Page 96 of Hex
“Wait a second. What hasn’t been done before? Zelos Hack Adofo Conquest, spill.” Shit, all of my names in one breath is a scary sound coming from Sage’s mouth. Even scarier is the way her skin is glowing brighter and brighter.
“For every gift from the Moirai, a proportional sacrifice is expected.” Atlantis speaks before I can, with zero emotions…only facts. “Restoring a life comes at a hefty price.” He stops here then gives me a pointed look.
Fuck, she’s going to go nuclear. But in my defense, she was the one demanding a solution.
Sage turns to me and for the first time, with them both staring me down like I’ve kicked their puppy, I see the resemblance. It’s not outwardly obvious, but it’s there. The slant of the nose and shape of the eyes are definitely traits she inherited from the Grandei. Although, her stubbornness is a close third.
“What’s the sacrifice, Hack?” With her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side, I give her what she wants.
“Each of us must give a piece of ourselves in order to restore Slash’s body. A soul cannot reenter a body that’s not whole.” Which is exactly what Hekate meant when she asked the right question…what is a soul without a body?”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad…” Sage is wary as she says this, and her hesitation is on point.
“In normal circumstances, the Four Horsemen are immortal. They are immune to all things with the exception of two, and that is for the purpose of balance only. The severing of a head is the only true death. In order to reunite the demon’s body to his head, a piece of each of the Horsemen must be given. That would allow the reconstruction. However, that missing piece will become a permanent weakness for the remaining three. Achilles had the same with his heel.” Atlantis lays out the gist of it all and, as he speaks, I watch Sage.
With every word, her skin pales, her brows crease, and her mouth presses tighter and tighter. She’s not liking the option, but I think a small part of her is willing to take the risk, knowing that the four of us together—even with weak spots—will always be stronger than just the three of us, whole or not. Well, at least that’s the story I’m telling myself.
“I don’t like it.” I chuckle at her response, but when her eyes soften, I know shit’s about to get real. “But this is your brother, your best friend. I won’t make the choice for you, but I won’t lie to you either. I really, really, don’t like it.”
“The decision belongs not to you, Sage, but to the Horsemen and the Thirteen, for it will take the power of all to accomplish. Although, I’m not convinced it is possible.” Atlantis, who I’m guessing has given up on seeing Sage’s power up close and personal today, returns to his desk. As he sits, he adds, “But if all are in agreement, I will give my permission.”
“Thank you.” I bow to the Grandei, knowing I’ve been less than one hundred percent polite these last few days when it comes to the greatest in command below the Moirai. “We will send word when our decision has been made.”
“Yes, you do that,” he says, his tone like a bored monarch who hasn’t had his way. “But do not take too long, there are more pressing problems than a dead demon.”
Our first stop when we leave the Grandei’s chambers is the great hall where Slash lies. As we arrive, our steps are heavy against the marble floors, and our voices quiet with the heavy burden of choices to be made.
Those steps are quickly halted when we hear Danika’s voice as though she were speaking to Slash. Which is impossible.
“I’m sure we’ll find a solution,” Danika says, and my gaze goes immediately to Slash, who hasn’t moved. His body is still lying in the transparent coffin, his head slightly offset from his body.
Danika, however, is sitting up against the coffin, her head back and her eyes red all over, no pupil in sight. She’s in some sort of trance, talking, chuckling.
“What is she doing?” Sage whispers, but before I answer that I have no fucking clue because this is all new for me, too, she gasps. “Oh my goddess.”
Pulling me away from the room, she leads me to the nearest alcove with old, leatherbound books on one side and a wood paneled wall on the other. The first batch of souls is just feet away from us and she pushes my back to the wall, her chest rising and falling. Am I turned on right now? Abso-fucking-lutely, but I’m pretty sure this is one of those times when Sage would slap me back to reality if I tried to distract her.
“When I was in the cave, Saffron said she’d spoken to Danika. At the time, I didn’t really understand what she was saying but I think…" She looks back over her shoulder to where we were and where Danika is still talking to no apparent person. “She can communicate with, like, anyone, I guess? Saffron said something about vampyre’s dreams?” Sage groans and I hate that she’s blaming herself for not listening more.
“This is actually great news. If she has that kind of power—and to be clear, it’s really fucking rare—then this will help us.” I don’t know how or why, but Sage needs good news and I’ll be damned if I’m not the one giving it to her.
“Guess there’s only one way to find out.” Before she can walk away, I slide my hands on either side of her face and wish time would just stop.
“I wish I could put the world on pause, just for an hour, so I could love you the way you deserve it. So we could forget about decisions to be made and lives to be saved. I wish we could just be in our own little world where time has no consequence.” Just as her eyes soften at my words, our mouths crash together in a frenzy of tongues and lips battling for control.
I’ve got one eye on the main hall while our bodies navigate around each other.
“We should stop, but I don’t want to.” Her words are broken between kisses and bites while her leg hitches up my thigh, digging her heel into my ass. I have to hold her up because our height difference isn’t to her advantage.
“Then let’s not.” It’s a bad idea. Unheard of, to be exact. Having sex in the Great Library is bad enough, but fucking my chosen in the Dei’s quarters? Fucking hell, I doubt even they would know what the appropriate punishment is for that kind of disrespect.
Just as Sage puts her hand inside my leather pants, a hooded soulkeeper walks by with his hands cupped around a globe holding a new soul glowing inside.
“Fuck, sorry,” I call out to the soulkeeper, Sage not even taking a second to slow down. Her other hand is unbuckling my belt, her little heated breaths coating my lips.
Thankfully, the soulkeeper—whose face I don’t even see—ignores us and passes by like we weren’t even there.
“We should go somewhere more discreet, Satapti. Killing a soulkeeper for inadvertently seeing you naked will be a definite death sentence.”
