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“What the fuck? What have you done?”
“An unfortunate side effect. You’ll be fine.”
Anger bubbled under my skin, my jaw locked, and my hands shook as I stared at my skin.Not only has he taken my body; he’s made it something I don’t even recognize.I opened my mouth to tell her exactly what happened, exactly what was happening to me as we were speaking, that she shouldn’t trust me and that Kaatu was going to use me, and them, to further his own agenda. But he knew my intention.
“I think I’ve let you have enough time to get what this body needs,”he said smugly and easily pushed past me in a cloud of black, and suddenly, I was pushed out. I couldn’t feel my body anymore, and even what I could see and hear felt distant.
“Everyone was gone. Shadows surrounded me,” Kaatu replied to Clawdia.
“Stop!”I shouted.
Panic ripped into me. Like fighting invisible ropes, I struggled to take control of my own body. But I knew he meant to keep me here for good, and if I gave up now, he’d do the unthinkable.
The rage that boiled inside me focused my attention, cleared my panic, and started my ability to plan.
I was not going to let this shadow commandeer my body as though he had the right. I wouldn’t let him poison the budding relationships I had with my soul mates. Or endanger them on a mission to save his land.
I understood the need to save his people. I’d been rescuing titans for so long to save Tartarus from desolation, but I hadn’t done anything so morally gray as to steal someone’s body and intend to form a soul bond with his mates.
But if he intended to have control of my body, I would ensure he had no access to my mind. If he wanted to pretend to be me, he would have to do so without my help. I imagined locking away my mind, forming an impenetrable barrier of blood and threads around it. I couldn’t be certain whether it would hold, and while he was able to find out that my soul bonds had not been consummated, it was all the information I would allow.
I hope possessing me drains him of enough power that he can’t possibly search my mind too.
“But how did you get here?” Clawdia asked, her eyes bright with concern. “Your portal … it looked strange. “
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that.” My hand waved dismissively, and I hated the pain it caused her.
“Of course I do,” she cried out, looking utterly confused and hurt. “I was worried about you. You’ve been out of it for days. I thought the council were going to try and hurt you because it’s impossible that you are here.”
“Yes, the protector. He is the one who has closed the portals, correct?” my voice asked.
“Yes … but you already know that.”
“This protector. How has he closed the portals? Can it be undone?”
“Why would we want it to be undone?”
“There is a dragon who is stealing magic, yes? I’m trying to think of the next steps the dragon might take.”
She eyed us suspiciously. “I think the simplest way to get the portals open again is to kill the protector. I don’t know any other way. But maybe we can ask him. I think he’s awake now.”
My head nodded. “He is being protected, I assume.”
“We are on an island that has wards hiding us from anyone looking for him magically. And everyone here wants to ensure his safety, so yes, he’s protected.”
“And his power affects the natural portals too?”
“How do you know about natural portals?”
“I am the son of gods.”
“Oh. Of course. I’m not sure. I’m told they haven’t been used since the fall. But it’s another question for Sigurd.”
“Where is the titan?”
I almost laughed at how easy he was making it for her to figure out that I was not myself. “I would know the name of my soul mate.”
“Be silent.”
