by Nicole Thorn
“Yeah?”
She sat up. Her fingers trailed down my chest, across my stomach. She looked unsure of herself for a handful of seconds, but it dissipated quickly. Those long, delicate fingers plucked at my pajama bottoms, pulling them aside easily. I went to grab her wrists and she stopped. Her eyes met mine. “I want to,” she said, softly enough that I almost didn’t hear it. “I want to do this for you.”
Again, trying to kill me. I sighed and stared at the ceiling. I wanted her to do it too. Really badly. I also didn’t want to have my girlfriend have a panic attack because she pushed herself too far. At the same time, she wanted to get better and she couldn’t do that if I stood in her way.
Her hands trailed further down, barely on my stomach anymore. My breathing kicked up. Kezia pulled my pajamas down even further, pushing my boxers out of the way in the same movement. There was a pause and I stared at her. She looked up at me, eyes wide. She didn’t look scared. It made me wonder if she’d ever seen a naked man before. Somehow, I doubted it.
Then she took hold of me. My head kicked back against the pillows and a harsh groan left my mouth. I could practically feel Kezia’s eyes widening on me. This was when she’d stop. She’d realize that she was pushing herself too far and she’d stop, but she’d feel bad about it. Nothing I said would make any difference.
Only she didn’t stop. Her hands slid up and the world tilted on its side. It was almost odd. Celeste had done this kind of thing before, but it was Kezia. Somehow that made all the difference. It felt completely new. Better. She slid her hand down again and I turned my head, so that I could see her.
She looked fascinated. She was watching me, all of me. Her eyes traveling from my face, down my chest and stomach. Down further. Definitely never seen a naked man before. That pleased me more than it probably should have. At least she liked what she saw. For whatever reason.
Her fingers curled over me, gripping almost tight enough to hurt. My back bowed of the bed of its own accord. That’s when Kezia started moving her hand steadier. No longer just fascinated by the whole thing, but into it. She moved to straddle my legs. I could feel the heat of her and her hands on me. It undid me and I came.
Afterward, I felt like jelly. Relaxed jelly. Kezia crawled up my body, which was erotic in its own way. She laid across my chest and kissed my jaw. “You okay?” I asked, because I had to make sure.
She nodded. “I’m great,” she whispered. She kissed me again, this time slower. Not with the desperate edge that all of our kisses have had so far. Like she wasn’t crawling out of her own skin. “I liked doing that,” she whispered, like it shocked her.
I laughed. It sounded husky. “Yeah. I liked you doing that, too.”
“Good,” she said.
We lay there for nearly an hour. Not really doing anything. Ultimately, when we got up, it was because we could hear Juniper in the kitchen, washing the dishes. We couldn’t lay here all day, no matter how much fun it would be, because someone would eventually come to look for us. I really didn’t want Zander walking in. I was basically naked and Kezia was snuggled up to me. He’s her brother. When brothers see things like this, they end up on the six o’clock news.
Kezia pulled some clothes on and darted across the hall, saying I could have the first shower. By the time I got out, Jasmine and Zander were up as well. I could hear them arguing about something. A closer listen and I realized he was force-carrying her down the stairs and she was arguing that her crutches worked just fine.
I shook my head and let Kezia into the bathroom. I was pretty sure that Zander had a thing for my sister. I wasn’t sure how I feel about that. On one hand, he would never, ever hurt her. If anything would get Jasmine to stop going out and risking danger, I felt like a steady boyfriend would be it. On the other hand, she’s my sister and I don’t want to think about guys touching her. Ever. She could have four children and be pregnant with a fifth and I’ll still deny that she’d ever had sex. For my own sanity.
As for Zander… If he did have a thing for my sister, he’d do absolutely anything for her. As the man whose been keeping her alive for the past three years, I appreciate that he would treat her like a princess.
And still would hate him for touching my sister.
Shaking my head, I went down the stairs. I grabbed Jasmine’s crutches so she wouldn’t have to continue fighting about walking under her own power. “Thank you, Jasp!” she shouted. “You are a wonderful and beautiful brother. Now go outside and help Juniper.
Arguing was futile. So I went outside and found Juniper wrestling with the lawnmower. It was stuck on a rock. One good shove and it was moving freely. “Thanks,” she panted. “You think I could get Kezia to take over yardwork, or do you think she’d go crazy and make our backyard a tropical landscape?”
“Honestly? If you asked her, I think she’d keep the yard looking exactly like this. It might upset her a little to do it, though,” I said, pushing the mower into the shed and closing it. The shed was a very small building where squirrels liked to have babies, which was why we only kept the lawnmower in there.
Juniper bit her lip. “Okay, then.”
She left at a fast clip, saying something about needing to do the laundry. I was not sure how much laundry there was to do, but I left her to it. I loved my sister and I knew her quirks. If she didn’t get the laundry done, then she’d be a mess all day.
I closed the door and a shadow fell across the shed. Another step back and I could look up at the top of the shed, where a large bird was perched. Like, shockingly large. Seattle doesn’t get birds that big. I couldn’t tell what kind he was, only that he wasn’t any kind of hawk, or raptor, despite his size.
The most unnerving thing was that he was looking right at me. One white eye, cold and logical and one black eye, burning like the pits of hell and irrational, staring at me. Chills went up my spine and I took another step backward, an involuntary movement from the sudden dread in the pit of my stomach. The bird opened his mouth and a ragged caw split the air. He flapped his wings angrily and displayed the most impressive wingspan I’d ever seen.
Then he was gone. Flapping into the sky and disappearing.
I breathed a sigh of relief and went back into the house. Forgetting about the bird completely.
Jasmine was balancing on her crutches and glaring at Zander. “Do not make me use these against you. I assure you that I can get into the kitchen on my own. You make wonderful company, so you may follow me, but if you get fresh, I’ll smack you.”
Zander smiled. “Fresh?”
“Don’t make fun of me.” She said, hobbling towards me. I got out of her way before I became Seer roadkill. Juniper was in the laundry room, stuffing a comforter into the washer, using both hands and some power words. When she finally got it in, she grinned and dumped some soap after it.
I stepped into the living room just as Kezia was coming downstairs. She was in a pair of shorts today and a t-shirt that left very little to the imagination. Cue the salivating. I hoped she didn’t mind hopeless saps that drooled all over her, because that’s what she was stuck with.
She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her cheek against my chest. “Morning,” she said, even though we had already done that. I kissed the top of her head, for no other reason than I could.
“Oh, great,” Jasmine muttered, walking in on her crutches. “We’re going to be subjected to this a lot now, aren’t we?” she asked, but she was smiling. “Just kissing and inappropriate touching.”
“How is this inappropriate?” I asked. “My hand is on her back. There’s nothing inappropriate about touching a back.”
“Then you’ve not been doing it right,” Jasmine said.
I looked at Zander. “She’s not allowed to leave the house. Ever again. Can I trust you to support me in this?”
“Yes,” Zander said, nodding solemnly. “Jasmine, I must insist that you hand over the car keys and admit defeat.”
“Never,” Jasmine said.
Juniper walked into the room, a pair of car keys in her hand. “Here ya go!” she said cheerfully, tossing them to Zander, who caught them on the fly. He smiled as they disappeared into a coat pocket.
Jasmine sighed. “I feel so bet—”
The sliding glass doors exploded in a shower of shards. There were so many screams, that I’m not even sure who was doing the screaming. Glass flew so far that some of it hit me, bouncing harmlessly off my chest, to tinkle towards the floor. And in the rain of glass, was the last Fury.
A gargoyle-like face stared at us. Eyes that were no color and all the colors glared at us, rolling mad with the hideous face. Talon-like claws scraped along the floor, leaving deep gouges that had Juniper whimpering, because even now she couldn’t completely ignore the discrepancy in her order.
“Oh shit,” someone yelled. It couldn’t have been summed up better.
The Fury’s wings sprang from her back, leathery extensions of her body. She launched into the air, right at us. Kezia grabbed me, hauling me back with all the strength she had. I saw Zander doing the same for Jasmine, while she screamed something incoherent. Juniper hit the ground, not bothering to avoid the glass. She could live with cuts, but those talons would kill her.
“Zander!?” Kezia screamed.
“Everyone out!” he yelled back, pushing Jasmine to her feet. She stumbled, catching herself against the counter. Her bad leg almost went out from under her, but Juniper appeared, gripping Jasmine’s arms. There were shallow cuts in her hands from landing on glass and the blood smeared across Jasmine’s arm.
“Jasper!” Kezia said, shoving me. I got moving towards my sisters. Juniper could balance Jasmine, but she wasn’t strong enough to carry her. I could lift my sister and we’d hopefully be out of there before the Fury did something devastating. Like killing one of us, or all of us.
The Fury collided with the couch hard enough that it toppled over backward and slid across the carpet in a rain of chaos and noise. Almost casually, she reached out and slammed claws into my knee. Pain exploded and I went down. I landed on my chest, getting the wind knocked out of me.
Tisiphone, the Fury, whirled around. One of her wings knocked against Nemo’s tank. A hole the size of a baseball appeared in the glass and water poured out, onto the floor. The Fury screamed an indistinct sound. Anger and madness.
Zander leapt out of nowhere, landing on the Fury’s back. She whirled around so fast that they became a blur of motion. The demigod went flying. For a brief second, everything turned completely clear. I saw the dots of blood hanging in midair and the line of crimson down Zander’s face. Then everything sped up again. Zander hit the wall, cursing up a storm and slid down.
“Hey!” Kezia screamed, loudly. The Fury turned towards her just in time for Kezia to punch her in the face. Her knuckles came away bloody.
I finally got a full breath into my lungs. Blissful air making the world come in sharp again, even as it burned on the way down. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the way my legs didn’t want to work anymore. Juniper grabbed my hand, pulling me towards them. “Get Jasmine outside! Hurry.”
There was another crash from behind me. I couldn’t resist looking over my shoulder. The Fury had landed on Nemo’s tank. The glass had cracked and slithered out of its moorings, falling to the ground. Our house was being destroyed, my girlfriend and her brother were fighting a Fury and I still had it in me to feel sorry for the damned fish.
I hauled Jasmine up and moved as fast as I could. She gripped me around the shoulders, shouting a play by play for the fight behind us. This Fury hadn’t come in assuming she’d win. The last two times they fought, Kezia almost died. I shoved that unhelpful thought aside, but it had already done damage.
Jasmine scrambled out of my arms before we even hit the kitchen, screaming, “Duck!” I dropped to the ground without hesitation. It’s the only thing that saved me from losing my head. Talons whooshed above me, burying themselves in the doorway to the kitchen.
The fall, however, was not graceful. I hit my knees and Jasmine’s weight yanked me forward. She spilled out of my arms. She was in jeans and that’s the only thing that saved her legs from being shredded even more by all the grass on the ground. My own palms did not get such a reprieve. They skidded across glass with a bitter sting and blood immediately began to well.
The Fury shrieked, while Kezia screamed for Zander. She couldn’t see us on the ground and probably thought I was safe. I rolled out of the way, getting out of striking distance and yanked on my sister’s arm. Jasmine and I stood up, her wobbling dramatically on her bad leg, while I left another smearing of blood along her arm. I didn’t even know where Juniper was.
The Fury heaved and her talons came free, along with a chunk of wall, leaving splinters across the floor. Jasmine’s eyes were huge as she stared at the Fury. “Jasper,” she said. “Time for us to get going.”
I couldn’t agree more. I grabbed my sister, preparing to lift her up. I wasn’t fast enough. The Fury began to draw her arm down. I snatched Jasmine and shoved her. She squealed and went sliding across the floor, hitting the cabinets, while I careened out of the way. The Fury’s claws slashed across the front of my sweater.
My knee, which had been sore and throbbing, gave out completely. I hit the counter, just as blood began to stain the front of my shirt, making it stick to my chest. The cuts were so fine, that at first I didn’t even feel them. Then I did, pain blossoming through my chest and stomach. They weren’t deep, probably wouldn’t even need stitches, but they hurt like a bitch.
Jasmine grabbed me from behind and gave one good yank. I tumbled over backwards seconds before talons swiped at the air above where my head would have been. “Zander! Kezia!” Jasmine yelled. “In the kitchen, facing down one angry bitch! Back up required!”
There was some cursing and scrambling, but I wasn’t sure if they’d be fast enough. The one leg was barely working. Something was pulled or sprained, so I did the only thing that I could. I covered my sister, making her a much harder target. Being human in a fight for the gods rarely works out for the humans.
I swear there was a streak of satisfaction in the Fury’s eyes as she rose tall on her legs, her arms raising for a final strike. One that she didn’t get to make. Something smashed against the back of her head. She whirled around and I caught a glimpse of my other sister.
Juniper had her legs braced apart. She was holding Jasmine’s crutch in one hand and had delivered a solid blow to the Fury. There was a line of blood dripping down the Fury’s neck. Juniper’s eyes widened when the fury turned to her, but she didn’t move. She swung the crutch again, connecting with the side of the fury’s head.
Tisiphone shook it off and began approaching my sister. Between Jasmine and me, we managed to haul ourselves to our feet. We had one chance to get to the Fury before she killed Juniper. One chance and that’s it if the demigods didn’t recover from whatever had them down.
Jasmine and I threw ourselves at the Fury.
30: Threshold
Kezia
I loved him more than anything in the world, but he was not always smart. Loyal, yes. Very loyal. I’d put that on his tombstone. I was getting Zander off of the ground and we were both up in time to see the people we loved just taking on a Fury. Our incredibly human friends, trying to die.
My whole goal was getting everyone out of this alive. I was last on that list. The humans were in danger even being on this street and here they were, tangling with an insane monster. I think they must have been trying to give me a heart attack. The first demigod in history to have one. I would set a record. I only needed to last long enough to save them. I could do that. Surely.
Zander was worse off than I was, for once. His forehead was sliced open and blood was running down the side of his head. The pace was slow and I figured it was already starting to heal. I was only beat up a bit so far. Hard to care about that when you’ve been sliced open twice in as many weeks.
They were in the kitchen and I saw Jasmin
e and Jasper each take a wing of the Fury’s. Juniper smacked the Fury in her face with Jasmine’s crutch. It didn’t kill the Fury, but it made her very angry.
Two of the Seers saved the third as the Fury pulled her hand back to cut open a throat. The only thing that stopped her was the breaking of both wings. The snap was… unsettling to hear. Like the cracking of a tree trunk after it was hit with lightning. They bent inward, making her scream as the Seers fell to the floor.
The Fury was ready to kill. She was forced onto her feet and she turned, hissing at the people on the floor. I had to get her away from them. “Tisiphone!” I screamed, getting her attention. I had a plan, but I knew it would make Juniper hate me forever. I started the vines up on the wall of the house outside. I needed to get her to the back door without getting the Seers in the way. “You’re looking for us, not them,” I told her. I looked to my brother. “Get them into the back yard.” They could be safer out there. At least away from the glass and stuff flying at them. They might even get a chance to run if Zander and I die before this was over.
He didn’t want to leave me, but he did as I asked, slinking off and out of the Fury’s sight. I saw him getting to them as Tisiphone moved to me. Juniper ran, helping her sister get to the door. Zander had Jasper.
The Fury was on me, but she was moving off kilter from the wing snap. She was weak and that was very good for me. When she swiped with her talons, I dodged with little effort. Her claws landed in the wall and I could practically see Juniper wincing in my head.
Zander was running back to my side, getting to me in record time. “Got a plan, Kiz?” he asked.
“Yup. Not to die.”
“Oh… good then.”
We backed up, moving to the kitchen where I knew we needed to be. I just had to get her through the door. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t turn my back to her. Not if I wanted to live. If she got a claw at my spine, she could yank it out and end me in a moment.
