by Mara Lee
Paxton’s eyes gleamed with heated lust and the darker need for blood. “A guest, a fine guest we have.”
Aega jumped, landing gracefully on both feet at the bottom of the giant stone. Her eyes flew to the large, winged creatures at Paxton’s side. She zeroed in on the tallest and bulkiest of the creatures, whose black eyes watched her with interest and whose mouth formed a strange parody of a smile. “Bathos,” she whispered. “Hellspawn.”
Bathos eased forward. He inclined his giant head and his smile broadened. “Greetings, Aega, Goddess of the Sun.”
Gasps and tittering broke out amongst the stone circle.
Paxton narrowed his eyes. “Goddess…” he breathed out slowly, menacingly.
Bathos ignored him. He had eyes only for Aega. “Rumors … rumors they were. I had heard them. I did not believe them. What would the Goddess of the Sun be doing keeping company with the cursed night?” Bathos crept ever closer to her. “What would she be doing? What would be her plan?”
Aega stood her ground. “I could say the same of you, Hellspawn. What are you doing playing lackey to one such as he?” She pointed to Paxton.
Bathos laughed, and his laughter cut through the night as a million knives. Rivulets of blood ran down Aega’s pale face.
“You do not know?” Bathos’s laughter grew deeper. “You truly do not know. ‘Tis wicked delight we have here. You, the Goddess of the Sun … are completely in the dark. You have no notion as to the workings of the game … how splendid.” Bathos motioned his minions forward. They came to flank his sides.
Aega saw Paxton and Andre closing in on her from the corner of her eye. “I know that you would not let one such as he,” she shot a disgusted look at Paxton, “rule this plane. And he would not have been able to summon you without help.”
Bathos’ wings flapped heavily, as if to give her a hand. “Aega … clever were you at creation, clever are you now.” Bathos’s smile remained in place, but his eyes darkened even further, until naught but solid black upon shadow remained prominent upon his face. “Sadly … you are too clever. And you would deny us our due. So, I am afraid that you must be disposed of.”
Aega blinked several times before she burst out into laughter. “Destroy me? You think to destroy me? My, that is a good one.”
Bathos snarled and pushing off of the ground, launched himself at her.
Aega leapt back. All that saved her from falling into Paxton’s waiting arms was Ditheous, who was suddenly at the rogue Vampyre’s neck.
Aega spared them nary a glance as she sidestepped the attacking demon and his minions. She knew that Ditheous could handle Paxton. She was not worried. Nor was she worried for Andre. Joseph had come with the express intent of helping the Kitar. Aega did not expect Xavier would live long. Once free, the Kitar would deal with the murderous sonofabitch.
Her eyes were for one and one only: Bathos. Hellspawn.
Bathos slashed at her with his long talons. The demon snarled when she levitated and kicked out with her feet, landing a blow to his head. The demon reeled back.
“I am going to rip you apart and then devour you, girl.” Bathos reached up quickly, grabbed Aega’s foot and slung her over his shoulder. She went flying. He laughed when he saw her hit a large stone of the Abolar.
Aega gritted her teeth and ignored the pain in her back. Goddess or not, the fragile human body could not take the severe beating from a demon—not well. Her goddess powers could heal her flesh quicker than if she was merely mortal, but the pain … unfortunately she could not be spared that.
Aega drew her sword, and when she saw the blur that came toward her from her right side, she thrust her sword in its direction. She knew she struck true when her blade came back stained with demon blood. Ah yes, Bathos could bleed. Hellspawn had probably forgotten what it felt like to bleed. Well then, it was her duty to remind him—remind him with pleasure.
Suddenly she was struck from the side.
“FUCK!” Aega shrieked as brutal pain assaulted her. Demon bite, she recognized a demon bite. She didn’t hesitate a moment longer, she drew her sword up and around and skewered the creature that had just injured her. Damn it. She hadn’t expected that. Stupid … of course the demons would attack in force when they saw Bathos weakening.
Aega looked around wearily. Ah, lovely, she was surrounded by demons. Aega saw the supremely satisfied smile on Bathos’ hideous face and knew that he felt he had her beat already. For how could she, a banished goddess, hope to defend herself against six demons?
“Never underestimate the power of the sun, Bathos.” Aega drew her power quickly forth. It filled her body and flowed over the cold steel of her sword, warming it.
Satisfaction filled her golden eyes. Bathos was no longer smiling.
*
Ditheous growled as Paxton caught him high on his face with his talons. He felt his blood run icy cold down his face. The rivulets streamed like tears down the equally frigid flesh of his cheek.
He locked his arm around Paxton’s neck and wrenched the Vampyre back. Paxton flailed wildly with his talons, managing to get a couple of slashes in. Ditheous extended the sharpest of his talons and slit Paxton’s throat.
He leapt away from the arc of the rogue’s spraying blood.
Paxton gurgled as blood continued to pour forth.
“A little slow, aren’t you?” Ditheous said with a satisfied smile. His smile died a quick death when the flesh of Paxton’s throat began to reknit. Such regeneration was not supposed to happen so quickly, if at all. “What in the name of—?”
Paxton ran his hand over the closing wound at his throat. His eyes sparkled menacingly.
“Ah, the great pack master of Triex … at a loss.” Paxton’s words came out deep and coarse.
“Holy shit!” Joseph’s voice came through loud and clear in Ditheous’ mind. “Did that asshole’s throat just seal up?”
He sighed, eyes still trained on Paxton. “That would be a yes, Seph.”
“Isn’t that like, impossible?” Joseph was clearly at a loss.
“Mmmm … how about you come and give me a hand, instead of asking questions? I’d like to get this done with as quickly as possible.”
“Whoa, Ditheous asking for help?”
Ditheous frowned. “It’s not like I haven’t asked for a hand before, Seph.”
Joseph chuckled. “Once in a wolf’s moon, Ditheous, once in a wolf’s moon.”
“Get your ass over here.” Ditheous roared then.
“Okay, okay, don’t get testy, O’ great fanged one. I’m coming.”
Ditheous broke their connection just as Paxton threw a dagger in his direction. Quick as lighting, Ditheous caught the blade between his hands. He staggered back when a sharp pain struck him in the belly. Looking down, he saw a dagger sticking out of the vulnerable flesh of his stomach.
Fuck. That hurt.
“Master, you all right?” Joseph asked, suddenly at Ditheous’ side.
Ditheous shot Joseph an annoyed look. “Why is it that you’re only respectful when I’m bleeding?”
“Hmmm, I think you answered that question yourself, master,” Joseph replied.
Ditheous pulled the dagger out of his stomach and grunted. The blade was silver and hurt like a sonofabitch. Unlike Paxton, his wound was not sealing quickly. Wounds from silver were always slow to heal.
“So, neck or torso?” Joseph asked, eyes narrowing.
Ditheous tilted his head to the side, studying the furious Vampyre in front of them. “I’ll take the torso, already went for the neck once. It’s your turn.”
Joseph let out a giant sigh. “Oh fine, neck it is.”
“You two speak when you should be fighting. Are you cowards as well as incompetent Vampyres?” Paxton snarled.
Ditheous and Joseph shared a secret smile.
Ditheous raised his eyebrow and nodded to Joseph. “Right then.” He flew at Paxton with incredible speed.
*
“You wouldn’t dare!” Bath
os roared, already bringing his arm up to ward off the upcoming light.
Aega’s body thrummed with potent power. Her head was ringing and great light seemed to fill every one of her pores, streaming out from her eyes and from the tips of her fingers.
“You have no idea of how much I would dare, Hellspawn.” She continued to let her power build and consume her. Her fire grew, and the demons in front of her began to cower from the brilliant light.
Aega formed two suns within the palms of her hands, then tossed Bathos an evil smile. She saw his face grow darker with the tide of his rage and obvious fear. He was not immune to her light and the fact that he feared her sun showed some intelligence.
She threw out her two suns, catching the demons on either side of her high upon their chests. They disintegrated immediately.
Aega smiled and blew upon her smoldering hands to ease the heat. “You see how much I would dare, Bathos, Hellspawn.” She beckoned with her hand for him to come and get her. “Now, it’s your turn.”
Bathos didn’t disappoint; he charged at her with a great rush of wings.
Aega leapt back and whipped out her daggers. Crossing one dagger over the other, she managed to connect with Bathos’s chest as he raced towards her. The wounds formed a giant X upon his chest and began to sizzle with furious heat. She stepped back satisfied, as Bathos looked down at his wounds with a shocked expression upon his face.
“Not possible!” he roared.
Aega grinned. She held up the two gleaming daggers for his inspection. “Recognize these weapons, Bathos?”
Bathos hissed.
“I see that you do. They are daggers forged by Hephaestus himself. Even you are not immune to their power.”
“NO! You are not to have a blessed blade. You are banished. No luck favors the banished!” Bathos screamed, lunging forward, his giant wing swept Aega’s foot, felling her. He was upon her in a second. His clawed hand dug into her shoulder and he laughed when he heard her tortured gasp. “No luck, pretty Goddess.” Bathos pushed his claw in deeper, watching with burning eyes as she struggled under his hand. “Now, I finish it, Sun Goddess. I finish it.”
Aega groaned when Bathos twisted his claw within her fragile flesh. She felt like a fish, pinned by an impossible hook. Her hand inched to her waist where a third dagger lay in hiding.
She pushed the pain away, trying to separate herself from it. She could not afford to become distracted now. With a burst of surprising speed and agility she retrieved her dagger.
“Goodnight,” Bathos crowed evilly. He leaned over and readied his fangs for the bite.
Aega smiled. Her eyes felt bright, as if lit by a thousand stars. “Goodnight,” she whispered triumphantly, just as she thrust her dagger upward into Bathos’ black heart.
Bathos howled and leapt back. Blood poured copiously out of the large wound in his chest.
“NO … NO … NO!” he shrieked.
Aega leaned up and winced as pain speared through her. Separating her mind from the pain was a little more difficult than it sounded.
She stood, forcing herself to remain steady on her feet. “Dust, Bathos.” Aega watched as Bathos began to wither. His flesh seemed to shrink, crack and disintegrate right before her eyes. Within moments all that remained of the once formidable demon was a large pile of gray ash. “We can all be reduced to dust.”
“I despise magical interference.” The voice that spoke echoed through the Abolar like an evil wind.
Aega narrowed her eyes, and stiffened. She knew that voice.
Amalthea materialized before her.
“Sister.” Aega’s voice was cold and flat. “I should have known.”
Amalthea’s answering smile was just as cold. “Yes … yes, you should have.”
Chapter Thirteen
For the length of her existence, Aega had never known a moment’s peace … or love, or hope. She had been abandoned and cast aside from the minute she had been brought into the world. She had been more than her mother had hoped for, and too much for her father to bear. And she had been the rival her sister had never wanted.
Her sun was the one thing her sister could never have, but had always craved. Aega’s sun would make love between the sisters impossible … it always had. Amalthea had neither the sun nor the moon at her disposal. Such lack of power had eaten away at her soul, until nothing remained by a yawning pit of hatred.
Amalthea had tried to drown Aega when she had been born. She had tossed her into the storm-swept sea. But Poseidon had caught the babe within his arms and brought her back to shore. He had raised her up, and Gaea once again had her child. Of course, Amalthea’s attempts on her life had not stopped there. One of her more inventive assassination attempts had involved a pack of wild boars. Aega had been picking flowers in the Elysian Fields. It was a rare outing for the sun-blessed goddess. The boars had been let loose to wreak their havoc on the sacred grounds. One boar had Aega within its sights and was ready to charge when Hermes had swept down and blinded it. Aega had been most thankful to the swift messenger God. He, in turn, had brushed her gratitude aside, remarking, with cold eyes, that it wouldn’t do to have goddess blood staining the pristine fields of Elysian. It was the last time she had thanked the haughty god. It was the last time she had thanked anyone.
She had truly believed that her banishment would be enough for her sister. Obviously she had been mistaken. It would seem that Amalthea would have nothing less than her complete destruction.
“Come to see how I fare on this plane, Amalthea?” Aega kept her voice light, her tone was almost friendly.
Amalthea stared at her contemptuously. “I have come because it seems that my presence is necessary.” Her eyes narrowed. “No one has been able to accomplish my task. I fear, as the humans say, ‘that if you wish something to be done right, you must do it yourself’. So here I am. I am fated to do the deed myself.”
Aega looked at the pile of ash, then to Amalthea. “And this … is this your work, sister?”
Amalthea clenched her hands into tight fists. “Bathos. I am rather annoyed at you, Aega. You destroyed a very helpful minion of mine.”
“So sorry to wreck your plans,” she spat out.
Amalthea’s cold lips curled up at the sides, forming a parody of a smile. “Oh, you haven’t wrecked them, merely slowed them down. Don’t you understand anything, little sister? This is MY game. MINE!” She swept her hands wide. “Look and see how little you’ve wrought, sister mine.”
Aega followed the arc of her sister’s arms. Ditheous and Joseph stood over the decapitated body of Paxton, frozen as if in ice. Andre and Xavier were still locked in a deadly embrace, but they too were frozen.
“Your friends cannot help you,” Amalthea sneered. “You are alone.”
“Not like that’s new,” Aega replied coolly.
Amalthea’s beautiful face grew white with rage. Her hair seemed to spark with energy and her eyes flashed a furious fire. She was stunning in her anger.
Aega remained still. She had seen her sister’s display before. It no longer frightened her. “What did you hope to accomplish with this foolishness?”
Amalthea advanced. “My game, mine! Do you know how long I spent putting the pieces together? I had to draw on considerable energy to remain potent enough to sway the creatures of this planet. The wolf and the Vampyre were easy enough. They wanted power and this little city. Bathos proved…” she frowned, “more difficult to sway. He wanted much for his troubles. But when I promised Bathos his due … his sacrifices, he fell into line. He had Paxton’s rejected experiments and then…” Amalthea had reached Aega’s side. Her eyes gleamed like dark diamonds. “I promised him the ultimate reward.”
Aega remained silent, as her sister seemed more than eager to reveal her plot. It was obvious that she had gone to great pains to put this deadly game together.
“I promised him a taste of the everlasting.”
Aega broke her silence. “You promised him me,” she spoke softly.
>
Amalthea nodded, a large smile breaking her face. “Oh, I did not tell him that he would have you specifically. That would have given him too much power over me. But I did promise him the blood sacrifice of a God,” she laughed. “Or Goddess. So you see, once I had the board set … all I needed to do was give them all a little push. I sent Bathos to Paxton. The stupid Vampyre was all too happy to have the help of a demon in defeating his foe and taking over the territory. And of course he used to the demon to procure his experiment subjects. It was perfect. I knew that the wolf, Xavier, would find Paxton on his own. They are so predictable … so stupid. Their every move was watched from above.” Suddenly her face turned dark. “You, however, have proven difficult. Unfortunately I have not been able to track you as I should … your progress has been hidden from me.”
Aega smiled tightly. “Ah … the advantages of having goddess blood, even banished you cannot spy lightly, sister.”
Amalthea threw out her hand and the air sizzled, but that was all.
Aega tsked. “Having difficultly handling your power on this plane? Oh, yes, I know. It takes a bit of getting used to.”
Amalthea raised her hand and conjured. Aega barely had a moment to register her sister’s spell. She jumped back just as a large thunderbolt struck the spot she had been previously standing on.
Aega’s eyes widened and she stared at her sister in shocked disbelief. She couldn’t believe it. “How?” She whispered.
Amalthea laughed wildly. “I was not about to take anymore chances, little sister. Not when you have proven so difficult to dispose of in the past. No, nothing short of the thunderbolt would have seen you truly destroyed.”
Aega saw the intent in her sister’s eyes and levitated as the second thunderbolt struck. “Amalthea!” She twisted in the air and screamed when pain struck her shoulder. Her sister’s aim was improving.
Aega lay winded on the ground, her body wracked in excruciating pain. Though the thunderbolt had barely grazed her, she was well and truly knocked down a peg. The power from the bolt was greater than any power known to exist. T’was why it was supposed to remain in the hands of one who could wield it. When it fell into the wrong hands … well … this is what happened.
