Page 39 of Left Hand of the Divine
“A world without Death,” Erebus said melodramatically.
“Hey,” Roux snapped, looking mighty even curled up on Hades’ lap. “If you’ve nothing useful to say, don’t say anything.”
The Hounds grinned at their Mistress, finding her sharp tone amusing. I, on the other hand, had quite a different reaction. One that had my blood heading south.
The Primordial slumped back in his chair as she put him in his place.
Atticus glanced at me, a curious curl to his brow. Could he sense my sudden burst of lust through our bond? His mouth curled into a smug little grin, which gave me my answer, and I wondered whether there was a way to shield some things fromhim. Although, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I liked being able to feel all of him, but did he feel the same way?
“Thane,” Roux said sharply, dragging my thoughts back to the current issue. “If there is a God Killer, we will destroy it. Do not panic.”
“Not to rain on your parade, Red,” Magnus said as he leant towards her across the table, dropping his chin into his hand. “But how are you going to do that?”
She frowned and pursed her lips. “I don’t know.”
At least she was honest.
Atticus stood from his chair and drew all of our attention. Gods, but he was beautiful. All those sharp lines and shades of blue.
“Might I make a suggestion?” he asked, and I was intrigued to hear what he had to say. I seemed to always be interested in what he said or did at the moment. Was that an obsession? “Perhaps we should go back to the scene of the crime. To where the ghosts went missing and where the vampires were left. Perhaps we could start to build—”
“A murder board!” Roux shouted, and I almost chuckled. Her enthusiasm over true crime podcasts was seeping through. In the early days, when she’d first become my Right Hand, we’d watched everything that was about true crime. At the time, I figured it was because she hoped she might come across her own story on there, but after a while, I discovered she liked the mystery and had a strong sense of justice. Those traits were part of the reason I gave her the position as my right hand. I hadn’t had one for a longtime, but I hadn’t found the right person. With Roux, giving it to her was an easy decision to make.
“Sort of,” Atticus replied, carrying on as if she hadn’t disrupted him mid-flow. “We need to find something that links all these missing people. Someone, somewhere, must know something.”
Roux clapped her hands together in excitement. “Yes, and we can—”
The musical tones ofDon’t Fear the Reapercut through the room with a sharp shrillness, and Roux pulled her phone out of her pocket.
“Seriously, kitten?” Atticus chuckled. “That’syour ringtone?”
She just shrugged and answered the call. “Hey, babe!”
Ah, that would be Lila, her handler. No doubt she was filling her in on what was happening at GRIM HQ whilst we were all still banished.
Roux’s expression dropped.
Or not.
“What do you mean? The Guild?”
What was she talking about them for?
“Right now?”
That couldn’t be a good sign.
“Fine,” she sighed. “We’ll be there as fast as we can.”
Then she hung up and grimaced as she looked at me. “You, Atticus, the twins and I need to return to GRIM HQ immediately. The Guild is waiting for us.”
My stomach dropped, the feeling alien and unnatural. But that wasn’t my stomach; that one was all Atticus.
I wish there was an internal announcement system or something to say whose feelings were whose. At the moment, our soul bond was making it impossible to work out where his feelings ended and mine began.
“What for?” Hades asked as he stroked a hand down the length of her spine.
Roux curved into his touch like a cat. “Lila didn’t say, but she sounded pissed. Apparently, they think it’s fine to just barge in and take over.”
