Page 21 of Wild Hunt
Hades
“You’re an asshole. You know that, right?” Fenrir said as we set in the VIP section, watching the final round. It was a battle royale style event, and whoever lasted the longest was the winner.
It was no surprise that Artemis had disqualified Kore from competing. Like I’d planned, everyone was now looking at her like she was the resident nut job.
There was plenty more where that came from.
“You say that like it’s an insult,” I quipped.
“Even you have to admit, her face was priceless,” Loki sighed blissfully. He took a sip from his water bottle, which was filled with contraband meade. “And you played your role perfectly.”
Fenrir sat in stony silence, turning his attention to the competitors. I had to admit, Dionysus and Daphne had lasted longer than I’d expected. The latter was executing her role perfectly as well. I could tell she was gaining Kore’s trust. Maybe even becoming attached, which was fine by me. The more convincing she was, the more devastating it would be when I finally pulled the strings.
And I wanted Kore to suffer. No one had ever defied me before, let alone humiliated me, and I intended to repay her a hundredfold.
To break her.
It had started out as a childish game, but now, it was war and she’d proven herself a worthy opponent.
When all was said and done, she might even make a halfway decent queen.
I watched as the games progressed and it came down to four contestants. Surprisingly enough, Dionysus was one of them. Guess there was more to him than met the eye, and he’d learned to be quite useful with a sword. He was up against Theo, whose brute strength should have been more than an even match for him, while Ingrid and Flora battled it out between their competing elemental powers.
It was a rarity for the Valkyries to get through preliminaries with anything but a clean sweep. This year’s crop just wasn’t as talented, I supposed.
That or Kore was a better judge of teammates than I’d given her credit for.
Dionysus managed to dodge all of Theo’s attacks gracefully, but I could tell he was overexerting himself and unlike the behemoth in front of him, his powers weren’t suited to this kind of battle.
A cry of frustration sounded through the arena as Flora crossed the line, thrown back by a powerful blow from Ingrid. The Valkyrie raised her head in triumph, but she soon turned her focus to the remaining challengers.
Now that there were only three of them, it would be interesting to see who emerged victorious. My money was on Ingrid, and I was rarely wrong. Never, depending on who was doing the asking.
It didn’t take long to realize what the strategy was: pick off the weakling. As soon as Ingrid joined the fight, she and Theo began targeting Dionysus in unison. It was all he could do to keep blocking the blows from her bo staff and his fists as they pushed him further and further back toward the arena’s boundaries.
I glanced over and found Kore watching him on the edge of her seat. I felt a twinge of something and told myself it wasn’t jealousy. Not in any real sense. More like the inborn need to see her suffer.
They were getting close. Sooner or later, I’d have to put an end to that.
Theo closed in first. I almost winced as I saw him rushing Dionysus.
I glanced over and realized I wasn’t the only one watching him in rapt attention. Loki was stiff and speechless for once, the unmistakable hint of a frown tugging at his lips. Was he actually concerned?
He’d used and abandoned Dionysus more ruthlessly than most of his conquests, so that came as a surprise, but if there was any part of him that still cared for the young god, he had reason to be concerned.
Dionysus was finished.
And then, he did the last thing I’d ever expect. The idiot threw his blade and it was enough of a shock to take both his opponents off guard for a moment. Not for long, though. Theo threw a punch that could have shattered concrete and even though Dionysus caught it in his right hand, it staggered him almost out of bounds and even from a distance, I could tell he was in pain.
And yet, Theo was the one who crumpled. It happened suddenly and the moan that escaped him was a bit too enthusiastic to be pain. We were all left speechless as we watched him drop to his knees with a dazed look on his face. A second later, he dropped facefirst with his forehead barely across the boundary.
Before the disqualification could even be announced, Ingrid came at Dionysus with a warcry. He reached out swiftly and caught the end of her bo staff with his left hand, using her own momentum to throw her. She sailed past the arena line with a cry of dismay before she managed to land on her feet.
The entire crowd was silent, but Kore stood and started cheering, igniting the whole lot of them. The three of us were the only ones who remained seated and silent, but when I looked over, the smirk on Fenrir’s face had me seeing red.
Not that it mattered. The preliminaries were one thing, but there was absolutely no way Kore and her motley crew were going to win the Games. I intended to make sure of it.
Chapter 12
