Zeus (The God Chronicles) (18 page)

“The loony bin?” I sneered, the tears having stopped for a moment.

“Nice,” he said smugly. “They are the Fates. They were the ones who banished me! I thought I recognized them when they were there before, but I wasn’t sure. When I saw you with them, I knew they were bringing you to me. You were the one I was going to fall in love with.”

“Hold on a second,” I said suddenly, the puzzle falling together. “You’re saying that Jessie was part of this too?”

“Yes!” He said triumphantly.

“I know exactly what’s going on.” The tears started falling again, and I felt my heart break completely in two.

“You all planned this somehow. A big joke on the naive girl from out of town. I get it. They’ve been to your club before, and you’re all friends. They got me to come to you and you started this prank to get revenge after I turned you down. Well congratulations, it worked.” I turned and headed for the door.

“Karly, no! That’s not it, I swear,” he pleaded, blocking my path.

“Get out of the way,” I said softly.

“I know you love me, Karly. I can feel it.” He dared to look hurt after everything he’d said to me. I shuddered when he placed his hands on my shoulders, his eyes pleading with me.

“The shock in the dining room today, that was my powers coming back. You fell completely in love with me today, we both know it!”

“You’re wrong,” I whispered. Tears fell with new force, a confirmation to myself that I couldn’t possibly be in love. I focused on the floor, unable to meet his gaze. “I don’t love you. I couldn’t love someone who lied to me like this—someone who has never been honest with me.”

He jerked his hands from me like he’d been burned, disbelief plainly displayed.

“Karly, don’t do that. Please, we can talk about this. I swear, I’m telling the truth.” I didn’t know if I imagined his eyes were shining. Truthfully, I couldn’t see through my own tears.

“Sure,” I hiccupped. “We’ll talk about it, later.”

“Okay,” he said. Relief rolled off him. “It’s late. Do you want to talk tomorrow, after you’ve slept some?”

“Sure.”

I felt numb. A nagging voice scolded me for lying to him, but I didn’t care.

He kissed me on the forehead and moved out of my way, opening the door for me.

“It’s going to be okay, you’ll see,” he said. “I’m not lying.”

I didn’t look back as I left, walking straight to my room and closing the door behind me. I leaned against it, holding my breath until I heard his shut. Tremors wracked my body as I slid to the floor, covering my mouth to keep the sobs that were clawing their way up my silent throat.

My roommates had seemed so nice. They didn’t appear capable of treachery like this. Seeing Jessie in the doorway, though, I knew something had been going on, something they hadn’t told me about. The people I’d trusted most in this new step of my life had done this to me. And why? I’d been nothing but nice and in no way deserved this! I was a good person—what kind of a person would want to break me like this?

I should have known Zeus would always be a jerk. My first impression had been right, and I’d tossed it away like it was nothing. Letting myself get too close was a mistake. There were warning signs, things I simply wrote off.

I didn’t love him, not anymore. It was sad to have loved so much for so little a time, but I couldn’t feel the same way about him anymore. What if every single thing he’d ever said to me was a lie? Maybe he’d never been married before. It was possible that he could have taken the casino from Kronos—whoever the heck he was—in the first place. Maybe . . . . There were so many maybes I didn’t even know what to think. I did know I never wanted to see Zeus again.

With this realization, my tears ceased and I stood, my feelings finally quiet. My parents weren’t going to be happy when they woke in the morning, but it would be okay. Zeus could tell them how he was a liar.

I pulled my suitcase from the closet and laid it on the messy bed. Slowly, my things were gathered from every corner of the room and packed away. Zipping it up, I heaved it off the bed and set it on the floor next to the door, my heart in my throat.

There were no sounds other than the rain, slapping every surface in reach—everyone seemed to be asleep. Quietly, I slipped through the door, heaving my bag up behind me. I inched passed Zeus’s room, holding my breath until I was safely past and hurried down the hall out the front door.

Within a few seconds I was soaked through. I was grateful for the rain. The storm masked the opening and closing of my trunk, as well as my shoes squelching to the driver’s side. I was sure no one heard me get into the car and drive away.

Chapter Twenty

I drove out of town, my need to escape pulling me down the highway at breakneck speeds. Going back to Vegas stung like a slap in the face, so I went the opposite direction, taking the exit for Sacramento. San Francisco called out for me like a siren, the once place that had always felt right for me.

After several hours on the road, my cheeks were tight with dried, salty tears that fell intermittently. The drive was a lot longer than going back to Vegas would have been but, thankfully, I had extra money on me. I’d planned on going shopping, like everyone else in the country would be on Black Friday, but not anymore.

Each piece of Zeus’s confession seemed to stab at me, drawing blood with each jab. I thought the girls were my friends. It was true I hadn’t spent much time with them once Zeus and I started dating, but it had still felt like we were close. When I’d seen Jessie in the doorway, I’d worried something bad had happened. Now I knew the truth—she was merely out to get me. I wished I’d screamed at her too. Nobody should have to feel the way I did.

Zeus had broken my heart. I could get over the stupid joke if he hadn’t told me that they’d planned it from the beginning. Now I didn’t know the difference between the lies and reality. Did he even have a friend in trouble? It was embarrassing to realize I hadn’t caught on. I could’ve saved myself so much heartache if I’d stuck to my guns and refused to go out with him. I could only imagine the jokes I would have suffered through if I had slept with him.

Cities and towns rolled by as I continued to drive, letting the warm morning rays dry my face. Each mile I put behind me was a lie I’d been told—left in the past where it could gather cobwebs.

I arrived in San Francisco in the early afternoon. Each turn took me further away from the pain and closer to what I’d wanted to begin with—the art institute. When I’d been in high school, I’d memorized every mile of the long trip to the school, dreaming of the day I would finally attend and all of my dreams would come true.

As I analyzed my situation, I realized it probably wouldn’t look very good if I dropped out of school now. The semester was almost over, and I could probably persuade my teachers to let me turn things in online, so I could stay here. I wouldn’t be able to go to the art show, but that was fine. If I could go to school here, none of that would matter anyway, right?

I pulled into the empty lot and gazed in wonder at what I’d hoped would be my alma mater. I wasn’t accepted before, that was true, but I would beg them to reconsider—paint a portrait of the dean, offer to teach disadvantaged youth in the area about art, anything that would persuade them to let me in. I’d tried other routes and been screwed over. This was the only thing I’d ever really wanted. I had to have it—why couldn’t they see that?

I was so tired. I wanted to finally feel like I’d won at something, instead of settling for something else. After sitting there for an hour, I drove away and headed to the beach.

There were no more tears left for me to cry, only determination. I knew I should call home, but Zeus might still be there. Mom would understand eventually, but for now she needed to stay in the dark.

The road ended at the ocean, a pier jutting out over the water with only a couple people in sight—either everyone was out shopping incredible deals, or they were all still in a food coma.

I parked and got out to stretch, feeling like it was safe to leave the comfort of the car at last. There was a slight breeze, which made my sleepy ponytail flutter around my face, and it was nice there wasn’t anyone to see my “just out of bed” appearance—neon green and yellow pajamas and all.

The smell of salt and the sound of the waves calmed me further as I walked down the beach. I flopped down into the sand when I reached the water’s edge, removing my shoes and rolling up my pants so the liquid could wash over my skin.

When I was little my family had taken a road trip, and we’d stopped in Los Angeles for a break at the beach. I’d tripped and skinned my knee while running around, and I didn’t know where my parents had gone. As I sat crying in the sand, a man walked out of the ocean and asked me what was wrong. After a short explanation, he helped bandage me up and sent me on my way, seeming to return to the waters he’d come from.

I smiled to myself as I remembered the pure childlike wonder I’d felt at this magical being whom I know now was nothing more than a lifeguard. It was a shame that there weren’t any lifeguards around—it would have been nice to have him here to help me—to tell me it was okay and make the hurt go away.

I wiped away the single tear that had fallen while I’d remembered, laughing at myself. There was no such thing as magic.

I threw my suitcase on the modest hotel’s generic, stiff bed and headed for the bathroom, feeling the need for a shower As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I needed to go back to Vegas, even if it was just to get my things. I would finish out the semester and move on one day at a time. The salt air had helped clear my head—I was an adult with responsibilities and would act accordingly.

And then I would run away from it all.

I made the water hotter than normal, trying to burn away the hurt and anxiousness. Thankfully, it helped me relax some, though I still felt pretty bad. The heat never ran out, and I finally dragged myself from the tub. My pajamas were covered with sand, so I slipped on a pair of cotton shorts and a t-shirt before combing my hair.

After almost twenty-four hours with no sleep, I crumpled onto the bed, pulled the sheets up to my chin, and knew no more for the time being.

I was standing in the middle of a large, empty room. There were no windows or doors, just the shiny wood floors and a full-length mirror, which sat right in front of me. Light was coming from somewhere, but I wasn’t concerned enough to find its source.

Instead of reflecting me, the glass was showing my dark hotel room. It appeared I was still sleeping in the bed. For a minute, the picture remained unchanged. Suddenly, the door’s deadbolt moved—slow and silent—to the unlocked position. My form remained asleep in the bed, but my stomach tightened into a knot as I watched from above.

A beam of moonlight grew through the room as the door opened silently. A figure sneaked in, shut the entryway, and slipped back into the shadows. Try as I might, I couldn’t find the person until I caught the moonlight glinting off of the blade in their hand. I couldn’t help it—I screamed in terror.

I grabbed the sides of the mirror and started shaking it, yelling in horror. The sound of rushing wings filled the air and a man blocked the view of my room. I realized the beating wings were his and jumped away from the glass as if I’d been burned. His face portrayed fear as he tried to say something, but I couldn’t understand him. He was ripped away by something and the rushing sounds faded.

I ran back to the mirror and the man who stood over my sleeping form, the back of his dark suit facing me. The knife was still in his hands, and I screamed as he raised it high and slammed it down into my chest then ripped it out again. Somehow, I was suddenly falling through the glass, my hands and arms cut and bleeding. I landed on the floor with a painful thud, the wind knocked out of me. Gasping, I looked over to the bed at my side where the man continued stabbing me, over and over again. Blood from the sleeping me was seeping into the sheets and dripping onto the floor. I pushed myself up and ran to the other side of the bed.

“Stop, stop, stop!” I screamed, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him to face me. He resembled Zeus. His nose was bigger, but the eyes were the same, unless you considered the cold, dead look in his. I froze in shock. I was so confused. Suddenly, his appearance transformed, and I was holding the strange angel man instead.

“Wake up, Karly! Run!” he screamed.

I jerked away, tripping over my own feet, and landed hard on my back. The angel man was gone again, leaving my murderer in his place. Trying to put as much space as I could between us, I scrambled to my feet and ran to the door.

The man was behind me in an instant. He shoved me hard, and I fell against the door with a loud thump. Blood trickled from my nose. Hands grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to a sickly smile on his face. Red splatters from the dead me covered him. I gagged at the sight but couldn’t turn away. His eyes were boring into mine, as dead as the form on the bed.

“It’s a dream, just a dream,” I whimpered. The angel man told me to wake up. I was having a nightmare. It was the only explanation I could think of.

The man opened his mouth wide, wider than he should have been able to. There were rows of jagged teeth inside, like a shark. I continued to whimper as it gaped to epic proportions. A low growl rumbled in his chest and he suddenly jerked forward. His mouth snapped shut around me, and I screamed.