Courtney Cole 7
With My Last Breath, Book Three
"Well?" I prompted. "What of the Keres?"
"You know that you hold no power over us," Thanatos uttered. "You cannot do a thing." She turned to my father and pointed a gnarled finger. "Count yourself lucky.
There will be no retribution today, war god. But you will not be so lucky next time."
Ares glared at her and took one menacing step, but before he could take another, Thanatos, Moros and Annen were all gone. I glanced around but they were nowhere to be found.
I closed my eyes against the murmuring crowd. I could hear that they were unsettled and afraid, but I couldn’t concentrate on that. All I could focus on was my husband’s lifeless hand in my lap. I stroked his thumb in the same way that he usually stroked mine.
Bending, I kissed his brow, then his nose, then each closed eyelid. I opened my eyes to study the way his long, dark lashes curled against his cheeks. My heart shattered into pieces and I swallowed hard.
"Sleep tight, my love," I murmured into his ear. "I will undo this. I promise. I love you." I lay with my cheek pressed against his, the wetness from my tears soaking both of us. Finally, my father bent and scooped me up, striding in long steps toward the palace.
"Bring Cadmus," he called over his shoulder to some of the residents swarmed around us. "Carefully."
I closed my eyes and rested against my father’s stout chest as he strode purposefully through the courtyard and up the wide marble staircase that led to the back of the palace. I didn’t look behind us or in front of us, I simply kept my eyes closed and focused on the strange numbness that was enveloping me.
My husband was the same as dead. It was hard to wrap my mind around. Even though I had lost him in every mortal life that I had been forced by the Fates to live for the past two thousand years, as soon as I returned to the Spiritlands and reclaimed my goddess heritage, I thought I would never have to face this again.
But here we were. My husband was being carried lifelessly to the palace behind me and there wasn’t anything I could do. But cry.
Courtney Cole 8
With My Last Breath, Book Three
Chapter Two
We were surrounded by warriors.
I glanced up with tear soaked cheeks from my bed and gazed woodenly at my half-sister Ortrera’s Amazon warriors who were circling the perimeter of my large, airy bedchamber. Proud and strong, their muscles bulged as they stood at attention, guarding both me and my lifeless husband.
Cadmus lay completely still on a nearby table. As I wept, Aphrodite had covered the long table with cushions and soft blankets before the Olympus residents gently laid Cadmus down on the makeshift bed. His beautiful face was peaceful, as though he slept without a care in the world. His strong hands lay lifelessly at his sides and I wondered where he was. Was his soul simply asleep, waiting for me to wake it? I swallowed hard.
"Ortrera, you do not need to stay in here," I insisted once again to my sister, but I knew that once again, she wouldn’t listen. She was as head-strong and stubborn as a bull. She stared at me as though I was a child, her brown eyes penetrating mine as she assessed my grief ravaged face.
"Of course we do, Harmonia. I promised our father that we would watch you while you slept. I’ll also be leaving a handful of warriors to guard Cadmus when we leave in the morning to search for the sword."
I studied the fierce warriors that circled me.
"Who will stay?" I asked quietly. Louder, I added, "Who is willing to protect my husband in my absence?"
Every single warrior raised her hand and stepped forward. A chorus of "I will’s"
rang throughout my room and my heart warmed a fraction. All of these warriors were brave and loyal. And I knew that each of them would guard Cadmus with her life.
"It’s an honor and I thank you," I murmured as I slumped back into my bed, curled onto my side. I numbly watched as Ortrera chose the women who would stay. Four of them stepped forward and stood at attention at each corner of the table Cadmus rested upon. Their fierce, hawk-like faces gave me a small amount of comfort and I closed my eyes to rest.
I had no sooner closed them when I was standing in a blinding, white windstorm. I blinked in confusion against the raging wind and braced myself as I pivoted in a circle.
Where was I? God, I hated dreamwalking. Yet here I was.
It seemed as though I had been dropped into a winter white-out, a blizzard, yet I didn’t feel cold. Everything was black and white at the same time. I couldn’t see a thing and my eyes stung from the furious wind gusts. The wind howled and I shivered, not from cold, but from the eeriness surrounding me. It was haunting and frightening, Courtney Cole 9
With My Last Breath, Book Three
a desolate, barren place. I also recognized a strange heaviness in my arms and legs, as though they were weighted. I felt heavier every moment that I was here, weighing on my chest, making it difficult to breathe. It made me panicky.
"Harmonia!"
Floating to me above the chaos, the familiar deep voice stilled my heart and I whirled, trying to locate my husband. The wind gusts persistently whipped my long hair into my face and I held it out of the way in frustration. I needed to find Cadmus.
And then I did. Keeping his head bowed against the horrid storm, he pushed toward me from what looked like a bleak row of withered trees. I fought to get to him, the churning wind continually holding me back. I struggled onward and within twenty steps, I was in his arms.
"Cadmus!" I cried as I melted into his chest.
His strong arms shielded me from the strange storm and I felt a blissful and wild relief at once again being with him. I was in his arms where I belonged. I glanced up to find his eyes, his normally warm and vivid brown eyes, staring down at me starkly. I startled at his cold expression and drew backward.
"What is it?" I asked, looking around for a threat. "Where are we?"
He shook his head. "I don’t know. I was in the courtyard speaking with the Keres and then suddenly, I was here. It seems as though I’ve been here forever. Time has ceased to exist. How long have I been here?"
"Not long, my love," I murmured into the wind. "Not long at all."
I allowed myself the time to truly examine him and it caused my heart to race. His beautiful face was weary, his eyes hollow. His body was ice cold. As he exhaled, I could see his breath in the air. I gasped. The only other time I had seen that had been with Alexi, the lapdog of the Fates.
"Where are we?" I cried again. "What has happened to you?"