Chapter One
The girl’s skin glistened in the firelight. She was ghostly pale and seemed to shimmer as she hovered over a young man, her dark reddish-brown hair curling around her slender, naked shoulders. The man was no older than twenty years old and he watched her in rapt fascination as she gyrated above him, sliding her hands over his bare chest as she bent her head to kiss the smooth skin where she had touched.
She kissed a trail to his neck as he ran his freckled hands lightly over her bare back. Hovering above him, she turned her gaze to meet mine, her eyes a tranquil, calm gray.
“Help me,” she whispered.
And then she plunged her teeth into the side of his neck.
He thrashed wildly and attempted to get away, but she was inhumanly strong and held him tightly to the bed until he grew limp and still while she remained fastened to his neck.
Finally, her appetite was sated and she raised her head, her gaze still locked with mine as blood streaked down her chin and dropped onto her neck.
“Help me,” she repeated, speaking directly to me. And then I realized in horror that the firelight flickering against her skin was actually coming from her. Her hair wasn’t auburn, it was on fire.
I screamed.
And then I was awake, grasping the bedclothes while Cadmus held me, murmuring into my ear.
“Harmonia, it’s alright. You’re alright. We’ll find her,” he soothed, stroking my back gently with large hands.
I tried to still my racing heart, to calm my rasping breath, as I studied my husband. He thought I was dreaming about our daughter again, as I had for several nights in a row. Ever since we had discovered that undoing the Fates’ hold on the mortal world had also ripped our daughter from our grasp, I had dreamed of Raquel.
But not tonight.
“My love,” Cadmus murmured, pulling me to his chest, “If I could take your pain and your fear away, I would do it in a moment. I hope you know that. Watching you struggle rips my heart apart.”
“I feel like nothing will ever be the same,” I whispered into the dark. He stilled for a moment before he answered, his voice quiet in the night.
“It won’t be,” he acknowledged. “But once we find our daughter, we will be better than we’ve ever been. Our lives will be perfect.”
I closed my eyes and listened to his strong heart beat. I had known him for centuries. As my soul mate, he knew me better than anyone. He could take one look at my face and know what I was thinking, even without reading my thoughts- which he was perfectly capable of doing, as well.
I sighed and looked up to find his chocolate eyes fixed on my face.
“Cadmus, I love you. I’m sorry that I have been so distant these past few days. I have faith that we will find Raquel and bring her home. It’s just that my nightmares are so vivid. When I see her screaming for me in the wastelands, it is as though I can reach out and touch her… and then she is gone. I feel so helpless. And if that weren’t enough, now I’m dreaming about someone else. I don’t know her, but she asked for my help.” I sighed again and dropped my forehead against his warm body.
“Was this person real?” Cadmus raised a dark eyebrow. “Or is your sense of responsibility just bleeding into your dreams?”
“I don’t know,” I answered thinly. “It could be either one, I guess.”
He pulled me closer, stroking my hair away from my forehead. His large hands were strong and comforting. He had been very patient with me these past couple of days. I knew that.
“Hush then, sweet one, and go back to sleep. I will protect you from your dreams- you need to rest. We have a long journey in front of us. You will need to be strong.”
I nodded and nestled into him, willing my mind to stop churning. Cadmus was handsome, strong and he always knew my heart, but he was wrong about this. He could protect me from everything else, but he couldn’t stop my dreams. Regardless, I knew he was right about needing my strength and I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, morning light was flooding our bedchambers and Cadmus was gone. I had thankfully slept through the rest of the night without nightmares. I stretched and glanced around the room. Brilliant sunshine bounced from every surface, from the marble walls to the polished stone floors, to the massive furniture. And there was no one else here, which was strange. It was rare that I was alone.
Ever since our epic battle with the Fates and the Keres on the fields of Camelot a few days ago, someone had always made sure to be by my side… whether it was my mother, Aphrodite, my father, Ares, my sister, Ortrera or my husband. Because the Fates had managed to have the last laugh and undo my daughter’s very existence after they had been dragged into the underworld by the Keres, I would readily admit that I hadn’t been at my best.
A sniveling wreck would be a more accurate description.
It had taken us three days to prepare for our journey, to gather everything that the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, had thought that we might need as we crossed the Spiritlands, the mortal world and heaven only knew where else as we hunted for the imprisoned Olympians. Without Zeus, I would never get my daughter back. He had to be found.
The mere thought of Raquel’s frightened face caused my heart to start racing again and I slumped against the pillows. We had only just discovered that she was ours before she had been wrenched away. And deep in my heart, I knew she was frightened. I could feel it with a mother’s intuition. Even though I had only known myself to be a mother for a few days.
“Stop it,” a quiet voice murmured.
Startled, I turned and found Hecate lingering in my doorway. Vibrant and beautiful as always, her long blonde hair tumbled to the small of her back in wavy curls. She was most certainly not what you would expect the goddess of witchcraft to look like.
“Stop torturing yourself,” she insisted as she crossed to my bed. “You must. None of this is your doing. None of us, not even me, saw this coming. So get out of bed, get dressed and let us leave so that we can repair it. You will not fix anything at all from in here.”
Her stern voice surprised me and my head snapped up.
“What?” she asked, her thin eyebrow raised. “Do you think I should tiptoe around you like everyone else? Yes, your daughter has been taken from you. Yes, the Olympians are hidden from us somewhere. But you are the Chosen One, Harmonia. It is time for you to start acting like it once again.”
“Why are you being so mean?” I whispered as I curled my fingers deeper within my sheets, turning my face away from her. The desolation that I felt deep inside was consuming. I could hardly think past it. There was no way she could understand.