Tears filled Cheyenne's eyes. "I don't know why they haven't."
"Because they haven't even tried." He cupped her chin with his hand. "My love, they don't care. You're gone and it doesn't bother them. They're happier without all of your drama. Why bother wasting your hope and happiness on them? When will you see how much I care about you? How much I want to give you everything? Even going so far as to petition the supreme Divine god Zeus to let me have more power than I'm allowed so I can give you the kingdom you deserve."
"I'm so confused. You've lied to me from the beginning with your claim to be Hades."
"Because I love you and knew you wouldn't take me as your husband if I wasn't he."
"You forced me to marry you."
"I need you, my darling," Lucien said. He spoke with such conviction in his voice even Teague wanted to believe the demon. But demons were not capable of love.
He gave her a gentle kiss on her hand. "We will get your precious pet and end all of this soon. Let me give you the worlds. Let me prove how much I love you."
Cheyenne closed her eyes. "I'm so confused. I need more time."
"I'll bring your gift to you. He will make you see. He's the key to everything. And you're going to get him to help us — whether he wants to or not."
Once again, when the blue door appeared before Teague, nothing was on the other side.
****
Rubbing at his eyes for what felt like the millionth time, Teague held back a yawn as he looked through the small photo album of wedding pictures with Jewl. He wasn't bored, just tired, and he didn't want to give off the wrong impression, even if he'd seen all of those photos before at home. There were only about ten of them, and they sat on the mantel of the fireplace in their apartment.
"Sorry again for the lack of invite. I mean, it's not that I didn't want you there. It's just..." She shrugged, rather than finishing her thought.
Teague shook his head. "It's okay. I understand. I promise I'm not upset. You look beautiful. I'm glad that it all went so well."
"Me too, because I was worried there'd be a whole lot of drama. Anj...basically told his mom she wasn't welcome to come if she was going to continue talking about me like I was trash. Sweet of him to finally stick up for me after all this time, but not the kind of thing I want looming over my head." She pinched the bridge of her nose as she spoke. "I was expecting her to barge into the room and throw a fit about me stealing away her precious boy's innocence."
"She doesn't like you? Why?" he asked, genuinely shocked. High school didn't seem to be a good time for Jewl. Perhaps he was just too used to the rough-around-the-edges attitude she had, but it didn't seem so bad that she deserved to be shunned.
Jewl's heart visibly sank. Her shoulders hunched forward as she held herself, and her eyes actually welled up with tears. That was not the woman he knew. She hated to cry. "Much like everyone else on the planet, his mom thinks he can do better than me."
"Do people even pay attention when you're together?" Was everyone stupid? They might not have been the most romantic and sappy of couples, true. Balance was important, and Anj and Jewl had a lot of that. They knew how to love as well as fight without losing that love.
"It doesn't matter. I'm not letting what anyone thinks keep me away, just like I never have. The stress this is causing isn't ideal, though." She gripped her knees with her hands. "Anj and Zes are fighting a lot about it. For the first time, their mom is paying attention to Zes, so there's a small silver lining. When they fight, really fight, it's always the pits. And it's all I hear about until they make up again."
"Oh..."
"Mmhmm. Tell me something good has been going on with you?"
Nothing happening in his life was anything he could share with her. Instead, he shrugged. "I've been lying low. Getting settled in for my last semester of class."
"Last semester?" she asked. "What do you mean? There's no way you're graduating before me."
"Not graduating, relocating." He waved a hand in front of him. "Going back to where I came from."
She nodded slowly, and he detected a hint of sadness. "Right, I suppose now that you're remembering more things, you're remembering friends and other people you care about who are waiting for you."
"Yeah."
"I can respect that."
He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Enjoy your moment. I mean, you're married and just got done with your honeymoon stage. Shouldn't you be happy and over the moon?"
"One would think," she muttered.
"So be over-the-moon happy, and don't worry about anything else. You can worry later."
Jewl closed her eyes for a moment and then hugged him close. "Don't tell anyone."
"I won't, I promise." And he savored every moment of her touch. With great reluctance, he pulled away. "I gotta go."
"Are you going to be around this weekend?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, I don't have anywhere else to be."
She fidgeted with her hands. "Do you want to come over for the weekend? Anj is going to be gone. When we're apart, I always feel...weird, weak. I don't like it. I'd rather not be alone. Plus, I need to talk to you about our aunt."
"What about her?" Teague asked, not sure he liked where the conversation was going.
A small, mysterious smile creeped onto her lips. "How we're going to pay her back for what she's done. I'm still working out the details of my plan. You can hear more about it when you stop by again later."
"O...kay..."
Laughing, she shook her head. "You're a worry wart. Relax, you'll see this is a good idea."
I'm worrying for a good reason. "Are you going to be okay?" Leaving her by herself until Anj got back from his evening class started to seem like a bad thing.
"You say that like I'm not already fine," Jewl snapped.
He held his hands up in front of him. "Just making sure. I'll see you later. I wasn't kidding about having to go. Halyn and I are supposed to meet up."
"Ew." Jewl crinkled her nose. "Bye."
With a roll of his eyes, Teague gave her one more hug. "I'll find fun things to do this weekend. Then you'll forget all about being alone." And all about your revenge plot. Something doesn't feel right. I don't think it's part of the original history. All the more reason I need to get to Halyn.
She called him earlier in the morning to inform him the memory potion was finished. Teague was afraid to use it. Then again, it also came with more warnings than a prescription drug commercial. Most of the warnings were rare potential side effects. Having amnesia for the rest of his life, going into a coma, or dying were not appealing in the slightest.
If he was going to finish what he came to do, facing his fears was the only way to do it. So he left the apartment his parents had moved into on the college end of campus and made his way back to the high school dorms. Halyn lived in the same building as him, Athena Hall. With Cheyenne gone and Halyn still without a roommate, they could conduct their business without unwanted eyes seeing them.
He knocked on the door and waited. Halyn answered promptly, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then pulled him into her living room before shutting the door behind him.
"Hi," he said, trying to keep himself from getting flustered. Regardless of if she said she had no interest in him, her actions still seemed flirtatious enough to confuse him. Girls would never make sense.
Halyn bounced into her bedroom only to return again a few seconds later with a tiny plastic bottle that appeared to have once contained body lotion. She tossed it his way. "Have fun."
"Thanks?" Fun wasn't the word he'd use to describe the experience.
"You should probably not take it alone," she advised.
His gaze went to the bottle in his hands. "I'll figure something out."
"That's code for you're not going to listen to me."
"Call me later, and if I don't pick up, then you'll know how I am?" He gave her a weak smile.
Huffing, she pushed him onto her couch. "Drink. Now."
"But..."
"We have about four more hours of visiting time. The potion, if it works right, will only knock you out for an hour or two at the most. So if you don't wake up after a couple of hours, I'll get help. If you do, then you got a nice nap in my apartment." She sat down next to him on the couch. "Honestly, the only thing I have to do tonight is homework."
Yeah, I have a lot of that too. Schoolwork was pointless for him. Focusing was his job. He'd squeak by with enough good grades to keep him in school and bail on the rest. Glancing over at Halyn, he decided to open up the potion.
He toasted her. "Bottoms up."
The potion was surprisingly sweet, like drinking pure sugar — gag-inducing, but not as unpleasant as he had been expecting. He'd been imagining something more along the lines of cough syrup, bug spray, or dish soap. Dizziness soon washed over him. Slowly, he lay himself down on her couch. The speed of the potion's effects was startling. Sleep overpowered him.
Chapter Sixteen
Teague woke up a few hours later with a massive sleep hangover — and the rest of his memories. With a groan, he sat up. Halyn glanced over at him.
"You okay? Do you remember who you are?" she asked, setting down her pen and notebook.
He blinked and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. "Oh yeah. I remember." Without even thinking, he hugged her, not caring how she interpreted the gesture. "Thank you. You're a life saver. Literally."
"T?"
"Yeah?"
"Is everything okay?"
"I hope so." He stood. "You're the best, Sparkles."
She smiled. "I've missed you calling me that."
"Sorry..."
"It's okay."
"I want to stay, but I gotta talk to someone about something important." Teague let out a heavy sigh. "I'll see you again soon."
"Duh. Go do your thing."
He nodded at her, pulling out the prepaid cell phone he'd bought. "Thanks." He headed toward the door and began to dial Denver's number.
"T?" she called out. He paused at her door. Halyn blew him a kiss. "Good luck."
I'm definitely going to need it. With one last wave, he exited her dorm room. While he said he'd see her again soon, he knew in his gut that would be the last time they'd ever be together again. She'd be nothing more than a memory, and one he'd always cherish.
The phone in his hand rang a few times, then Denver picked up his end.
"Yeah?"
"Denver, I know what's going on. I know everything. We need to talk. Now."
"We are on a phone," Denver quipped.
Teague scrunched up his nose. "I meant in person. Meet me in the gazebo on campus. You can still come back here, right? I know you graduated or whatever."
"The nice way of putting it, but you know they kicked me out. I'm not sure if I'm a welcome alumni, but I can sneak back on. It's not like it's hard, if the demons can do it. I'll be there in about half an hour." And without another word, he hung up the phone.
A half an hour gave him just enough time to get something to eat, so he grabbed a snack from his room to go. He waited in the gazebo in silence. The building was classic and beautiful. Large, decorative, stone columns held up the elaborate roof. Roses were carved into the columns, giving the building an overall romantic feeling. There was a hidden passage underneath the floor. Teague had heard all about it from Denver in the future. He didn't know how to locate it, however.
He was inspecting one of the rose carvings when Denver entered.
"So what's up?" Denver asked, sauntering over.
Teague lifted his gaze to him. "Lucien needs one of the twins to become Divine. They're going to be his next target, and then they're going to find the pool. And I know why he's so fixed on Zes, why he wants to control him."
"Tell me that part, because that's the only thing new you're offering me," Denver said, leaning against a column.
Taking in a deep breath, Teague continued. "Because he's a Fate, too."
"Oh really?" Denver arched an eyebrow. "From what I understood of that whole messed-up story, only one of them could be a Fate. Daddy chose Zes, but the Elders didn't like that idea and picked your papi instead. So how can they both be Fates?"
"Because, when they were conceived, ninety-nine Fates were killed, remember? So all of their power was transferred during that moment, because that's how Fates are made." Teague barely understood it, so he was having a hard time coming up with the words to make Denver get it, too.
Huffing, Denver rolled his eyes. "I know this part, too."
"They're identical twins!"
"Yeah, and?"
"So they started as one unit that ended up dividing into two." He paused, waiting to see if Denver caught on. The deer in the headlights look he received was a good sign the guy hadn't. Teague tried again. "All of the Fates transferred their power into the one entity, right? So when it divided into two, their power got split in half. That's why their father got to choose which one would receive the 'gift'. Zes' Fate abilities weren't taken from him like everyone seems to think. They were just locked away. Anj doesn't have the power of one hundred Fates. He's got the power of fifty, and his brother has the other half."
Denver continued to gaze at Teague blankly for a moment, and then he gasped. "What you're trying to tell me is that since Lucien failed to get Anj to cooperate, he's going to go after Zes instead."
"Yes!"
"And because Zes was given to Cheyenne by Lucien, she can control him and make him do whatever she wants."
"Yes!"
"And because she's being manipulated..."
"She's going to do what Lucien wants." He shouldn't have smiled, but Teague couldn't hold it back. They were having a major breakthrough in development. "Something is going to happen soon. I can feel it. I think it's going to happen over the long weekend during Fall Break. Anj is going out of town to visit his brother at college. They're both going to be unprotected at the same time."
Frowning, Denver started to pace the room. "But if Lucien just wants Zes, I don't see why he'd wait for them to be together."
"Because they're more powerful together. That's my guess," Teague said.
"Go big or go home," Denver muttered. "And there's no way you can tell them any of this?"
Teague shook his head. "No, not without giving away who I am. Anj would be easier to convince, but there's no way Zes will listen."
"Yeah, guy does tend to live in denial."
"So we have to think of a different way to protect them!"
For a moment, both of them were quiet. Denver scratched his chin, looking more like the middle-aged man Teague was familiar with from the future than the young, teenage boy he actually was in the past. The weight of the situation must have been getting the better of him.
Denver's youthful presence returned to him, and he snapped his fingers. "I'll send my bodyguard. He's got some awesome skills."
"Bodyguard?" Teague blinked. "When did you get a bodyguard?"
"When all of the demons who joined up with Lucien decided to try and kill me." He gazed over at Teague, his green eyes piercing. "Anyway, I'll send him, because the twins will trust him. If I went, they'd freak out and do the exact opposite of anything I asked."
"Who...?"
Bringing his fingers to his lips, Denver let out a sharp whistle. Stepping out of a shadow on the ground was a young man around eighteen with sand-colored hair and blue eyes. There was something familiar about him, but Teague couldn't put his finger on it. When he saw Teague, the young man gave him a weak smile.
Shaking his head, the young man shifted his gaze to Denver. "He looks a lot like her."
"I know, right? And he doesn't even realize it." Denver laughed. "T, this is Zacheous, or Zach. He used to be your mom's bodyguard, but died in the line of duty. He's been in the loop on everything going on. Not to mention, a huge help with getting me settled in as leader of the underworld."
"If he's dead, how can he do anything to help us up here?" Teague asked, frowning
.
"Because I brought him back to life. It's one of my privileges to being Hades." And as soon as Denver's words left his lips, Teague had a vision, a memory.
****
"One of the advantages to being Hades is you can raise people from the dead," Denver explained as he and Teague walked through the town just outside of the Vala campus.
Teague shook his head. "There has to be a catch."
"Of course. I mean, you're raising someone from the dead. There are a lot of strings that come attached to such powerful black magic. Nothing like ooey gooey zombies, thankfully, but still complicated. Rule one, you can only bring back one person a century, so whoever it is had better be worth it. Rule number two, the person you bring back is a lot more fragile than before. They need to be careful, or they're just going to end up back in the underworld." Denver ticked each rule off on his fingers. He lifted a third finger. "When they return to the underworld, they owe service to you for at least a thousand years before they can move on to their final resting place. And the last, big one is that while they're alive, you can still control them and tell them what to do. Kind of like a puppet with a brain. I don't think I need to elaborate on why you've got to be careful, right?"
Nodding, Teague thought about all of the rules he'd been given. "If you pick the right person, it can't be too bad. But the wrong one is going to cause a lot of issues."
"Exactly, and this person has to want to come back. It's not a spell you can perform against their will."
"Good to know." Teague bit down on his lower lip as he processed all of this information. "Why are you choosing to make me your heir? I mean, you could have sought out anyone to take on the job. But you singled me out and befriended me, and now you want to give me all of this. What do you want in return?"
A wide grin formed on Denver's face. "You're a smart one. Glad to know you got all of your mom's brains. It's one of my favorite things about her. Yes, there is a reason I singled you out. There's something I want you to do for me. I need you to save the life of the only person I've ever loved. In doing so, then you'll get the chance to save someone in your family. We both win in this situation."
Inquest Page 10
