Goddess Bared: Goddess Series Book 5 (Young Adult / New Adult) (9 page)

Lissa didn’t push it any further, so Legacy excused herself. She thought all night about the possibility of Hades having Adin without trying to hope he was alive. She tried not to the think about seeing his face again, feeling his touch, smelling his breath on her face, but she wasn’t having much luck with that.

She reread parts of his journal, but instead of feeling sad, she felt happy. She imagined the emotions he must have felt when he was writing the words, feeling his love, his hope. She fell asleep thinking about Adin’s arms being around her and feeling at peace. But it was short-lived. She soon found herself in her familiar dream once again.

Legacy awoke with no new clarity, but she figured River was right. The dream must be about Hades, but she’d already assumed that.

She got dressed and went to school. River was bringing Calli today, and she was taking her home. It was a more convenient arrangement since River lived right next door to her, but he did have practice in the afternoons. Calli’s car was supposed to be ready in a few days—she drove an import, and they did live out in the country, so the part had to be ordered. Legacy walked to the picnic table that she always met River and Calli at, but neither was there yet. She sat and waited, but they never showed.

She figured they were just running late and would show up at any minute.

She was wrong.

By lunchtime, neither had arrived or called, so she decided to go find them. She tried calling them both on the way to their neighborhood, but neither answered. She pulled up to Calli’s gate and buzzed her, but she never opened the gate or responded. Then she pulled up to River’s gate and saw his car and motorcycle parked out front, so it would seem he never left his house. She used the gate code to get in and then knocked on the door.

No answer.

She turned the knob, and it was unlocked. She walked in and called for River, but he didn’t respond. She walked in his fake bedroom first because it was closer, but he wasn’t in there. She went to his real bedroom, and he wasn’t in there either.

She didn’t know what to think about this, so she walked around in his bedroom, looking for clues. There was a towel tossed on his bed from his morning shower, his backpack on the floor. It looked as if he were getting ready for school this morning. Something must have happened to stop him from coming to school. But what about Calli? After she finished looking around here, she’d have to get into Calli’s house and figure out what happened to her too.

Legacy walked out and explored the rest of the upstairs, except for one room—it was locked. She walked downstairs and looked around, but no one was home. She was just getting ready to go outside to investigate Calli’s house when she heard a faint sound. She followed it to the kitchen pantry. When she opened the door, she just saw shelves of food. But standing in the large pantry, the noise was louder, and she felt a chill crawl down her spine. The noise sounded like faint cries from a woman. She walked around in the pantry and found a seam in the wall where the noise was escaping from. She pushed and pulled on the shelves by the seam and discovered that the shelving was also a door. She pulled open the concealed door and found stairs that led to what she could only assume was a basement.

As she maneuvered quietly down the stairs, the screams became more pronounced.

She suppressed a gasp when she realized it was Calli. Medusa must have her, and she must have done something to River too. She took a deep breath as she continued to stealthily descend, trying to ward off the shakes that were consuming her body. She couldn’t show any fear.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was in a short hall that opened into a room with a light illuminating from it.

Calli cried out, “Why are you doing this?”

Her fear froze her for a moment, and she had to will her feet to move again. She knew she had to do what she could to help her BFF.

“You’re just a means to an end,” Medusa responded with a purr.

Legacy eased into the room and saw Calli was chained to the wall. She glanced around to see if there were any other ways to escape. She had to map out all possibilities before she tried to rescue her. But from what Legacy could see, there was only one way in and one way out, but she wasn’t sure if the shadows in the corners concealed alternate routes.

Her plan of attack should be a surprise hit, so she crept toward Medusa, not taking her eyes off her. But when she got close, the evil wench whirled around.

“Legacy, so glad you could join us,” she said, taking a step toward her.

Legacy froze in place, staring at her. She reminded herself she couldn’t show any fear. She was going to be the one that prevailed. She had to be. She couldn’t allow herself to think about what would happen if she couldn’t get Calli—and herself—out of here alive.

“What are you doing with Calli?” she yelled.

Medusa took another step closer to her, and she squared her shoulders, jutted her chin out, showed no fear…but she was totally freaking out on the inside.

“I’m using her to get to you. She doesn’t matter. I just have her to lure you here,” she murmured, glaring at her with a hint of humor in her eyes that Legacy couldn’t quite understand.

“Well, you’ve managed to chain her to a wall, and you’ve obviously done something to River. But I’m
not
going to let you capture me.”

“You’re a fool!” Medusa laughed wickedly. “You’re not going anywhere!” Medusa took a quick step toward her.

“Run!” Calli screamed.

As she stepped away from Medusa’s advance, her eyes flashed to Calli, and she stared at her frantically for a fraction of a second before shifting her gaze next to Legacy. She turned to see what Calli was looking at.

“She hasn’t done anything to me,” River murmured, standing right beside her.

Oh shit!

She gasped, and River threw his arms around Legacy, locking her in a hold so tight she could barely breathe.

“No!” she screamed with little breath. This could not be happening! He was her best friend! Oh gods, not only could she barely breathe, but she couldn’t squirm either. He’d never released the full force of his strength on her before. It was as if she were encased in steel.

She had to get away. She started to shock him.

He threw her against the wall next to Calli, her head banging against the cinderblock.

Everything went black.

Chapter Ten

Why was Legacy’s head hurting? She wondered as started to wake up from some weird nightmare. She couldn’t really remember what it was about, but she knew in the back of her mind that it was really bad. She tried turning in her bed and realized her bed wasn’t as soft as it was supposed to be, and she heard the sound of metal grinding as she twisted. Her hands felt heavy, but she moved them around anyway without opening her eyes. As she felt the hard surface she was on, she figured she had to be on the floor. But why? She shifted and opened her eyes.

Awareness came trickling back slowly. She wasn’t in her bed waking up from some strange nightmare. She was trapped in River’s basement with a raging headache.

“Ouch,” mumbled as she lifted her head.

She knew she needed to grasp what had happened, what was still happening, but the pain in her head made it nearly impossible to focus. She looked around the room, her head in a fog.

She was chained to the wall beside Calli, her wrists and ankles in manacles. She groaned, rubbing the back of her head.

“Legacy,” Calli whispered.

“Huh?” she mumbled.

“Are you all right?” she asked, her voice shaky

Her wobbly head turned to face her. “I-I think so. Are you okay?”

Her breathing hitched. “Um, I guess so. I-I’m so scared, though.” She began to cry.

Legacy needed to ignore the pain and help Calli stay calm. She figured she wasn’t freaking out yet because she just came to. After a few minutes, she was sure her panic would surface.

“Shhh.” She scooted closer to her. “I’ll figure out a way to get us out of here.”

As she said that, she knew she had to think of a plan quickly. She looked at her chains and the entrance to the room. They’d have to get free and make it out of this room, up to the kitchen, and out of the house without being detected. This was going to be difficult.

Calli shook her head. “How?”

That was the million dollar question. “I don’t know. How did you end up down here?” she asked, tugging on the chains.

“River called me and said he was running late. He asked if I’d just walk over here so we could leave as soon as he got ready. When I got here, his mother was standing in the foyer and then her hair turned into snakes! The snakes chased me down here.”

Legacy stopped mussing with the chains and looked at her. “Where was River?”

“He was already down here. When I ran down, he looked at the snakes, and they parted down the middle, circling around, and headed back up the stairs along the wall. Like he gave them some kind of subconscious command.” She shook her head. “Then he grabbed me and locked these chains around me. I was screaming and crying, but he wasn’t looking at me.”

“Was he rough with you too?” Legacy asked, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of Calli being hurt.

“No,” she mumbled. “I kept crying and screaming at him, asking him why he was doing this. He wouldn’t even look at me. The only thing he said to me was that I wasn’t the one she wanted, and if I behaved, I’d be all right.”

“She’s going to kill me,” Legacy whispered, her tears leaking over.

Calli started crying again. “I-I can’t believe River is helping her! I thought he was on our side.” She bowed her head and sobbed.

Legacy’s head was hurting, but the thought of River’s treachery caused an ache in her heart more painful than the one in her head. She couldn’t do anything about that now. She wasn’t even sure if she could do anything to save herself. But Medusa said she was just using Calli, and apparently, the traitor told Calli the same thing. If she didn’t have a chance of freeing herself, she needed Calli to try to get away as soon as she could.

“Listen,” she said, “when she tries to kill me, you have to get away from here. Don’t do anything to save me.”

“No!” she yelled. “I can’t leave you, Legacy. Besides, I don’t think they’ll just let me walk away.”

“River was right. She doesn’t want you.”

“River can’t be trusted! He’s a jackass, a player who’s played us both from the very beginning!”

Calli wasn’t the only one who’d felt betrayed. “I-I know, but he’s right about that. We’ve known all along Medusa wanted to destroy me. I’m the one she wants here.”

“No, Legacy, we need to—”

Calli stopped talking, and they both turned and looked toward the hallway where steps were nearing the room. River walked in slowly, head down. He was carrying two plates of food. Without making eye contact with either of them, he put both plates on the floor within their reach. Legacy waited for him to say something, but realized he wasn’t going to. As he stood upright, she lurched to her feet and grabbed his arm.

“What the hell is going on?” she ordered.

River yanked his arm free, shoved her back to the floor, and squatted so that they were at eye level.

Looking at her with red-rimmed eyes, he said, “Keep your hands off me!” He didn’t yell, but the assertiveness of his tone caused his breath to blow against her with such force that her hair whipped around her face, and the ground shook briefly as he stared. “If you touch me again, I’ll knock you back out.”

He stared at her with cold eyes; no glimmer of her best friend was in there. She felt her body trembling as she stared at this man—a stranger to her.

“I-I’m sorry I touched you,” she whispered shakily. She knew why he didn’t want her touching him. She could shock him if they touched anywhere. But she wanted to understand what was happening. “Please tell me what’s going on? Why are you doing this?”

River stared at her and took a deep breath like he was about to say something, but then his head cocked to the side. There were footsteps.

“Get away from her, son,” Medusa said calmly. “She’s poison.”

River shut his eyes and stood up. He walked toward Medusa with his head down.

Legacy stifled a gasp. River was under her control. That was why he was doing this! He was supposed to talk to his dad about Adin being alive, and Medusa must have found out, realized they were on to something. She felt a little relief in the middle of this hell she was in. 

As if he could read the sudden change in her energy, River’s head jerked around to stare down at her. “That’s not it,” he purred, mockingly. She felt a chill crawl down her spine.

Medusa stared at River before glaring at Legacy.

“She thinks you’re controlling me,” he answered Medusa’s unspoken question.

Medusa’s laugh was pure evil. “I don’t need to do that. He knows you’re not worth the effort, Legacy.”

River stepped toward her again. “When I realized the prophecy could still be valid when we were coming back from Pike County, I decided I didn’t want to fall victim to you again.” He squatted down, facing Legacy, but not looking at her. He stroked her hair, and she trembled. “My life has been about you ever since I met you, and I realized that if I’m destined to be with you,” he paused, grimacing, “then I’d never be the number one man in your life. You’re still pining over a dead man,” he growled. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head up, meeting her gaze now—forcing her to meet his, actually. “I won’t be free of this nightmare ‘til you’re gone.” His tone was full of hate.

“It won’t be too much longer, son. I finally contacted Hades. He’s on his way.”

River dropped her hair, and she gasped, too shocked to fully notice Calli crying softly beside her. She looked around River to eye Medusa. “You’re not going to kill me?” she asked slowly.

“Why, no. Why would I do that?” she asked with a smile on her face.

“Because you want to get back at my mom and Poseidon. Because you want my powers.”

“Please, Legacy.” She shook her head, exasperated. “I don’t need to kill you. I’m powerful enough. And as for revenge, well, that’s where Hades comes in.”

Legacy was immediately grateful she’d never told River about her true abilities. She’d only told Calli and Adin she’d inherit everything from Zeus and Demeter, not just all of Persephone’s abilities. If River had known, he would’ve told his mother, and she’d surely kill her. At least this lack of knowledge could buy Legacy some time.

“I-I don’t understand what Hades has to do with you,” she mumbled.

“If I give him you, he’s agreed to take out Poseidon. That was the plan all along. He gets his queen back. I get my revenge. River gets rid of you. Not to mention the fact that I get a powerful ally in the process. Plus, with Poseidon gone, River can take over that helm. Since River is helping me secure you for Hades, the two of them could exert control over Zeus. If he doesn’t comply, then it’d only be a matter of time before he could be dealt with too.” Her eyes flashed at that prospect.

Legacy could tell River had been watching her while she was looking at Medusa. She needed to think of something to say, to get control of this situation. She realized a way she could try. She channeled her previous hatred for River when she’d played him earlier this winter. She needed to be convincing now. “When is Hades going to be here?” she asked calmly.

“Hmmm…a couple of hours, I suppose. Don’t tell me you’re eager to see your king,” Medusa said with humor.

Her eyes flashed to River, and he didn’t look away. “It seems I don’t have a choice.” A smile formed on her face as she stared at River. “If I give myself to Hades willingly, then I would think he’d give me what I wanted over what you two leeches want.”

If she went willingly, she could find out for sure if Hades had Adin trapped, and maybe he’d let him go. Then Adin could figure out a way to rescue her. Of course Legacy was still going to try to escape before Hades got here, but hopefully, this knowledge would distract River and Medusa long enough for her to get herself and Calli out. It wasn’t a great plan, but at the moment, it was the only thing she could come up with.

Calli gasped, and River’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Legacy,” River said.

“Don’t I?” She laughed bleakly. “You’ve been playing me to take over your father’s role as one of the three controlling gods. If I’m married to one of those gods, I think I’d have some amount of persuasion over him. Do you think I’d let him kill Poseidon? Do you think I’d let him form an alliance with the woman who stalked me for the last nine months? Don’t ever underestimate the power of a woman—especially a powerful goddess.”

River glared at her, and she stayed strong, selling her plan, hoping he was buying it.

“She’s lying!” Medusa yelled.

“No, she’s not,” River mumbled. He’d know. He could read her energy.

“Now get the hell out of my face,” she whispered to River through gritted teeth. “Before I kill you myself.” She was so mad at him, she felt like she
could
kill him, which meant he could sense that through her energy too.

River stood and stalked out of the room.

“You conniving little bitch!” Medusa yelled, lunging for Legacy.

Medusa grabbed her throat and screamed while Legacy shocked her, but she didn’t let go—she was choking Legacy. Calli tried prying her arms free, but Medusa smacked her so hard that she landed a few feet away, unconscious. River ran back into the room, flashing his eyes at Calli, and was at his mother’s side in an instant. He reached for Legacy, but she screamed and shoved her hand against his chest, shocking him, hurling him across the room. He roared in agony.

Legacy moved her hands up to Medusa’s head and tried to stay focused with the diminishing breaths she was taking. She squeezed her head, trying to push her hands together through Medusa’s skull. Legacy knew her face must be turning blue as her air supply depleted, and she screamed as she pushed with as much force as she could muster. Her hands glowed with the electrical pulse that radiated between them through Medusa’s head. The monster’s grip weakened, and her eyes rolled back. Now that Legacy could breathe, she sucked in air, filling her lungs as she pushed against Medusa with all her strength. Medusa screamed, hair turning to snakes that died as her body went limp.

Legacy let go, and Medusa fell to the floor.

Dead.

She slumped against the wall, shutting her eyes, trying to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe Medusa really just tried to kill her. After all this time, she finally tried, but that wasn’t her original intent. She never really wanted to kill Legacy in the first place. She wanted to trap her for Hades. But even as much as she couldn’t believe Medusa had almost succeeded in taking her life, she really couldn’t believe Legacy had just killed
her
. She was still gasping for air when she opened her eyes to check on Calli.

When her eyes opened, River was sitting right in front of her, crying silently over his mother. She gasped at the sudden closeness of him and instinctively pushed him away. He yelled as he flew across the room, but this time, he jumped back up and ran back to Legacy. He was determined to finish the job his mother had started.

Legacy needed to get over the shock of these turn of events—from best friend to attacker. She couldn’t think of River as a friend. That’d make this too difficult. She needed to think about her real best friend, Calli, and she was still chained to the wall, unconscious. Legacy wasn’t sure how badly she was hurt. She’d just killed Medusa to protect herself and Calli, and here was River, charging at her. She knew what she had to do. She felt the fury radiating within to finish this.

“I’ll kill you too!” she screamed as she jumped to her feet.

“Stop, Legacy!” Calli screamed, sitting up, rubbing her head. Legacy’s head snapped in her direction. She was relieved her BFF was okay, but they still were chained to a wall with a god trying to hurt them. She really
wasn’t
okay under the circumstances, and neither was Legacy.

River darted over to Calli.

“Get away from her!” Legacy yelled, running toward them.

River turned and grabbed Legacy, hollering when she shocked him within his steely hold. “You have to calm down, baby,” he mumbled through gritted teeth. “You could hurt Calli.”