Peregrine waved his hand casually. “Bring him to his chamber. I’ve had enough of all this screaming.”
“You can’t do this! You can’t! I did nothing wrong! It wasn’t my fault! Please, reconsider! Please!” I begged as two guards dragged me backwards out of the courtroom.
“Reconsider what? That you killed four million beings in a matter of hours? We have done all the considering necessary,” Arabella firmly declared.
Decimus shrunk in his seat when Peregrine called on him to join the guards in imprisoning me. He followed us morosely, dragging his feet as they dragged me. The cell that they threw me in was nothing more than the room Phillip had once kept me in, and automatically sent shivers down my spine. The Layer was hot, oppressive, and the room was encircled by flames that bared down on it to keep me inside.
The guards threw me into the cell, along with my familiars, who whined in pain from the force of the throw. “Right where you belong,” one of the guards snapped before slamming the door shut.
I scrambled up and gripped the bars, panting, as I pleaded with Decimus. “Decimus, please, don’t do this. Don’t let them do this to me!”
Decimus placed his hand on the door, which trembled. “You have done a lot for me, by giving me a second chance as a demon. I wish I could repay you, but I am just too young and inexperienced. Peregrine would not let me get a word in.”
“Please, you have to convince them otherwise. I swear, I will do whatever I can to fix things…!” I choked out as tears rolled down my cheeks.
He looked into my eyes for a moment, then sunk into himself. “I’m sorry.”
“Decimus, please! PLEASE! Don’t do this, don’t do this! DON’T LEAVE ME IN HERE!” I wailed, pounding on the bars.
He did not say another word. More flames shot from his hand, finishing off the barrier keeping us locked inside, before hesauntered down the steps back to his throne room. I continued to scream his name for hours, maybe even days, but my voice was blocked by the barrier.
Chapter twenty-four
Who Made You Like This?
Nicodemus
Rushed noises echoed around me. Voices rose and fell, and people moved around the room at lightning speed, trying to console one another and figure out what the Gehenna was going on. I only knew this because of a few hushed words spoken between them: Atlas, gone, portal, find. I was worried about Dad’s name being so heavily spoken of after all that had happened last time I was coherent, but my body was so far behind me that his wellbeing was the least of my concerns.
There was some stability to the room.
Odysseus had his arms around me and his body pressed against mine, and I knew this because the radiant warmth he emitted was consuming me. I could feel his tender lips on my forehead and smell his soft yet masculine cologne.
Mom’s voice was close, and soon, her hand holding mine became my next focus. I knew it was hers because of the wedding band on her left hand. It was a silver piece with black diamondsdecorating the band in a semi-circle, but the diamonds were sizeable, as Dad had spared no expense on her. He had one pear-shaped diamond in the middle of the ring, which she always got caught on stray sweater string or bed sheets when she folded laundry. I could feel it pressed against my fingers, as she was clutching my hand tightly to make sure I soaked up as much healing energy as possible.
To my surprise, I could also feel the warmth of a fuzzy head resting on my neck. The animal’s snout was nestled into the space below my ear and my collarbone, and he let soft breaths plume from his nostrils across my bruised skin.
When I realized Akira was sitting on me my mind reacted right away, as my need to console him and make sure he was truly alive was overwhelming. I coughed once against the cold oxygen pumping into my system from the mask over my face, licked my chapped lips, then brought a shaking hand up to run over the edge of his snout. He hummed happily and nestled into my fingertips happily, whining as he nuzzled into me closer.
Mom and Odysseus sighed in relief when I cuddled into Akira, rubbing his floppy ears soothingly. “Nick, love? How are you feeling?” Odysseus asked as he kissed down my cheek.
“Like shit…” I roughly admitted.
“That’s to be expected,” Mom retorted.
“Akira… he’s alright?” I asked hopefully.
“As right as rain. He needs someserioushealing from you, but he’s stable enough for now. Poor little guy really got his world rocked, but he was a trooper through the healing process. Evris got him fixed right up for you,” Lysander assured as he ran a thermometer over my temple.
“Thank Gods…” I whispered. Akira crooned weakly but licked my exposed cheek a few times to show me he was truly alright.
“More importantly,” Lysander began, sitting on the edge of the bed beside Mom so he could prop my eyes open and shine alight in them, “What doesn’t feel right? Is there anything we’ve missed on you?”
“Is my chest still wide open?” I grumbled.
“Negative. I personally sewed you back together,” he joked.
“Then I guess I’m ok,” I said before moving to analyze each face in the room. One by one, the Gods of the past and present entered my field of vision, all except for the most important one to me right now. “Where’s Dad?” I hiccupped worriedly.
