1304 The Harbinger (The 13th Floor) (10 page)

A bolt of lightning struck the highest rise of the coliseum. The world stopped. At least, most of it did.

The basilisks froze, cutting off their merry chirps. The crowd leaned forward and then sat motionless. Clouds hung overhead and not a breeze pushed them.

Only the gods, Sam, and herself were unaffected.

“She’s mine. Make no mistake about that, mortal.” Zeus growled. “Every cell, stone and living, is mine.”

“And you will give her to me as promised, Father.” Ares repeated.

“You may own her body, but her heart is mine.” Sam lifted his chin, undeterred by the electric tension in the air. “I love her as much as she loves me. If you want my soul, then take it. Let Meira go. Let her live.”

A sob lodged itself in Meira’s throat. Sam loved her. He proclaimed it in front of all the gods. When Sam glanced at her, he smiled, small and sad. Everything could’ve been lost in that expression. He was more beautiful than he’d ever been.

“She’s loyal to me.” Zeus pounded a hand against his chest.

“Yes, she is.” Sam didn’t deny it. “She did what you asked even though it broke her heart to do so. If you commanded her to do something, she’d still do it now even after you’ve tortured her. You’ve done nothing to deserve such faithfulness. All you see her as is a tool. Or a brood mare.” He directed that comment to Ares. “Meira is so much more than any of you deserve. Even me.”

Tears flowed faster down Meira’s face. No one talked that way to the gods. No one until Sam. He might not think he was deserving of her, but he had always been the better person. She loved him even more for saying what he did.

“How dare you speak that way to us!” Hera’s gown rippled around her as she stepped forward to stand beside her husband. “Do you understand who we are? And what position you’re in now? You failed the last challenge.”

“This was no challenge. This was torture, plain and simple.” Sam shot back. “You’re gods. Big and powerful, but none of you have a heart. I will take on every single one of you if I have to, to stop you from harming Meira any more.”

Ares started to laugh, but when no one joined him, he coughed and went silent.

“I can kill you before you even move one step closer.” Zeus held up a hand and lightning sparked between his fingers.

“I won’t back down.” And Sam took that step.

CHAPTER 14

Meira waited for that fatal zap. After making it this far, both of them would die. She didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t manage to close her eyes.

The lightning bolt never came.

The Thunder God lowered his hand and grinned. When he laughed, it wasn’t mirthful, but delighted. “You’ve passed the challenge, hero. Well done!”

He clapped and soon most of the gods joined in. Only Hera and Ares remained unmoving. Zeus bent and offered a hand to Sam. He pulled his hero onto the platform and patted his back. Sam blinked, eyes darting back and forth.

The basilisks disappeared from Meira. She shuddered with relief, but her mind reeled. What was Zeus up to now?

The crowd reanimated and the clouds blew far to the east revealing a clear blue sky.

“I never expected you to stand there and let Meira die.” Zeus chuckled and patted Sam’s shoulder again. “Not a man like you. You, a simple mortal, held your ground against the gods where anyone else would cower. The most powerful of wills come not from the mind but from the heart. And you, Samuel Wright, have an immense heart.”

When the audience realized Sam had won, there was a deafening cheer. Meira threw up her wings in celebration with them. Sam would live. He would have the happy, simple life he always wanted.

A life without her.

Her wings fell limp by her sides.

Once the crowd settled, Zeus announced there would be a grand feast in honor of Sam. “And a challenge for all Olympians to show they’re as brave as our hero. I’ve recently acquired a dragon’s soul. An ancient and crafty one. If you can defeat him, I will grant you a boon!”

The Olympians loved this even more and went wild with anticipation.

Sam stepped forward, opening his mouth to say something, but Ares cut him off.

“Father, now the challenge is over, I would have what you promised me.”

Even with the crowd still roaring, Meira could hear the God of War’s words. Of course, she had no doubt she was meant to hear them. A fate worse than the basilisks awaited her with Ares.

Zeus’ smile faded as he turned to his son. “Eager to recruit a new soldier, Ares? Surely you have plenty to keep you occupied until I’m done with her.”

“The challenge is over. What other use do you have for her? Unless you planned on keeping her for yourself all along.” Ares snarled, his body tense as a cobra’s ready to strike.

“My business with my servant is my own—” Zeus started as Hera held up her hands.

“Enough. My husband, you gave your word.” The goddess gave him a cold look. “Or do you have designs on her womb too?”

Meira hadn’t thought that of Zeus, but it made her cringe. Yet Zeus was, at times, better about fatherhood than Ares. Neither would win Father of the Year awards, but Ares would never care for anyone beyond himself.

“That’s not why—”

“Give her to me now, Father.”

“Pardon me,” Sam interrupted. Everyone glared at him. “I do believe that since I won, I have been granted a boon.”

“Yes, yes.” Zeus turned to face Sam. “What would you like? Unlimited wealth? A harem of beautiful women? I know quite a few who would be willing.”

“No, none of that. I wish Meira to be alive, well, and free. No one’s mark on her.” Sam stood with his hands clasped before him. Not pleading, but straight and respectful.

Meira sucked in a breath. Her chin trembled with gratitude. Sam could’ve asked for anything. Her freedom was the last thing she believed he’d choose when she had told him it was inevitable she’d remain in service to one god or another. What was even more, he didn’t ask her to be anything else other than alive, well, and free. He didn’t seek to make her a human and to have a simple marriage with him. For all he knew, she would leave and they’d never see each other again.

A wee part of her wished he had asked she’d be made human and spend her life with him. She’d do it and happily so. But even if she were a mortal, Meira couldn’t imagine her life being simple. Perhaps less dramatic than it was now, but never simple. It wasn’t who she was, and she wished she were such a woman for Sam.

“You can’t grant him this boon! She was promised to me before he asked!” Ares shouted. Swirling black energy darkened his right hand like a glove and formed a broad sword with a shining blade.

Zeus ignored him. “Alive and well
and
free.”

Meira toppled over on her side. A light layer of perspiration coated her legs, but nothing else. She wiggled her ugly toes and never was so glad to see them.

“Father.” Ares seethed, ready to strike.

“Put that toy away.” Hera sniffed and folded her arms as she turned her gaze to her husband. “You did make a promise, but you must grant the hero’s boon. I suggest we compromise. Neither of you can have her.”

“That’s not a compromise.” Zeus snorted.

“Mother,” Ares growled, lowering his sword. “Surely you must agree that I have the right to claim her.”

Meira shifted to slip off the platform. Her feet touched the ground, and she flexed her toes, digging into the ground. She wasn’t sure whom to root for. Not for a second did she believe they’d free her as Sam asked. She definitely did not want Ares, but Zeus clearly wanted to keep her for his own reasons. And Hera would turn her into a poodle.

Things were bad when being a poodle sounded like the best option.

“I don’t have to agree with anything.” Hera snapped at her son. “You just want to use her to gain that child and wage your wars. You might not destroy the Middle Realm, but I bet most people who still live through whatever chaos you manage to brew up will wish you had. I, for one, quite like Earth how it is. And you!” She rounded on Zeus. “I don’t know what you have planned for her, but I’ve seen the way you look at her. As long as you have her, you’ll dangle her in front of Ares and he’ll keep trying to steal her from you.”

“So you want to set her free as the hero asked?” Zeus folded his arms, stretching his suit across his shoulders.

“No.” Hera flashed him a look as if he were insane. “Leaving her unmarked with no protection from any god? She’d be a target of several. My compromise is that we have someone else mark her.”

There was a few seconds of shocked silence. First Hera stepped in and changed her fate, and now this? Her eyes raked over the assembly of gods. Some were much preferable than others, but would a mark from a lesser god save her from Ares or Zeus later on?

“If this is the only option, then I suggest Meira be allowed to have the final nay or yea on whose mark she receives.” Sam was ever the diplomat.

Hera glanced at him and nodded. “Agreed.”

All eyes went to Zeus. His jaw worked under his beard. “Agreed.”

Meira peeked at the sky. It was still clear.

“Meira, approach.” Zeus beckoned her forward.

Her legs felt wonderfully wobbly as she walked, but they held. It was one thing to wait for yourself to die, and another to wait to see how you were going to live. This frightened her far more than she wanted to admit.

Meira went down on her knees in front of the gods. In front of Sam.

“Well then,” Zeus said to the seated gods and goddesses. “Which one of you will it be?”

The Thunder God held out his hands as he waited for someone to reply. Ares narrowed his eyes, glaring at anyone who even shifted in their seats. None of them rose.

“Anyone?” Zeus asked again, smirking a bit this time.

Meira silently prayed for someone to step forward. Athena, Artemis, even Dionysus. She already felt a little insane after everything that had happened.

Seconds felt like minutes. Too long. A trickle of sweat tickled the back of her neck.

What would happen if none dared to mark her? Would Zeus keep her? Would Ares fight for her?

Then one goddess stepped forward. Her walk was smooth and light. She ignored her parents’ stunned expressions as she hopped off the dais to approach Meira.

The urge to laugh and cry simultaneously only made Meira hiccup. She bowed down to Hebe as the goddess stopped in front of her. Hebe held forth a goblet with both hands.

“Drink and accept my mark, Meira.” Hebe held up the cup to Meira’s mouth. “With my mark, you are forgiven for all your trespasses.”

Hebe wasn’t a powerful goddess. Youngest child of Zeus and Hera, goddess of youth and forgiveness. Both Zeus and Ares could strong-arm her, but she offered something Meira very much needed at the moment.

Not the mark, but forgiveness.

Meira dipped her head forward and put her lips to the goblet. Hebe tipped it and nectar flowed into Meira’s mouth. She swallowed and sweetness washed away the taste of salt and blood.

By drinking, it wasn’t Sam forgiving her for everything she had done. Meira knew that only he could do that, but she could forgive herself. What she’d done, she’d done because she loved him. She’d never have changed it. And she wouldn’t have given up one second she’d spent with him even in the horror of the labyrinth.

When Hebe drew the goblet away, the goddess smiled and looked more like a girl than a woman.

“Thank you,” Meira whispered.

“Thank you.” Hebe’s nose crinkled as her grin widened. “This was the best show I’ve seen in ages. You’re as much of a hero as Sam.”

Hebe skipped back to the dais. Her long hair swinging and not a speck of dirt on her bare feet.

“Well,” Zeus cleared his throat. Before he could continue, Aphrodite rose from her throne and stepped down from the dais. Athena followed behind her sister.

Meira blinked. The Goddess of Love came forward like a dream and the Goddess of Wisdom clearer than reality. The two goddesses exchanged a look, and Athena motioned for her sister to go first.

Aphrodite cupped Meira’s chin with a caress. “Accept my mark and know only love that is true.”

Meira’s only love stood beside the Thunder God. Yet it could never be. She wasn’t what Sam wanted no matter how he felt. He didn’t ask for her as his boon. She didn’t believe she’d ever love anyone like she loved him again, but not accepting the mark would be foolish. At least if she ever did feel love again, she’d know it was true.

“Yes.”

Aphrodite kissed her. Full on the mouth. Lush and soft, and it made Meira feel a bit drunk.

Meira’s voice trembled as she thanked the goddess. Aphrodite winked at her and returned to her throne without glancing in Ares’ direction.

Athena’s expression was cool, but her words warm. “You’ve showed great wisdom and courage today. Usually harpies are known for their ferocity and viciousness, but you’ve proven you’re something far more. Accept my mark and justice will be in your favor.”

Meira bobbed her head once. “Yes.”

Swiping her fingers across Meira’s forehead, Athena smiled and returned to her throne.

Three goddesses had marked her. It was unheard of. She hadn’t even known it was possible. Gods generally did not share well. None had asked for service. Their marks were gifts with no price. It stunned her as it seemed to do so with the majority of the gods and Olympians present.

“Well, wasn’t that interesting?” Hera mused and stepped down from the dais. She wore Gucci on her feet this time. Five inch open-toed pumps with a delightful floral pattern. The heels didn’t sink into the ground as she strode over to Meira.

Would Hera turn her into a dog? Take back the marks given to her? Meira glanced at Zeus, but he watched his wife in silence.

“This all could’ve been avoided if I turned you into a dog when you snapped at me. Life would’ve been simpler for all of us. Yet now you’re here and marked thrice.” Hera pursed her lips and then held out a hand. When Meira just stared at it, the goddess beckoned to her. “Ah yes, lose the wings and give me your hand.”

This was getting stranger by the second. Zeus didn’t protest his wife’s command. With a little shudder and shimmer, Meira’s wings and ugly feet were gone. She placed her manicured hand in Hera’s.