The Stone Queen (The Dark Queens Book 9) Read online

  Waving the hand that still held the rag, she shook her head. “No, you’re here. Might as well get your answers, though there’s a price.”

  I lifted a brow but had already been aware of the price. There was always a price to be paid when currying the favor of a Fate.

  “Which is?”

  “Clean my study. I bloody hate it, and Clotho’s hied herself off to only she knows where, and I can’t work under these conditions.”

  I narrowed my eyes. As a god of war, I was not accustomed to manual labor of any sort. That was what I had servants for. It was her turn to lift a brow, no doubt in challenge.

  How much did I want this information? Enough to humble myself for it?

  “You sure you don’t wish the head of your enemy nailed to a spike?” I tried.

  She snorted. “Boy, do you even know who I am? If I wish my enemy dead, believe me when I say I’d have no need of anyone’s help. But I hate to dust, and you’re here now. So, your choice.”

  I sighed. There was no other option. Not if I wanted my answers. I could always go in search of a woman of snakes and stone, but considering that I had no clue who this woman was or even if she was yet… I would no doubt get lost in time, and the cost of my arrogance could be more than I would be willing to pay.

  “Bloody hell,” I snarled before yanking off my helmet of war and the breastplate of righteousness. After setting them upon the counter with a heavy bang, I snatched the rag from her hand and set about the humbling task of cleaning.

  She laughed at first. “Never actually thought you’d agree to this, God of War. I must say, if the rest of the pantheon could see you now.”

  “You tell a soul and I swear by all that’s holy, I will unleash a reign of terror upon Gnósi the likes of which you’ve never seen before.”

  “I could always just kill you first.” She shrugged lackadaisically.

  I paused and stared at the mad woman with fire in her eyes and a soft smile upon her lips. “You’re bloody crazy.”

  She laughed. “It’s what they tell me, though I don’t see it. I simply hate manual labor. And I’m quite busy today, so if it’s all right with you, I’ll speak as you clean. What say you?”

  “Fine,” I groused, rubbing hard at a dirt-smudged spot that refused to budge.

  She tapped her slightly pointed chin as she stared at me. The Fates were among the few gods who actually did have the gift of prophecy. But their gifts leaned toward their particular sight. Clotho, as spinner of the wool, could look into the past. Atropos, as the goddess of death or the end of the soul string, could read the future, and Lachesis, as the measurer, could look into the present. Combined, they could read past, present, and future. But all I needed now was present. And ironically, she’d been the one present, or… maybe not so ironically. I wouldn’t have put it past Lachesis to have set this entire thing up, for reasons only she could know.

  “My goodness,” she murmured into the heavy silence a moment later. “Not at all what I expected. This makes twice now. What are the odds of that?”

  “What do you mutter on about, woman?” I snapped, growing grumpy the dustier I felt myself becoming.

  Her laughter was light and airy. “Simply put, that I imagined at first that you’d come to me concerning Aphrodite.” She thinned her lips. “Quite a pickle you’re in there, no? In love for the first time and losing her. Sorry about that, War. Must be a great big blow to the ego.”

  I hammered down on my teeth, grinding my molars to dust as I thought about my current relationship and the mess it’d begun to become. I sensed my lover pulling away, and while yes, it bothered me, it wasn’t actually why I’d come.

  She sighed heavily. “You sure you wouldn’t like to know where she’s at right now?”

  My brows gathered into a sharp V, and I turned to stare at her. “Will you answer both my questions if I do?”

  She laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. One question, War.” She held up a single finger.

  I rolled my eyes and got back to work. “Then no, I will not waste my question on my relationship. Aphrodite and I will be well again. Eventually. She does this every so often. I’m not worried.”

  “Hmm” was all she said, and I did not like the sound of that. I bit my bottom lip, gazing at her side-eyed, realizing she was trying to dissuade me from my original purpose but also getting to me a little. What did she know that I didn’t about Aphrodite and me? Were we really in trouble this time?

  Aphrodite enjoyed her peccadilloes, and I’d never hindered her from tasting and sampling the wares of others. She was the goddess of lust and could be pinned down by no man, woman, or beast. But lately, I had felt something shift between us, something profound I’d never felt before. Still, that didn’t necessarily mean we were in trouble, only that she was restless, which happened to her occasionally.

  “You sure you don’t want to know?” she wheedled, and I thinned my eyes. Why did it seem like she was trying to force this issue?

  I shook my head. “Good try, goddess, but I will not waste my question on my current relationship or lack thereof.”

  She shrugged. “Up to you.”

  After walking over to the next dusty bookshelf, I set a bruising pace as I cleaned. “No, I’m here for another question, and that is what I will ask.”

  “The woman of snakes and stone. Yes, I know what you wish to ask.”

  Stopping what I was doing, I turned and stared at the diminutive Fate. Wearing a golden toga and with her hair of nutmeg cascading wildly down her back, her skin freshly washed, she looked so innocent and not at all like one of the most powerful gods in all of Olympus. But my skin crawled with gooseflesh at the casual mention of the oracle’s prophecy told to me a century earlier.

  “I want to know that I can ask anything pertaining to her and not have it be counted as separate questions. Have I got your assurance on this, Lachesis?”

  The Fates were slippery eels if one didn’t nail down the terms first.

  She gave me a cocky smirk. “You learn well, young Ares.”

  It was my turn to snort. Only to a Fate could I be considered young. “My father was quite thorough in my training.”

  “Yes, Zeus is the devil’s own.” She said it almost fondly.

  I shrugged, not denying it. If Father liked you, he could be your greatest ally, but if he didn’t, well… his exploits were legendary for a reason.

  “Fine, young Ares. You may ask me anything concerning the woman of snake and stone.”

  “Is she real?”

  “Oh, very,” she said with an innocent blink.

  Just that casual agreement had my blood feeling like red-hot magma inching through my veins. My suit of armor grew instantly ten times hotter, and the sizzle of steam began to wind like a dragon’s sinuous tail all around me.

  “Mind your steam, boy. These are precious books here.”

  I quickly tamped the emotions down, going from hot to cold in an instant.

  “Was the oracle right, then? Is the woman’s life intertwined with mine?”

  She shook her head. “That depends, Ares. Is it? The choice is still yours.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She grinned. “You do understand choice, no? It’s an action, child. A decision to—”

  “Bloody hell,” I snapped, “of course I know what choice means. But I want to know what choice you speak of?”

  “Well”—she shrugged, seeming unfazed by my gruffness—“you’ve known of her for nigh a century. Yet you’ve never begun to search her out. To look for her, until now. Until today. Ask yourself why.”

  “I don’t know,” I grumbled. “If I did, I certainly wouldn’t be here now, would I!”

  The bookshelves vibrated from my fury, and she gave me a stern look of displeasure that reminded me of Mother when I’d irritated her as a child.

  After opening up one of her books, Lachesis looked down at the paper before pulling out vials from drawers and started adding them to an empty cauldron t
hat’d appeared beside her. “I can’t tell you everything. That’s not how this works. Some things, you must determine alone. But you’re a smart boy. I’m sure if you think on this, you can figure it out.”

  Moving through the rest of the dusting as fast but as thoroughly as possible, I finished an instant later and stood over her, staring at her small head as she muttered softly to herself.

  If even my father did not intimidate the Fates, I certainly would never intimidate them. But it was easier to look the mighty and terrifying warlord than the confused chickenshit I suddenly felt.

  “What do you mean?” I asked softly, once more trying to gain control of my volatile emotions.

  With a huff, she planted her hands onto her book and glared at me. It would have been laughable except for the fact that she was the measurer of fate and life, and only an idiot would dare forget it.

  “I mean that this female is important to the very legends of our time and peoples. What you do will determine not just her fate but the fate of thousands. In fact, the hand of fate has already begun to move. Pieces are in play right now, Ares, that could ruin many of us. Divide families and even old alliances. She is far more than what she first appeared to be when the oracle spoke to you.”

  I frowned, feeling suddenly cold all over and unable to take a deep breath. “Wh… what?”

  I thought she might snap at me again, because this hadn’t at all been what I’d expected to hear when I’d come. Deep down, I realized I’d been hoping to be told the oracle had been high on fumes and wrong about everything, that no woman of snake and stone would be twined through my life. Yet this wasn’t what I was being told.

  Her eyes closed, and a pained look crossed her lovely features. “My sisters and I, we’ve begun to see a great many things that, for the first time, we can make no sense of. But they will be made sense of.”

  I cocked my head. A Fate admitting that she did not understand was tantamount to suddenly discovering that the Olympians hadn’t really overthrown the Titans and that this was nothing but an elaborate illusion.

  “This woman of snake and of stone, she is not that yet. She is merely a female named Medusa. A woman of blood and flesh and water. She has a kindness that I fear will be killed off by those closest to her. And I’ve seen this happen in life enough times to know that when it does, nothing will ever be the same again. So the choice is yours, God of War. Either accept your destiny or don’t. But either way, what will be will be. Now go. I’ve much work yet to do.”

  She flicked her wrist, and before I even had a chance to ask her to explain herself, I was gone from the chamber and back in the garden. This time, I knew that even if I fed the land blood, the door would not be opened for me again.

  But I knew her name now. Lachesis was right. I had a choice to make—go home to Olympus and try to figure out what was happening to Aphrodite and why she seemed so disinterested in me of late, or seek the destiny given me a hundred years ago.

  Standing upon that rocky cliff overlooking miles of nothing but seawater, I knew what I must do.

  With a swipe of my hand, I opened a time portal and murmured only one word.

  “Medusa.”

  Chapter 4

  Medusa

  Percy and I lazily stroked the seawater with our hands and feet, bobbing just along its sapphire-blue surface. Apollo’s rein upon the day was coming to an end. The air was growing cooler with the promise of Nyx’s return, and my skin was starting to pebble from the cold. I shivered softly. It was nearly time to go, but my heart was heavy and had been all day. I knew Perseus could sense it because he kept giving me contemplative looks. We’d been friends long enough now that he knew me almost as well as I knew myself.

  Sighing and still not sure how to broach this subject without it turning into a big thing between us, I again stared at the unnaturally calm waters we swam in. A rumor had been spreading throughout the village for near a month now that a giant squid, or some other form of monster, had recently taken up residence in these depths, frightening off the fish and making the waters impossible to catch anything from.

  They might be right. We’d not even seen a glint or flicker of a scale today. But I had managed to capture some sardines from the water close to my home for Percy’s lunch earlier. He’d be forced to go hungry tonight, but at least he’d eaten once today, which was a lot better than how things used to be for him. I might have been annoyed with him, but I still cared enough to make sure his belly was filled.

  I had about another hour before Mother expected me home.

  I knew I should just go. It wasn’t like I was very talkative. Percy had sensed my mood all day, and no matter how much he tried to draw me out, I simply didn’t feel inclined to open up to him about it. Because the truth was, it completely involved him.

  Percy was my oldest friend, and I’d known him since we were youth. When I’d been younger, he’d never been able to do any wrong in my eyes, but lately, it seemed he was habitually stepping over the line with me. He was doing and saying things that weren’t altogether appropriate, giving me pause and making me wonder, filling my head with doubt that he could have meant to be intentionally cruel and hurtful. I was coming to an uncomfortable realization that my friend wasn’t who I’d once thought him to be. And it was both upsetting and saddening. The worst part of it was, I didn’t even feel like I could talk to him about it. Percy’s moods were so wild lately, up and down and all over the place, that I didn’t know whether I was coming or going, only that I didn’t want to rock the boat and make waves. But I also knew that wasn’t healthy either. If we were truly friends, we should be able to talk and share things.

  And my heart was grieving and sore over what, deep down, I knew he’d done to me. I just didn’t know if he would deny it or fess up. All I knew was this one was kind of a big deal, and if he lied to me, I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to forgive him for it. My shoulders slumped as I slapped at the surface with my palm, hard enough to send water droplets shooting off in all directions.

  I felt his side-eye glance before I heard his heaving sigh.

  “Medusa, I cannot bear your coldness another minute. You must speak with me. Please. What have I done wrong? Let me at least try to make amends, if I’m able.”

  I thinned my lips, still not wanting to talk with him. But my brain and my body weren’t in agreement for once. My fingers were clenched tight, my nails driving stinging circular half-moon shapes into my palms, and I couldn’t stop trembling. But it wasn’t from being too cold.

  Kicking upright so that I would look him eye to eye, I felt the damnable words spill off my tongue before I had a moment to think them through. “Today as I walked through the village, I heard something.”

  I hadn’t even needed to go any further than that before he was closing his eyes and groaning. And I knew he knew, and I also knew that the rumor hadn’t been rumor at all. That knowledge burned me up, lit a flame in me, and what I’d swallowed all day came pouring out like hot vomit.

  “Why, Percy? Why? Why would you say that to Herodites? That we were lovers? You knew how I felt about him! He is a decent male who comes from a respectable family, and my being a lesser goddess had never been an issue for him! Mother expects me to enter into a union soon. Though why I’m sure I don’t know,” I shrugged, “considering how very anti-man she’s always been with me but I told you she was pushing for me to find legitimacy and respectability and he was probably my best chance at a normal life. I’m not sure I can ever—”

  He was suddenly swimming over to me, grabbing my wildly flailing hands and squeezing them tight, his eyes dark with panic. His handsome face twisted into a mask of desperation. And it was when he got this way that my anger slackened and my feelings began to bloat with doubt.

  Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe he hadn’t meant to hurt me this way. Not him, my oldest and dearest friend. But at my core, I couldn’t seem to convince myself of this. Not anymore. I’d made far too many excuses for him in life, and the truth was
, I was growing tired of them.

  “Medusa, you think I did that to be cruel, but I would never. You know me. I spared you a lifetime of misery with that cad! Do you know how many women he’s used and tossed aside? Plenty, and I never wanted you to be one of them. Not you. Never you.” He brushed his fingers rapidly over my cheeks, trembling mightily, and my head was so confused.

  That didn’t at all sound like the Herodites that I thought I’d known. He was shy, quiet, but with an affable smile that tugged at my heartstrings. He’d had a terrible stutter growing up but had grown out of it, and though he was by no means as handsome as my best friend, he had an attractive quality that mostly stemmed from him simply being a really decent fellow. That made him even more good-looking in my eyes. I hated that I did not trust Perseus, but sadly, that trust between us had been eroding for years, not just days or weeks or even months. Too often, I’d caught Percy in lies, and too often, I’d let them go. But this was a big one. This one stung too much. Herodites had been perfect for me, the absolute best I could hope for in this small coastal village.

  Not to mention his love of animals, a sentiment that I, too, shared, and most importantly—at least to Mother—he came from a respectable line of merchants. My sisters and I would have been well taken care of, which was all Mother and Father wanted. I still couldn’t really make sense of why she was suddenly pushing me to go off and marry, but that didn’t exactly mean that she okay with me being alone with men either. She wanted me bound to one and one only. And that one had to come from good breeding.

  It wasn’t that I was necessarily in love with Herodites, but I knew that I could do so much worse, plus the hope of companionship was a surprisingly strong lure for me considering I’d believed my fate was to always remain single. And I wasn’t a romantic sort. I’d been raised knowing I would not get a chance to choose my own destiny. I’d pinned my hopes and dreams on him, too, long ago. And the fact that in one fell move, Perseus had ripped the rug out from under me was a bitter pill to swallow. Herodites would never want me now, and even if he did, his parents would no longer allow it. They’d thought me exotic and eccentric once. I could have been their claim to fame, a talk piece amongst their wealthy clientele, but not now. Not anymore. Not after the things Percy had said about me. I clenched my jaw.