Page 10 of Wild Hunt
He gave me a tired smile. “Guess it was only a matter of time.”
“This is bullshit,” I snarled, going from confused to pissed in two seconds flat. “They can’t do this. There can only be one Rabbit!”
“Hades can do whatever he wants,” he said in a tone of resignation. “Looks like he’s decided to up the stakes this year.”
I was still reeling and only half awake. The hangover was lingering like a real bitch, too. “This is ridiculous. I’ll talk to him. He’s just trying to get at me.”
“Talking to him will only confirm that he succeeded,” Dionysus said, standing. He tossed the rose aside on the edge of the bed like he didn’t have a care in the world, even though I knew that was far from the truth. Unlike me, he actually cared what people thought and had enough of a reputation to be worth protecting.
“This is my fault,” I muttered, folding my arms. “I’m so sorry, Dionysus.”
“Hey,” he said gently, putting his hands on my shoulders. When he looked into my eyes, I froze. Had his always been that shade of blue? I thought for a moment he was using his Ecstasy on me, but these feelings, as traitorous as they were, were all organic. I ordered my racing heart to shut the hell up but that only did so much. “It’s okay. It was only a matter of time.”
“How can you be so calm about this? You’ve seen what they did to me. They’re coming for you now and I can’t protect you.”
He smiled, a glint of amusement in his eyes.
“What’s so funny?”
“You,” he answered unapologetically. “I might not be as brave as you are, but I’m not totally helpless, you know.”
“Still--”
“It’s fine,” he insisted. “In a way, I’m glad.”
“How can you say that?” I asked, thinking he’d lost his mind.
He shrugged. “I hate the way things are at this school as much as you do. I just never had the guts to do anything about it before you came along, but maybe you’re right. Hades and those other jerks are always going to get away with treating people like this if no one ever challenges them. Maybe it’s about time someone did.”
My heart started racing again, torn between my concern for my friend and the hope of having someone else officially in my corner. I’d do anything to move the target off him, but his words meant more than I knew how to say. “We’ll get through this,” I promised. “We’ll make them pay.”
“We’d better,” he scoffed. “My family members have matriculated from the Academy for the last five generations. My parents will kill me if I break the tradition.”
“Yeah, yours aren’t the only ones,” I sighed. “We just need to be smart. Act like it doesn’t bother you when you go out there today, as tough as it is. Hades wants to get a rise out of you because he knows it’ll piss me off.”
“I think I can play it cool. Not like this year was going great for me anyway.”
I gave him a sympathetic look. “Wanna head down to breakfast together? Strength in numbers and all that.”
He glanced down at his phone. “I wish I could, but I’m afraid I have to run. We’ll get lunch, though?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, watching him leave. I couldn’t help but be worried about him going out there alone, but he was right. He was a big boy and he’d survived before I came along, even if my presence had put a target on his head.
I looked down at the black rose on the bed, feeling my hatred for my betrothed intensify. I picked up the flower and watched it wilt in my hand. Not a bad substitute for Hades’ ego at the moment.
Chapter 6
Hades
“You want me to what?”
As I stood watching Ariadne shrink into herself in disbelief of what I’d just asked her to do, I called upon my patience. As future god of the underworld, I hadn’t been raised with the intent of making me sociable, spending more time with my books than the half-gods who served us. The coursework at the Academy might have been pitifully easy, but dealing with people? That was a crash course.
“It’s rather simple,” I said, doing my best to sound pleasant. Or at least like I wasn’t about to open up the bowels of hell to swallow her whole. “I want you to join her team for the Games.”
“But I wasn’t even planning on competing!” she protested.
No surprise there. Ariadne was definitely the more studious type, but I was desperate and Kore hadn’t exactly endeared herself to many people. Woman after my own heart, really.
