Chapter Fourteen

The gods continued to sit and chat as desdios dragged out large carts overflowing with expensive, rich foods I'd never seen before, or at least, I don't remember seeing. And with that came long flowing gold drapes from above the columns and a deep red back-drop. Several desdios moved forward with instruments, drums and strings and a tambourine.

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I'm going to show you your future. Atlan was going to use Arikos to scare me. I wasn't entirely sure how and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I glanced down the table at Atlan, who sat in calm and perfect repose while running his fingertip along the rim of his golden goblet that was still filled with wine. Xanius leaned over to whisper to him and his mouth twitched, making me frown before turning to Drak, who was duplicating his father's stiff and regal posture in silence while eyeing the desdios that walked past. The other Khalian gathered to their places eagerly, laughing and passing me quick glances like they were amused by my position.

Vinion glared at me silently from her spot across the table and it took everything I had not to wave teasingly at her. Instead, I kept my eyes on the red back-drop when I saw something rustle the curtains, and the band in the corner began to play. I watched two desdios come out, pouring a pair of large snakes out onto the floor. They seemed to know better than to approach the tables and slithered to the center of the floor to rise up and eye the audience warily.

A second later, someone shoved a person through the curtain back-drop and my stomach dropped when I recognized Arikos. I frowned at the way he fell onto his knees unceremoniously and didn't look up at the people.

The music rose and fell very slowly, and then Arikos got to his feet. There was something a bit odd about him. His expression was tired, dazed, like he was unsure where he was at. His cheeks were a bit flushed and he looked... weakened. Severely. He stumbled for a second and some of the gods snickered before he looked around, as if trying to see what was going on around him. The black kohl around his eyes only emphasized the silver of his eyes before they locked on me and he stared at me, and his teeth sank into his bottom lip, something hot flashing through his eyes.

He looked like he wanted to come over to me, but when he took a step, the snake on the floor hissed and snapped at his ankle, making him yelp and leap away from it toward the other snake, who snapped at him as well. Arikos shrank back from them, breathing hard at the sight of them.

He's scared of snakes.

Akin adored snakes, and I was accustomed to them, but I was also accustomed to people who were terrified of them. Raven avoided them like the plague and claimed they "wigged" him out and he loathed their beady hungry eyes. It was why he wasn't a huge fan of St. John, Lucifer's pet snake and one of the first demons in existence.

Arikos was definitely terrified of them, especially when they started to snap at him again and one of them managed to sink their fangs down into his ankle, making him cry out and kick it back. The gods laughed and a couple of them choked on their drinks while trying to cover up their laughs. My stomach contracted sharply and it took everything I had not to get up and bash them over the head. If I made one move, I'd get myself in trouble too and that was something I wanted to avoid so I could bide my time to escape.

But it was getting harder and harder to watch Arikos get bit by the snakes that hissed and moved closer. He slid away from them until he was backed up against one of the pillars, and this time, he kicked the snake so hard it went flying across the room and landed into one of the baskets it had come from. Arikos spun around and kicked the second one, sending it flying into the other basket, breathing hard as he stumbled to catch his balance on one of the columns.

He didn't look so well.

They drugged him.

I recognized the symptoms the longer I watched. He moved like he was struggling against syrupy air, and his pupils were dilated considerably, swallowing the silver in his eyes. He stumbled and hit the floor a second later, gasping for breath. I briefly wondered if the snakes were venomous, but there was no discoloring around the bites. It just looked swollen and bloody. Then again, it was his feet and ankles that had been bit. He was probably in pain.

He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, trying to get to his feet again. He paused for a second, though, and I saw his eyes sweep over to Atlan, and I noticed Atlan lift his drink to his lips. I glanced back at Arikos, who swallowed hard and remained on his hands and knees. He moved at a slow seductive crawl across the floor until he was at the table in front of Atlan, who smirked at him as if amused.

This is disgusting.

My stomach churned and I was suddenly grateful there was nothing there to vomit up, because I probably would've vomited earlier. Despite all the torture and humiliation I'd seen done to others in the past, this seemed to hurt the most. Maybe it was because I knew Arikos, because I felt the strange kinship I did with Raven... Because Arikos was the me that never escaped the abuse.

Arikos had no chance to. He was... broken.

Atlan sprinkled sugar into his palm and held it out to Arikos, who licked it right out of his palm. Atlan just watched him intently, as if daring Arikos to disobey him. Arikos kept his eyes on the palm in front of him, running his tongue along up to the wrist before Atlan yanked his hand back and slapped Arikos so hard his nose started to bleed.

Arikos shrank back, clasping a hand over his nose and falling back against the floor.

"Zelus, you may start." Atlan said calmly, wiping his hand off in a bowl of water with a towel. Zelus moved from his place at the table and moved across the room to Arikos, who scrambled to get away from him, but Zelus caught him by the back of his neck and threw him down across the floor. Arikos whipped around on his back, staring up at Zelus, who stood over him with a menacing glare that dared him to move. Arikos swallowed and slumped back down on the floor, moving his legs apart.

Anger swelled up inside me, crackling and sizzling. The collar around my throat suddenly felt tighter, and I swore I could feel the electricity in it pulsing, preparing to shock me. I clenched my fists tight and bit down on my tongue, trying to leash in my temper as Zelus moved over Arikos at the same time the desdios poured the snakes back into the ring.

Arikos practically screamed at the sight of them and started to leap to his feet, but Zelus caught him and slammed him back down on the floor, pinning him by the wrists. Arikos writhed and squirmed, breathing hard as he eyed the snakes with wide-eyed fear. The snakes hissed, launching for him, obviously angry at his kicking them earlier.

And seeing what Zelus was about to do while Arikos was going to get bitten and attacked by the snakes was the last straw.

I shot to my feet faster than Drak could even see me. I stomped down on the table, launched myself off it and kicked Zelus in the back, giving Arikos time to roll out from under him to shoot to his feet, twirling up and against one of the columns. Zelus face-planted into the floor, then snarled and whirled around to backhand me, but I ducked and swung my knee up into his stomach, making him curse.

Zelus stumbled back, then lunged for me, but I ducked and spun out of the way, bringing my leg around to kick him. He fell over the table, rolled over it, then shot back up and swung his hand at me, sending a blast of fire that I ducked, then snatched Arikos down with me before he could get set on fire.

"What're you doing?" Arikos panted as we hit the floor to avoid another blast of fire. I glanced over at Atlan, who watched in silence. The fact that no one was getting up to do anything meant Atlan had been hoping for me to join Arikos's display. Unfortunately for him, I didn't scare easily.

"I felt like dancing." I replied to Arikos, who screwed his face up for a moment, then paused to stare at my face. I shot him a warning glare. Judging from the way his body was hardening, the drug they'd given him was kicking in. He swallowed.

"S-Sorry." He managed. I shook my head, then got to my feet just as Zelus had finished blasting at us again. I grabbed the nearest thing to me, which happened to be a bowl of fruit, and chucked it at him, but he ducked and lunged for me, catching me around the waist and slamming me into the floor. Arikos made a noise of dismay, shooting to his feet to move for me, but the snakes darted out and blocked his path, hissing at him and he squeaked, leaping away from them.

I cursed and wrestled to get Zelus off me as he slugged me in the jaw. I drew my arm up against his throat to keep him back from snapping at my face with his fangs. I wrapped my legs around his waist and twisted us around so I was sitting on top of him and I brought my hands down together on his chest, making him grunt in pain. I flipped backwards off him before he could attack me further and spun around, sweeping down to grab one of the snakes that launched itself at Arikos, who gasped.

I threw the snake at Zelus, who snarled and tossed it at Vinion, who sliced it in half before it could hit her. Zelus lunged at me and slammed me right into Arikos, who yelped in pain. I cursed and bashed my head against Zelus's, making him step back. I kicked him hard in the chest and he fell back to the floor.

I let him roll around in agony before whirling around to snatch one of the snakes that had bit Arikos's wrist open. I grabbed the snake, which hissed and snapped at my face, but I caught its neck and squeezed tight, watching it choke and throw its jaws open, revealing long thin fangs. I gripped one end of it and the other in both hands and tore it open, turning around to fling it at Atlan, who only moved his head to the side a bit to avoid it.

I glared at him and he stared back. It was difficult to gauge his reaction because he wasn't showing anything physically, but there was a slight spark in his eyes that indicated he was intrigued by me and that wasn't what I was going for. I was irritated by his lack of reaction, but I didn't have time to stand there and have a glaring contest with him because Zelus had launched himself to his feet again and this time was joined by his brother, Ulenon; a tall Khalian with black hair that he kept coiled up out of his face.

Ulenon came at me from the left and Zelus from the right, so I jumped up and gave a well-placed scissor kick to their chests before whirling on Ulenon, who barely budged from it. He came at me, feigned to the right, then kicked me hard in the ribs. Pain exploded in my side as I stumbled and hit the floor, breathing hard as I jerked my head up to see Ulenon standing there, then he paused to stare at Arikos, who seemed to appear to be struggling with the drugs they fed him.

Ulenon cocked his head with interest, but before he could make a move for Arikos, I flipped back to my feet and got so close I could ram our heads together. He hissed and stumbled back. I started to go towards him, but Zelus caught me from behind, linking his arms under mine and hauling me back. I snarled and threw my head back into his face, but he didn't let go. I expected Ulenon to come at me from the front, but instead, he grabbed Arikos by the arm and threw him at me.

Arikos slammed into me and hit the floor, looking dazed again. Ulenon grabbed Arikos by the hair and hoisted him up onto his knees so Arikos was face level with my groin. I clenched my teeth and went to kicked Ulenon, but Zelus tightened so hard on my arms that he nearly broke my shoulder-blades and I gasped hard in pain.

"Go on," Ulenon urged Arikos, jerking at his hair and making Arikos hiss in pain, "If you want to get some food in your stomach, this is your last chance." Arikos actually hesitated and I glared at him. He flinched at the look and nervously looked over at Atlan, who didn't say a single word the entire time. He just kept watching. He did, however, lift his goblet to his lips again and Arikos shrank back as if that mere gesture meant a lot more than it appeared. He looked up at me pitifully.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. I cursed and tried to push him back with my foot planted on his chest, but he just slid his hands along my leg, drawing himself closer until he could take me into his mouth and I snarled in protest. But every time I moved, it just made it even more difficult to ignore the fact that his tongue was incredibly skillful and his mouth so warm and wet. Arikos peered up at me through dark lashes, then continued to suck me until my cock ached from trying to withhold the load.

Son of a fucking bitch.

Atlan was enjoying this. I could see the look of pleasure on his face and the way his cock practically broke the zipper on his jeans. I bit hard on my tongue and kept glaring at him. The more I watched him, the more disgusted I got until I could feel myself going soft.

"Looks like your whore no longer pleases anyone." Ulenon commented, looking at Atlan, who cocked his head and took another drink. Arikos choked on me and withdrew, peering up at me as he rubbed his face against me.

"Hannibal, please." He pleaded softly. I glared at him.

"No."

"Please," Arikos begged, "If you don't--"

"I don't believe you were allowed to talk, whore," Ulenon ordered, shoving Ariko's mouth back around me, then he looked at me with a smirk, "Either the whore sucks or you're impotent."

"Trust me, he's not." Drak said from his seat. The other gods laughed as if their exchange and their words was a riot. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my teeth.

There's only so much I can take and this has gone far enough.

With the plan out of my mind, I kicked Arikos back off me, making him yelp as he fell across the floor. Ulenon went to hit me, but I threw all my weight back against Zelus, who lost his balance and fell back, and while he did so, I lifted my legs up and kicked Ulenon in the face so he fell back into the table and broke it.

I rolled off Zelus, shooting to my feet and stomping down on his throat, making him choke and gasp, rolling over to suffer a collapsed esphogus. I whirled around as Ulenon lunged for me, but I caught him and threw him at the pilar so hard his skull cracked... and blood poured to the floor.

I breathed hard, taking a step back as the smell of blood permeated my senses and my hunger surged forward. My vision darkened, flashing from normal to red and I whirled around, sensing someone else stupidly getting up to attack me. I couldn't make out who it was, because all I saw was red, but I knew they were foe. I caught them against me, letting them slam me up against the column before I drew my elbow up and down on their back, making them yelp and hit the floor where I kicked them hard in the face before reaching down to yank them up so I could drive my knee up into their nose, effectively breaking it.

Something slammed into me from behind after I dropped them, and I caught the next person, throwing them against the column and biting down on their throat. An earsplitting scream rose up from my victim and I froze, recognizing the sound. My vision flickered and flashed until I focused on the person I held against the column, staring at Arikos, who was choking on his own blood, his throat a gaping bloody hole.

No.

Bright red blood splattered up the side of Arikos's face, his eyes wide with panic and agony, and his hands trembling as they reached for the gaping bloody wound that was pulsing with hot blood, occasional spurts of it hitting my face and flying through the air. His skin instantly paled at the blood loss and his body quivered.

No.

The taste of his blood was rich and hot and fresh in my mouth, and I could feel it smeared across my mouth and face, still feel it across my teeth and tongue, sliding down my throat and sitting in my stomach.

No!

Arikos's eyes rolled up in his head and he fell to the floor on his side, sprawled out with blood pooling from his wound beneath him. Horror shot through me and I took a step back before sinking to my knees, my breath coming out in sharp, trembling gasps. Arikos lay on the floor, limp.

Dead.

I couldn't move. I couldn't even find the will to make my body stand up. I couldn't even react when I heard Atlan's hands come together in a clap. All I could do was stare at him as he gave me a smug stare.

"Like I said," He told me calmly, "I'm going to show you your future." Without another word, he got up and left the room. I watched him go, wanting to go after him and rip him open, but the bubbling anger inside me succeeded in terrifying me. I looked back at Arikos, who lay on the floor. I leaned toward him on my hands and knees, reaching out to touch his skin. It was already cold.

No.

No, no, no. Please tell me this isn't happening.

But it didn't matter how long I sat there touching Arikos's arm, giving it a slight push to wake him. He didn't move. He was dead. Cold and bloody and dead and it was my fault. That went through me like a white hot lance.

I killed Arikos.

"On your feet." Drak commanded, approaching me now as the gods rose to disperse, the desdios coming forward to clean the mess. I couldn't move to obey Drak, who rolled his eyes and reached down, grabbing a handful of my hair, yanking my head back with a glare.

"On. Your. Feet. Whore." He ordered. I wanted to spit in his face and yank his hair, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I suddenly felt like I had shut down, like I was running on auto-pilot. I rose to my feet slowly as Drak released my hair. He didn't even look at Arikos.

And now that I looked around, no one even paid any mind to him. He had just had his throat torn open and his blood was leaving a gigantic puddle beneath him, soaking the gold drapes that pooled at the floor, and sliding between the cracks of black marble. The gods walked past him, and even walked over him. The desdios seemed to be waiting to clean him up last and they didn't care that he was there. They went about their business as if he didn't, and never had, existed.

A cold chill crept through me as I stared at Arikos's face.

His expression was peaceful, as if he were just sleeping, as if he could wake up any moment to ask me another stupid question or tell me how sorry he was. The only difference now was that his beautiful caramel skin had faded to a sickly gray.

He's dead.

The words repeated in my head. I knew he was dead. I'd killed him. But I didn't even know it was him. My rampage prevented me from seeing facial features. All I saw was red, different shades of red, to indicate who was attacking me, with how much power, and where they were coming from, and whether they were even living or not. It made me crave blood in a way that I had never craved anything before.

And because of that craving, that desperate hunger, and that rage that I let consume me... Arikos was dead.

I tried to find a way to convince myself that his death didn't matter. Arikos had been the one to turn me over to Atlan in the first place. Arikos may not have even been loyal to me, even after he apologized and wanted to help me escape. Even after he tried to feed me or warn me about Drak back in the arena. He was Atlan's biological son and he could've turned on me.

And yet...

He lived his entire life being used. From the moment he was born, everyone hated him, even his own mother. And Arikos wasn't going to wake up some day to find out she might have loved him, not like me. His mother openly loathed him, and his father... Atlan used him and beat him and treated him like less than an animal. Arikos's life was a miserable cesspool of blood and violence and shit.

And he'd come all this way just to have this throat torn open in front of everyone for nothing more than sheer entertainment.

And I had helped in that.

I felt like I was going to vomit, but I couldn't even manage that. I just felt unbelievably cold inside. I couldn't react, not even when Drak slapped me and teleported us from the main hall to his temple that was further into the valley from the hill where the main hall sat.

"That was so boring," Drak muttered as he entered the temple and my legs carried me behind him in silence, "And to think it took Atlan this long to get rid of that eye sore. I think he's more sentimental than he appears. He even cried publicly over Xenon's betrayal. He's pathetic." I couldn't find myself to care about his little rant as he grabbed me by the arm and forced me to wash my face in the bathing room, then he took me to his bed.

I could barely feel him or hear him as he took whatever he wanted. All I did was stare straight ahead up at the ceiling of his room, then turned my head to stare out the wall covered with windows that were open to allow a salty sea breeze in to ruffle the white curtains that billowed out.

And once Drak was done, he kicked me off the bed and chained me in the corner of his room in an uncomfortable position with my arms twisted up over my head connected to a link on the wall, and the back of my collar to another link on the wall, and my legs forced apart with a golden bar that connected to the cuffs on my ankles.

But I couldn't even really focus on the ache in my arms and legs, in my neck and back, because the position prevented me from being able to slump over in sleep.

I stared straight ahead at the windows, out at the ocean that churned as the clouds overhead began to darken and the sky became night, but the clouds obscured the glittering stars, and passed before the moon that winked at me every chance it could. The sky smelled of rain, and no more than a few minutes later, I could hear the soft drops of rain pelt the glass and the roof.

Drak had gone to sleep almost instantly, curled up in his thick quilts and silks, one arm tucked under his pillow, his lips parted as he slept so silently that one would think he was dead.

And I sat there alone in the corner, watching the rain streak down the windows like ice cold tears.

I don't scare easily.

I don't.

Or at least, I thought I didn't.

What a joke.

This entire time, I prided myself on never being afraid of anything. There was nothing in this world I hadn't seen that made me tremble in fear. Even though Iapetus had forced me to obey him and used threats and insults and fists to beat me. But he didn't scare me. I just figured that was the best I was ever going to get, so I might as well get used to it. I wasn't scared of Akin throwing me out, because even though I knew he wouldn't, if he did, I would understand his reasoning and accept it.

But there was something I was scared of.

Something I was terrified of.

Something that made me sick to my stomach as I watched more rain poured down the glass window panes, and the thunder growled overhead, and lightening flickered like silver lights... and the moon disappeared completely.

So I was left sitting in total darkness with a realization that made me colder than I'd ever felt before.

I'm terrified of myself.