Marked

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Casey came awake in a rush. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was sky. Crystal blue and as clear as a mountain lake.

So this is what heaven looks like.

She took a deep breath, then another. And, surprisingly, discovered she felt better. No longer tired or weak, but strong. In both body and mind.

Wow. Okay. So far, heaven’s not so bad.

She turned her head to the side, and that’s when things got weird. Isadora was crawling toward her across the hard ground.

No, no, no. They weren’t both supposed to die. It was just supposed to be her.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be back there. You’re—”

“It’s okay, Casey.” Gently, Isadora brushed dirt from her hair. “Can you move?”

“Move?” She pushed up to her elbows. “Um. No. I mean, yeah, I…” Her words trailed off as she took her first look around. And discovered she was still in the center of the Stone Circle. Hades and Persephone were standing off to the side. Beyond Hades’s invisible shield, a group of superbuff men who could only be the famed Argonauts stood in stunned disbelief.

“Whoa.” Casey reached a shaky hand up to her head. “That was a little trippy.”

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Isadora mumbled.

Dazed, Casey searched the group for Theron and had a moment of panic when she didn’t see him. Then her heart lurched when she caught sight of him on his knees at the edge of the group, partially hidden behind Hades, staring in wonder, just like the rest.

Isadora pushed to her feet and whipped toward the gods. “What was that?”

“Dumb luck,” Hades replied with a click of his tongue. “Looks like you were both stronger than I thought.”

That got Casey’s attention. Feeling at a disadvantage still plopped on the ground, she stood and brushed the dirt from her pants. “I don’t understand. That means the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, right?”

“Wait for it,” Hades said, holding up a finger.

Isadora and Casey exchanged puzzled glances. The Argonauts on the edge of the circle spoke in muffled voices. And then it happened.

A roar blasted up from the bowels of hell and shook the kingdom with such ferocity, it had to have registered at least 9.0 on the Richter scale.

Casey fell into Isadora, and the two sisters clung to each other as the shaking went on. When it finally ended, long seconds later, Hades’s cryptic laughter filled the void left behind.

“What was that?” Casey asked, wide-eyed.

“That,” Hades said with a smug grin, as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist, “was one very pissed-off female.”

“Atalanta,” Isadora said.

“Yup,” the god replied. “I’m sure it sucks royally to be mortal again.”

Casey and Isadora looked at each other, and almost as if they could read each other’s thoughts, Casey said, “I thought one of us was supposed to…you know.”

“In order for the prophecy to be fulfilled, that bitch Atalanta had to make sure the perfect Argolean was never created,” Persephone supplied. “One-half human strength. One-half god strength. Doesn’t matter what the bloodline is, or the power, but the purity in the soul. Mortal yet immortal. One-half of each whole occurs in every generation, but because Atalanta’s daemons have been scouring the world for them, they’ve never come together.”

“Until now,” Hades finished. “The prophecy never actually stated one of you would live and one would die. Only that the strongest would survive.”

“Then you did lie to me,” Isadora said. “You convinced me to barter my soul to make sure she was safe, even when you knew she would survive.”

“Lie is such a strong word,” Hades said. “I didn’t actually know she would live. For the record though, little queen, you amused me. I was curious just how far you’d go to save a sister you’d never met.”

Isadora’s eyes narrowed to thin slits. “I’d say pretty fucking far, wouldn’t you?”

Hades barked out a laugh and glanced at his wife. “I think she’ll make a much better queen than either of us expected.”

“Hm,” Persephone said, looking down her nose at Isadora. “Time will tell, I suppose.”

Feeling ten yards behind everyone else, Casey held up a hand. “Hold on. I still don’t understand—”

Hades’s eyes flashed, and Casey snapped her mouth closed. She sensed his patience was at a breaking point, and after what she’d just seen, she really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his wrath. “I really loathe that ‘I don’t understand’ phrase of yours. Let me make it crystal clear so I can get out of this shit hole and back to my realm. Your sister still owes me her soul. There will come a day when she will be mine.” He shot Isadora a wicked glance that traveled up and down her slim body.

That earned him a smack to the back of his head from Persephone. He turned to the goddess with blazing eyes. “Do that one more time, and I swear—”

His wife smiled. “Promises, promises.”

His eyes flickered with an erotic light. “Guaranteed.”

Persephone looked back to Casey and Isadora. “What my husband is trying to tell you is that, assuming neither of you fall off a cliff or get hit by a stupid car, you’ll both live to be very old Argoleans.”

Casey gasped as her knees gave out. “Five hundred years?”

Persephone shrugged. “Or so.”

Thankfully, Isadora was right there to catch her.

“But Isadora—”

“Is fine,” Isadora finished for her quickly. “I’ll be fine. What about Atalanta?”

Persephone grinned. “Atalanta is once again mortal. She and her band of daemons were expelled from the Underworld with that little hissy fit you heard earlier.”

“And that’s it?” Casey asked. It couldn’t be. Not totally. They’d both live, but Isadora was going to be condemned to Tartarus for all eternity? That wasn’t right. It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

Hades’s dark eyes grew gravely serious. So much so, a chill slid down Casey’s spine, and she knew better than to ask for anything more. “No, that’s not it, human. Atalanta can’t recruit any new souls to her daemon army, but she’s well stocked. And with her god powers, she’s possibly an even greater threat now than she was as an immortal. Especially now that she can cross the portal again. Once she’s able to regroup, she’ll be gunning for you and every other Argolean she can find…in this realm and the human one. And that’s some entertainment I can’t wait to watch.”

“The Misos still aren’t safe,” Casey whispered, thinking of everyone back at the colony as his words sank in.

“Still as vulnerable as you now are. Cool, isn’t it? Oh, and there’s one more thing.” A ghost of a smile played at the corner of Hades’s mouth as he tipped his head and focused on Isadora. “Now that Atalanta’s daemons aren’t paying me the souls of their kills? And now that they aren’t getting their energy and power from Tartarus? They still have to feed. Humans are fair game. And way more accessible than the Misos.”

Sickness churned in Casey’s stomach. She thought of those beasts and what they could do. The expression on Isadora’s face mirrored her own.

Looking smug, Hades glanced at Persephone. “Well, my love, I think we’ve done about as much damage here as possible, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would.” Persephone put her hand in her husband’s.

“Wait.” Casey said. “Why did you do this? Why did you bring me here? Surely you don’t care if the Argoleans are able to defeat Atalanta.”

Hades tipped his head. “There’s only one immortal ruler of the Underworld, and that’s me. And the payment…” he added, glancing at Isadora again. “Well, the payment was well worth the effort on my end.”

That look, the one of rank hunger and the promise of torture yet to come, sent Casey’s skin prickling, and she reached out to Isadora, closing her fingers in her sister’s hand tight while she kept her eyes locked on Hades.

“There is one other minor element you might want to watch out for,” Persephone added smugly. “You and your sister are joined because you are the Chosen. Don’t get too far away from each other for too long. Bad things will happen.”

Hades looked up and around, obviously bored. “That’s all the time we have for this little drama. The wife and I have some unfinished business before the wicked bitch of the west comes back to claim her.”

“Hades,” Persephone warned.

Hades chuckled and drew her close. “Come, daughter of the bitch.”

Persephone smiled over her shoulder as Hades pulled her in for a kiss. “Don’t forget our deal, little queen. One month.” And with that, both she and Hades disappeared.

“One month for what?” Casey asked, looking toward Isadora when they were alone.

Isadora’s face was pale, and she didn’t meet Casey’s eyes. “Nothing. Look, Hades’s force field is gone.”

Casey glanced up. The Argonauts and one strikingly gorgeous woman were slowly stepping into the circle and walking toward them. All of the guardians were brawny and built, and each one was even more gorgeous than the next. Real-life heroes. Two weeks ago, Casey never would have believed such a man was possible, and here she stood surrounded by an entire group. The woman, she quickly learned as she introduced herself, was the king’s personal doctor. Summoned, Casey suspected, to take care of Isadora in the aftermath.

Isadora introduced each to Casey, but Casey barely caught their names as she shook hands and smiled. Because she was looking for Theron in the group. And he was nowhere to be seen.