Page 77 of Right Hand Of The Reaper
I stared at my phone, but there were no bubbles saying he was typing a reply. Was that it? Had he gone. I was just putting my phone away when it vibrated.
Hades: I’ll look into it. Be a good girl for Daddy or there’ll be consequences.
Oomf. There went my core clenching. He wasn’t even here, and the guy could make instantly horny.
“Hades is going to look into it,” I said, as I stood from the ground, thankful my legs were feeling a bit sturdier beneath me.
“What’s he going to do?” Magnus quipped. “Push some paper around and hope it gives him the answer?”
Rafe snorted, but instantly looked to the ground when I narrowed my gaze at him.
“Just because you don’t like the guy,” I said to Magnus, “doesn’t mean he’s incapable. Him saying he’ll look into it is good enough for me, it should be for you too.”
Magnus swallowed and nodded slowly. “You’re right. Sorry.”
I nodded at him, acknowledging his apology. It surprised me, to be honest. Magnus had never been one for apologies. Perhaps he was changing.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked Thane since he was the most powerful here and de facto leader.
“Now we get into the vault,” he said with a purse of his lips, “and hope that I am wrong, and the Diadem is there.”
“And if it isn’t?” I asked, fear creeping into my voice.
Thane’s eyes met mine, a sorrow in them that I don’t think I’d ever seen before. “Then I think it might be the reason you have no memory of your previous life.”
Oh. Was that why it was familiar? Had I tried to steal it before? Or was it familiar because I was somehow connected to Nyx? I had so many questions, but no answers.
An idea popped into my head. “Can we find one of their souls to talk to?”
“Yes,” Rafe agreed. “Surely they’d know something?”
“Not necessarily,” Thane mused, tucking his hands into his pockets. The man always seemed to be dressed in a suit. Him and Atticus made quite the delicious pair.
“What do you mean?” Atticus asked, coming to stand next to him.
“Well, Roux doesn’t know anything useful about Nyx. What’s to say these other women will?”
Thane had a point, even if he had said it in a way that made me sound like I was an idiot. He meant no harm, he was just a bit literal sometimes. I didn’t know anything other than that vision I’d just had when I’d touch the painting. But something was nagging me about the woman who was sad.
“I think she knows something,” I said as I pointed to the lady dressed in red and black. “She’s the only one who is different. And from what I can tell, she’s from the oldest era. Maybe she was the first?”
Atticus looked up at Thane, with something akin to wonder in his eyes. “Can you do it? Can you find her?”
Thane stared at Atticus for so long I thought his mind had gotten lost. He did that sometimes. I’d glance at him through his office window and hours later he’d be in the same spot. I often wondered where it was that his mind went to, but I guess if you were as old as Thane, time didn’t really have the same meaning.
“Yes. I can do that,” Thane said and then turned on his heel and left the gallery, leaving the rest of us staring after him.
“Does he always do that?” Atticus asked.
“Yep. You get used to it,” I replied with a chuckle. “Come on, better make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Like burn the place down.”
Atticus fell into step beside me. “Is that a possibility?”
“Oh yes,” Rayne said from behind.
“He once forgot he’d left the oven on and he had to have his whole kitchen renovated,” Rafe said with a laugh.
Atticus pulled to a sudden stop. “Why was he cooking? Can he even eat?”
