Zeus (The God Chronicles #1)

Chapter Twenty One

My head was pounding.

I didn't want to open my eyes. Lying still would work just fine for me. Whatever I was laying on, while uncomfortable, was cool and helped ease the aches I was feeling. Every now and then I would hear voices, but I couldn't understand anything they were saying.

What day was it? I couldn't even remember. Had I gone back to Vegas? It was a little unclear. I knew as soon as I opened my eyes and got up I would remember things better. However, I wasn't ready to face the fact that my boyfriend and roommates had been lying to me, basically, the entire time I knew them. Who did that?

Hours, maybe days, passed and I didn't move or open my eyes. I didn't have to worry about anything in my bubble.

"Karly?" The voice was far away and fuzzy, but I could understand it. "Karly, are you okay? Are you awake?"

It was time to go back to the real world. Back to school—back to work—back to figuring out what I was supposed to do now.

"Yeah," I mumbled softly. "What time is it? I know I've been lying here for a while."

"Karly," the voice said hesitantly. "You've been bleeding. Are you okay?"

My eyes snapped open.

"What?" I choked out. My throat felt like sandpaper had been ripped through it. My entire body felt like it had been beaten and then tossed onto the floor I lay on now. I noticed my cut and bloodied arms, several pieces of broken mirror lodged in them. Chains held me loosely in place, and I slowly eased my sore muscles into a sitting position, my head screaming in protest.

"Is your head alright?" the voice asked again.

I surveyed the room. It was oval shaped and made entirely of marble. Greek-style pillars stood every couple of feet, holding up the ceiling painted like a cloudless sky. I imagined it looked magnificent when it wasn't torn apart.

The marble was cracked in several places, and what looked like blood stains covered the floor. One of the pillars was broken and laying in pieces on the ground. To my right I found a huge throne, the likes of which I'd never seen. It seemed to flow effortlessly from the floor of the same marble. The bottom was in the form of clouds and the back rose upward shaped like several lightning bolts. There was hardly any space between it and the end of the oval.

"Karly?"

I looked to my left and saw a woman who had clearly been beaten, chained to one of the pillars. Her brown hair was ratted and had gore in it. She was wearing a simple white robe, stained and torn in several places. Her expression was one of concern.

I suddenly remembered she'd been asking about my head and tentatively reached a hand up, chains rattling, to feel it. When I reached the back I winced, feeling the cut and filth that had dried into my hair.

"It hurts," I croaked. "My throat does too. What happened? I can't remember anything."

"It's okay. Give it a couple of minutes." She smiled at me and nodded reassuringly.

"Who are you?"

"Nike," she said. "But you probably know me better as Niki, if I remember correctly. I think that's the name Zeus and I decided to use while I was in Vegas."

"Niki! Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I was shocked at her appearance. I thought Zeus had made her up as part of the joke, but it was painfully obvious that she had been in a lot of trouble. "What happened to you—"I sucked a breath in as memories started to come back.

"I went to San Francisco," I started slowly. "I got a hotel room for the night and then . . ." I started to cry. "It was all real? Everything he said? It was the truth?"