hold on by herself. Together they were so much stronger than apart.
Cate closed her eyes and imagined the magic inside her, the white and spotless power, gliding through her veins and down her arms, into her hands and through their touching skin. Twin gasps of awareness and the shock of intense heat bounced back at her through their bond as Selene and Artemis rebounded in an instant. They turned to stare at her with identical knowing smiles as they shared the miracle of Nyx’s gift.
As one, they swivelled towards Poseidon and Apollo whose magics were on the verge of being depleted. Once more, time seemed to slow, but it wasn’t just her doing the slowing. Cate looked inside, at the swirling heat inside her, and sent a silent thanks to Nyx before heaving every drop of it into the bond and pushing it, simultaneously with Selene and Artemis, towards Poseidon and Apollo.
It hit them with the force of a whirlwind with none of the destructive power. Color flooded their skin and a faint glow flared to life and grew as they pushed every drop of Nyx’s bestowed power into the men.
Great roars of triumph filled the air as both men climbed to their feet and clasped forearms. They lowered their heads and closed their eyes and, instantly, Cate felt the world shift again.
The magic they’d given the men poured back into them, colored by their Olympian magics, filtered and changed into exactly what they needed to finish the ritual. Cate felt Selene and Artemis focus and, together, they threw back their heads and began to chant.
“Three in one, maid, mother, crone,
We forge our strength as one in stone,
Our magics now through us unite,
To free Endymion at this break of night.
Flow now through us to him awake,
Our power that his bonds may break,
Release him from eternal night,
Bring him and us into the light.
As we will it, so mote it be!”
As they finished the first chorus, Cate felt her body begin to rise into the air. It was an odd feeling, unlike her power of flight, more like she and her sister goddesses were one with the air around them.
They launched immediately into the second recitation, and a pulse of energy surrounded them, beating to the rhythm of her heart, racing faster and faster with each word.
Then the world went white and Cate’s eyes were opened to the night. Her mouth continued speaking the sacred words, shouting them in unison into the world, but her mind stilled and blossomed.
She saw the night, then. She saw it before her like a blanket of black velvet dotted with jewels so beautiful that her heart ached to see them. There was life in that night sky, beauty and strength that represented her and the others. She drank it in, seeing it with eyes that pierced the heavens and saw everything.
An explosion of brilliant color and sound rocked her back a moment later, but she didn’t fall, none of them did. In the silence that followed, broken only by Medusa’s ragged sobs, they slowly floated down. When their feet touched the ground, their hands slipped free, and their eyes opened.
“He’s awake,” they said as one, then sagged as the magic left them.
*****
Cate woke in Morpheus’ arms. She opened her eyes slowly, one lid at a time, and blinked to focus her vision. The loss of Nyx’s power had taken the good out of her and she didn’t feel like moving quickly and suffering for it.
“Do you remember what happened?” Morpheus asked gently, smoothing the hair back from her forehead to plant a kiss there.
Cate nodded slowly, anticipating pain, but felt none. “It was Nyx,” she said, still incredulous that that kind of power even existed. “When she visited me, she kissed my forehead and told me it was a gift.” She chuckled and shook her head. “I didn’t realize she’d slipped me a shitload of backup power. It was more…” Cate hesitated, not knowing how to finish her sentence exactly. “Just more,” she said. “So much more.”
Morpheus pulled her closer and tucked her head under his chin. “It was terrifying to watch.” He spoke quietly, as if he didn’t want to admit the fear he’d felt. “Cate,” he pulled back and twisted her so they were looking right into each other’s eyes, “your eyes went pure white, everyone’s did. Then you, Selene, and Artemis started floating and your hair was flying straight up, it was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. You know who you looked like?” He smiled wryly. “You looked like Storm in…”
“X-men?” Cate laughed. “You’re a comic book geek?” Suddenly feeling lighter than she had in a long time.
Morpheus just arched an eyebrow at her. “If you weren’t a big ol’ geek yourself, how would you have known what I was talking about?”
“Damnit,” she muttered, not really meaning it. She loved comic books and the movies that had been made about them.
“You know,” Morpheus tipped her chin up and placed a kiss on her lips. “There’s a lot about you that I don’t know. Secrets and proclivities.” He said “proclivities” as if it were the naughtiest word in the English dictionary and she couldn’t help but redden. “I think that’s what I’m most excited about. Spending the rest of our lives discovering all the little things that make you, you.”
Cate leaned into the kiss and opened to him, licking out her tongue to taste his lips. She wanted to be alone with him, preferably naked. “Why not start now?” she whispered huskily.
“Because our friends are right over there watching you attempt to eat me up.” His voice was so matter of fact that it broke through Cate’s budding arousal and made her laugh. Morpheus hoisted her up and climbed to his feet. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m sure Selene is anxious to see Endymion.”
Cate gasped and tugged her hand from his, then ran across the dreamscape to where Selene was standing alone, chewing on her lower lip. Cate wrapped her arms around her best friend and squeezed, wanting to spread the joy and excitement she felt that they’d succeeded. But as Selene’s warmth seeped into her and her arms came around Cate’s back, she suddenly realized the reality of the moment.
They weren’t joined anymore.
When they stepped out of
the dreamscape, it would be into two separate bodies as they were here. The life they’d built together, over two thousand years of love and laughter, tears and sorrow, would be changed. Not gone, but changed.
Cate buried her face in Selene’s hair and felt her shoulder dampen with Selene’s tears.
She’d never wake up to hear Selene’s voice in her head or wait impatiently for the moon to set to tell her a joke or racy story about her escapades. She’d never share that part of her again. Cate’s body began to shake and her breath came in gasps.
She tried to speak, to share how much she felt, but the thing that had bound them together for so long was gone now. So, she pulled back and faced her best friend, and let her eyes speak.
In Selene’s eyes she saw a myriad of emotion. Selene was anxious, scared, hopeful, proud, and so much more. Cate knew, because she knew Selene and Selene knew her. They nodded at each other through falling tears, hiccups, and runny noses, and managed to force out the words, “Sisters forever,” to each other.
It was enough. They’d have to learn to live a bit differently now, for one thing they’d have men to deal with. Cate shuddered at the mundane thought of picking up after a man then let the smile that tugged at her lips grow until the joy of what they’d done overshadowed the fear. She grasped Selene’s face and kissed her full on the lips. “We did it!” she exclaimed. “Are you ready to go see him?”
Selene hesitated for only a moment as uncertainty crossed her face then she was nodding and saying “yes!” over and over as they hugged and cried some more. At one point she heard Morpheus comment “Girls are weird,” to Poseidon who grunted a moment later. Cate grinned and decided she’d definitely be inviting Medusa around for future girls’ nights.
They bid goodbye to each of their new friends with hugs and promises to visit soon. Even Artemis promised to hang out sometime, even though Cate highly doubted she’d ever leave her forest again. Medusa she hugged tightly and murmured her thanks. Then she let her go and stepped up to Poseidon.
Cate craned her neck up to see the man’s face. He was so tall it was a wonder Medusa didn’t need a step stool.
“You’re alright, you know that?” she said in a teasing tone that elicited a grin from the ocean god. “Although,” she added, tapping a finger against her lips, “you’re still no Aquaman.”
Poseidon threw back his head and laughed from the belly, a sound that filled Cate with warmth. He was a good guy, one of the few, and she was so glad to have met both him and Medusa.
She held Selene’s hand supportively as they prepared to return to their home and Endymion. Morpheus joined them and took Cate’s other hand, interlacing his fingers through hers. He leaned forward and looked at Selene. “Are you ready?”
Selene nodded, this time looking almost giddy with excitement. Her hands shook but there was a light in her eyes that had long ago died. Cate thanked the goddess it was back again.
“I’m ready.” Selene took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She took a step forward, into their living room.
Cate’s eyes adjusted to the darker room after a few seconds and she swivelled to look for Endymion. The first place her gaze went was the bed they’d kept for him underneath the stars.
He wasn’t there.
Even though she’d expected as much, Cate’s heart skipped a beat and she worried for a moment that he’d been taken by Zeus or had wandered out of the cave in his newly awakened confused state and gotten lost. Then a whisper of fabric moving from across the room caught her attention and she looked up to see Endymion, as gorgeous as ever, step forward hesitantly.
“Selene?” his voice broke on her name. It came out rusty as if he hadn’t used it in forever, which he hadn’t. Cate was shocked he could speak at all, let alone stand and walk. She’d wondered if the magic she and Selene had created would be enough to keep him whole. It had certainly kept his muscles from atrophying so they’d had high hopes.
Selene stepped forward and stopped as their entwined hands tugged. She looked back at the connection and tightened her grip for a second, then opened her hand and let her fingers slip free. Cate let her hand fall back to her side, cold without someone to hold it.
She watched the reunion for a moment, silently cheering when Endymion’s face lit up and Selene raced across the room to throw herself in his arms. It was the perfect moment, one they deserved to have in privacy. Cate turned to Morpheus and stepped into his waiting arms.
She was about to tell him to take her home when she realized she had no idea where he lived. Cate tilted her chin up. “Where exactly do you live?”
Morpheus chuckled and slid his hand into her hair, pulling her up for a kiss that seared her lips and soul. “In your dreams, my love.”
It was the perfect response, she decided. Cate wound her arms around his neck and sank into him. “Then take me home.” She rested her cheek against his chest, loving the strong sound of his steady heartbeat, and closed her eyes as he took her home.
The End
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JJ King is the paranormal loving alter-ego of author Janice Godin. She attributes her love for the supernatural to Buffy and is thankful there are so many other people, like her, who love a little otherness with their romance. Oh, and she loves sushi and cats!
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