Daughter of Kaos (The Daughter Trilogy Book 3) (35 page)

breath.

His hideous face doesn’t match his strong body, but his heinous intent compensates. The vines

shrivel to the ground, and I take a step backwards as his hand reaches out to touch my face.

I almost gasp for air as the poison of his touch drains me of the life in my body. My eyes caution

Camara’s lizard to stay out of sight when she peers out too far from her hiding place.

She steps back, and I let out a shriek of pain. I hear death whispering its secrets to me when it

beckons me to succumb to its too close grip. A ringing forms in my ears, and dizziness sets in.

“Don’t kill her yet, Damon. I need the child. So do you. The fountain could heal your body,” Pyrrha

rebukes.

“I’m just caressing her with death’s touch. I promise I don’t plan to make it quick, easy, or

painless,” he murmurs with an eerie touch as he basks in what seems like the moment of twisted

pleasure he’s been desperate for. “Her screams are delicious.”

I shudder slightly as his ashy grip releases me, and then I choke on the sweltering air forcing its

way into my lungs.

“I’m sorry for what she did to you,” I cough out while grabbing my throat. “It wasn’t me

though.”

“She’s in you, girl, and she’ll have to watch the demise of her standing child crumble beneath the

touch of death I would’ve never had without her,” his fiery breath releases, and the lava streams begin

boiling beside us.

His hands offer less of a fiery touch as they grip me around the throat and waist before launching

me across the cavern. The ground beneath me moves too rapidly to focus in on any one thing, and I

scream out as I crash into the far wall.

Dust flies as I crumble the wall I just pounded, but my body doesn’t feel so invincible right now.

I feel pain - immense pain.

I grip my side as I slowly stand back to my feet, and then I see the tears evaporating from the

lizard’s eyes before they can drip as Camara desperately tries to think of something she can do.

“Are you ready to talk?” Pyrrha taunts.

“Go. To. Hell.” I strain out through pain and gritted teeth.

Damon smirks when he hears the belligerence in my tone because he knows he gets to continue

his work. More of his Jaculus brethren join us now, and I see the loathsome desire to make me suffer

for the sins of my goddess.

“This is going to hurt more than a little,” Pyrrha snarls.

I cringe as I see the fist aimed at my face, and I feel the pain mingling with the stomach-taking

sensation as I sail through the air once more. I thud across the volcanic belly, and the lava sloshes as I

splash into it.

I scream again as I feel the burn of the mortal thing that shouldn’t bring me pain, as I try to get

the hell out of the miserable, toxic bath.

“Rhea’s passion runs through these streams. It’s divinely excruciating, isn’t it?” Pyrrha mocks.

I roll out of the scorching river, and my screams continue to echo through the hollowed tunnels

apparently close by. Camara’s eyes can’t watch the gruesome fight she can’t aide me in, so they

close.

Please wake up. Someone wake the fuck up.

There’s no stir inside me to answer my plea though. I’m alone, and there’s a good chance Devin’s

not going to get here in time.

“How I hope she continues her defiance,” Damon snickers with an ominous grin on his face.

He storms me again, but this time something moves so quickly it blurs in front of my eyes.

Shouts erupt through the air, but it’s not mine - it’s Damon’s.

I barely realize what’s gong on until I see him slapping into three of his brethren like pins for a

bowling ball at the end of the lane.

Arms are suddenly around me as more flashing figures take the room, and I cry out tears of relief

when Devin’s eyes stare into mine. My clothes have singed off from the lava dip I was forced to take,

and his hands pull water from the stale air as he cools the remaining fragments still dripping from my

skin.

The lava ashes over and falls from me like charred debris, relieving me of its painful touch. He

pulls his shirt over his head and puts it on me to offer me some modesty in my fragile, humbled, and

tortured state.

“Stay back, baby,” he orders softly, and then he gently places me against the wall as the swarms

surround them.

Camara hisses as she whips out her fans, and Kry smirks as he readies his spinning wheels of

wielded steel. Jace surges the room full of electricity, and his eyes dare someone to make the first

move as he takes his place at Devin’s side to aide in my protection.

“No one touches her again. Understood?” Devin murmurs to our group.

“I’ve been watching for long enough,” Camara growls, and she flips her fans through the air to

behead the naga serpent pile that had subdued me.

Deacon smirks as he releases the convulsing waves from his rod, and Kry responds by shredding a

Jaculus within a blink. Devin’s ripple knocks them to the ground, and some are fated to never get up

again from the powerful blow.

He has gotten so much stronger, and now Pyrrha’s eyes widen when Damon breathes out the fire I

had only felt the heat from. Devin draws water from the air to extinguish the flames with effortless

poise.

“Just defend yourself from him. Don’t attack! He’s her trigger, you fool,” Pyrrha scolds to

Damon.

“She’s of no consequence,” Damon barks. “She has no bond, and her stronger powers are blocked

forever. I’ll not fear the weak,” he snarls, and I see Devin smirk just before the water grabs Damon

and launches him against the wall to cause more crumbling piles to fall from overhead.

“You should fear us all,” Devin growls.

Pyrrha closes her eyes, and I feel the lava threatening to explode from the ground. Camara, Kry,

Deacon, and Hale are suddenly swept away by a rogue stream, and they’re pinned under the scorching

blanket of magma while struggling to fend off the mass of hellhounds surrounding them.

Jace hurls his electric waves, but more and more of the vicious beasts climb free from the belly of

the volcano. We ’re overwhelmed by the number of flaming mongrels, brightly colored harpies, the

distorted, mangled Jaculus gang, and now the screams of the sirens erupt while Hale is still trapped

under the folds of the restraining lava.

The odds against us grow more and more overwhelming as I stay crouched like a coward. The

monsters driven by vengeance and Rhea’s power will be too much even for Devin.

I’m suddenly suffocating on my inability to feel the strength that’s been taken from me, and more

and more surround Devin as he fights relentlessly to keep them away from me. Streaks of blood mark

the gashes he’s received from the claws of the harpies, and his ears drip with the same red tale as the

sirens’ merciless screams continue to focus on him.

“Kill the girl and the boy,” Damon screams as he flips through the air running toward me.

“No!” Pyrrha objects. “I need her to find the child.”

“With him dead, there will be no one to block the child from our sight. You’re not the one calling

the shots. She wants her dead before she returns,” he growls, and suddenly his venture to me has

reached its end.

Devin screams as he leaps toward us, but the lava pins him down. I gasp for air as Damon’s hand

clutches my throat to bring back the foul taste of death and decay.

A small spark finally erupts from my hand with enough power to force him to flinch.

“You bitch,” he screams, and then I feel the heat of the lava as I’m thrown into the boiling puddle

to deep to claw my way back up to the surface.

My insides churn with power trying to escape, and Devin’s struggling sounds from above provoke

them all the more. The blaring glow of the orange and red liquid sucking me under burns, but not as

much as the fury from the ones forced unwillingly into hiding.

The thunder inside me rumbles as I feel the power slowly creeping through my dormant veins,

and I smirk as I finally feel the long lost power I’ve desired to taste a touch of suddenly filling me

completely.

The deep pool of oozing fire forms steps for me to make my slow ascent, and the liquid clings to

my body like a lava garment as my eyes burn with red swirls.

As my head emerges, the eyes of all fall upon me, and I hear the gasps as I continue to climb free

from the entrapping pool they never thought I’d escape. The even older version of Pyrrha trembles as

her dry, cracked lips quiver to speak.

“I told you not to underestimate her,” she almost whispers, and I see Damon stumbling backwards

as Devin rips free and finds a chance blast him into the wall with a raging fire spiraling with deadly

intent.

“No,” Damon yelps. “You don’t have fire,” he contests as the flames constrict around him like a

flaming straightjacket.

Devin gives a smug smirk while shrugging with condescension, and then Damon screams out as

his body bursts into ashes from the extreme temperatures that cover him. ‘Pyrrha’s mouth gapes open

in disbelief and her fast-paced aging forces her to release the hold on the others she can no longer

sustain.

“No,” she utters in a disbelieving, terrified whisper. “You’re not bonded. You can’t be bonded,”

she panics.

“Surprise again,” I mutter as the fire around me swirls brilliantly. “This is going to hurt more

than a little,” my strange voices chatter in unison as Aphrodite and Kaos mock her words, and the duo

become partners of destruction to take out their old adversaries.

“Get out,” Devin yells to the others.

“Shit. She’s about to go nuclear,” Kry yelps, and he grabs the hand of Ember to pull her away

from the ensuing explosive burst of power.

Everyone leaps to their feet and flashes from the room while fighting their way through the mass

of Rhea’s rabid pets and loyal allies. They don’t follow our people; they stay with Devin and me

because I’m Rhea’s main focus.

“Interesting choice of venue, considering I derive my power from the energy flowing through the

volcanoes of earth,” Kaos taunts through me.

“No,” Pyrrha pleads, and suddenly her mignon herd is trapped by the same lava she had originally

used against us. “The priestesses were forced into hiding without contact from the outside world.

How?”

The lava drapes around me to cover my bare body with more grace, and it hangs from me like the

dripping dress of a goddess as the animated and sparking movement of the magma continues.

“When the Emperian dies, a temporary replacement is found,” Devin says vaguely with a smug

smirk.

“Only the old Emperian is offered the role. No replacement can be found other than that until a

long, grueling process of power determination has been performed,” she protests. “Rhea was the prior

Emperian.”

“Surprise, surprise, surprise,” I taunt with my Aphrodite chimed tone. “I was the last Emperian,”

I announce with an imperious tone.

“No,” she gushes. “It’s not possible. I would have known. I should have known.”

“You only knew what I allowed you to know,” Kaos boasts, and then suddenly the flames swirl

faster around me as they race outward.

Devin’s immunity offers him the chance to stand at my side while holding my hand, ready to rein

me in when the time comes. The fear in the eyes of our attackers is empowering, intoxicating, and

damn does it feel good.

The fire erupts into an explosive blast, but Devin remains unscathed as the shrieking cries of all

the others screech free. Faces suddenly turn to match the black, molten phase of the cooled lava after

it storms the surface for too long. Pyrrha struggles to remain intact while her weaker fleet crumbles.

More screaming erupts as the pain they had wished to inflict me with becomes their own, and

Devin’s hand grips tighter around mine.

“No mercy,” my echoed voice pronounces, and the fire burns hotter as the ground quakes open

beneath our feet to spew the liquid that’s been begging to surge free.

The breaking of the volcano’s stability causes more pieces to crumble as my eyes glow with the

swirling red controlling my irises. The molten creatures break apart as the earth crumbles more, and

Devin holds his arms up to shield us from the dusted debris and shattering volcano walls.

The remaining bits of the structure explode around us, and the open air rushes me as Devin’s arms

lower under the red sky set aglow from my burning outrage.

The fire continues spiraling around us, and the earth wilts beneath our feet. Pyrrha’s aged body

continues to deteriorate, and she uses her magic to force a shield up. My power is too strong though.

She’s forced to use too much energy to counter my strength, and her aging hastens as if Father Time

has been materialized in the form of a flesh eating disease. Very liberally, the time she’s abused

betrays her.

“
No!”
she screams one last time just before she crumbles to dust from her own doing.

The fire doesn’t cease, the power still rages in me, and it continues to climb outward as my