Page 45 of Deadly Games
Not that anything could be ideal when it came to Cronus.
The castle gates blew open with a ghostly wind the moment I reached them. I quickened my pace on the winding path to the great stone doors, careful to keep my wits about me. Cronus had no need for guards. I doubted there were many he hadn’t already turned into fuel for his insatiable sickness, anyway.
The moment I saw Hades standing before his father’s throne, I finally let myself breathe. The look on his face kept me from being truly relieved.
“There he is. The loyal hound,” Cronus said, his voice dripping with malice. Only he could make that pleasant tone sound wicked. “I was just about through with the lies my son was telling me. Perhaps you’d care to provide some novel deception?”
I glanced Hades’ way, knowing better than to respond too hastily to his challenge. “To what do we owe the honor of a summons, Your Majesty?”
Cronus’ eyes turned a stormy gray that looked off somehow. His eyes always shifted according to his mood, and just when I thought the last shade was the most unsettling, he proved me wrong.
“Proceed carefully, Fenrir, lest you prove the prophets right and meet your father’s fate.”
It was no hollow warning. If it wasn’t for Cronus, I’d have met my end at my father’s side long ago, and while I had considered salvation a mercy at the time, now I was sure he had really meant it as a curse. I was nothing more than a utility. A means to protect the heir who so often disappointed him on earth. The moment his patience with Hades ran out, I was as good as dust.
Not that I particularly wanted to live if I ever failed in that most sacred duty.
“He thinks we know where Kore is,” Hades said, giving me a guarded glance. “What I’d like to know is why it matters, father. What do you want with a petty murderer, anyway?”
Cronus’ mouth became an even more unforgiving line. “You’ll find I have less tolerance for your recalcitrance than I once did,” he said coldly.
“I’m not interested in your tolerance,” Hades spat. “What I want to know is why you gave Thor the order to kill the womanyouarranged for me to marry.”
“That’s quite a lofty accusation,” said Cronus.
“And I make it with absolute certainty,” Hades countered, taking a step closer to the throne.
“Very well. Let us dispense with the foolishness,” Cronus said, his long fingers curling around the head of his staff. I flinched in anticipation. One enchantment from that thing and he could wipe out the remainder of souls in the realm if he wanted to. Then he’d have nothing left to feed from but the world above. “I know who she is.Whatshe is,” he said pointedly. “And what you’ve been planning.”
I looked to Hades for his reaction, but his face was a mask of stone, just like his father’s. They were so alike in some ways, and complete opposites in the one that really counted.
“You sound surprised, father,” he said bitterly.
“Surprised? No.” Cronus’ eyes narrowed. “I knew you would disappoint me from the moment your whore of a mother fell pregnant with you.”
In that moment, something snapped. The thin string of filial respect by which their fragile relationship hung. Hades lunged and I shifted into my beast form, prepared to throw myself between them, even though it would mean certain death. The kind even he couldn’t bring someone back from.
Instead, Cronus turned his staff toward me and I saw the curved gem on top of it turn a bloody red before my whole body went stiff. I looked down in time to see gray stone crawling up my legs, spreading quickly until my entire body was completely cast in stone. Hades’ cries of rage became dull, but I remained aware enough of my surroundings to know they were fighting. And there was nothing I could do about it.
The sharp, needling sound of teleportation gave me hope that whatever became of me, at least Hades might live to fight another battle. His bitter cursing confirmed that Cronus had indeed disappeared, but for what purpose, I could only imagine.
Chapter 21
Kore
A sickening panic wrestled me away from my dreams and I woke with a gasp. I was going to have to start taking sleeping pills or something. This shit was getting old.
Being awake for a few seconds did nothing to ease the dread buried deep within my chest. Dionysus and Loki were still sound asleep, but the former began to stir as I got out of bed and pulled my clothes on.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, yawning as he sat up. It was almost as infuriating as it was impressive that he woke up looking like a dream.
“Something happened to Hades and Fenrir,” I answered, hastily tugging on my boots.
Loki sat up, glancing over at me in confusion. It didn’t last long before a look of panic crossed his features and he threw the covers off. “I feel it, too,” he muttered.
Dionysus frowned, touching his bare chest just over his heart. “I think I do, too. It’s weak, but…”
“Give it time,” Loki said dryly, pulling his shirt on over his head. He glanced over at me, unusually sober, which made me even more unnerved. “You’re the one he’s linked to the strongest. Any idea where?”
