The Pandora Principle

“You really are a coward,” I said. “And I think Hermes is going to kick your ass for shooting him. After I do of course.”

 

 

Moros rose in a fluid motion. “You’d really beat up your best friend.”

 

“If it gets the job done,” I said.

 

Moros grinned. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

 

With a gravelly growl, Moros leapt at me with Serenity’s arms stretched wide. I squatted down, rolled on my back, and planted my foot in her solar plexus. With an oomph, she slammed into the couch behind me. I got to my feet and grabbed her by her head before she could recover. It thunked against the carpet with a muted thud. The box rattled, and laugher filled my head as a rush went through me. I wanted to see her bleed.

 

“Excellent,” Moros said.

 

I gasped and backed away. What in Hades was I thinking?

 

Moros stood up. “I’m going to have so much fun with this one. The things I will make her do with her own hands. And when she finally breaks, it will be delicious.”

 

Heat flashed through me, and tiny flames danced around my closed fist.

 

“Are you planning on burning your friend?”

 

“Just you,” I said. “I’ll rip you from her and send you screaming to the pits of Tartarus.”

 

Serenity’s head went back as a whispering cackle filled the air. “Better than you have tried, little girl.”

 

I gave an inarticulate scream and flew at her. Moros spread Serenity’s arms and closed her eyes with a grin. The shock jarred my body as I crashed into her, and we hit the ground again. The box creaked open and the ker slithered forward with her anticipation reverberating in my mind.

 

Moros stared up at me with Serenity’s eyes, which should have been gold, but were a dull brown instead. I let out a long breath, and the heat pulsing through my body dissipated. I’d almost fallen for their trick. If I’d given into my rage and the anguish sitting in the pit of my stomach, the ker would have seized control, leaving me only a passenger as it consumed my soul. Hermes might take out both of them, but he will have lost both of us while they escaped to find new hosts.

 

I gazed into Serenity’s eyes. “I seem to be saying I’m sorry to the people I care about. I’ll fix this.”

 

Better to sacrifice one instead of two, right? Besides, this had always been my destiny.

 

Moros smirked. “How noble.”

 

I planted my fingers on Serenity’s brow and pulled with all my inner might, not that I needed to. Moros leapt into me, jerking Serenity’s body in the process. A gray haze filled my vision as he slithered around my mind, leaving a trail of gloom in his wake. I toppled off of Serenity and curled into a ball, clutching my head with a whimper.

 

This was a part of Fate. I was doomed to exist as a puppet of the daimones, as so many other pandorans, as my mother had. I sobbed and curled tighter. Why should I be the only one to suffer? The world needed to feel the inevitability of pain. No matter what anyone did, in the end, we were all doomed. If I brought it about sooner, all the better. The ker’s laughter filled my head again. And in the most violent way possible.

 

“Cassi?” Serenity sat up and touched my shoulder.

 

I slapped her hand and put my back to her. “Don’t.”

 

I took a deep breath. I needed to regain control from the monsters inside of me. How long could I hold out? It was only a matter of time before the both of them would overpower me. My heart plummeted in my stomach as another wave passed over me. What was the point of all of this? I was a failure after all. I had known that years ago, when I’d run away. Fighting this prolonged the agony.

 

Just give in, Moros’s voice whispered. Let us take care of everything. You don’t even have to think, to feel anymore.

 

Yes. I could just drift away to nothing.

 

“Cassi, listen to me.” Hermes gripped my shoulders as he rolled me on my back. “You need to resist.”

 

I blinked at his obscure form. “Why? This is how it’s supposed to go.”

 

He leaned closer as he tilted up my chin. “I told you, the Fates aren’t that powerful, and neither is he.”

 

“What are you doing?” I asked.

 

“I’m giving you hope.”

 

His lips closed over mine and the taste of olives filled my mouth, but that wasn’t the only thing that filled me. His power flowed into me, blowing away the shadows trying to eat away at my soul. Moros and the Ker shuddered, trying to regain their lost ground. Nope. With a mental blast, I sent them tumbling back into the box in the back of my head. The locks clicked with a resounding echo.

 

I let out a breath and gazed at the beautiful face of the god I’d lost myself to all those weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 32

 

 

 

I stuffed the last pair of jeans into my suitcase, shut it, and climbed on top so I could close the metal latches. I slid off to the floor and rolled over on my back with a huff. That was it. All my favorite things in life crammed into an old plastic relic that existed before my mother’s time.

 

Serenity knocked on the door frame. “Packed already?”

 

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