Page 33 of Deadly Games
Dionysus seemed shocked by their rough appearance. He definitely wasn’t used to the way things really were, beneath the veneer of the popular boys making hell for everyone else. There was always plenty left over for each other, too.
“Long story,” Fenrir muttered, his broad arms folded over his chest. “What’s this bullshit about Kore being arrested? And why’s he involved?” he asked, nodding to Dionysus.
“It is bullshit, but it’s true,” Dionysus answered before I had the chance. “And I’m here because I’m Kore’s friend. And I’m the one who brought Loki in, so I’m not going anywhere.”
I shrugged as they both looked at me. “We could use all the help we can get. My old man already has it out for her, and if Creepy Kunzite is involved, getting her out’s not gonna be easy.”
“Where is she?” Hades demanded.
“In the school’s holding facilities,” Dionysus answered. “I didn’t even know we had those until today.”
He paused, looking expectantly at us. The truth was, I did know. We all did. I’d just never imagined they would be used to hold a student who hadn’t done anything wrong, let alone Kore.
And I mean, sure. Shehadprobably done more than a few things that would earn her a one-way trip to the slammer, chief among them being our current plot against the King himself, but my father didn’t know that.
“Of course,” Dionysus muttered, reading into our silence for the answer it was. “Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, and breaking her out isn’t going to be easy,” Fenrir said. Good to know we were already thinking along the same lines.
“First things first, on what grounds was she even arrested?” Hades demanded.
I decided to let Dionysus explain, since he’d been there more or less firsthand when it all went down. As he recounted the details, the suspects were already lining up in my mind.
“Helle,” Hades said, his voice laced with irritation. If he was an asstoKore, he was a hundred times scarier when it came to defending her. “Why would she lie?”
“She hates Kore and always had,” Dionysus said, as if that should be obvious. “You can blame yourself for that. You set the dogs on her, and Helle’s just the one with the sharpest fangs.”
I was surprised at his boldness, especially since I’d never seen any sign of it before. Even I didn’t talk shit to Hades like that, and for a tense moment as they stared each other down, I prepared to get between them.
“Whatever Kunzite saw is bullshit,” Hades finally said. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was moving on. Maybe it was just because he knew Dionysus had a point. “Obviously Kore didn’t kill Phrixus. We need to get to the bottom of this, and be prepared if it involves the OSTF.”
“Would your dad have arranged this?” Fenrir asked, looking right at me.
“I’m not saying the old man’s a big teddy bear, but he follows law and reason,” I answered. “This isn’t his MO.”
“We need to find Helle,” Dionysus said, his tone as tense and urgent as his posture. I’d never seen him so worked up over something. Hell, most of the time he preferred to just blend into the woodwork, as unlikely as that was for someone who looked the way he did. “Force her to come clean.”
“I’ve got an idea,” I said, glancing at Hades and Fenrir. “But it’s going to require the impossible.”
“What?” Hades demanded impatiently.
I stared him down. “It’s going to require the two of you morons to work together.”
* * *
My hunchthat Helle would be back in the training room before the door to Kore’s cell was all the way shut proved right. She had been humiliated by her arch enemy in the Games, and I knew the only reason she’d stayed behind was so she’d have plenty of time to get ahead on training over break.
“Seems like a fast recovery for someone who just discovered her brother’s killer,” Dionysus said flatly, staring at the training room door. He looked my way. “Are you sure this is going to work? What if someone catches you?”
“They didn’t catch me during the trials,” Fenrir answered. “They’re certainly not going to believe Helle if she claims she saw a hellhound in a training room full of impossible creatures.”
Dionysus’ eyes narrowed in disdain. “I still can’t believe you guys did that.”
“There’ll be plenty of time for judgment later,” said Hades. “If you two want to watch, just stay outside the grid until I give the okay. Loki, you swiped your Dad’s badge?”
“Please. This is my third copy,” I snorted, offering the key card to him. “Try not to scratch it.”
Hades took the card and rolled his eyes. He swiped it through the training room door and the locks released, allowing us to slip inside. We could all see Helle on the observation screen above the grid, sword fighting an invisible opponent, her movements too swift and calculated for someone who was supposed to be so emotionally distraught.
