The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) (17 page)

Talan’s eyes were hopeful. “Yes. Do you remember anything else?”

Kala shook her head. “No.”

Talan sighed, defeated. “I don’t know how to fix you.”

“How did you make your hands burn?” Kala wondered how he knew there was water in her head.

“I’m a Grigori angel,” he explained. “I’ve helped you with your memories before when you first became Atlas.”

Kala liked the sound of Talan being an angel. Better than a Demon she supposed.

Or a human.

Something inside of her stirred at the thought of a human. She was human, wasn’t she? What else could she be? Kala needed to know.

“Am I human?”

Talan nodded. “But you’re something more as well. You have a Titan inside of you.” His face grew concerned. “I’m just afraid he’ll break through the Lethe water first and take over your body.”

Kala shook her head. “Gaia said that couldn’t happen. He’s dead now.”

Talan and Kala both stopped.

“How did I know that?” Kala wasn’t sure where her statement about Gaia had come from. She tried to follow the memory to recall anything from it, but it was as if she had nothing to draw from, just a big empty space.

Talan’s face lit up. “You’ve always been able to do things that no one else thought you could. Maybe you can find your memories on your own.” His expression turned awe-filled. “Did you speak with Gaia? She hasn’t been seen in thousands of years, before I was imprisoned.”

“You were imprisoned? I’m so sorry.” Yet Kala didn’t feel sorry. It was the strangest thing, so she voiced it aloud. “Why don’t I feel bad for you? Shouldn’t I feel bad for you?”

Talan laughed and it made Kala’s heart warm at the sound. “You’ve expressed on many occasions that I whine too much about my prison. It was in the 5
^th
Heaven, which is quite beautiful.” He brushed his hand against her cheek and Kala could see the love in his eyes. “Your mind is fighting the water. You’re remembering emotions rather than solid visions of your past.” Talan kissed her forehead, which sent a thrill down her spine. “Now tell me about Gaia,” he prodded.

“There’s nothing to tell. I don’t remember,” Kala confessed. “I don’t know why I said what I said. Who is Gaia?”

“A part of her is inside you and gives you great power. Like I said, she’s been gone for a long time, if she came to you, then she must believe things are dire. And she must believe in
you
.” His eyes shone with pride.

“She’s my mother.” The words came out of Kala’s mouth as if someone else spoke them.

Talan’s face paled. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.

It scared Kala. “Is that bad? Is Gaia evil? Say something.”

Kala couldn’t remember the meeting with Gaia, but she knew she was Gaia’s daughter. And she knew she needed to tell Talan. She just didn’t know he’d respond this way.

Talan snapped out of his stupor. “Kala…” he paused, then continued, “That changes everything.” He ran his hand through his hair in worry. “I just don’t know if we can rely on what you’re saying. What if Hades tainted that water to make you believe certain things? It could be part of his plan to throw us off.”

“Rhea threw me in, not Hades.” Kala shook her head in surprise. “Maybe your little angel hocus pocus is helping me unlock some of this stuff. I don’t know where it’s all coming from.”

Talan shook his head. “I couldn’t get past the water. This is all you.”

Kala wanted to kiss him again, but instead she asked, “Are we in love?”

Talan didn’t answer right away. After a moment he finally replied, “
I
am. Your heart belongs to another.”

Kala couldn’t imagine feeling more intensely for someone other than Talan. It was as if her mind and body were being pulled to him by a force she couldn’t control. The mere concept of being in love with another man was… heartbreaking. She wondered if, when her memories came back to her, if she was secretly in love with Talan and hadn’t told the other man. If so, she felt bad for whoever it was she was supposed to be in love with.

“Who is he?” By asking, Kala could see that it hurt Talan to talk about and she instantly regretted it.

Talan took a step back from her, keeping his distance.

It killed her in ways she didn’t expect. All Kala wanted to do was close the distance between them and feel his body against hers again. The sensation was so overwhelming, she almost did it, but she waited to hear Talan’s answer.

“His name is Jack Norbin,” Talan finally admitted.

Hearing the name sparked a deep pain inside Kala. The sensation was so powerful she began to collapse.

Talan was there to catch her before she fell to the ground. When she had regained her balance, he moved to step away, but Kala stopped him with her hand. “Don’t go.” Pulling him in, Kala kissed Talan again. This time he was quick to respond, his hands drawing her into his chest.

The force of their passion left her breathless, yet she couldn’t seem to get close enough to him. It was as if the more they kissed, the further away he became. Her desire for Talan grew fevered and obsessive. She needed him more than anything she’d ever needed before. She knew this even without her memories. Kala kissed him harder, as if she could devour him whole. Talan’s energy seemed to fill her up. The more she kissed him, the more she felt them becoming one.

“Kala,” Talan choked.

With sudden terror, Kala pulled away as Talan dropped to his knees, his face pale, his body weakened. She covered her mouth with her hand in shock. “What did I do?”

Talan breathed in deep, trying to regain his strength. Kala knelt down next to him, touching his face, kissing his forehead. “I’m so sorry,” was all she could say.

Though Kala had no memory, she realized what she had done. She had almost consumed Talan like she had done with Atlas.

She remembered.

Standing on a beach, the Titan Atlas cowering in fear, Kala being so angry, so full of rage… why?

Jack.

Kala had to kill Jack and Atlas was making her. All she could see was red. All she could do was destroy. She wanted to make Atlas suffer. She wanted to make him go away.

So she did. She swallowed him whole and he died inside her, becoming a part of her, integrating into her soul.

Kala snapped out of the memory and her heart squeezed with shame at what she had almost done to Talan.

He must have seen the horror in her eyes because he said, “I’m okay. You stopped in time.”

“I can’t control it,” Kala confessed in misery.

Talan reached out and cupped Kala’s face with his hand. “It’s okay, Kala. I’ll be fine. At least we know you still have your powers down here. That’s a good thing.”

“I almost devoured you whole and you’re telling me it’s a
good thing
?” It only made Kala want him more, but she reined in her self-control for fear of destroying him. “It’s just, when you said that name… I didn’t want to hear it. It was too painful. My connection with you was strong enough to make me forget.” Kala sighed and stood up. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” She knew the answer before she asked the question.

Talan nodded, then motioned around the gray landscape. “We’re in the land of the dead, though. I think that’s where you were headed before Rhea threw you into the river. You needed to see Jack. It won’t be him, Kala. He’ll …”

“He’ll just be an empty shell,” Kala finished, not knowing where the words came from, but they were true, like the others. “I know.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s good I don’t remember him since I don’t feel the need to find him now.”

Talan stood with her. “We have to get your memories back. You’re too dangerous without them.” He seemed fully recovered as he sighed in frustration, “You don’t know how hard it was for me to get in here, not even Zeus could enter. I’m it until the others can figure out a way to break Cronus’s protections spells.”

His words didn’t mean anything to Kala except that she’d have Talan to herself for a while and that made her happy.

But Talan obviously had other plans. He took a few steps away from her, calling out, “HADES! I know you can hear me! We need your help!” Talan gave Kala a smile. “Let’s see whose side he’s on.”

“I’m on no one’s side, Grigori.”

Kala and Talan turned to see a man dressed in a black suit with long black hair to match. His skin was sallow, almost as gray as Kala’s, his body thin as if he was a skeleton with skin painted on.

Hades grumbled in irritation. “Now what do you want?”

Chapter Thirteen

Kala stared at the god Hades. There was something familiar about him, but she simply couldn’t place it. Maybe she knew him? He definitely seemed grumpy.

Talan addressed Hades first. “Your mother dumped Kala into the river Lethe.”

“Very clever,” Hades laughed, which was actually quite terrifying, enhanced by the deep lines creasing his cheeks. His amusement faded after a few moments, though, and his face reverted back to an expression of annoyance. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“I can see the water swarming inside her head, but I can’t take it out,” Talan admitted with frustration.

“And you think I can?” Hades demanded.

“I know you can,” Talan responded with confidence.

Kala watched the exchange silently. The entire conversation was about her, but she had no attachment to it. Part of her wanted her memories back because her instincts were screaming that she needed them, but another part of her brain was enjoying the silence. Her life was already becoming complicated and she had only been wiped memory-free for a short time.

Hades shrugged. “Of course I can, but why should I? From everything I’ve heard of Kala Hicks, keeping her muted seems like a brilliant idea.”

Talan’s anger flared, “She’s Atlas now, did you forget about that? She only has two days to complete her mission!”

“And?” Hades appeared unfazed.

“
And
the planet dies!” Talan was appalled at Hades’s lack of concern.

“We can always start a new one,” Hades sighed. “I don’t even know why I came when you called. You Grigori are so righteous and
this one…
I thought I could officially meet the girl who woke me up, but she’s useless, too.”

“Why did you send her here then? You must have had a reason.” Talan sounded exasperated.

Kala found that she wanted to know the answer to that question as well.

Hades shrugged. “I was feeding on her life power, you idiot. Taking her life gave me the strength to come back home.” Then he smiled. “And when she told me she was Atlas… well, the whole thing just seemed too serendipitous to ignore.”

Talan nodded as if he had just understood some giant revelation. “You want her to fail her next mission. That’s why you brought her here. You don’t care what happens to the world above us because you want to collect the billions of souls that will die if Kala fails her Atlas task.”

Hades didn’t deny it. “So?”

Talan was appalled. “You’d side with the Titans?” he asked incredulously.

Hades’s own temper rose at the accusation. “Well, what have my brothers ever done for me? We fought the Titans and won, then we fought them again and I’ve been taking a nap for two thousand years. I’m weak, but a couple of billion souls would do just the trick to perk me up.” He calmed himself once more. “I hate the world anyway. I
want
it to end.”

Kala found the exchange fascinating. The world. Hearing Hades say he wanted it to end stirred a rage inside of her. Another image formed in her head of a man… Jack. The man Talan said she was in love with. The man who died. The memory was of Kala pointing a gun at him and he was begging her to kill him. Her head squeezed in pain as she saw the memory of her pulling the trigger.

Kala fell to her knees. When she looked up, Hades’s attention was focused on her. Talan knelt by her side.

“Did you have a
memory
?” Hades inquired in shock.

Kala wasn’t sure if she should lie or not, so she told the truth. “I’ve had a couple.” She turned to Talan. “My life is painful, isn’t it?”

From the expression on Talan’s face, she could tell that he didn’t want to answer. Finally, though, he nodded. “But there are good things as well.”

Hades hadn’t moved as he continued to stare at Kala. “That’s impossible. You shouldn’t be able to have any memories.”

Talan turned to plead with Hades. “I’m telling you, she’s different. Even if you don’t want to side with your brothers or the Titans, side with her. She’s going to change everything. She’s the Fated One from the prophecy.” It was so heartfelt Kala was a little embarrassed that Talan was referring to her. He made it sound like she was some type of leader or something. Not that Kala was opposed to the idea; it was simply that she was enjoying not having any responsibility.

“Please,” Talan implored, “just give Kala back her memories.”

Hades shook his head, fear in his eyes. “No. I just saw my mother for the first time in 2,000 years and I thought she was being paranoid, but she was right. Kala Hicks is too dangerous.” His demeanor was determined. “I’m keeping to my plan: she stays in the Underworld. If you want her to be happy, stop trying to get her memories back. Rhea did her a favor.”