Salvaged Soul (The Ignited Series Book 3) (17 page)

“You all know that Jared and I were on a mission together,” Nathan started, drawing everyone’s attention. “What most of you don’t know is where we went.”

There was a stretch of expectant silence. Though I knew they had been in Greece, I didn’t know why, and I was just as curious as everyone else to hear.

It was Jared who spoke up, and we all turned to him. “We went to Mount Olympus.”

Bruce’s jaw dropped at the same time my own went slack. Micah had been picking his nails like he had no interest in being a part of this meeting, but dropped his arm to the table with a
thwunk
. Someone gasped, and while I never would have guessed it if not for the look on her face, I suspected it had come from Kim.

“You saw the gods?” Micah asked hesitantly.

“Yes, and they had a specific mission for us,” Nathan answered.

Everyone listened with enraptured silence as Nathan spun a wild and dangerous tale of betrayal, uprisings, curses, and immortality. When he finished, no one moved for several long seconds.

It was Micah who finally broke the silence. “Why would the Skotadi be helping the demigods? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“We’re still looking into it,” Jared responded brusquely.

“That’s not the important part right now anyway,” Nathan said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. Micah scoffed like he couldn’t disagree more, but Nathan continued unfazed. “All of that was just background information to get to the reason we’re here.”

My teeth came down on my lip, trapping the air in my lungs. If demigods cursing humans to achieve immortality so that they could start an uprising against the gods wasn’t the
Big News
, I was afraid to hear what else Nathan had to tell us.

“One of the goddesses gave me something while we were there—a potion of sorts. She said that whoever drank it . . . the true potential of their soul . . . would be secured and protected.” He said that last part with a shrug, like he didn’t really know how to word it.

Looking to Nathan, Jared said, “It can basically protect a soul from evil.” Nathan nodded, and Jared added, “Or it can save a soul that has already been possessed by evil.”

“Return a soul to its true potential,” Nathan clarified. “That’s what Circe said.”

Jared grinned. “Basically, it’s chicken soup for the soul.”

As the two of them had been fumbling over their explanation of this potion, the rest of us had been swiveling our heads back and forth between them. Now, everyone sat still, staring silently at the table, as the gravity of what they said sunk in.

“Circe?” Micah questioned. “You got this potion from Circe?”

Nathan nodded. “That’s right.”

“You do know who she is, right?” Micah continued.

I didn’t, but then I didn’t know who half of the gods were. Every day I was reminded of just how little I had retained from my junior high Greek Mythology class. It was either that or the version taught in schools was bogus.

“Hecate’s daughter,” Nathan answered Micah between clenched teeth.

My head whipped around. “Daughter?” As in . . . my sister?

Nathan peeled his gaze away from Micah, and his eyes softened when they lowered to mine. “According to most legends, Hecate had a daughter with her lover, Asclepius, before Hades imprisoned her. Because she was born to two gods, Circe is a goddess. She has the powers of both of her parents—the power to yield magic from Hecate, and the ability to heal from Asclepius.”

Powers of magic and healing? If anyone could produce a potion that could do what they were claiming this potion could do, it was probably her. Right?

But, oh my God . . . I had a half-sister?

“Other legends have pinned her as a sorceress,” Micah countered. “Of
black
magic.”

Oh. I didn’t know much about magic yet, but one thing I had learned was that black magic was bad.

“You met her,” Alec said to Nathan. “Can she be trusted?”

Nathan glanced at Jared before answering Alec. “I think so.”

Micah chuckled humorlessly. “My guess is that you want Kris to take this potion to save her soul, right?”

Nobody said anything for a long time as Nathan and Micah exchanged glares.

“We are hoping that this is the solution we’ve been looking for,” Jared eventually said.

I looked from Nathan to Jared, and found him looking directly at me.

They thought this potion could be the thing to save me from the life of evil I was meant to have? It sounded promising, if what this goddess told them was, in fact, true. But something held me back from getting too excited. What exactly that was, I couldn’t put a finger on just yet.

“We gave it to Lillian yesterday,” Nathan blurted suddenly, interrupting my train of thought. He shifted to face me directly. “If it works, if it can bring her back . . .”

Then there would be no reason not to believe Circe’s potion was legit, and he would want me to take it. There was no mistaking the sound of hope in his voice—hope that he had finally found a way to save me. But . . .

I finally pinpointed the problem I had with this idea.

“You said this potion will secure a person’s soul to its true potential?” I chose my words carefully, and only when I had finished my question did I look up to meet Nathan’s waiting eyes. He nodded slowly, and I glanced across the table at Alec. “But we were
meant
for evil. That’s the whole reason we were created. To be evil. Isn’t that our true potential?”

From the look on Nathan’s face, I figured he had anticipated my concern. “But you’re not evil. Not really,” he insisted. “You’ve got Hecate’s blood in you, too. Right now, you’re good. Your whole life, you’ve been good. In your heart, you’re good. Both of you.” He turned to glance at Alec before looking back to me. “The evil was planted, but it’s not really what either of you are.”

“How do you know? Heart isn’t the same as soul,” I pointed out. What was in a person’s soul ran much, much deeper.

A muscle in Nathan’s jaw ticked. I knew he wanted to argue with me, but with a table full of curious eyes on us, he said nothing.

“I guess I’ll go ahead and ask the question I think we all want to know the answer to,” Alec said after a moment. “Did it work on Lillian?”

Since Nathan was locked in a staring contest with me, Jared volunteered an answer. “We don’t know yet. Whoever drinks it is knocked unconscious for three days as it works its magic.”

“We wanted to test it out on her first to see how it works before you and Alec take it,” Nathan said to me, as if that should have made me feel better.

“
And
. . .” Jared jumped in. “We need Lillian’s help in order for Callie to get better. She’s the one who did this to Callie, and she’s the only one who knows what we can do to fix her.”

Now
that
I could get on board with. Yet the big difference between Lillian, and me and Alec, remained. Lillian had been born to be good, while Alec and I were born to be evil. What if Lillian woke up as her normal self, but Alec and I only sealed our fates with Hades—a little earlier than expected? What if we both woke up . . . the monsters we were trying to avoid becoming?

Lillian helping Callie would be huge, and I was happy about that possibility. Even if the same thing that saved her destroyed me. But I didn’t want Alec affected.

“Okay.” Alec propped his elbows on the table. “Assuming Lillian wakes up in—what, two days now?—and she’s back to normal, then the theory is that it will work for Kris and me?”

“That’s the theory,” Jared said.

Alec looked at Nathan, his head bobbing in barely detectable nods. “Alright,” he finally said. “If it works for Lillian, and we do this, then I go first.”

I started to open my mouth, to inquire why, when Nathan cut me off.

“Agreed,” he said.

I glared at Nathan for a brief moment, before shooting a curious look at Alec. “Why?”

He shrugged. “You’re right. Lillian isn’t exactly like us. It might work okay for her, but not for us.” He glanced in Micah’s direction. “Besides, we don’t know for certain if Circe can be trusted. I want to go first to make sure nothing bad happens.”

“No way,” I argued. “I’m not going to—”

“That makes sense,” Micah spoke up. “If it goes bad, only one of you will be affected. Not both of you.”

Of course Micah would be in favor of this idea. But I wasn’t a fan of letting Alec potentially sacrifice himself for me. What if something did go wrong?

“And if something does go wrong?” I asked him.

“Then you’ll be spared.”

His reasoning sucked. “Your reasoning sucks,” I told him.

“But it’s smart,” Micah countered.

Everyone looked at me, waiting for my response, waiting for me to agree to go through with this. While I had my reservations, I didn’t see where I had much of a choice. This was the most promising plan we’d had yet. Actually, it was the only plan we had. We had to give it a shot.

I nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’m in.”

Chapter 17

{Nathan}

Today was day three. Today, Lillian would wake up, and we would see if Circe’s potion worked. I was like a kid on Christmas morning, eagerly anticipating the moment we had all been waiting for.

And I couldn’t find Kris anywhere. 

After searching her dorm, the beach, the mess hall, my dorm, and her dorm again, it finally dawned on me where she was.

The rock cave
.

I spotted Kim sitting in the dirt outside the cave, her back against the rock wall. She appeared to be asleep, but her eyes popped open as I approached—like a good Kala soldier. I smiled at her as I ducked through the opening.

Kris sat at the edge of the pool with her feet in the water. I knew the moment she realized I was there from the sudden straightening of her back. The fact that she pretended to not know I was there was my biggest clue that my intuition was right—something was wrong. Something more than uncertainty over a drink that may or may not work.

Aside from the anxiety she had regarding the potion, she had been fine the past two days. This sudden shift in her mood came out of nowhere. It didn’t take me long to determine the reason behind it.

My steps faltered as I closed the distance between us. “What are you doing way out here?”

Though I knew the answer, I asked anyway. Sometimes I was wrong. It didn’t occur often, and I doubted this was one of those times, but stranger things have happened.

“I like it here.” Her feet splashed in the water, a weak attempt at feigning indifference.

I kicked off my shoes and sat beside her. The water felt nice, but not
that
nice. “Kris?” I waited until her eyes met mine, albeit briefly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she murmured. “I’m just thinking.”

Her talent for denial was almost as good as mine. I decided to confront the issue head on. Otherwise, this could go on for a long time.

“You know nothing is going to change, right?”

Her feet stopped moving as she registered the message behind my words, then began kicking again, slower, more calculating. “
Everything
might change today,” she countered.

“Nothing about you and me is going to change.”  Her heavy sigh let me know that I was right. “You know that, right?”

“Nathan . . .”

“
Nothing.
” My hand shot out to cup her chin. I forced her to turn and face me. She needed to see it in my eyes. She needed to know how serious I was. “No matter what.”

“Promise?”

“I promise you. It’s you and me, okay?”

I got a weak nod, but a nod nonetheless. I would have pushed for more enthusiasm from her, if not for the sound of quickly approaching footsteps from outside the cave. We both turned to look over our shoulders as Micah appeared at the entrance, breathing heavily.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Micah panted, looking at me.

“How did you know about this place?” I shot back.

Surely Kris hadn’t brought him here while I was gone. I glanced at her and she shrugged. Turning back to Micah, I caught the look of uncertainty in his eyes as he surveyed Kris warily.

“I can always find her,” he answered solemnly. “I assumed you were with her.”

I hated that annoying connection they had. Everything about Micah annoyed me. I knew for a fact that he disliked me as much as I disliked him, so I was surprised that he had come here looking for me.   

“What do you want, Micah?” I asked.

“Umm . . .” His eyes flicked nervously to Kris before he answered me. “They’re looking for you. Lillian is awake.”

I nodded, and maintained a calm demeanor despite the galloping in my chest. “Did it work?”

He nodded with a smile. “They think so.” Again, Micah glanced at Kris and, just as quickly as it appeared, the smile faded. “She’s not making much sense though, and keeps repeating the same thing over and over.”

I stared at Micah and waited for him to elaborate. Then it hit me. I knew what he was going to say a half second before he said it, and if I could have reacted faster, I would have stopped him.

With one last reluctant glance at Kris, Micah answered me. “She’s asking for you.”

Never in my life have so many people catered to me. Doors were opened ahead of my arrival as if I were a celebrity, and a high ranking Kala, whose name I couldn’t remember, ushered me through the Infirmary toward Lillian’s room. I let him show me the way, as if I didn’t already know where it was.

I expected her to be awake, as Micah had said. I expected her to look like Lillian. I expected her to be . . . normal. Despite all my expectations, I wasn’t prepared.

The Lillian I had come to know over the past few months was gone, replaced by the girl I had known, and loved, seven years ago. The transformation was incredible. Until then, I hadn’t realized what being Skotadi had done to her—to her complexion, her eyes, her hair, and even her facial expressions. Whereas Skotadi-Lillian’s eyes had been cold and her facial expressions hard, the Lillian I saw now appeared anything but cold and hard.

And she was crying.

Of course she was crying. She was surrounded by at least ten Kala, all of them spitting out stupid question after stupid question. None of them gave her time to answer before someone fired another one at her. Despite her visibly vulnerable emotional state, she was still strapped to the bed like a dangerous animal.

With one look at her, I knew she was no longer
that
Lillian. Couldn’t they see that?

“Where are your superiors located?”

“What is the Skotadi’s agenda?”

“Are you aware of the increase in . . .”

I shouldered my way through the mass of insensitive pricks. A few of the smart ones got the hint and backed away. Most of them stopped their incessant interrogation, but amongst an assembly of assholes, there was always that one who shined above the others. He stepped into my path, blocking me from closing the remaining few feet to Lillian’s bed.

Regardless, she had seen me, and I had seen the relief in her eyes before I squared up to the world’s most stupid Kala. He was obviously more brain than brawn, and that was the only thing that kept my fist out of his face.

“Who do you think you are?” he asked me, and I had to admit the guy had balls.

No, no. He wasn’t ballsy. He was stupid, and he was asking for it. My hand instinctively clenched into a fist at my side.

A hand came down on my shoulder, stilling the forward motion of my arm. “Someone more important than you right now, Stiles.”

Jared. To the rescue . . . and just in time.

The weasel named Stiles grudgingly moved to the side and I stepped forward, toward Lillian. Her tears had slowed and her fear was gone, replaced by hope.

I was vaguely aware of Jared clearing out the room behind me, and when I glanced over my shoulder at him for guidance, he merely nodded his head at me in encouragement, as if I should know what to do.

Like any guy would know what to do when confronted with his ex-girlfriend who had just magically returned from the land of the evil-dead after seven years.

“Are . . . are you okay?” I asked pathetically, and rolled my eyes at my own lameness.

That was a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t okay.

Dr. Ribbons was the only other person Jared had not kicked out of the room, and I turned to him now. “Can someone undo the restraints? Obviously she doesn’t need them anymore.”

The doctor looked to Jared, and I followed his gaze to my old friend. If he even considered saying no, we were about to have a problem. Fortunately, he didn’t even hesitate.

“Of course.” Jared opened the door and called in someone by the name of Willis.

I didn’t recognize him, but Willis had a set of keys. He maintained a ridiculous distance between himself and Lillian, extending his arms as far as he could to insert the key into the lock. Once the cuffs were undone, he backed away cautiously and looked to Jared for permission to escape.

Like a coward. As if he actually thought Lillian could hurt him.

Jared let Willis out and, although Jared stayed in the room, he remained near the door. His distance made it feel like Lillian and I were alone in the room, the seven years we had spent apart the only thing separating us. Though she didn’t know it yet, much had changed in those seven years—for me. She was the same Lillian I had once loved, but yet she wasn’t. We had once easily bantered, but now I found my tongue tied, the words that should have come easily now impossible to find.

Jared must have recognized my struggle, because he walked up beside me to lay a comforting hand on top of one of Lillian’s—something I probably should have thought to do.

“Hi, Lillian,” he said easily. “I’m Jared. I don’t know if you remember me . . .”

She nodded, and her eyes flicked to mine briefly before returning to him. “Of course I do, Jared. We went through development together.”

“That’s right,” he said soothingly. Clearly he was much better at this than I was. “We were all devastated when you left us.” He patted me gruffly on the back in an attempt to include me in the discussion.

I opened my mouth, but my tongue still wasn’t ready to cooperate.

“How long?” Lillian asked, glancing between us. “How long ago was that?”

Jared and I shared a look. She didn’t remember?

“Seven years,” he answered.

Her face blanched as fresh tears welled up in her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but all she managed was a strangled cry.

Her severe reaction took me by surprise. It was genuine and gut-wrenching, and it was obvious that she really had no idea that she had missed seven years of her life. Until now.

“You don’t remember, do you?” I finally said.

“I remember bits and pieces of my time as a Skotadi,” she stammered, “but not seven years. It’s as if I’ve been asleep the whole time. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were here on the island, together.”

Jared and I shared another glance. This wasn’t good. Not for what we had hoped to accomplish by bringing Lillian back. If she didn’t remember much about her time as a Skotadi, how could she help Callie? Or all the humans dragged into this mess? Despite the hollow feeling building up in my stomach, I managed to keep the devastation off my face for Lillian’s sake.

She lifted her gaze to mine, and held it. I saw it clearly then, and I knew. Her time as Skotadi-Lillian was nothing but a long, bad dream to her, and she was living seven years in the past. A past in which I remained the one and only in her life, and we were madly in love.

No wonder she had asked for me upon waking up. Not only had she not known how much time had passed, but she had no idea how much I had changed over the past seven years. From the saddened look in her eyes as her gaze held mine, I figured that she had just realized my feelings for her were not what they had once been. How could they be? How could she expect them to be? It had been seven years.

I was in love with someone else. Though that was the painful truth, I didn’t think now was the best time to tell Lillian that. Not when she was this emotionally unstable. First, she needed time to absorb the fact that she had lost the time she had.

A knock at the door saved me from saying something stupid. Jared left to answer it. A few hushed words were exchanged before Jared returned to my side, the warm smile on his face directed at Lillian.

“What do you say to having an actual room again?” he asked her. Gesturing to the drab exam room we stood in, he added, “It won’t be much, but it’ll be better than this.”

Lillian nodded eagerly. “That would be great. Thank you.”

Hovering in the doorway was a scowling female Kala. I suspected that she was there to serve as Lillian’s bodyguard. Of course. Seeing Lillian’s drastic transformation wasn’t enough for them. Once guilty, always guilty. Once a Skotadi, always a Skotadi. Lillian would more than likely be subjected to the same restrictions Kris and Alec were subjected to. Perhaps more.

At least they planned to let her out of this room, though I bet her room would be treated as more of a prison cell than a sanctuary. Nonetheless, Lillian smiled gratefully. For now. Until she realized the nasty truth. Not only the truth about how the Kala would treat her now, but also the truth about us—that there wasn’t an
‘us’
anymore.

Several more Kala filed into the room, and I moved off to the side, out of the way. I didn’t recognize any of them, but they were all talking at once to each other, and above each other, as they discussed the move.

I doubted anyone noticed when I slipped out. As I walked away from the room, I told myself that I left to avoid hurting Lillian with the truth now, when she could least handle it. Leaving was for the best. I really thought that. Yet, for some reason, each step I took made me feel more and more like I was running from something.