Emblazed (8 page)

Brielle.
I needed to get to her. “Hey, you guys got this under control? I need to find Brielle.”

“We got this. Go,” Zane replied as he continued to scoop up demons with his vines.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I bolted for the far end of the room, just as Brielle’s
voice whimpered in my head,
I’m so sorry, Jace.

Sorry? For what? Oh Gods, no. No, no, no!
I’m coming, mi amante. I’m almost there. Don’t give up.

I ran as fast as I could, and as I reached the hallway that would lead me to Brielle,
talons dug into my shoulders, lifting me in the air. The ground receded from me as
I was taken higher towards the ceiling.

Fuck this stupid demon
. I grabbed its legs at the same time I summoned my fire. It shrieked before releasing
me, sending me spiraling back towards the ground. We weren’t that far up, so the fall
wasn’t fatal, but I knew it was going to hurt something fierce.

I braced myself before I hit the ground, my shoulder taking the brunt of the fall.
As I sat up, the increasing pain informed me that my shoulder had probably been dislocated,
and I shrugged it to check. Searing pain radiated up my neck and down my arm, confirming
my injury. Grabbing my bicep with my upper arm, I roughly pushed up and in, yelling
out in agony as I popped my shoulder back into place.

Moving my shoulder again, I made sure it was set before I took off again. It was still
sore, but thankfully all of the trainers’ techniques paid off, and I was used to the
pain.

As I entered the hallway, Brielle burst out of a room at the opposite end, half-naked
and limping. I sprinted towards her, and once she saw me she cried out loudly, “Jace!”

She half-ran, half-limped as she made her way towards me. We collided somewhere in
the middle, wrapping our arms around each other before she buried her face in my neck
and sobbed against me.

I fell to the floor in relief with her safely in my arms. Her skin against mine brought
instantaneous relief to everything that ailed me, her presence once again making me
whole. I clutched her to me as I held her, savoring the fact that she was back in
my arms where she belonged.
Thank the Gods.

Brielle clung to me as I stood and opened the door to the nearest bedroom, where two
demons were having sex on the bed. I set them on fire before closing the door and
moving to the next room, which was empty. I locked the door before scooping up Brielle
in my arms and walking her to the bed.

I sat her down so that I could survey her injuries, and what I saw infuriated me.
She had a huge bruise on her forehead, a swollen, red welt on her cheek, a bloody
nose, and several bruises and scratches all over her body. She was covered in blood,
clothed only in her underwear and a ripped shirt.

I clenched my fists to keep from tearing the room apart. “Did he…” I trailed off,
strangling on the rest of my question, unable to utter the words.
Please let me have made it in time.

“No,” she whispered before choking back a sob. “He … he … just touched me and … kissed
me.”

“Where?” I ground out between clenched teeth.

Tears streamed down her face as she pointed to everywhere he had violated her, unable
to speak. Choppy images from the attack played from her mind into mine, and I had
to stop myself from losing control and destroying everything.

She kept her eyes on the floor the whole time before I lifted her chin to look at
me. Her watery gaze and trembling lips stabbed to the depths of my soul, and I wanted
nothing more than to take her pain unto myself while wiping the horrible experience
from her memory.

“
Mi amante
, none of this is your fault. You have no reason to be ashamed.”

She buried her face in my chest as she sobbed hysterically, her whole body shuddering
against me. I pulled her into my lap, cradling her as she broke down from what that
sick fuck had done to her. All of our feelings collided within me, creating a maelstrom
of raw emotion that swirled inside me, begging to be released. I had to remind myself
to breathe several times as everything threatened to suffocate me.

Healing her injuries as I held her, I kissed each area softly before moving to the
next. She lifted her face to look up at me, her tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed
eyes causing a deep ache within me. I cradled her face in my hands as I wiped the
tears from her cheeks and pressed a tender kiss on her lips.

“Where is he?” I growled.

“Jace, he’s a God—he’ll kill you. You can’t go after him.”

I thought about her words, but all I could focus on was his hands and mouth all over
her body. The bruises and cuts I had healed, combined with the sorrow pouring through
Brielle captured me in blind rage. I set Brielle back on the bed, stood, and stalked
towards the door. I unlocked it before turning the handle as Brielle caught my arm.

She pleaded, “Please, baby, don’t. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.
Not after everything I’ve been through … I thought you died.”

Her eyes begged me not to go, crumbling my wall of rage.
Please, just take me home. I just want to go home
,
she silently begged.

How could I say no to that?
She had been through so much, and I just wanted to take that away. Protect her like
I had failed to yesterday. And I couldn’t do that if I was focused on Hermes; he would
just have to wait. Brielle needed me. “Okay,
mi amante
, let’s go home.”

She released a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“For what,
mi amante
?”

“Rescuing me.”

“I promised you I would,” I said as I removed my shirt and handed it to her to wear,
so she wouldn’t be so exposed. She disposed of her ruined top and pulled mine on over
her head. It came to the middle of her thighs, which I was thankful for. I didn’t
want her running around the Underworld in just her bra and panties. I intertwined
our fingers before bringing the back of her hand up and kissing it.

Opening the door, I stuck my head out to look in both directions before exiting the
room. Brie and I sped down the hallway, back toward the main room where I’d left Zane
and the others fighting. We emerged from the corridor, as the last of the demons fell
from the sky with a loud smack on the floor.

Kimber saw us, and immediately raced towards Brie before enveloping her in a hug.
“Why do you always get yourself into trouble?”

Brielle chuckled, “Haven’t you heard? Everyone wants a piece of this.”

We all laughed, forgetting our dire circumstances for a moment. “You sound more and
more like me every day,” Kimber teased.

Everyone took a turn hugging Brielle, thankful to have her back, safe and relatively
unharmed. I knew that we had yet to see the extent of emotional trauma that the whole
ordeal would cause her, and I prayed that I would be enough to pull her through it
all.

You’ll be enough
.

I smiled back at her, but I was still disappointed in myself for even letting the
situation happen. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, no matter who was involved,
Gods or not. They could kiss my ass—no one would ever take Brielle from me again.

“Any sign of Hades?” I asked.

“No. Kind of suspicious if you ask me,” Zane commented.

“Well, let’s get moving before he shows himself,” I suggested.

Just then, a petite blonde entered through the double doors on the opposite side of
the room. Brielle yelled, “Leuce! Leuce, please, you have to help us escape!”

I tightened my grip on Brielle as the woman approached.
Who is that?

She’s a nymph that lives down here. One of Hades’ lovers.

What? We need to get out of here before she leads Hades right to us!

The nymph, Leuce, had reached where we had gathered, panting heavily from running.
She warned, “You need to leave. Hades is coming! You must go now!”

“Can you show us how we can get out of here? Please?” Brielle asked.

“He’ll probably kill me for helping you this much. I just couldn’t live with myself
if I didn’t. I need to go back to my room before he finds me.”

“Why don’t you come with us? You don’t have to stay here with him.”

“No. He will find me and bring me back. Then, he will punish me. I’ve tried to escape
before, and he always finds me,” Leuce said through tears.

Brielle placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t go down that hallway,” she
continued as she pointed to a passage to our left. She pointed to the one I had entered
from and continued, “That one is the quickest way out.”

“Thank you, Leuce,” Brielle said sincerely.

“Brielle, we need to go.” I started to walk, tugging her arm to come with me. She
reluctantly followed, and then we all quickened our pace to a run.

“You remember how to get out?” I asked, directing my question to Zane.

“Yeah, I remember. I’ll lead the way.”

We ducked down the hallway Leuce had indicated, sprinting towards the opposite end.
As we rounded the corner to an adjoining passage, a bellow sounded from behind us.

“Where are they?” Hades screamed.

Brielle stopped running, pulling us both to a halt. “Oh no! Jace, what about Leuce?”

“
Mi amante
, we can’t go back. We have to worry about the five of us escaping alive. I’m sorry.”

We followed Zane down several more hallways, and I was thankful that he remembered
how to get out, because I sure as hell didn’t. Hades’ castle was like a labyrinth,
one that you could easily get lost in with all its interconnected corridors and rooms.

The ground beneath us shook, throwing each of us a little off balance. “Zane, is that
you?” I yelled as we continued to run.

“No, it’s not me,” Zane yelled back.

I looked at Brie, and she shook her head as she heavily breathed in and out as we
ran. “Not … me,” she panted.

The hallway continued to shake, but we didn’t stop. It had to be Hades toying with
us, and we couldn’t afford to slow down. We turned a corner into yet another corridor,
at the end of which housed the exit.

My relief disintegrated when Hades suddenly appeared. “Leaving so soon? You just got
here,” he said with a smirk.

We all stopped and stood next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, as we prepared
to fight one of the most feared Gods in mythology.

My anger was on the verge of boiling over. All I wanted was to get the hell out of
there, and I was not about to let Hades stop me. “We had a deal, Hades. Jace found
me, now we get to leave,” I reminded.

“I never said I would let you escape without a fight,” he countered.

Of course he would twist his words to get what he wanted. If he wanted a fight, he
was going to get a fight. My hands lit with Akasha, the energy from all the others
surrounding me infusing my power with their own somehow.

I wondered if I was draining them, but none showed any fatigue or strain. Jace’s hands
blazed in flames next to me as I eyed Hades. “You sure you want to do this? You can
still walk away,” I said.

Hades chortled, “You think five puny Elementals can defeat me? I am Hades, God of
the Underworld!”

I rolled my eyes. “Did you forget? I was created to destroy Gods.”

Hades snarled before lifting his hands upwards. The air around us distorted before
demons tore through it, seemingly appearing out of nothing. Hades cackled as the creatures
attacked us from all directions, their talons and teeth ripping at our skin. Chaos
erupted as everyone frantically used their Element to combat the monsters.

The hellish beasts flew haphazardly around as Kiera threw them into the walls and
ceiling, while Jace lit some on fire. Kimber blasted some back with gushes of water
until they rammed into the wall and slumped to the floor. Zane opened cracks in the
ground that swallowed the demons before sealing the floor back up and trapping them.

Hades approached, no doubt wanting to take advantage of the situation since we were
preoccupied. The creatures continued to appear, their numbers not dwindling even though
we were steadily killing them. I needed to end the fight so that we could escape before
it was too late.

I wanted to use my Akasha, but decided against it. I didn’t want to drain myself,
since we didn’t know what awaited us outside the castle. I decided to create an ice
wall, since it was quick and efficient, and it would temporarily disable Hades while
we escaped.

I thrust my arms out in front as I yelled, “Get back!”

Ice spread out in front of me, spanning from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. I
shoved it out, focusing on keeping it intact as it imprisoned the demons in its frozen
hold. Hades vanished, narrowly missing the ice before it touched him.

I felt him appear behind me, and I turned as he began his trademark assault on my
insides. Everyone surrounding me fell to their knees, shrieking in pain as he ravaged
our bodies.