Page 36 of Deadly Games
Unless…
The unsettling possibility that she might not have been lying at all constantly reared its ugly head. I thought back to my fight with Hades, and the other side of me that had taken control more than once. What if there was a third time? What if I really had done something awful and I just couldn’t remember it?
All this time I’d spent trying to figure out who Phrixus’ killer was, and I was still on the list of suspects. If that was true, then I deserved a hell of a lot more than being locked up in a basement. At least I couldn’t hurt anyone else here. Especially the people I loved.
The ‘L’ word was another ghost that had been haunting me as of late. I couldn’t deny it, as much as I wanted to. I loved them. Fenrir. Hades. Loki. Dionysus. I loved each of them in a different way, and every moment apart felt like a unique kind of torture.
Maybe it was the consort bond, but that wouldn’t explain why I felt so inexplicably drawn to Dionysus. And there was no way he could be one of them. Even fate wasn’t that cruel.
The one constant that kept playing in the back of my mind was the name I’d woken up screaming.
Eris.
My time of solitude had confirmed one fragment of the past, at least. As fuzzy as my memories surrounding my recent death were, I was now certain that was the name the siren’s eerily seductive voice had been whispering to me in the water.
The only question was, who was she?
I’d never heard the name before, but in some way, I already knew it. I knew it deep in my soul, beyond conscious recollection. The same unknowable thread that tied me together with my guys.
What was going to happen when that thread finally broke?
The creak of the dungeon door sliding open, scraping against the stone floor, made my spine ache. I looked up from my perch against the wall on the stone bed I’d been given in lieu of actual furniture. The heavy footfalls told me it wasn’t a student, but I hadn’t actually seen Odin since Kunzite had thrown me in here. He’d spoken of a trial, which gave me hope that they weren’t just going to execute me, as unorthodox as the school could be, but that left plenty of unpleasant options on the table.
When I saw Thor round the corner and come to stand in front of my cell, I wasn’t sure what I felt. Cautious optimism, maybe. Had Loki sent him? If they knew where I was, I had hope. I wasn’t alone.
“Well, this is awkward,” Thor said flatly, looking around the dimly lit corridor. “The school year hasn’t even started and you’re already in trouble.”
Usually, that remark would’ve been enough to set me off, but there was something in his tone that I didn’t like, and it wasn’t mere sarcasm. I stood, feeling more vulnerable on the floor, and approached the bars. “Let me guess. Your dad sent you to interrogate me?”
“Wrong on both counts,” he answered, reaching for something in his jacket. The jingle of keys made my heart race. Was he seriously going to let me out?
I watched in confusion as Thor opened the cell door, but something made me step back. Instinct. Self-preservation. Maybe it was something in his eyes, or in that strange whisper lingering in the back of my mind, reminding me that I was never really alone--not even when I wanted to be.
“Why so skittish?” he challenged, holding up his bare hands. “I thought I was your favorite teacher.”
“Not sure where you got that idea,” I said, doubtful that getting on his good side was going to work, whatever his intentions were. I hadn’t counted on being released, but as long as I was on this side of the door, the warding over the metal bars would keep me from being able to use my powers. Thor’s strength, on the other hand, was always available for his command.
“Why are you here?” I demanded, making my voice as firm as possible. I’d been in my share of fights with men twice my size, and I wasn’t going to back down just because the odds weren’t in my favor. If he thought I was going to be easy prey, he had another thing coming. I just had to get past him so I could use my power.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter if you know,” he answered. “You won’t be telling anyone.”
There was no mistaking the menacing meaning behind his words. I backed up, shifting slightly to the left in hopes of moving toward the door without him noticing.
“Never thought you’d be one for revealing your master plan, but shoot,” I answered, biding myself as much time as possible. “I’m curious why your dad sent you to do his dirty work.”
“My father?” He raised an eyebrow, and the amusement in his tone made me second guess my assumption that Odin was the one who’d ordered him to come here. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve made enemies far more powerful than him.”
I frowned, struggling to understand the meaning behind his cryptic threat. Then, it hit me. “Cronus?”
“And they say you’re a poor student,” he said wryly, slipping a blade from his jacket. I recognized the glowing runes on the hilt. It was a far cry from his legendary hammer, but definitely capable of killing a run-of-the-mill goddess, even if I was technically undead.
I darted out of the way, barely missing his blade as it plunged into the wall. It cut through the stone like butter and he pulled it out easily.
He was slower, but not as much as I’d hoped. I made a beeline for the door and he grabbed a fistful of my hair, throwing me back into the wall. I hit the ground with a thud and the impact knocked the breath out of my lungs.
Before I could get back on my feet, I felt a burly knee plant itself in my solar plexus as Thor knelt over me, his blade poised to cut my jugular. “It’s nothing personal,” he taunted. “For what it’s worth, I admire the fact that you gave my useless brother a run for his money.”
Rage welled up within me and I realized how fucked up it was that I was more upset on Loki’s behalf than the fact I was about to die. Before I had the chance to use my last thought to chastise myself, I felt a familiar push in the back of my mind. Just like before, my silent passenger was using my anger and adrenaline as a doorway. This time, I didn’t try to stop it.
