“Go where?” I asked.
“To the Otherside,” Deimos said, pointing to the fog. “Enter it.”
“It looks like it’s going to kill me.”
“It won’t. Trust me.”
“Yeah, that’s a problem. I don’t trust you.”
Deimos didn’t seem fazed by my admission.
“I’ll go first,” Devon said. He stepped forward, and before I could stop him, he allowed himself to swallowed by the fog. Worry zipped through me. I’d just gotten him back, and if he died from this, I knew I’d fall into another pit of hating and blaming myself.
Devon disappeared. The fog sparked twice.
Then nothing.
Was he safe?
Alive?
There was only one way to find out.
“I’m going after him,” I said.
Hansel held my wrist, pulling me back. “No. We’ll all go before you.”
I wasn’t sure what difference that might make, but maybe it was their way of keeping me safe. Each time one of my vassals disappeared through the fog, my heart rate ticked up, and the sense of dread that Deimos projected grew even stronger.
Eventually, it was just me standing next to Deimos. My brother placed his hand on my back and pushed me forward. “Your vassals are not what’s important,” he said. “You’re the one we need to step through the portal.”
“They’re everything to me.”
“They’re going to hold you back from your real purpose. Greatness awaits you, Caramel, even though you might want to deny it. Our parents have something planned.”
“I’m a simple girl,” I said. “Easily satisfied. I don’t really need to be great.”
“Don’t waste your talents on mediocrity. Your destiny is far larger than what you’re willing to settle for.”
I frowned, not understanding what Deimos meant. Finally, I took the plunge, hating to be separated from my vassals for too long. I allowed myself to be swallowed by the clouds and, holding my breath, stepped into the fog.
Bang.
Stars exploded around me, flaring in my vision. Puffs of colorful smoke sent an aching sensation to the back of my head. What the hell was going on? Was this what death was like? It felt like being high.
I felt nauseated and tired and… elated? My emotions were getting tugged in all directions. One second, anger burned through me, and the next, languid apathy meandered through my veins. Walking through the smoke had disoriented me. Did my vassals go through this too? It was like puberty on steroids.
Bang.
My head hurt from all the flashing stars. I wanted this to end.
I fell forward. My palms smacked against what seemed like brown soil. I sank my fingers into the dirt. It was slightly damp. Most of my emotions left me then, and only shock remained. My heart raced so quickly that my chest hurt. I was panting too much, and arms ached for no apparent reason.
My ears buzzed. A salty taste hit my tongue as calm draped itself around me. The sudden change of environment gave me whiplash. I panted, my breath heavy. I forced my muscles to slacken so that I might calm down.
Beside me, a pig oinked.
A pig?
I brushed my hair away from my face and stood up. Beside me, four pigs stood next to Fenrir. They couldn’t seem to walk in a straight line and seemed just as out of it as I. Fenrir looked up at me with a crestfallen expression, as if looking toward me for answers. I was just as confused as the beast.
Why pigs?
I surveyed my surroundings. A bright blue sky spread above me. I never thought I’d never see a sky that looked this pristine and clean. It stretched out with breathtaking clarity. I was on a cliff. I inched closer to the edge, then saw foamy seas crashing upon the rocks.
Where were my vassals?
I wiped my hands on my pants before cupping them over my mouth. “Hansel! Theo!”
No response.
“Liam? Devon!”
All I heard in response was the crashing of the waves and the light whirring of a sea breeze. Where could they have possibly gone?
I looked at Fenrir, then at the four pigs. Where had the pigs come from?
Shortly after, there was a whooshing sound behind me. I looked over my shoulder, and Deimos stepped out from a black cloud, similar to the one I’d walked through.
“Welcome to the Otherside, Caramel,” he said, spreading his arms out. His greeting was anything but warm, because everything he did sent coldness through me.
Other than the clear skies, waves, and dirt ground, nothing of significance stood out. “The place seems kind of empty,” I said.
“Which is why our parents want to leave so badly. They have peace and quiet, but too much of that becomes boring after a while.”
“Where are my vassals?’
“They are not important.”
“What do you mean? Of course they are. Return them to me or—”
“Or what?” Deimos said, his lips curling tauntingly. “This here is my and your parents domain. You don’t know your power and are subject to our will.”
I winced. “Okay, must you sound like a threatening psychopath when you say that?”
Deimos projected a shit-ton of cockiness, which made me want to punch him across the jaw.
“Since I’m all the way over here, where are my parents?” Where was anything, really? The Otherside was so mind-numbingly empty that I feared it. It seemed so wild, and the unknown made me wary.
Deimos pointed over my shoulder. “There’s Aphrodite.”
My mother?
I whipped my head around. There, behind me, was…
Lydia?
I blinked.
That couldn’t be right. Lydia was my foster mother back on Earth. She was a businesswoman who sold cakes across large distribution chains. I thought of her as a nice lady who was slightly too work-oriented. Despite me being her foster child, she loved her company, Crazy Cakes, more than me.
She definitely wasn’t my real mother. Or a god.
“Hello, my child,” Aphrodite said, nearing me. “You must be surprised to see me.”
“You’re not Aphrodite.” Up close, she looked slightly different, but the resemblance was still striking. It looked like Lydia had taken twenty years off her appearance. Instead of the ponytail I recalled, she wore her hair down. The warm brown eyes I remembered were a honey shade. Her lips were just as full, but her features far more seductive than I remembered.
“I am.” She glanced at my back. “You have wings now, dear child. That’s interesting.”
I looked over my shoulder and realized that they’d popped out. No wonder my back felt heavy.
“That’s not the point,” I said. “Why do you look so much like Lydia?”
“Because I am her and she is me.”
I placed my hands on my head, suffering from third-degree mindfuck. “So you were my real mother all along?”
“She’s my creation. Like you. But without Ares’s essence. I planted her on Earth before the Vassal War and used her to spy on the happenings of Earth. We have a mental connection, she and I, and she aids me greatly in keeping myself with the times.” She sighed. “I also think she’s a good way to escape this place, although I can’t use her mind for long enough. The Otherside is boring.”
“So, she’s like a clone of you?” I asked.
“Essentially.”
“That makes it even stranger.”
“I’ve been watching over you this whole time, Caramel. You’ve grown into something beautiful.” She looked at me like I was a project, not her daughter. Then again, Lydia had always looked at me the same way. Perhaps this was why. Aphrodite never saw me as a daughter to care for, but a creation to watch grow.
At that moment, it struck me that I’d never be normal. I’d never feel the tender care or warmth of a real mother. Of a normal mother.
I wasn’t human. So of course I wouldn’t be treated as one.
“Where are my vassals?” I asked, hating to repeat myself.
Their safety remained my main concern. They were my family now. Not Aphrodite. Not Deimos. I viewed them as a bunch of lunatics who only wanted to use me.
Aphrodite flashed me a smug expression. “I never took them from you.”
“Then where are they?”
With her slender fingers, she gestured to the pigs in front of me. “I’m afraid their human forms weren’t strong enough to survive the transition of realms.”
The facts of the situation took a long time to sink into my mind. The pigs? My vassals had turned into pigs?
“Turn them back!” I strode up to Aphrodite and reached to grab her collar. She turned translucent, and my fingers went straight through her. She turned solid again right after.
“You’re mine, now, daughter,” she said with a disgustingly sweet smile. “And with you here in the Otherside, I can finally use you properly.”
My insides ran cold.
Clotho was right. Deimos and my family couldn’t be trusted, and maybe coming here was the gravest mistake I could have made. Aphrodite looked at me like I was a weapon to be used, and my presence might just be what they needed to fulfill their goals. I wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted, but judging from Aphrodite’s conniving expression, it couldn’t be good.
I had to fix this.
I had to turn my vassals back to normal, because they certainly didn’t deserve to be pigs.
“What’s the problem, daughter?” Aphrodite asked. “Aren’t you happy to see your mother?”
“Not at all.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I clutched the necklace that hung around my neck and called for Clotho.
Afterword
Thank you for reading! The next book of the Goddess Academy series, Wars and Goddesses, will be available August 10 2019.
Also by Clara Hartley
Sera’s Curse
Bane of Dragons (Book 1)
Curse of Dragons (Book 2)
Salvation of Dragons (Book 3)
Fall of Dragons (Book 4)
Soul of a Dragon (Same universe as Sera’s Curse)
Obsidian Wings (Book 1)
Shadowed Lies (Book 2)
Fractured Souls (Book 3)
Golden Embrace (Companion novel)
Secrets of the Fallen
Harem of Sin (Book 1)
Depths of Hell (Book 2)
Ashes of Heaven (Book 3) (Coming Soon)
Lost and Betrayed
Institute of Rebels (Book 1)
Mortems and Mavericks (Book 2)
Goddess Academy
Goddess Academy (Book 1)
Waking the Goddess (Book 2)
The Goddess Quest Page 14
