Page 37 of Deadly Games
The instant I released my grasp on control, I felt another consciousness overlay my own. This time, I remained aware of what she was doing. Thor’s eyes widened as if he could somehow see the change that had taken place before him, but my hand jutted out and pushed against his chest, throwing him back before he could respond.
He hit the wall as my body rose, and I felt the entity’s consciousness merging with my own. It was a strange, almost violating feeling, but there was no room for fear or even anger. Only the pure, swirling power of chaos within.
I realized there were vines breaking through the cracks in the walls only when Thor staggered away from them. “That’s impossible,” he gritted out, still gripping the blade tightly in his right hand. “The ward.”
“You should know better than to believe in the impossible,” I taunted. This time, the words weren’t quite like my own, but I wasn’t entirely detached from them, either. It was like a phrase spoken in a dream, stemming from a deeper part of my mind than I was actively aware of existing.
Thor lunged again and the vines surged out, wrapping around his arms and legs. Another slithered around his neck, tightening and constricting. I could feel his pulse through the vine, more acutely than I’d ever felt the verdant extension of my power before.
“What...are you?” he choked, straining to pull the vines away with brute force. Every time he managed to snap one, another took its place. It soon became clear he was fighting a losing battle, and when I saw the fear of death in his eyes, something in me froze.
Stop,I cried, struggling to regain control of my limbs. Of my power.
It was no use. The vines obeyed her better than they ever had me, and while I wanted to distance myself from this part of me I couldn’t control, there was something that made me fear we weren’t entirely separate, after all.
Iwantedto kill him. To crush the breath from his lungs. There was another part of me that wanted to stop. The part that loved Loki and knew that bringing harm to his brother would only hurt him, regardless of the circumstances. That part was trying so hard to break through, but when I finally started to think it had gained control again, Thor cut through one of the vines with his blade.
A shriek of rage and pain issued from my mouth, and I felt the cell crumble around me. Vines were piercing the stone at such a rate that there was more green than gray, and the cell door swung off its hinges.
The earthquake soon spiraled out of my control, and I feared the entire Academy would collapse with it. The stone caved in and Thor let out a startled cry that abruptly cut off to the sound of great stones falling. I was certain I was next when the vines formed a cocoon around me, hardening and shielding me from the continuing wreckage. It felt like forever before the quaking finally ceased, and I tore my way out of the cocoon.
For the moment, I was back in control, but when I saw Thor’s hand peeking out from beneath a stone, sitting in a growing pool of blood, I knew the damage had already been done.
I backed up in horror, collapsing on the rocks behind me. I managed to struggle back to my feet and headed toward what had once been the stairwell in a daze. I summoned what was left of my strength to form a thick vine and tear the rocks away, but I soon realized it was no use. There were too many. I’d have to find another way out.
A glimmer of light up ahead gave me hope. The prison must have extended underground, beyond the width of the Academy, because I could see a patch of sky. I pushed my vines up, tearing away the stone and used one to climb up through the enlarged gap.
Once I was out, I collapsed on the grass and looked up at the partially caved-in wing of the Academy. The prison was underneath the storage, so it was unlikely anyone would be inside. At least that limited the number of lives I’d claimed, but the blood on my hands still felt too thick to ever wash off.
Shame overwhelmed me, and I could still feel the chaos brewing underneath, waiting to resurface. This time, I wasn’t sure I could reign it in before it destroyed everything in its wake.
I ran for Atlantis as fast as I could, and I never looked back.
Chapter 18
Hades
It was rare that anything shocked me, especially where the other gods were concerned, but I had to admit, Helle’s admission had me stumped. I couldn’t think of a reason why Thor of all people would want to frame Kore for Phrixus’ murder. What could he possibly have to gain from that?
Seemed Loki wasn’t the only trickster in the family.
Getting to Kore with one of the other guards on watch was nigh impossible, but we had a plan. Loki was going to shift into something capable of tunneling through the underground foundation of the prison, and we’d go from there.
Before we had the chance to put the plan into action, the earthquake hit. At first, I assumed it was one of the other students having a meltdown, but no one with that kind of power had stayed behind on break. Not as far as I knew, at least.
The four of us rushed in the direction of the chaos, and as soon as I realized it was coming from the wing above the dungeon, my heart plummeted. I’d never felt time slow down unless it was an intentional manipulation of my father’s power, but there was a first time for everything.
Whatever it was causing the earthquake, Kore was at the center of it. I ran faster than I ever had, but when we finally reached the door leading into the prison, it was not only unguarded but blocked off entirely by fallen stone. The hallways around us were shaking, fresh pieces of rock crumbling each second, and the entire structure didn’t look like it would hold for long.
“She’s down there,” Dionysus cried, his voice sharp with horror.
Before I could give the command, Loki shifted into a great bull and started tossing aside large pieces of stone with his horns. Fenrir followed suit, digging furiously with his giant paws. Dionysus and I weren’t quite as productive, but we set to unearthing the hidden passage all the same.
The minutes that passed felt like hours, and we seemed to be making so little progress. When I finally caught sight of a clearing behind the stone, I was still far from relieved.
She was down there, and there was no fucking way she could have survived the building collapse, unless her power had somehow protected her. The only thing giving me hope for that scenario was the fact that it didn’t feel like a giant hole had been torn in my soul yet, leaving nothing but an empty void where she should have been. Where she had been ever since I’d brought her back, and maybe even before that, if I was being honest with myself.
I pushed the fruitless line of thought away and focused on widening the space between the rocks. Loki shifted into a small black cat and shimmied through the hole. I heard his paws hit solid ground on the other side, so it seemed stable enough. Once there was an opening big enough, I slipped through and Dionysis was close behind me.
