by Helen Scott
They both strapped on some protective gloves and started circling each other. He could feel the slight sneer he wore during a fight take up residence on his face. His brother may have been shorter and leaner than he was, but that also meant he was faster and a smaller target. It was precisely what made them a good match for sparring.
“You know Cin can take care of herself,” Thad said after Dem had taken a couple swings.
“It’s not Cin I’m worried about.”
“Aster? Cin can cover her back too.”
“I’ve been helping her out with this eye crap, and it’s, well, I’m feeling things.”
“Brother, you’ve been feeling things for a while now. You’re only just now recognizing it.”
“I shouldn’t.” He swung, and it went wide. “It’s not right.” His kick was a mile off. “I’m betraying Isa.” Thad easily ducked a punch that would have been a vicious blow, had it been anywhere close to landing.
“You two are worse than girls!” Leonard’s voice sounded from the cage.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”
“I’m not going to keep quiet if I have to listen to this shit.”
Dem ripped off his gloves and grabbed a sock from the clean pair he’d brought down with him. Stalking over to the cage, what he saw surprised him. Leonard was tied up and covered in bruises.
“Who’s been beating on him?” Dem called over his shoulder.
“No one. We were trying to freeze him out, remember?”
“That’s what I thought, so why is he covered in bruises?”
“Ask your little blonde whore.”
“Aster?” Ice skated down his spine.
“Yes, the seer. Not as innocent as she appears. There’s some serious darkness in there.”
Something snapped inside him. Aster was one of the bravest, strongest people he knew. How dare this sniveling piece of trash insult her.
“Because of what you and your buddies did to her! Of course she’s got some anger; you freakin’ tortured her!” Dem was bellowing at him, but he didn’t care.
“Little touchy about her, are you? Don’t like that your little princess has been spending time with another man?”
“Dem, leave it,” Thad called from the mat.
“No, I want to know what the hell he’s talking about.”
“Aster’s been, evidently, sneaking in here and beating me. Trussing me up like a pig for slaughter. All because I was just trying to do my damn job.”
“Your job is illegal. You were beating her and experimenting on her. Hell, if she wants to reciprocate, I’ll sit here and watch.” That made the jackass pale.
Leonard had clearly been hoping for some backup against Aster’s rage. Dem had known it was inside her for a while now. She’d even unleashed some of it on him right before they’d had sex. The waves of anger that had been coming off her had felt like he was standing in front of a tsunami, but he knew he’d only seen a fraction of it.
A menacing glint entered Leonard’s eye. “You know she was naked most of the time. I mean, sure, there was a hospital gown there, but there wasn’t anything underneath, nothing to stop me from touching her.”
“I will kill you if you keep talking.”
“She smells sweet, doesn’t she?”
Suddenly Thad was there in front of Dem, blocking him from the door. “Outside. Now.”
Dem knew if he didn’t leave, then he really would kill the only source they had on the inner workings of the Order of Talos. Jumping into the forest, he found a particularly large tree and began punching it.
He knew he shouldn’t ask Aster what she’d been through, that she’d tell him when she was ready, if she ever was, but now? Now, he needed to know. If that asshole down there had laid a finger on Aster’s beautiful skin, harmed a single golden hair on her head, then his life was forfeit.
Thad was there a moment later with a six pack of beer and a handle of Jack. He offered them both up. Dem reached for the Jack, ripping the top off and taking a long pull from the bottle, while his brother opened a bottle of beer.
“Feeling any better?”
“No.”
“Fair enough. You can’t kill him, though, Brother, not until we get the information we need.” He held his hands up. “After that, he’s all yours, or Aster’s, as the case may be.”
“How the hell did she even get down there?”
“No idea. You locked your passageway, right?”
He nodded and took another drink. “Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair as he forcefully exhaled. “I care about her. A lot.”
“You are not betraying Isa by living your life. You’re honoring her. She would be so angry at you for turning away from something that meant so much to you.”
“And if Zeus tries to play his tricks again?”
“Then he’ll have to deal with all eight of us.”
“Eight?”
“You think Ellie, Robin, Cin, and Aster would just stand by and let us go after him alone? Yeah, right.” Thad took a swig from his beer. “Hell, dude probably doesn’t have enough juice to play tricks like he used to. He can’t break up soulmates anymore. Maybe he’s slowly going downhill?”
“It just . . . it’s a big risk, Brother.”
“I think you’re more worried about your heart than Zeus. You don’t want to get it broken again, and that’s completely understandable, but it’s not really living. I’ve been hoping you would wake and embrace life again for a while now. Cin brought me back. She reconnected me to the world I was fighting to protect. I wasn’t truly alive until I gave in to the desire I had for her. Every day isn’t a chore now. I wake up next to her, and it’s like waking up to the perfect day, every day. Trust yourself.”
He hadn’t meant to get attached. He’d always thought being alone was what he wanted, but helping Aster had soothed an angry raw part of his soul that he hadn’t even noticed. It had been so constant in his life. Now, the thought of being without her made that pained side of himself howl in anger.
“Shit. You’re right.”
“I know I am. It’s what I do.” He grinned.
They sat in companionable silence for a while, each of them lost in their own thoughts as they sipped on their respective drinks. Dem could feel the whiskey working its magic, bringing his rage under control.
“Can I tell you something?” Thad asked without looking at him. Dem knew his brother would tell him whether or not he responded. A moment later, he continued. “I can’t see anything where Aster is concerned. I had visions back when she was with the Order of Talos, and I’ve had visions of other things since, but nothing else related to her.”
“You don’t see what we are all going to do all the time, so that makes sense.”
“The news she’s had about being adopted, going to Olympus, and now the Underworld? I should have seen something or at least had a knowing, a sense of something.”
Dem shrugged. “Maybe it’s me? You might not be able to see her because I’m involved?”
“That’s not it. I knew Alec and Ellie would end up together. When she left him, I thought that for the first time in my life the knowing I’d had of them had been wrong, but then she came back. I knew Hal would never give up on Robin before he knew. It’s the little things that always seem to stick out at me, the knowings. It’s like predicting the plot of a movie. I just get a sense of what is going to happen. Talking about them never seemed worthwhile since it was usually personal stuff, but Aster is like a dark void to me now. Nothing goes in and nothing comes out.”
“Your visions are a mystery to us all, Brother. Now you’re just getting a taste of what it’s like to be on the outside.” He held his bottle up in silent cheers to his brother before taking another sip. Something about what Thad said scratched at his brain. Darkness. A void. Finally the connections met up. His grandmother.
“What was your prophecy?” The question was out before he could think better of it. He glared at the whiskey bottle and put the c
ap back on.
“She said something along the lines of my soulmate would change my eyes. She’d be nothing like I expected, but she’d be what I needed.”
“Well, that was nicely obvious, wasn’t it?”
“Hey, I’m just answering your question. Do you think Aster could be your s—?” Thad made the s into an awkward sound at the end of his question.
Dem knew he’d been about to say soulmate but didn’t want to bring up memories of Isa. Trouble was, Isa had been in his head more than ever recently.
“I don’t know. Gran said that my soulmate would be dark, that she would have an edge to her, and that we would fill the void in each other’s lives. All of which was true of Isa.”
“But it could be true of Aster as well,” Thad said, playing devil’s advocate. “She went through hell with the Order, and I think it left some of its darkness behind inside her.”
Dem grunted. “I’m going to go up to the lookout, try and clear my head.”
He left the bottle of Jack on the ground and walked away. Thad knew him well enough to leave him to his thoughts.
Randall looked around the room. It was gaudy. Everything was covered in flowers or gold, or worse, a combination of the two. He hated being there. Every moment grated on him like nails on a chalkboard, but he had a mission and he wasn’t about to let something as petty as this prevent him from achieving his goals.
“Sweet tea?” Beatrice’s voice was soft, kind even, but he knew that she was one of the strongest members of the Order of Talos. If he could get her on his side, or, better, to let him use her Key, then he would destroy everyone who stood in his way.
“Please.” He’d choke it down if he had to since it made her happy, even if the syrupy mixture made his teeth hurt.
“Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?” At his nod, she continued. “I’ve heard that you’ve been making the rounds and have received a little support, but most people have refused. So, you need my support more than ever since I’m the last person you can ask, correct? It’s no use trying to gussy up the truth. I have ears and eyes, and I might be a good deal older than you, young man, but my mind is as sharp as ever.”
He’d started to disagree, to try and charm his way out, but the old bag was loyal to the Order and the highest-ranking member he could ask. It was no use putting on a front with her. She’d see right through it. “Ma’am, if you’d allow me to explain—”
“I don’t want to hear any hogwash from you. Just the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying.” Her eyes flashed, and he knew she was drawing power from her Key.
He could almost feel the energy in the air change. There were two choices—keep up the pretense of being a good member of the Order, or show her who he really was and what had happened to him. The debate was momentary. He would bet she was more like him than she was willing to let on.
“I want to kill those sirens once and for all. They have stolen from me and from the Order, and I can’t let it rest. It makes us look weak. It makes our younger, more inexperienced members question our power. I’ve heard rumblings that lead me to believe some are questioning whether we wield anything more than a sprite here or there.
“They have caused so much damage to our organization, and yet the High Brother is willing to let it slide. I cannot do that. I will fight for the Order until my dying breath, but I won’t allow anyone to weaken it.” He let the fury and sincerity show in his eyes. Randall had devoted his life to the Order. He wasn’t about to let some snot-nosed kid who had somehow made it to High Brother push him around just because his Key was lost.
“I see.”
“Would you mind if I demonstrated something, ma’am?” He waited until she nodded her head. “If you would accompany me outside?”
They stood. She smoothed down the front of her bright white chinos and straightened her navy-blue blouse before following him out of the house. They stood in a perfectly manicured backyard. She clearly was not the one who took care of it, not with hands like those. Casting his gaze around, he found some rocks in one of the overstuffed flowerbeds.
“Would you watch over there?” He gestured to the side of the yard.
Once her gaze was fixed, he channeled all his anger and frustration into the ground. Slowly, the rocks from the flowerbed began to vibrate before coming up off the ground. He pulled them toward him, creating a circle around the two of them.
“What in heaven’s name?” Beatrice breathed quietly.
“Poseidon didn’t just drop me in Greenland like I previously stated. He held me prisoner first. When I finally was able to break free, I attacked him with his own trident. Somehow ever since then, I have been able to move rocks. Now, I know it doesn’t seem like much, but imagine what I can do with this when I attack the sirens? Think about how much I would be able to do if I could channel the power of a Key into this new ability?”
“Brother Randall, this is quite the development, to be sure. I will allow you partial control over my Key. However, I will not be making the same mistake as Sister Margarite. If you begin to lose, then I will withdraw, and you will have to defend yourself alone. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am. I appreciate the support. To be honest, you’re the only one with a Key powerful enough that I believe it would actually help me. The others who supported me are too young. They haven’t been in the Order long enough to develop the kind of bond with their Key that you have with yours.”
“Well, then, it is good that I am willing to help. At least, to an extent.”
The last part of the sentence gave him pause. He knew she would assist him, let him use some of the power her Key contained, but she wouldn’t risk herself for him, for the glory he was trying to bring to the Order. She would soon see, once he had access to some power, exactly what he could do.
Chapter 17
Aster and Cin were in Cin’s kitchen before she realized that they had even left the Underworld. She couldn’t fully process the terror that had just taken place. At least, not yet.
The mad race through the Underworld to get to a point where Cin could jump them out still had her heart in her throat. It didn’t help that at any point she was expecting Phobetor to force another dream to overtake her. She was sure that if he did, it would be permanent this time. He wasn’t about to let her get away without some kind of retaliation.
“There you are! I was starting to get worried,” Thad’s voice sounded from behind them as he got up off the couch.
When they both turned to him, he froze. They must look like they’d been dragged through a hedge backward after all that. Cin dropped Aster’s hand and ran to her soulmate, wrapping her arms around him and tucking her head into the curve of his neck.
“What happened?” he asked, gently stroking her back.
“I think I just pissed off Phobetor,” Aster said as she wrapped her arms around her chest.
“Oh.” It was the only thing Thad said, and the only thing he needed to say. She knew how bad this could be, and she hated that Cin had been dragged into it. A familiar jagged pain twisted inside her at the thought of her sister being hurt. Aster watched them for a moment before she started to feel like she was intruding. If only she had someone to hug like that, someone to soothe the fear that was creeping up her spine and turning her insides into jelly.
“Where’s Dem?” she finally croaked out.
“He’s up at the lookout.”
“The what now?”
“Here, I’ll take you, if that’s okay with you, babe?” he asked, lifting Cin’s face to his own.
When she nodded, Thad placed a brush of a kiss on her sister’s lips before Aster heard him whisper, “I’ll be back in two seconds. Promise.”
Extracting himself from Cin’s arms, he came over and placed one hand on Aster’s shoulder, jumping her to a wooded area that was further up the mountain part of the island than she’d ever been.
He pointed in front of them. “It’s straight up through that break in the trees. Be careful of th
e storm.”
Thad jumped back out, and just like that, she was alone in the woods. She didn’t even get to ask about the storm. From here, the sky was calm, with a few wisps of cloud being the only thing that marred the cerulean sky. The terror she’d felt in the Underworld was still eating at her. She had to find Dem and fast, in case the god of nightmares decided to send her a dream. Pushing off, she began the steep climb.
Once the trees parted, her breath caught.
Dem was sitting there, his legs hanging over the edge of what looked like a cliff, and a storm swirled around him. Rain whipped at his body and the wind ruffled his hair, but she couldn’t feel any of it. It was only as she got closer that it was like she’d stepped into the bubble of the storm.
Aster tried to call out to him, but the wind blew her voice away from them. She was right behind him when she saw he was holding something in his hands. It was an ice sculpture of a woman, not just any woman. As she looked closer, she realized the image was of her. A perfect miniature of her leaping into the air in a dance routine. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest.
Tapping him on the shoulder made him drop the sculpture, and it fell into the waters below. Dem turned and looked up at her, the wind and rain plastering his hair to his head, making his midnight-blue eyes even more stunning. She sat down next to him, not quite trusting enough to put her legs over the edge, but she was next to him and that was all that mattered.
He wrapped an arm around her as she curled into his side. Immediately a part of herself relaxed and stretched like a cat in a sunbeam now that she was touching Dem. The rain was drenching—there was no escaping it—but as she sat there, the icy bite of it lessened. Dem’s knuckle came up under her chin, raising her face to his. Staring down at her were unfathomable eyes that she could lose herself in. They were full of emotion, a mix of sorrow and longing. When his lips brushed hers, a fire lit inside her.
Water dripped down each of their faces, mingling with their mouths as they kissed each other. The cool, clear taste of the rain mixed with Dem’s heat was fascinating. Her hand came up and wrapped around his head, pulling him closer to her as her body arched up to meet his.
