Bedeviled (26 page)

Chapter Forty-Two

K
yana stood on the grounds of Artemis's temple,
her
temple now, and studied the crowd that had begun to gather just minutes after their return. She hadn't had time to eat, sleep, or even think, and already the Order of Ancients was demanding that their new Goddess of the Hunt tell them of the past few days' events.

Artie stood on her left, Ryker on her right. Occasionally, his fingers brushed her hand in a not-so-casual gesture. He'd refused to leave her side for even a minute. He wanted to discuss the things that had happened on the island, the things that would happen to Haven now that they'd brought her home, but Kyana had refused. She wasn't ready. She had a duty to see to, and she intended to train like hell until she was capable of seeing it through.

She had, however, been given one moment of brilliance—a loophole much like the one that had gotten Ryker out of becoming Ares's Chosen. The Order had declared Haven would be tried after her final cleansing . . . but they hadn't said when the cleansing had to occur.

If she could offer her friend nothing else, maybe, at least, she could offer Haven
time
.

She owed Haven that much.

Since their return less than an hour ago, they had talked at great length about Cronos. Kyana had hoped that the possession would give Haven an insight on where he'd go, what he intended to do first now that he'd been returned to a corporeal state.

Haven couldn't tell her anything she didn't already know. He wanted revenge. He wanted his sons to suffer and die. He wanted to get off that island and resume what he considered his rightful place on Zeus's throne.

And he'd use anyone, destroy everything, to see those things happen.

Mostly, however, Haven had talked about her twin sister, Hope. How her sister's spirit had never left her since the possessions began. That Hope had forced her to hold on to the tattered shreds of her humanity. It had nearly broken Kyana's heart to hear Haven cry over losing her sister for the second time. Especially now that Kyana knew what it felt like to lose someone she considered a sister herself.

But never in all their talk had they approached the topic of what was to become of their friendship. No, it hadn't been Haven who'd done all those horrible things. But Kyana had hunted her, and they'd tried to kill each other. It was a little difficult to simply hug out the tension that had come between them.

It was Kyana's greatest hope that one day . . . hopefully soon . . . they might become sisters again. But first, there was healing to be done. On both sides.

“It's your duty as the new Goddess of the Hunt to release your prisoner to the guard.” Artemis's whispered words pulled Kyana from her thoughts.

Her gaze fell once again on Haven, who knelt before them on the temple lawn, awaiting news of her sentencing. Ryker's fingers drew a tiny circle at the small of Kyana's back. She leaned into him for half a second before gathering her resolve and taking a step forward.

“You will go willingly and quietly with the guard and will remain imprisoned until you're tried for the murder of the Healers in charge of your care at the time of your Turning,” she said, every word an effort as she tried to sound as authoritative and sure of herself as Artemis might have. “The Order has agreed that you will not be held accountable for the offenses that took place after Cronos's possession of you.”

Haven held Kyana's gaze. There was no malice, no anger in her eyes. Just understanding and acceptance. “Yes, Goddess. It's more mercy than I dese—”

“A trial will be scheduled for the day following your purging and cleansing to contain the beast that now lives within you. The beast . . . I created in you.” She prayed Haven could read the apology in her eyes. She couldn't show such weakness now, in front of the Order, but hopefully Haven knew her well enough to hear the regret in her words when no one else would be able to detect it.

“Yes, Goddess,” Haven said.

“But as the goddess charged with your apprehension,” Kyana continued, “it is my will that you be given adequate time between the purging and the cleansing. You've been through an ordeal, and it's too risky to cast so much magic on you at once.”

She had no idea if that was even true, but when no one called her out for it, she pressed on. “You'll be purged immediately so that whatever fresh blood you've consumed over the last few days is completely removed from your body. It will help tame the beasts so that the cleansing will be easier to bear.”

The cleansing would be brutally painful if it was anything like Kyana's had been. It was the equivalent of rehab. While the purging rid the body of blood already ingested, the cleansing was a slow, torturous process that would eventually soothe the need to feed at all. The urges to kill and to prey on the weak would eventually slip away until they were nothing more than horrible memories.

“You will be given a month's respite before the cleansing begins.”

The collective gasps from the spectators rolled over the mountain like an avalanche. The purging would take a few days; however, the cleansing could take weeks or months depending on how quickly Haven mastered the ability to control the breeds inside her. Add to that the month Kyana had just given between the two events, and that should leave plenty of time for a miracle to happen and for Haven to find some way to redeem herself within the eyes of the Order of Ancients.

“You can't be serious.”

The voice came from the foot of the temple steps and Kyana craned her neck to peer over the crowd to find its owner. Athena glared up at her, her dark eyes flashing with menace.

“You have something you wish to say, Athena?”

“Yes.” She stepped forward. “I do. You give this creature leniency because she was your friend. I know you're new at this, Kyana, but we do not play favorites within the Order. Rules are rules—”

Kyana held up her hand to shut the goddess up. “And this was
my
hunt. Not yours. Not Zeus's.
Mine
. Is it not my right to determine the days and times of the trials I'm to hold, just as it would have been Artemis's were this her criminal?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then I have only done what was within my rights to do. There will be no favoritism at the time of her trial. I merely determined
when
the trial would be.” She lowered her voice and hardened her stare. “Now back the hell off.”

Athena jerked her head as though she'd been slapped, and Kyana was pretty sure she'd just made her first real enemy on Olympus now that Ares no longer despised her.

“Very well,” Athena muttered. “As I'm to sit in on her trial, I'll make certain you keep to your word and she is justly punished.”

“You do that. In the meantime, go home.” Kyana raised her arms toward the crowd. “All of you. Go home.”

Two members of Ares's Elite Guard stepped forward and seized Haven by the arm. Ares stepped in front of them and they dropped their hands, relinquishing Haven to him.

“I shall see to it that your wishes are carried out personally.” He bowed, then took Haven's arm lightly in his hand. He turned, and with several members of his Elite Guard following discreetly in his wake, left to take Haven to her new home.

“Are you ever going to stop being a mystery?” Ryker asked, his breath whispering against her ear. “You're never going to give up on her, are you?”

“No more than she'd give up on me. I can't save her, but I can give her time to try and save herself.”

“I wasn't sure you'd be able to keep your promise.” Artemis linked her arm with Kyana's and led her inside the temple. “I'm impressed.”

“What promise?”

Artemis smiled. “The promise you made to save Haven. To protect the gods.”

She swallowed, easing out of Artie's grip. “I didn't stop Cronos. He still has his ring. His followers. He's going to come after his sons.”

Ryker pressed a calming kiss to her forehead and pulled her into his arms. “He can't get off that island, Ky. Not without a port from me or Ares.”

She hugged him briefly before stepping back and admitting her deepest fear. “I'm not sure I'm the person meant to finish this mission if he does show up.”

Artie's dark brows rose. “You're going to quit now?”

She shrugged, not liking the burn of regret in her belly. “I don't . . . I don't know how . . .”

“Training, Kyana,” Artemis said. “You've yet to begin. But once you've mastered what it means to be the Goddess of the Hunt, you'll not doubt yourself any longer.”

Ryker forced her to look up at him. “You have to stop hating yourself. It's going to fester, rot away the goodness in you. Hate is what feeds Cronos. Don't become like him.”

She sighed. It was good advice, but she wasn't sure she could follow it. There was only one way to forgive Haven, and in turn herself. She was going to have to find Cronos.

And kill him again.

But how did one go up against the most powerful god in the world and win?

Ryker gave her another light kiss before leaving the temple to follow after Ares. He'd make sure Haven was settled as a favor to her. But as he walked away, an emptiness filled her, making her ache to follow him, to ask him to stay with her for the night.

“You know, you're only what you think you are if you choose to believe it,” Artemis said.

Kyana blinked. “Huh?”

Artemis's laugh lit up her eyes the way Kyana imagined a mother's might when cast upon her daughter. “This belief you have that you'll never lose your Vampyric sensibility to remain unattached to others . . . it's only true if you make it so. You've attached yourself to Haven. To Geoffrey even. I see the way you look at our new Zeus, and Kyana, it
is
all right to want a future with him.”

She shrugged, uncomfortable with the topic but determined not to show it. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“All right, then. But I see no harm in the temples of Zeus and Artemis becoming one, if both parties choose it to be so. Just because I was a virginal goddess does not mean you have to be.” Artemis placed a hand on Kyana's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “An eternity is a very long time to be lonely, Kyana. Trust me. I speak from experience. An even longer time to pine after the one who owns your heart.”

“No one owns my heart but me.”

This time, it was Artie who shrugged. “So long as that's how you choose it to be and it's not what you believe you deserve. You're not Vampyre anymore, Kyana. Do not be afraid to explore what that might mean.”

And with that, she walked back outside, leaving Kyana standing alone in the vast, empty temple. She stared blankly into space, her heart pounding in her chest. Part of her wanted to tear off after Ryker, but fear held her in place.

Could she abandon a lifetime's worth of beliefs and trust Ryker with who she really was and what she really wanted? And if she chose to take the next step, what exactly did that mean?

“You look ill.” Ryker's voice was suddenly in her ear again, and she looked to her left to see him smiling down at her. “Artemis said you wanted to talk to me before I questioned Haven?”

From the main entrance, Artemis turned and gave a friendly wave.

Traitor
.

“She lied,” Kyana muttered. “Go on. I'm all right.”

He eyed her with suspicion. “You don't look all right.” He nuzzled her neck. “Stay at my temple tonight? Or, if you prefer, I can stay at yours. I know a hundred ways to make you
all right
again.”

She opened her mouth to say no, but Artie mentally scolded her.

“Mine,” she heard herself say. “We stay at mine.”

It wasn't a commitment of forever, but it was one hell of a huge first step.

Ryker grinned, kissed the back of her hand, then headed back outside, where Ares was waiting for him to finish their escort of Haven.

Her heart thudded in her chest as she watched him go, and she couldn't help but feel a tremor of excitement over the possibilities of what the night might bring.

She let her gaze linger on Haven's escort, her heart suddenly so full that it left no room for fear and worry. But as Haven and her guards disappeared, another sight grabbed Kyana's attention, and she had to blink to make sure she was truly seeing what she thought she was.

A ghostly little girl followed behind the procession, her body transparent, but her eyes sparkling blue. The child stopped, looking over her shoulder at Kyana. After several seconds, she smiled a big toothy grin, offered a friendly wave, and skipped off after Haven.

Kyana felt her face break into a grin worthy of a true goddess. “You're wrong, Haven,” she whispered. “She's not gone. She'll always be right there with you.”

“Who will be with her, Goddess?” someone asked from nearby.

Kyana didn't turn away. “Hope. Hope will always be with her.”

As she mumbled the words, her mind's eye brought forth images of the things that gave her hope. Ryker and Geoff. Even Silas, slutty Sixx, Nettles, Ares, and her minions, Farrel and Crag. Artemis. Perhaps even Haven again one day. Friends. They were her family now.

It didn't matter that she didn't know how to end Cronos's miserable existence for good this time. Even though she'd failed once, and might again before they saw this through, her family would still be standing by her side, ready to help her every step of the way. Ready to die beside her if it came to that.

A calming warmth settled around her as the realization struck her. She
did
know how to go against the toughest god in the world
and
she knew how to beat him.

With family.

With hope.

T
hat night, Kyana waited for Ryker in her bed, her body warm and drowsy from an overindulgence of much needed ambrosia, while her nerves twitched in anticipation. In the hours since retiring to her chamber, Artemis's words had plagued her until finally, now, she knew what needed to be done.