Page 91 of The Shadow of Polaris

Stopping to catch my breath, my knees gave out, and I slipped up a step, chin cracking against the hard stone. The taste of blood oozed from my mouth as I continued to pant, rubbing my aching jaw. Just as I suspected, the chamber wasn’t any closer.

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm the rising panic in my chest. Maybe this was a trap? The demon drew a long, sharp claw against my mind. Begging to be set free. I closed my eyes and pressed on, limbing rapidly around and around and around. When her roars receded back into my belly, I stopped to catch my breath. This was useless. I was wasting strength and time. The longer I risked climbing, the longer I allowed Tethys to break the wards around the island.

I paused, taking a moment to think. There had to be something here. Some sign of how to reach the top. I pressed my hand against the stone and closed my eyes, breathing in the sickly floral scent. A faint pulse pushed against my outstretched palm, like a heartbeat. The tower seemed to come to life from my touch. I quieted my mind and continued to listen. It swayed beneath me, rocking with the steady inhale and exhale of my lungs.

Opening my eyes, I watched as a faint shimmer rippled across the wall beneath my palm. Running my fingers across it, my thumb caught a latch. I pulled it and the wall crumbled away, leaving an ornate white door in its place.

Its lock clicked. Of course it’d be locked. Suddenly, I was back in my prison. The splintered door at the bottom of the steps. I pulled my key from its chain and inserted it into the door handle. The metal molded around it, filling the space between its bits. The door groaned against me as I twisted the key, feeling the lock click again. It swung open.

Closing it behind me and tucking the key back into my tunic, I ran down the endless hallway, listening for any sign of life within the musty corridor. Candles flickered to life as I passed them by, ignited by my presence.

The narrow hallway eventually opened up into a blindingly bright throne room. Shielding my eyes from the early morning sun pouring in from the long, stained glass windows, my vision adjusted. Seated atop a golden throne in the shape of a clam shell was Tethys. One slender hand rested across the ornate, bejeweled arm rest. The other held a fine-tipped dagger. The edge of its blade pressed against the trembling, long neck of my nephew.

Chapter 50

“Elpis, my dear. You made it! Good. Good. What a wonderful little family reunion.” She leaned her head in her hand and kicked her foot casually across her knee.

“Aunt Elpis?” Vikar’s eyes widened. “You’re supposed to be in the tower.”

His throat bobbed against the deadly edge of the blade. I hadn’t noticed before, but blood dripped from the rigid, black vines wrapped tightly around his ankles.

“Let him go Tethys, or I-”

“Or you’ll what? Kill me? I’m immortal, or have you forgotten? Stupid, insolent girl.” Her lips spread into a dark smirk. Each perfectly placed dimple glared at me with poised cruelty. I clenched my fists, trying to keep the stitches of reality from reeling apart. I had to stay in control, even if it took every drop of self will not to unleash the demon and let her rip Tethys apart limb by limb.

The goddess pressed her blade further into Vikar’s throat. A small droplet of blood leaked from the incision, streaming down his neck and staining his perfectly pristine amethyst tunic. “Take another step, and I’ll slaughter him where he stands.”

Vikar sobbed, his eyes pleading to be spared. Although a foot taller than the last time I saw him, he had the same boyish features. His voice was deeper, more mature than I’d remembered, but the familiar sweet undertone of childhood still lined his words.

Arcturas growled deeply beside me, her deadly eyes like arrows aimed at their target. One word and she’d pounce. Fury blossomed in the pit of my stomach, like a virus infecting my bloodstream until it devoured me entirely. I didn’t notice that I’d stopped breathing amidst the shaking rage now coursing through my veins. Stay in control.

“Let him go. He’s not a part of this,” I hissed, watching the immortal rise to her feet.

“Oh, Elpis. He’s as much a part of this as you are. You think I didn’t know the moment I left Venia that you and my son had conspired against me?” With a snap of her fingers, the vines slithered up Vikar’s legs and tightened around his chest, pinching the exposed skin of his arms until they drew blood.

“It’s me you want. Not him. Let him go,” I said, leaping forward the second her weapon left his throat.

She snapped her fingers again and a wave of power jolted through me, sending me spiraling through the air. The all-too-sweet smell of honeysuckle was heavy in the air, sucking up the oxygen until my lungs struggled to breathe.

“Haven’t we done this before?” she laughed. “You can’t touch me. Don’t waste your breath even trying.”

“LET HIM GO!” I roared, rising to my feet and unsheathing my sword.

Tethys froze at the sight of the golden blade. Her eyes followed the citrine gems that lined its center. “Why do you have that?”

I remained silent, charging at her again. Another snap of her fingers and the goddess evaporated, only to reappear on the opposing side of the throne room.

“Why do you wield that blade?” she asked. There was a tinge of desperation in her voice.

She snapped her finger again, freeing an invisible force that shoved me into the unforgiving metal armrest of the throne.

“It was a gift,” I said, wiping blood from my lower lip.

“From whom?”

Arcturas pounced for her with bared fangs, only to skid across the floor once Tethys disappeared again.

A single out-of-place ringlet of golden hair hung down her cheek. Tucking it back behind her ear and smoothing the wrinkles in her blush colored dress, she asked, “Where is my son? Where is Aryx?”

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