Omega (17 page)

Adonis snatched my wrist, and I looked up,
startled. I shook off the weird sense.

“
I won’t let you fall,” he
said.

I laughed. “It’s okay. It’s not far and I’d
rather have a broke leg than …” I yanked at his grip. The rope was
right beside me anyway; I wasn’t going to fall more than a couple
of feet.

“
You’re a fool!” he
breathed.

“
Yeah. Now let go!” I
tried to pry his hand off my wrist with my other hand. When that
failed to work, I reached for the red cord around my
wrist.

“
Stop!” Adonis snatched my
other wrist. I heard the sounds of more than one person running
towards us. From the look he cast over his shoulder, they weren’t
his men.

He kept his grip on the wrist with the red
cord and released my second hand. I expected him to draw a weapon
but he snatched the rope. Seconds later, he leapt over the edge of
the roof.

The man had a serious set of feline
reflexes. I could barely register what was happening, while he was
reacting. He grabbed me around the waist and slid us both down the
rope until my feet hit the ground. It happened too fast for me to
react, and the moment we were safe, the arm around my waist was
around my neck.

“
If you kill her, Adonis
…” Niko yelled from the roof.

I was able to see the shadows of him and
Dosy on the ground, along with several other forms of their
guards.

“
Game over. Leave, both of
you!” Adonis returned.

“
Don’t give up now!” I
called.

“
The Triumvirate wants you
alive. They don’t care if you’re missing limbs. Do
not
tempt me.” These
words were for me, spoken close enough to my ear for his warm
breath to brush my skin. I shivered. His grip was tight but not yet
severing my air supply. Herakles would say he was going for control
rather than the kill. I was hauled against his hard body, once
again aware of his scent and the strange sense of familiarity I
hadn’t yet shaken.

This wasn’t the calm Adonis that challenged
me to a race. This was the Adonis who was about to use one of the
weapons he carried, and I didn’t think even he knew who he was
going to use it on.

I stretched for my knife, not about to ruin
the only good escape opportunity I had.

Dosy was descending the wall rapidly. Niko
was gone, and I assumed he was taking the stairs.

Adonis hauled me to face Dosy, one of his
weapons out. I waited until she was close enough to engage him then
smashed my heel into one of his feet, stabbed him in the arm with
my knife, and wrenched away.

Adonis released me. I stumbled away, caught
myself, and bolted. He showed no sign of pain but deflected Dosy’s
strikes and then pushed her aside.

“
If you run, you’ll never
know who you are!” he called after me.

I stopped at the mouth of a passageway. The
words were kryptonite. I wanted away, yes, but I wanted to know who
I was, too, why I was important.

“
Run!” Dosy cried. “You
don’t know what they’ll do to you.”

“
I can return your
memories to you,” Adonis added.

I turned to face him. “No one can do
that.”

“
It’s one of the benefits
of working for a demigod representing the gods on Earth. A direct
line to Mnemosyne.”

I glanced at Dosy, who hadn’t yet lied to me
that I knew. “Is that true?”

“
Probably, but it’s
irrelevant. Assuming you survive the trials, the Supreme Priest and
Supreme Magistrate will enslave you with your magic.”

It sounded a lot like what the priests had
told me.

“
I’ll spare the girls and
priests we found in the town nearest your compound,” Adonis added
and took two steps towards me.

My breath caught. The other priests had died
because of me. I couldn’t let that happen to those remaining or to
the nymphs, however many hadn’t escaped. They were in SISA control
because of me.

“
Okay.” I dropped my knife
and raised my hands.

“
Alessandra,” Dosy
objected.

“
I’m with SISA. For now,”
I replied.

Adonis strode towards me, none too pleased,
and kicked the knife away. He pulled my arms down and cuffed
me.

“
Leave, Theodocia,” he
said to the High Priestess. “Take Niko with you, or I’ll toss him
in prison.”

“
You can have him.” Dosy
was frowning. “What’re you planning on doing with her?”

I looked at Adonis at the question.

“
Submit her to the first
trial,” he replied.

“
Before the other members
of the Triumvirate interview her?”

“
I have my
orders.”

“
And you always follow
your orders.” The look they shared told me they knew a lot more
about each other than I did about anyone I’d met. “I don’t have to
tell you or the Supreme Priest this is highly unusual. She deserves
some prep time or something.”

Adonis dropped my hands. “If she’s the
Oracle, she’ll survive. If not, she won’t.”

My interest increased. “Why? Is it
dangerous?” I asked, excited at the chance to put the skills I
spent a lifetime learning to use. “Like really dangerous?”

Dosy appeared ready to chastise me the way
she did Niko. Adonis’ expression was that of scrutiny, as if he was
trying to figure out if I was messing with him.

“
Shut up, kid,” Niko
growled, emerging from a nearby hallway. “Even you aren’t stupid
enough to want to go through the trials without preparing for
them.” He sheathed his weapons. “My employer called me off with a
promise he’s got some words for your boss about how she’s being
handled, Adonis. You win this round.” Niko stalked towards the
front of the compound, trailed by his entourage.

“
Next time,” Dosy promised
the quiet head of SISA. “Find your way to the Silent Queen and me,
Alessandra. We won’t imprison you.”

“
Sounds good,” I replied.
I watched her leave as well before Adonis stepped away. “Do you
really have my friends?”

“
I do.”

“
Niko killed four of
them.”

“
They’re better
off.”

I didn’t like that at all. “But you’ll spare
the others now?”

“
Will you go through the
trials without me forcing you into them?”

“
Yeah, sure. Can’t be that
bad.”

He shook his head. “You’re something else.
If you’re not the Oracle, you’re the bravest fool I’ve ever
met.”

From him, I was certain it was a compliment
of sorts.

“
Submit to the first
trial, and they’ll be freed,” he added. “Try to escape again, and
I’ll kill them off in front of you, one by one.”

“
No need for threats.” I
raised my hands and took a step towards the center of the compound.
“I’m cool with this. What are these trials?”

He gave me an indecipherable stare.

“
Assume I know absolutely
nothing about what’s going on,” I said impatiently. “I’m not
fighting you. I’m just asking a legitimate question.”

He studied me. “Usually, three gods sponsor
the incoming Oracle and design trials to challenge her, test her
magic, mental toughness and willingness to obey them,” he
explained. “The gods were too preoccupied to nominate sponsors for
you, so each member of the Triumvirate is giving you a trial
instead. You’ll receive three tasks you must complete.”

“
Hmmm. What happens if I
don’t?”

“
You’ll never have full
access to your power.”

I can do more than create
earthquakes?
“It can’t be that
bad.”

Adonis lifted his chin towards the hallway
behind me in a silent command.

I retreated to the passageway leading into
the compound then stopped.

No voices came from the area, but my
intuition was doing it again. Tingling.

I returned to the corner looking into the
courtyard. Adonis was alone. He was on his knees, holding his head,
face scrunched up in pain. I watched him, not expecting the man
with the strength and agility of a great cat to be vulnerable or
hurt. He didn’t look as if anyone had touched him from the fight
with Dosy and Niko. I’d nicked his arm, but he didn’t seem affected
by the wound. His hands lowered to his sides, and he shook his head
and rose.

I eased back and hurried away on tiptoes
through the compound to the apartment without crossing any of his
men. It would be so easy to flee …

But I wasn’t going to risk the lives of
anyone else I’d grown up with.

I returned to his apartment and nudged the
door closed behind me with my hip. Something was rustling again. I
inched forward, towards the source of the sound in his bedroom, and
pushed the door open.

I was expecting to see someone left behind
from Niko or Dosy’s camp, but no one was present. The sound was
gone, too, and I scoured the room.

Spotting the last thing I ever expected to
see in the room of a man like Adonis, I laughed. “I forgot about
you!” I crossed to his bed and sat down, grabbing the stuffed
animal resting against one pillow with my bound hands. “No way he
has a toy like this.” The stuffed koala bear was ancient, its
original tan fur visible in the crease of one ear. The rest of it
was darker, dirtier brown. It smelled clean despite its grungy
appearance. “You wouldn’t happen to have any handcuff keys would
you?” I asked it playfully.

Dresser.

I looked around. It was almost like a
whisper but not quite audible. Like it was in my head. Taking the
toy with me, I went to the dresser I had ransacked earlier for a
weapon and this time searched out a handcuff key.

“
Awesome,” I said and set
the toy down. I unlocked my cuffs then tossed them on the dresser.
“Come on, little guy.” I picked up the bear and went into the
living area.

My latest escape plan foiled, I did what any
teenager would do. I flipped on the television. Accompanied by
Adonis’ toy, I sank onto the couch, my attention at once snagged by
the news.

Real
news. None of the censored stuff the priests fed us at the
orphanage.

Except, as soon as I began watching, I began
to feel … ill. The world outside my forest was ugly and the people
untrustworthy, but it seemed far better than what was going on
outside of the region entirely.

“
The death toll this year
outside the wall has reached ten million, ten percent lower than
last year. Experts claim the trend has been decreasing every year
since the Holy Wars began five years ago, which they take as a sign
the wars between the gods are losing steam due to the political
posturing of SISA and the military,” claimed one
anchorman.

“
Fantastic news, James,”
said the woman beside him. “With forty three states under official
martial law, many are crediting the military and Supreme Magistrate
with keeping the peace.”

I watched in interest as they showed stock
images from the wall and a map of the territories claimed by the
gods and goddesses as well as those currently conflicted. The map
of North America was riddled by colors indicating pockets of
different deities’ territorial claims. Images from those areas were
… horrifying. Smashed towns, long breadlines, massive temples in
perfect condition where the gods and goddesses lived surrounded by
destruction and images of the extreme poverty and disease
afflicting humanity.

The television flipped off.

I blinked, stunned, and faced the door.
Adonis had a second remote and tossed it on the couch.

“
Is this real?” I
asked.

“
Is what real?”

“
The wars. The
wall.”

He eyed me. “How do you not know
anything?”

“
We were sheltered. But
you’re telling me the continent has been torn apart by gods
infighting?”

“
Not the continent. The
world, except for about a thousand square miles of the eastern
seaboard and Mount Olympus in Greece, their adopted home
here.”

My jaw dropped. This wasn’t what the priests
had taught us!

“
The deities grant favors
for a price and manipulate humans as required to amass their power
and money. It’s the way it’s always been,” Adonis said.

“
But the Sacred
Triumvirate is supposed to balance their power with
humanity.”

“
They did at one point.
Power is all that matters now, Alessandra. Power, influence,
control. The gods have been at war with one another on Earth for
five years. Which is why it’s important we found you. We weren’t
planning on you appearing quite so soon, before my master had a
chance to complete his preparations.”

Five years. There it is
again.
But I was too incensed to follow
that line of thought.

“
Isn’t the Supreme Priest
the liaison between gods and people? Can’t he make the gods stop
hurting everyone?”

“
Politics at this level
are about one thing: power. No cause, no morality, no concerns
other than power and survival matter once you reach the
Triumvirate.” He gave me a look saying he didn’t quite believe I
was so naïve.

I stared at the blank television screen. I
was beginning to understand better why the Old Ways were needed,
but I didn’t know why the priests hadn’t just come out and told us
all about what was going on in the world. What else were they
hiding?