Of Water and Madness (33 page)

“Yes, but without you, he would have never been able to construct this army of his.” Rhiannon motioned to the battle waging on beyond them with her arms, shaking her head. “So really, you are more valuable to him than he is to you.”

“No.” Vivica let out a huff of breath, suddenly annoyed by the direction the conversation had taken. “Dante released me, therefore I would still be in Hell if it wasn’t for him.”

“I’m sure it was only a matter of time before someone suitable came along. Maybe someone who would truly appreciate your talents.” Rhiannon held Vivica’s eyes, woman to woman. This was the way to get to her, she was certain of it. She just had to keep pushing…

“Dante does appreciate me,” Vivica replied haughtily, sneering at Rhiannon. “What do you know, anyway?”

“I know that I see you doing all of the dirty work, while he sits back and takes the lion’s share of the credit. Like back at the Inn, when you kidnapped me? He had you destroy the room, didn’t he? And I’m assuming it was you who somehow located me and you who drugged me. It was you who had to spend time on Euphora, spend time with Liam, convincing everyone that you were just a normal, human girl. And then it was all up to you to get into our heads and force us to fight. It was you who had to transport us here from New York. And now it’s you who has to control the monsters you released from their prisons, all while he gets to sit back and chat somewhere with Liam. And did he ever once give you credit for any of that? Not really, not in the way you deserve. No, it’s all about him and it’s always been all about him. This is his war, his revenge, and his emotional baggage.”

“Shut up, what the hell do you know, you little brat,” Vivica snapped, the urge to strike Rhiannon in the face rushing through her in a wave of sudden violence. But, just as it had been with Dante, the seeds were now planted, and they were growing whether Vivica wanted them to or not.

Turning away from the girl, Vivica focused back on the battle, closing her eyes to center herself. She was still in full control of the beasts, but from the looks of it, they weren’t winning.

Two of the three harpies had been shot down from the sky and were lying dead in the grass, while the third one circled overhead, grieving and vengeful over the deaths of her sisters. Nearly half of the demons had been destroyed, with the human’s they’d possessed being treated and put into a deep, comforting sleep by the Muses under a tree some yards away.

The dragon, the Black Dog, and a handful of demons still remained in the fight. And from the looks of it, those on the Euphora side were hardly wounded.

Annoyed, Vivica upped the ante and urged more aggression in the dragon, knowing it was their best bet. And as she did so, she felt some of her own strength leave her as she concentrated more of her mind on the creatures, and yet she couldn’t help but think of Dante and what the hell he was doing up there on that cliff.

Having a fine little chat, that’s probably what he’s doing, she thought bitterly, her eyes flashing as they opened to stare out at the battle once again. The man certainly loved to talk. In fact, she was certain this could have been pulled off much more effectively had they not been so theatrical about it. They should have ordered Thea and her posse to show up or they would kill the girl, and then she could have used her control to keep them submissive while Dante simply shot and murdered them all. Then they could have left Thea and Sebastian to wallow in the blood of their family, and she and Dante could have stormed Euphora and taken over.

But no…Dante had wanted excessive dramatics. Like forcing them to bicker amongst themselves, and scare a handful of humans with exploding lights and earthquakes. And goddamn monsters that she honestly didn’t know what they were going to do with once the battle was over. She wasn’t capable of locking them up again and she couldn’t control them forever. Eventually they were going to have to be released and she’d be damned if they’d turn on her.

Feeling suddenly incensed, she glared over at Rhiannon, who had been watching her quietly, her arms still crossed protectively over her chest. The girl was just weak, she didn’t even want to fight with the others. How pathetic.

“Do you know why Dante is the way he is, Vivica? Why he’s so angry with all of us?” Rhiannon said suddenly, sensing she had given the woman enough time to stew over what had previously been said.

“He hates you all for the same reason I do. Being banished creates resentment,” Vivica responded confidently.

“It does, yes. But that’s not everything.” Stepping closer, Rhiannon let her arms fall to her sides in a gesture of trust and openness. Woman to woman… “Did he tell you the reason he didn’t want to just kill us? Why he insists on always toying with us, using our insecurities so we fight with each other while he gets to watch from the sidelines?”

“He enjoys the theatrics of it, that’s all.” Vivica brushed the thought away callously.

“It’s because he’s obsessed with us.” Rhiannon’s own eyes widened as she acknowledged the complete and utter truth behind her statement as she said it. Of course…it was so obvious to her now…

Vivica snorted out an impatient laugh, hiding the fact that the girl’s words had sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine.

Inspired, Rhiannon continued. “His entire life he’s been told that he’s one of us, and yet he can’t be with us. His mother was all he had, and I’m sure she told him countless stories about Euphora, and about Thea and Sebastian. He grew up craving nothing more than being in his true and rightful home. But he also had to understand that that was never going to be a possibility for him, because of his demon blood. And so he resented us, but along with that resentment came his obsession. He obsessed over his mother, because she was his only link to us. And when he got old enough and smart enough, he understood that he could manipulate us, that we weren’t perfect and that we could be weakened. So that became his hobby, his life’s goal…to get so ingrained in our lives that we would have no choice but to accept his existence. That’s all he’s ever wanted…our acceptance.”

“Bullshit,” Vivica managed, though the word had no feeling behind it. She had gone rather pale while Rhiannon had spoken, her anger diminishing and confusion and turmoil replacing it. “Dante wants to destroy all of you, he wants to make Thea suffer.”

“I don’t think he even truly understands what he wants, Vivica.” Shaking her head, Rhiannon frowned. “He thinks that what will ultimately make him happy is to see us all dead. But in reality, he quite simply cannot exist without us. We are everything to him.”

“No, no, I don’t believe you,” Vivica stammered, her hands shaking as she ran them through her hair, clutching her head as she fought to steady her breathing. “This has not all been for nothing. This has been for the purpose of destroying all of you and getting revenge on Thea for banishing us. Dante loves me.”

“None of that is true, and you know it,” Rhiannon argued, stepping up the heat now. “He’s only using you. He’s using you to play his game, to create more havoc for us. Don’t you see that? If he loved you, he would have told you the truth. But instead he’s lied to you.”

“
No!
” Vivica struck out then, her hand swiping viciously across Rhiannon’s cheek in a stunning slap. Rhiannon stepped back, holding her face and wincing from the stinging pain.

“If you don’t believe me, then go find out for yourself,” Rhiannon managed, looking up to meet Vivica’s angry eyes as her hands fell down to her sides. “Go to wherever you sent them, and force him to tell you the truth. That’s how it works, isn’t it? You get inside a person’s head and you force what’s really in their minds out of them?”

Vivica seemed to think about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to go find out the truth…and the girl was right, she was easily capable of it. And really he ought to be carrying more of the burden of pulling off this whole scheme of his…

“Fine. But you’re coming with me,” Vivica decided, grabbing Rhiannon’s arm suddenly and yanking her against her harshly. “I don’t want you skipping off to freedom just yet. You’re still good leverage.”

Rhiannon’s eyes widened, but she nodded, steeling herself against the fear. They were going to where Dante was, which meant that Liam was there too…and the thought of seeing him suddenly lifted her spirits and gave her strength.

Vivica didn’t even spare one last glance at her monsters and demons as she snapped her fingers and plunged them both into darkness.

Liam clutched his pistol in his hands, his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes trained on the shadowy serpent currently slithering in circles around him, preparing to attack.

So far, his bullets had been utterly useless. How was he to know that lead bullets did next to nothing to a demon? He had never been trained in fighting demons before…

And apparently, demons were impervious to water, because dousing Dante had done little as well. The only thing that had seemed to have any effect whatsoever had been attempting to shower Dante in ice and freeze him, but he was so quick that it was near impossible for the ice to settle long enough to solidify.

So they were squaring off, and Liam felt pathetically useless. He hadn’t expected Dante to transform, but now that it had happened he realized what a foolish assumption that had been. Of course Dante would play dirty, that was how he did everything.

But…he had an idea on what might make Dante transform back into Dryad form. After all, the man was a conversationalist with a monstrous ego. Playing into that ought to do the trick…

“Did you know that Blythe wants to marry the bounty hunter?” Liam began, keeping his gun pointed at Dante even though he knew it was virtually useless. “She wants to have kids with him and everything.”

Dante let out a guttural hissing sound that sounded threatening, so Liam happily continued. “You really screwed things up with her, buddy. If you had played your cards right, she might have chosen you instead of him.”

Dante let out another low, aggressive noise, but Liam only smiled. “I’m sorry, does the realization that it’s your own fault you lost her to another man bother you? I guess it would bother me to know what a loser I was.”

For whatever reason, those words worked like a charm because Dante reared up and let out a manic hiss, only to suddenly transform from a sweep of black smoke into his Dryad form, his face contorted with jealousy and wild rage. “
You insufferable piece of
–”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was jolted by a sudden flash of white light that blinded them both for a flickering moment. When it cleared, Vivica and Rhiannon appeared in front of them, side-by-side.

Liam gaped, terror gripping his heart and thinking that everyone else was dead and Vivica was only coming to tell them the news. But he could still hear the commotion from down below in the valley…he met Rhiannon’s eyes, and she nodded very slowly, as though to say that she knew she was doing.

And when Vivica suddenly burst forward and stormed up to Dante, pressing her hands against the sides of his face with madness in her eyes, Liam stepped aside and backed toward Rhiannon, watching the scene unfold before him.

Dante’s surprise gave Vivica the time she needed to get into his mind, and when his expression of shock faded to one of blank indifference, it was clear that she had him.

“
Why did you release me?
” she bellowed, her eyes boring into his as he hovered before her, helpless under her control.

“To use you,” Dante said placidly, his deep voice oddly haunting without his usual bite.

“
Why?
”

“Because I wanted to step things up a notch and really hit Thea where it hurts. You were the perfect tool. You’re not only powerful, but you had a unique history with Thea that no one else has, and a thirst for revenge that I could influence and use.”

Vivica’s hands began to tremble but she held firm, determined to hear it all from him as her fury began to build. “Were your intentions really to kill them all and destroy Euphora?”

Dante shook his head, his lips curving into an eerie smile. “If they die, then it’s all over.”

“What’s over?” Vivica demanded.

“Everything.”

Dante’s eyes closed peacefully as Vivica covered her face in her hands and let out a raging scream that echoed forcefully off the mountain side and down into the valley below.