Page 16 of Deadly Games
I shouldn’t have cared about either of them, but I did. I cared so much my heart ached.
How had it taken me this long to see it?
“You planned this, didn’t you?” Hades finally asked, his gaze fixed on Ares. “That’s why you brought us here.”
“No,” said Ares. “Fate brought you here. I only wished to warn my daughter. To pull her into this realm before Cronus could destroy the one you come from, but when I realized who you were, and the bond that exists between you all, I realized that I was merely playing a role in a much greater plan.”
As his words sank in, my mind railed against them. He’d brought me here to protect me? That alone was hard enough to process, let alone the implication that the world we came from didn’t have long if Cronus got his way. If Ares was right.
“What do we have to do with it?” asked Loki.
“A cord of five strands is stronger than one,” Ares answered. “Whenever souls are bound, it is always for a greater purpose. Fate has chosen you all for this moment, and even I am powerless to stop it.”
He cast me a forlorn glance that made the ache in my chest even deeper. I didn’t understand it, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear.
“Wait,” I said suddenly. “Five. You’re talking about the other consort you mentioned, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said Ares. “I would be lying if I said I knew how all of this was meant to unfold, but souls bonded for a purpose must always work together. Otherwise, your mission is doomed to fail before it begins.” He looked over at Hades. “That is, should you choose to accept it.”
Hades held his stare, unblinking and seemingly unfazed. “I’ve been prepared to kill my father from the moment I was born,” he finally said, his voice rigid with some emotion—or lack thereof—I didn’t fully understand. “One way or another.”
Chapter 8
Fenrir
One conversation had changed everything. On the one hand, I was relieved to finally have answers to the questions that had bothered me ever since Cronus had first approached me and asked me to keep an eye on his son.
So much had changed since then, but in some ways, it felt like no time had passed at all.
My reality had shifted in more ways than one. I didn’t need to know the details of what had happened between Kore, Hades and Loki. Their mingled scents said enough.
Hades and I hadn’t spoken since Ares had taken us all into the castle and ordered a feast to be prepared for our journey back to the waking world. I knew he was pissed that I’d divulged as much as I had, but I had plenty of reason to be pissed with him, too.
Then there was Kore. Everything that had happened since Ares had helped me shift back into my human form seemed like a strange dream. I remembered it, but it was more like I’d been watching a dream than living it. That was always how it was when the wolf came out, but I already felt nostalgic for the closeness that I knew we couldn’t return to.
If we were going to get back, I’d have to push my feelings aside. There’d be time for talking about it later, and I knew if I didn’t come out and tell Kore how I felt—and that I was pretty sure I’d imprinted on her—we would only grow more distant. Still, we had been given marching orders from the god of war himself, and that had to come first.
To my amazement, the denizens of the Ether knew how to throw a party that rivaled even the great halls of the Aesir. There was a long table with Ares seated at the head and Kore at his side. The servants had prepared an array of surprisingly delicious food, and there was music flowing through the air. Definitely not what I’d expected for a place of banishment and ruin, but it seemed Ares had made the most out of his realm.
I was sitting next to Loki, who was closest to Kore’s left, with Hades on my other side. I was close enough to hear what little conversation passed between Kore and her father. She seemed even more aloof and dazed than she had before, and I could understand why. It was a lot to meet the man who’d given you half your DNA, and even more to have your whole worldview crumble as a result.
The merrymaking had a somber undercurrent that seemed to elude the other partygoers. The bellowing laughter of the orc who’d greeted us at the gate kept punctuating my thoughts, and by the time dinner had come to an end, I was relieved to get outside and have a moment to think.
The air in the Ether was unexpectedly crisp and clean. Probably something to do with the fact that there were no humans around.
It was dark by the time we made it outside, and while I waited for Ares to make the final arrangements to send us home through another portal, I found myself lost in the dunes ahead. The great ridges of sand and stone resembled the winding back of a dragon, coiling and snaking through the desert.
“Are you okay?”
I turned around at the soft cadence of Kore’s voice. She looked beautiful in the light robes Ares had given her to change into, though I doubted they’d make the journey back to our bodies.
“Fine. Just thinking.”
“About what?” she asked, wandering over to me.
“Which one of us is going to wake up first,” I lied, smirking. “There can only be one winner.”
Kore rolled her eyes. “You would still be thinking about that.”
