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I don’t know how long I was trapped in my room. I watched the sunlight move across the stained-glass windows, but it meant nothing to me. My memory on the topic wasn’t incredibly clear, since I hadn’t spent any time on Earth back when I was a demigoddess, but I thought time moved differently here. It could have been an hour or half a day, for all I knew. My stomach rumbled and I stopped pacing, flopping back down on the bed with a groan. “They have to feed me, if they want me alive so they can use my powers,” I muttered.
A few minutes later, the door swung open and I sat up to see my sister—the living, goddess one—saunter in carrying a big silver platter piled with fruit and cheese. She kicked the door shut behind her with one sandal-clad foot and gave me a warm smile. “Hungry?”
I sighed and sat up. Maybe my powers did still work. I just didn’t know how to turn them on and off at will. I took the platter and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed with the food balanced on my lap. Elandra looked me over. Then she righted the stool and perched her perfect ass on it, tossing her glossy dark hair over her shoulder and giving me a concerned look. “How are you, dear?” she asked, putting just the right amount of worry into her voice.
I arched an eyebrow at her, then picked up a cluster of grapes and studied them. There didn’t seem to be any magic essence coming off them. But I couldn’t really detect poison. Then again, they had no reason to kill me if they wanted to use my powers.
Elandra snorted at me. “It’s fine,” she said in an exasperated tone. “No one here is going to poison you. And you’re already here with us, so there’s no need to magic you away.”
Magic me away. The way she’d probably planned to steal me the day she got inside White’s wards. No one had really figured that one out yet, but looking at her and recalling what I did of my previous life, I could guess. It wouldn’t take much for Elandra to convince some poor human sap to adore her, and their faith would probably be enough to let her slip in through the wards. Especially if Derek hadn’t been expecting gods when he built the protections.
I shrugged and told myself, emphatically, that there was nothing wrong with the food. Then I stuffed a few of the big, juicy grapes into my mouth. Gods. The food here was...heavenly. Ha-freaking-ha.
“What do you want?” I said around a mouthful of creamy, tangy-sweet cheese.
Elandra tried to look innocent, but I remembered her from my life before. And now I saw all her actions through an entirely different lens. I was no longer the little sister who was ignorant and sheltered and desperate for my older sister’s affection. Looking back with my newfound insights, I could see how she’d been kind to me only to stay in my good graces, and only when she knew I was watching.
She wanted me docile and agreeable, just like everyone else here.
Well, tough titties. Because I was done being a pushover. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re thinking of playing,” I told her with a lift of my chin. “But I’m not falling for it. You can fuck right off.”
She rolled her eyes like I was being a petulant child. “I’m not playing any games, Troya. I’m just glad you’re finally back where you belong. Dad was...peeved...when I failed to get you outside the wards and bring you home the last time we met.”
I shook my head. So that was it. She was pissed that she’d messed up. That she’d failed to do what dear old daddy told her to.
“He revoked my ability to travel between worlds,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and working herself into a snit. “Can you believe it? Now I’m trapped here forever. But I refuse to sit in this realm and wither away when I could be out there being the god I was meant to be, showered in the love of my followers.” She narrowed her dark eyes at me. “So behave and be the nice little pet dad wants you to be. Tell him how happy you are to be back home with me and that I convinced you to see the light. I promise I’ll take you to whatever realm you want for a day trip when I get my travel privileges back.”
I blinked at her in disbelief. “You think...what? That I’m just going to say ‘okay, sure’ and everything will be all peachy keen in your world?”
I was beginning to see a pattern in the way the people here thought everything would just go their way because they willed it.
And hell, maybe they did think that was how things would happen, now that they had their captive demigoddess back to manipulate and use. I threw a grape at Elandra, pegging her right in the middle of her smooth forehead. “Fuck off. I’m not going to help you look good for a damned day trip. I’m going to get out of here and go home. To Earth. Permanently.” I tried to lace my words with conviction. But I wasn’t sure if it was actually working. Believing something into being was a lot harder than it sounded—because I don’t know about most humans, but I was sure as hell full of an amazing array of random doubts and fears.
She just rolled her eyes at me again, as if I was being difficult for no reason. “Fine. Have it your way. But I’m not helping you escape. In fact...” She narrowed her eyes at me as she moved to stand by the door, poised to leave. “I think I’ll keep an extra close eye on you to make sure you don’t get out. But don’t worry, my offer still stands, whenever you get around to accepting.” She shrugged, then turned away. “It’s not like you can do much to escape when you’re locked in your room. Even with your stupid powers.”
Then she was gone. Leaving me alone with my doubts and my snack tray.
Maybe I should have played that differently. Maybe I shouldn’t piss off everyone I spoke with. But I had this simmering rage inside me, a memory of how ignorant I’d been, and how they had used me every step of the way, nudging me about like a blind pet. Screw them. My dad, my sister, and every stupid god in the realm. My guys would come for me. I was certain of it. I would bow and scrape to no one.
I finished stuffing myself with godly snacks, then sat in the middle of my big, fluffy bed and closed my eyes. Reaching deep inside, I touched on the warm golden glow of my godspark. Then I prayed like hell to anyone who was listening. Chike and Rhys weren’t gods, but they were smart, and stubborn, and absolutely able to out-asshole these assholes. They’d come for me. I was finally able to find the conviction I needed, the absolute certainty to manifest my will. Because I knew, without a doubt, how much I loved them. If our roles were reversed, I’d do anything to get them back. And I knew they’d do the same. I sent my power tracing out along the threads of connection between us, through the silvery threads of my blood connection to Rhys, and the haunting call of Chike’s siren song. They would come for me. They would. They were, even now. We’d never be separated for long.
I sat there suspended in a meditation-like trance, bathing in the warm glow of the light inside me, and in my love for my guys. I lost all track of time as my awareness floated away from my physical body.
My eyes flew open and I returned to the present moment with an almost audible snap when someone opened the bedroom door.
Then I stared in horror at what I’d done.
Apophis stood there, his stupid pure white image marred by the twin spots of angry red burning on his perfect cheeks. He had a pair of chains gripped in his hand and wrapped around his forearm for leverage. “Are you stupid, bitch?” Baring his sharp teeth at me, he snarled, yanking on the thick chains and dragging his captives into view.
I lunged off the bed and found my feet, even as it felt like the world was tipping sideways. The brutal jerk of Apophis’s hand brought Chike stumbling forward so fast he hit his knees, his shackled hands coming up to pull at the thick metal collar that choked him as he was flung forward. Rhys kept his feet under him as he was pulled into the room, trying to brace his shoulder on the door frame to keep from being dragged. But the vampire was sickly looking, so pale he was nearly gray, his eyes flashing with an inhuman glow. The clothes he wore were drenched in blood.
I moved toward Chike as the siren coughed and rubbed at the raw red skin of his slender neck. Apophis just yanked on the chain again, his demon strength pulling Chike onto his back and dragging him back toward the demon. “Don’t even fucking think about it,” the demon snarled.
He turned and kicked Rhys in the back of the knees, making him kneel on the floor. “You were supposed to get all desperate and pig-headed in your conviction that Dumuzi would come for you, you little twat! But when I ambushed the asshole’s armored car as it was leaving his precious barrier, this is what I found.” He huffed in irritation, clearly off his fucking rocker. “I don’t have any use for these morons. Bring the demon to me now!”
I glared at him, wishing my stupid superpower was something like laser death eyes rather than the obtuse, intangible thing it was. “I don’t know what the hell you’re muttering about, but I swear to fuck, I will destroy you if you hurt them again!”
I clenched my fists, wanting to run over and claw his eyes out, but knowing it would do nothing. I might have some stupid superpower, but I was still physically human. The demon could throw around a vampire for fuck’s sake. And even if it looked like Apophis had to drain Drake to be able to overpower him, I didn’t stand a chance.
Apophis let out a crazy laugh and kicked Chike right in the side, making the smaller guy hiss and curl up around his probably broken ribs. “You think you’re in charge here, little girl?”
“I know you’re disappointed she didn’t respond as you hoped,” Heimdall said, brushing past Apophis and coming to stand off to the side, his arms crossed over his muscular chest and his glowing eyes studying the scene before him. He looked down his stupid godly nose at the men on the floor at his feet. “But things are all going to plan, demon.” His eerie gaze landed on me, and the creep smiled. “It seems we’ve just found a reason for my sweet daughter to listen to her father.”
He paced over to me, stepping around Chike when the siren tried to kick at his legs from his place on the floor. Rhys had started doing this little...growling thing...and saliva dripped from his bared fangs as if he was one step away from going complete beast.
“Troya,” my dad said with a soft, cajoling smile. “I don’t want to hurt you, darling. This would all be so much easier if you would just comply. If you work with me to build the world we deserve, you can enjoy every privilege of your station.” He glanced over at Rhys and Chike. “I might even allow you to keep your pets.”
Rhys’s growl got louder, and his deep voice vibrated with power when he spoke. “Don’t fucking listen to him, Troy.”
Apophis rewarded the vampire for his outburst with a backhand that sent Rhys to his hands and knees. “Shut the fuck up.”
Chike had managed to push himself up to his knees. He opened his mouth and his silky voice, though rough, was dripping with magic as he focused on Heimdall, trying to bewitch a god. “You really want to let us all go, then impale yourself on your own shiny sword.”
For one breathless moment, I thought it was working. Heimdall’s eyes glazed over. Then he blinked and shook his head, his smile deepening. Apophis moved in front of Chike and punched him in the throat, the motion so fast my eyes could hardly follow. The siren clutched his throat, wheezing painfully from his crushed larynx.
I whimpered, the sound half frightened child, half feral animal. I wouldn’t do what Heimdall wanted. I wouldn’t let him manipulate me this way. But I couldn’t watch them hurt Chike and Rhys either.
My ears ringing, I sank to my knees and bowed my head. “Please, father. I don’t know how to use my power. I swear, I don’t. But I’ll try to figure it out. I’ll try to do what you want. You just have to give me time.” I lifted my eyes to see him looking down at me like a benevolent god. “Just, please, don’t hurt them anymore.”
Chike made a wheezing sound, his lavender eyes flashing with what I knew was anger. Rhys tried to go for Apophis’s throat when the demon wasn’t looking. But he was smacked aside like a hungry mosquito.
Heimdall studied me for so long, I was afraid my pleading wasn’t good enough. Then one corner of his lip twitched upward and he turned away to regard Apophis with a smug expression. “See? You just have to understand what motivates her. She’s mostly human, after all. They’re soft. Their needs and desires are easy to predict.”
Apophis narrowed his eyes, clearly pissed off about the fact that he wouldn’t be able to continue to use my guys as punching bags. “You trust her word?”
Heimdall laughed. “Of course not.” Then he glanced back at me and the look in his eyes made me shudder. This wasn’t your usual, run of the mill asshole. This asshole had been getting his way for eons. “But I do trust her foolishly soft human heart. And she knows full well that I won’t hesitate to spill blood to get what I want.”
I swallowed hard. I was so out of my fucking league here. “Promise me you won’t hurt them. Or have them hurt. Promise they won’t come to any harm if I try to help you.”
He flicked his eyes at the men on the floor and lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I suppose. But remember, their wellbeing relies solely on your ability to do what is asked of you. For the time being, they keep the chains, and their powers are kept in check by whatever means I deem necessary. Once you prove you’re making good on your end of the bargain, I’ll consider making them more comfortable.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. “I’m not completely without compassion, my dear. Of course I’ll let you keep them in your quarters. And you can enjoy the palace freely as long as you are putting forth the desired effort.”
I bit back my complaints. I knew damned well he wasn’t offering me anything compassionate or kind. He was just manipulating things again, I was sure of it.
“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head slightly in a show of respect that made me nauseous.