Medusa: The Wronged Page 5

  One eye stared back at Em, one shiny orb of the palest gold that it seemed to shimmer even beneath the sea. Em stared at that one eye, that blessing and curse that allowed her sisters to see possible futures and fated paths. Where the other eye should have been was an empty socket, an endless black chasm that had plagued her childhood nightmares.

  Her snakes recoiled and hissed, uncertain of that one, all-seeing eye. She didn’t blame them.

  Em tore her gaze away as well, unwilling to offer up her sanity for her pride’s sake. She’d been caught in that gaze once before and it had messed with her mind for years. She wasn’t willing to risk that again. Still, she couldn’t leave her parents to the Grey Sisters’ mercy. Em glanced back up, ready to break up their group hug, and cried out as her sisters stepped back as one and let their mother and father slide, boneless, to the floor of the cavern.

  “What did you do?” Em screamed, falling back into a crouching position. Fury and fear mixed in her blood, heating it to a blaze instantly. Without a second thought, she opened to the darkness, letting it slide over her and into her until she was filled with its power. Em glanced down at her parents before the darkness swept her away and saw their chests rising and falling. Alive, they were alive. Inky blackness began to fill her line of sight.

  A splash behind her pulled Em back from the edge for just a second, long enough for her to whirl around and see Poseidon slipping into the salty water, his face serene and unconscious. Panic froze Em to the spot for a moment and she couldn’t move. She needed to think, not just destroy.

  She pushed back against the darkness, against her monster, with everything she had, until the edges of it receded from her mind. It didn’t go far, though. She kept it close, in case the monsters she called sisters deigned to attack again.

  “Don’t you recognize…” Deino smiled and ran a tongue over her razor-sharp teeth, leaving a smear of her own blood behind.

  “… the sound of …” Pemphredo slid around their fallen parents to stand next to her sister. She reached a hand up to tug away the black scarf that wrapped around her face, hiding her empty eye sockets.

  “… the ocean’s lullaby?” Enyo laughed and pulled her scarf free as well.

  Em jerked her head away and searched the cavern, looking for the source of the song that now tickled her ears. She frowned as she saw the glimmer of iridescent fish scales on the mermaid’s tail as she slipped beneath the water’s surface. Her mind spun in confusion, of course she should have remembered the sound. Her mother and father had called the mermaids to sing her and her sisters to sleep when they were babes. Without fail, they’d drift off to dreamless sleep in moments. She knew the sound, so why hadn’t she heard it until it was too late? And why was it only affecting her parents and Poseidon?

  “Perhaps, dear Medusa…” Pemphredo stepped closer, inching Em back into the water.

  “… you’re wondering why…” Enyo joined her, blocking Em from getting to her parents altogether. Em’s heart thundered in her chest as her sisters advanced on her.

  “… you are left awake despite the mermaid’s call.” Deino closed the ranks on her and grinned like a shark with ill intensions.

  “Monster.”

  “Monster.”

  “Monster.”

  The word came from all around her, echoing off the walls, pounding down on her like blows to the head and shoulders. Em raised her arms to defend herself.

  “The mermaid’s song…” Enyo giggled, a saccharine sweet sound that grated Em’s nerves.

  “… doesn’t work the same…” Deino reached up a hand and, without a single second’s hesitation, plucked the golden eye from her socket and held it, palm up.

  “… for monsters,” Pemphredo said smugly as she took the eye and popped it in. She turned her gaze and focused, unblinking, on Em. Blindsided, Em stared blankly into her sisters’ eye.

  It shimmered so prettily, sparkling with flecks of gold that reflected the firelight. Em sighed and let the corners of her mouth tilt up as all the tension in her muscles released in one beautiful moment, leaving her utterly relaxed and happy, so happy. Em smiled at her sisters and lifted a hand slowly to touch a strand of Pemphredo’s perfect silvery hair.

  “So pretty,” Em murmured, letting it run through her fingers. When blood began to seep from her fingertips, staining the silver strands pink, she just hummed and thought dreamily of a time when her hair was soft and silky.

  “You always thought…”

  “… you were so much better than us.”

  “So much prettier than us.”

  Em floated as if on air, her body weightless and getting lighter with each passing moment. Somewhere in her mind, she questioned this, wondering why she suddenly felt so comfortable with her sisters. She’d always been so afraid.

  “But you’re just…”

  “… like us…”

  “… now.”

  “Aren’t you, little Medusa?”

  A drop of bright red filled her sight, blurring the perfect image of her shining sisters. Em blinked, trying to make it pass, and finally lifted a hand to her face to wipe it away. She paused and looked at her hand, hovering before her, and a shiver of wrongness slid over her skin.

  Blood ran from her fingertips, from her palms, from her wrists. It ran down her arms and dripped, like honey, into the seawater all around her. Slowly, she let her hand drop to the water and stirred it, amused by the way her blood drifted around her.

  A soft hissing broke through her haze, drawing her attention up. Em lifted her hand again and ran her fingers through her snakes. They twined around her, nuzzling gently, loving her as they always did.

  A flash of silver glinted in the cavern and Em exploded with pain so intense her entire body buckled as she screamed in horror. Blood gushed onto her face, hot and endless, as her snakes hissed wildly and recoiled from the blade that had murdered one of their own.

  A cold, lifeless form fell into Em’s hands and lay there, unmoving. She stared down at it without understanding, without comprehending the atrocity.

  She awoke in one rush of pain and fury, no longer under the thrall of her sisters’ magic. Em reared back, raising her hand into the air and swiped down, across their beautiful, deadly faces, with pointed nails that pushed out of her fingertips like claws. Their blood joined hers and her snake’s.

  They fell back, onto the cavern floor, with looks of identical fear and disbelief on their faces. Em narrowed her eyes and scanned the space, stopping when she saw the mermaid watching the scene with a look of horror on her face.

  “Leave!” she screamed at the sea nymph. “Now!” And the mermaid was gone.

  Em stepped free of the water and onto the damp rock floor, dripping water and blood as she advanced on her sisters, who scrambled backwards on their hands, trying to get away from her. She reached out and grabbed a torch as she passed a sconce chiseled out of the stone wall. It flared around her, casting long shadows throughout the cavern. Em smiled, letting hatred show in her eyes, and welcomed the shadows.

  “You’re right, you know.” Em spared a glance to her own skin, which was healing as each moment passed. “I am a monster now. Just.” She thrust the torch forward, catching the end of Deino’s hair on fire. “Like.” Em hissed and lunged forward, bringing her snakes within biting distance of Enyo’s face. “You.” She pulled back and stared down at them, reveling in the fear she saw now. “Only, I’m not stupid enough to play with power I don’t understand.” Em pulled herself up straight and turned her back on the sisters.

  Without the mermaid’s song, her parents were coming around. Phorcys and Ceto woke with confused questions, followed a moment later by cursing and splashing as Poseidon surfaced, confusion written all over his face.

  “Mermaid’s song,” Em called out, “mixed with magic. It knocked you all out.” She stepped over to her mother and extended a hand.

  Ceto’s face crumbled as she saw the streaks of blood running down Em’s body. Then her jaw locked an
d she twisted to face her children. She opened her mouth, to scream Em presumed, but no sound came out. Ceto swallowed and blinked several times, then turned her back on her daughters and walked with Phorcys, whose eyes were dark as night, into the sea. They disappeared together, leaving Poseidon and Em to finish their work.

  Em knew smugness was unbecoming but she didn’t care. She pushed the torch forward again and snarled. “Monster is as monster does. I would never hurt my own flesh and blood.” She eyes the torch cynically and pulled it back. “Where can we find Hecate?”

  When silence was her only response, Em growled and trust the torch closer again.

  Deino recoiled from the fire and snarled, “The witch you seek…”

  “…lives in a cave…” Pemphredo hissed.

  “…atop Mount Latmus, in what used to be known as the Ottoman Empire.” Enyo’s lips pulled back, showing the sharpened points of her teeth that snapped now at Em.

  Em frowned, lowering the torch from Deino’s face. “The Ottoman Empire?” she muttered, “But that’s…”

  “Turkey,” Poseidon finished her sentence.

  Em’s heart twisted then a thought surfaced. “What if they’re lying?” She turned the torch on her sisters again. “Are you lying?”

  Their glinting teeth was their only response.

  Em’s heart squeezed painfully. How could she trust anything they said? They’d love to see Eury die, to see her and their family grieve her loss. She stared down at them in disgust for a long moment, then acted. She bolted forward, throwing the torch to the cavern floor, and grabbed Pemphredo by the hair, pulling her up in one jerking motion. Before anyone could question what she was doing, she reached out and plucked their one eye from her sister’s socket as she screamed and fought back.

  Blood curdling wails filled the cavern, bouncing off the slick stone walls like a thousand knives grating against glass followed by threats of death and pain, but Em just stepped back and held up the eye. The Grey Sisters went silent.

  “I’ll only ask one more time,” she said in a hissing whisper. “Where is Hecate?”

  “Mount Latmus!” they screamed in unison, reaching out for the one thing that made them special.

  “Okay,” Em said slowly, holding the eye up so her snakes could see it. “But I think I’ll hold onto this for a bit. Until we save Eury at least.” She closed her fingers around the orb and backed into the sea with Poseidon at her side, anxious to get the hell out of this death trap.

  They raced through the water, anxious to return to her parents, to share the news. Em kept her eyes straight ahead and pictured the distance between Greece and Turkey, estimating the trip to be at least a ten-hour flight. With booking time, the ride back into Athens, and the flight, plus return, there was no way they could save Eury. Em swallowed hard against the pressure that began to build in her chest, right above her heart. She couldn’t lose Eury, not now, not after just finding her family again. Eury needed to see what her hard work and stubborn determination had accomplished. She needed to know how much Em loved her.

  When they surfaced on the beach near Athens, Ceto and Phorcys were already there, their faces a mask of concern and sadness. Em stumbled out of the sea and into her mother’s arms. “She’s in a cave atop Mount Latmus.” She pulled back and shook her head at her mother’s look of hope. “It’s too far.”

  “Not if I take you,” Poseidon’s hand brushed Em’s shoulder, startling her. She twisted to see him dripping wet with his hand held out.

  She blinked up at him, staring at his hand and not understanding. Slowly, with her heart beating erratically, she realized what he was saying. “You’re a god.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed in appreciation.

  “Of course, he’s a god,” Ceto said slowly, speaking as though Em was drifting into dementia.

  “No, Mom,” Em tore her gaze away from Poseidon, realizing at the same moment that she was still clinging to his hand and that the connection was sending delicious shocks of awareness up her arm, “he’s a god. He can blink travel all over the world.” She pulled her hand free and immediately felt the loss.

  “Blink travel?” Phorcys’ thick eyebrows inched up his forehead.

  “Yeah, like this.” Em gave an exaggerated blink like the Halliwell girls on Charmed. “Only, you know, he disappears and goes somewhere else.”

  “Seriously?” Ceto asked frowning slightly, “We can't do that. Why can't we do that?” she looked at Phorcys with a pout.

  Phorcys patted her on the hand, “Because we're not Olympian gods, dear.” He turned to look at Poseidon, “When do we leave?”

  Poseidon frowned and shook his head, “I may be a god, but I do have limitations. Mount Latmus is a long way. I can’t take everyone.”

  Ceto and Phorcys exchanged looks, silently communicating. Then Ceto looked to Em and she offered a smile.

  “Medusa,” Phorcys nodded his head toward Em, his eyes shining with pride and confidence, “it's up to you now. Go save your sister.”

  Em stared at her father in wonderment and more than a little bit of reticence, “Dad…” she began, then was cut off when Ceto reached for her hand.

  “You can do it, Medusa. You're the strongest woman I know.”

  Emotion tickled the back of Em's throat as she saw the absolute surety in her parent’s eyes. They believed in her, despite everything she had done, despite her lack of faith in them. She swallowed and nodded.

  Em took a deep breath and steeled herself. She’d traveled with Poseidon like this before, from the temple of Athena to the ocean, where they could be alone. There had been pain, manageable but significant, each and every time. Always, she’d wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him lift her against his strong chest, and laid her lips on his as he took them across the small distance. It had been such a small price to pay for time alone with the man she loved.

  There would be no loving embrace this time, no tender kiss to take her mind off their mode of transportation. This time she would be painfully aware of the emotional distance between them, just as she’d be aware of the physical distance they’d have to travel. She wondered which would be more painful to endure.

  Em turned to Poseidon who stepped up to her with his arms open. She looked at them, so strong and bronzed, and her heart stuttered. A wave of panic and fear washed over her, and she froze, afraid to step into her former lover’s arms.

  You can do this, Em told herself, biting down on the inside of her cheek until blood seeped out onto her tongue. The coppery taste turned her stomach, but it was something new to focus on, something other than what was paralyzing her. Eury is depending on you, she repeated the words over and over, then took a deep breath and stepped into Poseidon’s embrace.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The moment Poseidon's arms closed around Em’s body, she knew it was a mistake.

  The heat that radiated from his body enveloped her in a mountain of muscle and flesh that tugged at the very core of her. His scent surrounded her, the same as it had always had been. So familiar that it made her entire body ache. His thick arms wrapped around her like two steel bands, unbreakable, yet gentle as they traveled through space and time, or however else it was that god's traveled.

  The world rushed around them, surrounding them, locking them in a tiny bubble where nothing else existed but the two of them pressed tightly together. Em buried her face in Poseidon's chest aware of every inch of his body, of every inhale and exhale, of every beat of his racing heart. She felt her own heart skip a beat then stutter to life crashing erratically inside her chest.

  It was torture, wild glorious torture that made her head swim and her core turn to molten lava. She clung to him, terrified of what they were doing, where they were going, and what being here with him was doing to her. She'd spent more than two thousand years moving past the pain of losing him and now here she was, surrounded by him, with long forgotten memories bubbling to the surface.

  It felt like she was being torn in two. Opposite sides o
f her were warring, fighting over a choice she knew she had to make eventually, but didn't want to make quite yet. Whatever she’d felt for him so long ago was still there, altered by her years alone, changed as she was changed, but it existed and she couldn't deny it anymore.

  No, she wouldn't deny it anymore but that didn't mean that she had to give into her every desire. There was a time when she’d been ruled by her emotions, but that time was long gone. Still, he called to her on every level of her being and the attraction, so thick and pure, terrified her. It had taken many lifetimes to get over him, to mourn him, to rebuild herself from scratch, and the thought of having to do that all over again was just too much to bare.