Avenging Heart

by Desni Dantone

  I suspected Nathan was included in her definition of everything. And that did it. I snapped. I didn’t miss the warning shake of Nathan’s head. No, I saw it. And I chose to ignore it.

  “You lost everything because of me?” I returned. “How about the fact that I never had anything? Except for him.” I kept my eyes leveled on Lillian as I jabbed a finger in Nathan’s direction. “But you didn’t like that, did you? Even though I was only a kid at the time!”

  Nathan stood to take a step toward me. “Kris, easy . . .”

  “No!” I fired at him as I advanced on Lillian. “How dare you blame me—”

  “I am blaming you!”

  She shot to her feet. Jared wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from rushing me. At the same time, Nathan moved to block me from doing the same. I had never been in a girl fight before. Never had the need or the desire . . . until now.

  Nathan’s arms encircled my shoulders. “Kris, you need to calm down,” he whispered urgently into my ear.

  “I need to calm down?” I shouted. “What about her? She’s the one throwing around accusations.”

  “I know,” he said gently. “But she’s not the one I’m worried about right now.”

  Worried about? I narrowed my eyes at him. “Worried about me, or about what I might do?”

  I answered my own question before Nathan could respond. Over his shoulder, a stack of books flew off the shelves. One of the big ones smacked Jared in the back, and I grimaced because it looked like it hurt.

  I closed my eyes in an attempt to pull myself together before I injured someone. I heard a thud, followed by a string of curses, and knew I wasn’t doing a good job of controlling myself. Probably because I could still hear Lillian shouting at me. I didn’t even know what she was saying anymore, because she was screaming like a lunatic.

  Two hands came down on my shoulders, and pulled me back.

  “I got her,” I heard Alec say.

  My eyes snapped open as I was hauled out the door, just in time to see Nathan turn away. He ventured farther into the room . . . toward Lillian.

  Alec shut the door behind him as I yelled in protest, and he spun to me quickly. “You’re letting your evil twin have too much control right now.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

  “Do I need to kiss you to tame her down?” he asked. Though his eyes twinkled mischievously, I didn’t doubt he was serious. “Whatever you need, I’m here. I’ll take one for the team.”

  I snorted as a laugh erupted out of me. Already, I felt myself calming down.

  “See? I’m so good I don’t even have to kiss you.” Alec placed a hand on my shoulder as he stooped to look me in the eyes. “Not even surging. I—” He broke off as his gaze dropped to his hand. His eyes trailed lower as he took me in. All of me. “What are you wearing?”

  I groaned as I shifted my feet. With all the excitement, I had forgotten to change . . . and the gown wasn’t exactly wearing-in-public acceptable.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he gushed. “You look hot as hell . . . kind of like a virgin goddess on her wedding night.”

  My eyebrows shot up on their own accord. I bit my tongue, but something about the look on my face must have told Alec that he wasn’t that far off base.

  His hand slid from my shoulder, and dropped to his side. “Oh. Yeah . . . I don’t need to know that.” He lowered his head with a grimace, and for a moment, I felt a twinge of guilt. Until I saw the hint of a smile on his face. “Man, I really wouldn’t want to be Nathan right now.”

  The door swung open half way through Alec’s statement, and Nathan stepped into the hallway. “What now?”

  “Nothing,” Alec and I both answered in unison. Alec glanced at me, and I snorted.

  Nathan clearly didn’t find it as amusing as we did. He looked at me. “You better?”

  “Yep.”

  He frowned at my clipped tone. “I know you’re mad at me, but I just didn’t want you to aggravate the situation.”

  “What about her?” I thrust my chin at the door.

  “Jared’s working on calming her down.”

  “Huh. I thought she needed you for that?” His hesitation served as his answer. “You’re going back in,” I concluded.

  His eyes met mine pleadingly. “I don’t know what else to do. She’s in bad shape.”

  “Didn’t you hear what she said earlier?” I snapped. “She’s not upset about the things she has done. She’s only upset about losing . . . everything. Her words. You think I don’t know that everything means you?”

  Nathan shook his head as he approached me. I took a step back, avoiding his touch.

  “She’s only here for you,” I added.

  “She’s here to help,” he countered.

  “You really believe that?”

  He didn’t answer, but his eyes pleaded with me to understand.

  I didn’t. I couldn’t. I knew she was up to something, regardless of her claim that she wanted to help. I wasn’t stupid. I had been in high school long enough to know how girls worked.

  “I’m going to the room,” I muttered. “Alone.”

  My tone left no room for argument, and neither of them stopped me as I walked away.

  Back in Hecate’s room, I paced the floor for several minutes as I struggled to rein in my frustration. Objects moved with me as I fumed. When I thought I was calm enough, and I had things placed where they belonged, I crawled into bed. I stared restlessly at the ceiling for a long time before an idea slammed into me.

  I bolted across the room to retrieve my backpack. Digging through the contents, I withdrew the rosemary leaf. I placed the herb under my pillow, and chanted the necessary words as I read them from the journal.

  Nervous excitement kept me awake for a while before I eventually dropped off into a light, restless slumber. Sometime later, the bed shifted as someone slipped under the sheets behind me. A familiar arm wrapped around my middle, and pulled my back flush against a sturdy chest. I smiled into my pillow and, as his steady breath stirred the hair at my neck, I finally found a peaceful sleep.

  ~ ~ ~

  The white Honda Civic pulls up as I step onto the curb. The passenger window rolls down, and Callie leans across the seat with a beaming smile.

  “I got it,” she declares proudly. “Get in!”

  Oddly enough, I remember this. I am not dreaming so much as I am reliving something that already happened—the day Callie’s older brother passed the family car on to her. I wonder if Callie is with me, sharing this dream with me from her hospital bed on the Kala Island. Looking at her now, she seems oblivious of her current state.

  Perhaps that is for the best. Though I had hoped to check up on her, and that is hard to do when she doesn’t know what is happening.

  As I did on that day, I climb into the passenger seat, bursting with excitement. The freedom is nice. The escape is nice. It had been that day, but it is even more so now.

  As usual, we end up at the mall. I oblige Callie by purchasing a new outfit for the upcoming party this weekend. I want to tell her that the party will end up a bust—the drinks will be too strong, the cops will show up, and Callie will spend the majority of Saturday morning swearing off alcohol from my bathroom floor.

  I don’t tell her any of that, because she has no idea that we are sharing a dream and reliving a memory. She has no knowledge of where she is right now, what is happening to her body, or that her fate rests in my hands. I decide to keep her protected from that, so I happily relive that day.

  Some things jumble together, and what had been an entire afternoon spent in the mall passes by in a matter of minutes. I suppose that is because I had never been a fan of shopping—not like Callie. Time slows down again as we cross the parking lot to the Civic, and that is when I notice him.

  I hadn’t noticed him that day, but now I cannot miss him. I wonder if his appearance is a byproduct of the dream . . . or if he had really been there that day.

 
Callie lets out a quiet appreciative whistle. “I would call dibs, but his eyes are all over you, Kris.”

  Nathan’s lips curve into a grin as he pushes away from the familiar black Jeep. His stride is long and purposeful as he approaches us.

  “That is the walk of a man who knows what he’s doing.” Callie grips my arm fiercely. “This is all you, girl. Don’t screw it up, or I’m going to have to hurt you.”

  “I’m not . . .” I start, then stop once Nathan reaches us.

  Does he know what this is? The look on his face tells me he does.

  “Looks like you brought me with you,” he says.

  Chapter 4

  A loud rap on the door startled me awake. Deep inside of a mountain, without windows, I could only assume that the knock indicated morning. Except I sure didn’t feel well-rested. While seeing Callie happy and healthy had been awesome, the whole experience of dream-walking had left me feeling hung-over.

  I grudgingly shifted to slide out of bed, but the arm wrapped around my waist tightened and held me in place.

  “Not yet.” A night of not enough sleep had turned Nathan’s voice into the gruffest, sexiest sound I had ever heard that close to my ear.

  Goosebumps danced across the back of my neck, effectively waking me completely.

  I shifted just enough to roll my head over my shoulder. Nathan peered back at me with one eye. His arm tightened to pull me snugly into his chest as he grumbled, “They’ll come back for us.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  His lips curled into a grin that suggested he wouldn’t mind. He inched forward to brush them against mine in a soft and fleeting kiss. Enough to remind me of what we had been doing in this room just a few hours ago. Despite his firm grip, I managed to wiggle around so that I could face him.

  “Stay still.” Though his eyes were shut, the tease of a smile on his lips suggested that he was just as awake as I was. I planted a kiss to his scruffy chin, and was rewarded with a dimple. “You’re really not going to go back to sleep, are you?” he grumbled.

  “Nope. But I’m not getting out of this bed either.”

  Just in case he didn’t already know my intentions, I gave his shoulder a shove, forcing him onto his back, as I propped myself on an elbow above him. As I moved in to kiss him, he did the next best thing. His arm snaked around my waist, and he pulled me on top of him so that my body was flush against his. His hands fisted into my hair as he drew my mouth to his. The kiss came with no preliminary warm ups. Oh, no. His kiss was hard, and full of demands and wants from the start.

  And I was more than happy to give what he obviously wanted. My soft body wedged against his much more solid one, and we were wrapped up in the sheets like our very own unique Kris-and-Nathan burrito. As much as I enjoyed it, I had one complaint. I couldn’t touch him.

  I shifted until I was straddling his legs, and pushed myself up far enough to run my hands across his firm shoulders and chest. His grip on the back of my head wouldn’t allow me to go any farther, but I managed to run an exploring hand across his rippled abdomen until I met the waistband of his boxers.

  “Dammit, Kris,” Nathan growled.

  In one fluid motion, he flipped me onto my back. He rose above me, and trailed a line of kisses along my jaw as my hands gripped his shoulders tightly.

  “They’re going to come back,” he murmured into my ear. Despite his warning, he gave no indication of stopping.

  He was right. I knew we didn’t have much time . . . not for what we both wanted to do. But that didn’t mean I wanted to stop kissing him now. Especially when we hadn’t had much time to be alone lately, and we likely wouldn’t again for the unforeseeable future.

  Reconnecting with Nathan was what I needed to face that future with confidence. It reminded me of why I needed to fight, and that I had something worth fighting for. That was exactly what he did for me now . . . especially after the disaster last night.

  But we did have a mission to get to today, and someone reminded us of that with another series of knocks at the door. Louder than the last.

  Nathan sighed as he dropped his forehead to mine. His eyes squeezed together tightly.

  “Back to the real world,” I whispered ruefully.

  “I’m afraid so.” His voice was deep and gruff, signaling his own remorse.

  I traced my fingertips down the side of his face, forcing his eyes to flutter open. “It’s nice to escape with you every now and again.”

  “Speaking of escape . . .” He shifted to reach a hand under my pillow. He withdrew the rosemary leaf, and shot me a curious look.

  “I wanted to pull Callie into a dream,” I shrugged.

  And I had . . . sort of. Except it had been more of a memory, and she had no recollection of the current events. Maybe I hadn’t done it right?

  “How did I get there?” Nathan pondered.

  “Because you’re the man of my dreams, of course,” I answered with a hint of sarcasm. While true, I wasn’t corny enough to mutter that cliché without laughing.

  “Smartass,” Nathan muttered before kissing me again.

  “You love it,” I returned between kisses.

  A few seconds later, another knock at the door broke us apart. I groaned my frustration as Nathan planted a fleeting kiss to my lips.

  He stilled, and his eyes held mine intently. “Soon.”

  The meaning behind that one word was evident, and sent the butterflies already in my stomach soaring. As Nathan and I finally parted to prepare for the long day ahead, I held on to his promise.

  Soon. But not soon enough.

  ~ ~ ~

  Our first stop upon returning to Litochoro was a cheap clothing store. Though they had both initially balked at the suggestion of wearing anything other than their robes, Isatan and Permna eventually understood the need to blend in. Not that the clothes necessarily helped them much.

  I stifled a smile at the horror on their faces as they observed a teenage boy dressed in baggy jeans and a hoop in his nose dart past us on a skateboard. I suspected that they hadn’t gotten out much lately and were not comfortable outside the walls of the mountain. Though Isatan was a born and skilled leader, he graciously took on a secondary role when it came to dealing with the humans we encountered.

  With the rest of us, he was still his bossy self.

  After shopping, we stopped at a small cafeteria-style restaurant on the coast for a late lunch. By the time Bruce, Lillian, and I collected the large order of food, the rest of our group were all engrossed in deep conversation at a table in the corner. Isatan’s finger was pointed at a spot on the large map spread out in front of them.

  “We’ve pinpointed four of the demigods here,” he explained. “Hades’ demigods will be found somewhere near the Diros Caves, but we haven’t determined an exact location on them yet.”

  “Diros Caves?” Alec questioned. “The entrance to the underworld, right?”

  “One of the entrances,” Isatan returned with a dismissive wave of his hand because, apparently, that wasn’t important right now. Only the spot on the map covered by his finger was.

  Alec hooked an eyebrow at me, and I barely restrained erupting in laughter. Isatan was an ass . . . but he was an ass to everyone. It wasn’t just me.

  “So where are we going now?” I asked as I slid into the bench seat next to Nathan.

  “Corinth,” he said to me as he claimed one of the sandwiches from my tray.

  “In relation to Athens?” Considering that was the only Greek city I was familiar with, I used it as a starting point for all of our adventures.

  “About an hour west of Athens.”

  Nathan gave my knee a gentle squeeze under the table before he ripped into his sandwich. Over his shoulder, I caught Isatan’s impatient glare leveled on me. I chose to ignore him, in favor of my lunch.

  “What about this help you mentioned getting?” Isatan barked as he swung his attention to Jared, who sat on the other side of him.

  Jared glanced at N
athan. “I suppose we could gather up some Kala from the Australian base.”

  Nathan nodded. “No supervisors. Don’t know who we can trust.”

  “Most of the members of the rogue army in allegiance with Circe should have left their bases by now,” Permna volunteered. “We don’t know where they are hiding since I can’t use my powers, but I doubt you will encounter any traitors in your midst now.”

  “I could go to Australia and get some volunteers,” Jared offered. “If Circe is going to be under the binding spell, it shouldn’t take all of us to get the compound. We could split up to save some time.”

  “Isatan and Permna need to get us there,” Nathan said. “Kris needs to do the bind. I’m going wherever she goes.”

  “Me too,” Alec added around a bite of food in his mouth.

  “I’ll go with Jared,” Bruce volunteered. “The rest of you can go on to Aeaea.”

  “Thank you.” Jared said the words with emphasis as he glared at the others. Though it didn’t look all that scary with his lips relaxed one step below a grin. He turned the map around to study it more closely. His finger skimmed over a spot not far from the spot on the map Isatan had indicated, and he looked up at Nathan. “Didn’t the Kala used to have a safe house around here?”

  Nathan chewed on his sandwich as he studied the map quietly for a moment. “I think so. But wasn’t it abandoned after World War Two?”

  “Abandoned, yes. But it should still be there.”

  “If it didn’t crumble, or it wasn’t demolished.”

  “We need a rendezvous point,” Jared returned with a shrug, “and it is close to where the demigods are hiding.”

  After everyone agreed to Jared’s suggestion, another thirty minutes were spent going over details as we finished our meals. It was decided that Jared and Bruce would go to Australia to gather soldiers while the rest of us went to Aeaea. Nathan and Jared pinpointed the location of the safe house, and plans were made for us all to meet there in a few days.