CHAPTER ONE
I was floating in a dark place, a place where I was all alone and the blackness was consuming. It filled me up and I drifted on it as it ebbed and flowed peacefully all around me, the warmth calming me with soothing fluidity. Until cackling, bitter laughter abruptly pulled me from the lovely darkness, reminding me of what had caused me to lose consciousness in the first place.
Moros.
The sound of the ancient woman snapped me back to reality as quick as a bolt of lightning. A brief image of my soul mate, Cadmus, with Moros’ deadly sister Thanatos ricocheted through my mind, accompanied by an ever-widening ripple of panic and a stuttering heart beat. He was in danger.
I emerged from my imaginary tranquil pool as my eyes popped open. Staring into Moros’ faded eyes, I watched for a split second as crimson blood ran in rivulets from the corner of her eye and streaked down her wrinkled cheek, dripping onto her black cloak. I shuddered. Her eyes continually bled from all of the horror that she had seen, all of the pain that she had inflicted as an enforcer of the Fates throughout the millennia.
It had turned her into a monster.
"What have you done?" I hissed as I sprang to my feet and shot out of my bedchambers like a rocket.
Cadmus was my only focus as I charged down the cascading marble staircase of Zeus’ palace in a blinding streak of motion. We had just gone to hell and back as the Fates and their sisters, the Keres, had imprisoned all of the gods and goddesses of Olympus and the surrounding Spiritlands. They had entranced my husband, Cadmus, in the process and I had only just gotten him back. This couldn’t be happening.
I barely noticed the banquet attendees who were laughing and sipping Olympian nectar and dancing carefree around the twinkling, lantern-adorned courtyard as I pushed through them to plunge into the sweetly scented dark night outside.
My mother, Aphrodite, froze in place when she saw me, apprehension immediately pooling in her eyes. She grabbed my father’s arm and Ares turned toward me as well, his chiseled face instantly wary.
"Harmonia, what is it?" Aphrodite quickly asked, anxiety etched on her perfect face. She knew from simply looking at me that something was horribly wrong. She almost knew me better than I knew myself.
It was impossible to answer her because I couldn’t even breathe as I scanned the perimeter of the crowd to locate the exact place where Cadmus had been standing just a few minutes earlier. His tall frame was gone.
Courtney Cole 3
With My Last Breath, Book Three
He and Annen, an ancient Keres priest, had been there just two minutes ago. But now there was nothing, just the blackness of the Spiritlands night closing in on us as the stars twinkled overhead. I struggled to catch my breath as I frantically searched through the crowd.
Nothing.
But just as I started to turn away, I caught a glimpse of Olympus residents congregating in a circle on the edge of the courtyard, murmuring in panic. My stomach dropped like a lead weight and I innately knew that Cadmus was there and that something was very, very wrong.
Placing one numb foot after the other, I woodenly approached and the crowd parted to allow me to pass. Stunned faces stared at me from the circle but I paid them no mind. My gaze was frozen on my soul mate.
Cadmus was lying on his back in the middle of the circle, completely still and quiet.
The angles from his bronzed face caught the light of nearby lanterns and as always, his beauty was staggering. His hair was dark and shiny, his muscular frame lithe and taut.
Normally, he was stronger than almost anyone else I knew, but right now he was limp against the dew-covered ground.
I dropped to my knees next to him and collapsed onto his chest, feeling as though I was moving through the haze of a bad dream. My fingertips were numb as I shook his shoulder.
"Cadmus! Please, wake up," I murmured into his neck.
He smelled so good and familiar as my lips grazed his warm skin, but his dark eyes stayed closed. He didn’t even twitch as I kissed first his cheek, then the side of his neck.
And in sudden horror, I realized something. No pulse beat beneath my lips.
Frantically, I ran my fingers along his neck and then his wrist, but it was futile.
There was nothing there to feel. His heart, so brave and strong, had stopped beating.
I screamed into the night, ripping it apart with my agony as I collapsed once again onto his hard body, clutching him to me as I cried. His handsome face was slack and peaceful and completely unresponsive to my pain. He had been my soul mate for thousands of years, but he was gone from me now. The pain was unbearable and I couldn’t even think.
Cool hands grasped my shoulders and tried to pull me away from Cadmus, but I wouldn’t have it. I was going nowhere. I clutched his shoulders, breathing him in. I was determined to stay with my husband no matter what. They would have to pry me away.
And then someone did.
Ares pulled me into his strong arms and I clung to him limply as I cried. It didn’t seem possible that everything had changed so drastically in the blink of an eye and this unexpected sorrow was debilitating.
Courtney Cole 4
With My Last Breath, Book Three
"Harmonia."
A voice creaked from the darkness and my sobs froze in my throat as I pulled away from my father and whirled around. Moros’ sister stood close by, flanked by the old Keres priest, Annen.
Thanatos. Her name meant death. And while it was true that she could not literally kill an immortal, because only Zeus’ lost sword could wield that power, she could drain the life from one, leaving him or her lifeless for all of eternity. Which is exactly what she had done to Cadmus.
Before Ares could react, I flew directly at Thanatos’ face, scratching and flailing my arms at her. She didn’t even try to fend me off. She simply stood, allowing me to pummel her as I screamed. Her bones felt thin and hollow beneath my fists, but her frailty didn’t deter me. I wanted her to feel my pain.
"Why?" I screeched, as my left hand connected with the rim of her eye. "Why him?
He never did a thing to you!"
Her blood, seeping from her cloudy eyes, was smeared all over my arms and my long evening shift, but it was of no consequence to me. Nothing mattered anymore but hearing her explanation. My eyes were frozen on her ancient face.
"Why?" I demanded again. But she remained frustratingly silent.
"You know why."
The answer came from behind me. I spun to find Moros standing on the edge of the circle, her face a calm mask of perfunctory necessity. Rage exploded within me and I tried to throw myself at her as well, but Ares smoothly caught me, stroking my hair as he held me still.