Page 37 of Dark Gods
"Of course," Kunzite said, nodding to him.
The moment the door shut and I found myself alone with Odin, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, but it was too late now and I was still burning with too much anger to try if I wanted to.
Before he could start in on me, I decided to go on the offensive.
"You know I didn't kill him," I said firmly. "Hades did it. It's plain as day, even you can't deny that."
"The evidence is circumstantial at best," he said, sitting back on his desk with his broad arms folded. He wasn't quite as physically imposing as his eldest son, but he was even more intimidating. "Might I suggest that you avoid digging yourself even deeper into this hole by adding libel to the list of your offenses."
I clenched my jaw just to keep my mouth shut for a few extra seconds while the words on the tip of my tongue molded themselves into something less inflammatory. "Why are you protecting him?" I demanded. "What does he have on you?"
The spark of indignation in the Headmaster's eyes told me I'd failed in that attempt. "You are walking a fine line, Ms. Ademone. Sit down."
I was about to protest when some invisible force pushed me back into my chair. I'd heard Odin's gifts were more than just his legendary wisdom, and while I still couldn't attest to that one, I'd now experienced his telekinetic abilities firsthand.
"There is more at work here than you understand, and I would advise you to choose your words carefully," he said, pouring a glass from the scotch bottle on his desk.
I watched warily as he poured another hand offered it to me. "Is this a trap?" I asked, taking it. "You have another Stone waiting behind that desk to bust me?"
"We both know underage drinking is the least of your crimes," he said flatly, taking a sip from his own glass.
I reluctantly threw one back. It burned on the way down, but it eased the sting of shock a little. I didn't know Phrixus well enough to feel any proper sense of grief, at least not yet, but there was still horror and confusion, made worse by the close proximity of his death to an encounter I should have been regretting by now.
"Assuming you really do believe Hades is innocent, why?" I finally asked once I'd managed to get ahold of my temper.
“Because he has an alibi,” Odin answered calmly.
“An alibi? What, he was off bullying someone else at the time?”
“Quite to the contrary,” he answered. “He wasn’t even at the Academy at the time of young Phrixus’ tragic demise, and he has proof.”
“Proof?” I echoed in disbelief.
“I’m afraid it’s not my truth to divulge,” said Odin. “If you really want to know, you could always ask him.”
It was a challenge, and I knew it. Odin knew as well as anyone that Hades had made me the target of the entire school, and he’d done nothing more to stop it than he had with Marcellus or any of the others.
“You started this whole thing,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Now it’s come to this, to the death of one of your own students, and yet you don’t even feel the slightest bit guilty, do you?”
“You speak of things you don’t understand,” he said in a dangerous tone. “This school has its traditions, and I’m afraid to tell you, it’s not the only one. Our world was founded on them. Tradition builds character. It molds the psyche, and it culls the weak.”
“Is that was this was?” I asked. “Culling the weak? Is that how you’re going to spin this to Helle and Phrixus’ parents?”
Odin stood, stalking toward me with such force that I was braced to defend myself, but he stopped just short of me, his eyes glowing with rage. “You may not have respect for your elders, child, but you will learn it. You will answer the questions that are asked of you and nothing more, and if I hear another word from or about you from anyone else, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal. I know a threat when I hear one.”
“A threat,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “You can see it that way if you like, or you can see it as a warning. And the person who bears those consequences won’t be you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t bring my mother into this.”
“Oh, but you already have. Do you know why you didn’t come here last semester, Kore?” His question caught me off-guard, and he knew it. “Did you think you’d simply succeeded at dragging your heels and making yourself such a nuisance that your mother finally gave in?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You weren’t accepted,” he continued, his voice stern with the certainty of truth. “This Academy has strict standards and you, quite frankly, did not live up to them. Your mother came to me andbeggedfor me to reconsider when she discovered your little pastime. She was petrified that word would get back to Cronus and he would break off the engagement.”
His words hit me like a ton of bricks, and even though I couldn’t make sense of them, some part of me knew that he was telling the truth. That he didn’t care enough to lie. I was still reeling when he chose to go in for the kill.
