The Goddess Quest

by Clara Hartley

  “Certain death,” I repeated, wanting to reject the finality of her words.

  “Maxwell foresaw this happening and gave me a special potion that can buy Devon more time. It’s what I just poured into his mouth. It stalls the person’s internal clock, halting the process of death. I’m not certain that there’s hope, but that is the least I can do. Devon will leave this realm in three days.”

  “No,” I said, fighting the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. I lowered myself to Devon’s side and clasped his hand. He was completely cold. The potion that Agness had given him had robbed him of all warmth. “There has to be another way.”

  “I’m afraid not, Caramel.” Agness twined her fingers together and lowered her head. Her sunken features told me that she was already in mourning. My stomach twisted. She couldn’t be accepting his death this early. Theo and Liam did the same. How could they be this resigned? There had to be a better way.

  I stared at the Blade of Ares, hating the object for reawakening that terrible side of me. “Why?” I asked. That word wouldn’t stop racing through my head. Death was such a difficult concept. Finality. It was too painful to accept. “Why is it that you can hold the blade without consequence, but when I touched it, I saw only anger?” The hatred had consumed me, and the thoughts that drove me to stab Devon hadn’t been my own.

  Agness gave me a sorry look. I must have seemed so desperate and pathetic. “You are the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, two of the most powerful gods to have ever existed in Haven. They’re gods of emotion, and thus, you’re more susceptible to them.”

  “That’s not it,” I said. It wasn’t just emotion.

  “I also sense the chiasma in you,” Agness said. “That might be one reason.”

  “Don’t we all have essences of the chiasma in us? That’s what you guys explained it was, right? The source of all the world’s life force?”

  Agness shook her head. “Not like that. With us, the chiasma’s energy has been morphed into something more stable. It mixes with Haven’s other essences and becomes our own. Yours, however”—she eyed me like I might be a monster— “it’s pure energy. As dangerous as the blackness of the chiasma itself. I’m not sure what your mother and father did to you exactly, and what the full extent of your powers are, but I have this sense that your own magic might drive you crazy.”

  I hugged myself, feeling the sudden urge to make myself scarce. Jenny Carlito’s battered body flashed through my memory. What if I hurt Theo, Liam, and Hansel, too? The inability to trust myself made me doubt my own existence, stopping me from seeing the world through the rose-colored glasses I normally did.

  Now would be a good time to snap out of this dream. I’d had enough of goat-headed beings and life-threatening ultimatums. The blame that weighed on me was crushing.

  Please, let me wake.

  But I was stuck in reality, as absurd as it seemed.

  Agness continued, “The chiasma’s pure essence is too great for any one being to contain properly. Eventually, you will lose control. I pray that we can subdue you before that happens.”

  “Subdue me?” I asked. “Why not kill me now?” They obviously had no qualms about killing young little girls.

  “We tried,” Agness said.

  I frowned.

  “That day Miley died, Hel tried to take you. But the chiasma’s essence is also what keeps you alive.” Agness licked her lips. “We thought we could use you. To find Aphrodite and Ares.”

  “You wanted me dead?” I noticed Theo straightening, as if ready to throw himself into battle to keep me safe.

  “If it was to protect both realms, Haven and Earth? I see your death as a small price. The chiasma’s energy and your connection to your parents is what keeps you safe. Due to your parentage, I have to maintain a close watch over you instead. Aphrodite always liked to cause trouble.”

  I tensed. Maybe it would be better if Hel had succeeded—then Devon wouldn’t be lying on the ground now, cold and slipping away from me.

  Liam broke the silence. “What about the centaurs?”

  The what now?

  We all turned our attention to him, and Liam continued, “Those creatures of the forest are said to be masters of healing elixirs. Their most potent one, the life elixir, is said to cure all ailments, even the worst ones caused by magical weapons.”

  Agness brought her hand to her chin. “I wouldn’t have thought of them.” She looked at Liam with newfound respect. “That is a possible solution to consider.”

  “So?” Liam asked, after Agness took too long to decide.

  “But you are not allowed to leave the school.”

  “Let us go,” I said. If Agness was considering stopping me from saving Devon, then I was going to rip her throat out.

  “Few venture into the Forest of Horns,” Agness said. “The centaurs don’t take to visitors well.”

  “I don’t care. Just let me save him.”

  Liam tipped up his chin, exuding confidence. “They will take well to us.”

  Agness shared a knowing look with Liam, their expressions telling me there was something I was not aware of. She nodded. “Very well. I will let you all go to retrieve the elixir, but do not let the other students know of your leaving and try to come back as quickly as possible. Once Maxwell’s potion stops working in three days, Devon will pass on.”

  Three days.

  Such a short time for me to make up for my sins. For me to save my loved one.

  It was better than nothing at all.

  “I won’t let you down.”

  I bent down to Devon’s forehead and pressed a kiss there. He looked so peaceful despite being so cold, and I wondered if he could feel my care and concern even in his deep slumber.

  Chapter 2

  “You should let Hansel know about the time limit,” Agness said, tapping her heeled foot on the ground. “He is taking too long.”

  We’d sent a brightling to retrieve Hansel from Danna. Agness was still unaware of the quilt, and I wondered if she’d stop us if she found out how we were trying to save Danna. Not wanting to risk my best friend’s life, I’d made no mention of our plan.

  “Are you not bringing Fenrir along?” I asked Liam.

  Liam pressed his lips together. “I don’t want trouble. The centaurs don’t take well to new creatures, and they might demand Fenrir be put down.”

  I lifted a brow. “You almost sound concerned for the dog.”

  “Concerned?” Liam asked. “Nothing of the sort.”

  I almost found his stubbornness cute.

  Almost.

  Liam was still a twat.

  We waited for Hansel in front of a bluish portal. It was situated at the basement of this part of the Sanctuary, right beneath Agness’s chambers. The portal looked impressive despite its small size. Theo might have to crouch to walk through it, since he towered over the rest of us. The cyan glow that came from the portal was almost blinding, and I had to squint just to look at it.

  I sat away from the guys and Agness on a small step. My fear of my past and inner self had returned, draining the spunk out of me. If I hurt Theo or Liam too…

  The pain of that thought almost paralyzed me. Liam, apparently not understanding the concept of personal boundaries, sauntered toward me and sat down. He and I weren’t too comfortable with each other yet, so he maintained his distance, leaving about a foot between us. I raised a brow at him, questioning his interruption in my quest to be all broody and mopey. He didn’t look at me and kept his gaze fixated at the portal. The blue glow shone toward him, reflecting off his high cheekbones and illuminating his strong, hard jaw. Even under this harsh lighting, Liam looked like perfection.

  Too bad he had such a cocky personality. I could have fallen in love with him if not for it.

  At least, I didn’t want to admit that I had feelings for him. There was chemistry, definitely. We stared at each other too much, and perhaps that’d sparked something I didn’t want to admit.

  I sighe
d. I simply needed to wait for Liam to do something terrible to remind me of his hate-able self, then all this lusting and second-guessing would go away.

  Finally, Liam said, “If not for Devon, I really wouldn’t want to head back to that forest.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Sacrificing for Devon? So, you do have a heart after all.”

  Liam snorted. “I trained with him for a year. I’m not that cold inside.”

  “What’s wrong with the forest?”

  Liam sniffed. “Memories. I grew up with the centaurs.”

  “Did you?” I asked. “Is that why your face is shaped like a horse?” It actually wasn’t. He had long, thin features, sure, but nothing about it screamed horse. Liam’s face was perfectly proportioned.

  Liam rolled his eyes. He seemed to be in a talkative mood, and so he continued going on about his experience in the Forest of Horns. “My father used to travel there often, and he’d bring me along. The centaurs are a strange bunch, though.”

  “What do you mean strange?”

  Theo stood on the other side of the room. He’d brought along supplies and was organizing them in his huge backpack. The backpack was larger than my entire torso. I had a feeling that if I tried to swing it over my shoulders, I’d lose balance and fall backward.

  Liam answered, “The centaurs can’t be trusted. They’ll say one thing then do the other, so it’s always good to be wary around them.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “They also love to torture.” Liam winced, as if recalling something painful.

  “Did they do that to you?”

  Liam shook his head. “Of course not. My father’s the chief assistant of the goddess council, and they wouldn’t dare hurt his only son.”

  I cocked my head. “You’re an only child?”

  “Yeah, and?”

  My stare lingered on him. No wonder he seemed more spoiled than the others. Only children were often more selfish because they got all the attention.

  “I take it you didn’t have a very difficult childhood.”

  “Does homework count?”

  I considered that. Homework to me was akin to torture. “No?”

  “I had it relatively easy compared to the other guys. The rest of them have a ton of siblings, so they never got the attention I got. Sucks for them. Being an only child is awesome. There’s no one there to snatch your things or complain about your behavior to your parents.”

  “Sounds great,” I said.

  He sighed. “It gets lonely, though.”

  I began inching my way closer to him, then stopped. Why did I want to comfort Liam? I didn’t think he deserved my comfort, since he hadn’t done much for me other than bitch and whine a lot. It had to be that sad, broken look he was projecting so well. It made me want to kiss him, and realizing that, a chill ran down my spine.

  I shouldn’t want to kiss Liam. He hadn’t treated me well at all, and I had too much self-respect to end up becoming his, free to mess around with as he pleased.

  Liam crossed his legs, making himself comfortable. “Your presence makes it harder for me to relate with the guys, since they all went through some level of suffering. This whole thing with you… it’s been pretty challenging so far.”

  I whistled softly. “You really mustn’t have gone through a lot yet if I’m your biggest challenge.”

  “You’re more unpredictable than natural disasters.”

  That managed to make me smile, if only a little. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You take everything as a compliment.”

  “It’s a good way of coping.”

  Liam harrumphed. “You’re just trouble. Ever since you arrived, the vassals have been torn, and now I’m left out, just because I don’t love you like the others do.”

  “Isn’t it the job of the vassals to care for me?” I asked. “A half-blood was going to arrive anyway. You don’t have to hold a grudge against me in particular.”

  Liam shrugged. “Before you arrived, all everyone had to do was attend classes. Things were simpler back then.”

  “You’ll learn to love me eventually.” And even if he didn’t, it didn’t matter. I was surrounded with enough of it. I still wanted to kiss Liam, however, because of how good he looked—and my fucking ovaries. I blamed it all on lust and attraction. Love had yet to develop between us, and I didn’t feel for him the same way I did Devon.

  Liam lifted a brow. “You know that humility is a virtue, right?”

  “It’s not humility when you’re saying it as the—” I stopped myself before I let too much of my spitfire self back in. Liam shouldn’t love me. I held a monster inside my tormented, demented soul. I didn’t know what exactly corrupted me, and that made things all the scarier. “I did manage to win Devon over,” I said meekly. “Maybe you’ll come to my side, too.”

  “Oh, yeah? He decided to let you have his heart and look what happened to him.”

  I shrank back. Liam wasn’t wrong. I’d hurt Devon despite his loyalty.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Liam turned to me, and for a second, I saw a flicker of guilt flash across his face. “It’s not your fault.” He scooted over and looked to be reaching out to give me a hug, when Hansel climbed down the stairs frantically. He, like Theo, carried a bag of large supplies over his shoulder.

  “I’m here,” Hansel said. His hair was more disheveled than usual. “One of the brightlings asked me to meet you here and gave me supplies for an excursion. What for?”

  “To save Devon,” Liam replied, tearing himself away from me.

  “He’s not okay?” Hansel asked, looking dejected.

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “We’ve been waiting for you. Now you’re here. We have everybody needed to step through the portal,” Agness said, spinning around to face the greenish, glowing mirror. She made a few larger, sweeping movements with her hands. “You’ll have to return to the Sanctuary on your own. This portal only goes one way.”

  “How will we get back?” I asked.

  “Here’s a map,” Agness said. I raised my hand to take it from her, but Theo snatched it away and put it inside his bag. He was in charge of Ares’s blade, too. Somehow, he’d ended up becoming the person to take care of all our items without us saying much.

  Behind us, the blue of the portal turned to violet. The violet light swirled and began to form a clearer image. Once it stopped swirling, I was met with the image of a green, lush forest. The forest looked idyllic, the perfect place for woodland creatures and fairies to frolic in. A part of me grew excited to explore it. I glanced around, studying our group. The four of us banded together on a mission, but without Devon, there seemed to be a missing piece.

  “Remember,” Agness said. “Three days, or Devon has to die.”

  Hansel gave us all questioning looks. He didn’t know about Maxwell’s elixir and the time limit it gave Devon.

  “I’ll explain later,” I said, brushing past Hansel and trying to ignore the worry on his face. He, like the rest of us, had to come to terms with the idea that Devon might die.

  I stepped into the portal, pushing aside my fear.

  The need to save Devon motivated me.

  I’d never felt for anything else this strongly.

  Chapter 3

  “The life elixir,” I said as we trekked through the blue forest. The leaves here were huge. A few butterflies had flown past us, and they left behind a glittering trail that looked magical. We were moving through a pathway that wound through the trees. “What does the elixir look or taste like?” The song of cicadas chirped around us, and overhead, the two moons of Haven glowed and watched over our expedition.

  Already, night was falling, and we were yet to find the centaurs. The three-day limit suddenly didn’t seem like much time at all.

  “How would I know?” Liam replied. He walked a couple of paces in front of me, leading the way to where he said he knew the centaurs lived. He made no effort to slow down for me de
spite my shorter legs, and the other vassals had given up asking him to control his pace. Because of the Medusa bracelet Devon had given me, I could keep up, even though I struggled to. The object was another reminder of how much I’d wronged him.

  “Why don’t you know about the elixir? You seem to understand these forests well.”

  “That and the life elixir are entirely different things. It’s a special potion that is guarded by the sage, the oldest centaur in these forests. They don’t show it to anybody.”

  “Then what makes you so certain that they’ll give it to us?”

  “I’m not. I’m just hoping that my previous relations with them, and the enticement of Ares’s blade, might appeal to them enough for them to give us a couple drops of the elixir.”

  “Previous relations?” I asked. “Were you close with the centaurs?”

  Hansel answered, “Liam’s father is the warden of the forests around Haven. As a child, Liam used to visit this place with his father.”

  “I didn’t say I wanted to make that information privy to Cara,” Liam said with a scowl.

  Hansel crinkled his brow. “And why not? It’s not something to hide.”

  Liam harrumphed. “Just because.”

  He was acting like a kid. I decided to not waste my time with his petty ways.

  I halted for a moment, then slapped my ankle. I’d felt something bite me. “I didn’t think a mystical forest would have mosquitos. Are the rest of you getting bitten?” I doubted they were. They all wore long pants and sleeves.

  I, however, thinking it might be hot, had allowed Hansel to give me a pair of denim shorts. I wished I’d decided on a better dress code.

  “I have something for that,” Theo said. He swung his backpack toward his front, then fished a bottle of insect repellent out of it. He tugged my arm, forcing me to stretch it out for him, then sprayed the repellent on my bare skin. The repellent smelled sweet, just like the forest around us. “I’m sorry I let you get bitten in the first place, Cara.”

  I frowned. “Why are you treating me this nicely?” I asked, referring to Hansel and Theo.