Page 42 of Dark Gods
"Wait, Hades has a drug ring and Phrixus was involved?" I asked. "This is pertinent information, Di."
He gave me a wary look. "You heard what Odin said. Even if Hades was caught red-handed with the lead pipe in the ballroom, they wouldn't do anything about it. And he wasn't even on campus when it happened."
"That doesn't mean he wasn't responsible."
"Why can I hear the little gears turning in your mind?"
"Because they are," I shrugged. "If the OSTF won't properly investigate Phrixus' death, someone has to."
"And that someone is you?" he asked doubtfully.
"Why not? I'll clear my name in the process."
"Is this about you clearing your name or some weird sense of misplaced guilt for something you had no control over?" he clarified. "Because I was joking about that deadly pussy thing."
"I know that," I mumbled. "And maybe it's irrational, but if his death had anything to do with Hades, it's partly my fault, even if it is indirectly."
"And if itdoesn'thave anything to do with Hades?"
"Then I'll sleep better at night," I said with a shrug. "Win-win."
Dionysus sighed. "You're already the White Rabbit, Kore. Do you really need to add a murder investigation to your to-do list?"
"The fact that everyone is avoiding me makes me the perfect person to investigate," I shot back.
"How do you figure that?"
"Hades wants to make me invisible. Fine. I'll be so invisible he won't even see me coming."
"That sounds more like someone who's reached a verdict than someone who's beginning an investigation."
"Maybe it does, but they both start in the same place. And it's about time Hades was the one on the defensive for a change."
21
Kore
The week after Phrixus' death crawled by, but if there was one upside to the atmosphere of doom and gloom that had settled over the Academy, it was the fact that no one really had the energy for bullying.
Helle was gone, and I felt guilty for being relieved by it. Word had it that she was coming back Monday after the funeral, which was hard enough to believe. If my twin brother had been murdered, I sure as hell wouldn't have had it in me to finish the semester.
The twins' absence made training class peaceful, but in the absence of the tension and fighting came an unusual kind of dread. Daphne and I rarely said a word to each other. We both did our part in the training sims that called for cooperation and fought toe-to-toe in the ones that required combat.
Artemis was already starting to talk about forming teams for the Games. As the ranks thinned and groups were split up, it was every man for himself, but compatibility with your teammates in those early rounds could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
If asking Daphne to be my teammate wouldn't put a target on her head, I would have already. We worked well together, and she was the only one at the school other than Dionysus that I was actually beginning to trust.
Ariadne should have been on that list, and while it was a relief to have someone to talk to during a couple of classes who didn't hate my guts, there was still something about her that had me on edge.
At least my days had formed a predictable rhythm. The drollness of it kept me from thinking about Mom and Ares. Even Hades. It seemed like the moment I'd committed to proving his lack of innocence, he'd dropped off the face of the earth. He'd been absent for the last two days of class, and I had half a mind of knocking on his door and telling him that everyone else in the school might have fallen for his bullshit, but I knew the truth and I was going to make him pay one way or another.
Of course, doing so would mean guaranteed expulsion and after my meeting with Odin, I now knew I was on thinner ice than I'd ever imagined. Knowing everyone in school hated me was one thing, but knowing the school itself didn't even want me and my admission was only the result of an act of pity was entirely another.
Even though I was doing better at dodging the day to day harassment, it was hard not to feel a sense of defeat whenever I walked through those halls. Why was I even here? Why not just send me to the Underworld outright and get it over with?
Monday morning came and I found myself relieved to have gone a whole week without experiencing whatever had come over me in the garden. To be fair, I'd had my tear ducts on lockdown just in case that was the cause. Controlling my emotions had never been my strong suit, but there was obviously something in this place of treachery and secrets that made it a necessity.
Whatever it was, I wasn't going to let it happen again. Especially since I feared it had something to do with the reason Odin didn't want me here in the first place.
