Chapter Five

“This is ridiculous,” Nadia said softly, seated on the bed next to Eli.

Her gangly friend had not woken when she had thrown herself at him, sobbing and crying for him to open his eyes. He had not stirred as Amy pulled her away, or when Ray found the two of them sobbing on the floor together. The tears had long since dried up and Nadia could do nothing more than sit with her friend and watch him sleep.

“Nadia,” Amy said, reaching for her friend.

Nadia shied away. “They know about us, whoever did this to Eli. They know who I apparently am, and who you claim to be. They tried to kill him.”

“He’ll be fine,” Amy assured her.

Nadia sighed, brushing some hair from Eli’s face. “Do you even know what’s wrong with him?”

“He was beat up pretty badly,” Ray said. “There’s something more, though. I can’t break through.”

“A shadow on his soul,” Gabriel spoke up from the doorway.

Nadia raised her head to face him, comforted by his presence and infuriated at him at the same time. Amy had told her what he had done for Eli, but his cryptic speech and relaxed attitude rubbed her the wrong way. Their friend was dying, and he spoke in riddles. Nadia turned away from him to look back at Eli.

“A shadow, huh?” she repeated. “What gets rid of a shadow? How can we wake him up?”

Amy sighed. “I wish I knew, hon. He’ll be safe here for now, anyway.”

“I don’t think any of us will be safe,” Nadia whispered. “Maybe if I go to the temple and give myself up, the priests will leave you guys alone.”

“No!” Ray snapped. “Don’t even think that! It’s absolutely out of the question.”

Nadia was taken aback at the ferocity of his decision, and blinked in surprise as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

“We’re here to protect you,” he reminded her, accenting his words by pointing at Nadia. “Eli knew the risks. We’ve got to keep you safe until – “

“Ray!” Amy hissed. Ray clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Until what?” Nadia asked.

“Never mind,” Amy said with a nervous laugh. “Who wants breakfast? I can make pancakes.”

Amy and Ray left the room, and Nadia could hear Amy reprimanding her companion the whole way into the kitchen. Gabriel remained a statue in the doorway, watching Nadia with his deep blue eyes. Nadia clutched Eli’s hand, smiling sadly at his sleeping face.

“You idiot,” she told him. “Getting yourself hurt for me. Did you think I’d be happy?”

Her silent protector said nothing, and the trio in the room remained motionless until Amy called them down for breakfast. Gabriel left first, and Nadia followed soon after, leaving Eli to his rest. As she walked down the stairs, she became determined to find the people who had done this to Eli and figure out what they wanted.

*~*~*~*

“Maple syrup?” Amy asked, sliding a plate of pancakes towards Nadia.

Nadia sat at the table and poked at her food with her fork. She knew Eli always loved pancakes, and wondered if the smell of them would be enough to wake him. Gabriel leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest as Amy and Ray took their seats at the table with Nadia.

“Eat something,” Ray said to Nadia, his mouth full of food.

“I’m just thinking,” Nadia replied, swirling her fork through the melted butter and syrup that pooled on her plate.

“Well, if you’re thinking of going to the temple, forget it,” Ray told her, bits of food flying from his mouth. “We’re not strong enough right now.”

“Stop sharing your breakfast with everyone,” Amy chided. “We’ve got our own.”

“Kaos is looking for me,” Nadia said. “He’ll use you guys to get to me. How do we become stronger?”

“Prayer,” Gabriel answered.

Amy nodded. “That’s right. Now that you know who you are, talk to the gods who betrayed you. Maybe they’ll switch sides.”

“You mean Artemis?” Nadia asked.

“For starters,” Amy said with a nod. “But until you can sneak into the temple, you’d better lay low here.”

“I’ll have to go home sometime,” Nadia protested. “I need to change, get my homework, call my parents.”

Ray looked as if he would protest, but Amy laid a hand on his arm to prevent him from speaking. Nadia finished pushing her pancakes around her plate and stood. She smiled gratefully at her friends.

“I’m thankful for everything you’ve done,” she told them. “Please look after Eli for me.”

Turning, she left the room. Ray and Amy sat motionlessly until they heard the front door close. Ray pounded the table with his fist, causing Nadia’s untouched food to leap into the air. Amy sighed and put a hand on her temple.

“We’re just letting her leave?” Ray demanded. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’ll go,” Gabriel said, turning to leave out the kitchen door.

“Be careful,” Amy called after him. “We don’t want to smother her.”

Gabriel gave a half smile over his shoulder. “I’ll be a shadow.”

*~*~*~*

Nadia jammed her hands in her pants pockets and hunched her shoulders, staring down at the sidewalk as she walked. Her mind was reeling from everything that had happened in just two short days. She was a goddess, her friends were all gods sworn to protect her, her best friend betrayed her and now lay dying, the god she had worshipped and admired her whole life wanted her dead; it was almost too much for her to bear. She was happy to have some time to herself, to think things through without her friends hovering around her.

She reached her own house and fumbled for her keys. She wondered if Josh was home, whether he had noticed that she had left last night. As she reached for the keyhole, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Carefully, she pushed it open, listening to the hinges creak without moving from the porch. Her heart was pounding blood through her body, preparing herself to flee at a second’s notice. The inside of the house was quiet and Nadia stepped inside.

“Hello?” she called. “Josh? Are you home?”

Nadia peeked into the television room, where she often found Josh playing video games on weekends. The room was deserted. Nadia’s eyes passed over the disorganized chaos and she pursed her lips. Someone had been through this room, and it hadn’t been Josh. His games, normally neatly piled on the floor, had been knocked over, and the pillows on the couch had been tossed around. Papers were strewn about, and the books on the shelf against the wall were scattered. Nadia took a breath to steady herself and slowly walked down the hall to the kitchen.

“It was a burglar,” she whispered to herself. “We’ve been robbed. They just forgot to take the TV and the video games. Not particularly bright burglars, but only ordinary thieves. No crazy priests or men with red hands.”

“Hello?” she called softly as she stepped across the threshold into the kitchen. “Josh?”

She froze in mid-step as soon as she saw she was not alone. Three men dressed in black suits were seated at her small table, casually sipping glasses of water, looking for all the world like they belonged there. The cupboards had been ransacked, broken dishes and spilled food littering the tiled floor. One of the men turned as Nadia entered and smiled at her, as if welcoming her into her own home.

“Ms. Nichols,” he said as he and his two companions rose to their feet.

Nadia put on what she hoped was a fierce expression to mask the terror she felt growing in her chest. The man laughed calmly.

“That expression hardly becomes you,” he said.

“Who are you?” Nadia demanded. “How dare you break into my house!”

“I think you know who we are,” the man replied. “We just want to talk to you, Ms. Nichols.”

The Questioner snapped his fingers and his two thugs leapt into action, seizing Nadia by the arms and holding her tightly. She struggled against them as they dragged her towards their leader, but they were much too strong for her. She felt tears of hopelessness and rage brimming in her eyes.

One of the thugs roughly pushed her onto a chair, holding her firmly in place by the shoulder. The other returned to the Questioner and lifted a black briefcase from off the floor, setting it down on the table and unfastening it with a snap.

“The church is displeased with you, Nadia,” the Questioner said, pulling a pair of red gloves from the briefcase and sliding them onto his hands.

Nadia shook her head, the tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. “I attend services regularly.”

“But your heart is false,” the man objected. “Our Lord Kaos can see into your lying heart, Ms. Nichols. He knows you’ve been collaborating with unbelievers, and that you will attempt to destroy him.”

Nadia said nothing as the red gloved man drew a syringe from the briefcase. It was full of a greenish liquid, which the man squirted from the needle to remove any air bubbles. Nadia sank back into her chair, wishing that she could pass straight through it and escape, but the wooden frame remained as firm as the man’s grip on her shoulder. The third thug held Nadia by the wrist and pulled back her sleeve.

“No!” Nadia gasped, trying to squirm free.

“This won’t hurt a bit,” the man assured her. “You’ll feel a bit sleepy and become much more inclined to tell us what we need to know.”

Nadia watched the needle coming closer, the image blurred by the tears in her eyes. Her mind cried out, wondering why this was happening to her, when she had never done anything wrong in her life. She thought of Eli, lying battered and helpless, lost in shadow, and her heart nearly broke. This was not how things were supposed to happen!

Suddenly there was a crash and the red gloved Questioner was knocked aside. Nadia gasped in shock as Gabriel appeared before her, brandishing his sword. The Questioner rose to his feet, wiping the trickle of blood that came from his mouth as Gabriel attacked the men holding Nadia. He grasped her around the waist, pulling her from the chair and holding her close to his body. The defeated men scurried to their leader, who laughed as Gabriel rested the sword at his throat.

“Not so fast,” the Questioner said.

There was the sound of someone stumbling very quickly down the wooden stairs, and a fourth man in black appeared holding a gun to Josh’s head. Nadia’s roommate had blood on his cheeks and fear in his eyes as he stared uncomprehendingly at Nadia.

“You two will come with us,” the Questioner ordered, “or the boy dies.”

Josh’s eyes widened even larger, and his mouth opened as his lips began to tremble. He shook his head as if the action could someone remove the gun from his temple. Nadia closed her eyes tightly, squeezing the last bit of moisture from them, before pushing herself away from Gabriel and moving to stand before the Questioner. Defeated, Gabriel lowered his sword and allowed one of the thugs to pin his arms behind his back.

“You win,” Nadia said softly. “We’ll go.”