Talan responded thoughtfully, “I don’t either.”
When he didn’t continue, Penny plopped down on the couch. “If we’re not going to complete Kala’s mission, then she should rest before we go to the 5th.”
“Rest? Let’s go now.” Kala’s adrenaline was pumping, and she was raring for a fight.
Talan turned to Kala and looked at her like she was the only one in the room. “Pandora is right. You need to sleep. You may be a Titan now, but you’re human as well. Your body is still transitioning.”
“I’m not tired,” Kala protested. And lame. She had thought that being a god would mean she wouldn’t be susceptible to sleeping and eating and human things. The thought had been pretty darn exciting. Kala hated that she had to eat and sleep. She often times wished that she could do without. It wasn’t that Kala didn’t like food and rest; it was just frustrating that it was essential to living. It seemed like such a waste to her. She always thought about how much more she could get done if she didn’t have to stop her life for human fuel. “What time is it anyway?” Kala looked over at Talan’s digital clock.
Kala had almost forgotten that she couldn’t see time in a normal way anymore. The countdown startled her momentarily.
3d 11h 13m 45s.
Realizing what time it was startled her even more.
5:47 P.M.
Where had the day gone? “Look, I don’t feel like taking a nap when I could be breaking this damn curse…”
Talan touched her forehead mid-sentence. Before she could utter a profanity aimed at him, Kala was out cold.
Chapter Eight
Kala awoke to find herself feeling pretty darn good. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Even before her life had turned to the crazy ride it was, Kala had been a horrible sleeper. Always having to be on alert did that to a person, especially to a sniper. Catnaps were more her thing. Getting rest while she could on a mission or even in life. It was a skill she was proud of, but now?
Pulling the blanket back, Kala slid out of bed feeling more rested than she had ever been in her life. “Was that some kind of Grigori sleeping pill? Holy crap.” Kala stretched her arms.
Talan and Penny were on the couch watching television. It was so normal that Kala had to remind herself that the two of them were supernatural beings. Kala grunted when she tried to see what they were watching. She’d never know. The vision of Kala destroying Fortski’s cure re-played itself over and over.
“Would you turn that off?” Kala asked.
Talan looked at the TV and it shut off. Apparently, Grigori didn’t need remote controls.
Kala looked at the time.
3d 01h 03m 34s.
3:53 A.M.
Kala clutched her chest in panic. “You let me sleep for thirteen hours! Are you insane?!”
Talan was instantly by her side. “You needed it, trust me. Your body is still trying to assimilate to a Titan. You’ll thank me later.”
As good as Kala felt, she didn’t think she would thank Talan anytime soon. So much time lost. Kala was only an hour away from Day Two and that made her stomach drop and churn into a giant stress ball. Sleep was her enemy. It made time pass too quickly. Kala vowed not to sleep again until she made Zeus break the curse. If she had to go through with her vision of destroying the cure for cancer, Kala didn’t want it to come sooner than it had to.
“Enough rest. I’m ready to go.” Kala stood up and Talan joined her.
Penny walked over to the two of them.
Talan nodded. He reached out and clasped Kala’s hand.
Then he turned to Penny. “Sorry, Pandora.”
Kala saw a glimpse of shock and betrayal as Penny’s face popped out of view.
Kala fell to her knees coughing uncontrollably. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and rotted flesh. Kala had been around enough dead bodies in her life to recognize the stench. It reminded her of cinnamon, which was why she’d always cringe whenever someone was chewing cinnamon gum or had the nerve to eat Red Hots in front of her.
Talan touched her chest and she could breathe again.
The smells were still there, but at least she wasn’t choking on them anymore.
“Lovely,” Kala observed.
Her surroundings were oddly beautiful in a terrifying kind of way. Kala oftentimes found beauty in the grotesque, if just for its sheer uniqueness. The ground reminded her of lava, as if she was standing inside a volcano, but with no heat. She and Talan were in some kind of hallway with hundred foot ceilings and walls that were a width of at least that long, all covered in sharp spikes.
It was the sound that set Kala’s teeth on edge. It was as if a trillion snakes were slithering around them, hissing and spitting. She kept glancing over her shoulder expecting to see a python coming her way. It threw her instincts off, which kept her guard up even more.
Aside from the two of them, there was no one to be seen. No gods, no Demons, no nothing. If it weren’t for the noise, scenery, and stench, Kala would have wondered if they were in the right place.
“We’re at the gateway,” Talan spoke over the hissing. “I’m going to need your help to enter unseen.”
If this was the gateway, Kala wondered what the rest of the joint was like. The quicker they found Zeus, the better.
“How can I help?” The fact that Kala wasn’t on Earth started to sink in. She figured her ability to cope with the situation was a combination of military training and Atlas’s memory of this place. Though she couldn’t remember the specifics, a part of her knew that she had been here before.
“You’re a Titan now, Kala. And this is a Titans-only place.” Talan led her down the long hallway.
The uneven ground felt awkward under her feet. “Why didn’t you bring Penny?” Kala decided she would broach the topic. She had been certain that Penny was along for the entire ride, but just like that, Talan had left the girl behind.
“I don’t trust her to make smart decisions,” Talan spoke with a finality that left Kala chilled.
“Ouch. Okay,” Kala responded.
Talan stopped and turned to Kala, concern etched in every feature. “Pandora has been trying to rescue her father for several thousand years now. She put Atlas in hiding because he was the only link she had to finding him. She knows Hephaestus is in the 5th. Kala, she’d do anything to save him.”
“Anything? As in, sell us out?” Kala asked.
Talan nodded.
“The girl bugs me, but I understand her need to rescue her father. I’d do anything for Owen and I would have done anything to save Jack,” Kala admitted.
Talan looked away. “I’m sorry.”
Kala sighed. She didn’t want to discuss it with Talan. It made her angry. “Let’s just find Zeus.”
Talan walked ahead without another word. There wasn’t much to say anyway. After a few minutes trudging down the awkward landscape, Kala was ready to tear her ears off from the sound of hissing and spitting on constant repeat. Motioning Kala to halt at a spot that felt the same as any other, Talan pointed to an area on the sharp spiked wall. He instructed, “Touch here and imagine a doorway.”
Kala looked at Talan, incredulous. “Really? Imagine a door and it appears?”
“I’m not sure it will work since technically you’re only half Titan, but it’s our only option. Only Titans are allowed into the inner sanctum. Any other being needs permission,” Talan warned.
“What? You’re saying a big powerful Grigori couldn’t bust through?” Kala half-teased but was actually curious as to the answer.
“Oh yes, I could break in, but then we’d have every Titan on us in seconds. I could take two maybe three on my own, but all twelve? I’d rather slip in under the radar,” Talan confided.
Kala’s military training forced her to agree with the guy. “Okay.” She placed her hand on the designated spot and closed her eyes. It was easier to play make-believe with her eyes closed. Creativity wasn’t her strong suit, unless she was trying to win a fight. Kala coul
d think of all kinds of crazy when she needed an exit during a failed mission. She pictured the door to Owen and Linda’s house. It was the only home she had ever known and the easiest for her to visualize. Kala imagined reaching forward and turning the knob.
“We’re in,” Talan’s voice sounded next to her.
Kala opened her eyes and saw the opening before her. It looked like a black hole formed out of the spiked wall. Normally, Kala wouldn’t even consider walking through something so sketchy, but when Talan moved forward, she knew she had to follow.
Kala looked down at her watch.
3d 00h 02m 53s.
Day One was almost up.
Kala didn’t want to be stuck in Hell when Day Four rolled around. She took a deep breath and entered the blackness. There was a moment of utter darkness as Kala passed through the gateway. When she arrived at the other side, her breath caught in her throat.
An enormous cavern spread out before Kala with stunning brilliance. This was nothing like the hellish hallway she had just left. It felt as if entering into the inside of geode rock. The walls, ceiling, and ground were crystallized purple, each crystal glowing from its own light source. It was as bright as daylight, but with no sun. There were dozens of archways carved into the walls, all leading to different parts of the 5th Level of Hell, Kala assumed. She was utterly speechless as she took in the beauty of the cavern.
Talan’s voice broke the silence. “If Zeus is being held anywhere, it would be in The Pit. It’s this door over here.” Talan headed left toward one of the entryways.
Kala shook her head as she followed Talan. She couldn’t wrap her brain around the fact that this was the 5th level of any kind of Hell. It was too beautiful. She had expected more of what she saw when they first arrived: sulfur, hissing, and lava spikes. But this? This was stunning!
She suddenly heard a voice that made her skin crawl.
“Buttercup, you came to save me.”
In the corner of the cavern, hidden in the shadow of one of the arched doorways, was someone Kala hadn’t expected to see.
Chained to the wall and grinning at Kala like a lion about to pounce on its prey was Asmodeus.
DAY TWO
Chapter Nine
Kala audibly grumbled.
Talan’s face lit up with a kind of happiness Kala had never seen before. “I see the Titans punished you for your ineptitude.”
Asmodeus ignored Talan completely and focused entirely on Kala. “Are you going to let me down from here or what?” he said with as much charisma as a man chained to a wall could have.
“Actually, no.” Kala didn’t know how much clearer she could be. “You’re much safer tied up.”
“I’d much more prefer it if you tied me up instead.” Asmodeus smiled slyly. “Now, seriously, you’re not going to leave me here are you?”
“Yes. Yes, I am.” Kala couldn’t believe the king of Demons actually expected her to help him escape. She turned to Talan. “Please, lead the way.”
Talan had a satisfied expression on his face. “My pleasure.”
Talan began walking toward the archway that supposedly led to The Pit.
Asmodeus called out, “I know you love following your little Angel-boy there, but Zeus isn’t in The Pit.”
Kala stopped. She knew she shouldn’t. She knew Asmodeus was probably lying. Trying anything to keep her there to help free him. But her gut told her he was telling the truth.
Apparently, Talan felt the same, because he turned to Asmodeus with irritation in his eyes. “Let me guess: you won’t tell us where he is unless we unchain you?”
“Grigori were always known for their intelligence.” Asmodeus finally acknowledged Talan’s presence. “In my experience that was just a rumor.”
“Har-de-har-har.” Kala had no patience for Asmodeus’s quips. “Why should we believe anything you say?”
“Have I ever lied to you before?” Though his tone was light, his eyes were intense. “Besides, when I wiped your brain,” he added with a sly smile. “Technically, I never said I was your boyfriend, I just implanted it.”
“So you made me lie to myself and therefore it shouldn’t count?” Kala rolled her eyes. “If I drastically stretch my imagination, then no, you never lied to me. But there’s a first time for everything, and I’ll never really trust you.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me. I’m asking you to break me out in exchange for the location of Zeus. Why do you want to see him anyway? You think he’ll release you from that curse? Only the true Atlas could…” As the words were leaving Asmodeus’s mouth, he started to focus on Kala. His eyes widened. “You didn’t… How?” He turned to Talan, shocked. “How did she do that?”
Talan shrugged. “She’s stronger than you think.”
Asmodeus’s gaze veered back to Kala with utter surprise and admiration. Kala noticed with annoyance that her joining with a Titan made the Demon even more attracted to her. “How did you do it?” he asked, amazed. “I must know.”
“You must, huh?” Kala grunted. “I have no freaking clue. But the more memories I have of the guy, the more I realize what a loser he was.” Then she added, a little embarrassed, “I ate him.” Kala had never talked much about the details of her experience, and confessing to Asmodeus wasn’t something she planned to do, but the raise of his eyebrow said it all.
“I knew I had a feeling about you,” he said.
Talan stepped in. “Tell us where Zeus is and we let you live.” Talan apparently had enough of confession time.
Kala assumed it was because he didn’t like her interacting with Asmodeus, but she was relieved not to share anymore. Somehow Asmodeus had the ability to make her spill her guts and she didn’t like that about him one bit. It was dangerous. It made her feel weak.
“You can’t kill me.” Asmodeus didn’t look worried at all. “And I do know where Zeus is being held. You need me, Grigori.”
“I could snap your soul into pieces,” Talan warned.
Kala had never seen Talan look so vicious.
“I may be serving my punishment, but the Titans still protect me,” Asmodeus snarled.
Before the Angel/Demon testosterone level reached epic heights, Kala yanked Talan to the side to talk to him privately. “Look. Can you find Zeus or what?”
It took a few moments for Talan to calm himself enough to focus on Kala. Then he nodded slowly. “Eventually, yes.”
“Eventually?”
Asmodeus chimed in making the private meeting not so private. “It could take days, weeks, months. The world will have ended by then. What is your task this time anyway?”
“Shut it, Demon,” Kala snapped.
“Demon? So impersonal.” Asmodeus huffed, but when seeing Kala’s disapproving glare, he looked away. “Fine. I’ll just stay here, then. Let you two work it out.”
Kala focused back on Talan. “Is that true?”
Talan stared at her frustrated. “Yes, but I wouldn’t let you fail your mission. We can always jump back here and keep looking.”
Kala shook her head and turned to Asmodeus. “Tell us where Zeus is and Talan will zap you back to earth. Deal?”
“Deal,” Asmodeus agreed happily.
Talan shook his head. “I can’t agree to that, Kala.”
Kala should have known Talan would continue to balk at freeing Asmodeus, but Kala needed to talk to Zeus and Asmodeus appeared to be the only one with immediate knowledge of his whereabouts. Asmodeus wasn’t trustworthy, but he was familiar. Kala could read him pretty easily. Definitely an evil she knew.
Asmodeus joined in helpfully. “He doesn’t have to send me back, just get me out of these chains and I’ll do the rest.”
Kala was immediately suspicious of Asmodeus’s perky nature, but she chalked it off to excitement at being released. She turned to Talan. “Just the chains?”
Talan took a few minutes to think. Finally, he nodded. He walked over to Asmodeus and touched the heavy chains that kept him captive. They disappeared.
>
Kala kept her guard up as Asmodeus massaged his wrists. “Much better, thank you.”
“Zeus.” Kala kept Asmodeus on target.
“Ah, yes, Zeus.” Asmodeus held his arm out for Kala to take.
“Not happening.” Kala deflected Asmodeus’s flirting tactics. Even in the 5th Level of Hell, the guy tried to have game.
“No?” He acted mock-offended. “A little privacy perhaps?”
Both Kala and Talan looked at each other, unsure of Asmodeus’s intentions.
Asmodeus snapped his fingers.
A ten-foot snarling dog appeared in the giant cavern.
Kala stared at the enormous dog growling in front of her. He looked like a cross between a Doberman pincher and a Pit-bull, except his teeth were black and had razor edges.
“Say hello to Spot, Grigori. Created by the Titans to eat little pesky angels like yourself.” Asmodeus was quite pleased with himself.
Kala didn’t move for fear of the giant beast gobbling her up, but she was more than livid. “Were you ever going to take me to Zeus?”
“Oh, buttercup, I’m still taking you to Zeus. I just don’t want the third wheel tagging along.”
Spot apparently didn’t feel like waiting around for a conversation: his enormous head lunged toward Talan.
Talan plunged his hands forward and fire flowed out of his body with laser-like precision. The ray of fire engulfed Spot’s left eye causing the dog to screech in pain.
Asmodeus tried to grab Kala to get her out of there, but there was no way she was going to leave Talan defenseless.
Kala leapt at Spot and grabbed the dog’s head between her hands. It was like holding the front end of Volkswagen Beetle it was so huge. Then she used all her Titan might and threw Spot clear across the cavern. His body smashed against the purple rock and a few shattered pieces fell to the ground.
Spot was up in seconds, but instead of running toward Kala like she wanted, he ran full force toward Talan. Asmodeus was right. This dog was bred to hunt Grigori. She could beat him until he died, but he wouldn’t attack her because she was a Titan.
Grigori Returned (The Atlas Series Book 2) Page 6
