25. Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Theron
T heron sat in the cavernous battle chamber, his back resting against the cold stone wall. He welcomed the chilly air of the dungeon, despite there being no monster to fight.
Why did I tell her I had to train?
His face fell into his hands.
Why did I kiss her?
But he knew the answer.
He desperately wanted to.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the fullness of her lips and how they felt on his. The way she tasted. The way she made his body ache, or how she made him go crazy inside.
He let out a calculated breath and rested against the wall.
“Correlia . . .”
The warm thoughts of her turned cold when he remembered the fear on her face. The way she’d shaken uncontrollably in his arms after he’d pulled her from the river. The panic he’d felt when she was sucked beneath the surface.
He thought he’d lost her.
The moment he saw those claws latch onto her.
Those claws.
“Isn’t there any way?” Theron cried to the withered soul.
He tried shaking the memory away, but it was burned in his mind.
“I’m afraid not. Just be happy you were chosen to be one of the greats.” The soul slunk away, dipping back into the bottomless pool.
He thought he’d erased that memory—pushed it into the deepest recesses of his mind.
He crouched down. He wanted to sink, too. Far, far away. Into complete nothingness.
No matter how much he wished it, he could never forget that day.
“This can’t be it,” he screamed at the creature.He couldn’t believe there was no way out of this. That death couldn’t come to its god. The creature popped her head back out of the neon river and nodded, a sinister smile stretched across her hollow cheeks. “I’m sorry, child, but it’s the truth.”
“It can’t be.”
The creature started back into the pool when Theron grabbed her arm and whipped it up, his arm burning from the acidic water. He saw something in the soul’s face that made him despise this life even more. This mangled, eye-less creature was somehow staring at him with pity. With those empty sockets facing his reddened eyes.
Finally, milky eyes appeared in the sockets as she honed in on the wounds lashed across his face and the cuts on his arms. “I’m sorry, boy, but you’re stuck here. Gods can’t die so easily. Especially you.”
“But—”
“Just be grateful you’re one of the greats,” the creature said again, and then she vanished into the Kokytus River.
Theron was left alone again.
It had only been a year since he was sent here, and already he wanted to die.
“What if I don’t want to be one of the greats?” he whimpered, collapsing onto the freezing ground. He curled his body into a tight knot, tensing it until he felt nothing. Nothing and everything. His body was no longer in pain, but the emotions thrashing inside him were growing. They were too intense. He couldn’t take it.
He dug his fingernails into his skin.
He needed the pain to go away.
He needed relief.
Because he didn’t want to be here at all.
Theron shook his head and got to his feet. Enough of that. He left the dungeon and searched for one of his minions. The past only drags you down. When one of the familiar creatures was in view, he called after it. “You! Put a monster in the chamber. I need to train.”
“Yes, sire,” it said and fled down the corridor.
Theron stood there, frozen in place as he remembered the withered soul. That creature in the river who had swum with all the others. The female demon who wanted every soul to be sucked into the neon river’s depths but his. He tried not to think of it. There was no use dwelling on the past.
But then he remembered that second creature. The one that had slithered from the cavern that day. The one that had come from the other side of the river.
“I can take you somewhere,” it said. “Somewhere you can forget.” It was a vulture with a blue, pointed beak, thick bones, and a corpse-like pallor. Its eyes were the same milky white as the Kokytus creature’s disappearing ones.
“Somewhere I can forget?”
It nodded.“Another river. The one by the cave of Hypnos.”
Theron frowned. “Hypnos?”
“You have never heard of the great Hypnos?”
He shook his head, but he was still numb inside. He didn’t care what this creature thought of him or what lay ahead, or anything at all.
“He is the Great Deity of Slumber. I can take you to his river. There, you can forget everything.”
The offer was tempting. The chance to lose the memories behind every scar could relieve part of his suffering, but even so, it wouldn’t do any good. If he forgot everything, he’d have to continue on anyway, only without the memory of his training. The pain would be even worse, the punishments more severe. The time in that room would multiply.
It would only cause more pain.
“No,” he finally said to the creature. “Forgetting will make me weak.”
He got to his feet and ran as fast as he could to his room before he could change his mind. He ran until his lungs stung. If he was late to his next post, Thanatos would have his head, and then it would get sewn back on his body and he’d have to keep going, in even more pain than before.
‘I need to grow up,’ he thought. ‘I need to become Hades. When I take the throne, no one can hurt me anymore.’
“I’ll be feared by everyone,” he whispered to himself with a grin. “Even Nikias.”
He made the final turn to his room, but the sight of the blonde-headed boy made him freeze. Next to him were three other teens. Demons, but teenaged ones. Just like them. They all shared identical sneers.
“Well, well, well. Look who wasn’t at his post,” the boy said.
Theron’s stomach soured.
Nikias stepped forward, his mouth curled into an impish smile. “Wait until I tell Master.”
“Only weaklings need to cower behind others,” he growled.
The demons around the boy cackled. Nikias stepped closer. The foes were the same height, both just as skinny, too, but there was something especially sinister about the blonde. Something he kept hidden behind his obnoxious composure.
He pushed the dark-haired boy into the wall. The shock of the blow made Theron trip and bash his head hard against the ground. Nikias and the others laughed. Theron’s blood boiled. He got up and screamed, lunging at the other boy, pummeling him in the face. He knocked the blonde over and sat on him, punching his face over and over until blood spilled from Nikias’s nose.
“I’m telling Master!” Nikias squealed, his voice breaking. He pushed against Theron’s chest, but the god wouldn’t back down.
Theron punched him harder and harder, not letting himself think about the punishment until after the two demons fled and came back with one of Thanatos’s henchmen. The adult pulled Theron off his peer and tossed him against the wall.
“Come, boy,” the henchman growled. “We’re going to Thanatos.” He snatched the dark-haired boy by the arm and led him to the throne room. The last thing Theron saw before he was taken to his master was Nikias’s grin as he wiped the blood off his smackable face.
“Have fun in your playpen,” the blonde said with a laugh.
Theron scowled and gave him a vulgar hand gesture before the henchman whirled him back around. The rest of the way to the throne room was agonizing, and as soon as he was brought before Thanatos, his master walked forward and struck him across the face.
“You will never be the great Hades if you let words affect you enough to attack your men,” he shouted. He took the boy by the shirt and tossed him back toward the hallway. “You know your way.”
Theron nodded and fought back tears as he walked to the room. The henchman stayed close behind so the boy wouldn’t be found anywhere other than that palace of nightmares.
His hand shook as he opened the door, but he stayed strong. He thought about Nikias, and he thought about his plan.
‘I’ll be Hades one day. And then you’ll be sorry. Everyone will be.’
“Sire?”
Theron jumped at the voice of his servant, his heart still pounding from the surfaced memory. “Yes? What is it?”
Its hunched frame bowed when it met his eyes. “The beast will be here shortly. Your sword will be fetched from your room.”
“All right,” he said, but as the demon turned, Theron’s eyes widened.
Correlia .
“No! Wait! I’ll fetch it myself!”
“But, sire—”
“I said I’ll fetch it myself!”
The creature bowed. “As you wish.”
He raked a hand through his hair and pushed past the demon to make it back to his chambers. His heart raced even faster as he thought of Correlia. About her delicate body, and the fire in her eyes. Of the way she tasted when he kissed her.
His face reddened, and he wondered how he was going to face her when he opened the door. But when he did, he found her standing in a fighting stance in the middle of his room.
He lunged forward and prepared to fight whatever was there. She burst into laughter. “What are you doing?”
He frantically scanned the room, but no one else was there. “I thought you were in trouble.”
She laughed again. “No, I’m just practicing.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Practicing fighting?”
“Yes, what else? I told you I don’t just grow flowers.”
“I didn’t think you—” He spotted his sword and remembered he needed to hurry. “Well, you can have fun practicing in here to your heart’s content. Just don’t make any noise.”
He picked up his sword and started to leave when she said, “Wait! Can I come with you?”
His eyes widened. “No!”
“Come on! I’m stronger than I look.”
“ No .”
She scowled. “I’m coming whether you like it or not.”
He paused. “Fine. Just . . . be careful.” The tips of his ears warmed. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She flashed him a grin. “You care about me,” she teased.
His face instantly went white-hot. “No, I don’t! I just don’t want—” He stopped and closed his eyes. He pondered before saying it, but he didn’t let himself think too hard about it before he blurted it out. “Fine. I do care about you. Happy?” When he opened his eyes, she wasn’t smiling anymore, and panic flooded through him. “I-I mean—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head slowly and walking toward him.
“No?”
“I mean . . . I don’t want you to take it back.” She was close to him now, looking straight up at him with those mystical eyes and long, curled eyelashes. “I care about you, too,” she whispered, pink rising along her cheekbones. “But I want to train with you. So let me. I’ll be careful.”
Her lips formed a small pout, and he couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing her again. A short but needful kiss. Her eyes were wide when he pulled away.
“Put this on and be quiet as you follow me,” he said quickly, taking off his cloak and draping it over her shoulders.
A shade of pink swept across the freckles on her nose as she nodded, but she didn’t say another word.
He smiled. “I didn’t know I could make you so flustered.”
She shot him a glare. “Let’s just go,” but as she walked past him into the labyrinth, he could see the corner of her mouth turn up into a smile.
Corre
Corre watched him strike down yet another monster, but this one was small compared to the last one. It was a mix between a lion and some kind of horned, shape-shifting feline. It didn’t take him long before the creature was dead on the floor. Maybe it was because he was putting more effort into it. He wielded his sword with even more precision than she’d seen earlier that day, but he’d ultimately killed it with some unseen power.
She couldn’t help but feel like the added effort was for her benefit, which made that same butterfly sensation extend to her chest.
When he turned around, she clapped. “Bravo!”
“Ts,” he said as he kicked the sword to the side of the wall. “It was nothing.”
“It did look like nothing for you. It was effortless. You’re very good.” She smiled up at him, but he turned away, shifting uncomfortably. She frowned. “What?”
“What?” he said, almost defensively.
She searched the trace of discomfort in his eyes, deciphering his reaction. “Are you not used to compliments?”
He looked down and kicked a rock. She took his silence as a ‘no’ and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
He looked at her with surprise, and she winked. “We’ll work on that.”
His gaze returned to the ground. “You liked the fight?”
“I did.” She smiled. “It put up quite a fight, but . . . How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That power.” She lifted her hands and made the face he’d used to take down the beast.
He threw his head back in laughter.
“What?” she said, her smile widening.
“Your face. Do I really look like that?”
“You do!” She made the face again, and he laughed.
“I do not.” He bit down a smile, and she giggled.
“Show me,” she said, nudging him playfully.
“My face?”
“No!” She laughed. “How you do that!”
“My power?”
“Yes!”
He inched closer and looked into her eyes. “You have to focus. Really focus, and then get into the other person’s thoughts. Feel out their senses until you can envision what’s in their mind.” He lifted his hand to show her, but he was still smiling.
“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”
“I am being serious, but it’s a lot harder than it looks, and it would take more than me telling you how it works to teach you how to do it.”
She gasped in delight. “You’ll teach me how to do it?”
Regret flashed across his face. “What?”
“If you teach me, I’ll teach you how I fight.”
He bit his bottom lip, tucking in a smile. “Is that so?”
“Hey, you don’t know my moves.”
He laughed. “And what moves are those?”
She took a step back, stood in her regular fighting stance with her arms propped up, and then kicked in the air, twirling swiftly, and then ending it facing him in the other direction. He clapped with an exaggerated impressed look on his face.
She straightened. “Ha ha,” She rolled her eyes, smiling. “You don’t have to act impressed.”
“I am impressed!”
“Whatever!” she said with a laugh, heat rising up her cheeks again. “If mine is so lame, then why don’t you show me how you would do it?”
“I never said it was lame,” he said, walking behind her, “but I would do it like this.” He pressed his body against her back and slid his hands down her arms, repositioning them to be higher and at a slightly different angle. “There. Now, move your legs a bit.”
She shifted forward, but it was hard to focus with her heart pounding at the way his body felt against hers. “Like this?”
“Yeah, there you go.”
She whipped around with her new stance. “How do I look?”
He smiled. “Beautiful.”
Something tugged in her chest, and her stomach fluttered. He took a slow step forward.
“Are you sure?”
“You’re perfect,” he said softly, and his body pressed softly against hers.
Her lips parted, and she moved her hands up his arms. She tried to think of something to say but couldn’t find her voice. She watched her fingertips trail along the perfectly sculpted muscles on his arms before looking back up. When her eyes locked back on his, he grabbed her face and kissed her.
The moment she tasted his lips, her body sparked to life. Her mind hazed as the blood rushed through her veins in fiery waves. She pushed into him, kissing him deeply.
This kiss was different than the last. It was urgent and beautifully intense. She was addicted to every movement of his lips and brush of his tongue. When she pushed herself into him even more, he staggered back, his back pressing into a wall. Her heart thumped wildly against his. He grabbed her wrists and whipped her around, pinning her to the wall. Excitement surged through her. His hands rushed up her sides and grasped the back of her neck. The fire in her veins continued its delicious rage as she melted into his touch.
She was delighted by this newfound discovery. This pandora’s box of sensations. She’d never known such feelings existed. It was like lightning rushing through her body, sparking through her blood and warming every muscle and nerve.
His hands made their way to the small of her back, and he pulled her up into his arms. With her body lifted against his, she let her legs wrap around his waist. Her face was higher than his now, and she kissed him even deeper as her hair fell around him. He released his lips from hers and kissed her cheek, trailing down her neck. She forgot to breathe when he kissed beneath her ear and down to her collarbone. When his lips made it just above her chest, he licked up to her mouth, and she thought her soul had left her body completely.
She slid back to the ground and grabbed him hungrily, kissing him with everything in her. He sunk his kiss deeper into her, sucking on her bottom lip and trailing his tongue across hers. She never wanted this to end. She never wanted to be released from this spell.
She wanted him to ignite this fire in her blood forever.
“We should go back to my room,” he said, kissing her slowly one more time.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly. “But you’ll need to take me there.”
He smiled and kissed her again. “As you wish.”