Page 80 of Scion of Chaos

He lifts an eyebrow at me before returning his gaze to Erika, who is giving me a pointed look now.

“Just say what you want,” I snap.

He chuckles, the sound grating against my very bones. “You already know what I want, dear boy. I want her even more now that Sybil has told me what she is—a chimera who can harness the power of chaos is a rare creature indeed, and the perfect balance to even the odds against Fate. You also know you have no choice but to give her to me. If you want her to be strong enough to take down the Titans, she’ll need my help. No one else is capable of controlling her power if it goes awry. Not even you.”

“My brothers and I will manage just fine,” I say. “You can’t have her.”

He tuts as he takes another bite of mostly melted ice cream, scraping the bowl with his spoon to finish off his treat. The bowl vanishes from his hand once he’s finished. “Are you sure you really want to test your luck? Without proper safeguards, she can destroy you, Tartarus. Are you really willing to risk your carefully constructed walls crumbling and releasing all the horrors that lurk within? Some may not be all that bad, sure, but you can’t deny most of the residents earned their place there. I’m offering you the best solution.”

“The Titans were the strongest. I’m confident I can contain any of the others if something happens.”

“I never knew you to be so reckless. My request is simple: the key for the girl.”

“And I said your request isdenied. Name another price because you’re never getting her.”

He just stares at me without blinking, his gaze shifting disconcertingly. Before he can infiltrate my head and get to my guards, I stand, averting my gaze.

“We’re done here. Let’s go.” I stalk to the door. When Erika doesn’t immediately follow, I turn back, careful to look only at her. “Are you coming?”

Erika remains seated, her arms crossed, glaring daggers at both me and Chaos in turn. “Is that really the only bargain that can be struck here?”

I can’t see the look he gives her, but her deepening scowl suggests he isn’t budging with her any more than he did with me. “She will come to me. When she does, the key is yours.”

“You’re wrong,” I snap. “I willneverlet you get your hands on her.Never.”

But Erika’s nod suggests she actually believes the fucker. She rises and strides toward me, pacified by their exchange, which rankles. She can’t believe him, can she?

When she reaches me, I don’t waste any time. I grip her arm and send us back to her camp.

She pulls away and stalks to her command tent, turning to me at the step up onto the wooden platform. “Why can’t you just let him help? My daughter is starting to display her dragon abilities, so she needs a strong role model to show her how they work. If… What’s her name?”

“Nemea,” I say, pacing away and scrubbing my hands over my face. I’m barely hearing her, too desperate to think of some other leverage to get Chaos to give us the temple key.

“If Nemea needs someone that powerful to help her understand her power, which will helpusbeat the Titans, why won’t you let him help her?”

“Because he has no regard for humanity. He has no regard for anything but his own agenda. He’lluseher. The only thing he’s ever cared about is his incessant feud with Fate. He might help her, sure, but if he gets his hands on her, I don’t know if we’ll ever get her back. I can’t risk it.”

For once all the voices in my head are in agreement, which gives me a strange sense of stability.

Erika is frowning at me, though, and I can’t interpret her steady, assessing look.

“You need to give her the choice. Leaving her in the dark about all this, when she is at the very core of it isn’t fair.”

I clench my jaw, my voice going rough when I sense a couple of my guards wavering in the wake of Erika’s point-blank argument. “I can’t risk losing her.”

“Don’t you think it’s a risk you’re going to have to take, for her sake?”

37

Nemea

“So the Bloodline aren’t actually descended from the gods at all?” I ask. I’m frowning at a relatively new volume Asterius pulled off the top of one of the many stacks of books scattered near the table. This one chronicles the recent past since an event referred to as the Sixth Ascension of dragons that occurred seven years ago.

Asterius looks up from the tome he’s engrossed in, peering at me over a set of antique spectacles that give all sorts of sexy professor vibes despite looking comical on his bullish features.

“You possess the blood of a god, but only thanks to his intervention at the end of the war with the Lamia,” Asterius explains. “The Lamia craved immortality and bred herself a soulless vessel: Deva Rainsong, a creature possessing all the qualities of an immortal. But when Deva was taken from her, she waged war on the higher races.

“At the end, Dionysus made a bargain with the Lamia. With Gaia’s help, a new immortal vessel was created from his very blood, shed on the shores of the Haven. But once the Lamia inhabited that vessel, Dionysus took control.”

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