Jamie's Heart [Amazon Warriors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“It can’t be,” Jamie whispered in despair.

“What is it? What happened?” Conrad asked, almost panicked. He did not like the look on Jamie’s face.

Conrad had no idea what had just happened, but for it to bring tears to this young warrior woman’s eyes it must have been monumental. He had only ever seen her cry once, when she lost her parents.

Jamie started shaking in his arms as he held her tight. She just kept repeating the word
no
in a faint whisper. Whatever had happened was causing her to go into shock. Conrad had to get her back to the estate and find her help. It was the only thing he could think to do.

He picked Jamie up and rushed her to the medical center on the estate. It was times like this he wished he possessed the speed that the Amazon women had been gifted with.

Within twenty minutes, they’d reached their destination. Conrad explained what had happened in the moments leading up to Jamie’s mysterious condition. He decided not to mention the previous night’s amazing sex, not seeing the relevance to the current situation. During his explanation, Jordon walked into the clinic room, demanding to know what had happened. News traveled fast in their close-knit tribe.

Conrad ended up repeating himself as he told the story again.

After he’d finished explaining what had happened, Jordon used her telepathic link with her sister to explain what Jamie could not.

“She’s fighting something, something very powerful. It’s trying to force her into something she doesn’t want. Jamie won’t resurface until whatever it is has been defeated, or she won’t come back at all.” Jordon started crying quietly to herself.

Stubborn woman. Only you find someone to fight an
internal battle of wills with.

All Conrad could do was wait for his friend to come back to him.

I’ve a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore.

Jamie joked to herself as awareness came back to her.

The last thing she remembered was fighting with Conrad on the shore of Strawberry Reservoir and the feeling of having half of her heart and soul ripped from her body.

Her heart broke as she pictured the look of surprise and concern in Conrad’s eyes as her world fell apart. He had no idea what had happened.

Jamie tried to deny the knowledge of what she knew to be true.

It was her last thought before blacking out in denial and pain.

As Jamie surveyed her new and foreign surroundings, recognition slowly dawned on her. Mount Olympus. Jamie was on Mount Olympus. She had never been there before, but she knew enough to recognize the towers rising up from the center of the earth and the city in the clouds.

Mount Olympus was said to be located in the heavens, but to Jamie it looked like a whole new world. White, fluffy clouds surrounded the base of the towers, the sky an array of warm, bright shades of orange. The city was an imposing structure that had her gaping in awe of its beauty.

Slowly, Jamie made her way along a winding path leading her from the base of the huge mountain through an ancient city to reach the beautiful Greek monolith at its peak. It dawned on her that she now stood at the entrance to the home of the twelve major gods of Olympus. One of which would be Ares, the god of war and the father of the Amazon race.

As she walked through the great doors into Olympus, she gazed at the most opulent room she could ever have imagined. No palace in the mortal world could compare to the fifty-foot-high domed ceiling, painted with exquisite depictions of the gods that stood before her. The jewels and precious metals of mortal reality seemed dull in comparison to the gilded adornments of this reality.

Power flowed over and around her. The room was vibrating with it. When she stepped in front of the dais, she could barely bring herself to look up. She found the room intimidating, making her feel small and insignificant. How would she feel faced with the twelve most powerful and awe-inspiring beings in the world?

Jamie was nervous but found the courage to look up at the faces of the gods and her race’s creator. She gasped and nearly fell to her knees. There were no words to describe the magnificence and beauty of the gods. She just stood there, mute.

When she couldn’t look at their brilliance anymore, overwhelmed by their crushing might, Jamie looked to the marble floor she had only just realized she stood upon.

“Do you know why you are here?”

“No, my lord.” Jamie didn’t know who had asked and refused to acknowledge the wrong one by saying the wrong name.

“You have been lucky enough to have your true life partner recognized by us, you have fulfilled the Amazon’s code, and yet you deny our ruling? Do you not think we deserve to hear why?”

Holy shit
.

Jamie had just identified the owner of that voice. It was Zeus, king of the fucking gods.

“How can I accept it when I have not been recognized as his true life partner in return?”

“You must. You have fulfilled the Amazon’s code. He has not. To fight it is to fight our will.”

“I do not wish to fight your will.” She really didn’t. They were gods for fuck’s sake. “But I can’t accept your decision. It will hurt too much.”

“You do not know the meaning of hurt, but if you do not accept our ruling…you will.” Jamie was terrified. At that moment she truly felt like she could shit. A. Brick.

Jamie had to make a choice. Accept a life of being less than whole, a life without Conrad, or die at the hands of the gods. For an Amazon warrior, it was an easy choice. She would die a warrior’s death.

Jamie dug deep to bring forth all the strength and courage she possessed to look up into the eyes of the most powerful being in existence.

“I refuse to live my life as half of a whole. Do what you will,” Jamie stated with calm, confident acceptance.

“You are your father’s daughter, stubborn…and a true warrior.” Jamie knew that the “father” Zeus was referring to was Ares, her creator as opposed to her biological father.

Jamie turned to look at the man in question and saw pride written all over his face. She marveled at his approval.

At that look, Jamie was left feeling hopeful that she may live to see another day.

“It’s a shame that won’t save you from your fate.”

Well, fuck.

“If you insist on fighting our decision, then you must fight to defend yours.” Zeus waved his had regally toward a door to the left of the gods’ dais.

A hoplite warrior walked through the doors, dressed in ancient gladiator armor and wielding a traditional shield and spear. He looked to be eight feet, eight inches tall with what she thought was the muscle mass of ten men. An opponent the size and stature of this warrior wouldn’t normally cause an Amazon any doubt of success, but he was a hoplite warrior, an infantry solider of the gods. That wasn’t an honor one earned lightly.

Jamie watched as the warrior bowed toward the great gods of Olympus.

Zeus spoke, “Kallon, introduce yourself to Miss Price.”

When the warrior, Kallon, rose to his feet, his eyes locked on hers, and without a word, he launched his attack.

Weaponless, Jamie spun and took on a defensive stance before the warrior struck again.

The hoplite was a skilled fighter, but as they fought, Jamie realized that his armor and weaponry were slowing his movements.

Jamie used her warrior training to quickly assess her situation before coming up with a plan, and she smiled smugly to herself.

She slowed her movement to make it appear as if she were tiring, making herself an easy target. When the moment was right, she turned and ran from the other warrior.

If the gods or the warrior knew anything about her kind, they should realize that no Amazon would ever do anything so cowardly, but as she turned her head to her opponent, she saw the looks of smug satisfaction written all over the gods’ faces. All but one. Ares wore a mask of confusion. As the creator of the Amazons, Ares knew everything about them and what they were capable of. He would soon realize her plan.

However, it didn’t surprise her that the other gods knew so little about the ways of the Amazon. The gods were very self-centered beings. As long as the actions or creations of one god didn’t directly affect the rest, they would have little or no knowledge of her people. When her attention finally reached the hoplite warrior, her expression changed into one of terror as he raised his spear, readying to launch.

Jamie’s eyes widened as she saw him throw the weapon that was aimed directly at her, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

Everything seemed to slow down, and she gulped as she watched the spear near, bringing with it an impending death.

Jamie looked back at the warrior and smiled.

At the last instant, Jamie took one large step to the right, the spear missing her by millimeters.

“You know, the problem with spears is once you’ve thrown it, you throw away your only weapon, leaving yourself wide open for attack.”

Jamie ran at full speed toward the hoplite warrior, and within seconds she was upon him. She used the momentum to jump over his impressive height, and as he couldn’t move as fast, Jamie was on his back applying the chokehold before he could even register her actions.

Thanks to her incredible strength, within ten seconds her opponent was passed out in front of her and the gods.

The other gods stood staring. Ares smiled down at her.

“Impressive,” Zeus eventually complimented, “but changing our decision isn’t that easy.”

Without another word, Jamie watched as another twenty hoplite warriors entered the room from both sides of the dais.

Oh, come on.

* * * *

Jordon walked into Jamie’s hospital room early in the morning, ten days after Conrad had brought her sister into the clinic.

She was surprised not to see Conrad asleep in the chair in the corner of the room. Whereas Jordon went home late at night and returned early in the morning, Conrad was there day and night, only leaving to shower and change at home. He ate the terrible hospital food from the canteen and slept in that same chair every night. So even though Jordon hadn’t seen Conrad, she knew he wouldn’t be far away.

Jordon knew Conrad blamed himself for whatever had happened to her sister and wanted to be here when she woke up. Whether he admitted it or not, he loved her sister, everyone knew it. Something had always held him back, and neither she nor anyone else could figure out what.

She sat on the bed where her sister lay, right next to her hip, and grasped Jamie’s hand in her own.

Through their telepathic link, Jordon could feel her sister was getting weaker. Through their mental link, she tried to convince Jamie to come back to them. They could fight her sister’s demons together if need be.

Hey, sis, how you doing in there today…? We miss you, you know…Whatever you’re fighting in there, don’t be a hero…Come home.

She had tried everything in the last week to convince her sister to resurface. She would never give up trying to get her sister back, but she felt so helpless and frustrated.

“How is she doing?” Jordon jumped. She hadn’t heard Conrad come into the room.

Jordon watched him sluggishly move across the room to “his” chair, he clearly wasn’t sleeping well, but there was no convincing him to go home to sleep. She’d tried.

“I can still feel her shutting down, whatever she’s fighting, she’s getting tired. Our telepathy is getting weaker, and if we lose it completely…” Jordon breathed a heavy sigh, dreading the thought of what could happen to them.

“What are you talking about, kid?” he asked with concern, leaning forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

“My dad was a twin.” Jordon spoke to Conrad but continued looking at her sister and caressing her hand. “His brother lost his wife in the war against the harpies twenty years ago. My uncle went mad with grief. He lost himself inside his own head, just like Jamie is doing now. My uncle finally gave in to his emotions, unknowingly severing all ties with my dad. Once that bond was broken, my uncle felt completely alone and eventually took his own life. My father became a shell of who he once was. He said he’d lost his anchor in this world. The guilt ate at him like the grief ate away at his brother. He felt he should have done more to help his brother. Although my dad had Mom, me, and Jamie, he eventually gave up, too. We were only five years old when he shot himself.”

Silence filled the room. Everyone in the tribe knew her father had committed suicide, but no one ever knew why.

“I know me and Jamie complain about our telepathy from time to time, but we need it to stay strong. It makes us who we are.” Jordon felt silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Conrad never said a word. She didn’t even see him move.

“We promised each other we would never do that to each other. It would be too painful for both of us, but I think she’s very close to breaking that promise.”

“The
fuck
she is!”

Jordon was startled by Conrad’s outburst and fell off the side of the bed. “Shit!”

She watched as Conrad started pacing around the room. Jordon picked herself up and sat back on the bed.

It took a long time for Conrad to calm back down, but eventually Jordon turned her head to check on him. Exhaustion had clearly got the better of him, as she found him asleep in his chair.

Jordon was so relieved. Conrad has done so much for her and her sister. He needed to rest.

Turning back, Jordon continued to speak to Jamie telepathically for a few more hours.

God, do you have any idea what we’re going through out here? People are worried sick.
Jordon was running out of constructive things to say, so she just said whatever popped into her head.

Oh, and just so you know, if you don’t come back soon, I’m gonna kick your ass.

“Huh, you wish,” was whispered weakly beside her. She smiled and dipped her head before turning to meet her sister’s gaze.