The Heart of War (65 page)

Sinking down to her knees, she was suddenly on her feet again but not under her own strength. Wedged in the corner of the throne room, she heard a great ripping sound and then felt the cold air against her newly bare skin as her pretty gown was cast to the floor in two pieces, leaving her naked with her back to Cernunnos. Then his hot hands were on her shoulders, greedily grabbing, pawing and then slowing to what wanted to be a caress. Alena felt of a puff of his steamy breath cross over her as she heard the gut-wrenching sound of Cernunnos licking his lips close to her ear.

“I have missed you, Magdalena,” Cernunnos whispered as he ran his hands all over her milky flesh. “So long I’ve waited to do this.”

With her face pressed into the corner, Alena offered up one last defiance. “Just get it over with.”

“That’s one,” the Great Horned God chimed, “let’s see how many more times I can make you wish for it to end before it does.” Using one of his powerful hooves, Cernunnos kicked Alena’s legs apart while he grabbed a firm hold of her right hip. Sharp nails and covetous fingers pulled her hips out toward him and her shoulders he pushed the top half of her as far into the corner of the wall as he could possibly get her.

Bleeding forehead pressed against cold, hard, unforgiving stone, Alena struggled to push back with her hands but Cernunnos was far too strong, the more she struggled the harder he pushed until not only her face and shoulders wedged to the corner but so did her chest, making it hard to draw in breath. That thing dangling between his legs grew harder and longer as it searched for entry.

“You let that warmonger defile you, delight at his touch, offer yourself up to him like a fine buffet, and you try to deny me? Your Husband?”

“You’re not my Husband. Ares is my mate. My Lover, my only Lover.”

“Not anymore.”

Alena bit back the scream when Cernunnos entered her. She fought back the urge to vomit and the overwhelming desire to cry as he surged in and out of her from behind. Even though she wasn’t an experienced woman, the pain between her legs was bright but tolerable—after all her only Lover was Ares, Cernunnos paled in comparison.

The agony in her heart and the pervasive sense of burgeoning blackness creeping through her soul were not tolerable. It was the same sensation she’d had in Jaakim’s tent back in Ceres Agar and on the nights when Adrian would come to her room. It was numbing beyond comfortable to walking-dead. This time, Alena feared nothing would ever make the dead darkness go away. The light would not return to her, it would not shine in her ever again; she would live whatever remained of her life more zombie than living. As Cernunnos pumped away inside of her, she tried to think of making love with Ares, how good and right it was, how passionate and intimate. Tried to take some small amount of solace in those wonderful memories as Cernunnos did his best to violate her, to break her down and humiliate her. It was no good, in the end all she could think of was that she wasn’t strong enough to keep her promise to the man she loved. She let him down and because of it he was no longer the only one.

Ares would never want her again after this.

That was when Alena began to cry.

Satisfaction began to wash over Cernunnos when he felt her start to weep. Using the hand between her shoulder blades, he grabbed a handful of her soft silver hair, twisted it around his wrist all the way up to the base of her neck, and yanked her head around. “Look at me.” The snarl on his face turned into an icy grin as he took in the angelic face now swollen and bruised; the tracks of her tears ran their way through the streams of blood. It was her eyes that pleased him most, frightened, broken and ashamed. “We’ve so many nights like this ahead of us; I don’t want to miss a moment of it.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Red Skies At Night

1

For the very first time, Ares God of War, felt utterly helpless, powerless, weaker than a newborn babe. Suddenly Without thought or regard, he began to weep. Bereft of all that meant anything to him in this world, a cold numbing sensation began stretching its tendrils toward his heart. Tearful eyes scanned the beach until they found the exact area where she had been standing…right THERE. Right there. Just out of reach of his arms. They fought, he should have known Alena would never take no for an answer. He shouldn’t have argued with her over it. The last thing he ever should have done was to try to
forbid
her from going with him. If he’d just shut his big mouth for two minutes and listened to her Alena would have been right next to him either holding his hand or snuggled with his arm around her shoulders. Aphrodite would never have gotten the chance to abduct her.

Sitting on his rock, Ares’ upper lip began to curl into a sneer.

You’re the Goddamn God of War! Get up!

Forcing himself to his feet and rising to his full height as he puffed out his chest and threw his head back to gaze at the night sky, Ares let out a howl so powerful it chilled the blood as it echoed through the chilly night. The wolf in him yearned for his Mate, the one stolen from him, it cried out for her to return to him. More than that, it called out to the one who took her, letting him know that Ares was coming. His Love was taken from him but he would not linger in this disease called despair. He would not allow Alena to suffer in anguish or to fall into this horrible darkness. He was the Goddamn God of War and Cernunnos was going to discover just what that meant before the sun rose.

2

Darkness all around.

So tired.

So numb.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Something cold.

Something wet.

Her tongue flicked out of her mouth without her permission to catch it and discover it was fresh cold water. The dark world around her began to rock ever so gently. “Ares?”

“Hush, he’ll come,” a woman’s voice whispered back.

Alena fought the darkness and the numbness all around her as she struggled to open her stinging tired eyes. The slightest bit of light came through the slits punched shut and swollen with blood. She tried to talk but her throat was dry and her jaw ached, it didn’t want to move properly at her command. Strangely enough, Alena found an old movie line suddenly running through her head:
Cut me, Mick, go on, cut me.
In those moments, as she lay here between unconscious and conscious, Alena thought she knew just how Rocky Balboa must have felt.

More water now.

The slivers of light coming through her eyes showed her a clean white rag. The woman above her was wringing the water into her mouth. Alena took it down as fast as she could. Then the rag disappeared though she could hear the woman dipping it into the water once more. From above a shadow loomed over her and Alena was afraid. She cringed and pulled back.

“Can you see me? Maggie? Can you see me?”

No, Alena could not see the woman clearly, only her outline but she thought she recognized the voice. Thought it one that she would never hear again. “Mama?”

“Yes, Maggie, it’s mama.” Mae rang more water into her daughter’s mouth before she eased it over Maggie’s battered face. “I never thought I’d see you again.” She wished it were under much happier circumstances, Mae wrapped her arms around Maggie gently and hugged her close. “I love you, Maggie. I’m so sorry he’s done this to you,” Mae sobbed as she looked down at the body of her naked savaged daughter. “So sorry.”

“Mama,” Alena croaked again as she raised her hand to run it along what looked like the woman’s cheek. She started to cry although there was not much spare water left in her. “Love you, mama.” The tears welling up began to sting her eyes as they searched for an exit to her cheeks and found the way nearly blocked. Alena wanted desperately to be able to look up her mother’s face. “I can’t…see. You have to help me,” Alena whispered. “Find something…sha-sharp.”

“Maggie, my darling, we’re in a cell,” Mae whispered as she looked around at the cell that had been her on-again/off-again home over the last two centuries. She had been sitting here alone not that long ago when Cernunnos came into his Dungeon with a woman slung over his shoulder. Mae knew instantly that it was Maggie; she did not have to see her daughter’s face to know it was her. He opened the door and threw Maggie inside like a sack of potatoes, told Mae to take care of her and he would be back. She should enjoy her little reunion while it lasted.

Alena was weak, exhausted, but there was more to come and she could not hope to fight if she could not see her enemy. “Anything…mama.”

Maggie was right, as much as Mae did not want to do it, her eyelids needed to be cut to relieve the pockets of blood pooling there before they could fester. Mae looked around and saw the same old familiar cell. The straw on the floor for urination and defecation. Torches burning outside the cell, giving some light and warmth to this dreary place. The wet rag in her hand, the bucket of water next to her. The straw stuffed cot upon which they were sitting.

The cot was old and made of wood. The legs were nailed to the frame. Peeking under the mattress, Mae saw nail heads slowly making their way out of the wood. One them wiggled out so far, she thought she could pull it the rest of the way. “Lie down.” Mae got up, eased Maggie off her lap, and laid her down on the smelly straw-stuffed cot. Getting down on her knees, Mae took a closer look at the nail before grabbing hold of it with her fingertip and began pulling it out of its place. “I don’t think this nail will work,” she said, disappointed. “It’s rusted.”

Alena could make out the torches burning somewhere near them. “Fire.”

Mae got up and went to the cell door. Many times over the years she had tried to reach the burning torch closest to her if for no other than reason than to set her cell on fire and end this nightmare. It was always a fingertip’s brush away. However, it was close enough so that, if she stretched her body out completely, Mae could get the tip of the nail into the flame to purify it. She held it there until her side ached and grew weak, until the metal turned red and smoldered. Mae turned back to her daughter lying on the small cot. Pressing the hot tip of the nail to Maggie’s skin, she dragged it across the pocket of blood over Maggie’s left eye. The pocket open, blood poured out. Mae swabbed it up with the wet rag and then held it to the wound until the bleeding stopped. “One more,” she whispered. “Keep your eyes closed.” A moment later blood was pouring down her face again and being swabbed away by the loving gentle touch of her mother.

“Can you try to open them now?” Mae asked hopefully.

Alena’s eyes fluttered open fully and then took a moment to focus but when her mother’s face came into full view, she could not help it, Alena smiled wide. “Oh mama! I see you!” Mae was older, weathered and worn down by Cernunnos, but she was here. Alena threw her arms open wide and took her mother into a warm embrace. “You don’t know how many times I dreamed of seeing you again.”

“My girl,” Mae whispered and held her daughter close, “my beautiful daughter. Oh, Gods, I’d do anything if you weren’t here.” As thrilled as Mae was to see her little girl again she wished it was due to anything but this. Surely Cernunnos planned to use Maggie’s love for her mother against her and that was why he brought her here so Mae could take care of her. They could reconnect and remember their bond one last time.

Holding her hands to Mae’s face Alena did her best to pucker up her swollen lips and plant a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “I’ve missed you, mama. I’m going to get you out of here,” Alena vowed. “Ares is coming and we will all leave this place together. When we get out of here, I’ll bring you home to Ares’ island, you’ll live with us. We’re going to have a baby, mama. You’re going to be a grandmother, after all these years. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Miraculous,” Mae agreed, trying to hold back the tears. “How did I ever get graced with such a strong and beautiful daughter?” Mae asked in a cracking voice, still trying to hold back the water threatening to spill from her eyes and soak her cheeks. She tucked a strand of bloody silver hair behind Alena’s ear. She looked so old and so tired; Mae could hardly believe her eyes. Where did the girl go? Who was this old woman before her? Maggie had been destined to live a very long life but Cernunnos stole it from her.

The Dungeon was dank and dark, lit only by the half dozen or so torches kept constantly burning, but the heavy oak door at the top of the winding staircase which led down here creaked loudly on its hinges whenever it opened. Upon hearing the sound, Mae held Maggie a little closer. “Be quite now, Maggie,” she advised as her old eyes turned toward the bottom of the stairs and she watched the shadows on the wall as the figures descended. Cernunnos’ shadow was unmistakable with those great horns on his head, he was accompanied by three more people, one of them a woman squawking endlessly about how she was a Goddess and Cernunnos could not treat her this way.

Stupid woman.

At the sound of Aphrodite’s voice, Alena pushed herself up on the cot to get a look at the Goddess of Love in chains, one Druid on each side of her keeping a harsh grasp on her upper arms as they led her down to the Dungeon. Even though it hurt like hell, Alena couldn’t stop the laugh rising at the back of her throat as she watched the Druids fasten Aphrodite into place. The Goddess of Love was not given the luxury of a cell, even though two were empty. Instead she was chained to the wall near a second set of chains that hung from the ceiling. Like the chains hanging from above, those on Aphrodite’s wrists were very large, so large, in fact, that someone put heavy rope around her wrists and forearms to keep them in place, prevent them from sliding off her. Rising unsteadily to her feet, she held onto the bars as she made her way to the corner nearest where Aphrodite was imprisoned and Alena recognized those chains. The last time she saw them they had been sitting on Ares’ table. “Now who’s the dumb bitch?” Alena chimed with satisfaction clear in her raspy voice. “Look what you’ve done…to yourself, to Ares, to your whole Family.”