“Shhh,” Toni snapped and we continued on. Their ally was a god? My heart pounded; I couldn’t breathe.

The room we entered looked like a middle eastern harem den sprawling with fine carpets, silk pillows and a soft white couch where the god lay reclined.

She appeared young, with short, black, spiky hair. Not too tall, thin as a reed, she looked entirely human except for her eyes, no irises or whites; her eyes were completely black.

She took one look at me and moved faster than any eye could follow. Her face inches away from mine; I forgot to breathe, "You're his?” her voice hissed like a steam engine.

Of course she could smell him on me, just as I could now associate her smell with Toni.

Again she moved too fast to see back to the sprawl on the couch. “You don’t want them to know he made you.”

“Who?” Mercy and Toni spoke at once.

“Though I don’t know why,” Kitty ignored them, “All the gods can smell him on you like--” her eyes glazed over.

“Like a rotting corpse and sunlight,” I finished for her.

She refocused on me, “Yessss.” It wasn’t said with reverence like the other times I’ve heard it but with hate. I started, was this why she was helping them?

She stared at me, “I have sworn to kill him but you--you’re the first of his little toys I’ve seen run away--” she leaned forward, “how has he not caught you yet?”

I swallowed hard, she could kill me with a finger snap, she might anyway if I told her the truth.

“Who are you talking about?” Mercy yelled.

The god smiled daggers, “Why the Prince himself, of course.”

The others took an unconscious step away from me. Brad looked betrayed.

“You were made by The Prince? The leader of these monsters?” Mercy was in my face. Lightning whistled.

“You’re being helped by them, a god on your side why are you still operating on such a small scale?” I snapped right back.

“I’m not the only one,” Kitty smiled languid, stretching like her namesake, “Though you’re not likely to meet the other.”

“Should we kill her?” Heala asked, her voice never losing that child-like wistfulness.

“You have two gods?” I stared at them. Yes, Heala and Lightning would have been made by the same one.

“He didn’t skimp on you either,” why was she still talking? Kitty was in my face again, pushing Mercy aside as if she were made of cotton, “Superior strength and speed, heightened senses, huh,” her eyes narrowed, “he gave you that too.” Anger flared for a moment.

Suddenly she was subdued, the rest waited for her verdict, “Oh she’s a real deserter but be assured the Prince will come looking for her.”

“I say we kill her and save ourselves the trouble.”

“You’re an idiot Mercy,” Kitty laughed, “You just had a gem fall in your laps and you want to destroy it,” the god gave me a hard look, “with her you can take the fight to them.”

“Will you join the fight?” I asked.

Kitty quirked an eyebrow, “No, not until I can kill Prince.”

They were dismissed. As they wheeled me out of the room I pushed on the brakes, “Do you know any gods who will?” If there was one, there had to be more, right?

Her laughter followed me down the hall.

As they led me back to the room I could feel their questioning glances.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Toni promised, “Get some rest.”

Brad was the last to leave, “Good to have you on board.” He didn’t meet my eyes.

“Thank you for vouching for me,” I realized he was probably the only reason I was still alive.

He smiled; it looked so normal…human. I smiled back.

He came for me that night. Pulling the blanket from me, I started awake.

“No,” I whispered as he crawled on top of me. All I could see was his silver hair moving up my body.

“Come back to me Princess,” his voice was hurt, a haunting whisper as he used a spindle-like claw to slice off my hospital gown, “Come back to me.”

His lips trailed a hot line of kisses up my body. Everywhere his lips touched an undeniable desire blossomed. He kissed my throat and I felt like I was drowning.

His claw trailed along my ribcage and blood welled. But I felt no pain--only pleasure burned in its spot.

I closed my eyes--I didn’t want to fight it anymore.

“Come back to me,” his voice so haunting before he sank razor sharp teeth into my neck.

I woke with a start.

A dream, nothing but a dream; I repeated to myself as I tried to reassure myself that I was whole.

“My, he really did a number on you.” Kitty walked out of the shadows. I almost hit the ceiling.

I scooted up the bed, trying to put distance between us.

“You heal quickly,” she cocked her head.

I looked down at myself, moving was hard this morning, now I shuffled easily around the bed, though I doubted my walking abilities improved.

“You know, when we bite,” suddenly her face was inches from mine, my breath hitched in my throat, “humans don’t generally moan,” she smiled and all I saw was razor sharp teeth again. Could she see my dreams? Then she was at the foot of the bed again, “I didn’t think he was capable of giving out that gift.”

When I didn’t respond she cocked her head, “Not talking? Shall I make you talk?”

There was a warning tilt in her voice that had me diving to the floor as a gash appeared in the bed where I had been.

Was she trying to kill me?

She glided closer to inspect her work, “I guess I’m angrier than I thought. I should probably cool down so I can interrogate you without killing you--right away.” She smiled again and vanished.

I sat panting in the corner, drawing my knees to my chin. I went from one psychopathic god to another. I have to get out of here.

The shaking came back, no matter how little pain I felt my body still reacted the same.

Morning came without sleep. The door creaked open and I tensed, ready to dive out of the way again. Brad entered with a tray of food. He saw the bed first, his eyes widening. I had to admire the quick reflexes as he shoved the tray on the floor without dropping anything and rushed into the room.

“Emma,” his eyes finally landed on me and he skidded to his knees in front of me, “Are you alright? Who did this?”

I looked at the concern and saw another with a similar expression yet for whom loyalty came first. Loyalty will always come first.

“Nothing happened, I’m fine, thank you.”

“How?” he pointed towards the bed.

“Had a bad dream, powers must have kicked in.” It could happen.

“Oh,” pity in his voice now, “I guess it must happen a lot.”

Bad dreams, yes but I didn’t answer. He helped me up, “We’ll get a new mattress. Toni wants you dressed and ready to go in an hour. There’s a bathroom--can you wash yourself or…”

“For what?”

“A meeting, to decide…”he let it hang but I could fill in the blanks. Decide my fate. Right.

I rose on shaky legs, “I can handle it.”

“I can get Heala--”

“No,” I smiled, “I’ll be fine.”

The bathroom was nothing but a sink, a toilet and a shower-- no window, no shower curtain either. Oh well, if this wasn’t a hospital, at least it was a medical ward. There were handles for people who had trouble standing. Never thought I’d have to use those.

I took too long, I knew that but I was beyond caring. The water felt rejuvenating cascading down my back. How long had it been since I’ve had a real shower?

A fresh hospital gown lay on the bed but no Brad. Waiting outside? He didn’t seem like a peeping Tom.

Brad straightened as I walked out of the room, “Do you want a wheelchair?”

I shook my head. He didn’t press.

Again, corridor after corridor whirled by. This time no wheelchair held me up.

“Not much further,” Brad said, his hands dancing at his sides as if deciding whether I wanted help or not.

I didn’t enlighten him.

Finally we reached the double doors, no smell of gods this time. I sighed in relief.

The room had only a giant round table. The Warriors clustered on one side of it. Brad indicated a chair across from them for me to sit. I tried not to sigh as I sank into the cushioned seat.

Toni leaned forward, “You’re a threat to us, even if you’re a real deserter the Prince will come looking for you. We’re better off taking you out ourselves and dumping your body where he will find it.”

“You want me to tell you why you should keep me alive?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“You killed a god to stay alive, but you can’t give us one good reason?” Mercy snapped.

All I could picture was Kitty putting a gash thicker than my body into the bed. I laughed, “What’s the point? You’re all dead anyway, and I’ll be as dead whether you keep me alive or kill me yourselves.”

Eyebrows rose. Shadow drew a throwing knife. But I continued.

“You’re all just as much of Worshippers as I ever was.” I was ready for the lights to flare, though the sparks surprised me. The table seared under Lighting’s hands. Toni looked like her body uncoiled, the ribbons of metal wiggling beneath her clothes. I gagged.

Only Brad remained motionless, frowning.

I dived as electricity zagged through the light bulbs to electrocute me. I rolled from the throwing knives, to face right into the barrel of Mercy’s gun.

“Stop,” Brad pulled her arm, the shot fired into the ceiling and I pressed myself to the wall where I could see everybody.

Heala didn’t get the message, the whole room shook as she drew power from the rest of the building to suffuse the power lines in the walls. My hair tried to rise to the ceiling from the static electricity. The room was about to become a giant electrocution chamber.

The rest of them seemed to realize it at the same time. Toni stopped wiggling under her clothes to yell at Lightning, “Stop her, she’ll kill us all.”

I shook my head, similar powers didn’t mean the same. Lightning was not on the same level. I felt like a broken rag doll that never quite got stitched back together. Rising to my feet, I tried to remember the super speed, what it felt like to run faster than the wind.

I ran right into her, knocking her to the floor and effectively cutting her concentration. Shadow was by me in seconds, injecting something into Heala’s neck, I assumed a tranquilizer. The faint buzzing in the room faded, though my hair never quite de-frizzed.

Quiet descended, like dust on a corpse.

“Get her out of here,” Toni snapped and suddenly reality reasserted itself. Shadow picked Heala up and carried her out, his head turned towards me but if there was an expression behind the mask I couldn’t tell.

I sat on the ground, my body too weak to move.

“Why would you do that?” Brad knelt by me.

“Because it’s true,” I snapped, “You think what? You can control your gods? That you’re not at their mercy, following their whims? That they won’t kill you when they’re done with you?”

Brad frowned, “The bed…was that Kitty?”

“What are you talking about?” Toni walked up.

“There was a--”

“Do you truly believe the gods are here for you? That they’re not using you just like they use every Worshipper they create?” I was getting tired, even my body couldn’t take all this. “How can you think they will help you eradicate their own race?” I could hear my voice going soft, my vision going black around the edges. I was passing out...again.