Page 40 of Guided by the Stars
I swear I will get back to you, Nora. We will be ok somehow. I hope you are in a much nicer place than I am.
There are no other doors in this room, so I back out and shut the door. I head back exactly the way I came, not sure if the outside door was here since I feel like I am just going deeper into the palace.
I’m not even sure how much time has passed since I was taken. My watch is useless, the hands have stopped at three o’clock and haven’t moved since they took me, which was days ago, from what I could gather. I know my watch works. I can hear the ticking noise, but the hands don’t move.
Frustration creeps over me. I am exhausted. I need a shower after wandering around. Seeing the Field of Mourning was the worst. It left me feeling dirty somehow, full of misery and hopelessness, and I feel an ache deep inside me for a lot of those souls. The woman who had grabbed my shoulder comes to my mind. I wonder again, could my mother be amongst those women?
I hurry forward, ready to get out of this corridor, making it back to the door and exiting into what looks to be the common room. There is a huge fire roaring in the fireplace, but no one is around.
I hurry across to another door at random and as soon as I put my hand on the knob, a pained groan rips through the room. I know it’s Kai. It tears my heart apart and I rush forward without even thinking about it, hurrying towards the noise. Another groan resonates through the large room and I grab the doorknob. Sure, he is an asshole, but the savior in me kicked in because someone is in pain. Who am I kidding? I’m not much of a savior, but I owe him for saving me and I’m not the type that likes to owe people.
A rough hand closes around my mouth and I fling my elbow back and clock whoever it is behind me in the nose. The owner of the rough hand doesn’t let me go. He shoves me up against the wall and holds me there. “Don’t move, don’t say a word.’’ His voice is husky and low through the pounding in my ears. I think I remember this voice. I just can’t place it and it doesn’t matter, I just know that I need to get in that room. “Adriane, stop!” he says roughly in my ear.
I stop struggling then, and he lets go of my mouth. “What is going on in there?” I say pushing Jax back so I can spin around and look him in the face. “No bullshit. That’s Kai, what is causing him to groan in pain like that?”
“It’s not my place…” he says and looks away from me. I shove him hard in the chest. His eyes are hard and his jaw is clenched, body is shaking, but he doesn’t step closer to me. “Get back to the bedroom.” His voice is full of venom but I know it isn’t towards me.
“No, I want to see Kai,” I say and glare at Jax. “You should help him.”
“I expect obedience!” The loud voice is commanding and cold, making the walls shudder. That voice makes the blood run from my body and ice coat my veins. I stand there staring at Jax. He is grinding his teeth and after a bit, he nods at me.
“You can go to him now but trust me, he won’t like it.” I shove past him.
Rushing towards the door, I fling it open and see Kai held down on the table with vines wrapped around his arms and legs and neck. There is blood pooled on the floor and I’m left breathless. His back is bleeding and I rush towards him. Tears threaten to fall, but I push them back because crying won’t help right now. Jax comes in and he cuts through the vines to get to him. I touch Kai’s face. “What happened?” I ask softly. “Why did they do this to you?”
Kai looks up at me and for the first time I see his eyes as they truly are, no hatred, just deep pools of steel-blue staring at me. “You never listen, do you?” His eyes are so alive and open, and in this moment I see something behind them. A different man than the one I have come to know. This is the man who offered me his jacket to keep warm.
No, he is not a man. He is a god. Kai is a god.
I grab his arm and wrap it around my shoulder, trying to lift him off the table. Jax grabs the other and my plan for escape is in the past because I can’t just leave him like this no matter what he has done to me. Something about Kai drawsme in like a moth to a flame, and I am hopelessly caught in this dark, sticky web with him.
Getting him back to his room was hard. I struggled to get him up the stairs. He tried to walk on his own, but he was in too much pain. He could barely manage to stand, but thankfully he let me help. We finally get him into the room and walk him to the bathroom. I turn on the shower.
Jax stands next to Kai. His eyes dart from me to Kai. “I’ll take Adriane to the kitchens and have Kelsey or Rose come attend to you,” Jax says. I glare at him and cross my arms.
Who the hell is Kelsey? And who the fuck is Rose? And why the hell do I even care?
Of course I can’t say that out loud but still, like, what the hell am I? A painting on a wall or some shit?
“No, I can manage. Get her some food and leave it by the door. I’ll rest for a bit. I don’t want her out of my sight, especially with Hades andheraround.” I furrow my brow and bite my lip. I understand why he doesn’t call them mom and dad now.
“Alright, but I’ll be outside your door if you need anything.” He claps Kai on the shoulder. I see the way Kai winces. I watch Jax walk out the bathroom door and listen as his footsteps fade away and hear the click of the bedroom door. Kai still hasn’t looked at me, his head is bowed and he is shirtless, exposing his bloody, beaten back. But through the grotesque wounds, I can see that his tattoos cover an array of scars. I recall seeing his back earlier in the room. I only got a quick glance then, but when he turned around I could see something broken in his eyes and I didn’t comment. We all have scars, but now I know where his came from. Hades hurts him, and if Kai is his son, what am I in store for here? What do I even do?
I walk across the room and touch his shoulder. He tenses under my hand. “Kai,” I whisper. He doesn’t move away from me. This is a victory since before he wouldn’t allow me to touch him. “The water is ready for you, I can help you clean up.”
“Why?” he says gruffly, still not looking at me. “Why would you help me? You owe me nothing, especially after the way I’ve treated you.”
That’s true, I owe him nothing. He kidnapped me and brought me to this hellhole of a place. The question makes me stop and think. But the thing is, I have been where he is, maybe not as bad, but I remember the first time I had someone hit me and beat me over something that wasn’t my fault. Foster homes suck, not that there was much I could do about it, and it’s easier to suck it up and move on than to talk about it.
I bite my bottom lip, move in front of him, and touch his face. I bring his face up to look at me and his eyes are bright and shiny. “You’re right, I don’t owe you anything. Least of all my kindness, but I’m not heartless. No matter how tough I act. Plus, it wasn’t all bad. You saved me from the hellhounds, you made fruit grow for me, you even offered me your jacket to keep me warm. I have been where you are Kai. When I was ten, I was in this foster home full of assholes. One day, I walked in from school and heard a child crying and when I shoved the door open, my foster mom was beating this little boy. I went over and she told me to leave if I didn’t want her to punish me too. I helped the little boy and she rained blow after blow down on me with a belt. I still have scars from the buckle.” I look down because I’m not sure what possessed me to be so open with him. It was like I had word vomit, but I couldn’t help it. “Please let me help you, and then if you want, I’ll leave you alone.” I look up at him, letting him see my eyes so he can see there is nopity there for him, only genuine care. Honestly, I am not sure what to even do to help him, but something inside of me wants to tend to him.
He places his hands over mine, leaning forward, leaving only inches between us and my heart begins to race. I haven’t figured out what it is about him, but from the moment our eyes met, I knew he was going to be my undoing, taking me apart piece by piece. Maybe that’s why I fought him so hard, but it’s become undeniable. He is meant for me. I am shocked by this sudden realization. I pull my face away from him just so I can clear my head.
“Why do I always desire the things that want to ruin me?” I say it so softly, it’s a whisper on my lips. He stands up, putting his hand behind my head and pulling me to him, his lips almost touching mine. His soft, dark chuckle makes me grow hot in all the right places.
“Red, what is the point of living if we don’t fall?” he growls before his mouth lands on mine and it’s fiery in all the ways I never knew a kiss could be. His tongue is in my mouth and it tastes of blood, but that only turns me on more. He pulls back, intertwining our hands. He walks us over to the shower slowly and I can see he is still in pain. He lets go of my hand and moves to take his pants off. He watches me as he unbuttons them. “You know I’ll heal, it will just take some time,” he says and throws his pants across the room, leaving him standing there in nothing but his black boxer briefs and I glance up, clearing my throat.
“Right, yeah, being a god, I’m sure that is an advantage.” I turn around then. “But you know, maybe for my sake, let’s just keep those boxers on.” I hear a chuckle and I take a deep breath and ask, “Why is your back so scarred?” I know the answer, but I want him to tell me more. I want to know moreabout him. He is getting under my skin and I know that this is not a good thing, but I can’t help it.
