Elixir

CHAPTER 9

APOLLO SHOWED UP JUST AFTER ALEX’S FOURTH DOS-age with no news. The Sentinels hadn’t reached New York. They’d stopped in Pennsylvania and scattered. The Khalkotauroi followed. Seth and Lucian were still outside of Nashville. From the look of it, their army had nearly doubled.

Having so many Sentinels willing to side with them wasn’t that surprising to me. They’d been offered something none of us had ever provided, and they were willing to die for freedom.

And there was a good chance they would, according to Apollo.

“Hades, Poseidon, and Demeter,” Apollo ticked the names off on his fingers, his eyes a vibrant blue. “And Ares, who is thrilled by the way, and Hermes, and Hera have all pledged war.”

“Hera?” I rubbed my chin. “At least we have Zeus.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t mean much. He’s probably only siding with us to upset Hera, but we do have Athena and Artemis. That’s something.”

“So, they are willing to wait and see? To give us time?”

He nodded. “They do not want to see another war. Not after what happened with the Titans. So many mortals were lost during that time, and with the population now, the loss would be several times larger.”

And our only hope was that Alex could somehow break the connection with Seth and defeat him. I looked at the sleeping girl curled beside me on the couch. The outlook was bleak.

“And no one’s found anything to break the connection?”

Apollo sighed. “There’s nothing that any of us can find, Aiden. Not in the old myths or scrolls. And if one of the other six know, they aren’t telling.” He glanced at Alex and fondness crept into the coldness of his voice. As did a great sadness that caused dread to explode in my gut. “I’ve run through all the prophecies. They haven’t changed. One to destroy. One to save. Only one can live during any generation.”

He leaned back, shaking his head. “I can’t let my brethren go to war.”

I placed my hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Are you giving up on her?”

“I’m preparing for the worst.” Apollo stood. “And don’t hit me, Aiden, but I think you need to start preparing for it, too.”

My skin burned and I said in a tight voice, “You’ve asked me to put her on the Elixir, and I told you then that you asked too much, but I did it. Asking me to give up is unacceptable.”

“It’s not giving up.” He crouched, meeting my stare. “I would make sure she was taken care of, even allow her to visit you. We could do a Persephone thing.”

I sucked in a shrill breath that came back out sounding like a growl. “You’re asking me to let you kill her.”

“I would make sure there was no pain,” he said, standing again. He turned his back—daring considering I was close to shoving a dagger into it. “This isn’t easy for me. I care for her. She is basically a child of mine. And I’ve watched over her for years, far longer than you’ve known her.” He faced me, hands on his hips. “This would not just be your loss, but only one of them can live and I can’t do a thing about Seth. Nor do I know who he’s linked to.”

My hand curled into a fist as I moved to stand between Alex and Apollo. “Get out.”

“Aiden—”

“I mean it. Get out.”

His eyes flashed to all-white. No pupils. No irises. “I only allow you to speak to me like this because I know your love and pain, because I have felt it myself. Hyacinth wasn’t turned into a flower by my brethren. It was I who did it. It was the only way I could save him from them. So I know what love does and the pain that comes from that kind of sacrifice. But make no mistake, I do not regret what I had to do. And I will do it again.”

I stayed in place between them, my legs widespread, so ready for battle I could taste it. “And make no mistake, Apollo, I will not make that same sacrifice.”

I couldn’t stand to be in the house any longer. My nerves were stretched taut, my body ready to fight. Bloodlust had invaded my system.

I needed fresh air.

So did Alex. Once she’d woken up, she’d been all over the place, not able to sit still for longer than five minutes.

For the first time since she’d Awakened, I led her outside. Seeing the joy light up her eyes and the cool breeze brushing the hair off her cheeks lessened the darkness growing inside me. The almost-hyper bounce in her step as she made her way around fallen branches and shrubs reminded me of the old Alex.

Especially when she stopped suddenly, spying a small stream up ahead. She spun around quickly and threw her arms around me.

Surprised by the sudden affection, I froze, then wrapped my arms around her waist and leaned back. “What’s that for?”

Alex shrugged. “I wanted to.”

I caught her hand as she shimmied loose. “I liked that.”

She smiled. “Maybe I’ll do it again.” Glancing over her shoulder, excitement hummed through her. She tugged me forward.

Letting go of her hand, I stopped. She looked over her shoulder again, brows knitted. “You can go,” I urged.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded, and then leaned against an old oak. Her gaze darted over my face and she seemed to find whatever she was looking for. She turned, slowly starting toward the creek bed. Her footsteps were quick but not jerky. The antsy energy she’d been feeling all day would eventually grow. Crippling pain would assault her again soon as her tolerance to the Elixir grew and Seth started pecking away at her.

And if I didn’t give her a larger dose along with a booster compulsion, the bond between them would form again.

Closing my eyes, I tipped my head back. There had to be another way. We couldn’t keep doing this to her. Sooner or later, the effects of the Elixir wouldn’t wear off. She’d be like this forever—forever stuck between the tenacious and strong-willed Alex and this naïve, watered-down Alexandria. To do this to her wasn’t right. The wrongness of it coated my mouth and throat like bile. It was acid churning in my stomach, burning a hole through my soul.

And Apollo… he was giving up, even if he didn’t want to admit it—giving up and preparing to kill Alex.

Clenching my jaw, I opened my eyes. Alex sat on a fallen log near the slow-moving creek. She held something in her hands—flowers? Her face was turned to the side and her lips were pulled down at the corners. Sadness had crept into her features.

I pushed off the tree but stopped as she picked off a petal and placed it on the log. Then another and another, until ten or so petals formed a loose circle beside her. She placed two more, completing the circle, and then two more inside the circle.

My chest tightened and, without any warning, a fissure of energy skittered over my skin. I turned, expecting to find Apollo—or worse yet, an unfriendly god. I sucked in a sharp breath.

An ethereal glow surrounded the feminine form and slowly faded, revealing a slender woman who stood taller than me. Lilies adorned the brown hair that had been piled atop her head in an intricate maze of braids. A sheer white dress covered her body and left very little to the imagination. I felt I should look away but couldn’t. She was almost painfully beautiful—unreal.

A faint smile appeared. “Hello, Aiden.” Her voice was a symphony, and I started to bow, but she stopped me with a raised hand. “That is not necessary. Unlike my brothers and sisters, I do not have a taste for formalities.”

It took me a few moments to find my voice. “You’re one of the Moirae… one of the Fates.”

“I am Clotho.”

Fear formed a cold, hard ball in the center of my chest. Clotho was responsible for spinning the thread of human life, but she also decided when gods could be saved or put to death. I glanced over my shoulder at Alex. Did her powers extend to god-like creatures, too? I moved to block Alex from her view.

Clotho’s laugh was soft and melodious. “I am not here to harm her, and even if I were, I cannot cut her thread. Neither can Atropos.”

Relieved by that piece of information, I faced the goddess. “Why are you here?”

“I’ve been watching you and her.” She stepped to the side. Sunlight broke through the branches, cutting across her bare shoulder and over her dress. The material shimmered. “It pains you to see her like this, I know. You love her so.”

I saw no reason, no point, in lying to a goddess of Fate. “More than anything in this world, and without her.” Clearing my throat, I looked away. I couldn’t finish the sentence, let alone the thought.

“Going on would be like existing with a piece of you missing?” She nodded when I looked at her again. “Your threads are intertwined. Not by my doing, you see?”

I didn’t see a damn thing. Now I understood Alex’s frustration when she’d spoken to the oracle. I opened my mouth but closed it. Understanding slid over my skin like thick oil. “She was Fated to be with Seth, wasn’t she?”

She looked at me and her smile faded. “She was, but Fate has many plans for her.”

“What will happen to her?” I asked before I could stop myself. Somehow I knew that asking a Fate that kind of question equaled poor social skills.

“You do not ask for yourself?”

Sure, curiosity was there, but my fate didn’t matter. I shook my head.

Her brows rose. “Most would not pass up a chance to learn their fate, but I cannot tell you what lies in wait for your Alexandria. Some things are even unknown to us.”

Disappointment seeped into me, wrapping its way around my bones likes a too-tight binding. I turned back to Alex. She was watching us, eyes wide and hands stilled over the petals.

“It’s okay,” I called out to her.

Alex didn’t move for a full minute, and then she gathered all her torn petals, tossing them one by one into the creek.

Clotho watched Alex too. “Their threads are intertwined closely—the First’s and hers.”

My hands clenched. “And there’s no way that can be undone?”

She tilted her head. “No. Just like yours cannot be undone. Fate is fate, you see, but there is one thing we do not take into consideration when we spin the threads of life, not even when we cut it.”

Part of me didn’t expect an answer, but I asked, “What is that?”

“Love. We do not take love into consideration.”

I looked at her. “Seriously?”

She laughed and it carried on the breeze. “Love is such a wild and reckless creature. It cannot be planned or threaded. It cannot be controlled. Love can coexist with Fate, or it can undo it. Love is the only thing more powerful than Fate.”

The words were slow to sink in as I stared at the goddess. Was this why the goddess had made such a surprise visit?

Her white eyes burned and hummed with electricity. “You want to know how to break the connection?”

My breath caught. “Yes.”

Sympathy creased Clotho’s brow. Stepping forward, she placed a small hand against my chest, above my heart. “There is no god or person who can break their connection, but there is still hope.” She dropped her hand and stepped back, nodding. “There is the heart, Aiden. There is love, which means there is always hope.”

Then Clotho shimmered out of focus and disappeared. Feeling as if my nerves were exposed, I stalked around the fallen branches and overturned trees. Reaching Alex’s side, I realized I was holding my breath.

Something was building inside me, clicking together.

Alex turned to me, her shattered eyes meeting mine. The mix of brown and gold was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking. I really looked into them, seeing the trust that had always been there, devotion and love buried deep inside her. No bond—no connection—could fully extinguish that. It was why she’d hadn’t destroyed the necklace I’d made her.

There was still hope.

Clotho had said that love was stronger than Fate. Was that really the answer we’d been searching for? Love—our love for one another?

Then I remembered what Alex had said to me. “I won’t lose myself, because… well, how I feel about you, it would never let me forget who I am”

Somehow I’d forgotten that. I’d believed that she’d forgotten who she was, but in reality none of us, especially me, had had hope once she’d Awakened—not that kind of undying hope that saw people through the tough stuff. Granted, this wasn’t the ordinary tough stuff that most couples faced.

And what had I told her then? “I’d never let you forget who you are.”

Lowering her lashes, she opened her hand and the rest of the petals fell from her grasp, fluttering to the ground like thin, torn pieces of paper. “It’s beautiful here… and quiet. Can we stay for a little while longer?”

I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I placed my hands on her cheeks, tilting her head back. “Alex…”

Instead of correcting her name, she let it slide. Her eyes searched mine. “Aiden?”

My lips curved into a smile for her—always for her. “Do you believe in love?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Do you?”

“I do.” My hands slid to her shoulders and she shivered. “I believe in love.”

Thick lashes fanned her cheeks again and a grin tipped her lips. “I think I am in love.”

Six words stopped my heart when facing down a horde of daimons couldn’t.

She bit her lip and a faint blush stained her cheeks. “I feel it in here,” she said, placing her hand against her chest and then against her stomach, “and here. It’s like there’s not enough air or room inside me. That I may… burst out of my skin or drown in it, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. I don’t know why I feel this way, but I always have… and will.” She tipped her chin up and her entire face was a rosy color. “It’s you. I… I love you.”

Heart pounding, I swept her against me in a fierce hug, lifting her off her feet. Her giggle was smothered but light. I buried my face in her hair. “I love you, Alex, always you.”