My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

The End Of The World As We Know It (Part 1)

A sound tore from my throat. Not a scream. Something darker. Inhuman-cry. I lunged toward the spot where Theo had just stood, my arms reaching out.

Festos grabbed me. I registered it dimly, and only because I felt his cane bang against my shin.

The world around me began to pound under the assault of endless minions.

Bring the fire ... Prometheus had brought fire to mankind. Choke the spark ... Theo had done that, dousing the flames with his own life essence.

Release the form ...

I twisted away from Fee and screamed, "How can you stand there?"

Why wasn't he raging too? The love of his life had just died. But it wasn't like it didn't matter to Festos. The pain on his face was raw and real, and agonizing to watch.

Then I saw the flash of guilt. "You knew," I said and kicked away from him, wild-eyed. That's why Festos had been so upset, so furious, after Cassie had made her pronouncement.

"Sophie," he said quietly.

I threw my arm across my stomach, as if I could stop the pain knifing through me. "You. Knew."

"Leave him alone." Kai pushed between me and Festos. His voice was harsh. "You think this was easy on him? You think Fee wanted to know that he was going to watch Theo die?"

Ohmigod. I stuttered out a sob. "You knew too."

When Kai had left me, back in Delphyne's cave, I thought I'd understood the pain of betrayal. But now? They had both known what Cassie's words meant and not told me. No wonder Theo had made the deal with Felicia. It hadn't mattered. He wasn't going to be around anyway.

I stood there. Unable to move. Unable to breathe. Unable to do anything except feel the torment pounding inside me in time with the onslaught from above.

"Don't let Theo's death be for nothing," Kai snapped. "Honor him. Honor your friend who is standing here dying." He motioned to Festos, who looked shell-shocked, "And fight."

I stared dumbly at the spot where Theo had been and a memory overtook me.

"That new kid?" Bethany threw her thick braid over her knit dress. She snickered at Veronica who was, as usual, stuck to her side. "Weirdo." They walked past us, on the school's back field.

I hoped she wasn't going to bug us. There wasn't much time left in long recess and I just wanted to play with Hannah.

Yay. The girls ignored us and headed over to the rest of their dumb friends, like Anil and Jackson. So annoying.

I stuck my tongue out at Bethany's back.

Hannah looked up from trying to coax an earthworm back into the glass jar filled with grass that she'd made as its home, and grinned. "At least she's in Miss Cohn's grade two class. Not ours."

My stomach growled even though we'd just had lunch. I flopped down and prodded the worm.

"He looks lost."

"Huh?" I scrunched up my face, not sure who Hannah was talking about.

She stared off across the field. "That boy. Maybe we should say hi."

I looked over at where she was staring. The new kid. Bethany was kind of right. He was sort of weird looking. His dark hair stuck up like he'd shoved his finger in a socket. He wore a T-shirt with a robot picture on it. And the black glasses on his face kept sliding down his nose.

It didn't seem to bother him, because he just kept pushing them up to look around.

"Come on." Hannah bounced to her feet and headed toward him, expecting me to follow.

I rolled onto my back. Didn't want to move. I wanted to lie in the sun. And not talk to strangers. I had Hannah. I didn't need another friend.

I waited for her to come back so we could keep playing. But she brought him with her.

"This is Theo. He's going to be our friend."

We'd see about that. Groaning and moaning, I pulled myself up and looked at him.

He tilted his head, kind of studying me.

I didn't like that. So I gave him my best prickly look. Imagining I was a porcupine with my quills standing up.

"Yeah. You're okay." He grinned and folded himself down beside me.

Hey, wasn't I the one who should decide if he got to stay? He was the new kid.

But then he peered at the home we'd made for the worm and said, "You need to make a better hole in the lid. Get some rocks and leaves and stuff." It just felt right for him to be here then. With us.

With me.

I relaxed and listened to him talk about the worm.

Bethany skipped past and rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"Shut up, Bethany," I warned. "Theo's our friend."

Yeah. We had our group now.

Bam!

The air vibrated hard enough to jostle me sideways, knocking me back into the battle. I wanted to stay in that happy past, not this horrorshow present.

I swiped at my eyes. Kai was right. Here. Now. I would fight. And later, I would fight with Kai about what he'd kept from me. But right now, I had a job to do. No way was Theo's ... absence going to be for nothing.

Absence. I didn't even want to think the other word. It made my insides twist as if Demeter was killing me a billion times over. I swear I felt bits of my heart breaking off and hitting the ground. I could hear the hollow thunks.

"Sophie!" Kai yelled. He stood, tense, in position next to Festos.

I blew a kiss toward the last place I'd seen Theo alive. And vowed that everyone who had brought this about would pay. Then I looked at Festos and nodded. "Do it."