“You know how dangerous this is!” Nyx shouted.
Dagger had never seen her this angry. Nyx had always controlled any situation with calm dignity and power, even when it didn’t exactly go as planned. Right now, her fists were clenched at her sides. Dagger could only hope that Nyx’s anger would stay directed at Maniodes.
“I know, but this sort of thing can’t be anticipated,” Maniodes said.
“How long?” she demanded.
“Almost a year,” he admitted.
Nyx blanched at the news.
“What did she call you?” Leda asked Maniodes quietly.
He bowed his head and answered Leda dejectedly. “My real name.”
Leda took a step back from him. Betrayal mixed with her fear. “The Maniodes, god of the underworld?”
“Yes.” His despair was palpable. Desperately, he added, “I never lied to you about anything, Leda, but this is why I couldn’t tell you everything.”
He went to touch her, but she moved away. He looked like he had been stabbed.
“I am still the man you know,” he pleaded.
Leda clutched at her stomach again. Her eyes softened as she studied Maniodes’s sorrow. She took his hand and he sighed.
Nyx moved. She reached into her sleeve and withdrew her bone. It was tiny, but she extended it to its full length and glory.
“No, wait, please.” Maniodes shielded Leda again. “Let her drink from the river Lethe. She’ll forget all of this.”
“The river’s power doesn’t stretch over a year of memory. You know that,” Nyx said.
“She’ll forget tonight then, and I’ll disappear from her life.”
“What?! No!” Leda clutched tighter to Maniodes’s arm.
“It’s the only way you’ll be safe,” he protested to her.
“Why can’t he be with anyone?” Leda asked Nyx suddenly.
Nyx was taken aback that Leda was brave enough to address her directly. Leda might have been behind Maniodes, but he couldn’t protect her.
“He told me in the beginning that our relationship was dangerous, but he wouldn’t say why,” Leda said.
“Because the last child of a god nearly destroyed the world,” Nyx explained.
Leda blanched and broke eye contact. She touched her stomach again, guilt quickly surfacing.
Scythe gasped. “Oh, shit.”
Dagger glanced at her, confused, but Scythe was only watching Leda. Maniodes and Nyx looked their way too, as if just remembering they were present.
“She’s with child,” Scythe said, pointing to Leda.
Dagger had no idea how she had come to that conclusion so quickly. The guilt and fear in Leda’s eyes was enough confirmation.
Maniodes turned to Leda with the wild question in his eyes. “Is that true?”
It took a moment for Leda to reply, but she eventually said, “I haven’t bled in two months.”
Maniodes kept his expression guarded, but fear crept into his eyes.
If Nyx’s bone could crack, it would have, based on how hard she was gripping it.
Maniodes looked to Nyx again but couldn’t say anything.
Silence filled the parlor. Dagger and Scythe kept their weapons drawn.
“Your Grace?” Scythe said hesitantly.
Nyx turned to Scythe, cold and furious.
“If I may, I think she should drink from Lethe,” Scythe said.
Dagger wanted to agree but stayed quiet, not wanting to push the situation too far.
Nyx sighed exhausted. “And the child?”
“It could be watched from a distance,” Scythe said. “If it poses a threat, then we do what has to be done.”
“We do what has to be done,” Nyx repeated to herself. “Are you volunteering?”
“I am,” Scythe said without missing a beat, though she probably hadn’t intended to.
“I will as well,” Dagger put in.
They needed Nyx on their side. If their plan shifted from rulers to babysitters, then at least they would be alive.
“You planned this,” Nyx accused, stepping closer to them. “That entire festival was to gain my favor, then bring this to light. Why not come to me personally?”
The hurt in her eyes was personal. They had intended to humiliate Maniodes and knew Nyx would get caught in the crossfire. Scythe didn’t appear pleased by the situation either. Nyx deserved to know the truth.
“We only learned of the girl recently,” Dagger said.
“That’s actually why Pitch died,” Scythe added quickly. “Dagger and I suspected Maniodes was hiding something, and Pitch remembered the forbidden box. He led us to it and I scratched the lock getting it open.”
Maniodes’s fists clenched.
“After Pitch was killed,” Dagger continued, “I was angry. We both went back for the girl after following Maniodes to learn where she was, and brought her here.”
He wanted to ask Nyx why she hadn’t protected Pitch. He had done her bidding but ended up dead. Dagger didn’t blame her for his death, that was entirely his own fault, but she had promised to protect him. He held the sharp words back. They would do no good here.
“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” Scythe said to Nyx, “but you needed to know this was happening. Maniodes certainly wasn’t going to confess. And if we confronted him alone about it he’d just kill us to keep it secret. We had to bring you here, hoping you would trust us and, well, protect us from him.”
“Nyx,” Maniodes tried to interject.
“Shut up,” Nyx commanded.
They all fell silent, letting the goddess think. It felt like Dagger’s dead heart was trying to strangle him.
“Nyx,” Maniodes tried again quietly.
She let him continue this time. Her black and white eyes fumed with anger as she watched him.
“Please, at least let Leda go. She’ll forget this whole thing. I’ll watch over the babe myself.”
“And if it’s too dangerous?” Nyx accused. “Phaos’s last son nearly scorched all of Ichorisis!”
“I’ll do what must be done.” His voice was grave.
“What?” Leda stepped away from Maniodes.
He couldn’t look at her.
“How do I know you’ll hold up to that agreement?” Nyx asked.
“You have my word—”
“You gave that before.”
Maniodes fell quiet.
Nyx sighed. “You know what? You never did like being confined. This alone is proof. You will watch this child and kill it if need be.”
Maniodes bowed his head in acceptance.
Dagger’s heart stuck in his throat. After all of this, Maniodes was still in charge?
“As a human,” Nyx finished.
Maniodes blinked. “How do you mean?”
Nyx raised her bone and pointed it at her son. The pain in her eyes matched his as he flinched.
Maniodes grunted and clutched at his chest. He staggered, falling to his knees in front of his mother.
Leda knelt beside him, holding his shoulders, pleading for Nyx to leave him alone.
Maniodes screamed as a golden ball of light escaped from his chest. Once it was out, he was left gasping. Dagger watched, hiding his excitement, as the light drifted from Maniodes and disappeared into Nyx’s bone.
Maniodes watched the light go out, then examined his own hands. They looked exactly the same, but he looked scared. The straps of his shield unclasped themselves from around his arm. He watched, dejected, as his shield clattered to the floor. Dagger wasn’t entirely sure if Maniodes was just stripped of his divine powers, or completely human now. Given the fear in Maniodes’s eyes, he understood what had happened.
“Leave,” Nyx commanded.
“Mother—”
“Leave, and if you don’t uphold your word, I will do worse.”
Maniodes got to his feet, unsteady at first, but Leda helped him. He took her hand, and they left the parlor.
As Maniodes passed between Dagger and Scythe, the cold h
atred aimed at them grew tenfold.
“I suppose the two of you want some kind of reward?”
Scythe tore her eyes away from the now-human Maniodes as he and Leda left. Nyx focused on them with crossed arms, her bone now fitted through a loop in her robes. It hung at her hip like a sword.
They weren’t completely clear yet. Neither of them could just ask to take Maniodes’s place. That wound was too fresh for Nyx to be prodded at.
“Only if you deem it right,” Scythe said.
Scythe was already trying to figure out a way to end the night here and now. They could establish themselves as rulers with the Ferrum once Nyx had gone.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dagger about to say something then close his mouth.
Nyx caught Dagger too. “What?”
“I’m just wondering,” he said slowly, as a subject, his head bowed. “Who will rule Skiachora now?”
It wasn’t as direct as Scythe would have asked, but it could work. Instead of nominating himself, Dagger put voice to the question they were all thinking.
Nyx inhaled, held the breath, and then let it whoosh out. She looked exhausted.
“I suppose you and Scythe want to?” she said bluntly. “That’s what all of this was about.”
Scythe took hold of Dagger’s indirect manner of speaking. “Tonight was meant to bring Maniodes’s betrayal to light.”
“And avenge Pitch,” Dagger added, “but we’ll take that responsibility if need be.”
Nyx mulled over the idea. She wasn’t pleased, but Scythe could see she was honestly considering it. She was rather surprised as well that Nyx had brought it up. Nyx looked tired and worn, as if taking Maniodes’s divine essence had drained her. It probably had, now that Scythe thought about it. That, combined with basically losing another son. Nyx probably just wanted the whole situation over with.
Nyx gazed around, surprised and still hurt. “Did you hate Maniodes that much?”
“We didn’t hate him,” Dagger said gently, “but he never understood us. He either ignored or punished us for small things, like Pitch. Though in his defense, some of them were fair and mandated. Our marriage was bizarre, but it worked.”
“It did,” Nyx nodded. She turned back to Dagger and Scythe, unhooking her bone from her hip. “Kneel.”
They did, instantly. Scythe kept her weapon extended; it towered over her like a banner. Dagger placed his weapon on the ground before him, still holding the hilt.
Nyx’s bone began to glow gold. The light that had come from Maniodes appeared out of the end and floated toward them. It split into two smaller orbs. Scythe’s instinct told her to attack something new and strange, but she stayed still as one ball floated closer to her.
The gold glow disappeared into Scythe’s chest, and she clenched back a scream. It felt like lava was being poured into her chest. It spread through her veins, then vanished as quickly as it had come. She was left feeling exactly the same.
Scythe looked to Dagger and saw that he was gasping in the aftermath of the same pain, but he was fine too.
“Stand,” Nyx commanded.
They did. Scythe realized her hands were tingling. It was like they had gone to sleep and now the blood was returning to them. It was rather annoying; she hoped it was only a temporary side-effect.
“It takes a lot of power to create a god’s essence,” Nyx said. “I was able to split Maniodes’s in half to give each of you. You’ll be able to perform the basic power we can, but in a one-on-one fight, you’ll be weaker.”
Dagger was examining his hands, probably feeling the same tingling. He met Scythe’s eye and beamed. Scythe couldn’t stop smiling either.
Turning back to Nyx erased that smile. Nyx’s lips were pressed into a thin line. She was still emotional, but she held it well.
She picked up Maniodes’s shield and held it to her chest like she was cradling a child. Without warning, she vanished.
Chapter 46
Scythe weaved through the bowels of Maniodes’s castle with Dagger. She corrected the thought quickly; it was their castle now. Skiachora was theirs. The idea hadn’t sunk past her skin yet.
The first thing they did after Nyx had vanished was release Maime and Hatchet. Hatchet threw several curses as they untied him. Maime immediately punched Dagger.
Dagger had taken the blow with only a single step back. Maime stared, dumbfounded, probably expecting Dagger’s skull to be crushed. The marks of their previous fight had healed shortly after gaining the golden essence of a god. Dagger hadn’t even blinked; he hadn’t felt a thing. Scythe remembered Maniodes fighting them off, heedless of his wounds. He hadn’t felt them. That also explained how he had healed so quickly.
Scythe felt an odd but warm sensation in her stomach, seeing Dagger stare down Maime. He stood his ground and gave Maime a haunting smile.
“Go to the throne room,” Dagger told Maime.
“What?” Hatchet started to ask something, but Scythe cut him off.
“We will meet you there with the others. Just go.” Now they ran through the cracked corridor, hoping to find Axe quickly in one of the torture chambers. They rounded the last corner, and Dagger threw open the door to the chamber of chains.
Dagger stopped short, sucking air through his teeth. Scythe froze at the sight too.
Axe stood in the center as Dagger had once before. Chains penetrated his body, locking him in place.
Scythe approached Axe but he didn’t raise his head. It was bowed, and his eyes were squeezed shut in agony. His breathing was shallow and pained.
“How did Maniodes take them out of you?” Scythe asked Dagger.
“I don’t know,” he said reaching to touch one chain. He lowered his hand thinking better of it. “They just did after he spoke; it was like he commanded them.”
Dagger glanced around, probably looking for some kind of device.
Axe coughed blood.
Scythe followed the chains but they just disappeared into shadows. “He commanded them,” she said quietly.
“I have an idea,” Scythe took Dagger’s arm and guided him to a gap in the chains. “Stand here.”
“Why?”
“So they don’t hit us,” Scythe explained, then commanded, “Retract!”
They did. Their ripped through Axe with a squelch of meat and rattled back into the shadows.
More blood sprouted from Axe’s mouth as he shrieked. He fell limp, but Dagger caught him. Axe leaned on him, bleeding, and panting.
Scythe wrung her hands, unable to do more then watch. At least he was free, and Dagger understood his pain.
“You’ll be okay,” Dagger said, supporting his shoulder. “We won, Axe.”
Axe moved then. He pushed away from Dagger, then lunged at him. Surprised by the sudden fury, Dagger let Axe go for his neck. Axe ended up on top of Dagger with his hands locked around Dagger’s throat.
Scythe extended her weapon in a second and held it to Axe’s neck.
“Scythe, it’s alright. I can’t feel it,” Dagger said quickly and clearly.
Axe’s knuckles were white as he squeezed.
She forced herself to relax and lowered the weapon.
“Pitch is dead,” Axe growled. “He trusted you!”
“I know,” Dagger said gravely.
Dagger didn’t fight back as Axe tried to let his fury out. Axe’s face contorted in rage and pain, and Dagger just lay there.
Axe tried to lift, then slam, Dagger’s head back to the ground, but he was too weak. He slipped and rolled off Dagger, landing on his back beside him. He wheezed through every pant, and blood spread on his clothes.
Scythe shrunk her weapon and pocketed it, but the initial fury towards Axe’s attack on Dagger still burned.
Axe coughed again, then said, “How the fuck did you survive that for three days?”
“Not being able to die helped,” Dagger admitted, still on his back.
“And now you’re bloody gods.”
“Yup,” Dag
ger said nonchalantly.
“We could have just locked him in a box.”
“I was starting to think that wasn’t going to work, actually,” Dagger admitted.
“This is a lovely reunion and all,” Scythe said, “but I don’t appreciate you attacking my husband, Axe.”
“He was angry, Scythe,” Dagger said, helping Axe sit up. “He has every right to be.”
“I know that, but can we get upstairs? The others will want an explanation.” She was practically bouncing on her toes.
“What happened after that blast?” Axe asked, leaning on Dagger’s shoulder.
Scythe’s anger at him cooled. He didn’t know how many of them were gone yet; he was unconscious before that happened. Come to think of it, she didn’t know who else died because of them either.
“We’ll explain in the throne room,” Dagger said.
Scythe went to support Axe’s other side.
The throne room was empty except for Maime and Hatchet. White powder dusted the floor, along, with the occasional broken bone. Dagger was reminded of Chip suddenly, and his grief returned. Chip had been crushed trying to protect them. There was no sign of Shorty in the room either. All of the sentries were gone.
Hatchet kept the door open as they brought Axe inside and set him down on the dais.
“So what happened?” Maime demanded, close by. His hulking form towered as his arms crossed.
“We’ll explain everything when the others arrive,” Dagger said. “Where are the sentries?”
“I have no fucking idea, and I’d rather not wait. Just get on with it,” he growled.
“We overthrew Maniodes,” Scythe said, stepping in front of the brute. “And we’ll explain more when the others get here.”
Dagger watched as his wife stared down Maime. He glared back, eyebrows knit together, but he only scowled. Pride welled in Dagger’s chest as Scythe turned back to him.
While her red eyes held fire a moment ago toward Maime, now they were wide and confused with her back to him. She took Dagger’s arm and led him away from the others.
“We have to get the others here now,” she said. “They won’t wait for bats to send letters.”
“Do you know how Maniodes would open the ground to make a path?” Dagger asked, “Like he did for us back in Chalcis?”
Dagger and Scythe Page 30
