Page 41 of Hades is Mine

None of the other Lowes had gotten as far as Elyse had. They’d fought a good fight, but Elyse carried something that made her… worthy. And I prayed to Zeus—even though I was pissed off at my brother—she made it through so she could be the person she’d been meant to be all along.

“We have to tell her,” Ares declared, his eyes searching mine for support.

I shook my head. “We’re not doing that.”

A flash of anger crossed his expression, chasing away the fear with fury. “So, you’d rather she died?”

“If it doesn’t come from her, it’ll be worth nothing, and she’ll die anyway.”

“We might already be there.” Ares huffed.

He was frustrated, and I understood how he felt. He turned around and stomped away from me, pacing aggressively, his arms pinned tightly by his sides, his footfalls pounding against the floor. When he stood on the far side of the living room, he spun around and glared at me.

“If she doesn’t know the truth about what she can do, what she can become, she’s never going to be able to fight X and survive. The proof’s right there.” He pointed in the general direction of the main room.

“And if we tell her? Then her power will fade. It’ll be like pulling the plug ourselves. What happens then? She’ll die, but this time, it’ll be our fault.” I swallowed the rage, and it grew in my gut, driving my pulse into a frenzy, intense and burning me alive from the inside out.

“It’ll be our fault if we don’t do something about this,” he growled, his face growing redder.

I sighed, shaking my head, and sank down onto a chaise lounge that didn’t really work in this room. Heracles had one of these furniture pieces in his place back in Mount Olympus for centuries. Old habits died hard, even when they went out of fashion.

“Do you remember what it was like when Heracles wasn’t allowed to come to Mount Olympus because he wasn’t a god?” I asked. “What he had to do?”

“That’s different,” Ares said, shaking his head.

“You know it’s the same. He’d gone through a hell of a lot before he was deemed worthy enough to enter those gates.”

“It’s bullshit!” Ares cried out.

He was right about that. It was a load of crap that Elyse had to go through trials. What if she didn’t survive them? All for the sake of recognizing something within herself? But Zeus had a purpose… he always did. If there was ever a time, she had to realize her true power for herself so she could access it, it was now.

If she made it at all.

“If she gets through this, you can’t help her,” I warned, glaring at Ares.

He shook his head, the corded muscles in his neck twitching. “I’m just about sick of everyone telling me what to do. I’m not a fucking child.”

He started pacing again. He wasn’t a fool, and he understood what this was about, but I worried he wasn’t going to be able to put his own needs aside and do the right thing. I worried he’d push Elyse and ruin her chances to ever realize her full potential. We were all here for Elyse, to help her fight, to be there for her, to do whatever she needed us to do. But despite never being alone in this, it was still a journey she had to make alone to find her true potential and become the person she was always meant to be.

I understood Ares’s worry, I was worried about her, too. I didn’t want to lose her any more than he did. Even though we all shared her, she was something special to all of us and we all had so much to lose. If X won, he wouldn’t conquer humanity alone. He’ knock at least Poseidon, Heracles, and me down before it came to that. Well at least, I hoped Heracles would stand by our sides.

Not that he gave a shit about the gods. X had been more removed from the divine realm than even Hades because of what he was. But that wouldn’t change the fact he’d wreak havoc on a hell of a lot of levels.

Elyse had what it took to overcome him, and I was sure it wasn’t just Ares who was desperate to help her unlock her true potential so she could do what was right.

But in trying to help her, we could ruin it all.

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