Chosen, p.17
Chosen, page 17
It was madness.
“Step away,” Ryker said, addressing the crowd. “Let him speak.”
Henry stopped at the raised dais and looked at Ryker. “Ares speaks the truth. War is heading your way.”
“We’re aware of that.” Though his voice was calm, the stiffness in Ryker’s body suggested he was anything but. “But which side of it are you on?”
Ares moved to stand beside Henry. His gaze on Ryker, he said, “He is on mine. On ours.”
Certain she was as white as the marble tabletop, Kyana was only able to emit a hoarse croak.
“What’s going on, Ares?” Geoffrey demanded.
“Henry is the one who informed me of Cronos’s approach.”
As he folded his arms over his chest, Zeus’s ice blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. “And you believed him?”
“I did—and do.” Ares didn’t back down from the scrutiny of his peers. He gestured to Henry. “He has been working to defy Cronos since he was raised from his grave. I believe that proves his allegiance, and for it, he has mine.”
“He is a Dark Breed,” someone seethed from near the door.
Kyana shook off her shock as anger revitalized her. “So was I,” she said. “As was Geoffrey. This man is my Sire and you will treat him with respect unless given reason to do otherwise.”
“Thank you, daughter,” Henry said, turning his back to her and facing the crowd. “But the only thing these people need to hear today is my advice to pull every member of the Order you can reach here to Olympus, because this is where Cronos means to have his battle.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Zeus twitch beside Ryker. He obviously had something he wanted to say and was finding it difficult to leave the podium to Ryker. He caught her staring, and his jaw tensed as the soft skin beneath his eye twitched with annoyance.
“You have something you wish to say, Zeus?” she asked.
The old god stood and rested his weight against the table, his white robes blending in with the marble all around him. “Why, in our names, should we call every member of the Order here to Olympus and leave the rest of the world unprotected on the word of a Dark Breed? Or perhaps that is the goal here? To leave another place weakened based on a false threat to our mountain? Please, Dark Breed. Give us one good reason why we would heed any warning you might deliver.”
“Because,” Ares said, motioning for Henry to follow him onto the dais where they could peer over the crowd. “Henry speaks for me now. He is my Chosen. He is the new God of War.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Grateful to have been already seated, Kyana struggled to still the tremors in her legs and arms. She could see Ryker arguing with his father. Ares wasn’t fazed by the anger coming off his son like a sunburst. The ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing what they were saying, but truly, she wasn’t sure she even cared.
Henry.
The God of War.
“You never wanted to join the Order before,” she accused, not sure why she was having such a difficult time wrapping her mind around this announcement.
Henry met her gaze. “I never had anything to offer before.”
“And you do now?”
“Yes.”
He said nothing more, instead turning his attention to the argument still raging between Ryker and his father. Kyana took a deep breath, ready to stop their bickering. There were more important matters right now. Their power struggle was going to have to wait.
“. . . can’t just lay something like this on her,” Ryker was saying. “You could have warned her. You had plenty of time.”
“He only decided to take my offer this morning. I wasn’t going to say anything until I knew for sure. Your opinions wouldn’t have swayed me—it is my right to pick my Chosen, so I found someone worthy of the title I wanted to bestow on you.”
“Worthy?” Kyana asked, a sudden rush of anger curbing her desire to shut them up. “You sent tracers out to kill him. You ordered his death!”
“He broke our laws when he turned you and had to be punished for his actions.”
“So what has changed?” Ryker asked. “He is still now what you hated then.”
“Henry was raised by Cronos and was able to not only go against the dark god, but to survive it. That takes enormous strength and proved to me that he’s capable of containing the power that comes with being the next God of War. More than that . . .” Ares looked at Kyana. “His loyalty to you makes him loyal to the Order of Ancients.”
“He was always loyal to the Order, damn it. He may not have been an official member but . . .” Kyana said. “You were just too—”
“Pigheaded to notice. Yes, I am aware of my faults, Kyana. It seems getting to know other Dark Breeds has swayed my opinion that they aren’t all the same.”
Was that a compliment? Kyana snapped her mouth closed, unsure how to respond.
“You do realize I’m standing right here?” Henry said, his jaw giving a slight tic.
“They tend to do that,” Haven muttered.
Kyana shot her a warning look, and Haven rolled her eyes and settled herself on the bench.
“He’s a Novus—not a mere Dark Breed,” Ryker hissed. “One of Cronos’s risen. We don’t know that he can be trusted.”
“Yes,” Kyana said, smiling up at Ares. “We do.” Turning to Ryker, she placed her palm flat against his chest. “I trust him with my life.”
“We can discuss trust later,” Henry said, pulling all eyes back to him as he held out his hand to Kyana.
He looked so much stronger than the last time she’d seen him. The blackness was completely gone from his eyes, the mossy green shade she’d once known so well returned.
Her Sire. The God of War.
Holy shit in a Tartarus toilet.
Standing on shaking legs, she took Henry’s hand.
“Cronos’s numbers are no longer a problem.” Henry gestured for the door. “I wish to show you something.”
He led Kyana out of Ryker’s temple. The bright moon lit up the acres surrounding the mountain and a soft gasp escaped her as she peered into the night. There wasn’t a single square of grass left to be seen, every inch occupied by a body shining in silver armor and red cloaks. From the steps of the temple, a sea of heads disappeared over the horizon, their numbers far too many to count.
“What the hell?” She stepped farther outside to stand between Ryker and Henry. “Who are they?”
“My army,” Henry said. “In service to the Order of Ancients.”
As Kyana took in the decrepit faces staring back at her, her heart hammered with understanding. Cronos hadn’t been the only one digging up graves. No, the souls missing from Atropos’s domain had been raised by Henry. Brought here by Henry.
Past presidents, generals, czars, and soldiers. Farmers, peasants, wives, and fathers. They were massive in numbers and ready to fight for good, just as they had in life.
“How did you do this?” Kyana whispered in awe.
“The same way Cronos did.”
“You extracted some kind of vow in order to get them to serve you?”
“No, they’ve joined the Order of their own free will. When I explained why I’d interrupted their sleep, they willingly offered their skills.”
“Holy hell,” a voice said behind Kyana. She looked over her shoulder to find Silas staring bug-eyed at the scene in front of him. “We just might stand a chance.”
Kyana squeezed Henry’s hand, a bubble of joy building until she couldn’t contain it. Henry was a Chosen. She wouldn’t have to lose him to some Vampyre hunter again. Nor would she have to fear the Order demanding he be hunted down and killed. He would be here with her, on Olympus, for all eternity.
For the first time since Haven raised Cronos, Kyana felt a wave of relief and hope that they might not be doomed after all.
She looked up to find Ryker grinning from ear to ear.
“Henry,” he said, “welcome to Olympus.”
Ryker led the group to the armory beneath his temple and opened the massive wall of weapons for the others to see.
“Take what you’re able to use, but no more. I want to make sure everyone is armed,” he said, passing two of his guards a box of little blue spheres that lit up the otherwise dark armory.
Beside him, Kyana stared up at the wall, her face haloed in the blue light making her look positively stunning. The frustration and determination on her face made him smile. Gods, he fell harder for her every damned day. He’d never in his life met anyone with as much tenacity as she, and could think of no one he’d rather have fighting at his side, or anyone he wanted to protect from the fight so badly.
“What are those?” she asked, running her finger over one of the spheres.
“Ambrosia casings.” He lifted an orb and twisted it, and the blue light immediately turned bright pink as he revealed the thick liquid inside. “For weapon coating.”
She raised a black eyebrow at him and pursed her lips together. “Is that smart? Having weapons on the field coated with this stuff? If one of Cronos’s lackeys gets their hands on it, they have a good chance of using it on one of us.”
“They’ll keep one coated weapon on them at all times in case they have the opportunity to use it on Cronos. But for the majority of the fight, they’ll be using silver-plated arms.”
He slipped his hand to her lower back and ushered her from the room to give others the space to grab the weapons of their choice. Upstairs, they found Ares and Artemis sitting at the long table below the dais where his throne sat.
Feeling the light touch of fingers on his arm, he turned to see Kyana looking worriedly up at him. “What can I do?”
Kyana never waited for instruction or asked permission for anything. That she was doing so now suggested she was far more afraid than she’d ever admit.
If he didn’t know that she was completely focused, his own ass would be in serious trouble, because there was no way in hell he’d be able to keep his head in the game.
He wanted badly to pull her into his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be all right, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know what was going to happen to all of them, and wouldn’t lie to her.
“Just survive, Ky. That’s all I need you to do.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Ares led them around the back of the temple toward a small army of sentinels guarding the path to the Oracles’ caves. Kyana noticed his fingers tap, tap, tapping the hilt of his sword as though he was eager to get the fight started, eager to kill those threatening his world.
She knew exactly how he felt.
She was looking forward to driving her dagger through as many Novi as possible. Never in her life had she been afraid of a fight, but if she was honest with herself, she’d have to admit that the thought of coming face-to-face with Cronos today had put her stomach in knots. With any luck, none of the major deities would ever step foot on the main battlefield today. Hopefully, Henry’s front line would keep the bastards back.
But she couldn’t count on that. She was going to get her hands dirty today, just like everyone else, and as she took in the faces around her—Geoffrey, Ryker, Henry, Haven, Silas, Artemis, Ares—she wondered what the night would bring. How many of them would be injured, or worse?
Would Kyana even be alive to find out?
She shuddered, jolting out of her thoughts as Henry’s voice broke through her suddenly fogged head.
“We have to prepare a strategy now,” he was saying.
“We need to gather everyone here and shut down the portals,” Kyana insisted. “If there’s no portal, there can’t be an attack.”
Ares cast her a scathing look that suggested he thought she might be a little stupid. “We gather all the Order here and shut down the portal . . . that’s your solution? And when are we to leave Olympus again? Never? The moment that portal works again, the threat returns as well.”
“I don’t hear any of you coming up with anything better,” she replied, fighting the urge to poke out his eyes just to squash the glare aimed at her.
“We don’t have time for this,” Geoffrey said, stepping between them. “We don’t know how long we have—”
“Less than an hour,” Henry interrupted, his gaze fixated on the moon. “They plan to attack well before sunrise so the Dark Breeds who are vulnerable needn’t fear sunlight.”
A pity. If the bastards waited just a few more hours, they could just wait and let the sun do all the dirty work.
Taking a deep breath, Kyana exhaled all her doubts and insecurities. “Have we left enough Order members Above to protect the humans from those not planning to attack Olympus?”
“Our priorities must be here, Kyana,” Henry said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Humans have become accustomed to boarding up tightly until sunrise. We’ll have to trust the majority will remain safe.”
A quick, burning wash of regret rocketed through her blood. She’d spent the last eighty years protecting humans from her own kind, without caring about their fate one way or another. Now, however, she’d seen the humans’ ability to rebuild a world devastated by monsters, and she admired their resolve. It bothered her to no end that, should the gods fail here today, all their efforts would be for nothing.
But this was war. People were going to die. Gods were going to die. She just had to hope the numbers wouldn’t be as staggering as when Tartarus had opened.
“Where do we even begin?” she whispered.
“All the gods are to stay inside Zeus’s temple,” Ares said.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Kyana mumbled. She glanced up, certain she’d see the same “yeah right” feeling in her gut expressed on Geoff and Ryker’s faces.
It wasn’t there.
In fact, both gods seemed to be in complete agreement with Ares’s command.
“You can’t be serious,” she said. “You expect to go to war and keep me locked inside the temple unable to do anything to help?”
“It is not your job to dictate policy on strategies,” Ares said. “Let me do my duties without interference.”
She held his stare, refusing to back down. “Fine, then. What about logic? If every god, goddess, and Chosen is in one place, it’s like mass suicide. If the temple is breached, everyone will die.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Geoffrey asked.
“Separate everyone by their status. Those who have their Chosen already. Those who’ve completed their siphoning. Those who are most vulnerable because they have neither.” She looked at Ryker. “Those are the ones who need to be as far away from your temple as possible, as well as the Chosen who’ve been found in the last couple of days. Without proper training, they’re sitting ducks.”
“She’s right.” Ryker pointed to the Oracle caves above the temple. “The same goes for the Oracles. Cronos can’t get his hands on them. If we don’t win this, they must be as far away from him as possible.”
Henry waved his hand as though swatting a gnat. “It will be taken care of.”
Somewhat relieved that the weakest would be taken to safety, Kyana turned her gaze toward the distant, unseen portal at the foot of the mountain. Something in the air changed. The very wind hummed with an electrical charge.
“Take your place atop the turrets, Kyana,” Ryker said, moving to follow Geoff and the others inside. He’d felt it too. The worried gleam in his eyes said as much.
Kyana trailed behind, knowing it was going to eat at Ryker and Geoffrey to stay out of the fray. But as much as it pained her to admit it, Ares was right. It would take the force of the gods to bring down Cronos, and they couldn’t risk losing any of their number on the buffoons who’d come through first.
“How will they get through the portal?” she asked, the loud bang of the temple doors shutting and being magically sealed making her jump.
“The only way they can pass through is if Cronos gave each of them some of his own blood.” Ryker turned and pulled her into his arms, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. “When you get up there, Ky, stay the hell down. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, wishing he could go with her so she could keep an eye on him. But his place was here, and hers was with the tracers and Artemis, who were already in position to fire.
She watched him move through the crowd, awed by how confident and strong he seemed. His broad shoulders held no slouch, his lean, solid physique a totem for the weight they’d all placed on him. She wanted to go to him, to slide her arms around his waist and make him hold her. She wanted to crawl into bed with him and stay there forever.
Forever?
Gods save her, yes. Forever.
If there was ever a time to tell Ryker she loved him, it was now.
But she couldn’t do it. If she said the words, it would be like admitting they were going to die.
And that was one fear Kyana would never allow herself to voice. Not when it was too easy for it to come true.
Chapter Twenty-six
From Kyana’s position atop the turrets of Ryker’s temple, the shimmering portal at the foot of the mountain was no more than a glowy, white-hot speck in the predusk gray. A bright, shimmering light, much like a halo, fell from the darkening skies as the constellations, led by Kheiron, Orion, and Leo, were led out onto the battlefield. Tracers and sentinels who’d been trained with bows and arrows filled each marble slit on the tower, poised and ready to fire on Kyana’s command the moment the sun set and the portal was breached.
In the center of the turret, the Nymphs encircled Artemis, each so skilled with a bow they didn’t need the raised aid of the ledge. Four cauldron-sized bowls of ambrosia lay spread at their feet, dangerously close to both Artie and Kyana, ready to be used the moment Cronos showed his evil face.
She squinted trying to see through the growing shadows, waiting, hoping, fearing Cronos. The last remnants of pinks and yellows lowered over the horizon. Down. Down. Down. “Focus on the portal! We need to prevent as many as we can from gaining ground.”
