Bedeviled (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

K
yana tugged Ryker's robe around her and stepped out of the bathroom, relieved to find his bedroom empty. She strode through the glass doors and onto the bedroom deck, her thoughts so chaotic, she wasn't sure how to piece them together. Her own changes. Haven's fate. Ryker. When had her life become so damned complicated?

She leaned against the rail, letting the salty sea breeze soothe the skin Ryker had made so sensitive with his stubbled face. Her arms and legs were tender, her breasts throbbing. His stamina as a lover was unrivaled in her experience—every touch intentional, every kiss deliberate. Being with him was perfect, was
right
.

But knowing that didn't make her fears go away. She'd been worried about growing bored and leaving
him
, when truthfully, the real fear came with that situation turning the other way. She'd protected her heart for so long. Was she willing to risk breaking it for maybes and might bes?

That was something else she'd have to contemplate later. Today, she had to focus on her other worries. Namely, Haven.

Haven was likely to go to her grave today, the very thought of which made Kyana so ill she wanted to crawl back into bed and stay there. Aside from the possibility of losing her best friend, Haven would take the location of the trident with her.

Without that trident, the world's waters were dying a slow, painful death. Even Below, where the sea was only a mirror of the Earth's, the turquoise surface was beginning to look as though it had been dusted with soot, when just yesterday it had been clear and beautiful and untouched. Would Silas be strong enough to right the problems, even if he did get the trident back?

Feeling the prickling sting of someone staring at her, Kyana glanced over her shoulder to find Ryker leaning against the glass door frame behind her. He was studying her with those intense blue eyes, and she shivered under the thick robe.

“Feel better?” he asked, a slow smile crinkling his mouth.

Her stomach and legs turned to goo as she remembered how those lips felt on certain very tender places of her body.

“A little,” she breathed, closing her mind to the memories. Turning back to stare at the horizon, she shivered as her cold, wet hair settled against her cheeks. Ryker leaned beside her at the railing and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

After several minutes of staring into space, he said, “Worried about today?”

As far as questions went, it was a dumb one. “What do you think?”

“I think I'll be at your side. Through everything that hits us today.”

She smiled despite herself. Doubts aside, she liked hearing that. Liked knowing she didn't have to go through any of this alone. “Thanks. But nothing's hitting us today. It's all going to hit Haven.”

The worries that had weighed on her all night finally spilled off her tongue in a rambling mess. “I'm still worried, Ryker. Whether Haven is locked up or not, we still have to consider Cronos a threat. She can't be the only being in the world that can raise him. We don't know what he is capable of because he's the only god who's died and tried to come back. We don't know what connections he has to you now, or to Geoffrey, or to any of his original children. He
is
Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, all wrapped up in one scary-as-hell package.”

“Stop worrying.” Ryker sighed and pulled her into his arms. “I'm not supposed to tell you—anyone—but the ring, Zeus's staff, and Hades's amulet . . . they're all safely tucked away in the Underworld. Even if Cronos came after one of us, he wouldn't be able to touch the remaining Eyes of Power. Zeus made sure they were locked up tight, and since no one can cross into the Underworld without Hermes or Geoff, they're safe.”

She pushed away so she could look up at him. “And if you need them? How are any of you going to be strong enough to fight Cronos without the conduits?”

He shrugged. “Geoff gives them back to us.”

Kyana took a deep breath, blessed relief filling her for one blissful moment before shattering into a million pieces that tore at her insides. “You . . . there's no way Haven can know they're in the Underworld, is there?”

“I don't see how she—”

“Cronos. Could Cronos know?”

“Kyana, you said yourself there's no way to know what Cronos is capable of. But what does it matter. Even if he knows, he can't cross into the Underworld.”

“Unless he uses Geoff. What if Cronos finds some other way to get to them now that Haven's been purged?”

“You can't seriously think Geoff would be that stupid. I'm not his biggest fan but—”

“But nothing. We just need to make sure he stays the hell away from her.”

“Ky, stop. She's purged. Whether Geoff stays away from her or not right now won't matter.”

Kyana wasn't so sure. She hadn't seen Haven since the purging had been complete. How could they even be sure it had worked? “Okay,” she said. “All right. But I want to see her. I want to make sure the purging worked. If I see that it has, I'll stop worrying that we put Cronos's Vessel so close to the damned things he wanted all along.”

“If it will make you feel better, fine. But don't work yourself up over this, Ky. Don't make trouble where there isn't any.”

She glared at him and tugged the tie of the robe tighter at her waist. “If the conduits are in Geoffrey's domain and Cronos knows that, what exactly do you think he'll try to do, Ryker? He's already tried to kill me several times through Haven. Why would Geoffrey be any different?”

The stone-faced glare he'd been directing at her chipped away. “You think he's in danger?”

“I think he might be if he gets too close. She was weak while she was being purged and a threat to no one. But what if it didn't work? She could be susceptible to Cronos again.”

She walked back inside Ryker's bedroom, where the scent of their cardio Olympics still hung heavy in the air. She tossed off her robe and searched the room for her clothes. “Have you talked to Geoffrey since Haven's capture?”

“No, I've been a little distracted.” His gaze fell to her bare breasts but she didn't move to cover them.

“There are still several hours before the trial. I want to make sure the sentinels know to keep Geoff out of the prison until then. Hermes too. If Cronos has a backup plan, we have to be prepared.”

“Now?”

She pulled her white T-shirt over her head and rolled her eyes. “No. Later when it's too late to do anything. I'm going to instruct the sentinels and then I'm going to Haven and she's not leaving my sight until her trial is over. I will not let Cronos touch her again.”

She found her pants, put them on, then dug her boots out from under Ryker's bed.

As she headed to the front door, she paused to glance over her shoulder and saw him tugging on his jeans and snatching a shirt from his dresser before he chased after her. He stopped in the hall to slide on his shoes before he finally made it to her side.

“We can't stray too far from Olympus. If you're not near Artemis at sunset—”

“I know. The pain, the agony, blah blah blah. As long as my change doesn't prevent me from standing up for Haven at her trial—”

“Haven's trial is set for midnight. I think they wanted to give you time for the change so you could attend as Artemis.”

“We'll be back well before it's time to find Artie.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Let's go.”

Kyana followed him over the sand dunes until the streets of Below finally came into view, silence hanging between them as they made their way to the large boulders outside the prison.

When they reached the cell at the end of the long hall, she froze. Blinked. Blinked again in desperate hope that her eyes were deceiving her.

“No,” she whispered, her knees giving a slight tremble, forcing her to grip the wall for support.

Haven wasn't in her cell.

Chapter Thirty-Three

R
yker watched Kyana's face turn ghostly pale even as his own gut twisted with a sickening wave of disbelief. The barrier to Haven's prison wasn't sealed, and there was no sign of her anywhere. A sentinel lay facedown in a pool of blood, a key to the cell in his hand, and as he craned his neck to look more deeply into the prison, he could see more bodies filling the eerily quiet halls. At least a half-dozen guards had been posted to guard Haven. It seemed each of them had died doing his job.

What the hell had Haven done?

He snatched the key from the sentinel at his feet. “It's Geoffrey's,” he said, rubbing the emblem of Hades that had been etched into the front of the five-pointed key.

Kyana had been right to worry. Geoffrey had been here, and had obviously not left of his own free will.

“No.” Kyana's whisper of denial was barely audible. She was frighteningly stoic as she stood in the middle of Haven's empty cell, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Ky?” He bellowed her name, gaining her attention. “Snap the hell out of it. Cronos has got Haven, and she's got Geoff.”

“I. Know.” Her face became a sculpture of porcelain, white and without expression. Her gaze fell to the dead guards and she shook her head. “I won't be able to save her now. Not after this.”

“Stop it. You haven't given up on her yet.” Ryker stood and grabbed her by the shoulders giving her a brisk shake. “You still believe Cronos is inside her making her do all this, Ky. If you don't, then yes, she is a goner and there's not a damned thing you'll be able to do about it.”

Kyana blinked, seeming to come out of her stupor. “Of course I believe that! This isn't her fault! But the Order will want to punish
someone
and I don't see them putting Cronos on trial. Do you?”

“You have to link with Haven.”

She jerked her head toward him, her eyes damp, but her cheeks dry. “I can't just fall asleep here, Ryker.”

He trailed his fingers lightly up her arms. “I know you're worried about them, but you have to try. The fastest way to find Haven and make sure Geoff is all right is to link with her. Maybe we can get you a potion to make you sleep.”

“Are you kidding me? You're
not
going to knock me out unless there's no other option. What if something happens and I'm helpless? What if Geoffrey needs my help and I let him die because I can't pull myself out of the potion's effects?”

She rubbed the back of her neck, looking pretty damned close to falling apart. “I'm turning into Artemis tonight, Ryker. Even if you put me under, my Vampyric powers have waned so much, I'm not sure I can link to Haven anymore. I can feel it, the difference. I'm already changing.”

Forcing himself to remain calm for her sake, he closed his eyes and nodded. “I'll send someone to find Hermes. Make sure Geoffrey isn't in the Underworld. Maybe Hermes will know when he left. We can see what sort of time has passed since Haven broke out of here.”

Though he didn't want to leave Kyana, he made his way through the tunnels of the prison system looking for any survivors. Since the breakout, there hadn't been much use of the massive cave system and most of the sentinels had been reassigned to more useful tasks. On the lower floors of the prison, a few guards were going about their duties, standing stoically outside the cells of the less dangerous prisoners. Because of the depth of the tunnel system, none of them had heard a single noise of alarm from the upper floor. Well trained, they showed no outward emotion over the news of their fallen brethren, but Ryker knew well enough that the moment he left them, their rants would begin. They would want justice for their brothers and sisters. They just weren't fool enough to show as much to a god.

“Find Hermes,” he said to the startled guard closest to him. “Tell him to find me immediately.”

“We don't have time to send a messenger for another messenger.” Kyana appeared behind Ryker, her face so pale it all but glowed in the shadows.

Ryker shot the sentinel a commanding glare, and the guard disappeared, brushing by Kyana to do Ryker's bidding.

“What choice do we have?” His loose grip on his calm façade snapped. “We can't enter the Underworld to see if Geoffrey ever even left it, and I don't know where to begin looking for Hermes. That wasn't part of my damned lessons.”

He took a deep breath. If he was ready to blow a proverbial gasket, he couldn't imagine what this had done to Kyana. Haven was loose, which most likely meant Cronos hadn't given up. If she was with Geoffrey, she'd have access to the Underworld without any alarm bells being raised.

She wouldn't need Geoffrey alive to gain access to the Underworld. They would only need his blood. His body.

Ryker's gaze fell on Kyana, and he wondered if she'd put the pieces together yet. That there might no longer be a Geoffrey to save at all.

I
t took only a matter of minutes for Hermes to appear in the prison antechamber. Kyana had no idea how the sentinel had tracked down the god so quickly, but was happy as hell that he had. The minute she'd seen that Haven was gone, her heart had sunk. Not just for Haven but for what her escape could mean for Geoffrey.

She had to find him, and if the messenger god had taken even a second longer, she would have had to figure out another way to locate them. Though, she was pretty sure she knew where Haven would have taken Geoff.

She'd wanted to get her hands on the Eyes of Power, and they were within Geoffrey's domain. The only way she and Ryker could get there to stop Haven was through Hermes. It was the reason she'd waited as long as she had.

“If you wish to see me,” Hermes started, his beady eyes shimmering in the underground structure, “you need only use your mind, new Zeus. Not a blasted sentinel whose feet move too slowly. Poor soul. Not sure when he'll figure out that I've already come and gone.”

“I need to know where Geoffrey is—the new Hades,” Ryker demanded.

“We know where he is,” Kyana whispered. To Hermes, she said, “We need you to get us into his realm.”

Hermes scowled. “I spoke with Geoffrey in the Underworld last eve. I can attempt to deliver a message if you wish, but even if he hasn't left his realm, it's going to take time. However, taking you there? I'm afraid I cannot.”

“You will,” Kyana demanded.

Hermes shook his head, his winged helm clinking against the wall. “It's not that I won't, new goddess. I cannot. Geoffrey can escort others into his domain. My permission is for me alone. The minute you try to step inside without him or his consent, you will set off alarms and immediately be incapacitated. The new security is airtight since the breakout.”

Kyana's chest squeezed so painfully, she was almost grateful for the sudden burst of life it brought. There had to be some way in.

“Even if Cronos, through Haven, took Geoff, she wouldn't be able to drag him all the way through the Underworld. And she can't know exactly where the Eyes of Power are, so it will take time for her to find them. If she used Geoff to gain entrance, she would have left him shortly after.”

And probably killed him, but Kyana refused to think on that.

“We'll get her, Ky.”

She nodded; the dull throb at the base of her neck was rising to a crescendo. “Damned right we will. There hasn't been enough time for Haven to have escaped the Underworld with the Eyes of Power.”

“I'll get a head start,” Hermes said. “I know where the conduits are hidden. I'll see if they're still safe.”

When Hermes disappeared, Kyana moved to follow his path out of the prison but Ryker held her back. “Ky . . .”

“What?”

“You need to prepare yourself for what we might find.”

She shook her head, tears burning and begging to break free but she refused to let them. “No. She didn't kill him, Ryker. I won't believe that.”

“But if she did?”

She swallowed, unable to hold back the tears any longer. “Then it won't matter whether or not I'll have to kill her, because when Haven is free of this mess and knows she murdered Geoffrey, she won't want to live at all.”