“I love you, Empusa,” she murmured.
The first thing my mother did was to profess her love. An errant tear slipped from the corner of my eye. It didn’t matter that I was here because of her- she had only done what she had to try and save me. I knew she was in agony over my situation right now. I could hear it in the tenor of her voice.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said. “You’re so strong and brave. I only have a moment, Empusa. You need to know something. It’s your bracelet that can save you… your bracelet. Your soul is tied to the moonstone. As long as the moonstone survives, I can save you. Your father, Hades, can save you. And I’m sorry for that too. I’m so sorry for so many things.”
I squeezed my eyes tightly closed as hot tears filled them up.
“Don’t cry, my sweet,” she whispered. “They will see. Zeus will see. Do with this information as you will… but just know that no matter what happens to you on that altar, I can save you if your moonstone survives. I love you, Empusa.”
And she was gone. I felt her absence immediately It was as though a breeze had blown through and then stilled. I felt a vast emptiness, but even still, my heart was buoyed. She had just given me a kernel of hope. I touched my bracelet, but then dropped my hand. I didn’t want Zeus to notice it.
It was astounding to me that he didn’t realize the importance of my bracelet. He himself had been saved from the clutches of Hades because he had embedded his blood within Harmonia’s bloodstone…a simple jewel. It had saved him from imprisonment in the Underworld. And now mine, a pretty trinket, might save my life.
I opened my eyes.
Because I had been granted a bit of hope, everything looked brighter now. The snow blanketing the ground looked beautiful, even though it was frigid. The sun shining down through the clouds and tree branches reflected off the ice crystals and send glittering prisms of light everywhere. And Brennan.
Brennan was as beautiful as ever, proud and strong. I ached to touch him, to run my fingers over the smooth expanse of his muscled arms, to feel the stubble on his face. I squared my shoulders and marched over to him. I could do this.
As his scent filled my nose, unquenchable thirst filled my consciousness. I had never wanted anything so badly in my life than I wanted to drink Brennan’s blood right now. It was warm, it was wet, it would be delicious. But even more than that, I wanted to protect him, to save him. Because of that, I knew that I could do this. At least long enough to save him.
Stretching up on tiptoe, I brushed my lips against his. At the mere contact, his aura appeared to me and I found that with each breath that I took, his soul threatened to suck away from him and into me. With regret, I stepped away from his slightly, just enough to keep him safe, but still enough to whisper. If I kept my hands running along Brennan’s arm and chest lovingly, Zeus would just think we were whispering as lovers.
Brennan’s amber eyes were trained upon mine. He knew something had changed. He knew me well enough to sense it. But he stayed calm and quiet, trusting me enough to wait until I shared it with him.
“My moonstone,” I whispered to him, as quietly as I could while I ran my fingers along his shoulders. “It is tied to my soul. As long as it is intact, my mother can save my life.”
“You know this for certain?” he asked, as he grasped one of my hands and casually drew it to his lips to kiss it. We were making quite the effort to appear relaxed and I was certain it was paying off. We looked every inch like a pair of imprisoned lovers who were was just trying to steal a moment alone while being watched by a group of people.
I nodded. “Yes.”
Brennan sighed a heavy sigh. He knew what that meant. In order for us both to survive, I would have to die here and now. He would have to kill me.
However, before we could say anything else, Zeus’ loud voice boomed throughout the clearing.
“I grow weary of this monotony. The game will change.”
My eyes met Brennan’s as I sucked in my breath.
It was hard to say what Zeus would throw at us next.
“I am tired of watching this stalemate. You think that you have outsmarted me? You will soon learn otherwise. Your opposing abilities have always fascinated me, the idea that your very existence could snuff out that of the other. I will play on that today. Know this, the longer you delay action, the more mortals will die. This is true now more than ever. One of you will die today and justice will be served.”
Zeus sat back down, my mother at his side. Her face was calm, but I could see her hands twisting in her lap. Her fingers were turning white. Whatever Zeus had in mind, it wasn’t going to bode well for Brennan and me.
I noticed that Harmonia and Cadmus had slipped into the stands. They sat behind Harmonia’s parents, Aphrodite and Ares. Harmonia’s face was pale and distressed and Cadmus had his arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders. Whatever Zeus was planning, it certainly wasn’t good. Harmonia leaned over and murmured something to Zeus, but it didn’t faze him. He shook his head almost imperceptibly and Harmonia slumped back in her seat. Clearly she had tried to intervene on our behalf and it hadn’t been successful. There was nothing to do now but to wait for whatever came.
And we didn’t have to wait long.
The sky suddenly darkened, causing Brennan and I to look up. The moon was moving in front of the sun, darkening the sky. The sun turned gold then orange then fiery red before its light was finally snuffed out and all went dark.
An eclipse.
Chapter Twenty Three
“What does this mean?” Brennan asked uncertainly as we both craned our necks to peer into the sky. The only light now was a blood red rim of the sun peeking from behind the darkened moon and the flickering light of the stars scattered overhead.
“It’s an eclipse,” I said woodenly. “Think about it, Bren. You’re from the sun and I’m from the moon. Our spirits are tied to those energies. If the sun and the moon block each other, they cancel each other out. Our energy is going to fade soon. Zeus is trying to force our hand.”