Page 56 of Deadly Games
“You came close,” said Loki. “Hades had to pull you back from the edge, but lucky for you, he’s perfected his technique.”
“I had help,” Hades said with a snort.
That explained the energy I could feel buzzing through me. Five different strains, including my own, each one with a distinct flavor that somehow felt like it was already part of me. I wondered if that was just an aftereffect of the resurrection that would disappear in time, but part of me hoped it wasn’t. I could get used to this. Being surrounded by them all, and feeling them within me at the same time.
“Where are we now?” I finally asked, deciding it was going to take me a lot longer to actually process everything that had happened.
“Believe it or not, we’re still in the Underworld,” Hades said, looking around. “Not that there’s anything recognizable about it.”
“But Styx is restored?” I asked hopefully. “The souls are at rest?”
“Because of you,” Hades answered, touching my cheek. “Destiny made a pretty good choice, after all.”
I leaned into his touch, sighing deeply. “What now?”
“What do you mean?” Dionysus asked. Fenrir and Loki had joined us in bed and I wanted nothing more than to curl up between them all for warmth.
“Now that Cronus is gone and the realms are safe, what about us?” I clarified, desperate to know even though I feared the answer more than anything. “I know we’re still bound together, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay together.”
“You have plans of going somewhere else?” Fenrir taunted.
I gave him a look. “You know what I mean. The three of you will always be connected, but there’s no reason you have to stay with me.”
“There’s still the matter of ruling the Underworld,” said Hades. “If you think you’re getting out of our engagement just because you saved the world, you’re as naive as you were Freshman year.”
I gave him a halfhearted glare. “I’m not trying to get out of anything. I just don’t want any of you to feel trapped.”
“You say that like we didn’t all choose to be here,” said Fenrir.
“With you,” Dionysus added, placing his hand over mine.
“With all of us, together,” Loki agreed, shrugging. “Feels right, and besides. Why fix something that isn’t broken?”
As casual as his words sounded, I could tell from the look in his eyes that they meant more than he was usually comfortable expressing. Warmth spread through my chest, making the cold meaningless. “As long as you’re sure.”
“It does raise an interesting question of logistics,” Fenrir said, kicking back against the headboard to stretch out his long limbs. “How are we going to divide our time with her?”
“Don’t be so selfish with your toys, Fido,” Loki quipped. “Sharing is fun.”
“I’m not opposed to it,” Dionysus said wryly.
“We’ll take it one day at a time,” said Fenrir.
“Definitely,” Hades agreed, pulling me into his arms. “We’ll figure out what to do when we get back to the Academy, but while we’re here, the palace should be more than big enough for all of us.”
“We’re going back?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve still got two years left, and I won’t have my Queen be a college dropout.”
I elbowed him in the ribs and he just smirked.
“He’s right,” said Fenrir. “There’s still a lot left to clean up in the living world.”
“Don’t remind me,” I groaned. I could imagine how long the meetings with the OSTF were going to be while we explained everything that had transpired in the Underworld. “I just want to enjoy the peace while it lasts.”
“Sounds good to me,” Loki said, his hand crawling up my thigh. “Speaking of logistics, we could give the five-way idea a trial run.”
“You’re kidding,” Hades muttered.
