My Ex From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy) (9 page)

“This goes way beyond Olympus. I had no idea Kai was here until you told me. Thing is, how did she get past the wards on this place?”

“Kai did,” Hannah pointed out.

Theo shook his head. “The wards keep out anyone intending to cause Sophie physical harm. And encourage Sophie to stay in. Whatever brought Kai here, it wasn’t to hurt Sophie.”

“Unless we count head games,” I muttered.

“Head games won’t get you killed unless you leave school grounds,” Theo replied. “My guess is he’s on a recon mission to learn what happened and report back.”

“At which point he’ll try to kidnap me again?” Was I going to have to constantly look over my shoulder?

“Not if you stay within school grounds, he can’t.”

“Let’s reason this out,” Hannah said. “If Ms. Keeper isn’t here to hurt Sophie, then what? Especially since the only one who may have come to harm is Cassie?”

“We have to draw her out,” I said. “It’s the only way.”

“Absolutely not.” Theo was adamant. “We don’t want a total cockup. Nothing happens until we know why she’s here. If she’s even a problem. We don’t want to tip our hand that we’re on to her.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I should just sit here and do nothing? Cassie could be killed.”

“Whatever has happened to Cassie is most probably done. We will get to the bottom of this.”

There was about as much a chance of me being patient as there was of me winning the Miss America pageant. Actually, if I’d still had my original body, then the odds would have been on me wearing that crown. I had to take action. Goddesses didn’t just sit there. What was the point of being a deity if all I did was dance around in meadows?

I needed to use myself as bait and see if I caught a Counselericus Evilicus. The only question was how?

The answer came to me the next day. Even though he’d only been at Hope Park two days, Kai had become the flavor of the month. I sat on the bleachers during lunch, watching him play soccer with some guys in the grass center of our track.

It was difficult to tell who was trying harder to impress him, the jocks on the field or the girls on the sidelines. The more impervious he remained, the more they fell all over themselves.

It surprised me that certain guys were trying to gain Kai’s favor. Like the husky Jackson Birt. Jackson might have resembled a grizzly, but he was definitely not smarter than your average bear. His motor skills sucked, too. Brother should have stuck to feats of brute strength because watching him attempt to juggle the ball from foot to foot was just embarrassing. Although perhaps less so than Veronica Chen scooting around to remain in Kai’s line of sight at all times. The highlight being when she elbowed Bethany in the head. I grinned just as Kai suppressed his own and caught my eye.

Even from this distance, I felt the chemistry crackle between us. Until he ruined it by looking abruptly away and bestowing a crooked grin of sympathy on Bethany.

Kai didn’t count as human so Hannah’s rules didn’t apply. I could get him alone and …

That was it! I would go outside, alone at night, and do some training. Unleash my power. If Ms. Keeper was here because of me, she’d be bound to come and check it out. Especially with me all vulnerable and by myself. It made perfect sense to me.

I heard a burst of female laughter and glanced over at the group of popular kids. Given the way Bethany, Veronica, and a couple of other girls were staring at me, a crack had obviously just been made at my expense.

I consoled myself by imagining acts of horrible retribution, while I thought more about my plan.

I didn’t say a word to Theo and Hannah. They’d just forbid it or want to come with me and I couldn’t take that risk. Hannah was human and as such, killable. For all intents and purposes, Theo was as well. I doubted he had any powers. Given how many times he must have wanted to kill me over the years, the fact that I was still standing had to be evidence of his lack of super power, not his abundance of will power. Because had I been Theo, I sure would have blasted me on more than one occasion.

And while I probably was killable too, at least I had powers and a fighting chance.

I snuck out after bed check in warm, loose clothes. I decided to practice as far away from the school as possible while still staying on the property. It put me back where I’d seen Kai that first night.

As soon as I got outside, I had an uncontrollable urge to take off my shoes. Even hypochondriac fears of frostbite couldn’t keep me from being in bare feet. The grass was cool and ticklish between my toes. I wiggled them deeper, needing to be as close to their roots as possible.

I ran over to a maple tree that still bore a few leaves and pulled a branch down, rubbing the leaves gently across my face. Had I been asked last week, I would have chosen the city over the country, hands down. Now, my nature girl tendencies were going from zero to a billion. Every little detail about the outside fascinated me, from the lone calls of owls, to the texture of bark.

Focus. I had the rest of my life to satisfy my new passion. Now I had to draw Ms. Keeper out so I could discover Cassie’s whereabouts and rescue her.

Time to see if I could blast light without have the poo scared out of me. Come to think of it, time to get a cool name for my power. Hmm. Ribbons of Death? Binders? Stranglers? I’d work on it. Meantime, I raised my hands and focused.

Half an hour later, I was sweaty and the only thing I’d achieved was a headache. No one had shown up. My palms remained dazzle-free. I felt like an idiot. I decided to give it one last try and then call it a night. Maybe Theo and I could break into the school office tomorrow and see if they had a file on Ms. Keeper. Yeah, guess that should have been step one.

Instead of concentrating with every ounce of intensity I possessed, I decided to stay relaxed. It worked. Presto. Two moss green beams about fifteen feet long flew from my palms, dancing like ribbons in the wind.

I did it. Thunderous applause and Nobel Peace prize for saving humanity, please. I experimented with moving the light to the left and the right. It was no harder than using a joystick. I sang a catchy little tune about my light ribbons. “Move them to the left, then I move them to the right. I’m an ass-kicking superfreak, I’ll do it all night.”

Let me be a lesson to you, kids. There is a reason you shouldn’t get all cocky. Because if you do, the universe will come along and kick your ass hard.

One minute, I was feeling all smug about my powers, the next, I caught sight of about a dozen Infernorators hovering just outside the fence like a firing squad. Yikes! I froze in terror as they advanced en masse toward me, reaching out their flaming tentacles.

Bless Theo and his wards. Their fire simply bounced harmlessly off the air above the fence. I really was in a giant protective shield. I smiled, thinly. My turn. I figured that since I had the upper hand, I should take these things out.

In my defense, it never even occurred to me that this was a two-way ward. In my head, it was all about me, me, me. So of course I’d be able to fire outwards.

Yeah … no. I sent my ribbons lashing out toward those bad boys. They hit the invisible shield at full speed, then bounced off it to rebound back at me.

That was the point at which I totally forgot how to control them and just yelped, wildly waving my hands around as I ducked and bobbed and tried not to trip over my own superpower.

A low laugh penetrated my fear. I glanced over, wide-eyed, to see Kai smirking from over by the back fence. For a second. The smirk quickly disappeared as I sent the creepers directly for him.

I will swear on a stack of bibles or whatever that I didn’t mean to take him out. It was instinctive. Better him a target than me.

“Duck!” I yelled feebly. He just glowered at me and put out his hand to stop them in their path. I might have felt like a busted bottle of Silly String, shooting these puppies out willy-nilly, but it was pretty impressive the way Kai had them twisting in place like that.

I stood there gaping until he growled, “Quit it” and I snapped back into action. I dropped my hands but that didn’t seem to blink the vines out of existence.

“Hurry up!” he snapped, the strain of holding them at bay wearing on him.

Honestly, I had no clue what to do. I tried to shoo them away from him. Less than successful. I only managed to redirect one toward a small sapling, which I then uprooted and used to conk him on the shoulder.

“Of all the useless …” he began.

“Who asked you to show up, anyway?” I shot back. Especially with me once again looking like Grimy, the eighth dwarf. I did the only thing I could think of at that point. Since I’d called the ribbons up with my energy, maybe I could draw them back in. I concentrated on pulling them back into me.

It worked. They dissipated in a rush. Their power flooded inside of me and knocked me back about twenty feet.

I landed like a rag doll. The wind was knocked out of me. I fluttered my eyes open several minutes later to find Kai frowning.

“That was stellar,” he commented. “Zeus and Hades won’t have to kill you. You’re a walking suicide mission.”

At the reminder of my nemeses, I turned my head back toward where the Infernorators had been.

“Forget it. The Pyrosim are gone,” he said, rubbing his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“The tree didn’t help.”

“Oops. Sorry. You hid it well,” I said.

“I’m a god. I don’t show weakness. Around you,” he added, “that seems to be a survival skill.”

“Ha ha. Next time I’ll try and warn you if I’m getting ready to sprout. We could have a hand signal. I’ll bet the gods have great hand signals.”

“No.” Kai crossed his arms. End of discussion.

Or changing of subjects. “Why are you here?” I demanded, refusing his help as I struggled to sit up.

“I told you. Your whereabouts flash in my head.”

“No. Here. Hope Park. What do you want?”

“Answers. Why did you disappear on me?”

“Someone tried to hurt me. Maybe it was you.”

“It wasn’t me,” he stated darkly.

“Whatever. Theo didn’t know what fate was in store for me so he got me out of dodge.”

“And you believe him?”

“Do you have a better explanation for all this? Two days ago, I had no idea who I really was. Theo sure wasn’t thrilled to learn what happened when you kissed me.”

Kai smirked. “It was my kiss that set this off?”

“Yes. You’re very manly. Good for you.”

“I think it’s good for you,” he insisted.

Then he kissed me.

I knew I shouldn’t have let him just toy with me and call the shots whenever he felt like it, but he was right there and I’ve never been very good at denying myself treats sitting in front of me. Believe me, he tasted way better than chocolate.

“Problem is, we don’t even like each other,” I said when I came up for air.

“I liked Persephone just fine. Since you’re looking more like her, I’m willing to ignore the Sophie part.” He kissed me again.

I let him. For a minute. That whole lack of willpower thing. Then I stomped on his foot. Hard.

“I am Sophie, you jerk,” I finally said. “If you do care for some part of me then prove it.”

“I just did.” Arrogance oozed off him.

“Please. You probably get turned on by a rock.” I shook my head in total exasperation. “What did I ever see in you? You’re utterly despicable.”

He clenched his jaw slightly and gave a bored shrug.

“Why are you here, Kai? And don’t just say answers. You know I don’t have them.”

“Maybe I have a vested interest in hanging around until you do,” he stated cryptically.

“You’re a fabulous conversationalist,” I fumed.

“I will tell you one thing. Zeus and Hades are furious that you’ve reappeared in human form. It looks like you tricked them in order to come play for the humans and they don’t like being tricked.”

“Did I like humans? Before?”

He thought about it. “Don’t think you had an opinion on them one way or the other.”

That meant I probably hadn’t wanted to destroy earth. What a relief. “What was my interest in their war? I know I was planning to stop it.”

“You were,” he confirmed.

“How?”

Kai shook his head. “If I tell you, you’ll only accuse me of lying.”

“I won’t.”

“If you’re still anything like Persephone, you will. I know her. Persephone would never believe anything unless she saw it for herself. You’ll have to remember. You’ll never trust me otherwise. Then we can talk.” He stared at me like he wanted to kiss me again, but refrained. “Go inside, Goddess,” he said.

There was no point in trying to get anything else out of him. I snatched up my shoes and headed toward the school. I could feel him watching me, so I turned back for one final wave only to see him outside the fence, seemingly conversing with one lone Infernorator.

Damn Hades and all his minions. Especially his son.

7

If you can’t beat ‘em, poison ‘em

ζ
’

I was a big ball of crank the next morning, evident by the fact that I was wearing jeans. Considering them the pants of the devil and loaded with body issues, I only stooped to wear jeans when I was in what Hannah called my “little black rain cloud” mood and was unable to summon the energy to pour myself into something better.

Kai was messing with my head. Argh! Not just my head. I hadn’t slept all night thinking about him. I couldn’t decide if he wanted to screw me or screw me over. Or both. One minute he was kissing me, the next he’s all over Bethany, then helping me out by giving me info I desperately need. Where exactly did he stand?

I flung myself into the cafeteria, determined to mow down whomever came between me and my espresso. (Foreign caffeine drinks being a rare perk of my progressive school.)

“That skank,” Hannah proclaimed as I joined her, knocking back my espresso in one shot. Much better.

I took a sip of water to clear out my coffee mouth. As I buttered my stack of toast, I craned my neck to see where she was looking. Bethany had her fingers twined in the belt loops of Kai’s jeans as they stood in line together. His hand rested on the small of her back. She gave me a smug grin when she saw me staring. I wanted to shove her Bindi back up into her brain. Instead, I turned to Hannah. “She’s the poster child.”

“Not her,” Hannah replied. “Well, her too. But him. Kai. The mimbo. You know, I thought I disliked him when I met him but I’m realizing that my first impression was by far the best. Want me to sic something nasty on him?”

“I’m in a Kai-free zone today. I have bigger things to worry about.” I explained to Hannah what I had tried to do last night.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” she chided.

“This goddess gig is bound to have side effects.” I glared at two sophomores who were attempting to give me “how ya doin’?” nods. “I am so not in the mood.”

“Killed unnecessarily,” Hannah clarified. “Don’t take stupid risks like that. And be nice to the poor boys. They’re overwhelmed by your new goddessy hotness.”

As if. “Existing in this state is a stupid risk.” I complained. “I’m a goddess with blinders on. I need to regain more of my memories.” I spied Theo getting in line for breakfast. “I don’t even know who to trust. Except you.”

“Honestly? You doubt the Rock?” She took a bite of her granola and yogurt.

“I know Theo is my friend,” I replied, “and I believe that he saved me. From something. I just don’t think he’s giving me the full story. He’s got some kind of agenda that involves me. He and Kai both. I wish they’d pony up and give me the skinny. Actually,” I continued after a moment, “Kai is refusing to, saying I have to remember it for myself or I won’t believe him.”

“Jeez, Sophie, don’t say anything that might make me like him. I was getting comfortable with my disapproval.” She thought it over a minute. “Maybe there is something we could do. A kind of meditation to try and unblock your mind.”

“Like hypnosis? No way. I won’t let you tinker around in my head and have me barking like a dog.”

“You have insane trust issues. Not hypnosis. I’m not the Great and Powerful Oz.”

“What are you chickens clucking about?” Theo asked as he joined us.

“Kai,” I said with a covert warning glance at Hannah.

“He’s an asshat,” Theo concurred with no hesitation, stabbing a forkful of scrambled eggs.

“He’s merely toying with Bethany. Kai is all about me.” I tried to sound very confident about that fact.

Theo raised an eyebrow. “Tell me you didn’t do him.”

“D’uh. You know me, ole ‘sex as a weapon’ Bloom.” I smacked the top of his head. “Although Persephone is big on fertilization.”

Theo pushed his food away in disgust. “Never ever put that visual in my head again.”

“You need to help Sophie remember,” Hannah ordered him sternly. “To fully understand what she’s dealing with.”

“Yeah. What she said,” I added.

“If she hadn’t kissed Kai, I wouldn’t have a gazillion times more work in getting her up to speed,” he groused.

“Cry me a river,” I snapped. “You should have kept my memories intact in the first place.”

“Your brain couldn’t have processed them. You’d have been straitjacketed out in some psych ward and no good to anyone.”

“Like Cassie might be now,” Hannah reminded us.

Theo and I deflated at that reminder.

“Do you have anything that was Sophie’s from when she was Persephone?” Hannah asked. “It might twig her memory.”

I reached for my water glass.

Theo gave me a hard look then nodded, as if he’d decided something. “I might,” he replied.

I’d been expecting him to say “no” and so I startled at his reply. Water sloshed onto my jeans. I grabbed a napkin to dab at it.

“Wet yourself much?” I heard Bethany ask.

I glanced up. Small mercy, Kai wasn’t with her to witness this.

“Does Kai know about this little problem of yours?”

Oh good. She would be sure to tell him. I curled my fingers into fists.

Hannah placed a restraining hand on my arm.

Bethany chuckled and kept going.

“Don’t worry,” Theo assured me, “she’ll get what’s coming to her eventually. Girls like that always do.”

Hannah and I exchanged an incredulous look.

“No, they don’t,” I said. Theo may have had all kinds of god knowledge, but he was incredibly naive about the reality of girl politics.

“Whatever,” he replied. “Meet me at the front door at noon. Dress warmly. Hannah, you can’t come.” He stood abruptly and left.

I looked at Hannah, utterly baffled. “I have no clue.”

“Me neither,” she echoed. “Am I going to be left out of stuff now? The mere mortal as you two very important deities do your high and mighty god stuff?”

“Yes. You’ll also need to cover my homework and fetch and carry.” I snapped my fingers. “Another espresso.”

Hannah stole my last piece of toast. Which was nothing like getting me an espresso, but that was humans for you. Ingrates, the entire species.

The rest of the morning was uneventful. Classes were dull and even if I’d wanted to talk to Ms. Keeper, she was nowhere to be found.

I was en route to meet Theo, having added a warm fleece jacket to my emotional denim armor, when Veronica stopped me. By “stop” I mean she shoved me into a wall and demanded, “Where is she?” Her ponytail bobbed furiously from the force of the shove.

“Who?”

“Bethany. I know you locked her in that bathroom after the dance. What did you do with her now?”

“I’m flattered you think me so capable of making people disappear.”

“Don’t mess with me, bitch. I’m not kidding around.” She grabbed my shirtfront. “Where. Is. She?”

I pushed myself loose. “I have no idea. Why would I want to do anything to her today?”

“Because of Kai. Obviously.”

“Missing the connection here.”

Veronica shot me a look of disbelief. “Bethany and Kai? Seeing each other?”

Seeing each other? I tried not to let my shock and disgust show.

“You blatantly have the hots for him, not like he’d ever give you the time of day.”

He might not give me the time of day but he definitely had no problem sucking face. I kept that little tidbit to myself, though.

“You’re also crazy where Bethany is concerned,” Veronica went on.

“People in glass houses, Veronica,” I cautioned.

“Huh?”

“I saw you desperately trying to get Kai to notice you yesterday. What’s it like always being in Bethany’s shadow? Being second best. Must suck.”

Veronica gaped at me, speechless. I’d never dared to speak to her that way before. But really, on my list of clear and present dangers, she was now on par with dandruff.

“Far as I’m concerned about Bethany, it’s good riddance. I’m only sorry I wasn’t the one to do it.” I stalked off. Always leave on a high note and, for once, I actually had.

Until I took three steps and realized if I hadn’t done anything to Bethany, maybe Ms. Keeper had. Maybe this had nothing to do with me and she was just your run-of-the-mill psychopath, preying on kids.

I’m not sure how comforting that thought was, but at least it wasn’t personal.

I grabbed Theo’s arm and hustled him out the front door. “You’re never going to believe this.”

I described my encounter with Veronica and explained my theory about Ms. Keeper being a serial killer.

“If that’s the case,” he said, “don’t go anywhere alone with her.”

“Theo! We still need to stop her.”

“Why us? Call the police.”

“Who are they going to believe? Me and my probational Bethany-hating history or a kindly member of our school’s staff? No. It’s up to us.”

“Whatever. First there’s somewhere I want to take you.” He swung around the side of the school.

“Where? There’s nothing out this way except the track.”

“And the creek.”

True. The creek was pretty small, even for a creek, but it babbled and flowed prettily. Occasionally, on hot days, students stomped through it to cool down, but generally it was deserted. Not deep enough to swim in. Or dangerous enough to drown in.

He stopped at the bank and pulled two small silver bracelets from his jacket pocket.

“What are those?” I asked. “And don’t just say ‘bracelets.’”

“These puppies will orient us back to the school when it’s time to leave.”

“Leave from where?”

“Hades,” he replied.

“Are you insane? Why?”

“I want to show you something that I think could help recover your memory.”

“Breaking and entering? In the Underworld?”

“And theft,” Theo added cheerfully.

“No way. I’m following the de-clutter approach to life,” I babbled. “Less is more.”

“It’s just because you don’t remember you want this. Trust me. You do.”

“No,” I hastily protested. “Unless you want me dead, in which case, no freaking way.”

“You’re not going to die. No one will even know you’re there. We’re going to sneak in.”

“You can’t sneak in.”

“Why not?” Theo refuted. “Suddenly you’re the big expert? People do it all the time.”

“Name three,” I demanded.

“Hercules, Psyche, and Orpheus. And me.”

“Name ten.”

He shot me an exasperated look. “We’ll be fine.”

“And by fine you mean ‘dead’? Hades wants to kill me. Generally, you don’t make it easy for the homicidal lunatic by going to the place where they are lord and master.”

“You have to go. There’s something you need to retrieve. It was a gift from your mother, and should be in your possession again.”

“I don’t care,” I lied. “Her parenting leaves a lot to be desired anyway.” I tried to keep my voice steady as I said, “Not like she’s bothered to come back for me.”

“No one knows where she is. I’m sure she’d come if she could. Which is why you need this. It’s all you have left of her.”

Damn him. I gave a tense nod.

“Relax.”

“How can I relax? You want me to go to Hell.”

“No, really,” he said. “You need to relax. This is going to hurt.” Theo slid one bracelet onto his wrist and the other onto mine. It had a reassuring solidity to it. He grabbed my hand and pulled us into the water.

I screamed as the bracelet twisted into my skin with what felt like a thousand tiny razor-sharp bites. Then something icy cold filled my body. It swirled and expanded within me. I couldn’t even catch a breath. This is it, I thought dully, I’m going to die.

Instead, the world shifted and I found myself on a grassless bank, staring at a gigantic river. Which didn’t rule out the being dead part, but did make it more watery than I’d anticipated. The sky above was dark but not like a picturesque inky night. More like every bit of light had been sucked out of it.

“Welcome to the Styx,” Theo commented dryly. “Our creek is a gateway to the Underworld, if you know how to get through.”

I was not amused. I couldn’t stop staring at this river which swirled in a corrosive blend of dark oranges and reds. “It looks like the stuff that melted Two-Face,” I whispered.

“That was a soothing facial. Trust me. You don’t want any part of it to touch you. Also, don’t eat anything. Don’t drink anything. Unless you want to be stuck here forever. Got it?”

“Got it. How can we even be here?” I asked, incredulous.

I could hear the smile in Theo’s voice as I stared, transfixed, at the River Styx. “Magic.”

“Like a transporter spell?” I took a couple of steps closer to the water, almost compelled by its sinister beauty.

“No. The creek is a gateway for appropriate people.”

“‘Appropriate’ meaning?”

“Dead,” he replied.

I narrowed my eyes and turned to him for the first time since we’d arrived. “Holy cow.”

“Yeah. We both look a little different.”

Different meaning gray and deceased. “I’m not breathing.”

“Perk of being dead?” He patted my arm. “No need. It’s part of the ‘death up close and personal’ experience.”

“Tell me this is reversible.”

“The water activated the bracelets. Soon as we go back, they deactivate. In theory.”

“Theo!”

“Kidding. You have to be dead to cross the river. So we’re in a simulated non-living state. Right now, you’re a run-of-the-mill, checked out cadaver. Should work enough to get us where we need to go.”

“Which is where?”

“The Palace. It was the last place you lived and where Hades kept this pendant he took from you. You need it back. Might help you remember. Alrighty. Get on.”

I glanced at where he was motioning and shook my head violently. “Absolutely, positively not.”

Floating before me was a massive raft. On it, a skinny, hunched old man, clad in a black robe, held a large paddling pole. His head was bowed. As the raft bumped gently against the shore, he raised his head. Whoops. Not a man. It was a demon, his ageless, soulless black eyes set in a leathery face with sharply pointed features and a smile like icicles. The big, pointy, dirty kind.

He stretched his back and I realized that he also had black wings folded along his shoulder blades. Judging by their collapsed size, they would be enormous if extended.

“I’m good,” I protested again as my treacherous feet headed toward the raft. “What the … ?”

“No choice, Magoo. Dead people have to cross. Don’t draw attention to us.”

“I don’t trust that thing’s boat safety skills.”

“It’s Charon. The ferryman. Been doing this for millennia.” Theo jumped aboard the raft.

Charon looked directly at me and I swore that he could see right through to my heart, which would have totally been racing had it actually been beating.

I meekly shuffled into the middle of the raft, careful to avoid his eyes.

“Easy peasy,” Theo enthused as we were bumped and jostled from all sides.

Carefully I raised my eyes to see that the raft was packed with people of all shapes, ages, and sizes. “They’re all dead, aren’t they?” I asked Theo, glumly.

“Great, isn’t it?” He turned to a stocky Japanese man next to him with a bullet wound visible through his head. “Bad business deal?”

“Yes,” the man grunted in broken English, “my marriage.”

“Who did you get these crackpot bracelets from, anyway?” I whispered.