Page 27 of Wild Hunt
“What did you do?” I sputtered, my voice ragged.
He just looked down at me for a moment, an unreadable look on his face. His eyes were back to normal. For him, at least. “I saved you from a Narcissus well. A few more seconds and you would’ve been siren food.”
“A Narcissus well?” I echoed doubtfully. “What the hell is that?”
He sighed. “You really are sheltered.”
Normally, I would’ve had a comeback ready, but the obligation of gratitude and the oppressive exhaustion that made my body feel like lead stayed my tongue. My lungs still ached with each breath, and I was trembling so hard that my teeth chattered, but I’d never realized pain could feel this good. Compared to the nothingness of being dead, it was bliss.
Hades was still wearing his uniform coat and he pulled it off to drape around my shoulders. The material was mostly dry thanks to the flame. I found myself staring up at him, at a loss for what to say. Finally, I managed to stutter the two words I never thought I’d say to him. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said in a flat tone. “I saved your life because you belong to me, and I’m not in the habit of letting things go before I’m done with them.”
I clenched my jaw, partly out of frustration and partly to keep my teeth from chattering. Of course he’d find a way to be an ass about saving my life. “That woman. Who was she?”
He watched me for a moment and I could tell he was deciding whether or not to tell me the truth. Or maybe just whether it was worth answering at all. “That was my mother,” he finally said.
The words took me by surprise. I knew Hades’ mother was no longer around, but no one ever spoke of her. It was just one of those subjects you didn’t bring up in civilized company, one of the many unwritten rules of Olympus.
“She said there would be consequences for bringing me back. What was she talking about?”
“It’s not something you need to worry about right now,” he answered, standing. He offered a hand to me and I hesitated a moment before taking it. I was already in his debt, so what was one chivalrous gesture on top of saving my life? “We should get you to the infirmary.”
The rest was a blur. I didn’t really remember walking back to Academy with Hades, or the panicked reception that I was told followed. Somehow or another, I ended up in the comfortable hospital bed and despite the fear of drifting into the abyss again, I fell asleep.
Chapter 15
Loki
When Hades disappeared randomly in the middle of the intimate party we were throwing for our most loyal clients and minions, I didn’t think anything of it. He and Fenrir were both the types to run off and brood at random. When he returned hours later carrying a soaking wet Kore in his arms, I realize that even things that seemed normal weren’t. Not since the murder.
No… Not since her.
I listened in the shadows as he explained to my father and the infirmary staff what had happened. His lying was as plain as day to me, but it seemed to work on even my old man.
The official narrative was that Hades had gone looking for his fiancée after her mother had called him worrying that she wasn’t answering her phone. I knew that was bullshit because he’d never so much as spoken with Demeter, much less enough for her to have him on speed dial. It was, however, a convenient lie, considering that it made him the point of contact for reaching out to Demeter to let her know about her daughter’s accident.
For a split second, I had to wonder if itwasan accident.
No… Hades wouldn’t go that far. Not even with her.
He wasn’t his father. We had that in common.
He claimed he’d followed her energy through the woods and out to the Narcissus well. That much I believed. There were only a handful of staff members who even knew about the well, since tales of deadly supernatural fixtures tended to draw attention rather than repel it.
Even I wasn’t risky enough to go near that thing.
The fact that Persephone had almost been drowned by a siren was almost more incredible than the fact that she had survived. Something told me she didn’t merely owe her life to my friend’s superior swimming skills, but I’d have to wait until they left to question him.
When he was finally alone in the room, I lingered a moment. Before I had the chance to come out, he muttered, “You’re better at shifting into animals than wallpaper.”
I smirked, stepping out of the shadows as the damask pattern faded from my skin. “That was a masterful performance back there. Care to give me the real story?”
He shrugged.
I narrowed my eyes. We never kept secrets from each other. If Hades was trying, that left only one thing it could be…
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Tell me you didn’t.”
