Page 60 of Lethal Souls
Decius swings his eyes to hers. “I would never betray you, Mother. I only wanted to gain power so that I could claim Vakeeli as yours and restore you.”
Selah glares at him while everyone else at the table remains silent. She drums her red claw-like fingernails on the wooden table, still keeping her gaze locked on Decius. Then, finally, she softens and gives him a smile.
“You’re lucky I’m so forgiving.” She taps his nose and winks.
I glance at Killian who has his arms folded. Just like me, he doesn’t want to eat. And the wine is tempting, but after hearing Selah say there’s a child in me…I can’t bring myself to drink.
She has to be wrong about that. I’ve been completely fine and healthy…other than that sudden wave of nausea. And vomiting on the way to my appointed room. I just thought it was the food.
I lower my gaze, trying to remember when my last period was. With all that’s been going on, I haven’t been able to keep track of it properly. Maeve bought me pads and tampons once, and it’s now I realize that I haven’t used them since I agreed to live in Vakeeli.
How could I be so naïve? Back on Earth I was on birth control, but they don’t have that here. Still, it’s only been about a month and a half since I agreed to stay. We haven’t been together long enough for a pregnancy to happen…right?
The screech of chair legs pulls me out of my thoughts, and I look up to see Selah standing.
“There was a time when I was in love.” She strolls around the table with a bored sigh.
I can’t help frowning as she raises her hands in the air. The dining room darkens, save for the candles on the center of the table. As she lifts her hands higher, a luminescent streak of orange appears and slowly transforms into a woman.
“I’d like to tell you all a story.” She works her fingers so the figure of the woman in a swaying gown moves. “There was a time when I was on Earth. Born from the tears of Gaea, my Mother, I was fueled with incredible power. My siblings and I were.” Three more figures appear. Two are shaped like Hassha and Korah, but the other is a male. I narrow my eyes. Who is he?
Swords are in their hands as they all begin to run like they’re charging toward something. On the opposite side of them is a massive crowd. The women raise their swords and launch into battle as Selah continues.
“Though we started out as gentle creatures, we were sent to fight in wars that didn’t belong to us. We assisted the god Kronos as well as the Titans in his battle against his father, Uranus, and we won. My sisters hated fighting, hated the blood and the hatred, but I loved it.” Her teeth gleam in the orange light.
“The people of Earth didn’t know who or what we were, and we chose not to reveal ourselves as much as the gods. You see, the gods on Earth were quite full of themselves and foolish…well, all but one. Kronos.” She sighs dreamily. “The stories won’t tell you this, Willow, but while Kronos was with his wife Rhea, he was also with me. Kronos took me under his wing, provided for me, and showed me how to always win wars and battles. He was my teacher, and I fell in love with him. We were, as I like to call it, a pair of lethal souls.
“There was one thing he wanted, and it was to rule the gods. But our mother found it selfish. My sisters called him a liar, a traitor. They constantly berated me, told me that I was a fool for loving such an evil man. But he wasn’t evil, you see. He was just smart. And that’s the problem with all these worlds, these realms, the simpleminded beings—they fear true wisdom.”
Her eyes flash as she converts the light to a crying woman on her knees. “So what if he’d eaten his children? So what if he wanted to keep the throne? He had a right to it. He won our mother’s battles and didn’t protest once. But was Mother happy? No. And my sisters and brother didn’t like what he was teaching me, so they assisted Zeus in defeating Kronos and the Titans. They were banished, and soon after, Kronos was killed. Only…I didn’t know my siblings were behind this at the time. Not until many, many years later.
“When he died, I wept for months. My heart was shattered because he was all I wanted. And to make matters worse, Mother sent my siblings and me to the cosmos. She wanted us to create another world—one that was stable and full of hope. One that didn’t contain wars and battles and betrayals.”
Selah snorts a laugh. “For a while it worked. I created the Original Tethered out of sheer boredom. And boring they were. It felt only right to shake things up a bit, get a little chaos going. Then an idea struck me, and I went back to Earth to retain what was left of Kronos’s remains. I brought what I found back to Vakeeli, and with my blood and Kronos’s ashes, that is how my dear Decius was born.” She gestures to Decius who nods proudly. “Then I forced Decius to mate with Oriah.”
“And forced her to make a choice on who to stay mated to,” Decius tosses in. I hear a hint of agitation in his voice, like he resents Selah for it. “You knew she wouldn’t choose me. Knew it would devastate me.”
“Of course I knew. She was madly in love with Lehvine.”
“That’s fucked up,” Killian mutters.
“As fucked up as it was,” Selah retorts, eyeing Killian, “It fueled you, no?” She points her attention back to Decius. “Made you powerful?”
“It did, Mother.” Decius’s answer is deflated. He doesn’t seem convinced that it did.
“All the energy you’ve collected over the years still rests inside you,” she goes on. “All those Tethered Souls, the Cold Tethered children—they’re all within you. You’re fueled with so much power and for that, I am proud.”
Decius bows his head.
Selah sways her hand, making the image before us vanish. “It is because of my sisters that Kronos died. It is because of my sisters that the Cold Tethered kept being reborn. To me, it was like a slap in the face. What they did to Kronos was a betrayal. But with the Tethered I created, it was like they were stealing my power,” she snaps. “Then they used Yuri, made him sacrifice his energy for their sake—when they realized I knew of their betrayal and my anger could not be contained.” Selah runs a hand over one of the chairs, and it catches fire. I shift in my seat.
“They turned the Tethered against me. My own creations against me!” she says in a louder voice. “I made more people, of course. Like The Council,” she says, gesturing to Callista, Arie, and Vassilis. “Your elders held much more power than the Tethered, but it didn’t matter. They were mine first, and my sisters fed them lies. They became attached to them…so I figured the only way to solve it was to get rid of them. Decius did that for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for long.
“With Yuri’s sacrifice, they were able to put me into an eternal slumber. They never wanted me to wake again, but that’s unfortunate because I’m here. And the only way they’ll defeat me again is with Yuri’s power…which your mate has, Willow.”
She sets another chair ablaze. This one is close to Arie, and he inches away a bit as she walks behind his chair.
“I don’t understand why you want us all dead. All the people of Vakeeli are your creations and procreations. Why wipe us all out?” I ask.