Goddess Bound: Goddess Series Book 6 (Young Adult / New Adult) (6 page)

Legacy knew that, but that wasn’t what had mattered. After his death, she’d been so depressed and hadn’t thought of the happy future she could have with Adin. Now that he was alive, she wanted to enjoy the silly milestones regular couples had. “I just want to be with him on his birthday. That’s all.”

The girls started walking again and turned another corner, but this one was different. It was lighter, so light that they didn’t need the torches anymore.

“Keep those lit,” Legacy said as she nodded at Kate’s fists. “Let’s not take any chances.”

“No prob.”

They walked slower, taking quieter steps as a feeling of uncertainty settled over Legacy. “This feels like a trap.”

“Or the way out.”

She nodded at that. Gods, she hoped this was the way out of here. Since there was no way to research specific escape routes, they were making this up as they went along. “That’s a door!” Legacy whispered. She walked faster, stopping abruptly when she reached the wood and steel barrier.

“This doesn’t look like the doors at the end of the other tunnels.”

Definitely not. This one seemed like a barrier guarding something precious on the other side. It was bolted shut with three medieval-looking bars braced in front of it, sporting chains for added measure and insane-sized padlocks. Whoever barricaded this thing had no intention of letting people pass through it…at least not without access to several keys and a good twenty minutes to wait while it was unlocked. “That’s because it’s not.”

“Do your abilities consist of Herculean strength?” Kate asked as she eyed the locks warily.

“Nope. We’ll start with you,” Legacy said as she glanced at Kate’s still-lit torches.

“There’s so much metal here, I’m not sure if burning the door down will do any good.”

“We’ll worry about that later. Now hurry, we don’t want to waste time.”

Kate nodded, but didn’t look convinced. She stepped up to the door and put her hands directly on the section of the most exposed part of the wood. It took a couple of minutes, but it eventually started to smolder. Shortly after that, the wood beside her hand caught fire. The flame was low, but it was definitely coming from the wood. Unfortunately, without her touching that specific area, the flame only spread out a few inches from her and died out. Where she was touching was still burning through, but at this rate, it’d be like sitting around a campfire, watching a large log to burn throughout the night.

“I’m trying to concentrate on making it burn hotter, but I can’t.”

“You’re doing good. Whoever took the time to lock this door could’ve put some kind of flame retardant on the wood. It’ll take time to burn out.”

“We need wind. It’ll eventually burn, though, since I’m keeping fire on it, but that would make this go faster. If forest fires have taught us anything, it’s that air is fire’s enemy.”

“Now
that
I can help with.” Legacy smiled. She looked at the door and concentrated on generating a breeze. Both of their hair rumpled as it gently enveloped them. She didn’t want to do so much that she put the fire out—she knew she was more powerful than Kate and if it came to the two of them against each other, she’d win—so she easily controlled the amount of wind she generated. The irony of her control, of exerting it almost without conscious effort, while they were trapped in the underworld was not lost on her. She’d come a long way from the initial months after her seventeenth birthday when she’d caused all kinds of problems because of her unruly skills. Bound by the laws of the gods, or not, she’d make sure she ascended and do so away from the clutches of Hades.

“It’s working!” The flame ignited into a roaring inferno. Kate had to step back—keeping her hands angled toward the wood—to keep from getting burned. The door didn’t stand a chance now. It was quickly consumed, charred remnants falling from the hinges, chains, bars to the ground below. Legacy killed the command that created the wind and the flames seized, turning the debris into smoldering pieces. She looked beyond the chains dangling along the bars that had been spaced across the door and gazed upon what was ahead, at what had been blocked so meticulously, barricaded. They were at the River Styx. The way they’d arrived to the underworld.

“Oh my God,” Kate breathed. Her sentiments exactly. Kate pushed one of the chains out of the way from the space between the middle and bottom bars, but almost as quickly, she jumped back, wincing and shaking her hand. “That’s gonna leave a blister.”

The wood gone, now all that was left was scorching hot metal. Everywhere. Legacy walked up to doorway and squatted. She put her hands on the two lower bars and willed both her hands to be cold. She rubbed long the bars and blew the coldest breath she could muster along them and the chains beside them. She heard Kate gasp, but she didn’t stop. She kept up her ministrations for several minutes until she sensed the metal cooling. When she stepped away, she was sure it wouldn’t cause them any harm to crawl through. She looked at Kate. “Let’s go. Seth should be back by now. He could be looking for us.”

Kate nodded and squeezed through the two bars of the door. Legacy followed her and looked at the river as she took a deep breath. They weren’t just at the river, they were where they’d arrived originally. The dock with the boat was just feet in front of them. She’d been right. The door had been guarding something precious.

The way to freedom.

Chapter Seven

The next few minutes happened in a rushed blur. Once Legacy and Kate had exited the tunnel and took two steps toward the dock, a bark came from the distance.

“Oh crap!
Run.
” Legacy pushed Kate as they both started to run, but it wasn’t fast enough. Seth and Cerberus topped the hill at lightning speed. Legacy turned to face them, but yelled over her shoulder, “Keep running!” She had no idea if the boat was tied up or how fast they could get away on it, but she hoped Kate would do whatever she could to get the boat ready while Legacy held off their opponents. Kate kept running, so Legacy turned back just in time to see Seth come right at her. She pushed him away instinctively. He roared as he flew back, and she realized she’d shocked him too. She turned to the side to deal with the dog before Seth recovered and came for her again, but when she turned to the side, the dog wasn’t there. She whirled around and saw him charging for her friend. “Kate!”

Kate’s head whipped up from the crouched position she’d taken by the boat and she heeded the warning. She jumped up. The next instant, her hands were flames. Confident she could keep herself safe from the dog for now, Legacy turned back around. It wasn’t fast enough. Seth backhanded her and she flew to the ground.

“You stupid bitch! You didn’t think I had that gateway watched?” Before she could jump up, he punched her again. “As soon as Casey saw smoke, he came running and warned me.” He hit her again.

“Seth, please.” She didn’t know what she was pleading, but if she didn’t get up soon, she’d be unconscious. She pushed against him as he said it.

“My name’s not Seth!” he roared, and with the dead look in his eyes, there was no doubt in her mind that the Seth she’d been friends with before—whether or not it’d been a lie—wasn’t anywhere in there. Without a second thought, she shocked him. All over. Just the way River had made her practice doing after Casey had attacked her after the basketball game. She put as much menace and force into it as she could, turning her whole body into a live wire. Seth flew off her with the force of a bomb going off. Before she could get up, Cerberus was yelping and running toward him. She got up and ran for Kate who was throwing the rope off the mooring. She jumped into the boat and was already yanking on the pull cord of the outboard motor. Legacy leapt into the boat and shoved it away from the dock as hard as she could. She didn’t look to see if Seth had gotten up or if he ever would. She had no idea how far away she’d catapulted him.

The motor roared to life, and Kate quickly sped away, skillfully guiding the boat down the river. Legacy collapsed onto the bottom of the boat and looked up at her.

Kate shrugged. “Dad’s a fisherman. I can hook a worm, cricket, or pick killer spinner bait.”

Legacy laughed. Gods, she laughed so hard she didn’t know what had suddenly come over her. It could be the stress of the situation finally expelling from her tired body or just the knowledge that the last leg of the escape hadn’t come down to abilities, godly skills, or other mythical interference. No, it was because Kate’s dad was an outdoorsman.

“I’m so getting your dad a fishing pole for Christmas.”

“It’s a rod and reel.” Kate smirked. “Amateur.”

* * * * *

Hours. Gods, it had been so many hours since they’d gotten away from Seth, but here they were, still on the boat. At least they were making progress. There was one sure reason she knew that.

“Lord, I’m
starving
,” Kate said, slumping over a little where she sat by the motor.

“You and me both, sister.”

“How much longer do you think it’ll be before something…er, happens?”

Legacy raised an eyebrow as she looked at her. “You mean how long before we disappear from the boat and just reappear back home? I have no idea. I just remember fading away in the park and then being on the boat. We were on it awhile before it docked, though.”

“Yeah, but maybe
he
did something to get us there. For all we know, we could just circle right back.”

Legacy hadn’t missed the fact that Kate had not said Seth’s name since they left. Neither had she asked about him at all. He could be lying dead where he’d landed, but from Kate’s demeanor, it appeared she didn’t care if he’d lived. Legacy knew better. It was a front, but she wasn’t going to call her on it. Whatever Kate needed to do to get through this ordeal right now so they could just get home, Legacy wasn’t going to begrudge her.

Kate gasped. “Seth.”

Legacy jumped up, making the boat rock, and looked around. “Where?” She looked at Kate who was shaking her head.

“No, I mean, what he said before. Remember, I told you he said if I get the chance all I have to do is wish I was back? What if he was trying to warn me if I got on the boat, all I’d have to do is
wish
to be back home and I’d be there?”

Legacy sat down and stared at her. “Why would he do that?” And why would she say his name now when she’d all but refused before? “He was the one who took us, remember?”

“He hasn’t been himself. You know that.”

“We don’t know that. He could have been playing us all along.” She so didn’t want to have this conversation right now.

“Regardless, he’s been moody. You can’t deny that. He said that to me when he seemed like the Seth I knew before. Maybe he was giving me a hint if I ever got away.” Kate gave her a pointed look. “He said so himself, he wanted you, not me. Maybe he was going to let me free once he did what whatever he needed to do to secure your future here.”

Legacy thought about that. It could be true. Kate was innocent in this. A victim really if Seth played had her all this time just to get to Legacy. “It could also be a trap.”

Kate licked her lips. “What do we have to lose?”

And that was it. They had everything to lose, but right now, it was their only option. “Okay. Let’s try.” Legacy scooted closer to Kate.

“Should we join hands or something?”

“Hmmm…wouldn’t hurt. Seth did have a hold of us when we disappeared. Maybe it wasn’t only to keep us from running.” Legacy shrugged.

Kate grabbed her hand. “What now?”

“We silently wish to be back home.”

“Should we wish someplace specific? It might put more mojo in it or something?”

Legacy nodded. “Good idea. Let’s concentrate on going to my house. You’ve been gone, and we don’t know what your parents are thinking. We should have some kind of plan in place before you see them. We don’t have to worry about that with Lissa.” And Lissa could help with the planning. Gods, she missed her.

“Okay. Ready when you are.”

She gave Kate’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s go home.” Legacy shut her eyes. She felt Kate’s hand squeeze her back. Then she thought about home. How much she missed it. She thought about Adin, River, Calli, Lissa, and Olive, but mainly focused on the house, the porch, the lawn. She zeroed in on the spot of the sidewalk just in front of the porch steps and willed herself and Kate to go there. It felt like hours.

It felt like seconds.

Time had no meaning, but she felt a warm tingle all over her body and pleasant, peaceful comfort engulfed her.

And then she felt herself standing, even though she hadn’t stood. It was hot, sticky, the air heavy as if it had rained recently. A breeze blew gently by her, bringing with it the scent of flowers. Roses.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped. She was standing in the exact spot she’d envisioned. She looked to the side. Kate stared ahead as if in shock. She choked on a sudden sob and looked at Legacy.

“We did it,” Kate breathed.

Legacy smiled. “You did it.”

The door swung open and jolted her attention away from Kate. Lissa stood in the doorway.

“Oh gods, Legacy? Legacy!” She ran down the stairs and took both Legacy and Kate into her arms. Lissa was shaking, crying, and squeezing them so tightly. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,” she chanted over and over. Then she pulled back. “C’mon.” She took both of the girls’ hands into hers and guided them into the house.

As soon as they passed through the doorway, Olive squealed, flew up to them, and almost knocked Legacy down with the force of her hug. Surreal. It was all so surreal. The feel of hugging her family. The smell of pine cleaner and bleach—Lissa was one to clean when stressed, so Legacy figured their house would be spotless by now. The air. The tears. It would be overwhelming if it weren’t so dang good to be home.

Legacy took a deep breath and sobbed, collapsing into Olive’s embrace. She was being guided somewhere, but she didn’t look. Gods, if she looked up and this wasn’t real, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. But when the back of her legs hit something soft and she instinctively sat, she knew she was home, sitting on the couch.

“How did you do it?” Olive asked, sweeping the wayward stands of hair out of her face.

Legacy looked at her, then glanced across the room where Lissa looked to be consoling Kate. “Kate. She got us free.”

“We did it together,” Kate said, looking over at them as she wiped away her tears. “There’s no way I could have gotten out of there by myself.”

Legacy didn’t believe that. Seth had given her a hint of how to get out. Whether or not he was going to set her free once he was finished with her or had hoped she’d find a way out on her own, Legacy knew Kate would have gotten out one day. But Seth hadn’t counted on her fleeing with Legacy. As she thought about that, she knew she didn’t have any time to waste bringing everybody up to speed. Lissa and Olive and Adin—gods, she couldn’t wait to see him—River, Calli…they all needed to know everything she and Kate had discovered.

“He told us things,” Legacy said, looking at Lissa. She nodded slowly and walked to the couch, bringing Kate with her. Kate sat beside Legacy while Lissa sat on the coffee table looking at the three of them.

“What all did he say?”

Legacy looked at Olive before making eye contact with Lissa again. Did Olive know who she really was? If not, should Legacy just blurt it out now?

“She knows,” Lissa said, answering her unasked question.

“Right. Well, besides telling us that Olive is Athena, which you already know, he said that Calli is someone called Callirrhoe and called her a nymph. He also said Thad is some guy named Theseus, whose brother Ric, by the way, made some remarks about wanting to rescue me because he chose me to be his wife.” Legacy shivered at that thought.

“What do you mean he said that? Was he there?” Lissa asked, sitting up a little straighter.

“Oh. Um, no. Seth had this fire pit thingy where the flames showed them talking to each other about it.” Legacy narrowed her eyes. “I take it you already know about Thad and Ric then?”

Lissa licked her lips. “Not exactly. I know the story of Theseus and Pirithous. When you said that about Thad and his brother, I made the connection. “

“Is he someone I need to be worried about? I never thought anything about it before, but I did catch Ric staring at me sometimes.”

“We’ll keep him on our radar. Go on.”

Legacy leaned back and crossed her arms. “He said River’s cousin Paul is Apollo.”

“Now
that
I did already know.”

“
Okay.
Besides saying two guys I don’t talk to very much, Alex and Laos are Paris and Menelaus and he said Ellen is Helen.” Legacy gritted her teeth. “Another daughter of Zeus.”

Olive gasped. “You don’t think…” she started staying as she looked at Lissa.

“What?” Kate asked, echoing Legacy’s thought.

Lissa leaned over and took Legacy’s hands. “After you disappeared, those closest to you threw ourselves into research, finding a way to get you out.” She half-smiled and looked at Kate. “Hecate, right?” When Kate nodded, Lissa continued. “I thought so. Not right away, but it seemed to fit once I thought about it.” She looked back at Legacy. “Really, you and Olive are my concern. I’m on a need-to-know basis. Anyway, River and your mom talked to Poseidon. He and Dora went to the oracle for guidance, hoping she’d provide some kind of clue that could be identified. They were told that the
cat
will lead you by finger’s light, but then said, ‘that which is thicker than water will rival to be her ultimate test.’ We assume that statement means someone who is blood related to you will fight you for your rightful place as the goddess above all others.”

“The goddess above all others? What does that mean?”

Lissa let go of her hands and propped her elbows on her knees. “C’mon, Legacy. You know how powerful you’re supposed to be. If Zeus is the most powerful of all the gods and you’re going to be more powerful than him, then there is no question what your role will be once you turn eighteen.”

She’d have to file that thought away for later. Sure, she knew the mechanics of it, but she hadn’t thought about her abilities on a tangible level like that. “And Ellen?”

“And Ellen might be the one who’s going to try and take you out. Is she the only one? No. Technically, so could River.”

“River?” she squeaked.

“Yes. He’s Poseidon’s son, who is your mother’s brother. That’s what’s going to make it difficult to determine who’s going to do it. For that matter, we don’t even know if the person
knows
they’re going to be the one to do it.”

Legacy jumped up. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means even though Ellen doesn’t know anything about her Greek mythology heritage, she could still be the one who does it. Fate could intervene, forcing her hand.”

Legacy paced while she thought about that. Lissa stood and watched her. “That reasoning could also be applied to River then. He could kill me and not mean to.” She shut her eyes. Gods, the thought of accidental killings were still too raw for her, even if she wasn’t the one taking the life.

“True. But he has things working in his favor.”

“Like what?”

“For one, he knows the truth about you and loves you. He wouldn’t do anything to bring you harm.”

That stung. She’d loved Adin too before she’d killed him accidentally. “Because that matters,” she said sarcastically.

“And he’s already ascended. He’s controlled. You weren’t.”

       And there was another slap to the face. But she knew Lissa was right about that. “Fine, so you think Ellen could be a future
possible
culprit to something she knows nothing about?” Why couldn’t their target be easy?

“If Seth is right about her, then yes. She is very likely the one. Olive and I will look into her as the possibility. You have other people to talk to about your abduction.”

She looked at Kate then back at Lissa. “What are we going to tell Kate’s parents?”

“Don’t worry about—”

The sound of an engine roaring into the driveway and screeching tires made Legacy gasp. She spun to face the door just as it flew open. She only saw him for a second before he ran at lightning speed across the room and squeezed her to him. But even if she didn’t know the sound of that car, the look on that face, the smell of his skin, she knew who it was by the way his body molded to hers. It was the one man she’d thought about every free second while she was away. The one who she feared she might never see again. The love of her life.

Adin
.