Page 18 of Left Hand of the Divine
Or not.
What was this guy’s deal? One minute he’s all nice and warm, and the next he’s a jackass. Maybe it wasn’t his fault? Maybe it’s a result of him spending too much time on his own down here with nothing but shadows and monsters for company?
He had said it himself, that he’d been on his own too long… I’d just have to take his jackassery with a pinch of salt.
Or until it pissed Thane off. That was always a good measure of when someone had crossed the metaphorical line. The guy had the emotional capacity of a cucumber, so if you got a rise out of Thane, you’ddefinitelypissed him off.
Erebus faced the middle of the door and threw his arms out wide. The hairs on the back of my arms stood to attention as the power of his magic filled the space. Holy mother of the Gods, he was powerful. I could feel his magic tugging at my own, calling it out to play. I wasn’t going to let it free, though. I didn’t want togive him the satisfaction. Besides, Erebus said he could break out of here himself, so he could fucking well do it all on his own.
“I don’t like this guy,” Rayne said as he folded his arms across his broad chest.
“You don’t like anyone,” I muttered as I watched Erebus’ shadows intensify. The forks of red lightning crackled and popped in the air, echoing around the chamber as the God slammed his power into the stone door. The floor trembled beneath my feet as he threw his magic at the door, and I was a little impressed with how much power he was hurling at the stone. It wasn’t opening the door, but it was an incredible display of power, nonetheless.
“I don’t think this is working,” Rafe said, his head cocked to one side as he watched Erebus. “Perhaps we should give him a hand.”
“Oh no, we couldn’t possibly help,” I replied mockingly—and perhaps a little too loud so the jackass would hear me. “Heaven forbid we get in his way.”
“I do likesomepeople,” Rayne said as he looked down at me, his blue eyes bright in the darkness. He held my gaze, and I lost myself in the emotions I could see swirling in their depths. Rayne had never been one to speak much, but I could always figure out what he was feeling by looking in his eyes. Normally, they were a shield to protect his soul. They were guarded, cold and sometimes appeared empty, but when he looked at me, they spoke volumes.
“Yeah, he likes me,” Magnus said with a chuckle, cutting through my wandering thoughts.
“You can go off a person, you know,” Rafe drawled as he came to stand next to his twin. They shared a look—one of thosesilent looks that said far too much—and then continued to watch Erebus.
“Anyone want to take a bet on how long this is going to take?” Atticus asked cheerfully. “I reckon he gives it another five minutes and then asks for help.”
“I will take that bet, demon,” Magnus said. “And I will raise you to ten minutes,buthe won’t ask for help.”
Erebus hurled another blast of power at the door and yelled in frustration. “Damn it!”
“Perhaps we should figure this one out together?” Thane said as he strode towards the door, his head held high like a regal king. “Or would you prefer to wear yourself out needlessly?”
Erebus slammed his hands into Thane’s chest, throwing him backwards into the stone door and pinning him to it.
I darted forward to jump to Thane’s defence, but he held a hand up to stop me. Why? Why would he do that?
“You’ve got a nerve, Thanatos. If it wasn’t for you and those other meddling Gods, I wouldn’t even be down here.” Erebus’ voice dropped to a menacing whisper. There was something dark and edgy laced through it. Something that had fear gripping me with an unwelcome hand.
“I am sorry,” Thane said softly. “For what we did, and for my part in it, but throwing your power at something immovable isn’t going to help anyone.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Erebus spat. “What great ideas do you have?”
Thane looked at me over Erebus’ shoulder, and dread filled the pit of my stomach. Fuck. Why was he looking this way? Everyone else turned to look at me. Shit. Now they were all staring.
I looked behind me in the hope that perhaps there was some hideous monster creeping up behind me and they were all suddenly fascinated by that instead of me, but nope. There was nothing there but empty space. “What?”
“You can get us out, Roux,” Thane said with a smile. Well, it wasn’t really a smile. Thane wasn’t one for smiling. It was more like a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.
“Me? Fuck off. No, I can’t.” If Erebus, a primordial fucking God, couldn’t do it, what hope did I have?
“You’re a Reaper,” Thane said simply.
“You’re going to have to give me more than that, buddy.” Besides, Thane was a Reaper too. He just didn’t have his scythe; I did.
Thane walked over to me and started fumbling through my pockets. “You must have one.”
“One what?” I cast a glance at the others, and they all stared back at me blankly. Guess they thought that Thane had lost his marbles too.
Thane sank to his knees and patted down the sides of my legs.
