Darkness Becomes Her (23 page)

I woke to heat at my back and the lukewarm drizzle of rain on my face. Slowly, every muscle protesting, I pushed myself up onto my hip and gazed over my shoulder to see Violet curled up on the grass, with Pascal stretched out beside her. The kid’s hand rested lightly on the leaves beside her face, the exposed wrist and hand so thin and fragile.

I rubbed the dryness from my puffy eyes and waited for my vision to return. Memories flooded me instead. Of my past, my curse, and what Athena had done to me to bend my will.

A depressed sigh escaped me as I gathered my long hair and shoved it over my shoulder. Now I understood why my mother had ended her life, why so many before her had done the same. I knew why the harpy had fled into the swamp, rather than back to civilization. Being alone was far better than seeing the frightened, horrified faces of those around you, those you cared for.

Music drifted through the cemetery, faint and crass. A brass band. Trumpet. Drums. Cymbals.

Violet’s nose twitched. Her black lashes moved against pale skin. Her small hand dipped into the softness of the ground and she pushed herself up. She tucked her black bob behind one ear and then tilted her small face toward the misty sky.

I scooted back some. Dampness had seeped through my clothes and onto my skin. The drizzle gathered and ran down the side of my face. “Violet, why did you stay?”

Pascal waddled into Violet’s lap. Her slim fingers stroked his back as she turned her face away from the drizzle, large black eyes full of weight and mystery. “I thought you looked beautiful.”

Fresh pain squeezed my sore heart. I swallowed down the tears that wanted to rise again and instead gave a small laugh. “Thanks.” Only Violet, only this small Gothic doll with a penchant for reptiles and sequins was willing to accept me.

The time I had spent with Violet since coming to New 2 was short, but from those first interactions, there was a connection.
One, I think, that stemmed from our uniqueness, from recognizing a kindred soul. Her staying here with me. Her acceptance of me. I knew then that I’d do anything for her.

“The parade is coming,” she said. “The kids’ parade. We were supposed to be in it.” Her head angled toward the music. “It’s almost dusk.”

Goose bumps sprouted along my cold thighs and arms. The drizzle had forced a low mist to the ground, a thin gray shroud upon the grass. The sky above was lost in a sea of haze and thick clouds. The gnarled branches of the oak tree nearby spread out like dark lightning across the sky.

“She’ll be back soon,” Violet said. “What are you going to do?”

I glanced at the tomb where Athena had appeared. “I don’t know.”

“You should kill her.”

“Me. Kill a goddess.”
Right.

Violet shrugged and got to her feet, wiping the grass and bits of stone and debris from her black dress and her hair before righting the mask on her head, leaving it up so her face was still visible.

The music became louder, but the mist hid the Mardi Gras revelers. I stood, shaking out my long hair and shivering despite myself. Knowing what I was, what I’d become … I wondered how many of my ancestors had actually been able to live with the
change, with being a monster, rather than end their own lives. And how many had died by the sword of the τερας hunters? In the end, the outcome was always the same. So why had Athena decided to spare me?

Going with Athena seemed like my only option. That or disappearing.
And where will you go? How can you live with those things on you?
Those things that inspired more fear in me than death itself.

Violet bumped me. “She’s here.”

I whirled. Athena perched on the long, thick branch of the oak tree. She jumped down and strolled over. “Have you come to a decision, gorgon?”

This thing, this
goddess
had caused so much death and heartache to my family, to thousands of women over the centuries. I knew, in that moment, I could never give in. I’d rather die like all the others. But more than that, I’d rather have vengeance. “Go fuck yourself, Athena.”

Violet grabbed my hand, squeezing tightly. I wanted to shove her back, to tell her to run, but doing that would draw Athena’s attention to the child.

Athena struck me across the cheek so quickly, I didn’t even have time to tense. The hot sting and shock sent a gasp through my mouth. My ears rang, and pain shot through my face.

Slowly I righted myself, grinding my teeth together and
clenching my fists as I faced the tall goddess. Athena grabbed my chin, squeezing hard, and leaned down close to my face. Her eyes gleamed with an impossible inner light, a beautiful sight if one could get past the cruel twist of her lips. “You should watch your mouth, little one. Or I shall put your head on a stake like I did your mother’s.”

“My mother killed herself,” I ground out, furious that she’d even mentioned my mother.

“And I claimed her body. She looked quite nice outside my temple.”

Anger flashed bright and white behind my eyelids. I swung with all my strength, but she caught my hand and leaned close even as I struggled. “You hear that sound, Aristanae? Those are your friends, those are the children of New 2 who are about to pass by this cemetery and die at the hands of my army.”

Behind Athena’s shoulder, I saw movement in the gray mist, movement that made the fog swirl, revealing bits and pieces, images of Athena’s creations as they gathered from the fog. Lurking atop tombs, walking slowly over the ground, leaping from the tree limbs. Hideous, gnarled things. Things that looked as though Frankenstein himself had been at work. Athena’s army.

“Those”—Athena tossed a nod over her shoulder, dropping her hand from my chin—“are your family now. Made, like your ancestor, of curses and power. They would worship you as a
queen, you know. You belong with them. With me. Come, and I shall never set foot in New 2 again.”

The parade music became louder. Closer. I flicked a glance over my shoulder, getting my first gray glimpse of the parade as it progressed slowly down the street beyond the iron fence. Soon they would pass the cemetery gate, and if Athena wasn’t bluffing, they were all in danger.

I turned back to the goddess. “Why not just kill me like all the others?”

“Because you are different from the others, and I’ve found a better use for you.” Her face softened somewhat. “You have the heart of a rebel, Ari. I was once the same, once wanted to fight battles I knew I couldn’t win simply because the reason was just and right. But all those things, hope, innocence, optimism, faith … They are fleeting, and what do you have left? You must grow up, realize your place, and what is best. Swear fealty to me, and you will be safe.”

My eyes narrowed as a strange sense of confidence rose in me. Athena was trying too hard to make her case and convince me. She’d given me all this time to decide, all this time alive, unharmed. A sharp burst of laughter bubbled into my throat. “You’re really afraid of me, aren’t you?”

Athena blinked and straightened. Her jaw twitched. “I am the Goddess of War, little child. I am afraid of no one, for I
cannot die. I am Death, for I murdered the Goddess of Death in her bed. Best you remember that, for your friends are here.”

The parade didn’t pass by the gate, but turned beneath it instead.
What the hell?

All masked. All on foot.

Shit.

The masked figures spread out behind me and Violet. The music stopped. My heart pounded as indecision gripped me. Had they gone crazy?

A black-clad figure in a cape strode forward and pushed up his mask. Sebastian. Our eyes locked. He nodded as a light breeze swept past me. Another figure stepped up. Michel. And then eight more. The Novem had come. And Dub, Henri, and Crank. All grim-faced. All prepared to fight.

They’d come back.

Reinforcements continued filing into the cemetery.

A soft blush appeared on Athena’s cheeks as the goddess’s angry eyes fixed on the revelers. “This is none of your business, Novem,” she spat. “I made her. She’s mine.”

“She stopped being yours the moment you turned on your creation and had Medusa murdered. The gorgons have never been yours. They were their own, free to choose. Free to live,” Michel said in a deep, confident voice, walking with Sebastian and the others to stand beside me.

The hideous line of monsters and humanoid creatures behind Athena hissed and fidgeted, ready to fight, to attack, to kill. My skin crawled.

“You would start a war over her?” Athena raged. “She is of no use to you. She is not mature. She has no power.”

“No,” said Josephine. “Not yet, but all we must do is protect her from you, and once her power comes, you will never be a threat to New 2 again.”

Athena hissed loudly, her face shifting into death and then back again. “Then war it shall be.”

“Heed your actions carefully, goddess,” Michel said. “For we are evenly matched.”

Athena ignored Michel and threw out her hands, tossing her head back and issuing a piercing supernatural war cry.

My eardrums vibrated as Sebastian grabbed my hand and jerked me and Violet away from the front line. The Novem and their family members rushed forward to engage Athena and her minions. Their speed was unnaturally fast. Their capes and limbs swirled the mist. Hideous things flew and fought and screeched. Red arced through the mist as blood flowed.

I pulled against Sebastian, tripping over marble as he ran. “Let me go!”

We reached the back of the line near the gate. “You can’t stay here.”

“I have to! This is my fight, Sebastian. I can’t leave.”

“You have to leave! They’re giving their lives to protect you!”

I hesitated. Confusion settled on my shoulders. “Why?”

He moved closer. “My father told me everything. You’re a god-killer, Ari.”

“What?”

“Athena. When she cursed Medusa and gave her the power to turn anyone to stone, she forgot to exempt the gods. When she realized her mistake, she created the τερας hunters to destroy Medusa and all the descendants after her. You alone have the power to turn her and any other god to stone.”

“Then why didn’t she just kill me like all the others?”

“Because before she held the power of the Aegis. It was a weapon that made it nearly impossible to defeat her. But she lost it, so now she needs you. A new weapon to destroy the other gods, to kill us, who the hell knows”—he shoved me—“but you have to run!”

Two creatures broke through the line. Sebastian ducked as one leaped at him. It sailed over his back and rolled. The other one swung a wicked-looking blade toward me. I ducked, kicked its knee, and then backhanded its face, spinning and lifting the sword from its hand, my momentum allowing me to complete a three-sixty and use the extra force to swing the blade down, beheading the creature.

Its head rolled into the mist.

Jesus!
My heart hammered in disbelief at what I’d just done. But I didn’t have time to think more. Another one came and I fought, yelling to Sebastian to get Violet and the other kids to safety. But Violet was already scurrying up one of the trees and the others were fighting, using their size to defeat or distract their opponents as the Novem and their families were using their own magic and abilities to fight.

Physical and brutal, the vampires attacked in a frenzy. I froze for a moment, seeing Gabriel—even without the mask, I knew it was him—tear a creature’s throat out with his fangs, just as vicious as the shape-shifters’ claws and jaws as they rushed the line. A figure rushed past, winked at me, leaped into the air, and shifted into a brown wolf before his paws ever landed on the ground. Hunter Deschanel. One of the guys I’d freed from Athena’s prison.

And then my eyes found the goddess standing with a blade in each hand, working them with preternatural speed and cutting down any opponent who came her way. Her eyes glowed a deep, deep green.

Pain exploded in my skull.

I fell, not even seeing the blow from behind as a creature jumped on me. I shouted Sebastian’s name, but he was engaged in a battle against two creatures. Rough hands flipped me over and found my throat, squeezing hard. I kicked, tried to roll, but
to no avail. A gray, leathery face sneered at me. Hairless. Small holes for a nose. No lips, nothing to shield the rows of sharp tiny teeth that snapped at me.

And then I remembered Arachne and the harpy.

I needed to get his hands off my neck.

Gathering what little strength I had left, I kicked up with both legs, twisting my torso and catching the creature’s head between my calves. I dragged him off with a downward thrust of my legs. As soon as the hands left my throat I screamed their names into the mist, adding every ounce of force I had to increase the volume.

“Mapsaura! Arachne!”

I felt the air change with the power of their names, charging, electrifying, and shooting into the clouds.

The creature ducked out from my pin. I turned to run, to yell their names again, but he grabbed my head with both hands, his claws digging into my temples. He had a firm grasp, pulling my head up, trying to disconnect the skull from the base of the spine.
Christ!
I couldn’t hold on much longer, he was too strong. His arm slid around my neck, choking again.

My heart slowed. Pressure built in my face. All around me, the battle seemed to slow as my lungs failed.

Wind blew down, billowing the mist, scattering leaves and debris.

A loud, piercing screech rent the air.

I heard the flap of massive wings just before the creature on me was picked up. I was lifted two feet off the ground before he let go, and I fell onto my back and watched in shock as the mist tornadoed up, pulled by the wake of the harpy and her prey.

Three seconds later the creature’s body came hurtling back to earth to break upon a tomb.

Mapsaura landed at my feet.

I gulped, gasping for air and completely stunned that my call had worked. “Thank you.”

The small nostrils on the beak flared. The harpy’s head swung around and froze, eyes zeroing in on Athena. And then I saw Arachne, flinging bodies left and right, trying to make it to the goddess who had imprisoned her for so long.