Bedeviled Read Online Free PDF Page B

surprised by the god’s appearance, given her first glimpse of Poseidon. He too looked far younger than she’d imagined, even while ghostly pale and nearly dead. Hades, on the other hand, looked like he could croak any minute. Probably that whole lack of sunlight thing. She could only hope her friend Geoffrey would continue to poke his head out of the Underworld on occasion now that he’d taken over the position as God of All Things Shudder-Worthy. He was too beautiful to waste away like his predecessor.
    Zeus hovered close to his wounded brother. Worry deepened the lines around his eerie, pale blue eyes. His whispers didn’t carry across the massive bedroom–turned–Healing Circle, but the words he spoke caused the gold filament decorating the headboard to quake.
    She took it all in. Zeus’s temple. The temple. While Artemis’s temple was floor-to-ceiling marble, Zeus’s was molded with gold, silver, bronze. Lots of bronze. Pillars stood one behind the other, spaced ten feet or so apart, and between each, gold and jeweled tapestries hung from the ceiling, lending a richness to the interior that made Kyana feel tiny and insignificant. It was a cold home, one she wouldn’t like to live in, but it was stunning all the same.
    â€œKyana.” Artemis’s grip tightened and Kyana was forced to look at her. “They need to be alone with their brother.”
    In case he doesn’t make it.
    Her gaze strayed to Poseidon. He lay on his belly, a golden blanket with Zeus’s lightning crest covering him from hip to toe. His back was left bare so the Healers could tend the three punctures the size of grapefruits that formed a morbid pattern beneath each shoulder bone, a third in the center of his back.
    â€œWhat are those marks and why are they killing him?”
    The fear in Artie’s eyes didn’t sit well. “Those are the marks of Poseidon.”
    â€œYou mean the trident?”
    Artemis nodded. “He was coherent enough when Ryker brought him in. He said . . . He said he saw who did this to him.”
    She didn’t want to hear any more. Didn’t want to know what had the goddess so worried. But Artemis pressed on. “It was Haven. He saw her, Kyana. She’s crossed a line I don’t think she can be saved from—”
    â€œNo!” Like a child being told there was no Santa Claus, Kyana cupped her hands over her ears and fell onto the last step of the massive staircase behind her. She moved her hands to her face and blocked out the sight of Artemis’s sandals. “No. I don’t believe that. People have delusions when they’re hurt—”
    â€œPoseidon’s not a person, he’s a god!” Anger shook Artemis’s words. She heaved a sigh and sat beside Kyana. “There was no delusion. She is guilty. Above that, she has the trident. If she gets her hands on the other Eyes of Power . . .”
    Kyana didn’t need her to finish. Poseidon’s trident, Zeus’s staff, Hades’s amulet, and Cronos’s own ring all comprised the Eyes of Power. Haven already had one. If she got her hands on the others, she was a talented enough Witch to perform the ceremony that would bring him back. Mix that with the new Vampyre and Lychen blood swirling around inside her to make her loony tunes, and she was way more than capable.
    It had to be Cronos pushing her to accomplish his goals. Kyana knew that. He’d come for Haven days ago when she’d been recovering in the Healing Circle where Mystics had been attempting to purge Kyana’s Half-Breed blood from her veins. But Cronos had gotten to her first. The result had been the murder of Mystics and Haven’s escape.
    She had lived with Haven for almost five years. They were each the better half of the other—Haven rational, sweet, and emotional. Kyana rash, temperamental, and strong. They’d fought alongside each other. Laughed. Cried.