Page 14 of Deadly Games
Loki frowned, looking down at his hand. He snapped his fingers as if he was trying to conjure some illusion, and when nothing happened, he went a few shades paler. “Holy shit. I’m impotent!”
Kore raised an eyebrow. “Definitely not.”
Ares cleared his throat and seemed eager to change the subject. At least he was uncomfortable about something. “All forms of divine magic are limited by default, but your powers will be restored when you return to the waking world.”
“Yeah, about that,” I said, folding my arms. “You mind telling us why we’re here, exactly? I know you have it out for my father, but what makes you think we can do anything about it?”
“You’re planning a coup of your own, are you not?” Ares challenged.
I must not have hidden the look of shock on my face well, because he responded with one of amusement. “The dead do talk, you know. The line between this realm and the furthest reaches of the Underworld is not as solid as your father would like to believe.”
Well, I was definitely making a note of that for when I took over. “No offense, but why would I want to work with you?”
“You’re a smart boy,” Ares answered knowingly. “Smart enough to know you’ll only get once chance at killing your father, but perhaps not smart enough to realize you don’t stand a chance alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I snapped, irritated that he’d seen through my interest in working with him. That took one bargaining chip off the table. I eyed Kore, trying to figure out if she’d spoken to him somehow without my realizing it, but she looked just as bewildered.
“You think your little trio is going to be enough to take Cronus down?” Ares asked with a chuckle that made my blood boil.
“Ares has made an interesting offer,” Fenrir said, clearly still deep in thought about whatever the other god had mentioned.
“Fenrir isn’t the one in charge,” I snapped. “We make decisions as a group.”
“So he told me,” Ares said, quelling at least some of my anger. Things between me and Fenrir had been tense lately, and I was sure last night was only going to make it worse. He had to have noticed our mingled scents, but for the moment, he was keeping a lid on his irritation, so I’d try to find a way to do the same. We needed to be a united front with Ares.
“I told him about the plan,” said Fenrir.
On second thought, fuck that. The lid was off and the pot was boiling over. “You fucking what?”
Loki cringed in anticipation of the next blowup, and he had reason to be concerned. I was about to lose my damn mind, but Kore got between us before I could deck him.
“Calm down,” she muttered.
I ignored her, glowering at Fenrir. “You trying to get us killed?”
“No,” Fenrir answered, infuriatingly calm. “But that’s exactly what would have happened if we’d gone ahead with the original plan.”
I frowned, still barely able to hear anything over the sound of my pulse racing. “What are you even saying?”
“We were counting on using the portal through the river Styx to access his Throne without him knowing we were in the Underworld,” Fenrir answered. “According to Ares, that’s no longer possible.”
“What? Bullshit,” I spat.
“You don’t have to take my word for it,” Ares answered in a bored tone. He raised his hand palm up and an orb began to form within it. I watched in confusion as a vision came through just like a crystal ball, panning over a dry, cracked basin I didn’t recognize at first. When I saw the familiar stone ridges in the east, my heart sank.
It was Styx, or at least the empty river bed it had once occupied. “It’s gone,” I said, feeling my throat tighten in disbelief. “What the fuck?”
Chapter 7
Kore
The image Ares showed us was shocking enough for me, and I could only imagine what it was like for Hades. The look on his face was nothing short of horror, and that took a hell of a lot.
“Your father has been making some renovations, it seems,” Ares answered.
Even Loki seemed to be taking what he was saying seriously. “Which means what, precisely?”
“All things must wither away and die eventually,” said Ares. “Even a Titan. Your father’s attempt at fighting the inevitable in order to cling to power has surpassed any bounds even I imagined possible.”
