Broken: Hidden Book Two (30 page)

How the hell was I going to walk around in my own world with these goddamned feathered monstrosities?

I pulled the pants on, then the boots. Everything fit like a glove, as if they had been made for me. The shirt had some kind of built-in corset thing that I managed to awkwardly lace up,  and the pants almost fit like a second skin, which was definitely not something I’d gone for in my clothing choices back home. The boots went up to just below my knees, fitting my calves and ankles perfectly. The leather was supple, almost velvety.

A knife might be nice, I thought, but then I remembered that I had no need of mortal weapons in the Nether. At least, I hoped not.

I extended my hand, focused on bringing my sword into being. It appeared, effortlessly, but it, like too many things, was no longer the same. The hilt was still dark black metal, but the blade, the one that had leapt with blue flames, was different now. The blade itself was longer, thinner, and the flames were black.

“Well, that’s creepy,” I murmured. “We’re going for a very angel of death type look here, aren’t we?” And then I realized I was talking to myself and that it probably wasn’t a good sign. I looked at my sword again, at the black flames leaping along the blade, then I shook my head and focused on making it disappear. It did.

From inside my cave, I could hear the sounds of battle raging in the Nether, as it had since I’d revived. Booming, crashing. Distant shouts. Almost constant thunder and lightning. Every once in a while, the sound of a horn blowing. The occasional scream. Really, it was stupid. The gods couldn’t actually kill each other. I guessed that, when they were injured badly enough to die, they just regenerated the way I had. The only being who could actually kill a god and make him or her stay dead, was me.

I’m special that way.

I crept out of the cave and looked around. Everything looked the same as it had when I’d awoken. Amethyst sky overhead, sharp black mountains behind me and cutting the western horizon. I looked up at the millions of whitish-purple stars that dotted the sky. They were always there, no matter what time it was. When I’d first started coming to the Nether, I’d purposely tried coming at different times, trying to get a sense of day versus night. Eunomia had finally explained to me that there was no difference, that the Nether was endless night, and I’d smiled. Night had always been my time.

Looking up at the sky now, I just felt empty and lost. I missed the sky back home, even the gray clouds that Detroit wore in November like a cloak. But every once in a while, you’d get a brilliantly sunny, bright blue sky, and you’d remember what beauty was.

I shook my head, and looked around. I could see the city in the distance, where Hades’ palace and everything else was. The Nether was vast, but few ventured beyond Hades’ reach. The mountains, the eerie forests that surrounded the city, were inhabited by creatures great and small, creatures I’d only ever read about.

I glanced around again, looking for the mysterious creature that had, I had to believe, left the clothing for me. Not a trace of it. I racked my still-groggy brain, trying to guess, from my stupidly limited knowledge of mythology, which of the gods might have a giant dog thing at its command. It wasn’t Cerberus; I’d seen that beast outside of Hades’ home. Even if it had been, I wouldn’t have felt any better.

I knew I needed to be smarter now. And the smart thing, at this point, was to trust no one. My father had lied to me, about pretty much everything. My mother wasn’t much better. I wondered if they’d known closing the gateway would kill me. If they had…then they won for shittiest parents EVER. My aunt had tried to kill me, and I had to wonder how much the other aunt despised my existence, considering how much venom had been spewed my way. Every god, now, had a reason to want me dead for closing the mortal realm to them, weakening them.

Well. Dead again, I guess.

I wondered if I’d come back from a second death. I didn’t intend to have to find out.

The only thing I knew is that I’d have to be careful. I’d have to think instead of smashing first. No more taking things on faith. No more prophecies, family bullshit, or entangling alliances. All I wanted was to end the stupid war and figure out how to get home.

There had to be a way.

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