Emblazed (21 page)

Just as Jace reached the shower door, I held my hand, palm out, towards Hermes. I
didn’t want him to come back for me, and I was more than ready to end the whole ordeal.
I let my Akasha fly, but Hermes disappeared right before it connected, and it ended
up burning a hole through the tile floor.

Jace was in the shower, fully clothed, before I could blink. “Are you okay? Did he
hurt you?” he asked as he hugged me tightly.

“I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me—he can’t, remember?” I replied.

“Then, why would he come? Everyone knows you’re protected by the Oracle, including
the Gods.”

“I don’t really know the limits of her protection, but he was able to touch me,” I
said warily, knowing Jace was going to get upset.

Jace squeezed me tighter, and I felt his fists clench behind my back. He abruptly
pulled away, his fists still tightened in anger from my words. I attempted to diffuse
his rage, “Baby, calm down. He just pushed me up against the wall and covered my mouth
with his hand. I decked him before he got the chance to touch anywhere else.”

A slight smile started to break through Jace’s angry mask. “You decked him?”

“Yeah, I elbowed him like you taught me, and then kneed him right in the nuts. Twice,”
I added with emphasis.

Jace chuckled softly before pulling me back into him. “That’s my girl. I’m glad you’re
okay. I thought he was going to transport you back to the Underworld or something.”

“I would hope that the Oracle’s protection would definitely protect against that,”
I remarked.

“We’ll have to ask the next time we see her. Are you finished?”

“I was, but now I want to scrub myself clean again. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Maybe I should stay in here. I don’t want him coming back,” Jace said.

I shrugged as I giggled, “Suit yourself.”

When I finished thoroughly scrubbing myself to get the feel of Hermes off my skin,
we both exited the shower and got ready for bed. It was still pretty early, but we
both were exhausted from such a full and eventful day. I didn’t even have time to
debate whether or not to risk sleeping; as soon as my head hit the pillow and Jace’s
arms wrapped around me, I fell into sleep.

I was in Hades’ throne room, and the scene before me caused my stomach to clench in
fear. Hades held my mom by her neck, and I didn’t understand how it was possible since
she didn’t have a corporeal form. I guessed since Hades controlled the shades, he
could somehow touch them, but I didn’t really know for sure. Her translucent feet
dangled in the air as she clutched at the arm that Hades held her with.

He turned to look at me as he said, “Ah, you’ve finally arrived. Morpheus took longer
than usual to delve into your subconscious this time. I have an important message
for you.”

I tried to rush forward to attack him, but I couldn’t move. All my shock, confusion,
and anger strained in my static limbs, tensing my body as I fought to move.
What the fuck? Why can’t I move?

Hades chided me, “Tsk, tsk. You are merely an observer in this vision. Unlike your
other nightmares, this is actually happening right now in the Underworld, not just
some scenario that has been created in your mind. Your subconscious has been transported
here so I can deliver a message, but you’re not really here.”

He moved my mother in front of him, turning her so that she faced me. She kept struggling,
her eyes wide with fear as Hades continued, “I’ve come across a problem. This soul
here was trying to escape recently. The punishment for such a transgression is eternity
in Tartarus.”

His words were like a punch in the gut. My chest tightened at the fact that my mother
was going to be tortured in Tartarus; whatever was left of her would never survive.
Guilt washed over me in massive waves as I realized her awful fate was all my fault.

“What do you want, Hades,” I gritted through my clenched teeth.

“You know exactly what I want! Your soul for hers,” he replied snidely.

I knew that was coming, I was fucked no matter what I chose to do. If I traded my
soul for hers, I’d be damning the whole world, and more importantly, Jace. But if
I didn’t, my mom would be trapped forever in Tartarus. How could I live with myself
if I doomed her to that fate?

“You have three days to make your decision. If you are not kneeling before me on the
third day, your mother will be sent into the abyss that is Tartarus.”

With his last word, I was sucked backwards out of the room, spiraling through some
sort of vortex before I startled awake in my bed, gasping for air.

My heart raced as Jace stirred before abruptly sitting up. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

My heart still pounded in my chest from the fear and anxiety of seeing my mother with
the God of the Underworld. “Hades has my mom. He somehow transported me to his castle
through my dream.”

“What? Did he hurt you?!” Jace asked as he began to look over my body for injuries.

“No. He said he had my subconscious transported so he could give me a message. He
wants my soul or he will send my mother to Tartarus. Jace, what am I going to do?”

“Well, giving your soul to Hades is definitely not an option,” he stated.

“I can’t just let my mom be sentenced to eternal torture in Tartarus, Jace! All the
worst creatures from mythology are prisoners down there!”

“I know, baby. If you would let me finish, you would know that I don’t plan for either
of those things to happen. We’ll figure something out.”

“Looks like we’re going to have to go to the Underworld after all.”

Jace sighed in frustration, “Yeah. I still think we should try to fight Hermes here
so we don’t have to deal with him and Hades.”

“Hades said that we only have three days before he sends my mom to Tartarus. We don’t
have time to wait around and see if Hermes comes back,” I iterated.

“Let’s just try tomorrow night. If he doesn’t show, then we’ll head for the Underworld
first thing in the morning,” Jace suggested.

“No, Jace. I don’t want to waste a whole day. Who knows what could happen down in
the Underworld that might detain us before we reach my mom.”

“I think we should discuss it with everyone in the morning; we can’t decide for the
whole group. Then, we’ll go from there, okay?”

“Fine,” I replied unenthusiastically. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, he was
right. We needed to discuss the situation with Kimber, Kiera, and Zane before jumping
into anything.

I turned away from Jace to lie on my side. I closed my eyes as he pressed his body
to mine and draped his arm around my waist. His lips grazed my earlobe as he whispered,
“Goodnight,
mi amante
.”

“Goodnight,” I replied as I snuggled my body back into his. After a few minutes, our
connection humming along my skin slowly lulled me back to sleep.

I was in a large bedroom, which resembled the lavish hotel suites that I had stayed
in when I traveled for some of my fights. The room was decorated in shades of black
and red and dimly lit sconces adorned the walls. Candles and rose petals were scattered
throughout the room, more so around the four-poster king-sized bed in the center.

My arms and legs were shackled to the wall directly in front of the bed. I pulled
against the restraints, but they dug deeper into my skin, causing blood to drip from
their impressions in my flesh.

Where am I? Why am I here?

The door to my left flew open, directing my attention to Hermes dragging Brielle by
her hair into the room. I fought harder against the shackles, causing them to further
tear into my skin. I roared in fury, “Let her go!!!”

Hermes laughed, “Oh, I’ll let her go when I’m fully satisfied. When I fill her with
my seed and fuck her raw.”

Brielle whimpered as I growled, “You fucking bastard! If you hurt her, I’ll—”

Hermes yanked Brielle up by her hair as he said, “You’ll do what? You can do nothing
but watch as I defile your flame.”

Tugging harder on my chains, I yelled in frustration.

The veins in my arms bulged as I strained to free myself. Sweat clung to my skin,
and my heart raced from my panic and fear.
This can’t be happening!

Hermes led Brielle to the bed before roughly pushing her down on the red silk comforter.
Lust and triumph filled his eyes as he appraised Brielle, and a cocky smirk spread
over his face before he licked his lips.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes as she begged, “Baby, please help me. Don’t
let him do this to me.”

I screamed louder as I pulled my bonds with as much force as I could, causing blood
to stream from my extensive wounds. The pain in my body was nothing compared to what
I felt building inside me. I couldn’t fail her again; I couldn’t let Hermes rape my
angel.

I tried summoning my Fire, but it wouldn’t manifest for some reason.
Fuck!
Is Hermes blocking my powers somehow?
Why can’t I use my fire?

Hermes mounted Brielle on the bed as she fought and shrieked beneath him. She clawed
at his face as he began ripping her shirt off almost effortlessly.

I needed to get free and stop him before he succeeded in his task. I didn’t want to
think about the repercussions that would result if he did, but I knew neither Brielle
nor I would ever be the same.

Hermes flung Brielle’s shredded shirt and bra to the ground in front of me, causing
my eyes to snap up to her bare chest, which Hermes had his face buried in.

“Get the fuck off of her now!”

Brielle sobbed as she pushed at Hermes, but her efforts were in vain since he was
at least double her size. She cried out, “Jace, please! Help me!”

I attempted to summon my Fire again, but received the same result—nothing. Hermes
was working on Brielle’s jeans as she kicked and thrashed under him, but that seemed
to work in his favor since he was able to pull them off fairly quickly. Brielle screamed
and writhed on the bed, her underwear the only thing separating her from Hermes.

I jerked my right arm as hard as I could in a desperate attempt to free myself. My
wrist snapped, ultimately succumbing to the trauma it had endured from my efforts
to break free.

I howled in pain as my hand slid out of the shackles and hung limply by my side.
Fuck, that hurt.
My eyes watered from the pain, which was intensified from the emotional turmoil of
helplessly watching Hermes violate Brielle in front of me.

I inhaled deeply as I steeled myself to do the same with my other wrist. I yanked
roughly on my other arm several times before it finally fractured. Both of my wrists
throbbed in agonizing pain, but all I could focus on was what Hermes was doing to
Brielle.

They were both naked, and Hermes forced Brielle’s legs open with both his hands and
knees.

I started to run, but immediately fell since my ankles were still shackled to the
wall. I struggled to stand, but collapsed to my knees almost instantly.

Brielle cried out as Hermes shoved himself into her. The sound pierced the air as
it echoed off the walls, the terror and pain in her scream gauging my soul.

“No-o-o!” I bellowed in rage, the guttural sound reflecting Brielle’s as my heart
shattered into tiny shards.

Hermes thrust roughly in and out of Brielle as I fought to free my legs from the shackles.
She screamed repeatedly in desperation for my help, and tears blurred my vision as
I watched Hermes rape Brielle—my heart, my soul, my everything.

Tears streamed down Brielle’s face as she continued to fight Hermes. “Jace, wake up!
Wake up!”

What the fuck? Why is she telling me to wake up when I am obviously awake and being
tortured? Unless … Gods, please let this be a dream. Wake up, wake up, wake up!

I sprang up in bed, struggling to breathe as the air was sucked out of my lungs from
the pain in my arms. The sheets underneath me were soaked with blood from my shredded
wrists.