by Ford, Lizzy
In the darkness of his cell, with his mind pushed to its limits, one name came to his mind. There was only one power that could single handedly produce a body with no soul and tear apart a soul, the way his was being shredded now.
Stephanie’s mother.
He clawed his way into sitting, doubled over, and gasped as his soul thrashed within him. Of all the deities he could call upon for an emergency favor, only one stuck in his mind, the one he wouldn’t have to promise the universe to, the sole goddess capable of creating Stephanie when he took every precaution possible to ensure she didn’t exist. His triumph at figuring out the mystery of Stephanie was fleeting, replaced by newfound agony.
Go to your daughter, he willed the elusive deity he suspected was Stephanie’s mother.
He hissed as another wave of pain tried to tear him apart. He huddled on the floor, holding himself together with pure will.
Gradually, the screaming of his soul and body grew weaker until it finally stopped. Fate collapsed against the floor, gasping. Tremors worked their way through him.
Better late than wrong, he told himself.
“My turn.”
He lifted his head. Yet another deity stood in the doorway. He had no chance to summon Deidre or anyone else who might tell him what happened to Stephanie to cause this level of pain. The sense of helplessness cored him, but he refused to let it shake his confidence and purpose. He wouldn’t be able to help her if he didn’t survive Hell.
Whatever was happening to her, it had stopped. For now. He had faith the goddess in question wasn’t going to let Stephanie suffer again.
“Darkyn sent invites to the bottom of the barrel, I see,” he said and pushed himself to his knees. “Have at it. But remember – when this is over, I tend to be vengeful.”
“I’ll take my chances Darkyn never lets you out,” was the smug answer.
Fate smiled, as much because he wasn’t going to show fear to anyone as from the knowledge he had a plan, even if it took a while for him to execute.
Hang in there, Steph.
Chapter Twenty Two
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Stephanie snapped awake at the strange sound and into a sitting position, gasping in air. Her vision cleared. She was back in her room at the fortress. She touched her side without feeling any wound or bandage and yanked her sleeping shirt up to see the damage.
There was none. Not even a scar.
It felt so real. She looked again and began to calm.
Her guardian angel was on the couch, watching talk shows. On the opposite side of the chamber, in front of the door, the guardian demon leaned back precariously on a chair and flung knives into the closest wall. They landed with soft thumps and small bursts of dust as he chiseled away at the stone.
“So the demon part was real.” Stiffness lingered in her side, as if her body were recalling the pain from her dream.
She stood. She was dressed normally in a soft t-shirt and her underwear, except she didn’t recall getting ready for bed let alone falling asleep here.
“Well, you’re alive.” The demon glanced at her. The front legs of his chair slammed to the ground. He stood, tucking his knives away as he approached her.
“What’re you … hey!” she swiped at his hands. A wave of dizziness made her stumble when she tried to move away.
“So fucking hungry.” He gripped her arm and yanked her into place before him. “You know what I want to do to you?”
She lifted her hands to protect her neck.
“Then I suggest you don’t fucking fight me. Your mate warned you.”
She didn’t have the energy to resist anything.
He tugged her shirt up to check the nonexistent wound.
“It was real?” she asked uneasily. “Wynn stabbed me?”
“He’d make a good demon.” Trayern released her and moved away, back towards the door.
A chill swept through her. Kiki had said Wynn wouldn’t hurt his children, just exile them. The memories of what happened were fuzzy, unclear. She recalled accompanying Wynn to the lake, talking to him, sharp pain when he stabbed her and then … nothing.
The bored demon sat in his chair again and began throwing knives at the wall.
“Dude, that’s not your wall and I doubt you’ll pay to fix the damage you’re doing,” she snapped.
“Why do you give a shit? It’s not your wall either.” He glanced at her with a low growl and began flinging knives again.
“Whatever. Why am I not dead?” she asked.
“It’s almost seven. Don’t want Wynn to stab you again if you don’t show up where you’re supposed to be.”
She gave him an icy glare. So it wasn’t a dream, and her father had just randomly decided to stab her. A quick look at the fading light told her it was almost time for the evening dinner, which was going to be a nightmare.
“One day soon, I’m going to snap and take every single one of you with me!” she snarled and went into the bathroom. She slammed the door and screamed, not caring who heard her.
When she was breathless, she sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the marble counter, staring at herself in the mirror. She looked super healthy considering she’d been stabbed near death. Memories of the pain lingered, and her thoughts took on a grimmer track.
Was that what Fate was going through in Hell every second of his day? Pain so bad she couldn’t think of it without flinching? How had he survived Wynn?
Her anger slid away, and a different kind of ache filled her at the thought of the enigmatic deity who had volunteered to go to Hell in her place. Mate or not, she was grateful to the stranger who sought to spare her what she went through at Wynn’s hands.
After witnessing what he’d do to force her to listen to him, she was considering bowing out of whatever game she had entered. “Just do whatever will keep Wynn off your back,” she told her reflection. She rested her palm on her abdomen, and she thought of her sister, imprisoned somewhere in the castle. The rage inside her was beyond repression. “No. Fuck that. Fuck him. He’s already tried to kill you, Steph. We’re not doing that again.”
Not that she knew exactly what to do. Whatever it was, she wasn’t backing down from him like everyone claimed she should. Backing down got her sister kidnapped and herself stabbed. She’d play nice until she knew where her family was, and then, all bets were off.
She got ready for another grueling family dinner, oddly energized despite her near death. If anything, Wynn had crossed a line, and some of her fear of him was gone. She no longer had to wonder what he’d do to her; she knew.
She whipped open the door to leave and found Kiki in the hallway with no iPad in sight.
“How are you?” he asked anxiously.
She smiled, touched by his concern. “Good. Thanks.”
“You’re not a real member of the family until you’ve been dead-dead or tortured.” He stepped aside for her to exit.
She joined him, and together they began walking. “Good to know.”
“What exactly happened?”
“I don’t know.” She dwelt on the fuzzy memories. “We were talking then bam. He stabs me, and I wake up in bed.”
“He’s never done this to any of us. I don’t have a fucking clue what he was thinking. Andre brought you back here. He wouldn’t tell me what happened either. ”
She gazed up at him. “Did you find my family?” she asked.
He glanced over his shoulder at her demon escort and shifted closer. “Your sister is here. Not in the catacombs. He’s got her secluded in a tower.”
“Can we get her out?”
“She’s under heavy guard and the tower is sealed against portals.”
Stephanie was quiet, thinking. “Sounds like a job for someone specializing in destruction.”
Kiki started to smile. “You might want to consider a subtler approach with Wynn.”
“No. I’m done with subtle. He won’t have the chance to lay a finger on my sister. Rhyn can get her out.”<
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“I’ll contact him.”
“I thought no one knew where he was.”
“News spread fast about Wynn stabbing you. Of course everyone reached out to me and totally fucked up my schedule,” he said, irritated. “You’ve been out for three days, and tomorrow is the reunion.”
“It’s Friday,” she murmured, uncertain why that made her heart race. Fate had promised to meet her for their date. She clung to the idea, too traumatized by Wynn to face the idea Fate couldn’t come if he was trapped in Hell. She needed hope in any form.
“I haven’t found any evidence your mother is here.”
Stephanie hesitated. As sure as she was about today being special, the unwavering instinct telling her that her mother wasn’t in danger was just as mysterious. “Get my sister somewhere safe,” she said. “Please.”
“I will. I promise,” Kiki said.
They paused out of earshot of the guards outside the dining hall. The sight of the double doors filled her with dread. Already her heart was racing, and her hands were clenched into balls.
“I can tell him you’re still recovering,” he offered.
Stephanie shook her head. “No. I refuse to be afraid of him anymore. I can make it through dinner.” Even if I throw up afterwards.
“Let’s do it.” He strode forward and opened the door for her. The scent of hot food made her stomach grumble, and she stepped towards the feast awaiting them.
“Stinky human food,” mumbled the demon trailing them.
Stephanie was two steps inside the door before she wished she’d listened to Kiki and stayed upstairs. She froze in place. Seeing Wynn was bad enough, but the sight of the slender woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes standing at the mantle nearby smashed her newfound defiance.
“Mom?” she squeaked.
Panic wrestled with surprise. Neither emotion won, and she stood in place until the demon knocked into her as he passed.
Stephanie rushed to her mother with a scared look towards Wynn. “What are you doing here?” she demanded in a whisper. “Did anyone hurt you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, sweetie,” her mother said with a warm smile. “Are you?”
“Never mind me,” Stephanie took her mother’s hands and led her farther from the others. “Mom, you have to get out of here. These people are dangerous!”
“I can take care of myself, Steph.” Her mother replied. “I’m so happy to see you’re okay.” She rested her hands on Stephanie’s cheeks and kissed her on the forehead.
Stephanie sighed, happy to see her mother but horrified of dragging her into the Immortal mess. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” she murmured. “I tried to protect you all.”
“I should’ve warned you.”
Stephanie frowned.
Her mother glanced towards the table, where the others sat quietly. “Come on. Let’s sit down.” She moved away, leaving Stephanie by the fire.
Stephanie watched her, suddenly aware of how calm her mother was. On her first night in the Immortal world, she’d had a meltdown, but her mother sat down at Wynn’s right, appearing unfazed by any of this.
“What’s going on?” Stephanie asked. She sat on Wynn’s left, beside Kiki. “Mom?”
“I think we know why Wynn picked your mom,” Kiki whispered.
“I don’t understand.”
“Your mother’s not human.” Wynn’s first words made her tense. She looked at him hard. “You’re a half breed still. Half-deity, half-Immortal.”
Stephanie waited for her mother to refute Wynn. Nothing came.
“Your mother is one of the Unseen deities, those whose singular purpose expired, or who retired or who otherwise no longer had a position as a god or godling,” Wynn explained. “Your mother is Chaos, a creator goddess, from the time-before-time, one whose purpose was no longer essential once creation began. It took me two lives to find her. The Unseen remain unseen for a reason.”
Stephanie stared at her mother.
“I had hoped you’d be able to live a normal life.” Her mother said with a sad smile. “I kept you protected for as long as I could.”
“You’re saying this is real.” Stephanie wanted to explode, and yet, it was just one more veil being lifted from her world. Her anger turned to pain, and she resigned herself to having another layer of her feelings sent through a cheese grater. “You knew what I was.”
“I did. Wynn was clever. I didn’t know when we met what he was.” Rachel Jennings’ gaze slid to the man beside her. “When I figured it out, I left him and hid both my daughters from a world I never intended you to know. We moved often to keep him from finding us.”
“You’re … Chaos. What does that mean?”
“I came to be celebrated as a bringer of disorganization and mayhem. But originally, your grandmother was one of the first deities, a primordial soul with no body, an eternity of nothing and everything.”
“I don’t understand,” Stephanie whispered.
“No one really can. Think of it this way. Before there was time, there was Chaos, the goddess capable of creating order and disorder,” her mother said. “I’m third generation, born after the purpose of Chaos was obsolete, but retaining some influence over disorder and order.”
“So Grandma was primordial stew and you are Chaos.” No one was who or what they seemed in either world.
Kiki was texting madly. Stephanie assumed every one of her brothers would know about this by the time dinner was over. Of all the insanity in her mind, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Wynn had been right all along – and she hated this most of all.
“I’m sorry for hurting you,” her father said. He even managed to appear sincere, further driving her into her confusion. “I’ve never purposely hurt any of my children.”
“It’s my fault,” Chaos said sadly. “I was in denial. I wanted so much more for you, Steph. You and your sister are the only good parts of my life. I wasn’t ready to lose you and kept hoping Wynn would just let you go.”
“He’ll never let any of us go,” Stephanie whispered hoarsely. “Ever.” She gazed at her father.
“I won’t,” he agreed. “This is where you belong. As for your mother …”
As if sensing Stephanie’s fear, Chaos smiled. “He can’t kill me like the others. Don’t worry.”
Stephanie sat in silence, uncertain how anyone was so calm about any of this. Her mother seemed resigned rather than angry, and Wynn wasn’t cheering at finally bringing her mother to the fortress.
The grandfather clock above the mantle chimed seven thirty, and abruptly, she didn’t care whether or not Fate was able to make her date. She wasn’t going to sit here and witness the rest of her world fall apart.
“I have to go,” she said and stood.
Unable to speak to anyone, she fled the dining hall, trailed by her demon guardian, and raced through the hallways. She didn’t slow until she was outside, and the cool night air helped calm her feverish thoughts. She walked into the forest, towards the lake, recalling when she’d last been there with Fate.
He’d promised to return. If ever she needed a miracle, it was tonight.
Wild desperation made her ignore the fact he was in Hell, while deep confusion prevented her from wanting anything to do with anyone in the fortress.
She reached the lake and paused, holding her breath to listen to her surroundings. The sounds of night – swaying trees, rustling animals, hooting owls – were accompanied by the restless pacing of a hungry demon behind her.
“I thought you’d forget.” Fate’s deep voice came from her right.
Stephanie faced his direction. The moment her body registered his presence, she began to lose control. Feverish desire flooded her. It was a hundred times stronger, rawer, than anticipating her first kiss at the age of fourteen. Each meeting entrenched the instinct she belonged with him, that he was the only real home she’d ever have.
He appeared well, though exhausted. “I didn’t think you could come,” she breathed, sile
ntly fighting back elation, the latest emotion she wasn’t certain what to do with.
“The power of a vow between mates, conveniently made before I made my deal with Darkyn. He had no choice. But, like Cinderella, my time is up at midnight,” he added.
She approached him. Heat bloomed within her in anticipation of his touch, his scent, his heat. She watched his eyes change colors, mesmerized by them, by the draw that only grew stronger between them, by the knowledge of how his touch alone was able to quiet her confusion.
The tension between them had grown almost thick enough to be seen.
“I almost died this week,” she said in the heavy silence.
“Me, too.” Fate smiled. “And here you thought we had nothing in common.”
She almost smiled. His sense of humor was growing on her, as twisted and inappropriate as it was. As always, when they were together, she was also no longer alone. She was the eternal companion of a man who controlled the Future. Whenever she looked at him in this light, she was able to pull up her barriers and combat the charismatic man who made her heart flip in her breast.
“Is it bad I trust a man no one else does and distrust everyone I should?” she asked, thoughts on her family. Pain flickered through her at the idea of her mother hiding such a secret. She wasn’t ready to face this new reality. Not yet. Not when she had Fate muddling her senses and could think of nothing more than feeling his arms around her.
“Nah.”
“I hate that,” she said in frustration. “I ask a serious question. And you know what? You could give me any answer in the world, and I’d just want to accept it.”
He stretched for her hand and drew her into his body, until they barely touched, and the sparks of their bond flashed between them. His gaze was on her face, waiting for her reaction to their nearness.
Stephanie was already melting, already tumbling into him. His effect grew harder to resist every time they met. She craved him physically with need that terrified her to feel so out of control. When they touched, she had a difficult time justifying why she shouldn’t just throw herself into the bed of the man she barely knew.
“Are you okay?” he asked and touched her cheek.
