Page 39 of Dark Gods
Instinct won out and I loped forward, stopping only when her eyes met mine. They were full of confusion and fear, but the pain outweighed everything else. Whether she thought I'd come to kill her or free her, I didn't know, but either way, whatever darkness had overcome her took precedence. She pulled back violently, her spine arched as the veins wound themselves around her throat and arms. There was no doubt left in my mind that she was far from in control, but I didn't know how to help her.
I began to tear at the vines with my fangs, but her groan of agony told me that was only making it worse and I stopped, forcing my beast to go back into the sheath of my human skin. This form was far more comfortable than the other, and getting the wolf to retreat when it was surrounded by chaos was a losing battle most of the time, but I finally managed to drop to my knees in front of her.
"What's wrong?" I demanded, my voice guttural from disuse. "Tell me what you need."
She shook her head, her eyes watering with what looked like blood, even though it was a dark cerulean blue. She wouldn't be the first deity who bled a color other than red, but it was usually the mark of one who had ancient blood in their veins. Ancient and powerful.
Yet another unexpected development where the troublesome goddess was concerned.
"I can't stop it," she said in a strangled voice, grasping at the vines choking her.
"Yes, you can," I said with far more confidence than I had the right to. "This energy is coming from you, I can feel it. That means you can control it, you're just letting it control you."
Irritation flashed in her eyes, but that was a good sign. Anger made a person fight. Anger wasn't surrender.
Whatever this was, it was new to me, but it had the echoes of a struggle I knew well. With no better option, I decided to tell her the advice that had saved my life on more than one occasion, even if it was only from the monster within.
"Whatever this is, it's trying to push you out," I told her, holding her gaze. "It can't unless you let it. It's your mind, your body. You're the one in control. Everything else is just an illusion."
"Illusion?" Her voice cracked as the vines slowly began to loosen up. At least, it seemed like progress.
"That's it," I coached, reaching out to touch her cheek. The spark was unmistakable, but I'd had long enough to brace myself against it. I'd known of the forbidden bond that existed between us from the moment we'd met, and I'd been avoiding her for the very fact that true contact would only strengthen it, but I had no other choice.
Maybe it was delusion to tell myself that Hades would understand if he knew the truth. If he was here, but he wasn't. In the end, I had to follow the same instinct that had kept me alive for this long.
The vines had finally begun to uncoil from her prone form, but the moment I saw the doubt enter her eyes, they resurged with a vengeance, gripping tighter than ever before.
"No," I snarled, holding her face firmly in my grasp and forcing her eyes to meet mine. "You're losing ground. Take it back."
"I can't," she gritted out, blue blood spilling down her cheeks. "It's too strong."
I could hear the defeat in her voice, and that wasn't something that seemed to come easily to her. She was losing control, and fast. Soon, they'd take over entirely.
There was no time and only one option I could think of, even if it would make her hate me all the more. Not that it mattered. It was the only thing that would shock her out of whatever state she'd fallen into.
I leaned in and kissed her, allowing the energy of the bond to flow freely from my veins into her aura. The shock of it had the effect I'd hoped for and she gasped as she pulled away, her eyes lit with rage, but the dark vines began to recoil.
"What the hell was that?"
I couldn't help but smirk. "Look."
She looked down at the vines uncoiling and retreating back into the earth and pulled herself from their grasp. She fell forward and I caught her, but she recoiled from me just as hastily.
"You kissed me."
"You're welcome," I said flatly. "Now, you wanna tell me what that was all about?"
She hesitated, looking back at the earth that was now just an innocent patch of grass dotted with small flowering weeds. As she got to her feet and brushed the grass off her skirt, she seemed as dismayed as I'd been when first stumbling upon the scene.
"I don't know," she said, burying a hand in her tangled purple hair. "I don't remember what happened. I was running and I came out here, and..."
"This hasn't ever happened before?" I asked, frowning as I got to my feet.
She shook her head, and the troubled look on her face soon turned to embarrassment as her gaze traveled up my naked body. "So," she said hoarsely, rubbing her bruised throat. "That's your other form."
"You prefer this one?" I asked wryly.
She turned away from me and headed toward the garden gate, but I caught her wrist. "Wait."
