Blackhearted Betrayal by Kasey Mackenzie Read Free Book Online Page A

arcane. If what the Megaera was saying meant what I thought it did …
     
    “And yes, for a time you will truly
be
as the Deities are—immune to death’s touch. But be warned: The Deities exact a high price from those to whom they grantthis gift—and it is finite. The effects will wear off three days after you partake of the ambrosia, and you will become as weak as a babe for some time afterward. A final caution: While you two will be divine for that period of time, those you care for
will not be
. Never forget this. Your enemies will not.”
     
    I clenched my fists at her warning. As high an honor as the Deities were granting, she was right. Whatever job they had in mind for us to do, it would undoubtedly suck big-time, and since I was sure it involved the turmoil in the Sisterhood and my grandmother, our enemies could easily get to us through our loved ones. Then again, that was just about par for my course.
     
    “Do you understand?”
     
    Mom and I nodded. “We do.”
     
    “So be it. Let us drink, and so doing, become as our Makers for a time.”
     
    She took an unladylike swig from the chalice, turned it slightly, and held it to Mom’s lips. Mom took a matching gulp but didn’t react with quite so much savoir faire. Her eyes watered, and she staggered back a step, a dark red liquid dribbling from her chin and splashing onto the pristine white of her toga. Funny, I’d always pictured ambrosia as looking more like honey than blood. I watched as the crimson drop burrowed into the fabric, but to my shock, it didn’t stain it as I expected. Instead, the ambrosia was absorbed into the garment, which briefly glowed with a silvery sheen before fading to duller white once more. I blinked but didn’t have time to wonder exactly what that meant because the Megaera rotated the chalice again and pressed the surprisingly warm metal to my mouth. I stared into the dark red liquid that swirled muchlike the butterflies stirring inside my stomach, bracing myself; not that it helped a whole heck of a lot. I reacted even more violently than Mom when molten fire burned its way across my tongue, down my throat, and into my belly, drowning every one of those butterflies in incandescent heat. My eyes flooded with tears that ran down my cheeks in torrents as coughs racked my body hard enough that I saw stars. I didn’t merely stumble, either. I fell flat on my ass on cold white marble and convulsed.
     
    Mom barked a terrified question I barely heard, although I did catch the Megaera’s response more clearly. “She is not an Elder so of
course
it affects her more!”
     
    Several moments passed while I oozed every ounce of spare moisture from my body and coughed up both my lungs. The ambrosia tasted like nothing I’d ever experienced and didn’t think I’d ever want to experience again. It didn’t hurt—exactly—just saturated every fiber of my being in a pulse-pounding rush that took my breath away. Almost literally, since I went several minutes unable to take in a bit of oxygen and yet didn’t notice its lack until the coughing subsided and I could finally
think
again.
     
    Mom reached down to help me stand, and my mouth dropped open when I noticed a familiar silvery light dancing across her skin. For that matter, the glow shimmered along her toga again, too. My gaze flew to the Megaera, who glowed even more brightly than Mom.
Because she’s ingested ambrosia more than once?
Then I noticed something even more disconcerting: Eerie silver light edged itself around both of their glowing emerald eyes.
     
    I managed to stumble to my feet with Mom’s help,noticing that silvery light now played across my skin as well—and, I assumed, also rimmed my eyes. The fire inside began cooling somewhat but not entirely. As much as the bath moments ago had energized me, it paled in comparison to the vitality buzzing inside my blood and bones. I felt jazzed, pumped up, buzzed—like being drunk without any of the downsides. It felt