Chapter Nine
Hack
My breath gets caught inside my throat at the first sight of Sage sprawled out against a whysperbrush—named for its rustling leaves, even without a hint of a breeze—and staring at a pile of rocks closing off what I can only assume is a cave.
I don’t think she heard me, and if she did, she’s not registering my presence.
All I can see is her profile but even at this angle, there’s no denying the shock written across her face—her pale, gaunt face.
One quick scan of her body tells me she’s lost a considerable amount of weight and her once healthy tint seems pale to the point of sickly.
Clothes ripped, skin bruised and covered in dried blood, she reminds me of collateral damage in a war and that singular thought has my chest vibrating with pent up rage.
Opening my mouth to say her name, maybe pull her out of the trance she seems to be trapped in, I’m cut off by her sudden movement. One second she’s downright frozen in place, the next, she’s running, screaming like her lungs are on fire, straight for the cave entrance.
“Saffron! Saffron!” Frantic, she screams that name as she tries to remove the compact wall of rock debris with her hands, probably breaking every nail she still has on her fingers.
My brothers all move in unison, the valkyries following suit, as we form a half moon around Sage, anticipating the worst. She’s breaking my heart but I have a feeling that the wall is there for a reason, and although I would give the world to my chosen—my own life if it meant keeping her safe—this feels like the opposite of that.
“Saffron, please! Please.” That last plea drips from her lips, and even to me, it tastes of bitter acid.
“Satapti.” Kneeling behind her, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and whisper against the shell of her ear. “I’m here.”
Sage erupts into sobs, her voice cracking on every syllable of the name she keeps repeating over and over like a prayer that’s going unanswered.
With my hold on her, she’s stopped digging her way in, but the defeat in the hunch of her shoulders and the repeated heaves of her chest make me feel useless.
The only reason I know she feels my presence is because she allows her body to melt into mine, accepting my comfort and radiating gratitude with every breath she takes.
I don’t know why she’s grateful. I didn’t save her, she saved herself.
I know this because our bond is stronger than it has ever been.
Not only did our souls blend together the night we finally made love, only accentuated by Hekate’s magic, but it’s Hallow’s Eve, the night the veil between us is at its weakest.
“Zelos, I lost her. She…” Her breath stutters mid-sob before she continues. “I had to lose her to find you.”
The agony behind her words has the power to reach inside my stomach and twist the organ to the point of convincing me it’ll be ripped right out. Instead of doubling over with the pain she’s sharing with me, I hold her tighter, squeeze her harder, and whisper her name over and over again.
I don’t know who Saffron is, but if she’s the reason Sage is safe, then I’ll spend the rest of my life honoring her memory. Hell, I’ll erect a fucking statue in her name so that every fucking body will know she’s the hero in this story.
“Hack, we need to go.” Pierce speaks low but Sage hears him anyway.
“We have to save her. She could still be alive and you all can kill that thing—” As if on cue, the wall shakes with the fall of a few unsteady rocks and every single one of us gets into fighting position with our weapons of choice.
My eyes locked on the cave entrance and I pick Sage up with one arm—she weighs absolutely nothing at this point—placing her behind me. If something wants her, it’ll have to get through me first.
Nothing more happens though, and as much as I want to fight and kill her enemies, who are by default mine too, the best outcome is to have Sage somewhere far away from danger.
Her birthday is…fuck, what time is it? The endless weeks travelling all over the fucking place has skewed my internal clock and since finding her, I don’t know if minutes or hours have passed.
It doesn’t help that Mita has no set day and night.
Here, daylight is as daylight wants. It’s a wonder plants and shit can even grow.
“It must have been a loose rock.” Slay’s right, and when I look over at him, he must see the determination in my eyes to get Sage as far away from this hell hole as possible. “Let’s move out.”
The metallic hiss of our blades sliding back into our scabbards echoes in the otherwise deafening silence. At this point, Sage is no longer sobbing, but her quiet demeanor is somehow even more alarming.
Everyone follows Slay’s lead, but Sage and I hang back a bit, and when my chosen finally looks up at me, the sight before my eyes is devastating.
She’s lost too much weight, her cheeks are prominent and her lips are chapped, clearly dehydrated. The usual velvety curtain of her long black hair that falls like a heavy weight around her shoulders is now scraggly, dirty, full of knots that I vow to comb out with gentle fingers.
“You found me.” Fuck, finally.
“Yes, Satapti. There was no other possible outcome.” Carefully, I bring my own dirty hands to her face, cradling her jaw and watching with an aching heart as tears form in her eyes.
The moment she closes her lids, her body leaning into mine as though seeking the comfort of my love for her, the tears free fall down her cheeks.
It’s devastating. It physically hurts me to know she’s suffered in any way.
And suffer she has if those cuts and slashes across her skin are any indication. The clothing on her body is barely there, ripped to the point of unnecessary and caked in dried blood.
There will be consequences for this. Maybe not now because I need to take her far away from here, but soon.
Very fucking soon.
With tentative movements, I reach for my water bottle and bring it to her lips, forcing her to drink slowly and to take breaths between each swallow.
My gaze darts to the others. They’re walking ahead, giving us time to find our bearings again.
Allowing us time to reunite as the chosen soulmates.
“Do you know who took you?” The sound of more falling rocks has us both jumping and turning to the entrance of the cave. Every time she hears it, her hope grows, and it’s breaking my heart to watch it die when nothing more happens.
“Um, at first it was the harpies and it sucked but it was manageable. It’s the gorgon and the fenrir that really fucked us up.” The noise that crawls out from my chest is more my demon than it is my anthros.
“We’ll get all the details once I get you home and cleaned up.” I press my forehead to hers, a gentle reminder that we’re finally together again. “They’ll suffer for this, I promise you.”
“I know.” The strong, confident way in which she believes in my words only makes me fall in love with her all the more.
“You know.” Because it’s simple, unfiltered truth.
“I really need you to kiss me, Zelos.”
Sliding my hands across her jaw and burying my fingers into her hair, I pull her mouth into mine and lick her dry lips, dampening them, loving them, before seeking entry into her mouth.
Our moans are weeks overdue. The warm touch of her tongue as it dances against mine is an overwhelming comfort. The moment is perfect, the kiss is fucking beautiful as she presses against my body, seeking warmth and love. I don’t know how long it lasts but it’s not fucking long enough.
Just as I’m about to pull away, a guttural howl loud enough to shake the rocks behind me forces us to freeze. There’s a second where we just stare at each other as we try to figure out what the actual fuck we just heard.
At the snap of a finger, we both whisper against each other’s lips.
“Fenrir.”
From there, everything moves at warp speed.
My bow and arrows are in my hands as Slay, Pierce, and Slash stand beside me. One of the valkyries takes a very uncooperative Sage with her to safety while the other two unsheathe their blessed weapons.
The howls continue, getting louder and louder as the entrance trembles and the rocks tumble down faster and faster.
Fenrirs are fucking rare, and I can’t remember ever having to go head to head against one, but I guess what they say is true; there’s a first for everything.
“Fucking fenrirs. I could’ve gone an entire existence without facing one.” Slash is ready for battle. Always is, to be honest. “How big is this fucker?”
We’re all staring at the wall, anticipating the exact moment the monster will leap out of the cave, but there’s no doubt the question is aimed at the valkyries.
“Really fucking big.” Sashayne isn’t much help with the specifics but at least we’re mentally preparing for a huge battle.
“Bring it the fuck on. They tortured Sage. They have to pay.” With every one of my words, the rocks take up more space on the ground. A small opening at the top of the cave gets bigger and bigger, as though there’s a direct correlation between that and the intensity of the fenrir’s howls.
It’s clear our adrenaline levels are skyrocketing, giving us just enough courage to face what could very well be our last fight.
Fenrirs are more beast than anything. Their empathy levels are pretty much the same as a lump of coal.
It won’t care that he stole my soul mate.
He has a master and he followed rules. That’s it.
Before this shit goes south, I look over my shoulder to check on Sage, who’s standing stock-still with her hands covering her mouth. She’s far enough away that if the fenrir were to get through us, Lathuneh would have the time to run her to safety through the nearest portal.
When I turn back around, the massive paw of the oversized wolf wannabe whips through the hole and in one fell swoop, knocks down the rest of the rocks.
“Game time, motherfuckers.” Slash gives his war cry and we all crouch with our weapons ready to go.
As soon as I see flesh, my arrows start flying, but it’s clear pretty fucking quickly that his skin is nearly impenetrable.
“We’re gonna need a bigger weapon.” Only Slash catches my Jaws reference, fist bumping me as he pulls out his second sword.
“Time to double fist it, brother.” Fucking hilarious. The closer the danger, the harder he gets. There’s a reason he’s the horseman of war.
As the sons of Loki, fenrirs are formidable opponents, and no one I know has survived a battle with them. Problem is, with peace time, they’ve been used mostly for con jobs or shit that’s forbidden by the laws of the Thirteen Dei.
Clearly, this asshole has been the guardian to Sage’s prison, and if I ever meet Loki, I’ll fucking slap him across the head for being so damn careless.
The giant wolf barrels through and we’re stunned silent for a brief moment as his almost neon eyes scan us, assessing the threat, before lowering his head and snarling with teeth bigger than our fucking legs.
Don’t even get me started on the unnecessary amount of drool that’s flooding the space between us.
“If we survive this, I’ll personally bring flowers to the Moirai temple.” Ever the realist, Pierce is preparing for the worst. I get it, this monster of a beast seems impenetrable, but I’ll be damned if this is how we go down. No fucking way. Not when Sage and I are so close to our forever.
One more glance over my shoulder and I lose the fucking plot.
There’s something wrong with Sage.
She wasn’t like this a moment ago.
“What the fuck?” My attention is divided between the mammoth of a wolf counting the ways he’s going to chomp down on our torsos and the profound need to run to Sage and do…what?
Standing in the same spot, she now has her arms spread out to the sides, her head thrown back and her mouth wide open.
Before the others follow my line of sight, the earth trembles all over again with a scream to rival the sirens’ in pain.
Even the Fenrir freezes, his narrowed eyes fixed on Sage.
Not on my fucking watch, you motherfucker.
I take advantage of this moment to fire off a dozen magic-infused arrows into his eyes with enough power that I’m hoping it will reach his brain matter.
Or something important enough to take him down, at least. It’s in moments like these that I’m most grateful for the spell on my weapon of choice.
Where I do love to kill my enemies in hand-to-hand combat, hacking away at their limbs and organs, I love the beauty of aiming an arrow and watching it do my bidding.
Especially when I have an unlimited amount at my disposal.
My quiver fills back up as quickly as I aim the arrows.
When Slash, Pierce, and Slay jump on the fenrir’s back and plant their swords in all the right places, I keep releasing my arrows.
But the fenrir is too fucking strong, too thick skinned.
Too damn feral. He throws my brothers off him as he rears back and smashes himself against the side of the mountain.
Pierce gets caught between the two masses, his grunt resonating through the space.
Slash is thrown a few yards downhill, while Slay slides down the fucker’s fur but ends up stuck on one of its hind legs.
I think he’s trying for the underbelly, and if that’s the case, he’s going to have a hard fucking time.
Meanwhile, Sage’s screams only get louder.
Then everything goes a bright yellow, as though the sun decided to shine all of its power solely on us.
When I turn toward the source, I realize it’s Sage. She’s the sun and its rays are coming from the palms of her hands. But that’s not the most shocking of it all, because when I look up to her face, her eyes are no longer their beautiful mismatched green and brown.
Sage’s eyes are completely whited out, and for the first time, my chosen scares the fucking shit out of me.