Bright Fire (Bright Fire Series Book 1) (9 page)

Chapter

24

She leads us through the house to another room. Walking into it is like walking into a museum with historical war artifacts. It is amazing to see. I smile because Alec looks like a kid in a candy shop. His eyes widen a little more every time he sees something he likes. It is entirely too adorable for someone who is supposed to be a warrior. “You do realize this is the best room in this house, right?" Apparently he's over the whole attempt on his life thing. 

"Oh, this? This is nothing. You should see the one at my place in Arcadia." It's amazing how she sounds both modest and proud at the same time. She scans her eyes over the shelves for a few minutes. Out of my element, I just stand and watch."Ahh, here we go." She picks up a blade and sets it on the display table. 

If I thought Alec's eyes were bulging earlier, they look like they are about to pop out and roll onto the floor now. Boys and their toys. 

"What is it?" Both she and Alec are staring at me as if I just asked what two plus two is. I roll my eyes. “Newbie, remember?" 

"This is the blade of despair." I can hear the ‘Duh’ she isn't saying. “It sucks the soul out of anyone it pierces. Your only problem is going to be getting close enough to use it. Let me see if I can find something that will help with that." 

"We will probably need shields of some sort, too." I'm glad Alec is on top of things. 

"Good idea." Genuine surprise takes shape on her face. “But first," she grabs a dart gun off the shelf. Seriously, a fricking dart gun? “The darts in this gun are tipped in belladonna. The hallucinations should keep them busy and give them a dose of their own medicine, so to speak." 

"Woah, now this is cool." Alec tries to pick it up, and she smacks his hand. 

"Not yet. OK, the shields are over here." Grabbing two off the shelf, she hands one to each of us. They are surprisingly light, and this one fits perfectly on my arm. "Don't be fooled by how light they are, they will block almost anything that comes your way." 

"Great." This is a relief because fighting skills are not my strong suit. I look up at her trying to show the intense feelings of gratitude. "Thank you." 

Taken aback, she says, "you're welcome, but we aren't done yet. We still have Hades to attend to. This is a bit trickier than sirens. The harp is a great offense, but you need a good defensive strategy." She starts looking at the shelves again. "If you can manage to keep your shields, those will help but only minimally. Aha!" The grin on her face is almost comical as she pulls a bow and arrow set off the shelf. "These ought to slow him down a bit, Eros arrows. You may know him as sort of like Cupid." 

I can't stop the snort that comes out of my mouth. 

"Scoff all you want, but these bad boys pack a punch. While I sincerely doubt they will make him fall in love with the one who shoots him, they will sting. Considering he's full of hate, I suspect love is the antidote." 

"But you're not sure." I'm skeptical. 

"Well, not a hundred percent, but this is
my
area of expertise. True, now let me think. Hmm. Alec, I think this will suit you well." She hands him a sword, not much different from what I expect Excalibur to look like. "The Sword of Kratos."

He takes it from her and slowly backs up a few paces. Once out of stabbing range he begins to perform some pretty impressive fencing style moves. Each swish of the blade makes him smile wider and wider.

"Nice form, the Terentia taught you well. Now onto Dell, how limited are your battle skills?"

"Nonexistent." I blush.

"No matter, and your powers?"

"I can control plants; I used one to strangle Cela." I know I shouldn't be proud for hurting someone else, but I am.

"HA! I do wish I could have seen that." She looks almost impressed.

"Don't forget you can bring people back to life," Alec chimes in, looking away from his sword for the first time.

"Yeah, that too."

"But that may not help you much in the Underworld. The souls that enter through death, cannot leave. I also doubt there are any plants there." She plucks a tiny ball from the top shelf. "Here, this was your mother’s. It seems fitting, considering you are giving me something of my father’s."

I take it and roll it around in my hands. It’s brown and resembles a raisin or date. I wish I didn't have to ask, but I do, "What is it?"

"It is a seed of course. You should be able to manipulate it to work for you down there. If not, I know for sure your mother can. And here." She hands me small lantern with a blue iridescent light in it. "Before you ask what it is, it’s life, essentially. It’s a bit difficult to explain and even more dangerous to use. You, unfortunately, have to have extremely good aim or get close enough to hit him with it. You see Hades is the master of death so to speak. When Zeus and Poseidon banished him to the Underworld, they did so by poisoning him with life. Obviously he wasn't going to go easily, so they had to do something. From what you say about the prophecy, you being born from both life and death, this should work to your advantage."

I stare down at the lantern transfixed by its beauty. "Wow."

"Now that’s the enthusiasm I’ve been waiting to see. This is all I have to offer you, and I do wish you a well journey but it is time for you to take your leave. I now have a mess to clean up in the tea room." She doesn’t sound upset by this, mainly amused.

"OK." Alec sounds so pitiful and sad.

Endeis walks us out to the driveway where we left our car. "Where did the butler go?"

"Oh, he’s around somewhere. Now, I would like to make the trade now. My father’s amulet in exchange for your gifts."

"Alright, but first I want to say something. I am truly sorry about your father, and I wish I knew him, but I am not associated with the people you are really angry at. I think it is time to let the pain go so that you can move on." I take the amulet off and hand it to her.

She takes it, and I notice her hands are shaking. "Thank you. For the amulet and the kind words. Goodbye."

I turn around and get in the car. Alec pulls off in a hurry. "What’s the rush?"

"I’m not risking her changing her mind. You know what?"

I turn around to check if anyone is following, there is no one there. "What?"

"She was a real horses ass!"

I roll my eyes. "I'm sure she's never heard that one before. How long have you been waiting to say that?"

"Since she threw me across the room."

Now that we are about five miles away, I let out a long breath. The relief  is spreading through me like a warm breeze. "That. Was. Exhausting." I fail to stifle a yawn, lay my head on the seat and fall asleep.

Chapter

25

I wake up, and we are pulling up to Cass's store. I have a sore neck, and I feel groggy.
Great
. 

"Well, hello there, sleepy head." 

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep, it just sort of happened." 

"Nah, don't worry about it. You need your beauty rest."

Before I know what's happening, he brushes my hair out of my face and gazes into my eyes. The gentleness of his touch makes my heart flutter and I am afraid it might give out. He frowns. "Nope, not enough beauty sleep, sorry." His laughter shakes the car.

I wallop him in the bicep, no doubt causing a Charlie horse in the muscle. "You are an ass!" 

"Ow." Rubbing his arm and still laughing he says, "come on I'm just trying to put a smile on your face. I don't think I've seen one genuine smile since before I officially met you." In mock horror, he puts his hand to his chest. "Is it me?" 

"Yep!" I hop out of the car and head to Cass’s door. Despite his efforts, I'm in a worse mood. I wanted him to kiss me, and that bothers me to no end. What is it with girls and their saviors? I need to put some distance between us before I do something I will surely regret. He touches my shoulder trying to get my attention. I shrug him off and snap, "not now." I swing the door open, rush past Lyla and Cass and head straight to my room.

~~~~

I
guess they all sense something is wrong because it's a good hour later before Lyla lightly knocks on my door. "Come in." My face is in my pillow so I'm not even sure she hears me until she opens the door. 

"OK girlie, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing." 

"Liar. Alec says you got what you were looking for, so why so frownie brownie?" 

I unload, "it's just that everything is so messed up. My feelings are a jumble. My adoptive parents are dead. I have powers, and my biological parents are gods. Apparently people's lives hang in the balance of my success and honesty I don't know if I can do this; or if I even want to." 

She just stares at me for a minute or two. "Well sweetie, I'd like to say there's no choice and that you have to do it, but I won't. Instead, I will support your decision. And as far as your feelings go, I'm sure Alec feels the same way." 

"What!" I scream instantly drying out my throat, and I start having a coughing fit.

"Oh please." She rolls her eyes. "We've been best friends for a very long time. I can see right through you. Not to mention Cass can see it and she's only known you for like a minute. It's completely normal for you to have feelings for him. I mean come on he is hot, and he's sworn to protect you. I may not like him much, but you seem different around him. I could try to get used to it." 

"That's the thing though; I don't want to feel this way. What if I only feel this way because he is sworn to protect me? What if that's all it is? I don't want to be one of those girls." 

"What ifs can kill you, you know. I know you, and I know you don't just like someone for shallow reasons. I know you care about him and let's face it, you can't choose who you care about." 

"So help me God, if you come up with some cheesy the heart wants what the heart wants speech, I will punch you." 

"Look. All I'm saying is that it may not be a bad thing to enjoy something that makes you feel good."

"But what if—" 

She holds up her hand and cuts me off, "I said no what ifs. Life is too short for what ifs, Dell, You should know that by now." The comment stings because I know she is talking about my parents. She sees the look on my face and hers falls a little. "Sweety, I don’t say this to be hurtful, it’s just that I want you to be happy. With what you have been through lately you should be a pile of crybaby soup on the floor. But you are stronger than most, you see that don’t you?"  

I think about that for a minute before I speak. "Yes, you’re right, but…" 

"No buts, you had me at ‘you’re right’. Don’t ruin it." 

I laugh a little and then am serious. "I was going to say, but if I am so strong and being the child of two gods with the power to resurrect people then why couldn’t I save my parents?" 

"I may be able to help with that." 

I start and almost fall off the bed. "Cass, the one thing you should know about me, is I hate being snuck up on." 

"It’s true; she yells at me all the time for it." Lyla nods in agreement. 

"My apologies, I only meant to check up on you to make sure you were OK." 

"Yeah. I’m just being melodramatic, the stress is getting to me I think." 

"Lyla, would you mind giving us a minute?" Cass looks at her pointedly. "I think Alec can use your help." 

She sags a little, obviously upset at being left out, but she nods and slides off the bed. "I’ll be downstairs when you're ready to pull your weight with this research." She smiles to let me know she’s kidding.

I roll my eyes and turn to Cass. "I'm sorry about earlier, I'm just struggling with all of this." 

She smiles warmly at me. "There is no need to apologize, Dell, I understand. I lost my parents as well, but after centuries of watching humans, I can tell you that there are those far worse off than you and me." 

I stop fidgeting with the edge of the pillow and look up at her. "I guess, I didn't think about it that way." 

"It's normal to feel helpless, confused, and lost in a situation like this. Last time I checked there isn't a self-help book called
How to Survive When Your Father is Master of the Underworld
. But I'll keep looking for you." She smiles at me, and I feel guilty. There are people here who care enough to try to make me feel better. I could be alone in this, but I'm not, and I
should
be grateful. "Anyways, about your gifts and the guilt you feel about your parents. You shouldn't feel guilty for that." 

"But I saved you and I didn't save them!" 

"It isn't that simple. You see, up until your sixteenth birthday you've had a sort of shield if you will. After you turned sixteen your shield lifted, but it's more than that. I suspect the reason you were not able to save your parents, is that you didn't know how. Honing your skills takes time. You are adjusting faster than most of us did, but you have so much to learn. And I'm not one hundred percent positive, but I think that in order to use the gifts you have, you needed to accept them first. You weren't able to control plants until you started to slowly accept what Alec was telling you correct?" I nod. "I believe that that is the trigger." 

"So you're saying is, that if my parents had prepared me, I would have been able to save them?" I am furious at this revelation. 

"It's just a theory, but yes I believe so." 

"Then why wouldn't they prepare me?" 

"I don't pretend to know why James chose not to tell you, but I doubt he knew you would be capable of resurrecting the dead. However, I did know him enough to know that everything he did was what he thought was best. I can't imagine how hard it was for him to know that he would eventually leave you one day. It would've happened no matter what." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Dell, you are the child of two immortals, what do you think is going to happen?" She gives me a look of sympathy. 

Now I understand. "I'm immortal." It isn't a question. 

She nods. "Yes." 

"So everyone I love will die and I will have to live on? That doesn't sound so great."

"It gets easier as time passes." She puts her hand on my shoulder. She sees I need a distraction and she says, "Come on let's go downstairs and see what Lyla and Alec have come up with."