Page 72 of Guided by the Stars
Before I can even react, a blazing sharp pain shoots across my back and I bite my tongue so hard that I taste blood. I hear the whip before it lands on my back. I turn my head and bite into my upper arm to control the scream that threatens to escape. After two more lashes, I don’t think I can take any more. My back is blazing as if I’m on fire.
Tears run down my face and the lashes keep coming. I have bitten so hard on my arm that it’s bleeding. I’m not sure at what point, but I started screaming. My throat is raw, as if I have clawed it with razors, but he keeps going and my eyes roll. I hate myself at this moment because I can’t keep myself quiet any longer. I know I’m at my breaking point and I am going to give him what he wants to stop this torment.
My knees give out and I can’t hold myself up anymore. “Pl-pl-please,” I say, tears streaming down my face, and I haveno dignity left to keep fighting this. As strong as I thought I was, I know now that was just a brave face I put on for the world.
He flips me around and I stare into those intense black eyes. The smile on his face tells me he won. It’s the raw, calculating smile that every psychopath gets when they know they have broken their victims. That smile brings flashbacks of the evil men I had seen through my foster homes and the cold-blooded monsters you see on TV. “I will show you I am merciful, and let you go back to my son. But first, as promised, a mark, to show that you are not so free anymore, Delfini.” He is within inches of me. He moves his hand around and I feel a sensation on the back of my neck, it is intense and cold, like I have gotten frostbite. Does it hurt? Yes, but not as bad as my back does. I don’t even know how many lashes I got, I lost count after six. My back must look like minced meat.
“So exquisite, my pet. Don’t worry, this tattoo is just for you. The next one I give you will be the same one everyone I own has. That one will be placed on you in a more public setting, that way there is no question that you have bowed to me.” His voice is full of happiness, he has won and he knows it.
He motions with his hands and the shadows fall away as I fall to my knees, but I don’t care. I thought I had been through hell and back, but witnessing what could happen to my soul for eternity or what they could do to Nora’s, I’m not willing to risk that. I watch as a man is being boiled in oil. It is the most horrific thing I have seen, watching as his skin boils and sloughs off of his bones as he writhes and screams in total desperation and agony. All these punishments keep repeating because the souls are already dead. They would never end their torture or escape their fate. Whipped and tattooed against my will, Hades broke me in ways I didn’teven know I could be broken. I know something inside me has changed forever.
“Hypnos, my dear friend.” I look up at the sound of Hades’ voice. I see a man flying with wings, actual wings coming from the top of his shoulders. They are black as night. The man has long, dark hair and a beard, but his eyes look soft. He looks at me with compassion. “Put her to sleep, but not for too long, just long enough to get her out of here and have her taken to my son’s room. Remove those marks, I don’t want her skin marred.” Hades looks at me before he continues, “Not yet anyhow.” I flinch away.
The man flies towards me and I back up into the vast rock wall, because this man is flying and has wings! What the fuck? And also because I didn’t want to go to sleep against my will. I don’t even know what Hades would do to me while I’d be asleep.
My back hits the hot stone wall and I bring up my knees to my chest, sitting in a ball so he wouldn’t get near me. I don’t think I could handle him being close. “Do not fear, little one, I am the God of Sleep. No harm will come to you, nor will you dream. Just blissful sleep.”
He draws a horn out and I cover my face but it’s useless, this mist swirls between my fingers. It tastes nutty and smells like ripe fruit. I hope beyond hope that I won’t dream, because after being here, I wasn’t sure if I could ever sleep without nightmares haunting my dreams.
My eyes grow heavy with sleep, my body betraying me as it goes slack. Hypnos picks me up and the only thing I can do is lay in his arms. “I’ll take you to Kai.” My eyes close as darkness pulls me towards a dreamless sleep.
***
My eyes fly open, taking in my surroundings. The room is dimly lit and my head pounds when I try to lift it up. The last thing I remember was falling asleep in Hypnos’ arms. “Adriane,” the sound of Kai’s voice makes me wince. The fog is clearing quickly and the pounding is ebbing away. My eyes land on Kai and scan the room. I’m in Kai’s room. He stands next to the bed, his head bowed down.
“Kai,” I respond to him, but my voice is still so hoarse. I look away from his eyes because they look so haunted. He has so much guilt in them. This is it. Hades won. I was accepting defeat in this because I would never wish this upon Nora, and maybe just having me for himself would be enough and he would leave Nora out of it. “I was wrong, Kai,” I whisper. I am in his arms so fast.
He starts trailing kisses along my collarbone and it warms me up, but I still feel numb. When his hands land on my back I flinch, but my back isn’t hurting anymore. I feel no pain. I recall then Hades telling Hypnos to heal my back. Not sure exactly how he healed me. At this moment, I don’t care how, I am just glad I don’t register the pain anymore.
“I wanted to go to you, I’d have killed everyone who got in my way, but they were bringing you back when I got to the palace door. I’m so sorry I left you, I should have stayed.”
I put a hand on his mouth and shake my head. “Can we please just not talk about that now? Plus I told you to leave, but seeing what I saw...Kai, I just...need you right now. I have never told anyone that before. I have always done things alone, but I have always been the one to hold things together and right now I can’t.” I turn away from him because this is something I’ve never allowed anyone to see, my weakness. But I’m done holding things back. Tartarus broke me and I couldn’t hold my emotions in anymore.
Tears prickle my eyes as they leak from the corners. The hot stream on my cheeks let me know they had escaped.
Those little traitors.
I don’t want him to see it, but there is no way for him to look away. I feel another pair of powerful arms wrap around me and the scent of fresh cut grass and apples lets me know it’s Jax. I need this closeness, and between these two guys who went from adult-napping me to earning my trust, I feel whole.
Kai tips my face up to look at him and keeps his other arm around me as he wipes my tears away. Jax is still behind me with his arms around my waist, his chest pressed against my back. I had shared something with him before this nightmare of a dinner. I have shared myself with these two and trusted them more than I have ever trusted other people.
I know my mind is clear now. I know what I want. It’s time I tell Kai, but first I want his secrets too.
This is my home for the rest of my life, so why not start accepting this?
I thought Kai would have been mad or jealous because of Jax holding me, but maybe he knew. He said something earlier about me gaining both of their trust and maybe he knew I needed this. Both of them right now held me together and I just want them close to me.
I take a deep breath as I force a smile onto my face and wiggle around, letting them know that I need space. I need this moment with Kai. It is time for our cards to be placed on the table. I need to see what he hides behind this facade he’s put up since the beginning. Jax kisses the top of my head and he gives me one last squeeze. I see something flash in Kai’s eyes, but it is gone just as fast. “You’re one of the strongest people I know, Beautiful. Tartarus isn’t for the faint of heart.” I turn to him.
“To fear the darkness is to be afraid of our own souls, I never feared the dark before. But that hell-hole showed me what true darkness is, and we three are not that. We have darkness in us, but I can see that it’s nothing compared to the gods that reign over everything.” I hug Jax and he leans down, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. He winks at Kai and walks out. I let a puff of air out of my mouth, turning back to Kai. “I want to share something with you, but I want your secrets in return. I have shared most of mine, but I just need this from you, please.” I hold his gaze and there is openness there. He pulls me towards him, his eyes never leaving mine. I can’t tell if he will do it. I know I’m asking so much from him, but this can’t be a give-only relationship. It has to be both give and take because even though I’m broken and defeated, I won’t be the only one to bare myself.
He leans over and kisses me tenderly at first, then his tongue is at my lips, asking permission to enter, parting my lips. We begin a fierce dance, one that sends heat coursing through my body. I’m alive again and heat pools in my stomach, leading down to my pussy, as it throbs. I cling to him and our tongues continue the dance with one another, but more forcefully, with more heat than before, as if this will be the last kiss we will have. He breaks away from me. “I will share most of my skeletons with you, but there’s some that are so deeply buried they might not come out. I have lived a long life, Skoteino.”
I bite my lip and nod because that is ok for now. He is offering more than what I thought he would. “Ok, I accept that, but I need to get out of this,” I say, looking down at the soul-dress I’m still in. I tear the stupid tiara out of my hair and throw it across the room.
Kai hurries to his closet to grab a shirt and I watch him walk back to me. I can’t help but to think about this whole crazy situation that has happened since arriving here. He and Jax were the best things that have happened to me aside from Nora. I know if someone else had told me they had fallen for their kidnappers I’d have laughed and had them checked into the loony bin, but maybe it’s cause I never was normal either. But these guys have been everything to me. At the beginning, I’d have damned this gene that was awoken in me, but if I could change it, I won’t lie, I wouldn’t. It led me to Nora, and it led me to Kai, and to Jax.
Kai stands there for a moment and stares at me. I can see he is fighting anger and sadness, and that he also wants me. My desire for him grows, I want him more than anything. Sure, I just saw the most horrific shit in the world, but I know I could get lost in his body and it would help me, but that’s not what I want right now. What Ineedis to know him one hundred percent.
