Soul Bound (Moonstone Saga #2)(41)
Author: Courtney Cole

“Don’t talk like that!” Brennan snapped. “Do you have any idea how hard it is has been for me all of this time?  I couldn’t reach you, I couldn’t help you.  No one would help me, we’re trapped in this god-forsaken clearing.  To hear you talk about giving up, when I haven’t given up on you this entire time, it’s a slap in the face, Empusa!”

He turned his back on me and crossed the clearing, sitting on the edge of the stone altar.  He stubbornly refused to look at me, glaring at the ground.  If looks could kill, the grass beneath his feet would be dead.  And he was right.  I had no idea what it had been like for him, but I could imagine how it would have been for me if the tables had been turned.  Seeing him in a coma-like state for months without being able to help would have been excruciating.

I weakly crossed the clearing, my legs shaking the entire way, and sank to my knees between his.  Cupping his face in my hands, I stared him in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” I said simply.  “I didn’t mean to leave you and I didn’t mean to belittle it.  You are everything to me.  It kills me that I left you alone.”

“It’s alright,” Brennan said gruffly.  “You’re back now and that’s what matters.”

“It’s not all that matters,” I argued. “But it’s what we have to work with right now.  We’ve got to form a plan.  No one can come to our assistance here.  It’s just you and me.”

“And me,” a small voice announced.

I spun around, leaping to my feet as I looked for the voice.

“I’m here,” it said softly.  I narrowed my eyes as I looked for it, for her.  The voice was female.

And then I saw her.  So transparent that she was almost invisible, Gaia hovered by the edge of the clearing, just inside the invisible wall.  She was so faded that she almost blended into the backdrop of trees and I realized that she was purposely camouflaging herself to avoid detection by the Olympians.

I quickly tore my eyes away from her so that Zeus didn’t see me looking at her and I knelt once again in front of Brennan.  Trying to be inconspicuous, I spoke to her from the corner of my mouth.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.  “If Zeus sees you, you’re dead.”

“I’m already dead,” she answered calmly.

“Fine. You’ll be worse than dead.”

“Impossible,” she answered. “Do you want my help or not?”

“How are you even here?” I asked.  “Did my mother send you?  How did you get through the wall?”

“Ghosts can’t be contained,” she sniffed.  “I’m here to bring you news. Zeus is keeping your mother close to him at all times.  She will not be able to help you.  He has threatened your life if she tries.  Your father sent me.”

Instantly, Mormo’s face clashed into my eyes and I cringed.

“Hades,” Gaia clarified.  “Your true father.”

I expelled a breath slowly.  It was going to take me quite a while to get used to that, I could tell.  Mormo had been my ‘father’ for a thousand years.  Old habits died hard.

“What did he have you risk your life to tell me?” I asked quietly.  I glanced up at the vision of Olympus.  Zeus was engaged in a conversation with Apollo and was not even looking in our direction.   I felt a brief feeling of relief.  “Why exactly are you here?”

“Well, he had me wake you up for one thing,” she pointed out.  “If you hadn’t, Zeus was going to kill you today.”

Her entire tone had changed when she mentioned Hades’ name and I narrowed my eyes.  “Don’t tell me that you trust Hades now,” I rolled my eyes and then glanced up at Zeus again.  He was still speaking with Apollo, who was waving his arms around.  Apparently, Apollo wasn’t enjoying their conversation.  I imagined that he was probably trying to get Zeus to just kill me outright rather than allowing this game to continue.  I turned my attention back to Gaia, who was studying me with ghostly eyes.

“No, I don’t,” she answered.  “No more than you do.  But I might have been slightly wrong about him. He hasn’t condemned me to the Underworld yet, at any rate.”

“Don’t turn your back on him,” I warned.  She nodded.

“I won’t.  For now, I’m just going to concentrate on you,” she said quietly.  “You’ve been my friend when I had no one else.  I can’t leave you here like this.”

“What message did Hades have for me?” I asked, trying to ignore the lump in my throat.  I was strangely melancholy today for some reason. Perhaps because I was awake for the first time in two months.  That might do it to a person.

“He wants you to know that the deck is stacked in your favor.  That long sleep that you just had?  That was your body’s natural reaction to being rendered mortal.  Further, you may have been rendered mortal, but your curse has not been removed.  You will soon begin to crave human blood and souls so badly that you won’t be able to control it. You will kill Brennan without meaning to.  You won’t be able to help yourself.”

Horror slammed into me.  I was trapped here like a rat in a cage with the person that I loved most in the world.  And very soon, I would turn into a monster with no self-restraint.  Brennan would stand no chance.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“My father might feel that it is good news,” I replied to Gaia icily.  “But I do not.  Return to him and find out how I might be able to avoid this fate.  I don’t care what it takes.  Since I am now mortal, bring me back poison.  Give me a dagger.  Hell, I’ll take a noose.  Anything.”

“No,” Gaia said, shaking her luminescent head.  “I can’t do that. I won’t help you kill yourself.”

“Do you love me?” I demanded harshly.  “Do you?”

She hesitated, knowing where I was going with this.  “Yes.”

“Then you will do it.”

“I’ll go speak with Hades,” she answered, without addressing my mandate.  And before I could say another word, she was gone.

Brennan was staring at me.  “Gaia?”

I nodded.