Page 2 of Left Hand of the Divine
“And don’t forget, we still need to find Prometheus’ key,” Thane mentioned from behind me.
Ah, yes. That little caveat that the Keeper of the Vault chucked in as a price for his help in opening the front fucking door. Prometheus bound Thane to him, so if we didn’t get the key, something bad would happen to the God of Death. I couldn’t let that happen. Not since I’d just found the guy after he’d disappeared over some bullshit allegations that he was stealing souls for his own personal gains. Those allegations were something we’d have to deal with when we got back, but right now, we had bigger fish to fry. And a Diadem to find.
I stared in both directions of the corridor, trying to decide which way to go.
Was there even any point in putting some effort into picking a direction? This place was likely a labyrinth worthy of some ancient Greek hero, and we’d probably get lost whichever way we went.
I looked behind me, something pulling me towards the darkness there. It seemed to move and shift like a living thing.
“Little thief…” the voice called again.
I swallowed, the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention as the voice whispered around us all again. “I guess we’re going that way.”
I stepped in the direction of the voice, my heart stuttering in my chest as I reached the edge of the dense shadows. My skin hummed withsomething. There was an anticipation building inmy core, but I didn’t understand it. Did this have something to do with my time before becoming a Reaper?
I only had memories of my time here at G.R.I.M. and nothing of the time when I was alive. Thane had always said it was unusual. Even in death, memories are supposed to linger. After waking up in the Underworld, I had no knowledge of who I was. I awoke with no name, no memories, and no idea about who I’d been or how I’d died. It was like I’d just blossomed into an existence as a fully grown adult Reaper.
I reached out to the shadows and watched in awe as my hand disappeared. It was cool against my skin and soft like a gentle breeze. “What is this?”
“Old magic,” Thane said as he came to take a closer look. “Ancient even.”
The shadows weaved between the gaps in my fingers, tickling the sensitive spots. “How can you tell?”
Thane pursed his lips and disappeared into thought for a moment. “It feels like mine. Like it’s created from the same source but older. I don’t like this, Roux.”
That sounded ominous. If the God of Death feared something, perhaps I should remove my hand from the strange, dense black shadow. But my gut was telling me that it wouldn’t hurt me, that it wasn’t a threat. It felt like it was learning the shape of my hand, like it was getting to know me.
“Come on. Let’s do what we need to, and then we can get out of here.” I just prayed we weren’t stuck in here for eternity, but, as Iglanced at the men at my back, if I did get stuck down here, I was glad it would be with them.
I turned my attention back to the shadows, took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.
Putting one foot in front of the other, I made my way carefully down the dark corridor. The marble was cold beneath my fingers as I used it as a guide in the labyrinth. I could sense the guys around me, our steps cautious. There could be any number of traps down here and it baffled me that someone could have potentially done this before. “Who in their right mind would ever venture down here?”
“Perhaps they had a good reason,” Atticus said, his voice just behind me.
“Maybe they weren’t in their right mind,” Magnus chimed in, his voice unsettlingly bright given the dark surroundings. Then again, the guy was a vampire and probably more comfortable in the dark than most.
The wisps of shadow were still wrapping themselves around me, weaving between my legs like a little cat. They were playful, and there was something familiar about it tugging at the edges of my memory. It was so damn frustrating. To be able to feel familiarity but not understand why. “Thane?”
“Yes?” he replied, making me jump. He was a lot closer to me than I thought he would be. His eyes were bright in the low light, like two pools of water caught in the sun.
“Do you think it’s worth speaking to Mnemosyne?”
His golden brows descended in a severe frown. “What for?”
I shrugged my shoulders, not that he could see, and sighed. “Isn’t she the root of memory? I just thought she might be able to, you know, help me remember.”
Thane brushed the backs of his fingers across my cheek. “I know you feel incomplete without your memories, Roux, but it doesn’t diminish who you are or how wonderful you are. You do know that, right?”
A tear blossomed at the corner of my eye. Thane had never said anything like that before, and it affected me more than I expected it to. Like he’d carved deep into my soul and figured out my most vulnerable secret. “I don’t know that, but thank you. It’s just, I know I’m missing something more than just a memory.”
“A person,” Thane said solemnly.
“Yes,” I murmured, that phantom grief gripping my throat. I didn’t understand where it came from, just that it was there. How could I not remember my name, but I could remember theharrowing pain of losing him? Whoeverhewas.
The others caught up with us in the darkness, and I pushed those thoughts away. I needed to be focused; there would be time enough to figure out if the Goddess of Memory might help me.
“Are we taking a breather already?” Rafe drawled as he stepped into the space behind me and wrapped his hand around my hip, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I leaned into the comfort of his embrace, calming under his touch. The twins always knew what I needed. A perk of being my Hellhounds. They were telepathically linked to me so that they knew what I needed without me having to tell them. It was supposed to be a protection tool so that they could intervene if I was ever in danger, but we knew our connection ran deeper than mere master and servant.
