Exoria (The God Chronicles #5) Read online

  “Like what?” Laughing shortly, I waited for him to answer, wishing once again I could call on the lightning powers I’d used to try and save Avalon. They had been out of my reach since I first used them, though, trapped behind the wall that had concealed them my entire life.

  Snorting, he rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, a defeated look flitting across his features so quickly I almost missed it. “Like the fact we’re both without the people we love. And the fact we’re both determined to get them back. Everyone thinks we fell in love with the enemy. I would say that we’re almost in exactly the same place, wouldn’t you?” He bent down, focusing on my eyes with his flaming gaze.

  “Avalon wasn’t working for the Titans.” I spoke softly, knowing if I pushed him too far he would leave and never come back. Leaving Tartarus would no longer be an option.

  “No, but she was one.” Laughing, he straightened, turning his back on me. “Katrina didn’t know what she was doing. She wanted to help her family. A stupid decision was made.” His voice grew progressively softer as he spoke, his hands balling into fists at his side. “I don’t know what they told you on Olympus, but she wasn’t a bad person. I seem to be the only one who remembers what she did for us at the end.” Pausing, he cleared his throat, seeming to calm down.

  Waiting for him to continue, I thought back to what I’d been told about Hades and the mortal he loved, Katrina. She’d been snuck into the Underworld disguised as Persephone by the Titans. Hades had blindly fallen in love with her, thinking she was his wife. In the end, she had betrayed him by stealing his helmet and giving it to Erebos, the Titan of darkness. She’d been killed in the first battle of the war, which caused Hades to flee with her remains. The Olympians had lost the fight and were still trying to gain that ground back because of his desertion. He had locked himself in his castle ever since, refusing to come out and fight in the war.

  “It’s been over twenty years,” he started again, turning to watch me. “And I know how to get her back, finally. But I need your help. If you do this for me, you’re free to leave here and go after your demi-Titan. Hell, I’ll even help you do it, if that’s what you want.”

  “I’ll do it.” Replying without even thinking, I swallowed hard. It didn’t matter what it was. Hades was a man of his word. If he said I could go, I would indeed leave this place. Avalon was worth whatever price he wanted me to pay.

  Staring for a moment, as if surprised by my hasty answer, his face went completely blank. Finally, he nodded once. “Good. We have a lot of work to do.”

  With another flick, the chains that held me captive went away, my arms collapsing back to my sides. I hadn’t realized what a relief it would be to not be chained, stretched wide and vulnerable. Grunting, I shoved to my feet, not sure what exactly Hades had planned.

  Following after my estranged uncle, I looked around Tartarus, never having really seen the inside of it, except for when I’d been brought for my own imprisonment. The cells were carved out of the rock wall, fire licking around the edges and making up the door to each space. Some cells had other reinforcements, like extra guards, or charms meant to keep the tenants sequestered in their forever homes.

  Suddenly, a whip of fire cracked across my face, stinging my eyes. Crying out, I ducked down, desperately grabbing at my burned face in shock and anger.

  “What the hell?” I yelled, blinking furiously.

  Instead of answering, Hades brought the whip down across my back, striding forward with murder in his every movement.

  “Get up!” he roared. “Fight me!”

  “I don’t have any weapons!” Bewildered, I tried to think of why he would want to fight. Was it payback for something my father had done? Was there no deal—just this fight that he wanted for some reason?

  “You are weak without Zeus’s sword and it is no longer an option for you to have. What are you going to do, now that you don’t have a magical weapon to defeat me with?”

  The whip came flying by me again, but I had enough sense to roll out of the way this time. Some of the beasts in the cells were watching with interest now, openly laughing and clapping as Hades continued to assault me.

  “You’re the great Adrastia everyone was talking about? Are you kidding?” Venom filled his voice as he continued to speak. “The Avenger? Protector of Olympus? Hero?”

  “Enough!” Shoving my arms against the ground, I hurried to my feet, raising my fists. “If you want to fight me, then so be it!”

  Chapter Two

  Cristos

  Enraged, I shot across the space, a battle cry on my lips, and knocked full into Hades. Instead of sprawling to the ground as I’d expected, he remained still, as if I hadn’t even touched him. It was like I’d run into a brick wall, every muscle in my body screaming out at the sudden halt in movement.

  Before I knew what was happening, hot fire whip wrapped around my ankle and jerked my feet out from under me.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that, Cristos.” His tone was back to that of someone who didn’t really care about what was going on. It was as if he were sipping tea by the fire, not laying me full out on the ground and watching me try to catch the breath that had been knocked from me.

  To add insult to injury, the beasts and monsters were cheering him on, watching as he beat me like an old punching bag. It felt like one of my ribs had cracked as well, and I glared at the ceiling, wondering what the hell was happening. I knew how to fight! I’d sent most of the creatures held here to their cells personally. Why was it like I’d never even made a fist before?

  Hades turned his back on me, his footsteps slow as he put a little space between us. “Perhaps I was mistaken in thinking you could help me.”

  Huffing a short, hot breath through my nose, I got to my feet once more, determined to win whatever this crazy fight was. It didn’t seem like he really wanted to kill me. Was it to embarrass me, then? To show me that I was still under his rule while I was here?

  It dawned on me then—a memory of my training with Zeus. He had attacked me in much the same way, demanding that I fight back to prove myself. I’d been terribly angry with him; the whole of Olympus had somehow managed to turn up that day and watch. Frustration and annoyance had clouded my better judgment, causing me to forget almost all of my training. In the end, I’d managed to win, but only after resorting to dirty tricks. Zeus had probably felt bad and let me have the match, after the fool I’d made of myself. It was a turning point in my life and the day I’d dedicated myself to being the best warrior I could be.

  Turning to look at me over his shoulder, Hades seemed to hold that same kind of stance, the one that displayed his dominance over me and challenged me to make him step down. He wouldn’t take mercy on me as my father had, though. If I wanted to win this fight, I was going to have to use everything I had and prove I could do it.

  With the knowledge of what this actually was now lodged firmly in my mind, I clenched my hands and then let them relax, releasing a long cleansing breath helping to ease my frustration. Stepping to the side, I began making a large circle, Hades matching my movement as we moved around the space together.

  “Good,” he muttered, smiling slightly. The fire whip in his hands crackled, dragging through the dirt behind him, the sight of it bringing the sting of the burns on my face and back to the front of my mind.

  Growling slightly, I pushed away my anger at having been burned and took another deep breath. The powers I’d used as Adrastia slowly flowed from me, bringing the room into sharper contrast. They manifested as colors in the air, trails I could use to track whomever and whatever I wanted.

  The air around Hades became a murky black color, trailing behind him, marking every spot he’d been. Unsurprisingly, he’d covered every inch of the ground here, but the trail was old. He hadn’t been here in over two decades and the traces he’d left were weak. The spots he’d touched today were a brighter black, standing out like a sore thumb.

  Smiling to myself, I contin
ued to circle, happy to take as much time as he would let me have. There were other traces here, from the creatures in the cells and the guards that worked here. Tartarus itself had a hue, though, shining out from the walls and revealing the space to me in a way that I never could have realized without the hunting powers I’d been born into.

  With the whole area laid out for me, I halted, ready to attack for real this time. Hades was right—I had no weapon. That meant I would have to try and level the playing field by getting the whip away from him. At this point, I didn’t even know if that was possible, but I would try.

  I’d been in worse fights before.

  “Are you going to stand there all day, or are we going to get this over with?” He was goading me, trying to push me back into anger, but it wouldn’t work this time.

  Grinning, I reacted quickly, leaping across the space and knocking into him once more. This time, however, I caught him off guard and he stumbled, falling to one knee.

  It was all the leeway I needed.

  Balling my hand into a first, I let some of my anger towards him slide into the punch, knuckles pounding against his face with a force even Zeus would have been proud of. Blood spattered from his mouth and he fell back even further, barley getting his hand down in time to keep from falling all the way over.

  Quickly, I brought my knee up, smashing it against his chin. Following the movement through, I kicked out with the same leg, crushing against his chest and sending him sprawling across the ground.

  Not wasting any time, I jumped on top of him again, pounding my fists into face and sides, refusing to relent as he squirmed underneath me. Finally, he released the whip, his free hand now catching my fist as I made another attempt at his jaw.

  Swollen eyes glared at me, his grip tightening on my hand quickly. Suddenly, there were flames licking my skin and I yelped, flinging myself off him as I jerked away from his touch.

  Standing, Hades spit blood out of his mouth, wiping a few drops from his nose as well. “Not bad,” he stated, smiling a little. “But not enough.”

  In an instant, the fire whip was back, hurtling toward me with a vengeance. Rolling once more, I tried to get my feet underneath me. Hot flames burned a stripe across my shoulder, searing my skin so badly that blisters instantly formed.

  Crying out, I ignored the cheers from the cells around me, tripping as I got to my feet. Looking back, I could see that Hades had now conjured a sword as well, the metal glinting brightly. Frustration and panic tried to claim my main focus once more, but I refused. There had to be a way to beat him. That’s what he wanted, wasn’t it?

  “You have no sword,” he said again, advancing quickly. “No weapon. Where are your powers that would save you? Where is your lightning?”

  Lunging forward, he hacked at me with the blade, missing as I dodged to one side. As soon as I was out of the dagger’s reach, he cracked the whip down, the tip catching me in the eye once more.

  Stumbling, I knew he was right. There was nothing I could use or call on to help me. No prayer I could offer to the gods who now distained me. No friend to help me in the fight. It was just me.

  I wasn’t enough.

  The whip cracked again, sliding around my neck and jerking me to the ground. Half blind, I scratched at the choker, not even caring that I was being burned to a crisp. Panic was overtaking me now. If I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t save Avalon. My name would never be redeemed. I was destined to spend an eternity locked in Tartarus, living with the knowledge that I wasn’t good enough for those who needed me. Hades said he needed me and then proved I couldn’t do what he wanted, simply by beating me in a sparring match. He’d humiliated me in front of every being I’d ever put away, every guard who’d stood watch at the prison, and every person who might have been hoping that I would somehow return.

  Crazed, I struck out with my fists, swiping at the air as I pulled back on the whip, inching slowly across the ground. It was unclear if I was pulling Hades along, or if he was letting me slither away, like some pitiful slug. Either way, I needed to gain some kind of ground. The wall was only a few feet away; if I could reach it, I might be able to use it to push off of, loosening the grip Hades had around my neck.

  Finally, I touched the stones, pulling myself up off the floor. Little white lights were filling my vision as my lungs screamed for air, my throat crying for relief from the flames that ate it. Turning, I glared at my uncle, tensing my muscles to pounce again.

  Unfortunately, Hades guessed I was about to make a jump toward him again. Before I could even blink, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the black trail he left suddenly fizzling into a small line. There wasn’t even a chance for me to try and follow it before he had appeared directly in front of me again, the hilt of his sword cracking against the side of my head.

  Falling to my knees, I struggled to stay conscious, the room spinning around me. It was stunningly silent, as if we were completely alone. The only sound was that of the fire burning around me and Hades’s shout as he drew his arm back.

  His fist crushed against my face repeatedly, blood dripping from my nose and mouth, the flames still strangling the life out of me. Each breath felt like it might be my last. The eye that hadn’t been burned began to swell shut. Between the beating and my own self-loathing, I finally began to wish he would just end me and be done with it.

  “Just do it!” I finally got out, spitting blood from my mouth. “Get it over with!”

  The attack halted, fire dissipating, and I sucked in a long breath, crumbling the rest of the way down. Every muscle was shaking, my blindness mocking me, and the quietness of the room bearing down on me.

  A hand gently touched my shoulder, grabbing around my arm and helping me to my feet. “You are giving up?” Hades asked.

  “What’s the point? I have nothing to fight back with. You’re going to kill me anyway.” Racing at what felt like a million miles a minute, my heart pounded in my chest. It hurt to even breath, my throat raw and bloody.

  “I won’t kill you,” he replied simply. “But the Titans will. Until you can beat me in a fight, you won’t stand a chance against them, no matter how many times you bested them with Daddy’s sword.” Gesturing to the cells around us, he took a deep breath. “You are the great Adrastia that sent them here, and even they are silent in your defeat. All you have done today is show them that you can be beaten, so badly that even monsters feel sorry for you.”

  Huffing in annoyance, his words doing nothing but inciting more rage toward him inside me, I grimaced. He was right. The beasts weren’t cheering. In fact, they had turned away, as if they were ashamed to look at me now. Truthfully, I didn’t blame them. If I had been bested by someone beaten as badly as I’d just been, I’d be ashamed of myself as well.

  “Adrastia is dead,” I replied bitterly. “It’s only a name I carried when I was the Avenger of Olympus. The gods want nothing to do with me now. There’s no point in carrying the title any longer, not until I can redeem myself in their eyes.”

  “Adrastia needs to mean something different now,” he replied, disagreeing. “The name evolves as you do. Adrastia originally brought justice to those who thought they were better than the gods. You may not be the Avenger any longer, but you are still Adrastia.”

  “And how do you propose I discover what the new meaning should be?” Exhaustion was quickly taking over, my wounds badly in need of treatment. It didn’t exactly feel like the time to be working out word problems with Hades.

  “You need to discover who you are as a fighter, not who Zeus trained you to be.”

  Laughing, I grabbed my ribs in pain with my free hand. “And you beating me almost to death is going to help me do that?”

  “Yes. By the time I’m done with you, not only will you be able to lay Zeus himself out like I just did to you, but you’ll be a force the universe itself can’t stop.”

  Pausing in my anger and pain, I struggled to open my eyes enough to look at him. All I got was a blurry form of him, my face
too damaged to even see straight. “Like a boot camp, you mean? We fight every day like this until I can beat you?”

  “No. We fight like this every day until you can strike me with those lightning powers you have locked inside you.”

  Chapter Three

  Hades

  The blood dripped out of her mouth, rolling easily down her chin, the muddy red color of it staining her farm tanned skin. Like rain drops, it bubbled up from inside her, cascading down her slender neck and mixing with the carnage that gurgled out of her chest. The metal that had been shoved through her seemed to shine in the light, each blade almost repelling the gore, their silver edges instantly shedding the filth.

  “Hades,” her voice whispered. “Why didn’t you save me?”

  My gaze turned to her eyes, their brown warmth filled with surprise and hurt. Heart sputtering, I tried to find the words to explain to her, to convince myself I had done everything I could.

  But the words wouldn’t come.

  Tears rimmed my eyes and I swallowed hard, my stare returning to the hole in her chest. “Katrina.” My voice was barely audible to even myself. The sound of it shocked me some, and my brain finally kicked into action, directing my attention back to her face.

  It was too late, though. Her lifeless body stared back at me, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

  Jerking awake, I bolted upright in bed, chest heaving as the last remnants of the nightmare flitted out of my mind. It felt like the black satin sheets were suffocating me, twisted around my body like a vice, and I struggled to release myself from them, halfway falling from the bed as I sought the cool relief and comfort of the marble floor.