Chapter 24 – Keto
KETO
We’ve nearly reached the Lonely Island. I’m filled with both elation and confusion. Soon I’ll meet Hephaestus, and he’ll be able to free me from my collar. My brother will never again be able to make me hurt anyone or anything.
I’ll become the second most powerful god of the ocean, second only to the queen of the ocean herself, Amphitrite. My creatures will obey me and only me, and my brother will return to the bottom of the sea… to the place of hidden dangers, where he belongs.
I won’t be a slave to anyone, and I’ll be able to tell my gargoyles the truth, and see if they can love a monster.
My belly flips, and my gaze goes to Clark, who swims beside me. Sex with him was different. It was still good, but different. His touch was almost angry, demanding, and possessive. It aroused me in a completely unexpected way.
And yet, he feels far away. Like I touched him, but I can’t actually touch him. There’s an air around him, like he’s put up his same wall between us, and I’ll never be able to crack through it.
The others might be able to accept who and what I am, but can he?
I pray to any god who might care that he can.
Up ahead, I sense the island. Despite my nerves about what’s happened between me and Clark, and what will happen when I tell the gargoyles the truth, I speed up.
When we reach the island, I instantly transform into my human form once more.
It takes Clark a little longer, but he emerges from the water too, back to his old self.
We step out of the sea and onto the shore, and my gaze sweeps over the tiny place. It hardly seems like a sanctuary, but then, perhaps there’s magic I don’t feel. I stretch my senses out until I feel a cloaking magic not far ahead of us.
“He’s here, isn’t he?” I ask.
Clark takes a long minute to answer. “Yes.”
“I can feel him,” I say. “He’s hiding.”
I start to move forward. Clark catches my wrist.
I look between his face and my destination. “What is it?”
“You’re Keto.”
His words drop between us like bombs. I tense, unable to look away from him.
“Yes, I am.”
Rage flashes across his face. “You lied to us. You led us on a fake mission to find you, tricking us about bullshit men who hurt you and being a slave.”
I feel tears prick the corners of my eyes. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand all I need to.”
“No,” I say, tears swelling my chest. “I was scared to tell you the truth, but I am a slave. I am my brother’s slave, and the man who hurt me was his second-in-command.”
“And the sea dragons?” His voice is dry. He doesn’t believe me.
“They planned to hurt me and eat me. My brother gave me to them in order to have access to their waters.”
The rage in his face doesn’t dissipate. Instead, he leans forward, his words just a hiss. “I don’t believe you.”
“Please,” I beg.
I want to say more, but suddenly I can’t. My collar—it begins to tighten. I claw at it, but it only tightens further and further.
“Keto?” I hear Clark’s confused voice, but he feels far away.
My vision goes black, and I hear the sound of my bones breaking. Warm blood leaks from the collar, spilling down my chest.
Someone is suddenly holding me. “Stop! Stop!” Clark’s shouting.
And then, the pain subsides.
I’m rasping in breaths. Pain clouds my vision, echoing through me. I’m limp, unable to move, and blood continues to drip down over my flesh.
“What the fuck is this?”
I know that he’s here before he speaks. My brother. He smiles as he comes closer, filling my cloudy vision.
“I said I’d want time with my dear old sister before I gave her to you… or at least what is left of her.” His stare seems to tear through me. “Now, where are your brothers?”
“My brothers?” Clark repeats. “You’re supposed to give us the fish! You’re supposed to help us get rid of these powers!”
My brother’s smile fades. “Are you a fool? We need them here to do it. To pull the powers from them and put it into the dragons.”
Suddenly, I see them. Four naked men with the swirling eyes of the dragons.
“Where are our powers, gargoyle?” One of them hisses.
Clark sounds utterly confused. “I thought—“
“Well, you were wrong,” my brother says. “We have a deal, and as of now, you’ve failed to uphold your end of the bargain.”
“I—“ Clark begins.
“At least he brought my powers.” A different dragon-man steps forward.
My brother’s eyes flash with rage, but he smiles. “That he did.”
He motions with his hand, and one of his minions climbs out of the sea, clutching a small cage with my creature in it. My heart aches at the sight of him. My sweet baby is pale, his color dull. I can’t imagine what they’ve been doing to him… actually, I can, and that only makes it worse.
“Work your powers,” my brother commands my creature.
“Wait!” Clark shouts.
But the golden light explodes from the fish and Clark sinks to the ground, dropping me in the sand. I’m still bleeding and gasping around my broken throat when my brother comes closer. He grabs me by the wrist and starts to drag me toward the water.
Clark reaches out to me, winces and curls over his stomach.
“When you bring us your brothers, we will take care of their powers and save your miserable lives,” my brother says angrily over his shoulder.
“Keto!” Clark shouts my name.
I hear the enjoyment in my brother’s voice. “You can have what’s left of her, when we’re done.”
As we sink beneath the waves, I feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I’m brought back to the time before the gargoyles, when I’d give anything to die, to not suffer anymore at my brother’s hands.
I’m sure before this day is over, I’ll remember why I felt that way.