Part 13 (1/2)
aStupid b.i.t.c.h,a Selena snarled. aCanat even aim.a The demon demiG.o.ddess broke away from them and used her power to slam Fiona against the ceiling. Fionaas body pressed hard against the marble, right next to the portrayal of a satyr ravis.h.i.+ng a screaming maiden.
aIall kill her.a Selenaas voice was hard but calm. aIave been toying with her up until now, but Iall kill her and summon demons to eat her flesh if you donat bring that jar to me.a aGet it yourself,a Pol growled.
aNo.a Selenaas voice rang out, making Cas wonder why she was so adamant. Would the spell not work if she had to fetch the jar? What was she afraid of? aGive it to me and darling Fiona goes free.a Cas remained still. Her letting Fiona go afreea might mean dropping her from the ceiling, which was thirty feet above them. They would be trapped and Fiona would be dead or dying.
He could not let Selena win. Fionaas power was strong, crackling like lightning, but she did not know how to use it, however the h.e.l.l she had acquired it.
He shared a glance with Pol. Together they ran at Selena again and bore her against the wall. She easily threw them off, slamming Fiona back against the ceiling with a wave of her hand, but a strange thing happened.
Selenaa”chipped. A small piece of her cheek fell from her and shattered on the floor, becoming dust. Selena slapped her hand to her face, and when it came away her cheek had reshaped itself.
Cas frowned, thoughts spinning in his head. Selena had disappeared from the jar. Fionaas newfound power hurt her. Part of her skin had chipped like a piece of old clay.
He ran at her again, grabbing her arm and slamming her against the wall. He grinned savagely as she shrieked, another piece of her skin crumbling and falling to the floor.
It repaired itself immediately, but he knew now what he had to do, no matter what the cost, to keep Fiona safe from her. If they did not destroy her shead grow stronger and stronger until nothing they could do would affect her.
Cas shared another glance with Pol. Pol had seen everything, and they didnat need to exchange words or even thoughts to understand each other.
Cas walked to the shadowy corner and picked up the terracotta jar. In the painting he and Pol looked grim, which reflected how Cas felt now.
Pol met him in the center of the floor. They took up a stance, back to back, just as in the painting. The Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux, the equal and the opposite, forever together.
Above them, Fiona caught on what they meant to do. aNo,a she screamed. aCas, no, please.a Pol looked up at her and gave her a sad smile. aLove you, sweetheart.a Cas also sent her a smile, wis.h.i.+ng he could touch her face and kiss her lips one last time. aI love you, Fiona,a he said softly.
aNo!a Sparks flew from Fionaas body and suddenly her hands were free. She pointed her fingers at Selena, but the power still eluded her, shooting past Selena and leaving a scorch mark on a random column.
Cas lifted the jar over his head and flung it hard against the floor. It connected with the marble and shattered into a thousand mute terracotta fragments. aLove you,a he whispered.
He heard Fiona scream before darkness blotted out his world.
aNo,a Fiona sobbed as the twins vanished.
Selena turned her face upward. aYou stupid b.i.t.c.h, you told them.a Tears streamed down Fionaas face, smearing the dirt already there. She had no idea what Selena was talking about, she only knew that the twins were gone and there was an unbearable void in her heart.
She reached out, trying to bring the power within her to bear, trying to focus it on Selena to destroy her. Sparks fizzled at her fingertips, guttering like a light bulb attempting to stay on. Selena laughed at her.
aIt didnat work, and you can do nothing.a Fiona knew the truth of her words, though she was not certain what didnat work. She wished Cas could have told her what he meant to happen instead of simply vanis.h.i.+ng. She had seen pieces of Selena crumble, but she did not know how to use that to her advantage. Where was the gray cat when Fiona needed her?
As soon as the image of the cat and its orange eyes formed in Fionaas mind Selenaas laughter cut off abruptly.
The demon demiG.o.ddess let out a long keening wail, the cry of a being in unbearable pain, and her hands went to her face. Fiona watched in amazement as Selenaas entire body split into tiny cracks, just like the jar. Crazed lines flowed all over her until she resembled a painted statue, poorly put together.
Fiona suddenly understood, or thought she did. Cas and Pol had risked that breaking the jar would shatter Selena, that so much of her magic had been put into the vessel that she could not survive without the jar. They had sacrificed themselves in order to destroy her.
Anger and power surged within Fiona, certain and strong, and she pointed it at the woman below.
aBreak,a she said quietly.
This time, she had no trouble directing the power. Sparks arced from her spread fingers and encased Selena.
The demiG.o.ddess exploded. Shards of pottery flew like bullets throughout the room, smas.h.i.+ng into the walls and becoming nothing but dust. A few smacked Fionaas flesh but bounced harmlessly off her to grind to powder on the floor.
Fiona s.h.i.+elded her face as the shards danced around her, becoming smaller and smaller until they fell to the floor in a rain of fine dust.
Selenaas magic vanished and Fiona plummeted downward. She screamed and screamed, pressing her hands out in front of her, desperately willing her body to stop.
She did stop about three feet from the floor. She hovered in midair as though a cus.h.i.+on had caught her, and she lay there, gasping.
When she caught her breath she swiveled her legs to press her feet to the floor, her heart still pounding.
The dank air was cold on her bare skin, but she scarcely noticed it. The shards that had been Selena had disintegrated to nothing, but the painted jar had broken into potsherds that remained scattered throughout the room. Hansa clothing, not magical, lay in two heaps, with two pairs of worn sandals next to them.
Fiona fell to her knees and gathered the pottery pieces to her, tears raining down her face.
She found a fragment of Casa face on one, and she kissed and pressed it to her cheek.
They were truly gone.
She covered her face with her hands and gave herself over to grief. Shead loved them, Cas and Pol both. Theyad granted her the gift of life, something shead denied herself through her long years of study.
Theyad made her come out of her sh.e.l.l and live. Theyad made her be daring and bold and risk her heart. Theyad taught her about wild and wicked s.e.x, but theyad also made her see so much more. Theyad looked on a world that was as strange to them as landing on Mars would be to her, and theyad embraced every aspect of it.
She sobbed into her hands, wetting the pottery fragment with her tears. aI love you,a she whispered. aI love you.a Something brushed her foot and she jumped. But it was only the gray cat, staring up at her with orange eyes. It was breathing hard.
Fionaas anger surged. aI definitely do not want to see you right now. You could have stopped this.a Not really. You had to do it.
aTheyare dead and gone, consigned to oblivion. You told me to perform the ritual so it would give me power. You made them understand that to save me they had to destroy themselves.a I did all that? Goodness, I was prepared.
aI donat understand about Selena, though. Why did she crumble to dust? I thought that she was free of the jar.a No, she was stupid. She put so much of her power into the jar when she created it, that she essentially became the vessel. Her picture didnat disappear because she was out of it. It disappeared because her essence became it. The cat nudged a painted shard. Without the jar, she couldnat hold herself together anymore.
Fiona lifted the shard under the catas paw. It was a fragment of Polas painted shoulder, which made her tears flow again.
aWhy did the twins have to die too? Why couldnat you save them? Why couldnat this power I gained save them?a The power can save them. The power is the magical part of them that infused you during the ritual.
Fiona rubbed tears from her eyes. aHow do I know how to use it? And donat tell me I have to search for the answer within myself, because I might have to throw you across the room.a The cat gave her a patient look. Fiona, you are an archaeologist. A pottery specialist. Do you know what that means?
She sniffled. aIt means Iam underpaid, get my fingers dirty and have a permanent crick in my back.a How amusing. It means you know how to find obscure fragments of pottery and figure out how to put them together.
Fiona stared at the shards in her hands, then at the cat. aOh G.o.ddess.a The cat intoned slowly, like she was teaching a child. Put the jar together again, Fiona.
aButawonat that revive Selena?a What was on the jar when it broke?
aPol and Cas.a What will be on it when you put it together?