Destiny Bewitched (9 page)

She glared at him. “I
like it the way it is.”

He had the nerve to
chuckle. “So be it. Anyway, Ares doesn’t want me dead or I would
be. I think he gave me a demon’s strength – mind control, but not
its weakness – chaos, so I would survive my sentence. And here I
am, waiting to return home.”

He stared into the
fire, his eyes glazed over with sadness. Poor, lonely man. She
wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she’d never been good at
that sort of thing. Between taking care of Nikki and trying to
become a decent witch, boys had been the last thing on her mind.
She’d had only two boyfriends – neither of which had lasted long. A
twinge of hurt tightened her chest. She’d given one her virginity
only to be dumped as soon as things had gotten a little rough.

“And Gaia? How does she
fit in?”

He snapped out of his
daze and took a deep breath. “I’m hoping if she sees what I’ve done
for her daughters, she’ll put in a good word for me to Ares.”

And Samantha was
ruining his only chance in almost two hundred years. The blood
drained from her face. She didn’t often indulge in the feeling of
guilt. No one else around her cared enough to feel bad for what
they did, why should she? And now she understood why so many
ignored it. She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat. Guilt
tasted like shit.

“Listen,” she said,
folding her fidgety hands. “I can try to contact Gaia for you but I
can’t promise she’ll hear me.”

Geo’s brows descended.
“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not like a
cell phone. I can’t just dial her up and expect her to answer.”

He stared at her dumbly
and she realized he probably had no idea what a cell phone was.

“But you’re one of her
daughters,” he persisted. “Certainly she hears your prayers?”

You’d be surprised
. “Yes. Of
course,” she lied. “I just…I can’t make any guarantees, that’s all.
But I’ll do my best.” And she would.

He smiled and it broke
her heart. “That’s all I’m asking.”

Well, if the Underworld
Games didn’t kill her, Geo probably would. Maybe he’d have mercy on
her and let Nikki go. After all, it wasn’t Nikki who’d misled
him.

Geo picked his hunting
knife up off the ground and gave her a grim look. “Come here.”

Her throat constricted.
Could he hear her thoughts? Did he know she was lying to him?

He cracked a smile.
“Why do you look so worried? I just want to feed you.”

She exhaled a relieved
breath. Maybe she’d steal that knife before he found out about her
non-existent relationship with Gaia. Of course that still left him
with the giant sword that could slice her in two with one swipe.
Maybe she’d use the classic distract and run technique. That had
gotten her out of a jam or two in the past.

Geo reached over the
fire to cut off pieces of the meat. His muscles glowed ominously in
the firelight. No, she’d never outrun him. Perhaps she could bribe
the dog-beast to take her side.

“We’ll save the bone
for Erebus,” he said.

Damn it!

“What’s the matter?” He
arched a brow. “Not hungry?”

Oh right. He was
carving the...
pretend it’s turkey
...and she was rather hungry.
“Um, nothing. I’m coming.” She scooted across the wooden floor to
sit beside him.

He took a piece between
his fingers. “It’s a little juicy. Here. Open.”

He was going to hand
feed her? Her stomach grumbled.
Oh, what the hell!
She opened her mouth and
he slid a slice of meat in. If that had been a chocolate strawberry
instead of a chunk of unidentifiable Underworld animal, she’d call
this a date gone right. To her surprise, it wasn’t terrible
tasting. A little like chicken.

Three more bites then
she looked up through their ghetto skylight. Stars sparkled above
them. Just a few but…

“Hey. That almost looks
like –”

“It is.” Geo put down
his knife and sat cross-legged beside her. She was hyperaware of
their thighs touching. “That’s your sky. Once in a while the veil
is thin enough to see it.”

“Huh.” She smiled,
gazing up at the familiar sight. “It reminds me of home.”

Me too.

And he couldn’t believe
he’d told her about home. Well, some of it. The parts he wasn’t as
proud of he’d left out. Like his nickname, The Bastard of War. And
that his father chose the Underworld instead of banishment to earth
because he thought Geo needed toughening up. His mother had
influenced him more than Ares approved of. Geo was a constant
disappointment as a child. So Ares had taken him to Mount Olympus
to train with his military. Through the often cruel lessons he’d
hardened somewhat. He’d learned to defend and to kill, which
pleased Ares. But he didn’t love war like his brothers. He didn’t
relish in it and crave it like his father. Though the Underworld
had taught him it was sometimes necessary to be callous to survive,
he’d never be what Ares wanted.

“Do you miss home?” Geo
asked Sam, finishing the last bite of meat.

Her shoulders slumped.
“Not much to miss.”

Sad, sweet girl. What
could be so bad on earth that she didn’t miss it after two days in
this horrible place? “You have no family aside from your
sister?”

“Oh, I do. A human
mother, a warlock father, three rowdy brothers and my sister,
Nicole. Except her, I hate them all.”

“Hate? But they’re your
family.” Parents were the only people required to love and accept
you from the moment you were born. It wasn’t fair that so many,
like Samantha, experienced their first taste of betrayal at such a
young age.

“They don’t know the
meaning of family,” she spat. “My dad refused to come here, you
know. He found out his youngest daughter was missing because of him
and you know what he did? Nothing!” He could feel the anger come
off her in waves. “No. Wait. He drank himself into a stupor then
watched my brothers kick my ass.”

Fire rose in his belly
and he ground his teeth together. “What?” The word came out harsher
than he’d meant.

Sam flinched and he
regretted it. “Um. Well, I got a little pissed when they didn’t
seem to care about Nikki and…well…no one in my family is known for
their even tempers.” She rubbed a hand absently over her ribs. “The
bruises…those are from them.”

Geo counted to ten in
his head. When his breathing steadied he said, “Three men against
one girl? Cowards.” Without realizing it, he reached for her hand
and brought it to his lips. “I’m sorry, dove. I wish I could’ve
spared you that.”

Her eyes widened a bit
when he kissed her hand. Then she recovered with a shrug. “Like I
said, nothing to miss there.”

His heart clenched. He
wanted to wrap her in his arms, kiss her head, and tell her she’d
never be sad again. Every time she frowned, it felt like something
reached into his gut and squeezed. His whole existence he’d felt
out of place – always a little odd, never truly belonging. But now,
something inside him was waking. Instinct had sputtered then roared
to life, demanding he keep Samantha safe – that he make her happy.
He shifted uncomfortably on the hard ground.

Or maybe he’d gone
mad.

“Anyway, my mother is a
doormat and I promised myself a long time ago, I’d never end up
like her. Like any of them. So I have my five-year plan then my
ten-year plan. If I stay focused and work hard then I’ll achieve my
dreams. I’ll have a real house. A yard. A husband who adores me and
never yells. Kids who I train to use magic responsibly.” She stared
ahead, dreamily. “Even the cliché white picket fence. All I’ve ever
wanted is to be normal.”

“But you’re not normal,
Samantha.” He reached out and brushed his knuckles against her
cheek. “You’re extraordinary.” And for the first time ever, Geo
wished home was the earth realm and Samantha could be his.

Samantha woke to hot
breath in her ear.

“Erebus. Again?”

A large body stirred
beside her. She turned her head. Not Erebus. Geo was snoring,
rather loudly, in her ear. And not just that, half his body was
sprawled on top of hers. One leg kicked over hers and his arm lay
across her stomach, almost as if he were pinning her to their
pallet. She shifted a bit to gain some space. She would
not
acknowledge how her body fit so snugly against his.

After the tender cheek
caress last night and the longing look in his eye, she should be
far away from the warm cocoon of his arms. Like, another planet
away.

She sighed and shook
her head. Then he’d called her extraordinary – so fondly, so
intimately she’d smiled and leaned into his hand. What was wrong
with her? They needed to get to that gate, like, yesterday.

With a grunt, she
pushed his heavy body off and slid out from under him. Her stomach
growled as she turned a circle in the cabin. Still empty. No demons
watching her from the shadowy corners. She let out a relieved
breath then looked for her satchel. God, what she wouldn’t do for a
change of clothing right now. At least she could freshen up with
some soap and water.

She knelt on the ground
and rummaged through her bag. The floor was covered in layers of
dirt and grime. And were those spots of blood? She shuddered.

“Morning, dove,” Geo
rumbled from behind her.

“Good morning.”
Don’t turn around
and watch his shirtless body stretch as he wakes up
. “I’m
going outside to wash up.” She stood and rushed to the door, soap
and canteen in her hands.

“Samantha.”

She froze, facing the
door. “Yes?”

“Don’t forget to
scan.”

“I know.”

The morning went by
quickly as they continued their trek through the mountain pass. It
was the same routine of walking in silence, except for the
occasional comment on scenery or a break for food and water. Only
today felt a little different. Something had changed last night.
She caught Geo staring at her frequently. He also insisted on
helping her over large boulders and slippery slopes, grabbing her
hand or lifting her around the waist, his fingers lingering in
areas that made her stomach flutter.

More than once she’d
scowled and told him to stop. He’d nod his head and appear
conflicted for a time, but never failing, at the next tricky spot,
he’d assist her again.

It was
disconcerting.

They’d been travelling
up over a pass between the two peaks for a couple hours and now the
last hump was just in front of them. She stumbled a bit when a
loose rock moved under her foot. Geo caught her elbow then held it
as they walked the final few yards.

“Geo. Seriously, cut it
out.” She tried to pull her arm back but he had a grip like steel.
“I’ve been through way worse than –”

Her jaw dropped. Below
them, the Underworld stretched out like a scene from a movie. But
not the kind of movie you’d want to be in – the kind you’d want to
be watching from your safe spot on the couch with a bowl of
popcorn. Cue the grandiose orchestral overture.

To the right,
Rheol Haearn
stood black as the Underworld night with three tall towers
supporting a glass dome. The flat terrain surrounding it was a
patchwork of healthy grass and yellow straw, like the ground
couldn’t decide if it wanted to live or die. On their left, a murky
swamp festered with a low mist hovering over it.

She grimaced. “We don’t
have to go through there, do we?”

“No.” Geo pointed
straight ahead. “That way.”

Sam zeroed in on their
destination. More desert? Her shoulders sagged and she let out a
sigh. No sand in this one. Just dry, rocky ground interrupted by
the occasional rock outcropping or cactus.

Geo put his arm around
her shoulders. “It’s not far. Just beyond those cliffs.”

The ones that looked
like tiny ant hills? So damn far. “Kill me now,” she whispered.
Maybe she’d throw herself off the mountain with a dramatic “goodbye
cruel world!”

Geo smiled then spun
her around. “Look how far we’ve come.”

The tall forest they’d
run through after the bats had chased them from the tunnel looked
like a miniature replica. She could even see the sand dunes far off
in the distance.

“Only a few more
hours,” he said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

A few hours. She could
make it. Only, she had no idea what to expect once she got there.
And she still didn’t have a plan to find or rescue her sister. A
few hours and Geo would want his call to Gaia. She stared at the
ground as they descended the steep hill toward the desert. He
deserved his favor.

Gaia, if you can hear
me, give me some sort of sign.

She waited. For what,
she had no idea. A bird’s caw. A flash of lightning. A message in a
bottle to fall from the sky. Yeah, that’d be nice.

Useless, elusive
gods!

They trudged on. Erebus
appeared after a bit, carrying an old tennis ball. She and Geo took
turns throwing it. Erebus lumbered off, sometimes disappearing into
a shadowy overhang. He wasn’t as intimidating in the daylight. He
was almost…cute.

She smiled as he
trotted to her, tongue hanging out of one side of his mouth, the
ball on the other. He dropped it in front of her. She stooped to
pick it up then jumped back.

“Ah! Erebus!” She
stared at the small skull by her feet. “Gross. That’s not the
ball.”

Erebus cocked his
head.

Geo laughed. “Go on,
boy. Try again.”

The shadow hound looked
at her a moment then lunged. She fell back on her ass and Erebus
latched onto the satchel hanging off her shoulder.

“Hey!” She yanked on
it. “That’s mine!”

He jerked hard and it
slipped off her arm. With a playful look in his eye, he ran off
with it.

“Erebus!” She scrambled
up then started after him. “Get back here!”