Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) (16 page)

So.

Was I scared? That might sound like a dumb question. Of course I was scared, but normally that didn’t slow me down at all. I always confronted my fears. But I always made sure I had backup somewhere or an ace up my sleeve in case things got dicey. Now I didn’t. I was entirely alone, and my magical reservoir was capped off. I would have to play this game differently than I was used to doing. Normally I blew things up that scared me. Now I would have to think first, blow shit up later. If at all. To conserve my power.

“I didn’t know men these days were so shy.” The voice teased from the shadows.

I decided to answer back. “You’re not a Demon, are you?”

The cute voice that answered had an entirely different tone this time. It now barely restrained eons of experience at fatal threats. “Never.”

“Oh, okay. Well that’s a start. Are you going to eat me if I come in there?” I asked, not knowing exactly what was on the other side of the door. That hiss could have been a monster. It sure didn’t sound human.

“I am no beast. I’m a petite, curvaceous dream woman. No blades, fangs, or sticks. I swear. But I detest Demons.” The voice called, sounding more human again, and slightly… amused.

“Um. Alright. I’m coming in now.” I took a step and waited for the gates of hell to grab me by the short hairs. I realized my body was rigid, ready to flee at the drop of a hat. Listen, she
might
be a little girl, but she
also
might be a giant, dreadlock clad, flying, gorilla-vampire hybrid. One never knew. Sensing no inhuman presence ready to gobble me up, I took another cautious step into the darkness. The door slammed shut behind me, bumping me forward a few inches. My butt cheeks clenched tight enough to crack a walnut, not wanting to get pinched by a four hundred pound door.

In a blink, I realized the darkness was entirely gone, replaced by gold, crimson, and orange hues reflecting off thousands of metallic objects. Elaborate clothing, armor, and classic artwork from eras long extinct decorated the wall between a literal platoon of weapons and artifacts. The room I stood in had an open balcony with sturdy marble railings that ran right up to a sky that seemed afire from a vibrant sunset. A wide, long hallway stretched from the opposite end of the room, leading away for what seemed like forever.

And this was one room.

I could see dozens more openings spaced along the hallway.

The enticing voice floated to my ears from the balcony as I spotted a silky, lavender colored fabric fluttering in the wind. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” She teased.

I blinked. She was facing the opposite direction, but her thick auburn hair flowed in the breeze like a shampoo commercial’s wet dream. She could be hiding razor sharp Katanas in front of her, or she could have a gorilla-vampire hybrid’s face after all. I had to be careful here. I didn’t know the rules, but this obviously was not Temple Industries. I was somewhere else. It wasn’t sunset in St. Louis, and it wasn’t even remotely warm there. Here was almost toasty, as if I had stepped into a beach town near the equator. I didn’t even know whether this place was real or a mental construct… or maybe even another daymare. My eyes suddenly darted back and forth eagerly, searching for a box, but I found nothing. Then again… I wouldn’t even know to look for a box if this was a daymare, which meant that this
must
be real.

“Please turn to face me, if you don’t mind.” I called politely. Her amused laughter caused a pleasant tingle over my skin. It was captivating — the perfect mixture of amusement and darker, adult undertones. She turned to face me and my breath froze. Large almond eyes greeted me. Her face was oval and naturally tanned, with a sharp jaw and large, luscious lips, which were smiling up at me to reveal large, brilliantly white teeth. She was short, but a genuine goddess. And yes, she was definitely
curvaceous
. Was that my parents’ secret? They had kidnapped a goddess? “You look… normal.” I said bluntly.

She cocked her head curiously. “
Normal
? Well, you sure know how to woo a girl. I’m curious, were you
really
expecting a gorilla-vampire hybrid?” She asked mischievously.

I blinked.
How the hell did she know that?
I opened my mouth after a few seconds of silent gawking. “If you knew my life, you might not think that so odd. Can you-”

She interrupted me. “Yes. I can read minds. Most of the time. It’s my duty.” She answered softly, curtsying like a princess out of a fairy tale. “I am at your service, if you will have me.”

“I don’t think I need any servicing.” I realized how that sounded and instantly went on defense. “I mean, I’m all set in the servicing department. I’ve got this girl I really like, and she really likes me too. She services me just f-”

Her laughter cut me off, and my teeth clicked sharply as my face flared beet red. “Not that kind of
servicing
. I guess you could say that I
work
for you. Perhaps that is a more modern phrase.”

I nodded in relief. “Oh. Yeah. Of course. That makes more sense.” I studied her curiously, the silence stretching as she met my gaze with infinite patience. “Why do you work for me again?”

“You could call me a librarian of sorts. I was created to be the ward of this place.” Her eyes twinkled with excitement as she spread her dainty hands to encompass the room. “Here. Let me show you a few of my favorite things.” She was suddenly directly in front of me, seemingly not having crossed the space between us. I didn’t even have time to flinch before she eagerly grabbed my arm to lead me deeper into the room. I didn’t have time to stop her, and I was caught up with her infectious glee at finally having someone to talk to about her toys. And I was damn curious about that after having spent so long trying to gain entrance to this place. We rapidly moved from pile to pile, weapon to weapon, rug to painting, all the while with her name dropping ancient items of power that made my skin begin to crawl. I was flabbergasted as we darted from one astonishment to the next. Gems, jewels, art, weapons, maps, and hundreds of other things filled the vast room in every direction, and this was only one of many, many rooms. She had already pointed out a lamp with a genuine genie trapped inside, the Nemean Lion’s skin that had adorned Hercules, and even a few journals written by the Brothers Grimm — the sociopathic hitmen of the supernatural world.

The artwork alone was worth millions of dollars, not even considering the jewelry.

But it wasn’t just weapons. I spotted a collection of boxed action figures, signed baseballs, expensive antiques, and even vinyl records. It was a hoarder’s paradise.

And it was all…

Mine
.

It was slightly humbling. With only a handful of these items I would be practically unstoppable, and wouldn’t need to worry about my curse at all.

A small part of me felt like Smaug hoarding his treasure, but another small part of me began to grow concerned. Was I worthy of being the Amory’s caretaker? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts…absolutely.

“You’re like a playboy bunny version of Jiminy Cricket.” I blurted, perhaps too honestly. “The conscience for this place, like Jiminy was for Pinocchio.” She smiled at my compliment, and released my hand. “Did my parents command you to keep watch over the Armory? Did they
create
you?” I studied her more carefully. I had felt her hand, so I knew she was a physical being, but where did she get her nourishment? Was she merely a construct created by my parents and this was all happening in my head?

“No. They didn’t create me, and yes, I’m real.” Her eyes threatened to suck me into their depths, so I quickly turned away. She laughed, patting me on the arm innocently. “This is but one of the world’s armories. Albeit the most notorious. Your parents have transformed it into the greatest of all of them. But perhaps I say that only because I am here to help.” I nodded politely, not knowing what to say. She eyed me up and down appraisingly. Then she took a slow step closer, brushing the scar on my face with a gentle touch. “How did you acquire… oh, a dragon.” She had apparently read my thoughts again. “You are a warrior then, a dragon slayer? Yes. I see it now. You’re wearing war paint to terrorize your enemies.” She pointed at my black eyes. “I like it. Who are we destroying today?” She said it with the tone and excitement a small child might use to declare we were about to play tea party princesses. I shivered. “We have many weapons here if you so desire. You will never have to risk a scar again.” I took a polite step back and cleared my throat. She smiled, respecting my distance without offense. “Your parents’ didn’t tell me that they actually succeeded in granting you the power of a Maker though.”

She stared at me, waiting for me to speak. “A Maker?” I asked curiously, and with a small amount of alarm. She nodded, but her excitement slowly began to fade as she realized I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Have you noticed an increase in your power?” She asked instead. I nodded with excitement. Finally! Answers. “But they didn’t warn you? They never explained why?” She asked with disbelief.

“They never had the chance. They were murdered.” I answered softly, my hopes for answers crumbling to ashes.

She seemed to shrink a bit at the shoulders. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. What I meant was that they took something from this place in order to give you a… parting gift, as it were. A workshop for your new gift to flourish.”

I stared back at her blankly, a little mollified that my parents had experimented on me without my knowledge. “Gift?”

“You are the first Maker to walk the earth in hundreds of years.”

I pondered her words. “Maker… That sounds kinda… silly.” I finally answered.

She giggled. “It is in no way
silly
. It is how wizards came to be in the first place. It means that you can literally create new forms of magic the world has never before seen. Other wizards stick with the old tried and true spells, replicating what they have seen done before. They do not have the power to push the boundaries and create
new
magic. As a Maker, you can quite literally do whatever you can imagine. Whatever you dare attempt. Magic that your enemies could not counter, since they never would have experienced it before. It is a gift from the gods. Your parents wanted you to be strong enough to defend this place… and yourself.”

Create
magic? Unbelievable. My parents were pulling strings even from beyond the grave. “Well, it seems their hard work has only painted a bulls-eye on my back. The Academy wasn’t too pleased to notice my jump in power.”

She nodded sadly. “The world’s thugs never are. They don’t like things they cannot explain.” She straightened her shoulders. “Well, I hope you made a right mess of those vipers at the Academy. You are, after all, limited only by your creativity and imagination.”

“Well, I didn’t make a
right mess
of them. They actually cursed me. My power is now fading, and will be gone in three days if I don’t comply with their demands to give them the Armory. It will fade faster if I use my magic up before their deadline.”

She locked eyes with me. “Then I must help you eliminate this wretched spell.” She closed her eyes and lifted her arms to point in my general direction. I tensed, but nothing happened. After a few moments, she opened her eyes with a low growl. “Impossible! I can’t even
touch
the curse. It repels my power like oil on water.” She studied me for another second. “Even with your new abilities, it is too strong for you to remove on your own. They must have used a circle of wizards.”

I nodded with frustration. “Eight of them, to be precise.”

She growled. “Cowards!” I liked her already. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all. “It seems that the only solution is for you to find more power.”

I blinked at her, not hiding my mounting frustration very well. “You and Asterion both. Simple, but efficient with your fortune cookie answers.”

She visibly started. “The Minotaur
lives
?”

I hesitated, not knowing if I had accidentally given up a State Secret. “Um. Yeah. We’re kinda’ bros.” She watched me, uncomprehendingly. “Friends.” I amended.

She continued to stare at me in silence, thoughts I couldn’t even fathom churning behind those magical eyes of hers.

“Anyway,” I continued, feeling uncomfortable. “How exactly do I find more power?”

She arched a brow, relaxing as she fought a growing smile. Finally, she sighed and lifted her arms at the Armory around us. I slapped my forehead in embarrassment, remembering at the last second to be gentle for my injured nose. Of course. Armory. Power. Duh.

“This is all
yours
. You can borrow items from here to aid you in your investigation. It’s fitting, really. Use your parents’ tools to discover their murderer. It wouldn’t be the first time some of these items have reentered the world. After all, you’ve already been transformed into a Maker.” I looked around, feeling slightly thick that I hadn’t considered the idea immediately. But like earlier, my thoughts grew concerned. These things had been locked away for a reason. Surely they shouldn’t be wielded out of the Armory. But… wasn’t I already contradicting that statement? My parents had already done just that to transform me into a Maker. Supposedly. Did I trust this woman? Could she be lying about their gift? Then I thought about it for a few seconds.

I
had
made some remarkable discoveries lately. Tinkering had become a fiery passion where before it had been merely an interesting diversion. And I had learned to Apparate rather quickly, in a way that I had never before learned anything. Maybe she was right. It would explain the power spike that had so surprised the Justices.

I decided to change the subject, allow my mind to warm up to the idea slowly. “Why does everything I see remind me of the Greeks?” I asked curiously.

“Because they were brilliant marketers, of course. We have totems from practically every culture here. You just do not recognize them.”