Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(90)

Then he was on his knees by her side, crying her name, touching her face, stroking her hair.

She tried to smile at him. It's okay. It's not your fault. I let them in. Mikki thought she was saying the words aloud, but she couldn't seem to make them come out. Then her four handmaidens were suddenly there, too. They were crying - even Floga, who Mikki thought hadn't liked her at all. She wanted to comfort them, to tell them she wasn't afraid and to ask them to please treat Asterius nicer because she knew, without any doubt, that she was dying.

Chapter Thirty-One

A STERIUS refused to lose her like this - not to Hatred - not when Mikado had brought love, desire, kindness and acceptance, everything that was Hatred's opposite, into his life. He lifted her in his arms and faced the distraught Elementals.

"Let us take her to the fountain, Guardian. There we will wash her clean and then lay her in Hecate's Temple, where we will offer prayer to the goddess for her soul," Gii said through her tears.

"She is not dead," he said and snarled a warning as Gii tried to approach him.

"Not yet, but her wound is mortal; soon her spirit will be in Hades' Realm," Nera said brokenly.

"No! It is not her destiny to die today!"

"The Fates have deemed otherwise," Aeras said softly.

"Then I defy the Fates!"

"Guardian, what will you do?" Floga asked.

"I will claim my birthright." Carrying Mikado's limp, bleeding body, he began to brush past them, but Gii's soft hand on his arm made him pause. When he glared at her, she met his eyes unflinchingly and said, "How can we help you?"

He hesitated only a moment. "Come to the temple. Perhaps the power of the elements will help my plea reach Cronos's ears."

Without waiting to see if they followed, Asterius rushed to Hecate's Temple, his hooves striking thunderously against the white marble path. He tried not to think about how still Mikado was and how much of her blood soaked their bodies. The beast simply ran.

He took the temple steps three at a time and then drew himself sharply to a halt in front of Hecate's sacred flame. Asterius dropped to his knees and gently placed Mikado beside the flame. He heard the handmaidens hurry into the temple after him. They quickly took their places, surrounding him in their familiar circle.

"Does she still live?" Gii asked.

Asterius looked down at his love. Her eyes were closed and her face was colorless. Blood still pumped freely from the long, slender slash that dissected her neck while her chest rose and fell in shallow pants.

"She does," he said.

"Then do what you can, Guardian. We do not want to lose another Empousa before destiny requires it," Gii said.

He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Then summon your elements and form the sacred circle."

"You love her, don't you?" Floga said suddenly.

His gaze swiveled to Flame. "I do."

"And are you going to save her just to steal her away from us?" the Fire Elemental asked.

"On Beltane the realm's Empousa will meet her destiny. I give you my oath on that," he said.

"Even though you love her?" Aeras asked.

"Not long ago you watched me battle Selfishness. It is not the first time I have faced that particular Dream Stealer. This time I was victorious. I will not sacrifice the dreams of mankind for my own needs ever again." He looked back at Mikado and gently touched her cheek.

"You are not a beast," Gii said softly.

"I am," he said without looking at the Earth Elemental, "but I am also a man, and Mikado's love has made the man the stronger of the two."

"Then the four elements will help you save your love." Gii nodded at Aeras. "Begin, Wind."

The Elemental threw her arms wide. "I call Wind to the sacred circle!" Instantly, the air began to stir.

Like an electric chain reaction, Floga flung wide her arms, embracing her element. "Come to me, Flame!"

"Water! I call you to attend me!" Nera cried.

"Earth! I call you to complete the circle and to magnify the powers of our Guardian who we shelter within," Gii said.

Asterius felt the power of the elements sizzle across his skin. He bowed his head and raised hands stained with his lover's blood. In a voice magnified by Wind, Fire, Water and Earth, as well as by the beast within him, he shouted to the faraway reaches of the heavens.

"Cronos! Great God of the World and of Time - Titan divider of the heavens and Earth - Father! I call you by your ancient names as well as by the one my blood has earned me. I have lived for ages, and never before have I asked anything of you. Not acknowledgment or power. Not love or acceptance. But today I call upon you by right of birth and ask that you grant me the power to save this mortal. Her life's thread has been cut before its time - her string is not yet unwoven to its end."

The sacred flame stirred, and within its flickering light a man's face appeared - ageless, but well lined, as if it had been chiseled from young rock by time and experience. It was a face he would have recognized anywhere, for it mirrored his own so completely.

"Father," Asterius said, bowing his head.

The Titan did not acknowledge Asterius. Instead, he jerked his chin at Mikado. "Is this the mortal you would save?"

"It is."