Page 50 of Deadly Games
There was just one thing left unsettled.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said, turning to face the three of them. “All of you.”
And Fenrir, too. I found myself hoping he could hear me somehow, even in his current state.
“What is it?” Loki asked, seeming as confused as the others.
I cleared my throat and steeled myself for what I was about to say. Fighting was easy. Being vulnerable, especially with the men who each held a separate piece of my heart, was fucking petrifying. “I know destiny is what brought us together, and I know everything is going to change, even if we somehow pull this off,” I began. “I just want you to know that if I could go back and choose, I’d do it again. I’d choose all of you.”
For a few moments, none of them responded. As usual, Loki was the first to break the silence. “I’d say your taste in men leaves something to be desired, but between the four of us, we probably make a half-decent person.”
Dionysus gave him a playful shove, his gaze softening as he looked back at me. “Nothing is going to change. I’d choose you, too, even if it means dealing with these idiots.”
Hades snorted. “Come on. Let’s not wait for the welcome committee.”
The gates slid open, and judging from the fact that he remained calm, I believed he had some control over it. We followed him up the hill and when I saw the great stone wolf standing guard outside the palace walls, my heart sank.
“Fenrir,” I breathed, walking up to brush my fingers across the statue’s muzzle. My heart ached to see him like this, but as slow and stagnant as they were, I could steel fill the vibrations of his life energy within. I leaned in, pressing my forehead against the wolf’s. “We’ll get you back. I promise.”
Dionysus put a gentle hand on my shoulder and led me over to join the others. The palace doors slid open and Hades grew sullen once more. My guard went up as soon as his did, and I followed him into the darkened hallway.
As we walked the final corridor of the destiny that had brought us all together, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of how far we’d come since the night we’d met. Back then, I wanted nothing more than to bring Hades to ruin. Now, I was willing to follow him into Hell and never look back.
Chapter 22
Dionysus
As we walked into the palace, it felt like the walls were watching us. The ancient structure seemed made of bone more than brick and mortar, and every step echoed endlessly down a pitch black corridor.
“I guess you don’t believe in lights in the Underworld?” I asked, sticking close to the others.
“The whole realm is dark. Always has been,” Hades murmured. Something about him had changed the moment he walked through those doors, like the old place had been drawing him back all along. If I felt trapped, I could only imagine how much more so he did.
“The throne room is down this hall,” he announced. How he could see more than a foot in front of him was beyond me. Maybe he just knew the winding paths of the palace from memory.
I glanced over at Kore, trying to gauge her reaction. She had to be scared. We all were, but she kept her head high and there was still fire in her eyes, as always. That was one of the things I loved most about her. No matter how dire the circumstances, or how much the odds were stacked against her, she never gave up and never hung her head for anyone. Not even the ruler of the gods himself.
Before we’d breached the darkness, a sliver of light cut into my vision as doors I hadn’t even been able to see a second ago slid open. They groaned and creaked, reinforcing the illusion that this place was alive in some horrible way.
I froze along with the others as the room opened itself to us, revealing the tall gray throne against the opposite wall. Cronus was sitting there, looking more like stone than the architecture around him. He didn’t move, but the tiled squares across the floor gave me the distinct impression of being pieces on a chessboard. We were all playing his game now, and his moves were far from limited.
Kore was the first to step forward with Hades close behind, and I followed her, overcoming my instinctive reaction to flee. Standing in the presence of the ancient god was nothing short of maddening and it felt like just looking at him too long might make me go insane.
“And here I thought you’d keep me waiting,” Cronus said in a deceptively calm tone. There was malice behind his frigid gaze, and if I’d once found Hades intimidating, it was easy to see where he got it now.
Before any of us had the chance to respond, two figures slipped out of the dense shadows on either side of the throne. I’d never seen a hellhound in person, aside from Fenrir’s cursed form outside, but I could now understand why he was forbidden from taking that form around the other gods. From their dripping jowls to their unnaturally red eyes, there was something deeply unsettling about the beasts that went far beyond their massive stature. It was like they were capable of looking into my soul, and I found myself wondering if they were the ones Cronus had used to bleed this world dry.
The hellhounds were obviously meant to intimidate us, and I had no doubt they could back up any threats their otherworldly growls made, but I realized they were also a distraction. Cronus himself was weak. Physically, at any rate. The power he’d used on Fenrir had obviously taken a lot out of him. He hadn’t looked nearly as pale and worn down at the Academy’s reception dinner.
I readied myself to fight along with the others, even though I knew there wasn’t much I could do against those massive jaws. I chose to stand in front of Kore, intent on making sure that if any of them attacked her, they would have to go through me first.
I’d never been the brave sort, but fighting for her was as natural as breathing somehow. As wrong as everything about this realm was, it felt right to be with the others. If this was how it ended, the only regret I had was not finding where I belonged sooner.
Another realization filled me with dread. Ares was right. There was no way Cronus would be able to sustain himself on the fleeting energies of the Underworld for long. In a matter of weeks, months tops, he’d run out and when he turned his attention to our world, there would be no stopping him. If we failed, we’d lose more than just our lives.
The hellhounds sprang in unison, and I pulled Kore out of the way as Loki and Hades charged them. Loki met the beast on the right midair, his blade cutting into its thick shoulder, even though the wound seemed to do nothing. Hades struck out with the blade he’d used to kill the Empusa, but the hellhound’s jaws caught it easily. Blood sprayed the stone floor as the creature thrashed its head and flung the blade aside.
Not off to a great start.
