Page 10 of Darkening Truth
“You could try though,” Rival says, watching me closely from across the room.
He hasn’t taken his eyes off me since we sat down, and quite honestly, instead of finding it uncomfortable like I usually would, I find it really reassuring. I reach my other hand out to him, not really sure what I’m asking, but although surprise lights his eyes, he still gets up and comes to sit on the floor in front of the sofa, resting his back against my legs as the hand that’s not holding Zev’s automatically moves to his hair and starts playing with the orange strands.
It would appear that I now have a need for them to all be close to me, and they’re not the only ones that seem to be more free with their affection. I’m not complaining, I like it. I could do with a gentle touch after everything that I’ve been through, and so long as they don’t mind, then I’m going to carry on.
“Ren?” Khaos asks, bringing me out of my thoughts as he looks at me worriedly.
Glancing around the room at the others, they’re all wearing the same expression, and I’m pretty sure that I just missed something, but I have no idea what.
Before I can answer him though, a giant yawn takes over. Making me look ridiculous because I refuse to let go of Zev’s hand or move my hand from Rival’s hair, so I sort of half turn into Loki’s chest and yawn instead.
“Sorry, I’m really tired,” I reply when the yawn has finally released me. I grin when my yawn is caught by the guys, and they all start yawning as well. “What did you say?” I ask, tapping the top of Rival’s head gently.
“Huh?” he replies sleepily, and the guys smirk. “Oh, you could still ask Monty how he knew. Out of all of us, you are the one that he’s most likely to answer.”
Chapter Four
Farren
Inod, “Yeah. I suppose it's worth a shot, just don’t get your hopes up. He very rarely gives me a straight answer.”
Khaos nods, “We should be seeing him fairly soon actually. We’re going to need some supplies from his store if we’re to head over to the Dragon Realm.”
“There is a lot that we need to discuss about going into the Dragon Realm,” Hades says, a warning in his tone. “Including what we’re going to do about Crem and Remeus, and how we’re going to locate them. They could have the key fragment for all we know.”
“If they don’t have it, then they’re looking for it and they’ve got a head start on us,” Khaos points out with a heavy frown.
“While we’re in the Dragon Realm, we should also be able to look into what’s going on with the Dragon Souls and where they’re going when they die,” Reaper suggests.
“That’s a really good idea,” Storm agrees. “It’s concerning that it’s only the Dragon Souls that are going missing.”
Hades' frown is heavy, “It is, and I can't figure out why it's only them.”
Rival shifts slightly in front of me, sounding more alert when he asks, “Is there nothing about Dragon Souls that makes them more powerful, or easier to control?”
Hades frowns and shakes his head, “No. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Dragon Souls are just as difficult to deal with and control as they are when they’re alive.”
Khaos nods, “That’s true. I used to have a special unit that was trained specifically to deal with Dragons on the Soul Side of the Underworld. They needed constant entertaining.”
“A bit like toddlers,” Hades chuckles.
“I don’t think I have ever heard someone call a Dragon a toddler,” Reaper chuckles. “It strangely fits though.”
“They can’t have just disappeared,” Rival says, his brain still clearly trying to work on the problem.
“No, they can’t. They have to have gone somewhere,” Hades replies, just going along with it, which shows how well they’ve all gotten to know each other.
“Wait, they said that all of the Dragon Souls had gone missing. Does that mean the ones that were already in the Underworld have gone missing too, or just the ones that have recently died?” Zev asks.
Kill frowns, “I have no idea. He said that they aren’t getting as many souls through as they should, only one or two a day, and there should be a lot more.”
Hades' eyebrows dip slightly as he asks Zev, “What are you thinking?”
“It's only an idea, and I don’t know if it's possible, but I saw a Dragon in that park that we walked through before we left, and there are still a couple of Dragons that are managing to make it through a day, so maybe it would be a good idea to talk to them? See if they know anything about what’s going on with the Dragon Souls?”
Hades nods, looking contemplative as he thinks over Zev’s idea, “It’s worth a shot. Like we said, Dragon Souls are pretty difficult to deal with, so getting one of them to talk to us in the first place would be pretty difficult.”
“That’s an understatement,” Khaos says. “Even the Dragon Souls that have been there for a while won’t have mellowed, and even if we were lucky enough to find one that had, they wouldn’t know anything anyway.”
