Chapter 18 – Empusa
EMPUSA
My eyes flash open, and I’m instantly on alert.
I look down and find my hands bound by chains that are tied to the wall of the cave I’m in.
My throat instantly closes up, and my heart races.
I’m prey again. The thought comes in an instant, and as much as I try to push it away, I know that it’s true. I’ve been a prisoner before.
And I guess I am again.
But when I see my baby bump, my disbelief turns to rage. I will not allow my baby to be born in a cell. I will not become my mother, fighting for a child with few options. The first chance I get, I will kill my captor, and my baby and I will be free.
“You’re awake.”
My gaze goes to the fire in a pit in the cave. Ceuthonymus seems to meld out of the fire, standing before me in his natural form. His skin is as dark as tar and has pockets that ooze out more of the tarlike substance. His eyes move like lava, and his lips are curled into a smile.
Every instinct I possess says to run, but my chains prevent me. This monster is insane. He leaves nothing but death and charred bodies in his wake...and I’d pissed him off. The only possible reason for him to take me is to kill me, slowly, to make a point to his other enemies.
“Cat got your tongue?” he asks, followed by an unpleasant chortle.
“Don’t worry, that often happens when people are around me.
” He shifts to the side and kicks something, rolling it closer to the fire.
A gasp slips past my lips when I see the dead man.
“This guy wasn’t the least bit chatty before I killed him and took his body. ”
Fucking hell.
“But in all honestly, I expected different from you. You, daughter of Hecate, never seemed to be the type to fear anyone or anything, including me.”
I stare at him and try not to fear for my baby as I speak. “So what is it that you want from me?”
That creepy grin of his is back. “Why, Empusa, I just want to get to know you. I want to spend time with you. And eventually, I think you and I might even be able to work together.”
“Work together?” My words drip with disbelief.
“Of course. We’re both killers, after all.”
My back stiffens. “I’m not a killer. I am a protector. I protect the world from the monsters that seek to hurt innocents.”
“Even though you yourself are a monster?” he asks, lifting a brow.
“Yes. I might be a monster, but I don’t act like a monster. Not like you.”
“Not yet,” he says, moving closer to me.
I pull back, not because I’m scared, but because I don’t want my baby anywhere near him.
He doesn’t seem to notice or care. He kneels down in front of me, too close, but I can’t get any further away. “Empusa, you don’t understand. You’re important to me.”
I feel sick. If he moves closer, maybe I could reach him with my claws, but it wouldn’t do more than piss him off, and then my baby and I would be dead. “You want to get to know me as your next victim?”
“No.” His gaze is cold as it rakes over me. “As my only child.”
Only child. The words roll through my mind. “No, you’re not…you can’t be.”
He actually looks surprised. “Your mother never told you? Of course, she didn’t. She always fought me when Hades gave her to me. She never understood how lucky she was that I wanted her more than I wanted her dead.”
His words make me sick. I want to hurl. Actually, I think I just might.
“But even if she didn’t tell you, you had to have noticed. We are creatures of fire, you and I. Creatures of blood and violence. From the fire in your hair and your eyes, to the lava beneath your skin, you are my flesh and blood.”
I lift my head, rage flowing through me. This is the demon that hurt my mother. This is the demon who forced himself on an imprisoned woman. We might both have fire in our blood, but we are not the same. “When I get free, I’m going to kill you.”
Anger flashes in his eyes. “Be reasonable.”
“Look at me. I am being reasonable. If I kill you quickly, that’s the only kindness you’ll receive from me.”
“You mean that,” he says, steepling his fingers. “Then, I guess it’s onto Plan B.”
“What the hell is Plan B?” I ask, tugging at my chains. I realize there’s no chance that I’ll snap the thick metal and then be able to snap his neck before he stops me.
He nods toward my belly. “I start over with my grandchild. I raise him the way that I wish I would’ve been able to raise you, and then I’ll have a true partner.”
There’s nothing in this world he could have said that would’ve been worse.
“You’re not coming anywhere near my baby.”
He laughs. “Don’t worry, I know the baby isn’t done cooking. I won’t be forcing him out of you yet. But I do intend to keep you here until he’s born and kill you slowly when I’m sure he’s able to survive.”
I feel sick. “I’m never going to let that happen.”
He leans closer, so close I can feel his hot breath on my face. “I don’t think you have a choice.”
To my shock, he leans closer to me, reaching for my belly.
I react without thinking, my nails elongating, and I slash him across the throat.
His eyes widen, and he falls backwards, away from me.
He scrambles on his back, then tumbles into the fire.
He grasps at his throat as black blood oozes out of it, and then he lifts his hands.
The fire burns higher, consuming him in flames, and I fight against my chains, willing them to break free from the cave wall.
I yank my hands over and over with all my might, but the chain remains anchored into the wall.
And then, the fire dies down, and Ceuthonymus lets his hands drop. His throat…it’s no longer injured.
“That was a mistake, Empusa,” he says, and his voice takes on a harsh note that makes my blood run cold. “I was going to let my grandbaby cook, but maybe he’s already ready to be done with your husk of a body.”
“No.” There’s desperation in the word. “If you take my baby now, he’ll die.”
“Or, he’ll live,” he says, shrugging. “Either way, I win.”
He climbs out of the fire and comes toward me. I back up until I hit the wall, and then I keep yanking on the chains, my pulse racing, fear making every hair on my body stand on end.
When he gets close enough, I attack. But this time, he expects it. My claws slash out, and he knocks my hand away, unhurt, and punches me in the face. I smash back against the wall, and feel blood both on the back of my head and coming from my cheek.
Still, I slash out at him again, and another fist pounds into my face.
The world goes back, and suddenly he’s got both my wrists in one hand.
His skin begins to heat, and then I’m screaming and screaming as he burns the flesh on my wrists.
His free hand reaches for my stomach, just above my belly, and I feel his claws sink into my skin, and my screaming takes on a more desperate note.
He draws those claws across the area between my stomach and breasts, and I feel a moment when his grip on my wrists loosens.
And, I attack again.
I kick him as hard as I can in the groin and wrench my hands free. I punch him hard in the nose and lava springs from one of his hands. I roll, watching the lava melt part of my chain, and then I yank on it, excitement roaring through me when the chain breaks at the melted spot.
Turning, I start running for the exit, when he tackles me.
I go crashing to the ground, just barely managing to put my hand out to keep my baby from being squished, and then he’s yanking me around to face him.
He climbs on top of me, blood running from his claws, and I look down to see blood soaking through my entire white shirt.
He levels his claws just above my child and says, “Now, it’s over.”
“No!” I scream.
He grins and runs his claws lightly along my belly, leaving marks across my skin. My heart is in my throat. My baby is there, not much further from where he’s hurting me, and Ceuthonymus will reach her. The demon laughs, then licks the blood from his claws.
“You’re losing a lot of blood, daughter. And being pregnant, you’re weakened. This might just be enough to do you in.”
“Get off of me,” I plead. And I hate myself for saying, “I’m your child. This is your grandchild. Maybe we need to start over.”
His claws go to my chest and then he digs them in as I scream and scream. His laughter fills the air and he digs deeper and deeper until I swear his claws have reached my heart. I feel my pulse slow. Colors explode in front of my eyes, and I know he’s going to tear my heart out of my chest.
And then Narath crashes into Ceuthonymus, rolling him off of me.
My head lolls to the side.
Narath is beating him and beating him, in his stone form, but then Ceuthonymus’s body glows golden, and Narath screams and leaps off of him.
Suddenly, Conley and Lucas are at my side, and Rokad is racing toward Narath.
They hold their swords out, pointing them at Ceuthonymus, but Ceuthonymus just laughs.
The bastard points his hand at my men, and lava flows from his fingertips.
I think, this is it, the moment he kills them, but then Conley throws himself between the lava and Rokad and Conley, and it’s like we all hold a breath as the lava flows over the phoenix. Ceuthonymus stops the flow, grinning, but the lava falls away…and Conley is left standing.
Ceuthonymus’s eyes widen, and Conley leaps onto him with his sword, stabbing the demon in the chest. Blood flows, but the demon doesn’t seem to notice or care. He punches Conley in the face, sending him flying back against the wall.
I’m scared. I try to crawl toward them to help, but the instant I move, my vision waivers, and I look down to see myself surrounded by blood.
Suddenly, I’m in Lucas’s arms. “We need to get you out of here.”
“No,” I protest.
What if they need us? What if they fail?
Lucas hesitates, and Narath and Rokad attack.
Their swords stab into the demon, but they have to constantly duck and move as he flings lava at them.
Conley is back on his feet in an instant, trying to weave around to get behind Ceuthonymus, but the demon is smart.
He grins, constantly moving, constantly avoiding their trap.
“They need you,” I whisper to Lucas. “Please don’t let him kill one of the men I love.”
Lucas holds me a little tighter, then sets me down near the wall of the cave entrance. He glances back at me, seemingly trying to keep me in his sight, with himself between Ceuthonymus and I, but I wish he wouldn’t. If Ceuthonymus walks away from this tonight, my child and I will never be safe.
It’s tonight, or we’ll never be safe.
Lava hits Narath’s shoulder, and he roars, rolling. His stone flesh has blackened, but I can’t tell if there’s any permanent damage. Ceuthonymus turns his lava onto Lucas, but Lucas throws his sword, and the tip goes straight through the demon’s forehead.
There’s half a second where we all seem to expect the demon to fall over. But he doesn’t. He straightens his head and grins, yanking the sword out. He tosses the sword onto the ground, then dives at Lucas and toward me.
But it’s the chance Conley needs. He stabs his sword into Ceuthonymus’s back, and Lucas screams beneath the demon as his heated flesh traps him between the creature and the earth. My father looks at me, a smile in his eyes, and I crawl forward and slash the bastard’s throat.
His eyes widen. He tries to speak, but no words come out.
Narath grabs him, rolling him off of Lucas, and then he plunges his sword into the demon over and over again.
Rokad moves around Narath with a calm anger I never imagined, and severs the demon’s head from his body.
The head rolls across the floor, and Lucas brings his sword down, cutting the head in half.
Rokad walks slowly toward the body and tosses the black dust on it with a cold look on his face. Conley grabs a stick from the fire, and the body explodes into flames. For one terrible moment I think the fire might bring the creature back, but he disappears, leaving behind nothing but ash.
I sag. It’s over.
All eyes turn toward me.
I don’t expect the way my body starts to shake and my teeth chatter. I look down at myself and see blood everywhere.
“The baby,” I whisper.
And my men are racing toward me.
“You’re okay,” Narath whispers, but he sounds terrified.
“We need to reach Leo,” I tell them, the words chattering together. “She can help me. I have her number in my phone.”
Rokad pulls me into his arms. “Okay, we will.”
The world tilts around me, and I feel like I’m falling. Falling down a drain I can’t escape.
“I think…I think I’m dying.”