“Are you questioning me?” I pulled him to his feet and threw him against the wall as hard as I could. His head cracked against the cold stone, which gained the attention of several prisoners.
“No, no, my lord.” The Phantom skittered to his feet and practically ran out of the large room.
I closed my eyes and waited.
Athena’s smell. I would be able to smell her anywhere. She smelled like vanilla and sunshine, like the perfect mix of human and angel. Sweet but made of the earth.
She was close.
I followed the scent; her cell was near the entrance of the prison. I stopped in front of the cell and peered in. She was sitting quietly in the corner, her head on her knees, her hands folded around herself as if she was trying to protect something very valuable.
“Athena,” I said quietly. I allowed my face to morph back into what she was used to.
Her head jerked up.
“Seth?”
I nodded. “We don’t have much time. Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, a solitary tear running down her cheek. My heart clenched in my chest as I watched her push up onto wobbly legs and walk toward me.
“Have they starved you?”
Her voice was hoarse when she answered, “No food and water, and they took…” Her lip quivered. “They drained some of my blood.”
Rage engulfed me as I gripped the bars of the prison. They meant to weaken her so she couldn’t escape. With a roar I lifted the door to her cell straight from its hinges.
“Come.” I held out my hand. Her dirty hand took it.
“You must trust me,” I said quietly as we walked toward the entrance. Several prisoners eyed us skeptically, but nobody said anything. It also helped that I had transformed my face back to Thanatus. They would never challenge him or any other being that had put them there.
As we came back to the river, the Phantom walked around the corner.
“What are you doing?” He approached us, hand on sword. “Azazeel has given no orders to take the prisoner.”
“Do I look like I care?” I answered with a laugh. “I only mean to have a little fun with her. I swear I’ll bring her back once I’m finished.”
“Fun?” The Phantom asked, clearly confused. Idiot.
“Yes.” I purred close to Athena’s ear. “Fun.” I kissed her neck and pulled her against me, meeting her lips and hating that it wasn’t real. Hating that I actually liked it. Both revulsion and fascination surged through me. I hadn’t known as a Fallen I could still feel this connection to someone, someone such as she.
With a moan I pulled back and grinned at the Phantom. “See what I mean?”
“Are you sharing?” The Phantom leaned toward Athena. I could see violet flash through her eyes. She was ready to kill him.
“No.” I pulled her closer to me. “She only has eyes for me, don’t you, my love?”
She nodded her head and pulled my face down to hers, meeting my lips with such aggression I forgot all about the reason behind our little charade.
“Fine.” The Phantom walked off, leaving us near the boat.
When I knew it was safe, I changed back to my normal appearance. “Get in.”
Athena jumped into the boat and grabbed the other oar. Her face looked flushed; her eyes still a brilliant violet. I couldn’t figure out if she was mad at the Phantom or mad at me for what I’d done.
“It was necessary,” I said, staring into her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction.
“I know,” she answered quickly, her eyes blazing violet once more.
“We have to walk through fire to get back to the others.”
She nodded, her head weak from exhaustion.
I stopped the boat on the other side and gathered her into my arms to take her to where the fire waited for us, back up to the cave’s entrance.
Athena fell against my side, her head heavy against me. She wouldn’t make it. There was no way she would make it through the fire without dying. When humans were stripped of blood they became weak. Add that in with angels and their need for angelic blood in order for them to protect their human body, and you had one giant problem.
I held her against the wall and searched my mind for an answer.
If we didn’t get out of there immediately, they would come for us and kill us. If I took her through the fire, she would die.
Either way, we died.
Unless I figured something out, I would fail.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adonis
“Perfect,” I mumbled as the sky darkened. Thousands of flickers of orange light rained down on the perfect landscape.
“I’ve been waiting to kill some Phantoms.” Atlas grinned next to me. I couldn’t help but grin back. The Twelve had joined us a few hours ago and were now assembling in front of the Seekers. They were in less danger of getting pulled to the side of the Phantoms because they were a lot like me, a different race, not a mix.
I waited as the first few Phantoms landed in front of us.