The bunker was supposed to be huge, with three underground levels—the first two levels were comprised mainly of labs and technical rooms, and the third level, where we were, had dozens of bedrooms, conference rooms, a cafeteria, and a kitchen.
Keisha seemed to like it here. Victor, on the other hand, hated it. However, I guessed that was mainly because he had to put up with Micah. Well, he had been the one to suggest they stick together, and after what happened to my family and me, they decided it was time to push past the childish loathing and stand together. For what I could gather, it wasn’t going too well.
Victor came to visit me a couple of times each day.
During the second day, he sat in a chair beside my bed, took a deep breath, and burst. “I think I’m responsible for what happened to your family. For what happened to you. My aura is stronger, and the demons probably followed me. Once we were together, they separated and followed us both. I was able to disappear, but you couldn’t. They found you and … I’m so, so sorry.”
I didn’t know what to think of this. Was he responsible for my family’s deaths? I wasn’t sure. Even if what he said were true, in the end I would have gone to him at some point, healed him, and caused the demons to follow me back. The demons would have found me sooner or later.
Still, I couldn’t help the disheartened feeling smothering my chest. It was easier to blame him than myself. Easier to be mad and frustrated at him than me.
I also had learned the residents of the bunker had meetings where they discussed where the scepters could be, because that was the most important task right now—to find the scepters so Victor and Micah would be able to become full gods again, and be strong enough to wage a war against Imha and Omi.
However, Ceris also wished to look for allies. According to her, there were many powerful deities out there, and they would need any help they could get for the upcoming war. Victor seemed reluctant about it. He thought they should do that after they were full gods again because if they attracted attention now, Imha might find out about them and have them killed easily since they were still in human bodies. The group argued more than actually decided anything. Not that I saw any of that. Keisha was the one telling me.
“There are times when I think Lord Levi and Lord Mitrus will start a fist fight right then and there,” she told me once, extracting a small smile from me.
On the third day, I had a huge surprise when someone I wasn’t expecting entered my room.
“Morgan!” I yelled, sitting up on the bed.
“Hey, girl!” He came to me and hugged me tight. “I’m so sorry.”
Oh, God. New tears sprung to my eyes, and I couldn’t help but sob. Whenever someone said they were sorry, my helplessness and guilt returned.
He rubbed my back, and whispered comforting words. After a long while, I took a deep breath and sat back.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I muttered.
“Me too. Someone needs to kick that pretty butt of yours and get you up.”
I smiled. “You sound like Micah.”
He made a face, scrunching his nose. “I know, right?”
“Hey. What happened to you? I mean, we were in Victor’s car and you spilled the fountain water around us, but when Micah and I made it to the other side, you weren’t there.”
“The Fates sent me back to the temple in Jacksonville. I was confused, but they sent me a message later telling me you both were safe and I shouldn’t worry.”
“And how did you end up here this time?”
“Lady Ceris is all about connecting with allies. I guess I’m one of them.”
“Oh. Good. You’re a good asset to their quest.”
He squinted at me. “You know, I arrived here a couple of hours ago, and all I have heard since is that you have barely eaten or moved.” He took my hand in his. “I know you must be hurting, Nad, but you can’t stop living. Your family wouldn’t want you to do this.”
“I know,” I whispered, a little ashamed.
“If they knew about your ability to help the gods, to keep them going so they can restore the light to the world, your family would want you working hard on that.”
I groaned, hating to hear these truthful words. “I know.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
I closed my eyes for a second. “It hurts.”
“I know it does, but use that hurt. Channel it. Do something about it. Use it to fuel your motivations.”
“How?”
The door opened, and Keisha stepped inside.
“Hey,” she said with a tight smile. “Hi, Morgan.” Apparently they had already met. He waved at her, and she turned to me. “How are you?”
“The same,” I answered. She had her long black hair in a ponytail and wore gym clothes. “Where are you going?”
“To train,” she said. “Micah transformed one of the big conference rooms into a gym.”
A gym inside a seventy-year-old bunker. That was interesting.
“So, you just run on a treadmill?”
She laughed. “That too, but mostly I train with weapons and punch a pretty mean punch dummy.” She looked at her cell phone and pouted her lips. “I should get going. I have only two hours before the next meeting. I’ll stop by later.”
She left the room, and I stared at the closed door.
Somewhere in this bunker, she would train. Landing punches and swinging weapons. Skills that could be useful in battle. A battle against Imha and Omi. A battle I could participate in. My family would support that; they would approve of me helping in this war.
It was like a burst of energy shot through my veins. The sorrow, the sadness suddenly became rage and hunger for revenge. But I needed more. Just fighting wouldn’t do it. I needed a bigger reason than just revenge against Imha and Omi.
Morgan raised his eyebrows at me. “What is it?”
I almost told him I probably found a reason to get up from this bed, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up yet. I only averted my eyes and answered, “I’m not sure yet.”
15
The next day, I went to the improvised library. It was one of the bedrooms, filled with hundreds of books Morgan insisted on bringing with him. Good for me because I was hoping to find what I was looking for in one of them.
I sat down on the floor with a few books I thought could have the information I needed. The first one was called The Gods and Goddesses of the Everlasting Circle. This should be interesting.
I flipped through the pages. There were drawings of each god and goddess, but they didn’t look like the real thing at all. They looked more like Greek gods with those round faces, white robes, and the leaves on their heads. So odd.
A sentence from the introduction caught my attention.
No god or goddess or any deity of The Everlasting Circle is fully good or fully evil. They fight for their beliefs, which may change as the world changes, even if their foundations do not.
I thought of Imha and Omi. They weren’t fully evil? Of course they were. Look at what they were doing!
Shaking my head, I continued flipping the pages. That wasn’t what I was looking for.
My fingers stopped by Levi’s page.