Omega (31 page)

Lantos released my hands but maintained one
arm around my body as if he could feel my insides quaking and my
knees about to give. I placed a hand on the cool glass separating
the Oracle from me.

“
Who … who did this to
her?” I asked hoarsely. Tears pricked my eyes.

It is the way it has been
for millennia,
came the airy voice once
more.
There is not one person to blame but
a tradition accepted as necessary.

“
I don’t want this.” My
throat was too tight to finish.

The Old Ways. The time before the gods
became the puppet masters of mankind.

I listened.

I have been dying for two years. I am nearly
too weak to hold the portals open, no matter what they do to me.
You must leave this place until I am dead. Avoid capture. Trust
carefully. Act faithfully. Our power comes from this world. Once
the gods are cut off, you can execute them. One by one.

A trace of fury was in her thin voice. Her
eyes closed, and I sensed more than saw that she was weakened by
the speech.

I trembled in place. How
could anyone do this to someone else? How could anyone think of
doing this to
me
?
I no longer questioned why Herakles drilled me so relentlessly. He
wanted me to have a chance to avoid this. He wanted me to
survive.

He knows this is my
fate.
The second secret he kept from me
was as damning as the first, and I began to crumble. My emotions
were spinning out of control once again, egged on by the amber
scent wresting control of myself from me.

“
Oh, gods,” I whispered.
Monsters, my forest, betrayal … nothing compared to this moment,
when I was finally able to see my fate, when the secret no one
wanted to tell me revealed itself at last. “We have to save her. We
have to get her out of there!” I was vaguely aware of the hysteria
in my voice, vaguely aware of struggling against Lantos and him
trying to speak to me. “Let me go!”

But he didn’t, and I began to cry,
overwhelmed. I collapsed against the stranger who dared show me my
fate. His arms went around me, and he hugged me to him tightly.
Aside from Adonis, I’d never been touched like this by a man – but
I liked it. I liked his strong frame, his masculine scent and the
sense he could support me.

It was hard for me to cry for long with the
catnip pushing me higher. I began to lose some sense of reality, to
slide into a state of heightened dreaming, and calmed, clutching
Lantos' suit jacket.

For all I knew, he was going to be the one
to strap me down and flip on the computers that would tear me
apart. A man with magic like his had to be powerful. I was no
closer to knowing who to trust, or what to do, than I was when I
left the forest with Niko.

“
We must go before you are
missed,” Lantos said quietly. “Do you understand that this is what
Cleon wants? What all the people attending your little party really
want for you?”

I couldn’t answer. I eased away from him
without looking up, embarrassed to cry in front of someone
else.

“
Do you?” he repeated,
gaze intent.

“
Y…yes.” And I did. Cleon
had admitted this much already, only I hadn’t known exactly what it
meant to follow the path he wanted. “What do you
want?”

“
Later.” He winked.
Stabilizing me, he kept one arm around me and as we walked to the
elevator.

Moments later, we emerged into the cool
night. The Oracle catnip wore off quickly, leaving me with nothing
to dull the horror of what I’d seen. We started back through the
garden to the soiree. I paused when we reached the fountain and
tugged free of him.

“
I can’t go back there,” I
said, eyes on the happy people at the soiree.

“
You need to play your
part, pretty girl.” He tipped my chin up.

“
Do all of them know about
… her?” I asked.

“
Every one of them. They
are counting on you assuming your place so things can return back
to the way they were before Cecilia began to fight
back.”

“
And you?”

“
I’m the son of a Titan.
There’s no love between the Olympic gods and Titans. I want to see
Cecilia succeed in disrupting the order of things forever. I want
the gods dead or at least, expelled from here and to restore my
place with my father and the rest of the Titans.”

“
It can’t be that simple,”
I retorted. “Everyone I know has another side to who they
are.”

“
You’re learning how deep
and murky the political waters are.” He rested a hand on my arm.
“Come on, I’ll walk you back.”

I shook him off. “Why in the name of
everything holy do you think I’m going back there?” I demanded.

“
Because if you let them
know you know, they’ll strike with force and speed even I can’t
counter. They’ll have you pinned to that wall the way Cecilia is
before you can blink.” He moved closer, voice lowered for my ears
only. “Right now, the elite are celebrating having found you. They
will let you enjoy what they believe to be the last few days of
your life in peace, if you play along.”

My heart was racing. What he said made too
much sense.

“
Come with me,” he said
and offered the mask. “Play the game.”

“
I hate games.” I gazed
into his sparkling eyes. After a moment, I snatched the mask and
slid it into place to cover eyes red from crying.

Lantos took my hand with a wink and began
walking back towards the soiree with me. He replaced his mask as we
walked.

Every step was like being on a death march.
I wanted to cry again, to break out my knife and ram it through the
hearts of every person present who wanted me tortured and held for
the rest of my life in misery so they could retain their fortunes.
On the verge of hyperventilating, I allowed him to pull me towards
the party and struggled to regain some sort of balance between my
reason and emotions.

“
Lantos?” I recognized
Cleon’s voice. “My apologies, Alessandra. He’s known to be improper
with women despite the title.”

“
Title?” I managed to
speak without screaming.

“
Supreme
Priest.”

Wrenching my hand free from Lantos, I glared
up at him. I was tired of surprises, of the two-faced bastards
weaving in and out of my life. Lantos was grinning again, and I
couldn’t even begin to fathom how he was the son of a Titan – a
sworn enemy of the gods – in the highest-level priestly position in
the government.

But it fit him. He laughed at all the world
and the fools who appointed him the representative of the gods. He
was perfect for the role, the ultimate double agent. He hadn’t
shown me the Oracle out of a sense of compassion but to make me
distrust Cleon.

“
You’re the one who sent
us to the arena!” I exclaimed.

“
I have a bit of a
temper,” he admitted. “I placed my one chance to task you in the
hands of the man I trust more than myself, and he failed me.” He
shrugged. “But you survived.” He offered another smile. “No hard
feelings.”

“
No hard …” I started to
repeat in astonishment before stopping myself. Cleon was watching
us closely. “I need to rest.”

“
Your time at the arena
must have been draining,” Lantos said.

“
Yes.”

“
I would be happy to
escort you home,” Cleon said.

“
Thank you.” The words
sounded forced even to my ears.

My mind was too busy for me to attempt small
talk. I wanted to scream, and it was hard to prevent myself from
racing ahead. Trailed by the entourage, Cleon was quiet, and he
stopped at the doorstep of my villa.

“
I took the liberty of
booking an appointment for you tomorrow afternoon.”

I was about to tell him to go to Hades and
take all his rich friends – and Niko – with him, when he
continued.

“
The Silent Queen is eager
to meet you.”

Since seeing her on the television during
her first appearance, I’d been intrigued by her. I was afraid to
learn what she wanted with me but I was also interested in seeing
her in the flesh.

“
Thank you,” I said once
again. I stepped into the villa and closed the door behind
Leandra.

Ripping off the mask, I flung it and the
sandals and sprinted to my room, no longer able to bear being calm
and still when I wanted nothing more than explode. I closed my door
behind me and wiped my tears, crossing to the open doors of the
balcony. Moonlight spilled into my own private garden and lined the
flowers with silver.

All this was mine – until the day they
decided to tear me limb from limb. I shook with emotion and
exhaustion.

Lantos sends his apologies for upsetting
you.

“
Don’t!” I spun to face
the silent predator landing lightly on my balcony. “Don’t make
excuses for that piece of shit! He knew exactly what he was
doing!”

It was impossible for me to see Mismatch for
the first time and not be awed and just a little terrified. He
folded his wings and tilted his head, his muscular frame
poised.

“
Tell your master you
aren’t welcome here,” I breathed at last.

I help you fight monsters, and you turn your
back on me. You were such a sweet child.

“
You ditched me and left
me with Niko!”

I fought with you and left you with someone
I knew wouldn’t hurt you. I couldn’t take you with me without my
men.

“
Your boss ...” My chin
trembled. I clamped my jaw closed and wiped more tears away. “I
hate this place. I hate them!”

Deception is not your game.

“
It’s not. I’m so sick of
people and their secret agendas!”

The duality of Mismatch – the creature I
worshipped as a child and the man I couldn’t trust – always
confused me. He stretched out a wing and nudged me with it. I
pushed it back but followed it with my gaze, once more entranced by
the softness of its lining. I was about to tell him to stop messing
with me when I realized his nature was to provoke me.

Lantos showed you the Oracle.

I hesitated then nodded. Tears of fury and
fear were in my eyes again. Mismatch nudged me once more. This
time, instead of pushing his wing away, I buried my hands into the
soft lining. He stepped closer.

“
Why couldn’t you tell me
that up front?” I demanded, looking up at his glowing
eyes.

It wasn’t my place.

“
It damn well was your
place! You’re my creation, aren’t you? Isn’t there some sense of
loyalty there?”

My master bid me to let him reveal it to
you.

His wing wrapped around me and rolled me
into the protection of his body the way it had last night.
Surrounded by the heavenly softness and his scent, I didn’t resist
for once. I was too tired, too angry, and too cognizant of how much
I loved and trusted Mismatch as a child. Those emotions were
unusually strong, as if part of me was capable of separating what I
felt for him during daylight from what I did at night.

At least you know I’m a monster.

His touch and presence soothed me. I didn’t
want it to. I wanted to stay angry. I rested my head back against
his chest, thoroughly exhausted. His arms circled me, and I pulled
up one hand by the thumb. “My gods, Mismatch. You gotta trim those
nails.”

Can’t kill with them short.

“
You shouldn’t be killing
at all!”

I hunt my food at night.

“
That’s really weird.” I
relaxed into him and gazed at the gardens. “What does a gargoyle
eat?”

Grotesque. Usually something the size of a
full grown sheep or deer.

“
The whole
thing?”

Flying requires a lot of energy.

His wing unwound and fell away, tucked at
his side again, leaving me pressed against his body. I felt a
tingle when Lantos flirted with me; when Mismatch or Adonis touched
me, my insides ignited. At least when he was a monster, I could
pretend there was nothing between us.

“
I don’t know what to do,”
I said before I could stop myself.

Sleep. Your fate isn’t yet set. You must
complete two more trials before you are of use to any member of the
Triumvirate.

“
I can’t sleep knowing I
might be dragged out of here and chopped into pieces!”

I’ll stand watch.

“
You have to go kill a
cow.”

I already ate.

His tail was tapping the glass of the French
doors. I sighed and stood with him at my back. I shouldn’t have
trusted him more than I did anyone else. But I did. At least, at
night I did. During the day, Adonis couldn’t be far enough
away.

“
I want to go back to my
forest. The one you chopped down.”

He said nothing.

Recalling how he’d destroyed my home, I
moved away. “I’m going to bed.” I closed the doors behind me,
leaving him on the balcony.

A nightgown was laying out for me in the
dressing room part of the bathroom. I changed and tidied up for
bed, fatigue driving me to skip brushing my hair in favor of
arriving to my bed a minute earlier.

Sinking into the massive bed, I stared out
the window. Mismatch was perched on the balcony railing, wings
tucked and muscular thighs drawing my gaze. His teal eyes were on
the world outside of us.

As much as I hated to admit it, I liked the
creature side of Adonis. A lot. Enough to want to curl up in his
soft wings again and fall asleep. And I knew if he were here, no
one could drag me away to torture me. I was safe with my monster
watching over me.