Page 31 of Left Hand of the Divine
That wasn’t intimidating. At all.
Atticus coughed, breaking the weird, hot staring contest. “So, what should we prepare for?”
Hades brushed a long finger over his Cupid’s bow. “Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t seen my brother in a long time.”
“And he wouldn’t see me when I last went,” Thane said, reminding me of what Helios had shared when I tried to get past the pearly gates. When I’d gone to Olympus on advice given by the Fates, it had been empty, and Helios had tried to convince me that everyone was at some emergency meeting that Zeus had called, but there’d been something in his eyes that made me think he was lying.
I turned to look at Thane. “Helios said you’d been screaming that Zeus had lied to us all. What did you mean?”
His face hardened immediately. “I knew souls were disappearing, and the only person strong enough to steal them before they made the crossing was Zeus. I had gone up there to confront him, but the coward wouldn’t see me.”
“But it’s not just souls that are disappearing,” I said with a frown.
“What?” Hades said, his tone clipped.
“No, ghosts are vanishing, and Magnus said there have been cases of vampires being completely drained of blood.” I didn’t know what it all meant or what someone was going to do with souls, vampire blood or life essence, but it couldn’t be anything good.
Hades glanced over at Erebus with pursed lips and templed fingers.
“What is it?” I asked, a little bit of panic creeping in. There was something concerning about the way Hades was looking at the primordial.
“I heard tales once of a creature made by man to rival the power of the old Gods.” Hades rose from his seat and stalked over to Erebus, tucking his hands in his pockets and stretching the front of his grey sweatpants deliciously. I wasn’t the only one who looked if the mumbled ‘fuck’ coming from somewhere down the sofa was anything to go by.
“How would that be possible?” Atticus asked, tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear and pulling softly on his lobe.
“It isn’t,” Thane added, his tone strong and sure.
Hades furrowed an eyebrow as he closed the distance between him and Erebus. “But what if it was? What if there was a way to combine the very things that gave creatures life to generate a God Killer?”
“Ridiculous,” Thane scoffed. “That isn’t possible. It’s a fairy story.”
Erebus cocked his head to one side and folded his arms across his broad chest. “Is it now? If there’s anything I’ve learned after being imprisoned in the Vault, it’s that anything is possible if someone wants it enough.”
Magnus placed his hand on my bare thigh, and I wrapped my fingers around his. “But who would want tocreate such a thing?”
“Someone who isn’t happy with the way the world looks,” Magnus replied, his tone ominous.
Rayne huffed a low laugh. “And where might we find this person?”
Erebus shrugged, the move graceful and an arrogant smile curved his red lips. “I would not know. Perhaps you could ask Zeus tomorrow.”
“If you have a death wish, sure,” Rayne growled, the amber eyes of his beast flashing in his blue irises. Something had him worked up enough that his inner Hound was close to the surface. Was it Erebus? Was there something about the man he didn’t like? Something that drew his beast to the surface? Interestingly, Rafe didn’t seem to be reacting quite the same way, but his fingers were gripping my leg with enough force to bruise me. What the hell had them agitated?
“I say we put it in front of Zeus,” I said, a little spark of determination curling in my gut.
“What?” Rafe asked, his mouth pinched.
“We said it before; someone has covered up that the Diadem was stolen in the first place and we assumed it was Zeus. If we put this before the Council of the Gods, then won’t the spotlight be on Zeus instead of us?” I stood up and walked over to Hades. “You know your brother best, would that work?”
Hades pursed his lips. “I don’t know, Roux. He’s temperamental at the best of times and challenging him in front of others might backfire.”
“And then some,” Thane added with a wry chuckle.
“Although, there’s a slim chance itmightwork,” Atticus said as he pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger, the cogs of his mind turning in deep thought. “I mean think about it, do any of his siblings actually like him? do any of his children? Couldn’t we appeal to them?”
Hades raised a dark brow. “You have a point, demon. There may be a few we could win over.”
“And what about you?” I asked as I cupped his jaw, the light stubble grazing across my fingertips. “Will you stand with us, or will you sit on the Council?”
