Emblazed (18 page)

“You should heed your own words. We are not to interfere in the lives of mortals,”
Persephone countered.

Hermes retorted, “And here you are, invading my domain to aid them. Using your powers
against another God to help said mortals.”

“You left me no choice when you started meddling with my great-granddaughter, just
as you did with me. You ruined my life, and I will not let you ruin hers.”

Hermes opened his mouth to argue back, but strangled yelps of pain sounded in place
of words as his body contorted. Brielle’s limp form fell onto the bed from where she
had just been hovering in the air.

I immediately picked her up off the bed and cradled her in my arms as Persephone threatened,
“Leave Brielle alone. If you do not, I will make you wish you had never met me all
those centuries ago. I will make you pay for your transgressions.”

The light and Hermes vanished with a bright flash, leaving us alone in the room. Brielle
stirred in my arms, and the tightness in my chest faded as her eyes blinked open.

Looking up at me with a perplexed expression, she asked, “What happened? Weren’t you
just holding Kiera?”

“I was, but Hermes came and tried to abduct you. He made you black out somehow, but
Persephone was able to stop him before he teleported away with you,” I informed.

Brielle glanced at Persephone, who smiled warmly as she said, “Let’s get you back
home. I have already interfered too much, and I must return to my duties.”

Once we transported home, Brielle and I thanked Persephone for her help before she
disappeared. Kiera was pretty shaken up, so she decided to go to her room to rest.
Brielle followed, wanting to talk to her in private to make sure she was okay.

When Brielle returned, Kimber asked, “Is she okay?”

Brielle shrugged, “She says she’s fine, but I think she’s still in some type of shock.”

“She’ll be okay,
mi amante
. She just needs some time,” I commented as we all sat down at the dining room table.

No one spoke for several minutes before Brielle finally asked, “What are we going
to do about Hermes? I think we all know that he isn’t going to leave me alone like
Persephone ordered. Not to mention that we also have to deal with Morpheus now.”

I groaned in frustration, “Don’t fucking remind me. I think we’re going to have to
go back to the Underworld to end things with both of them. I don’t really wan—”

Zane interrupted, “I don’t think we have to go back to the Underworld for Hermes.
We might be able to lure him here somehow. He obviously wants Brie badly, so maybe
we can trap him.”

“You mean use Brie as bait? No fucking way! Did you not just see what happened back
there? He almost took her!” I exclaimed as I stood up from the table.

“Jace, it’s worth a shot. I don’t want to go back to the Underworld unless we absolutely
have to. This is way less dangerous for everyone,” Brielle pointed out.

“I’m not using you as bait for some psycho God who wants to rape you, Brie!” I stated
adamantly.

“Then what do you suggest we do? Go back to the Underworld where Hades can get to
me, too? Jace, you know that this is the safest scenario. Any way you look at it,
I will be in danger. We might as well keep everyone else as safe as possible.”

You know I only care about you. I don’t give a fuck about everyone else,
I angrily stated through our link.

That is not true, Jace, and you know it. I know you care about everyone in this room
.

Not when it comes to you. Why do you go along with these ideas? Why do you insist
on putting yourself in danger?

I have to do what’s necessary, Jace. I’m not just thinking about myself here. I have
to think about you, my family, and the rest of the world.

Fuck them!

Brielle glared daggers at me as everyone stared at us, no doubt wondering what was
being communicated in our silent exchange. She softened her expression before silently
pleading with me,
My love, please don’t be this way. We have to do this, and I don’t want to be fighting
with you when I need you most.

Damn it, Brie! That is so not fair.
I rubbed my face with both hands before sighing, “Fine. Any ideas for this stupid
plan?”

Brielle rose from her seat and walked over to where I tensely stood against the arched
doorway. She framed my face in her hands, caressing my cheeks with her thumbs as she
pressed a kiss on my chest above my heart. Craning her neck, she looked up at me,
propping her chin on my chest.

I avoided her stare, but I could feel my fury slowly dissipating the longer she touched
me. I finally looked at her as I wrapped my arms around her and lowered my mouth to
hers.

I softly kissed her lips before pressing my forehead against hers and whispering,
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want anything else to happen to you. I don’t know how I’m
going to be able to purposely put you in danger.”

“I’m always in danger,” she semi-joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I snorted, “That’s the understatement of the century.”

Brielle rolled her eyes before stating, “We’ll get through this, baby. We just have
to be smart about it.”

I nodded before releasing her and joining our hands to lead her back to the table.
I sat down and pulled her into my lap before addressing Zane, “What did you have in
mind?”

“Well, Brielle would have to be alone somewhere off the island,” Zane started. When
I narrowed my eyes at him, he added, “We would all be nearby, of course. Somewhere
hidden.”

“And what if Hermes decides to transport her to the Underworld? What do we do then,
huh?” I asked, my anger starting to return as I tightened my grip on Brielle’s hip.

“Chill, bro. I’m just trying to help. We all need to brainstorm until we come up with
the right plan,” Zane said in an attempt to calm me down.

“Yeah, Jace, none of us want anything to happen to Brie,” Kimber added.

“Maybe using Brie will be too obvious. What if we use me instead? Hermes already used
me twice to try to get to Brie,” Kiera supplied from her doorway. I hadn’t even noticed
that she’d been standing there.

“Kiera, no. I don’t want to use you like that, especially after what just happened,”
Brielle stated.

“It would be kinda obvious if you were off the island somewhere alone. We’re always
together, and Hermes knows I’m not going to let you out of my sight with everything
that’s going on. It screams trap.”

“They’re right, Brie,” Kimber agreed. Zane nodded.

“She wouldn’t even have to leave the island since she’s not protected like you are,”
I pointed out. I knew Brielle didn’t want to put Kiera in more danger, but we were
low on options.

“How would we lure him to her? He’s after me, not her,” Brielle reminded.

“He’s come after her once already. Why wouldn’t he come after her again?”

“Look how it turned out for him. I’m not sure that he would try it again after what
happened,” Brielle speculated.

“He seems to be willing to do anything to get you. He obviously doesn’t care if he
pisses off any Gods in the process, or he would’ve left you alone already. We need
to consider every scenario possible, including Hermes abducting Kiera again,” Zane
stated.

We argued and discussed various scenarios, from Brielle and I heading to the beach
for a late night swim, to Brielle and Kiera sunbathing outside in the backyard while
Kimber, Zane and I went to pick up a pizza.

I was absolutely adamant that I needed to be involved since it would be less suspicious,
so we reluctantly decided on going for the late night swim. There were fewer possibilities
for humans to get hurt, and Kimber, Zane, and Kiera could be close by at the house
when we needed them.

By the time we finished talking, it was already time for dinner. We decided to have
a barbeque at the house, and I cooked hamburgers, chicken, and hot dogs on the grill.
The girls stayed in the kitchen to make the side dishes while Zane decided to go pick
up some beer.

After dinner, Zane and I each grabbed a beer before plopping down on the couch. Kiera
made mixed drinks using some vodka and fruit punch we had in the house for the girls.
The tone of the evening was completely opposite that of the afternoon, and talk of
Elementals and Gods was absent.

At around midnight, Zane and I finished the last of the beer, and Kimber used the
last of the vodka in her drink. We all had good buzzes going, and Kiera announced
that she was going to bed. Once Kimber finished her last drink, she and Zane decided
to go home.

As we walked them to the door, I asked, “Do you think you guys can come over and train
tomorrow? Brielle and I were thinking that we should practice defensive and offensive
maneuvers as a team.”

“Sure, what time?” Zane asked.

“Like ten? Would that work for you guys?”

“Ten is good. We’ll see you then,” Zane stated before turning to walk out.

“Hey, wait. Do you think you can bring my standing punching bag tomorrow? I think
it would be a great tool for us to practice with, especially the girls,” I commented.

“Bro, do you know how heavy that thing is?” Zane asked with a laugh.

“Just empty the sand out of the bottom. We can refill it when you bring it tomorrow.”

“You’re so lucky you’re my boy,” Zane said as he put me in a headlock and messed up
my hair. I pushed him off, and we both got in a few play punches before breaking apart.

“So, you’ll bring it?”

“Yeah, I’ll bring it. See you tomorrow,” Zane said before he and Kimber walked out.

After we said our goodbyes, Brielle and I cleaned up the empty beer bottles and dishes
leftover from dinner before heading up to our room. I was exhausted from the day and
lack of sleep from the night before, but I was still apprehensive about sleeping,
and I knew Brielle was, too. I could feel her anxiety through our bond, and it only
intensified my own.

We both lay in bed on our sides, staring at one another instead of trying to sleep.
Brielle struggled to stay awake, her eyes shooting open every time she realized they
had closed. I caressed her face after she had done that several times as I said, “You
need to sleep,
mi amante
. You barely slept last night.”

She shook her head, “I’m scared that I won’t wake up in time.”

I sighed, “I know. I am, too. I’ll stay up and watch you sleep. I’ll wake you up if
you’re having a nightmare.”

“What if you can’t tell?”

I gave her a skeptical look. “Really? It’s not like you don’t move and make noise
when you have a nightmare or anything.” The whole neighborhood knew when Brielle had
a nightmare.

She rolled her eyes and laughed softly before agreeing, “Okay, but wake me up in a
few hours so that you can sleep, too. We can take turns sleeping.”

I placed a kiss on Brielle’s forehead and started to run my fingers through her hair.
It didn’t take long for sleep to find her after that.

“
Mi amante
, wake up,” I softly whispered in Brielle’s ear. Her eyes began to flutter open as
my thumb caressed her cheek. She yawned, “How long did I sleep?”

“About three hours. Any nightmares?”

“Surprisingly, no. No dreams at all,” she answered sleepily.

“Good. Do you think you can stay awake? I’m starting to doze off.”

“Yeah, I think so,” she said as she sat up and stretched her arms out. “Hand me my
Kindle so I can stay up.”

I grabbed Brielle’s Kindle from its charger on the nightstand and handed it to her
before giving her a quick kiss and turning on my side to sleep. I had been fighting
sleep while I watched over Brielle, so it took little time for me to succumb to it.

The sun shining into our room woke me. I bolted up in bed, afraid that something had
happened to Brielle while I slept since she hadn’t woken me up to take her turn sleeping.