Soul Bound (17 page)

Chapter Seventeen

We woke to fire.

I knew it before my eyes even opened.  I could smell the thick smoke and hear the popping cracks.  I leaped to my feet, pulling Brennan with me.  Whirling around, I found everything around us in flames.  The trees, the grasses, the village containing the priestesses.  I could hear their screams, both screams of sadness and screams of agony.  I squeezed my eyes closed for a scant moment, before I reopened them and squared my shoulders.

“Zeus knows,” I said needlessly.  Brennan nodded.  “Hades isn’t back,” I added.  Again, Brennan nodded.   “I wonder what is keeping him?”

I was running toward the village now, to see if I could help.  I didn’t know how long the fire had been burning while I slept.  When I reached the edge of the clearing, right before the ring of fire began, I hit an invisible wall and was thrown backward into the air.  I landed hard, with my head and shoulders slamming against the altar. I sat up, shaking my head to clear it. 

“What the hell?” I muttered. 

Brennan tried to get through, but he was prevented as well.  He patted the air, feeling the invisible barrier. 

“It’s a wall,” he announced.  “A see-through wall.”

“Zeus,” I said quietly. 

A movement to my right caught my eye and I turned. 

Hades was approaching the wall.  He stood directly in front of me and his mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear a thing.  I held up my hands as if to tell him and he nodded quietly.  He knew.  His face was clouded over.  He was not a happy god. 

I watched him try and break down the wall with magic for several minutes before he shook his head again.  He couldn’t touch it.  Only Zeus could. 

“Did you truly think you could deceive me?” a voice boomed.  It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.  Thunder boomed and lightning flashed and the burning trees began to blow.  I felt a chill run down my spine.  I had always thought it would be Hades that did me in.  But I realized now that I was wrong.  It would be Zeus.

Brennan jumped onto the altar and looked into the sky.

“We meant you no harm,” he shouted.  “We didn’t know that Empusa was Hades’ daughter until last night.  She didn’t even know.  This is not her fault.”

An apparition appeared in front of us then, a perfect rendition of Zeus himself.  It shimmered in the night and broke up slightly as he walked toward us before becoming whole again.

“You have plotted with Hades to stand against me,” Zeus said, his voice as loud as ever.  “That is treason.”

I dropped to my knees and bowed my head.  Reaching up, I tugged on Brennan to do the same.  He quickly joined me. 

“Forgive us, uncle,” I said quietly.  “We meant no disrespect toward you- none at all. We were simply brainstorming ways to survive and remain together.  I have never wanted to stand against you.  I only wish to live in peace.  I’ve been cursed so long that I have forgotten what that is like.”

“You act as though your intentions mattered,” Zeus replied.  His silver eyes flashed with anger in the night.  His wild mane of gray hair waved in the breeze, standing on end.  He wore ancient Greek dress; a silver toga belted at the waist with an ornate, jeweled belt.  Beautiful silver sandals laced up his calf.  In all, he was a vision of glimmering silver.

“Intentions
do not matter,” he continued, ignoring my veiled appraisal of him.  “Actions matter.  Words and oaths matter.   You intend to stand with my brother Hades against me.  You felt you couldn’t trust me to assist you, to stand behind my word.  That vexes me, Empusa.  If it weren’t for my granddaughter Harmonia’s interference, you would be dead right now- the both of you.   She has stood up on your behalf and pleaded for your life.”

“What about the game?” I asked, my voice small in the night.  An instant smile widened across Zeus’ lined face.  I was instantly uneasy.  A turn in the game had brought Zeus pleasure which didn’t bode well for us. 

“Obviously the game still plays on,” Zeus said.  “You and Hades didn’t complete the last challenge, so a mortal died.  One point for Apollo.”

He was indifferent about the mortal and pleased about Apollo’s point.  I was filled with instant rage and I knew that he could sense it.  A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. 

“You’re such a feisty one,” he observed.  “I do not know who I wish to win this next challenge.  You’re feisty and strong, but yet you use your spirit to try and work against me.  You would be guilty of treason right now if I had not interfered and prevented it by containing you in this very clearing.  You should thank me.   And Brennan, the handsome son of Apollo.   He’s loyal and strong- very dedicated to you and that is commendable.   He seems to have more substance than Apollo, but that has yet to be determined.”

“What do you mean, ‘who will win this next challenge’?” I asked uncertainly.  “The game is surely over- everything has changed.”

“The game is over when I say it is over,” Zeus boomed.  “In case you haven’t noticed, you are at my mercy right now.  You cannot leave and no one else can come in to save you.  There is an invisible barrier completely surrounding you.  It is absolutely secure and cannot be penetrated.  You will complete the next challenge or you will both die.”

“So the rules have changed?” Brennan asked quietly.  He reached over and grasped my hand in an effort to comfort me.  I was so furious that I didn’t even really even need comforting.  I wasn’t upset or sad or distressed- I was unbelievably pissed off.  I could feel the anger pulsing through my veins, flooding through my heart and flushing my cheeks.  Zeus smiled.

“Such spirit,” he said, gazing upon me.  “Use it now, little one.  Your challenge, your test, is to fight each other.  You wished to stand against me?  That is not going to happen.  But you can use your skills against each other.  Only one of you will leave this clearing.  When a victor emerges, the mortals in the gauntlet will be released unharmed.  The mortal world will continue as before.  I will accept the death of one of you as repentance from the mortal world.”

“The mortal world never knew that you were imprisoned!” I snapped.  I was so angry that my vision almost blurred.  “They never knew- it wasn’t their fault.  It was Hades and the Fates.  The blame should rest directly on their shoulders.”

“And your mother, Hecate,” Zeus pointed out.  “She participated, as well.  And that, young one, is why I am allowing this game.  You should know by now that the best way to seek retribution from a god is to gain it from those who they love.   You are Hecate’s most valued treasure.   You are correct.  The rules and object of this game have changed.   No matter who wins here in this clearing, you or Brennan, I will consider your mother’s transgression against me wiped clean.  If Brennan dies, you will forever live in misery.  If you die, your mother will.  Either way, justice will have been served.”

“Justice?” I spit.  “Justice is not sick and twisted.  You are.”

“Such spirit,” Zeus repeated, shaking his head.  “If only you had chosen to use it for me, rather than against me.”

“You speak as if I ever had a chance!” I lashed out.  “I never did.  I’ve been cursed by the man I thought was my father and you never interfered on my behalf.  And now I will pay a debt that isn’t mine.”

“The life of a god is never fair,” Zeus leveled a silver gaze at me.  “You should know that by now.”  He turned to Brennan.

“If you are the victor here, I will grant you immortality.  You will reside in Olympus with all of the glory that you deserve.  If you lose valiantly, you will live in the Underworld in the Isles of the Blessed.  Either way, you future will not be unpleasant.”

“If I lose valiantly?”  Brennan asked.  “What does that mean?”

“It means if you lose after fighting me with everything that you’ve got,” I interrupted.  “Zeus wants us to fight to the death.  He wants to see blood.”

“I
deserve
to see blood,” Zeus replied angrily.  “Do not forget that.”

“Perhaps,” I acknowledged.  “But not ours.  We did nothing to deserve this.”

“It is no matter,” Zeus answered, once again calm and impassive.  “Haven’t we already discussed that?  This is your lot.  Now, the new rules have been explained to you.  They are simple.  One of you will survive.  You will remain in this clearing until one of you is dead.  I have taken away Empusa’s immortality.  If she wins, I will restore it and I will remove her curse.   No one can assist you.  You will each stand alone.”  He waved a hand toward our right and the arena in Olympus appeared to us. 

“We will be seated in the Arena watching you,” Zeus continued.  “You will be able to see us, as well.  Unfortunately, no one can interact with you or offer you advice.  You will each be completely on your own.  Do you understand these rules as I’ve explained them to you?”

Brennan nodded silently. 

“I understand the rules,” I answered coldly.  I gazed at the vision of Olympus.  My mother sat next to an empty seat, her shoulders slumped.  I assumed the empty seat was Zeus’ since Hera sat on the other side. 

“My mother?” I asked.  “What will happen to her?”

“Why nothing of course,” Zeus answered.  “You will pay her debt.  Your mother is a unique goddess in that her magic is very, very powerful-“

“More powerful than yours!” I interrupted. 

Zeus continued as if I hadn’t spoken.  “But she will not use it against me or to assist you since she knows that you are at my mercy right now.  With my whim, you will live or die.”

At his words, pain like I’d never experienced ripped through my body, causing me to drop to my knees and writhe in the dirt. It literally felt like someone was using a hot poker to rip my internal organs to shreds and pull them out through my belly button.  It was so intense that I couldn’t stand it.  I couldn’t breathe…I couldn’t see.  Everything turned to black and then nothing.

When I opened my eyes again, I found Brennan clutching me to him, murmuring anxiously to me.  Zeus stood to the side and observed us.  I realized that I had passed out from the pain and then just as quickly realized that the horrible pain was gone. 

“Do we understand each other?” Zeus asked quietly.   I nodded silently.  His message was clear.  He could annihilate me or Brennan in the blink of an eye if he so chose.  We were nothing to him, no more than a speck of dirt beneath his heel.  He nodded at my thought, confirming it, and then he was gone.  

Brennan and I were left alone or as alone as we could be with the Olympians watching us from the arena.  I turned my back on them and faced Brennan, focusing solely on him and ignoring the fact that any of the Olympians could be watching us this very minute.

Brennan’s face reflected all of the horror that I felt inside.  He was silent, his expression tortured.  He reached over and wiped a tear from my cheek.  I hadn’t even realized that I was crying.  I leaned into his hand and he pulled me close. 

“I will never harm you,” he whispered.  “I will not do it.  They cannot force me.”

Pain seemed to shatter my heart into a million jagged pieces. 

“They have ways,” I whispered to him.  It was difficult to speak past the lump that had formed in my throat.  “Trust me, they have ways.”

Brennan held me for the longest time.  I listened to his heart beat in his chest, slow and rhythmic.  I felt his warmth, smelled his masculine scent, felt the softness of his skin and the rigidity of his muscles.  I could stay within his embrace forever.  But it couldn’t happen. 

I knew that if we didn’t act, they would find ways to force us into action.  It was simply how Zeus operated.   I glanced at the vision of the arena and found Zeus smiling in reaction to my thought.  It appeared that even though we were isolated from the world and could not hear them, they could still read our minds.  And from his knowing smile, I could see that I was right. 

Zeus would eventually force us to act.  We couldn’t hide here forever.  It would be better for everyone if we just got it over with right now and didn’t drag it out.  

I pushed away from Brennan and took a ragged breath, watching it form in the air in a puff as I breathed it out in the cold night.  After a thousand years of running and hiding in self-preservation, I couldn’t believe the words that came out of my mouth next. 

“Brennan, I want you to kill me right now.”

Chapter Eighteen

Brennan stared at me in disbelief, then shock, then horror, and then finally back to shock.  His mouth was slack, his eyes wide.  He stood motionlessly, his arms limp at his side.  I could hear the jumble of thoughts in his head as he tried to make sense of my words and my intentions. 

“No.”

One word, spoken with finality as he finally came to his senses. 

“I can’t believe you would expect that out of me,” he added in a hurt tone.  “I could no more hurt you then I could kill an infant with my bare hands.  I never want to live without you.  I want you to kill
me
instead.  Right now.  Do it.”

He held his hands up, palms up to the sky, his eyes fixated on me.  “I love you, Emmie.  Just do it.  Please let me save you.”

I only thought my heart had broken before.  I had been wrong.  Because it was breaking now, all over again, as painful as anything I’d ever felt.  It was excruciating.  I shook my head from side to side, not able to breathe enough to speak. 

“Then what will we do?” Brennan asked softly.  “I can’t kill you and you can’t kill me.  But we’re trapped here until one of us is dead.”

“Well, they took away my immortality,” I said.  “Perhaps we can just see who starves to death first.”

Brennan shook his head.  “I doubt that will be enough for him.  He will force us to act—somehow.”

Brennan was a fast learner.  That was exactly what would happen. 

“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted in a whisper.  “I don’t know what to do.”

My shoulders slumped as though the weight of the entire world was on them.  It was a heavy, heavy weight. 

“We need to think on this,” Brennan said firmly.  “There has to be a way.  There has to be something we can do.  Nothing is ever hopeless, Em.”