Goddess of Pain - Katie May Page 0,91

my voice trembling. To Athena, I whisper, “Let him go. He has nothing to do with this.”

Athena makes a face as she shrugs her shoulders. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see, you killed my partner.”

“You would’ve killed her yourself after this was over with,” I scoff. Because I have no doubt in my mind that that was Athena’s original intention. She wouldn’t have wanted to share her powers with anyone, let alone a ditzy, power-hungry goddess.

“True.” Once more, Athena shrugs. “But you see, Emily, the ritual with the stone only works when you’re in intense pain. I believe that’s why it didn’t work before.”

“I’m already in intense fucking pain,” I hiss, staggering a step forward.

“But you can heal from that pain,” she counters immediately. “I know the way your powers work, believe it or not. I study my enemies, Emily.” She smiles cruelly, flashing teeth that are slightly too straight and perfect. Even standing in the blood of her dead friend, there’s not a blonde hair out of place. She looks as immaculate and as unperturbed as ever. Fucking psychopath.

“You don’t know shit about me,” I snap immediately, blood forming in my mouth and drizzling down my chin. Henry watches me in wide-eyed horror, and I realize then that his fear isn’t for himself, but for me. He’s worried about me, when he’s the one with a knife to his throat. “Why did you send the assassins after me?” I demand. “Especially since your goal this entire time was to take my powers.”

Irritation flashes across her beautiful face like a streak of lightning illuminating an inky black sky. “Because I thought it would tear you and your…men apart.” She hisses the word “men” like it’s a disgusting swear word. “There’s no greater pain than betrayal, now is there?”

“And then after?” I demand, thinking of the guy at the warehouse and the girl at the club.

Athena sighs, as if my questions are annoying her but she’s willing to indulge me just this once. “Well, that was to make you believe Rebecca had betrayed you. Obviously, I knew that the return of your memories would make the six of you nearly unstoppable. But I still needed to make you feel emotional pain, you understand. I thought if I framed Rebecca…” Using the free hand not holding the knife, she brushes away a perfectly coiffed blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

“You really are a twisted bitch, aren’t you?” I ask, continuing to push myself forward, one agonizing step at a time.

“Well…I never said I wasn’t.” Mouth twisted in a rictus grin, Athena lowers the knife.

And plunges it into Henry’s heart.

“No!” I scream.

“Henry!” That’s Rebecca’s voice, and I should’ve known the idiotic girl wouldn’t listen to me. But I can’t focus on that. I can’t focus on anything except for my brother falling to the ground, the handle of the knife protruding from his ribcage.

Anguish stops my heart as I drop to my knees directly beside him.

“No, no, no, no, no,” I whisper incoherently as Athena begins to laugh gleefully.

A sob tears past my lips, and my tears feel scorching hot on my icy skin.

“No!” I desperately grasp Henry’s cold, cold hand as his eyes flutter wildly, attempting to focus on my face. Rebecca drops to her knees on the other side of him as she strokes at his disheveled blond hair, now matted with Mandy’s blood.

“Please stay with me. Please,” she begs. “I can’t live without you. I love you.”

His face softens as he turns to stare at her, a tiny smile playing on his lips.

“I love you too. So fucking much.” He heaves a gaping breath and turns towards me, tears welling in his eyes. “I love you too, little sister.”

I sob madly, stroking his hair repeatedly.

“You’re going to be okay,” I promise. “You’re going to be okay.”

He releases a guttural cough, blood spurting from his dry lips. My heart plummets in my chest, leaving behind a gaping hole I don’t know how to fill. Needing something to do, I close my eyes and focus on his pain. It sits in his chest like an uncomfortable ball of tangled yarn. Slowly, with skilled precision that centuries as a goddess gave me, I untangle the nest and pull it into myself. I’ll be damned if I let my brother feel any pain.

“I don’t…” He gurgles as I grasp the last tendril of his agony and wrench it into myself. His face immediately slackens with relief as his eyes flutter shut.

“Just