Solstice

by P. J. Hoover

  My mom stops cutting since all the leaves are gone. “Of course he was that bad. He couldn’t stand to be around me. He was rude to me and arrogant. He showed me absolutely no respect.”

  My mouth falls open. I can’t believe she’s saying this. “But he was good to me. And I loved him.”

  My mom throws down the scissors, smashing them into the ground. “Good to you? He took you away from me.” Overhead, the glass creaks again, and then the branch is too much. An entire section of the roof comes down off to my right raining glass in a glittering shower.

  “Yes, he took me away from you, but he treated me like a queen.”

  My mom doesn’t even seem to notice the roof. “So what? Any god could do that.”

  My mind flashes to Reese, but I push him aside. I don’t need him coming into this conversation.

  “I didn’t want any god. I wanted Shayne. But you ruined all that.” I dig my fingers into the soil of a nearby plant and grab a clump, smashing it in my fist. “You ruined everything. You’re selfish, Mom. You’ve always been nothing but selfish. But let me tell you something. I’m grown up now. I make my own decisions. I will not be under your control any longer. You don’t own me.”

  She meets my eyes then, and we hold them there. Her gaze bores into me, but I maintain the hold, not wanting to look away. Refusing to back down.

  “You will obey me, Piper.” Each word comes out slowly. Methodically. Like she’s making a plan even as she says it.

  I shake my head. “No, I won’t.”

  “You will go upstairs and pack your things. We’re leaving. Right now. We’ll hide, and no one will find us again.”

  “No.”

  She moves to me to grab my wrist, but I’m faster. I grab hers instead. I clench as tight as I can, hard enough to break it if she were mortal.

  “Do you dare to defy your mother? Are you forgetting who I am?”

  I grab tighter, holding until I feel the pulse in her arm. “Who?”

  My mother stands a little taller. “I am a goddess.”

  I let go of her hand, thrusting it down to her side. “And so am I.”

  She stares at me, her mouth opening, but nothing comes out. Around us, the wind from the storm whips through the hole in the roof.

  “Mom, do you know what the punishment for killing a phoenix is?”

  My mom looks down, picking up the bucket of water by her feet. It’s left a wet ring on the tile and drips when she raises it.

  “It’s life in Tartarus, Mom. Did you know that?”

  She nods, still looking down.

  I think about my visit to Tartarus. My horrible meal with Aeacus, Tantalus, and Pirithous. A meal that might have been my last. “Have you ever been to Tartarus?”

  My mom lets out a bark of a laugh, but it’s laced with fear. “Of course not.”

  “It’s the most horrible place imaginable. Even worse, in fact. I’ve been there—as Piper. I should send you there myself. But even after everything you’ve done, I will never let you end up there.”

  The bucket of water falls, and I realize my mom is crying. I stand there, holding my resolve, but her crying tears at my heart. I try to be strong. I try to stay angry. But when I can’t listen any longer, I move to her and catch her in a hug.

  “I only did what I thought best for you, Piper. Best for us.”

  She’s shaking under me. “Well, you screwed up, Mom. And now everything’s falling apart.”

  She stops crying and pulls back to look at me. “I can get help.” Her eyes are wide as if she believes the statement. “I can get Apate to help. She’ll know what to do.”

  I stare at her, trying to keep my eyes impassive. “Mom, you can’t trust the goddess of deceit.”

  But she nods her head. “Yes, Piper. I can. She helped me before. With you. I never intended to go through with my end of the bargain. I wasn’t going to lose you again. So we came up with the idea of the box. To hide you from Hades and Ares.”

  I throw up my hands. “The box! How could you ever think that was a good idea?” The image of the box flashes in my mind, and I get the overwhelming urge to smash it against the wall.

  My mom grabs my hands. “It kept you hidden from the gods for eighteen years. Until you opened it.” Her eyes narrow. “Which you never should have been allowed to do.”

  “But I did, Mom. Don’t you see? Apate tricked you. You thought you could tuck away your secrets forever. But she tricked you, and I opened it.”

  My mom shakes her head. “No. There must have been some weakness. Apate swore to me it would work. We’ll get her help now. Get away from here. No one will ever know.”

  I tear my hands away from hers and meet her wide eyes with a cold stare. “But I know, Mom. And I have no intention of ever being part of your games again.”

  My mom walks closer to me, but I don’t want her sympathy. I don’t want anything from her.

  “I was just trying to help,” she says. “When Ares came to me with the idea—”

  My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “Ares! He came to you?”

  My mom nods. “Of course. I never would have known about the power of the phoenix sacrifice if not for him. He was the one I made the bargain with in the first place.”

  Something clicks far in the back of my mind, but it’s nearly silent.

  “Ares told you about the phoenix?” My heart has started beating like a drum, pounding so hard I’m sure it’ll come out of my chest.

  “Ares came up with the idea. We planned it all out. But nobody could be told. Not your father. Not Hades. And certainly not you. Everything had to be just perfect.”

  Ares knew about the phoenix. It was his idea.

  “What happened?” I’m trying to stay calm, but something is building inside me, trying to come out.

  My mom pulls off her gloves and tosses then on a plant stand. “We waited until you were due home. And when Hermes brought you back, we acted. We took you to Phoenicia, to the Well of the Phoenix.”

  “I fought you.” I remember this like it was yesterday. Standing by the well. Being forced to drink from the water. And flames. Lots and lots of flames.

  My mom nods. “Yes, you fought. But Ares managed to control you. He has this way of calming people. Getting them to do what he wants.”

  It settles on me; I know only too well about Reese’s power. It’s the power that overcomes me every time he’s near. “He drugged me.”

  My mom shrugs. “Drugs. Power. Call it what you want. We needed your cooperation.”

  How my mother could be a part of her own daughter’s abduction and drugging and death is beyond me. “I drank the water. And there was fire.”

  “Yes, Piper.”

  She moves toward me and reaches out, but I slap her hand away. This is not my mother. She’s a demon in the body of my mother.

  My mom lowers her hand. “Ares killed the phoenix, then. It had to be done just right. With flames and a knife made of pure gold. Hephaestus himself crafted it, though he had no idea why.”

  “Reese killed the phoenix?” I say.

  “Yes. Without him, I never would have been able to do everything. You were still fighting, but as soon as the bird burst into flame, so did you. And then you were reborn to me and free of Hades forever.”

  It’s like I’m watching my past life through the eyes of someone else. I cannot fathom how my mother could have done this. “And Reese’s involvement—”

  “What? What about my involvement?”

  I turn to see the door wide open, and Reese standing there, watching us. Outside, the wind howls, and the air is filled with smoke.

  “You’re responsible for everything. Everything.”

  His smile only grows.

  “Every single thing that’s happened has been your fault. The phoenix. My death. Taking me away from the life I loved.”

  Reese spreads his arms, like he thinks I’m going to run over and hug him. “But look at everything you have in your future.” And then his smell hits
me hard, and I know it’s a drug.

  I cannot let it overcome me. I cannot let go. I back away, putting distance between him and me, but he takes two steps forward for every step I take back.

  “Stay away from me!” I scream it at him, fighting to keep the aroma from entering me.

  But he still comes. “You promised, Piper. You said you’d give us a chance.” He’s close now, and I’m up against a wall.

  I look to my mom. She’s standing there, watching, not seeming to process that I’m being threatened. “Help me, Mom.”

  My mom looks at Reese. He’s next to her now on his advance toward me. Behind me, I feel the glass of the wall against my skin. And the thick scent of wine enters my nose. I force it out but know I need to breathe.

  My mom shifts, and I think she’s going to do something to stop him. But then she actually presses her lips into a thin smile. “But maybe I was wrong, Piper,” she says. “Maybe being with him will solve all our problems.”

  I shake my head. She’s under his spell. “Can’t you see it, Mom? He’s tricking you. You aren’t in control. He is.”

  “Half of the assembly backs him,” she says. “And he’s waited so long.”

  I look from her to Reese.

  He nods. “Thousands of years, Piper. I’ve loved you since the day I first saw you.”

  “He’ll let us all stay together. We won’t have to worry about the Underworld,” my mom says. “I can come with you when you need to go away.”

  Every word out of her mouth makes me sick. A sudden coldness hits me as reality sinks in. I have no control. I have nothing. Even my own mother has betrayed me.

  “I’ve waited for you, Persephone. I’ve waited so long. Forever. It’s been worse than eternity in Tartarus without you. Torture every time I see you.” He takes a step and then another, until I realize he’s only a foot away.

  “I don’t want you.” I force the words out, even against the intoxication I feel seeping through me.

  “That’s crazy.” He reaches out and touches me.

  I yank my arm back. “I don’t want you. Not now. Not then.”

  Reese steps close. “You do. You want me more than life itself. I see it in your eyes. I can smell it on you. You want me with every inch of your glorious body.” He grabs my arm now and holds it, his grip tightening until it hurts.

  My body is dying to go to him. To give in to his words. Words I know are true. And words I know are planted by him, but I don’t care.

  “Yes, Piper. Come to me. Be with me forever.”

  My legs betray me, carrying me forward. But some part of my brain stops them, until I’m held rigid by my own internal battle.

  “I don’t want you.” I can only get out a whisper now.

  He’s leaning toward me. His smell is in my nose. In my mouth. I can’t fight it. I don’t want to fight it anymore. I just want to give in to what I know is right.

  “Yes.” I whisper the word.

  Reese smiles, and his eyes meet mine. And in them, I see the deception, masked behind sapphire irises. He’s coming for me. And I can’t stop him alone.

  “Shayne.” I call him, praying he’ll come. Because I don’t think I’ll have a second chance.

  “He won’t come,” Reese says. And then his lips are on mine, and I close my eyes.

  Chapter 43

  Darkness

  Reese’s kiss is hot and hard, and I feel like he’s about to devour me. My mind fills with fog, and even though my brain screams against me, I kiss him back. But then, with a sudden motion, he flies across the room, landing on his back.

  The door bangs open, and a breeze blows into the room, clearing away the drug that is Reese. I look around, but don’t see anything. And then a familiar hand touches me on the cheek, stroking it gently.

  “Shayne?” He’s come.

  I feel him but don’t see him anywhere. And then his lips are on mine, and I know everything I thought about him is wrong. I love him more than life itself. He’s my perfect soulmate, and I’ll never belong with another. The assembly of gods be damned.

  “Shhhh,” he whispers in my ear. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

  I still don’t see him, but he’s here, and his invisible presence moves away from me; I know he’s heading for Reese.

  “Ares!” Shayne’s voice booms across the Botanical Haven.

  Reese is on the ground, but he jumps to his feet, and a grin filled with malevolence covers his face.

  How could I ever have kissed him?

  “Nobody invited you to this party, Hades,” Reese says.

  I look at my mom, who’s glancing around, trying to find Shayne, not looking at me.

  “Piper invited me.” His voice comes from a different location now. He’s moving around. And he’s invisible.

  Reese jumps out toward the voice, but when he reaches out and closes his arms, they come up empty.

  “Looking for something, Ares?” Shayne’s voice again, now coming from near the register.

  Reese whips around. “Why don’t you take off your helmet and fight like you aren’t a coward.”

  Helmet. Of course. Shayne has his Helm of Darkness on. No one can see through it. Not even the gods.

  “Cowards drug their victims, Ares. If you’re looking for a coward, you should check the mirror.” And when Shayne finishes talking, a giant palm tree lifts and flies through the air, hitting Reese on the back so hard he slams into the register.

  But Reese is expecting it. The terra cotta pot shatters on the hard tiles, and he spins, flinging my mom’s scissors which he’s picked up from the ground.

  They fly through the air, stick in something invisible, and vanish. And I hear Shayne’s gasp of pain. He’s been hit.

  “Ah ha.” Reese is smiling now, walking toward the spot where Shayne is. “Maybe you can keep the helmet on after all.” He punches out, but his fist keeps going, hitting nothing but air.

  “I want you to leave Piper alone. Forever.”

  Reese looks toward me. “Piper wants to be with me.”

  I shake my head. “No! I don’t.”

  But Reese licks his lips. “You seemed to want to be with me in the greenhouse.”

  “Shut up!” I scream, willing him to stop.

  He turns away, his eyes roving the room for Shayne. “Do you know how sweet your Piper tastes? How hard her nipples are when she’s excited?”

  “I can’t stand you!” I want it to not be true. For me to never have done anything with him. And I don’t want Shayne to hear. My face is hot, and everything around me is starting to turn red. “You’re a monster.”

  But Reese is having too much fun to stop. “You didn’t seem to think so when we were together.”

  “We were never together!” I want Shayne to know, whether true or not, I was not a willing party.

  A bucket slams into the back of Reese’s head, wiping the smile off his face. He falls to the ground, but lands in a crouched position, like a lion ready to pounce.

  “It’s time you let someone else have a turn, Hades. Let someone else show her how it feels to be a woman.”

  I shake my head. The only person I want—I’ve ever wanted—is Shayne. “I would rot in Tartarus before I’d be with you.” I take my own scissors and pitch them at Reese, but he springs off the ground, and I miss him by inches. And then I feel a slight brush on my cheek, and my hair moves aside. I turn, but it’s gone.

  It’s only when I notice the drops of blood on the ground that I know Shayne is in trouble. Each a footstep apart and moving across the room. And before I can warn him, Reese notices, too, and he pounces, landing on top of an invisible form, so it looks like he’s levitating in the air.

  Shayne pops into visibility, and Reese tosses the Helm of Darkness across the room where it clatters to the ground near my mom who’s still standing there, watching like she’s placed money on a boxing match and needs to see who will win.

  Reese and Shayne fight, rolling around in a battle I fear will end in only hurt.
The struggle is a blur of flailing limbs and electricity mimicking the storm outside. I want to go in and stop it but know I can’t. Shayne has Reese in a throat lock so tight that Reese’s head begins to turn white. He manages to throw Shayne off, gasping for air as he stands up. And then he’s back on Shayne, pressing Shayne’s head together with the flats of his hands. And Reese turns him to face me.

  “Who do you love, Piper?”

  I watch in horror as I see Shayne struggling to break free from Reese’s grip. But it’s like a vise.

  “Let him go!”

  Reese shakes his head. “I can’t. I can’t trust him ever. He’ll take you away from me.”

  “I’m not yours. I never will be. I never was!”

  Reese smiles as Shayne’s face turns redder and redder. His head is being crushed.

  “Oh, yes. You are.”

  Shayne’s eyes can’t focus. He’s losing, and I’m going to lose him.

  “See, Piper. You and I were meant to be together. I’ll make you so happy.”

  I shake my head, trying to erase his words, but they won’t go away.

  “I see it in your face. You want me.”

  My face? All he should see there is loathing, but whatever hope I’ve given Reese for our future gives Shayne the opportunity he needs. He shoves his arms under Reese’s and breaks free, rolling away.

  And then Reese moves. Not toward Shayne, but right at me. He reaches me, wrapping a sweaty arm around my waist. I twist and try to escape, but he’s got me too tight.

  He turns to me and grins. “Ready?”

  “Stop!” Shayne’s voice shouts out, and he starts running.

  “Ares, catch.”

  My head spins toward my mother’s voice. She picks up the Helm of Darkness and tosses it through the air toward Reese. He catches it, and the last thing I see before I disappear is Shayne coming for me, his hands only inches away, and then the world shifts around me.

  Chapter 44

  Fire

  I wake up on a sofa inside a room with walls made of rock. When I sit up, all around me I smell something sweet and thick. Like wine.