Page 25 of Guided by the Stars (Creating Destiny #1)

Kai

When Souls are Damned

Throughout my entire existence, I have never watched someone sleep.

Ever. It’s fucking creepy. And yet here I am, watching my redheaded captive while she tosses and turns, calling out her friend’s name.

What does she dream of that makes her sound so scared?

Perhaps she’s reliving the moment we took her, or maybe she’s watching her friend being hunted by grotesque creatures.

The image of Adriane being chased plays in my mind.

After I banished the hellhounds, her eyes had turned soft and a lump built in my throat.

I didn’t want her gratitude. I only saved her to secure my freedom, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Even though she’s more trouble than we expected, I feel a pull toward her.

Some intangible cord that tries to bring me closer each day.

She asked me why I saved her, and while I was being honest in saying that it was a job, it was also…more. Every cell in my body was ablaze with the fear of her being ha rmed, and not only because of the shitty situation I’d be in with Hades.

Humans don’t heal like we do, and I would hate to see her pretty face scarred because she ran from me.

Even through a fitful sleep, she puts me in a trance, my eyes glued to her, feeling like a creep.

She’s so different from the girls I usually go for, she fights me at every turn, her mouth always quick to spew out some sarcastic remark or another.

Not like Rose, the forest nymph I’ve been fucking, who follows my directions and never questions me.

She usually accompanies Kelsey when she visits Jax, and I finally gave in to her seduction attempts.

Not that we’re exclusive, but she’s the type of girl I go for because there are no feelings involved.

I don’t have to worry that she’ll expect love and monogamy, though lately she’s been a bit more clingy than I’m comfortable with.

Maybe that’s why Adriane appeals to me. She’s the complete opposite of clingy, going so far as to run in the opposite direction.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve experienced the chase, even if she’s my captive.

This human is a tiny thing compared to me, but her right hook had strength behind it.

I reach up to touch my face and my skin still tingles where she touched me.

It was easy to tell that wasn’t the first time she’s hit someone, and I wonder what reason she had the other times.

Humans like her don’t need to fight, they flit around in their puny existence with happiness, warmth, and love.

She shifts on the bed, her face scrunched up with terror.

“Nora…I need you,” she whimpers, reaching up to grab the half-moon pendant around her neck.

She settles again and her aroma fills the room.

It reminds me of the sweet, earthy scents from Persephone’s garden, though I can’t put a name to which flower .

My gaze travels down her body to the small sliver of porcelain skin exposed from her movements.

And not for the first time, I wish my ticket out of here wasn’t wrapped in such nice packaging.

Her hair falls across her face, and I imagine wrapping it around my fist while I bury myself in her throat.

My cock hardens at the thought, imagining her lush pink lips wrapped around me while her bright blue eyes invite me to take more.

I shake my head to clear it. This girl is nothing, a means to an end, and I need to remember that.

“Best wake her up,” Jax says, standing in the doorway. I wasn’t sure how long he’s been there, but the smirk on his face says he saw more than I wanted him to. “Hades is being a fucker, and if my vision is correct, we won’t be finding the palace today.”

“Fuck.” I slide my hand through my hair, angry at my father for hiding.

I need to get back, trade her in, and get away from all this.

I touch her shoulder, her skin is so soft beneath my fingers.

She moans and rolls over, her arms awkward beneath her.

Red marks adorn her wrists from the shackles, but we can’t take them off. She’s proven she can’t be trusted.

I shake her a bit, hoping for a better outcome. “Five more minutes, Nor,” she mumbles. I stifle a grin at this amusing human. Sleep for us is rare, only used to replenish our power if we’ve run out of nectar, and there’s no shortage of that here. I couldn’t imagine sleeping half my life away.

She’s fallen back asleep and my irritation rises.

This girl may be beautiful, but she isn’t mine.

I’ve got a job to do, and though Alexius might have fucked it up, I can still turn it around.

“If you don’t get your ass up, we’re leaving without you.

After your little stunt last night, I’d think you wouldn’t want to be on your own,” I say, my voice deep and loud in the small space .

Jax shakes his head but I ignore him. This girl is seriously testing my fucking patience, lying there unmoving on the bed.

I put a hand out, closing my eyes as I deconstruct the small hut I made for us.

The surrounding branches unwind and I reach out with my other hand, taking apart the bed Adriane is laying on.

“Fuck!” she says, shocked awake by the sudden fall, and glares at me. Her blue eyes are an ocean storm when she’s angry: dark and fierce. I don’t understand why she looks so pissed off; I tried to be nice. Sure, I couldn’t have actually left without her, but she doesn’t know that.

Adriane stands in the middle of the now-empty area, stretching her fingers high above her head. Jax is talking low beside her, and there’s a smile on her face. Her eyes glitter like sapphires as she laughs at whatever he just said. When she catches me looking at her the smile drops.

“Let’s move. We’ve got a while to go before the Field of Punishments,” I shout back at them, already walking away.

Jax stays back and walks with her, always playing good cop.

It’s not that I want to be the bad cop, but I’ve lived the same shit life for centuries and by the gods, it’s about time that changed.

Trading one human to make that happen really isn’t so bad, not when Hades wants her for the blood in her veins, and she’ll be treated like a queen.

I mean, fuck, I’m doing her a favor. The least I deserve is a fucking thank you.

***

We’ve been walking for a while now. Time works differently down here than it does on Earth, and though she never spoke up about her discomfort, I knew she must be tired.

We stopped for several breaks, making sure she had water or a bit of food before we’d start walking again.

I had to work hard to hide my sheer astonishment at hearing no complaints.

Sure, she asked about her friend or tried to convince Jax or I to take her back to Earth, but not once did she whine about her sore feet.

My leather jacket was too big, but she wore it anyway.

From the look in her eyes, I could tell she wanted to refuse, but it’s just too damn cold here for her human frailty.

The scent hits me before I see it. The Field of Punishment reeks of unworthy souls. Shitty human beings who don’t deserve peace are thrown here and punished forever. It’s not as bad as Tartarus, where those who have wronged the gods end up, but it’s not a place I’d like to be.

The punishments are tailor-made for each soul, though whoever came up with them was a sick fuck.

King Tantalus attempts to pluck fruit from a tree but the branch grows just out of reach, and the water he tries to drink evaporates before him.

He tried to steal something vital from the gods.

Nectar, or ambrosia if you were a self-righteous Olympian, was our life-sustaining drink of choice. Without it, we’d be powerless.

King Tantalus also chopped up his sons and tried to trick the gods into eating them.

If it were up to me, he’d have gone to Tartarus, but the three judges thought this would better suit his crimes.

An attempt to steal nectar and ambrosia sealed his fate and his punishment, killing his children was nothing compared to that.

He wanted to take from us, but didn’t realize we always pay back in kind.

“Why are they filling those cracked jars with water?” Adriane asks, confused. “And how come that guy can’t get his boulder up the hill?”

“Oh, them?” I say, pointing to the girls with the jars. “That’s their punishment for killing their husbands. And that’s Sisyphus. He murdered people and cheated death, so here he rests, or doesn’t, I suppose.”

Her eyes widen and for the first time I see fear there.

I was beginning to think she was just as fucked up as I was.

She’s silent while we walk, chewing on her lip as her eyes scan the other souls around us, and I wish I could see inside her mind.

Is she scared, imagining herself here someday, or is she trying to plot an escape and hoping one of these poor souls will help her?

They can’t even help themselves though, so she’s shit out of luck.

It’s not long before we’ve left the Field of Punishments behind us, the barren expanse of land seeming to go on forever as we continue.

We have to stop soon, though. I’ve kept a close eye on Adriane, and while the fire in her eyes is still there, she’s quiet, and that’s a dead giveaway to how tired she is.

“Let’s stop here and rest. Unless Hades shows us the palace, we’ve got another long hike ahead of us tomorrow.”