Page 54 of Deadly Games
Damn traitor. He listened to her more than he ever had to me.
They reached the edge of the river first and to my relief, Kore stopped just shy of wading in. Not for long, though.
“Don’t,” I snarled, rushing to catch up with her to no avail. She was already in the river, and the milky blue stream of souls running past her barely came up to her ankles. It was even worse than I’d imagined.
She looked around in the same dismay I felt. For better or worse, this place was my home, and my responsibility. We might have stopped my father before he could devour the other realms, but I had already failed this one.
I waded into the water to get her, putting a hand on her shoulder to draw her out of her shock. “Do you see now? There’s no fixing this.”
Her eyes met mine, and something in them filled me with a flurry of emotions I didn’t understand or want. Just par for the course where she was concerned, but knowing what it was like to lose her, I figured I could get used to it.
She took my hand with a look of certainty that echoed in her voice. “We can,” she said firmly. I realized she was no longer herself, not fully. The same change that had come over her when Eris surfaced was visible now, but this time was different. She was in control. Maybe she was more herself than she ever had been. I didn’t know, but I was left in awe of her all the same. “As long as we do it together, nothing is impossible.”
Her words echoed my father’s final words so closely, but they struck such a different chord within me. I wanted to believe her. It went against everything I knew, everything I had been conditioned to think and feel in order to survive my corrupt destiny, but I realized now that I believed in her more than I ever had in any of it.
“Ares did say she’d know what to do when the time came,” said Fenrir, human once more as he walked into the water with us. “I trust her.”
“So do I,” Dionysus said, following him in.
Loki seemed to realize we were all watching him expectantly. “What?” he demanded. “I’m on board, but there’s no way I’m stepping in that shit.”
Dionysus rolled his eyes. “Pussy.”
“Shit,” Kore muttered, clutching her head suddenly as if it hurt.
“What is it?” I asked, reaching to steady her. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Eris,” she answered, her teeth gritted and her hands covering her ears like she was trying to mute a sound I couldn’t hear. Just the faint rush of the river and the emptiness beyond it. “I feel her energy, trying to take over again.”
“Now?” Fenrir asked in disbelief.
“I’ll fight it, but you can’t stay here,” she said, her voice laced with genuine fear for the first time since we’d come to this realm. Fear for us. I saw it in the desperate look she was giving me. “If I lose control again…”
“No,” I said, taking her face in my hands. She clung to me, despite trying to push me away. “Eris isn’t something outsideofyou, Kore, sheisyou. I should have seen it the day we fought, but it took me this long to figure it out.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, her voice cracking with the strain of fighting the energy I could feel welling up within her.
“I’m saying it’s time to stop fighting who you are,” I answered. “I was destined to kill my father, but your fate is more than that. You’re everything I’m not. Everything I never could be. What I’ve tried to gain by controlling death, it’s nothing compared to what you’re capable of doing.”
“She creates chaos,” Kore protested.
“You create life,” I countered, sweeping my thumb across her bottom lip. I could feel the power within her rising to the surface. It danced across her skin, almost visible and definitely tangible. “Whatever happens to this realm, you were always the one meant to decide it. It’s in your hands.”
“He’s right,” said Fenrir. “There’s something within you that terrified Cronus. Something he knew was a threat to his very existence.”
“Chaos is an underrated force,” Loki mused. “You can’t make order without it. Maybe this realm could use a little.”
“It’s not like we have anything left to lose,” said Dionysus. He gave her a reassuring smile. “We’re with you. Always.”
His words seemed to soothe her, and I decided to ask him for pointers if we survived all of this. She finally nodded, even though she didn’t seem any more certain than she’d been before. “I’ll try. I’ll try to let go.”
We waited anxiously as she closed her eyes, and at first, nothing seemed to happen. I could tell from the conflicted expressions on her face that letting go was harder for her than fighting ever had been. She finally sank to her knees, and before I could catch her, her eyes opened, glowing a familiar emerald.
“Eris,” I breathed.
She reached out, sweeping her hands over the water. Her movements were slow and deliberate. She looked every part the fearsome goddess she was, and all I could do was stare.
“I need your energy,” she finally said after several long moments of silence. I could tell she was sensing and seeing things that were hidden to the rest of us. Even to me. “The elements.”
