Awakening (Book One of the Eklektos Series)

Chapter Six

When Kali opened her eyes, she was in her own bed. Her boots were nearby, but she was still wearing the clothes from her excursion last night. She sat up slowly, wincing as a sharp twinge shot through her arm. Otherwise, there was a dull ache in her ribs and she felt a little tender. But, thinking back on last night, she knew it could be worse.

She had always healed quickly, too quickly, but she was glad of that now. Without it, she had no idea what condition she would be in. It didn't even feel that strange to her, but she had learned over the years that she should hide it.

The pain returned when she stood and stretched, but she stuck with it. Kali's shoulders clicked but the pain didn't worsen. It was fairly steady so hopefully she'd get used to it until it faded. As long as she didn't overdo it, it would probably be back to normal in another day.

The events of last night came back to her again and she shivered. If Hades hadn't gotten there when he did, how far would Ares have gone? It terrified her to know that she had been completely powerless to stop him. What only made it worse was that she was sure he hadn't even been trying.

She dropped back onto her bed and put her forehead on her knees, breathing hard. "Get it together." She muttered to herself, hoping the sound of her voice might steady her. A panic attack would do nothing but hinder her. Not that she had really decided what she was going to do yet. That was something else she would need to think about.

One more chance. She would give her mother one more chance to tell her what was happening. Either way, her father...Apollo...had seemed intent that she go to the camp for training. And if it would help with the headaches and everything else she tried to work through every day, then she was willing to give it a try. But it would bring her closer to Ares, and the other gods. It didn't seem like a logical move, to go right up to people who would want to kill her and would be more than capable of doing so.

With her mind racing over those thoughts, it took Kali a while to realise that her head wasn't hurting. Maybe it was because she had expended so much energy? Or was it that she had slept better than she could ever remember last night? She blushed when she remembered that she had snuggled up against Hades and buried her face in her hands.

But Hades had put his arm around her. He had come for her even though she'd heard Apollo tell him he could leave her for the night. She didn't know how he had known she'd needed him, but he had hauled Ares off her when she had been sure there was no way out. Surely, that meant it was more than just a favour for Apollo?

Kali shook her head and tentatively stepped out of her room. She was up earlier than usual so she was sure there was no chance of bumping into Lynette, but she was still careful not to make too much noise. When the floorboards creaked as she passed the door to the master bedroom, she froze and held her breath. But the silence remained, and she continued through the dark house to the living room.

On the table was a new vase full of colourful tulips. Kali rolled her eyes; the new boyfriend was clearly doing his best to woo her mum. Though, she reminded herself, they'd already been together for a year. It didn't sit right with her, but she knew Lynette hadn't been lying. But she hadn't even told Kali his name. Curious, Kali wandered over to the flowers and plucked the card out.

Her heart plummeted when she saw that the pin holding the card was in the shape of a winged staff, with two snakes coiled around it. A caduceus? Sure enough, the name on the card was her own. There was no message, just her name, but her hands were trembling when she put it back on the table. Hoping that she was wrong, Kali used the search function on her phone to check her suspicions.

The flowers were from Hermes.

Kali ran back up the stairs and knocked anxiously on her mother's bedroom door. There was no answer, not even the usual grumbles and curses. Tentatively, she opened it and found the room was empty. She frowned and moved back into the hallway, calling "Mum? Are you home?"