by Nicole Thorn
“Too bad Zander didn’t bring his sword. Then he could light our way, and get arrested,” Juniper quipped.
“Hey, that’s my fella. He might be an overprotective jerk, but he’s my overprotective jerk. I’ve barely gotten to work on him, yet.”
I snorted. “Start moving, we have to find everyone before Erebus does.”
“I don’t know . . . ” Kezia said, frowning.
I looked down at her. “We can’t just stand here, Kezia. I’m not trying to get myself killed.”
She sighed and nodded. “All right. Let’s try to find some people.”
We walked around the room, moving slowly. Erebus could’ve been anywhere, and he had made it clear that these people didn’t matter to him in the least.
We found the lawyer woman first. She had crawled underneath the table, and had her eyes closed. Jasmine knelt down and touched the woman’s arm. “Are you okay?” she asked.
The woman jerked back, pulling her arm free of Jasmine. “Don’t touch me!” she screeched like a banshee.
Juniper slammed her hand over the woman’s mouth. “We have to get out of here, okay? Why don’t you follow us?”
“No,” the woman said. “It was probably an earthquake. We should stay still until the lights come back on. That way, we don’t get hurt.”
“You’re not supposed to get under a table for a fucking earthquake,” Juniper growled. “That’s doorways. Why don’t you get the hell up and follow us before I leave you to die?”
The darkness began to pulse even harder. The woman jumped up, clearly scared. She scrambled out from underneath the table, and Juniper pushed her toward the door. “Jasmine, take her. We’ll wait for you to get back. Try to bring Verin with you. Or Zander. They’ll be better at this.”
“I’m great at this,” Jasmine said, glaring. But she still took the woman and started pulling her away.
I heard a sound from my right and turned in its direction. My foot bumped into something, and I hooked one of my hands around Kezia’s arm to keep myself from getting lost. As I knelt down, the sound came again. This odd, chittering noise that ran along my nerves.
“What was that?” Juniper asked.
“I don’t know,” Kezia said.
I reached out, and the tips of my fingers touched something rough. Almost scaly. I pulled my hand back as that chittering sound came again, vibrating up the creature’s body. “There’s something moving around,” I said.
Erebus laughed, and the sound seemed to permeate the entire room. The darkness pulsed again, pushing against my skin. I hoped that Jasmine would return, because it suddenly felt more dangerous. My eyes couldn’t even adjust, because Erebus left no light in the entire room.
“Guys?” Jasmine called. “I’m trying to reach you. Where did you go?”
Someone screamed, making my other sister jump. “I’m guessing that, because we’re just that smart, we’re heading toward that sound?”
“You guess right!” Jasmine called back.
A second later, her halo of light covered us. She had her dagger gripped tightly in one hand, and Zander right behind her. He had a scowl on his face, but I couldn’t tell if that had something to do with Jasmine or the situation. We started walking, moving toward the person who kept screaming.
“We got everyone else out,” Zander said. “It’s just you guys, and this one person. We can get the hell out of here after this. If the bastard will let us.”
A booming laugh lit the darkness.
As we approached, the chittering sound grew louder. It seemed to come from all around us. This odd, toothy sound that drove right into my head. The halo of light found a foot, and we stepped forward. A man sat with his back against the wall, shaking. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head, and his mouth kept working, as if he could breathe. At first, I couldn’t tell why, but then I saw the wound on his arm.
It had small, round holes, in a circle. Blood and white puss oozed from the wound, and we all surrounded the man. “Kizzy!” Zander barked.
“Right,” Kezia said, and focused on the ground. Green sprouts burst up from the flooring where she stared and grew all the way up to her hand. The bulbs on the sprouts opened up, producing little plants that Kezia grabbed at random. “I don’t have time for anything complex,” she said, smashing the plants together with her bare hands.
“That’s fine,” Verin said. “Just move quickly. I can hear sirens, and soon this entire place will be flooded with cops.”
“Ooh, fun,” Erebus said, from right behind me.
I jumped and turned around. The darkness surrounded us still. Erebus could have been nearly nose to nose with me, and I wouldn’t have known. He could have touched me, and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. Little shivers ran down my spine, tightening my back.
When I turned around again, Kezia had mashed her flowers into a paste, and smeared it over the man’s arm without hesitation.
“You sure that’s right?” Erebus asked.
“Shut up,” Kezia barked.
The man gasped and jerked. He slid to the side and went limply. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Zander said. “This is already going to be hell, Charming my way out of this.” He flung the man over his shoulder, and nudged Jasmine ahead. We started walking towards where we thought the door would be. Every step, that chittering sound grew louder. I felt something crawl over my foot and ignored it. Better that way, I thought.
We had almost made it out the door when I heard Erebus’ voice again. “You saved them all this time,” he said. “Congratulations. I can’t wait to see if you save everyone next time.”
Zander burst through the door, stumbling outside. We followed him, and the light immediately blinded me. I blinked and looked around as Zander set the man down with the others. Cop cars and ambulances had been called. They surrounded the building, and Zander took a deep breath. “All right,” he said. “This will take me a while.”
***
After we got back home, I showered. Something about being in all that darkness made me feel filthy. And something about Erebus made me feel uncomfortable. I couldn’t figure out his deal. Part of me thought he liked us, and the other part of me thought he wanted us to die, just to watch the chaos that would come from it. The gods would’ve been furious if they had no more seers, after all.
I flopped onto the bed, and Kezia immediately snuggled up to me. She flung a leg around mine and hooked an arm around my middle. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Tired,” I said, staring up at the ceiling. “Why do they always have to skulk around?”
“Because this isn’t a 1980’s action flick, where they would tell us their entire plan just in the nick of time for us to escape and stop it.”
“Escape?”
“Well, yeah. Those heroes are always getting kidnapped, or their daughters are. Only the daughters, though, because anyone else would have to get away. It’s always the woman.” Kezia explained. “But I agree. It would be nice if someone would be upfront about their intentions to kill me for once.”
I snorted. “The furies were upfront about it. Eventually.”
“I suppose,” Kezia said. She moved, so that she straddled me. My hands immediately went to her hips, and my fingers dug in. Kezia bit her lip and rocked against me a little harder. “Do you think Erebus will come back soon?”
“I don’t know,” I said, sighing. “We need to figure all of this out pretty soon, though. If we don’t do something about Argus, then I worry . . . about everything.” I rubbed my eyes, and Kezia leaned down to kiss my cheek. Then my chin, and then my throat . . .
My body started to relax as her mouth found mine. Her lips felt soft and smooth. Warm. I kissed her deeply, and she pressed against me again. As her body rubbed against mine, my thoughts started to clear. I bit into her lower lip and pulled it. Kezia jerked, making a pleased little sound in the back of her throat.
When she pulled back, she had a smile on her face. “I hope you don�
�t take this the wrong way, but can we talk for a second, before continuing.”
I chuckled. “Sure.”
She wiggled around, sighed, and then got off me. As she settled in at my side, Kezia dragged her fingers against my chest. “You know that what Zander said isn’t right, don’t you?”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Yeah, I know that. I’m fine, Kezia.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because we didn’t really talk about it. I took care of Zander for now. At least, I think I did. He’ll remember that last hit for a few weeks to come.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” I said.
“Why not? He said something unforgivable,” Kezia growled.
“Well, you told me that you wouldn’t do anything drastic.”
“I changed my mind,” Kezia told me, lifting her chin. “Anyway, I wanted to make sure that you didn’t take anything he said seriously. Jasmine and Juniper know that you did everything you could to help them, just like they did with you. It was a fucked up situation, and Zander doesn’t have the right to decide how it should have been handled. Despite what he thinks.”
“Yeah, I know all of that,” I said.
“I just . . . have to make sure,” Kezia said. “Because I know how words can twist around in a person’s head. Gods, don’t we all?”
We did. Which was why Zander liked to make them his weapon of choice. I understood exactly what happened with him. He thought I had been dismissing everything that happened with the gods, and he blamed them for so much of what went wrong in his life. So, in his screwed up head, he took it as an attack, and launched one back at me. The only difference being, I hadn’t attacked.
“I’m fine, Kezia,” I said, leaning up, and kissing her cheek. “So, if you wanted to get back on top of me, that would be pretty great.”
She laughed but complied with my request. She straddled me again, wiggling her hips around until she had thoroughly driven me crazy. I closed my eyes and stared up at the ceiling until she found a rhythm that she liked. It would be even better when neither of us had clothing on. I leaned up, taking her mouth with mine, and running my hands down her sides and hips. A small sound came out of her mouth, and it drove right into my head.
“I think we can do away with the shirt,” I mumbled.
“Hell yeah,” she said, and started tugging on my shirt. I laughed but didn’t fight her in getting it off. She tossed it aside, and ran her hands down my chest, happy as could be about it.
I pulled at her hips, pushing myself against her a little harder. She gasped, her eyes glazing over, and her hands tightening on my shoulders.
Someone pounded on the door, and Zander’s voice floated into the room. “Knock it off!” he shouted. “I’m trying to take a nap!”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Kezia said.
CHAPTER TEN:
The Opposite of Darkest Before Dawn
Jasper
I SHOULD HAVE been a little less okay with sleeping naked, but I found it to be a lot of fun when I did it with a buddy. I snuggled with Jasper under the covers, both of us only half awake and kissing sleepily. It felt just as nice as the hot and heavy stuff, in my opinion. His hands still wandered, which made it much more enjoyable.
“It’s supposed to be sunny out today,” I said. “For like an hour or something. We can do a picnic outside if you want.”
Jasper didn’t lift his head up from the spot on my shoulder he kissed. “That sounds nice. We can go for lunch, then come back home and watch a movie. Maybe work in the studio a little.”
“Or,” I said with a smile. “You can work in the studio while I watch you. Then I can trick you into taking a break and sitting on the couch, and we can see what happens from there.”
“That works for me.”
We stayed under the covers for a while longer, not doing much more than kissing. It didn’t need to be more than that, because I would have been happy with just sleeping next to Jasper. I had been for the last six months, and I would have for the rest of my life. But the other stuff was great too, and I looked forward to getting to do that a lot more.
“We have to eat eventually,” I said.
Jasper shrugged. “I’m all right hanging out here for a while if you want.”
I did want, but Jasper needed to eat. I knew I didn’t have to worry as much as I had before, but I still wanted to make sure he got what he needed. I didn’t want to hover and be overprotective, yet I still had that voice in my head that said I needed to feed him.
I gave him one long kiss before I sat up. “We can come back to bed later. For now, we eat.”
The two of us got dressed, and I stole another one of his sweaters to wear. I had to push the sleeves up my arms so that I could move freely, but it fit okay otherwise. Jasper would need new clothes soon anyway, since he seemed to have been getting a little bulkier the more he ate.
I held his hand on the way downstairs, and we passed Verin on the couch with Juniper. She had yarn around her hands, holding it for Verin as he knit . . . something. She’d been giggling when we came down, so I figured Verin either said something funny, or something dirty.
“Morning, Aunt Kizzy. Jasper.” Verin nodded.
We stopped walking so I could say, “I hate you a little.”
“You love me. I am your favorite nephew.”
“I probably have a lot more than you, and I’d pick whoever didn’t call me Aunt Kizzy.”
Juniper looked over at me. “If you’re going in the kitchen, we’re almost out of those cleaning wipes, so be careful.”
“We’ll pick up more after dinner,” Verin promised. “I’ll take you out for ice cream.”
Juniper smiled at the thought, and we left them to their knitting.
I wasn’t all that hungry to be honest, so Jasper and I didn’t make much to eat. We stood at the stove together, and I mostly bumped him with my hip when I got the chance. Jasper’s way of getting revenge was standing behind me, and putting his hands on my hips, and his mouth on my neck. I nearly burned the kitchen down.
Once we finished cooking, we sat at the table together, and I got a spot on Jasper’s lap. He twirled my hair between bites of breakfast, and we didn’t talk about much. It felt like something easy, and I wanted to keep doing it. Unfortunately, my brother might have been evil.
“In the kitchen?” he asked, walking in with Jasmine. “Why?”
His girlfriend swatted at his arm. “Stop being so uptight. You feel me up on the couch all the time. This is innocent.”
Jasper sighed. “Should have locked her in her room . . . ”
I kissed his cheek, then glared at my brother. “You need to cut out this attitude, because you’re not making friends.”
Zander picked up the pan with leftover eggs in it and started eating with his fingers. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to keep my girls safe. And Verin’s girl. And Verin, and I guess your boyfriend.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m sure they all love the annoying bubble of protection as much as I do, but you really need to knock it off. There’s a fine line between being protective and being a dick. You’re a dick.”
Jasmine patted his shoulder. “A lovable dick. A grand, wonderful dick. My favorite dick.”
“Please stop,” Jasper said. “Please.”
“What?” his sister asked. “You don’t want to hear all about my favorite dick? Weird. But fine, if you insist. And Kizzy, I’ll try and rein in Zander a little more. He’s been on edge lately, but obviously I can fix that with special time.”
Jasper looked so bothered, but Zander seemed interested. “Special time?”
“Very special. It involves chocolate and cuddling.”
My brother smiled. “That doesn’t sound bad, but I’m not on edge. I’m perfectly fine and normal. I’m nothing but a teddy bear.”
I snorted. “You wish. Maybe you and Jasmine should go to the park or something. Be out in the open where your ego and annoying sense of duty have enough room to b
reathe.”
Zander flipped me off. “You’re so funny.”
“I am, thanks.”
Juniper and Verin decided to enter the room, with Verin’s hands on her hips like they made a little train or something. She pointed to the pan, then Zander. “Clean that.”
“Yes, master.”
Jasmine hopped up onto the counter while Zander started on the dishes that me and Jasper made. Verin took a seat and pulled Juniper onto his lap with him. Funny how everyone but Zander and Jasmine could do that, and it didn’t look dirty. Verin started messing with the fabric of her dress, absentmindedly.
Jasmine’s legs kicked at the counter, and she leaned forward. “As much as I like a good lounge day, we should probably come up with a plan for Erebus. I say storm the castle. We just need a castle . . . ”
Zander gave her a look. “No storming of anything for you, missy. We can do this the smart way.”
She rolled her eyes. “Smart way. More like boring way, but whatever. What do you suggest, oh wise one?”
He dried his hands off and leaned against the counter with Jasmine. “We need to know what he’s up to, and who he’s surrounded himself with. We know he’s got Argus, but who else? We should know all the people who we might be facing.”
What a lovely thought, but we didn’t have a way of figuring that out anymore. Jasmine and Juniper couldn’t see anything, and Jasper’s visions wouldn’t have worked for this kind of thing. As our parents made it very, very clear, we were alone. No one would come out of the woodwork to help us out.
“And how do ya figure that happens?” Verin asked. “We don’t have a crystal ball to gaze into, or someone willing to talk. Your mother and Kizzy’s certainly let us down.”
“True,” Zander said, trying to hide his disappointment. “Do you think your dad would help us? He seems friendlier than our parents.”
Verin thought it over. “It would be a half and half chance with him. He helped my mother when she was alive, but in the least hands-on way he could. He didn’t give me much, but I didn’t really ask for anything.”
