Chapter 25 – Max
MAX
We fly with all our might toward the Lonely Island.
My heart’s in my throat. For some reason, waking with no sign of Sirena and evidence that Clark had been there scares the hell out of me.
I want to think he won’t hurt her, but when it comes to his irrational mistrust of women, I’m not really sure what he’s capable of.
“There it is!” Arthur shouts, pointing just ahead.
We fly harder.
Steven’s at my side in an instant. “What do you think we’ll find there?”
I’m the leader. I’m supposed to know everything. But I don’t have a clue what to expect. Every single possibility is running through my head, but none of them are good.
When we reach the island, we spot Clark, and instantly know something’s wrong. He’s kneeling in the water. His hands are dropped at his sides. His face looks bleak, and Sirena is nowhere to be found.
We swoop down, landing near him. My hand itches to reach for my sword, but instead I rush to his side.
“Are you okay?”
Clark doesn’t look at me.
I grab his face and jerk him to look at me. His eyes are vacant.
“Are you okay?”
His face crumbles. “I think… I think I fucked up.”
Ice moves through my veins. “How? Where’s Sirena?”
“Not Sirena,” he corrects me. “Keto.”
“Keto?” What the hell is he talking about? Has he lost it?
“Sirena was lying. She was Keto the whole time.”
It takes a minute to remember to breathe. “Are you sure?”
He nods, his gaze wild.
My mind goes over everything that we’d experienced since meeting her. My confusion slowly fades. It actually makes perfect sense. She’s a goddess, and her creatures? They do seem to be more like monsters than fluffy little bunnies.
I glance up and lock eyes with Steven and Arthur. This can’t be why Clark seems like he’s been completely destroyed.
“Where is she?”
He stares into the sea. “They took her.”
What? “Who took her?” My voice is shaking.
“I fucked up,” he says again.
I’m starting to feel scared. “Who took her, Clark? Fuck, talk to us.”
I shake him a little, but his expression only becomes more wretched.
“Her brother came to me. He said that the sea dragons needed to take our powers back, or the powers would kill us. He had a little… fish thing. He said it could help reverse it. I had to agree to bring Keto to him in order for him to make the deal.”
“What did you do?” I feel like I’ve swallowed a knife.
“They took their powers from me. And they said until I brought the three of you, they would… they would do what they wanted to her.”
“Fucking shit!” Arthur shouted, pacing. “Where is she?”
“They took her somewhere under the water. I’ve been trying to reach her, but…
but I can’t.” He takes a shaky breath. “And she was a slave… but to her brother. I saw him use some kind of magic to tighten her collar around her throat. It… broke her bones. She was bleeding. I think they plan to kill her, even if she’ll be able to come back.
It’s… I can’t let them do this. I shouldn’t have brought her here. I shouldn’t have—“
I rise. “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is getting her back.”
“But we can’t.” He sounds on the edge of something dark.
Arthur rushes to the edge of the water. “I’ll try to see if I can get any little creatures to get them to come here.” He closes his eyes, spreading his arms out.
But hell if I think that will be enough.
Steven withdraws his sword. “And I’ll be ready for them when they come.”
“What if they kill her?” Clark asks, sounding broken.
I hit him. Hard. He hits the sand and water, his eyes widening in shock.
“Pull your fucking self together! Find something useful to do!”
He reaches up and touches his mouth, where blood leaks from the corner of his mouth. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I say, then reach down and help him up.
We stand at the edge of the sea, staring out.
“You said they want their powers back.”
He nods.
“Then we’ll give them back, but only if they give us her.”
“They’re powerful, Max. They're gods.”
I reach for my sword and slowly pull it free from my sheath. “I don’t give a fuck.”
Arthur turns and drops his arms. “I think… I think they’re coming.”
He moves to stand beside us, and we all stare out at the water. Long moments pass, moments when I can think of nothing but what they’re doing to Keto. It tears at my soul, killing me slowly. She’s ours to protect now, Keto or Sirena, I don’t really care. It’s her I love, despite what they call her.
And then the water seems to pull back.
A man emerges first. I instantly know him as Sirena’s—Keto’s brother. Their hair is the same auburn color, their eyes the same dark brown. Both of them have the same inhuman beauty. When he smiles, it’s one creepy as fuck smile. “You’ve returned!”
“We’re here,” I say. “But I don’t give a fuck what deal my soldier man and you agreed upon, I’m the leader.”
His eyes narrow. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“And so what, fragile gargoyle, do you demand from a god?” His voice drips of passive-aggressive anger.
“I want Keto.”
His entire body stiffens. “I’m afraid we’re not quite done with her.”
“I want her now.”
He regards me for a long minute, then shrugs. “If I give her to you now, I have your word that you’ll give up the sea dragons’ powers without incident?”
“Yes,” I agree with ease.
He motions to someone I can’t see.
A minute later a beast emerges from the water. Its face is that of a lion, but it has the arms of a man. And he’s clutching Keto. A beaten, bloody Keto.
I swear I see red. I leap toward the god, and the waves smack me back against the shore.
The god laughs. “None of that now, gargoyle. I never promised what condition I’d bring her back in.”
Steven growls low in his throat. “We’re going to kill you for this.”
He tilts his head, that creepy grin of his widening. “Oh, if only such a thing was so easy.”
The creature approaches the shore, and Arthur is there in an instant, taking Keto from his arms. Blood still runs from the gashes around the collar on her neck. And she doesn’t move, other than the unsteady rising and falling of her chest.
“You have what you want now,” the god says. “Now the dragons’ powers…”
I give a sharp nod, clenching the hilt of my sword harder.
Three naked men emerge from the water, and I’d know the dragons anywhere. Rage swells from their flesh, and their eyes spin both silver and gold.
The god lifts a little cage with a golden fish creature inside, and gold sweeps across us. It tears within my chest and it feels as if they’re pulling an organ straight from my body. I can’t catch my breath. The pain is excruciating.
And then it ends, and I crumble to my knees.
I don’t even have the strength to lift my sword. And as I watch, the men change, shifting and growing until three dragons lift their heads above the water.
My gaze swims as I turn toward my Brothers. We’re all on our knees. Keto has tumbled from Arthur’s grip, partially in the water, partially hanging out of it. Her eyes are open now, but her mouth remains open, as if in a silent scream.
I want to reach out to her. I want to touch her. But when I try to move, I only tumble over, unable to move.
Clark is beside me in an instant, lifting me beneath his shoulder and righting me. Then, he takes my sword.
“Now, go!” he commands the god and his dragons. “You have your powers back!”
Keto’s brother ignores us, turning instead to the dragons. “I have done what was asked of me.”
The white dragon growls, a sound that vibrates through my chest. “You are now allowed in our seas.” His gaze swings back to us. “And now we will have our revenge.”
The god laughs. “As was our deal.”
“No, our deal—” Clark begins.
“Was that I wouldn’t harm you or your gargoyle friends,” the god says. “I never said a word about what the dragons could do to you.”
“I’m going to kill you!” Clark shouts.
The god laughs. “I think one of us is going to die today, but it won’t be me.”
Clark’s skin shifts to grey and wings sprout on his back. He moves as if he plans to fight the bastard, but a dragon’s head shoots towards him.
His sword darts out, slashing the white dragon’s muzzle. It rears back.
“That was a mistake, gargoyle!” he roars, and the ground beneath us shakes.
I try again to rise, but my knees buckle before I can. Beside me, I see Steven and Max struggling, but neither one of them can lift their sword arm.
I can’t even shift into my stone-form.
For the first time in my life, I think I’m actually going to die.
There’s no way out of this situation. It's one gargoyle against four sea dragons. The rest of us lie here useless.
In that moment, I make a decision. Falling to my side, I reach out and touch Keto’s face.
She’s shaking, her entire body wracked with the uncontrollable movements of a person in more pain than their body can process.
Tears leak from her eyes. She doesn’t speak, but I can still sense something beneath her surface.
She wants to fight. She wants to live.
I admire her for that.
If I’m going to die, I want it to be looking at her, touching her. The waves wash over us as we lie on the shore. I can hear Clark shouting. I can hear his blade striking. I can hear his cries of pain. But I don’t want to watch. There’s nothing I can do now.
And then, something changes in the air.
Something I don’t understand.
Turning my head slightly, I look toward the water.
Around the sea dragons, one monster after another emerges from the waves.
I watch as they come forward. First the baby hydra, then the glowing beast who healed Steven.
One that looks like something sharp and poisonous.
One with a dozen dark heads. More and more of the creatures emerge from the depths of the waters until they spread out in every direction.
The white dragon’s head jerks toward Keto’s brother. “Tell them to stop.”
Her brother’s eyes are wide. “I can’t. They're under her control.”
“Make her stop them, then.”
A sound like a powerful hissing comes. It’s from a massive creature who rises higher and higher, its long neck large enough to circle all the dragons and yank them from the waters.
It stares down at all of them, dripping water.
“Our Mother can tell us to stop, but we won’t obey.
She is a goddess. She is a queen. And she has bowed to unworthy wretches like you for far too long. ”
I can sense the dragons are afraid. Hell, I’m afraid.
“We’ll leave,” the white dragon whispers.
“I was already done,” Keto’s brother said, backing to hide behind his lion-headed minion.
The giant snake creature flashes its teeth. “Too late.”
I’ve never imagined the sound of dragons screaming, but I hear the sound now. As the beasts launch themselves at them and Keto’s brother, there is no escape. There’s only a pool of blood that darkens the sea. There’s only the sound of screaming, bones cracking, and then silence.
Utter silence.
When I look at Keto, she’s smiling.
The many monstrous beings move toward the shore. They touch her, nudge her, and then move back so that the glowing beast can place its tentacles on her.
Her lips are cracked and bleeding, her cheeks covered in deep slashes, but her raspy voice comes. “I called them. And I knew they’d come.” Her gaze connects with mine. “I needed to protect all of you. This was all… my fault.”
Her head lolls to the side and her breathing stops.