If I turned back into Artemis, what became of Lexi? Would I suddenly become a stranger to my own self? What if I forgot being Lexi completely—forgot my friends, even forgot loving Jake? Sure, I might get my “real” memories back—but how would I know? I couldn’t trust myself anymore to be able to tell what was real and what wasn’t. The memories I had now certainly felt real enough, and if I lost them, what became of the person they’d belonged to?
Becoming Artemis was a huge step. Once I took it, everything changed, and it wasn’t the kind of change I could take back. What if I didn’t like what I became? The temptation to turn my back on it all was enormous. I didn’t want to be a goddess. I was happy with my own familiar self.
So maybe I should refuse to change and leave getting us out of this mess up to Syl. That could work. I could flutter that damn moth all over the guard’s computer screen, long enough to hold his attention while Syl slipped past. It wasn’t that much of a risk. And she was prepared to do it.
*A simple plan is a good plan,* I told her, trying for a light mental tone. I couldn’t decide. My heart told me it was too much of a risk. Syl was a delicate little cat, not some big, scary shifter. How could I risk her life? How would I feel if she got hurt because of my cowardice? Like shit, that’s how. But still I wavered.
*Dammit, Lexi. You can shove your simple plan where the sun don’t shine.*
*It’s okay. I’ll distract him so you can sneak past.*
*With your trusty moth? Seriously? That’s the plan?*
She was right, it was a crap plan. What kind of friend was I, leaving her to do it all alone, when I knew how scared she was? But the alternative was terrifying. What if Lexi disappeared, consumed by the goddess? Artemis would take back her body like a coat that had been worn for a while by someone else, and Lexi would be dead. I would be dead, killed by the stranger I used to be.
I jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. Syl was at the bottom of the staircase. I only had a moment more to decide. Whose life would I risk—hers or mine?
*Syl, wait,* I said, in an agony of indecision. Tears pricked at my eyes. I should say goodbye, in case I was someone else next time I saw her. Would we even be friends? What would a goddess have in common with a cat shifter?
Shouts and the sound of running feet from above startled us both. Syl froze in place at the bottom of the stairs. I hurled myself into the moth’s mind. Left to itself, it had begun to flutter at the great glass walls in the foyer, trying to get to the lights outside. Its eyes were suddenly dazzled as someone flicked on the main lights in the foyer, flooding the stairwell. Adrian appeared at the top of the grand marble staircase, calling back along the corridor to another man.
“Where’s Nick?” he was yelling. “There’s someone in the house.”
Shit. He must have woken and seen the bedside drawer that Syl had left open, the empty bedside drawer that should have held the key. He and the other man clattered down the stairs. In a moment, they’d be through the kitchen and down the lower stairs to the basement.
*Move, Syl!* I urged, diving into her head too. *You’re about to have company.*
But my warning came too late. The guard in the room beside Hades’ cell heard the commotion and came out into the hallway. He saw Syl as she began to move, and drew his gun.
She streaked across the lounge room at the bottom of the stairs and threw herself behind a treadmill in the adjoining gym. The gun boomed in the enclosed space as he sprinted after her. The clatter of feet on the stairs announced the arrival of Adrian and the other man.
Despite the urgency of the situation, a curious calm descended on me. It was relief, pure and simple, that the decision had been made for me. My choices had all been taken away from me, and now I had to act.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Huntress, awake.”
18
At first, I thought nothing had happened, and my heart stuttered in panic against my ribs. Syl needed me! Then a warm flush swept over my skin, starting from a point on my left shoulder blade.
From my tattoo, in fact.
I reached over my shoulder, fingers seeking that tingling warmth. My skin burned to the touch, and something moved beneath my fingertips. Man, that was freaky. It felt as though something was alive and moving around under my skin.
The thing moved further, wriggling up onto the top of my shoulder where I could see it if I craned my neck just right. It was my tattoo, though now the black lines of the bow glowed a bright silver, and when I blinked, the after image of the bow burned against the inside of my eyelids.
Pull out your bow. I ran my fingers down my arm, and the tattoo followed them, as if swimming just under my skin. It was the weirdest feeling ever, but I had no time to dwell on it, or think too hard about what was happening. A deadly game of hide and seek was going on in the gym, and I needed to join in before the game finished and Syl lost. I drew the shining tattoo to the back of my hand with a sweep of my fingers.
The bow had always been the largest part of this tattoo, with the archer merely suggested by a few stylised lines. Now it was barely recognisable as a bow, the strong lines condensed into an odd v-shape that arrowed down my middle finger. Golden light burst from my finger tip. I narrowed my eyes against the glare, watching in disbelief as the top of a full-sized bow emerged from my finger.
The physics simply didn’t work, but the laws of physics meant nothing where magic was concerned. Somehow, a full-sized weapon was materialising from my finger, drawn from my body by my mere wish. Squinting against the light, I could barely see what was happening, but when the light dimmed, I was holding a bow and a quiver full of golden-fletched arrows in my hands.
Holy shit. Magic was so crazy.
The bow felt right in my hand, the grip smooth, as if I’d held it this way many times before. I slung the quiver across my body, ducking my head in what felt like a practised motion as the strap passed over it. The strap lay between my breasts, already adjusted to the perfect length for the quiver to sit comfortably against my back. I knew my hand would instantly find an arrow when I reached over my shoulder. I felt strong and powerful, and the pounding headache that had plagued me since I woke was completely gone.
And yet, I didn’t remember ever using this bow before. I stared at Artemis’s bow in my hand, emitting its soft golden light, searching for some kind of memory, anything that tied me to this weapon. There was nothing. Though I held Artemis’s bow—though the damn thing had come out of my very body—I was still Lexi. No divine memories had miraculously arrived to fill the gaps in my head. No godly persona had shoved my Lexi-ness aside. I was still me, as lost and confused as ever, only now I was glowing just like the bow.
Outstanding.
Had I done something wrong? Was there some other part of the magic that Hades had forgotten, or that Lucas had omitted to pass on? Surely there must be more to it than this? I had a cool new weapon—yay, me. My body buzzed with energy, but where was the rest of it? Where were my memories, my understanding of my powers and how to use them? Where was my history?
No time now to puzzle it out. Barely an instant had passed, though the whole thing had seemed to take forever. I could tell Adrian and his companions hadn’t yet entered the gym from the sound of their voices, which were too close.
“What are you shooting at, Nick?” Adrian asked, his voice tight with tension. “Who’s in there?”
“There was a cat,” the voice of the guard replied. “It was just sitting at the bottom of the stairs when I came into the hallway.”
“Stinking shifters,” Adrian said. “How the hell did they get in? I hate them.”
Yeah, well, the feeling was mutual. I was pretty sure Syl wouldn’t be inviting him around for dinner any time soon.
*You okay, Syl?* I asked.
*They’ve got guns.* Her voice was tight with barely controlled panic.
*Stay out of sight. I’ll be there in a second.*
*What was that gunshot?* Lucas’s voice sounded nearly as pan
icked as Syl’s had. Something heavy hurled itself against the door of the room opposite mine—a werewolf, no doubt. He would be desperate to get out and join the fight. Wolves had strong protective instincts. *Who are they shooting at?*
“Settle down in there or I’ll put a bullet through you,” the guard yelled at him. “Get away from the door.”
*Do as he says, Lucas,* I ordered. I wasn’t about to tell him it was his girlfriend they’d been firing at. *Don’t worry, I’ve got this.*
*Where’s Syl? Is she safe?*
His concern earned him top boyfriend points, but I had no time to spare for soothing his fears, justified as they were. I was more concerned with that little red spark nestled deep in his consciousness that didn’t belong there.
I reeled it in, cradling it within myself, and turned to the slumbering red embers of the other two parts of Cerberus. This time, when I pushed toward them, the barriers that had held me out before melted away. Everything was so easy now. With my eyes shut, I reached for those two and drew them back together. Power flowed through me like champagne bubbling in my veins as I shoved the missing part of Cerberus back where it belonged, reuniting the three parts of his soul. They flared a joyous red as they combined. Something within me pulsed in response, and when I opened my eyes, the glow from the bow had ratcheted up another notch.
*BOSSY GIRL!* Cerberus hauled himself to his feet, tongues lolling from all three mouths. No longer separate, he was back in his familiar monstrous shape, towering over me. I’d never been so glad to see a three-headed dog in my life.
I threw my arms around his neck, narrowly avoiding poking out one of his eyes with the end of the bow. “You’re back! Thank God.”
There wasn’t a mark on him. Just as I’d thought, he’d been vulnerable split into three. Once I got his essence back together, it was business as usual. Note to self: Don’t let the massive three-headed hellhound split apart in future, no matter how much he pleads.
He licked me, then sniffed the air. At once, he was on alert, every ear pricked, all his heads staring at the door. *MASTER?*
“Through that door,* I said. “Let’s go get him.”
***
Cerberus hurled himself against the door, the chains that had held him parting as if they were no more than thin threads. Being so much bigger than the werewolf, he succeeded where Lucas had failed—on the third blow, the door gave way, disintegrating into kindling under the onslaught. He leapt through the wreckage, greeted by the sound of gunfire.
I had no fear for the hellhound. Now that he was back in his true form, bullets would glance off his supernatural hide just as the centaurs’ arrows had done on our memorable trip through the underworld. Sure enough, the guns fell silent, replaced by snarls and screams.
That left the problem of the chain around my own ankle. I gave it an experimental pull, but apparently godhood didn’t come with the kind of overpowering strength that being a hellhound did. I had no key, but did I really need one? Apollo had barged through the locked door of our apartment as if it were open. Maybe godhood came with more subtle power.
“Open!” I commanded the iron around my ankle. Nothing happened.
Hatred bloomed in my heart—hatred for the shadow shapers and their black schemes, hatred for the chain that held me bound when I longed to join the battle in the corridor. I glared at the cuff around my ankle.
The metallic clink as it sprang open was the best sound I’d heard in a long time. I shook the thing off and followed Cerberus into the corridor in time to see Adrian fleeing up the stairs. He hurled a gale in his wake that ruffled the hellhound’s fur and sent my hair streaming behind me, but I leaned into it and raised my bow. My arrow, propelled by magic, hit him in the back of the leg. He screamed as it pinned him to the stairs, a high, inhuman wail that was cut off as Cerberus bounded up the steps and ripped his throat out.
The giant dog continued up the stairs, where I could hear people calling to each other, and the sound of running feet. Evidence of Cerberus’s activities lay strewn along the corridor. The guard lay halfway to the stairs, his blood spattered on the white wall—a dark, ominous red in the dim light. The arm that had fired the gun was no longer attached to his body. It lay a little further along, drenching the surrounding carpet with dark, sticky fluid. Biting off people’s arms seemed to be Cerberus’s signature move. Unlike Mrs Emery, though, this guy hadn’t survived the experience.
Neither had the man who’d accompanied Adrian down the stairs. He lay crumpled at their foot. When I knelt to check his pulse, the carpet squelched beneath my knee. There was no need for arrows; he was already dead. I peered into the darkened gym. *Syl? Where are you?*
Her eyes appeared first, glowing yellow in the dim light from the hallway, then the shape of the little black cat, still holding the key firmly in her mouth.
She followed me back down the short corridor to the door of Hades’ cell. *Remind me not to get on Cerberus’s bad side,* she said, averting her eyes from the carnage.
That seemed like a good idea. There was a darkness at the heart of my favourite hellhound that was easy to overlook until you saw him in battle. I stared down at the guard he’d felled, the carpet squelching under my feet as I stepped closer. So much blood. Did he have the keys to open Hades’ door? The thought of rifling through the dead man’s bloodstained pockets turned my stomach.
But I didn’t have to, did I? Clearly, it was going to take me a while to get used to this god thing. I kept forgetting I had other means at my disposal now—I could do what I’d done with the chain. Quickly, I took a firm grip on the door handle, directing my fury at it.
It turned, but no sooner had I started pushing the door open than it slammed shut again from the force of a snarling werewolf hitting the other side.
“Easy, Lucas,” I said. “It’s only me. Let me in.”
I pushed again and this time the door opened. The wolf had backed up into the middle of the space, teeth still bared. Hades stood beside him, the dull pewter glint of the magic collar showing at the opening of his shirt. He was otherwise unrestrained. Mundane chains, such as the one that had held me, weren’t needed when they had such a way to restrain his powers. He was no threat to anyone without them.
That was something we were about to change. Syl scampered in and dropped the all-important key to the collar at my feet. The werewolf’s snarl disappeared at the sight of the little black cat, and he nosed at her, as if checking she were unhurt. In other circumstances, it might have been funny to watch the big werewolf fussing over the tiny cat, who tolerated his attention with as much grace as cats usually showed their admirers—which was to say, not much—but my sense of humour had deserted me for the moment. Seeing Hades made me angry at what he’d done to me all over again.
Lucas shimmered into human form and picked Syl up by the scruff of her neck, his nostrils flaring. She hissed her indignation at being manhandled, though she stopped short of scratching him.
“I smell blood.” He glared at me as if it were my fault, Syl dangling from his hand.
“It’s not hers.”
He continued to frown at me.
“Or mine.” I jerked my head in the direction of corridor. “It’s theirs.”
He put Syl down and pushed past me into the corridor. Hades smiled. “Welcome back, my dear.”
To think that I’d once thought Apollo had the most punchable face I’d ever seen. Hades’ smugness made me itch to wipe the smile off his face. He looked like a man who’d saved the world singlehandedly and was well satisfied with the way his grand plans had turned out. Well, that made one of us.
“I’m not happy with you,” I practically growled at him, scooping the key off the floor. “Turn around.”
Surprise flickered on his face before he turned to present the back of the collar to me. I jerked his shirt out of the way and fitted the key into the lock. It turned smoothly and I pulled the two ends of the collar apart.
Hades removed it with a sigh of relief. “That�
�s better.” He rolled his shoulders and turned his head from side to side, loosening muscles long-taut with tension.
Lucas backed into the room, a gun in his hand. He must have taken it from one of the fallen; there was a smear of blood on the front of his shirt where he’d obviously wiped it clean on his clothes. His face was pale but grimly determined. “We’ve got company.”
Hades smiled and cracked his knuckles, before stepping past him into the hallway. “Leave it to me.”
19
Syl turned human and Lucas immediately moved toward her. But when he would have taken her into his arms, she held him off, examining me with a frown. “Why the hell are you glowing like that? And where’d you get that bow?”
Lucas’s gaze swung to me, too, as wary and concerned as hers. Could I damp down the glow? I didn’t even know why I was glowing—Hades didn’t glow, and he was more of a god than I was. I’d seen Apollo light up a couple of times, but I’d always thought that was because he was the sun god, and he seemed to be able to turn it on and off at will. I tried, but it was harder than unlocking doors. Nothing happened when I focused on banishing the soft light.
I gave a mental shrug. We had more important things to worry about. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s not get left behind.” I went after Hades, and they both followed me. Syl’s unhappy expression said clearer than words that she knew I was keeping something bad from her.
Hades must have moved fast; there were two new corpses in the hallway, but no sign of the Lord of the Underworld. They lay dead with identical expressions of horror on their faces and not a mark on them. We avoided the gore Cerberus had left as much as possible as we made our way to the staircase. One long dribble of blood on the wall had almost made it to the floor. Syl looked away, pale but determined, as she passed. Adrian lay in a tumbled heap on the stairs, my arrow still protruding from his leg. I bent and yanked it free. It came out surprisingly easily. These were not ordinary arrows, and I didn’t want to leave one behind for the shadow shapers. Who knew what power they contained? Certainly not me. I stuck the gory thing back into my quiver, and Syl shuddered. We stepped over Adrian’s body and climbed the stairs in search of Hades and his hound.
Hidden Goddess (Shadows of the Immortals Book 4) Page 16
