by River Ramsey
“It means we only know my father’s side of things,” I answered.
“Please don’t tell me you’re seriously thinking about trusting Ares.”
“Of course not. Trusting and using are two different things.”
I knew that look on his face. A combination of fear and loathing. Before he could voice it, the door opened and Kore walked in, followed closely by the traitorous hellmut I thought was on my side.
“Where have you been?” Kore asked, studying us awkwardly. So she wasn’t going to bring up the whole consort thing. That suited me fine. I still needed time to think, but I was starting to see how it could be used to my advantage. Maybe getting stuck here wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.”
“We’re under some form of house arrest,” I answered before Loki had the chance, giving him a look of warning. “I take it your stroll with dear old dad went well?”
I expected one of her usual snappy comebacks, but as she walked over to the window, it was clear her mind was elsewhere. “I’m not sure what to think.”
I watched her in silence for a few seconds, trying to brush aside the foreign impulse to go over to her and… do what, I wasn’t sure. Comfort, maybe? Of all the temptations I’d indulged in my lifetime, that was certainly a new one and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Better push it aside like every other troubling emotion and thought she stirred up within me.
It was safer that way.
Chapter 3
Kore
The moment we left Loki and Hades behind, I realized there was a good chance I was making a mistake. Maybe Ares was just trying to separate us.
No. If he wanted to hurt us, he’d had plenty of opportunity to do that, and we were on his turf. Whatever he wanted from me, it was clear I wasn’t in any immediate danger, but I still felt safer with Fenrir at my side.
I was starting to get attached to him this way. He was sure a lot easier to get along with.
“This must be a lot for you to take in,” Ares said once we’d turned the corner.
“A bit,” I admitted, deciding to choose my words carefully where he was concerned. “Mainly, I’m just wondering why you called me here.”
He glanced down at me and I couldn’t help but think how much more menacing that gaze would be if I was on the receiving end of his wrath. “I don’t suppose your mother told you anything about your role in the Ether.”
“She didn’t tell me anything about you, period.”
Surprise flickered in his gaze, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. “Demeter,” he muttered under his breath, his tone a blend of contempt and admiration. “I should have figured as much.”
I stopped walking as the weight of every question I’d always wanted to ask him weighed down on my shoulders. He turned to face me and my fists clenched at my sides, my whole body fighting against the temptation to give in to impulse.
“Go ahead,” he said in a surprisingly soft voice. “Ask me anything.”
“Why did you leave?” The words came out with more bitterness than I intended, but there was no taking them back now.
Ares’ expression didn’t change. I got the feeling that it took a long time to get under his skin, which was probably a good thing. Long fuses were always more explosive when they finally did reach an end. “I didn’t. Not of my own volition.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing back the desire to believe his words. For so long, I’d kept myself up at night wondering what my father thought of me, if he ever did. I’d always assumed he’d just abandoned us. Abandoned me without a second thought. Why else would you go twenty years without so much as a birthday card?
Learning that Ares was my father hadn’t put an end to those doubts. Sure, Cronus had banished him, but that didn’t mean his departure from my life was involuntary. For all I knew, I was the product of a one-night stand. That was definitely the kind of thing my mother would cover up.
“Why should I believe you?” I finally asked.
“You shouldn’t,” he answered. “But if you’re anything like your mother, and those eyes tell me you are, you know deep down that it’s the truth.”
His words took me by surprise, especially because they were true. I wasn’t sure how or why, but I had a sense of trust in him that defied all logic. Some instinct buried too deep to realize it until now. That just made me want to put my guard up all the more. “When were you banished?”
“Given my best estimate of your age and the fact that your mother was in her third trimester, I’d say about twenty years,” he answered. “Time doesn’t pass as rigidly here.”
I tried to swallow again, but my mouth was dry. Unconsciously, I’d reached down to bury my fingers in Fenrir’s fur and the wolf leaned into my leg for support. He was sweeter this way, too.
“Why did he banish you, anyway?”
“That’s a complicated question with an even more complicated answer,” he mused, walking over to a great window overlooking the barren plains beyond the castle. “To put it bluntly, he viewed me as a threat.”
“You’re the god of war,” I said flatly. “Haven’t you always been a threat?”
He chuckled. “Very true, but there were unique circumstances leading up to my banishment that pushed his paranoia over the edge. Namely, the words of a soothsayer.”
“A soothsayer?” I frowned. “You mean a psychic?”
“Different terms, same idea.”
“You’re telling me with all these conspiracy theories about what you did to get banished, and it was just some glorified fortune cookie prophecy?” I asked, folding my arms.
“More or less. When Cronus had assimilated power over all the realms of the gods, he had nothing left to gain and everything to lose,” said Ares. “That kind of power makes one paranoid.”
“Guess it really is lonely at the top,” I muttered. “So, what did the prophecy say?”
“That Death would remove its blessing from him and lend its power--and thus, his rule--to another,” he answered. “Given the nature of my domain, you can understand why I became the primary suspect.”
“That’s insane,” I said, feeling my blood boil even more than it usually did when I thought of the old god. Apparently, he was as capricious as the reputation he’d built suggested. Like father, like son, after all.
“Such is the way of the gods.”
“How can you be so casual about this?” I asked, frowning.
“Twenty years may pass in the blink of an eye out there, but in here…” He waved a pale hand in the air, gesturing around the great hall. “The fires of indignation have long grown cold.”
Well, that made one of us. I was still unsure of how to feel toward the man I’d learned to hate out of necessity, but where Cronus was concerned, the flames burned all the brighter.
“I still don’t understand. If you could reach me, why didn’t you do it before?”
“This is the first time your conscious mind has been dormant enough to match the frequency of the Ether,” he answered.
I blinked. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or insulted.”
Ares gave me a knowing smile. “There will be plenty of time to discuss things later. Tonight, you should rest and get your bearings. Tomorrow, we feast.”
“Feast?” I asked warily. “Do I want to know what’s in the mystery meat here?”
Ares just chuckled and walked down the hall, which left me all the more unsettled. I went back to find Hades and Loki with Fenrir at my side. I still wasn’t sure what I was comfortable with telling him. After all, he was the son of the man who’d banished my father. As if I didn’t already have enough reasons to hate him.
Chapter 4
Loki
When Kore walked in looking like she’d just seen a ghost, I knew things were about to get interesting. Wherever she went, Fenrir followed like a lost puppy. Either he was laying it on thick or he was deeper in wolf land than I’d feared. At present, he was curled up at her feet while she just stood there gazing
out the window.
I knew Hades was too much of a stubborn prick to talk to her, even though I knew him well enough to sense that he was as worried about her as I was, so I walked over. “I take it your convo with dear old dad didn’t go as planned?”
She glanced up and seemed startled. I just wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been in lala land, or because she was surprised I gave a shit.
And like it or not, I did.
“It was fine,” she answered, hugging herself as she turned back to the bleak landscape. “Just strange.”
“I’d imagine,” I said, leaning against the bookshelf. “First time you met the guy. That has to be awkward.”
“Tell me about it,” she snorted.
“I probably could.”
Her brows knit together and for the first time, I realized they were tinted purple just like her hair. A darker shade, but still. “What do you mean?”
I glanced across the room, content that Hades had immersed himself in a book from the other shelf by the door. Leave it to him to think he could read his way out of anything. He knew everything there was to know about me, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed talking about everything with or around him. Fenrir was as good as oblivious in this form. “I was adopted.”
Her eyes widened. “You what?”
I shrugged. “It’s not something our parents like people to know, but yeah.”
“I don’t understand. Why the secrecy?”
“Really?” I scoffed. “We’re talking about Olympus here. Besides, it wasn’t exactly a good deed.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was the bastard offspring of a runaway goddess and a frost giant my father killed,” I answered. “If it wasn’t for my mother, I’m sure he would have happily left me to die, and he’s been reminding me of the sacrifice ever since.”
“Loki, I… I don’t know what to say,” she murmured, her eyes softening with sympathy. If she was anyone else, I wouldn’t have hesitated to use that pity to my advantage. Pity, desire, none of it really mattered. They were all just switches that made the puppets so easy to manipulate, but her…
“That would be a first,” I said wryly.
She gave me a halfhearted glare. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “Just seemed like you needed to hear you’re not the only one with fucked up parentage.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice low with sincerity I’d never heard in it before. Certainly not directed at me. When she looked at me like that, her eyes the color of every verdant thing on Earth, I could understand why Hades was so smitten. I just wasn’t sure if either of them realized it yet.
“Anytime,” I said, nodding to her.
“If you two are done with your little heart to heart, we need to talk,” Hades said, striding over in his usual “I don’t give a fuck but I’m coming to harass you anyway” manner.
“Such as?” Kore asked, her countenance hardening immediately.
“Namely, why the fuck your dad brought us here,” said Hades. “Let’s start there.”
“He’s not my dad,” she snapped. “I don’t know him anymore than you do.”
“He must have told you something,” Hades pressed. I wasn’t sure if he actually thought this was the best way to get the information out of her or he just couldn’t help himself. Probably a combination of both.
“Yeah, he did. And considering the fact that it involves your dad, I think you’re the one who owes me an explanation.”
Hades frowned. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Please don’t start,” I groaned, pressing a hand to my temple.
They both ignored me and Kore continued, “You must know the reason your father banished him.”
“Of course I do,” he answered without hesitation. “He was a traitor. Everyone knows that.”
“So goes one of the many rumors and conspiracy theories,” Kore countered.
Hades’ eyes narrowed. He hated his old man more than anyone, but he was still a prideful fucker and to top it off, he didn’t seem to be able to help disagreeing with Kore. She could have said the sky was blue and he would have disagreed with her on principle. “And you’re implying what?”
“I’m not implying anything,” she answered, standing toe to toe with him in a way gods twice her size were unwilling to do. “That would be implying I give a shit about you or your father, which I don’t.”
“That’s funny, considering the fact that you wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for me.”
“That’s enough!” I snapped. “Both of you.” I turned to Kore, since she was a more likely prospect for reason, if not by much. “Did Ares say something about Cronus?”
“Yes,” she answered, growing somber. “He said Cronus framed him.”
“Of course he did,” Hades laughed, shaking his head. He was condescension in a flesh suit. “And you believe him.”
“I have no reason to believe him, and even less to believe your father,” she said sharply. “Paranoia and capriciousness sounds enough like him.”
Hades’ eyes narrowed, even though he’d said far worse about the man than that over breakfast. “Watch your mouth,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re still bound to me.”
“And from the way Ares tells it, you’re bound to me,” she countered, staring up at him in defiance. It was hot as hell when she got all feisty like this, but at the moment, I was too concerned about the ramifications of them fighting on Ares’ territory to enjoy it.
Hades rolled his eyes, but he’d seemed far less certain when we were alone. “More bullshit he cooked up to delude you, and it’s obviously working.”
“You’re the one who’s deluded,” she spat.
“Why would Cronus want to frame Ares?” I asked, desperate to get them back on target and further away from tearing into each other’s throats.
“Because he thought Ares was a threat to his rule,” Kore answered without hesitation. I could tell from the glint in her eyes that she actually believed what she was saying, despite her insistence to the contrary, and I was starting to wonder myself. I’d put nothing past Cronus. Certainly not subterfuge. “Apparently, there was a prophecy that suggested as much.”
“A prophecy?” The incredulity in Hades’ tone belied the concern in his gaze. “What are you on about now?”
“A seer prophesied that Death would choose another to favor more than Cronus, and his reign would end,” she replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Hades.
“Is it?” I challenged. Before he could kill me, I laid out my reasoning. “He’s always been secretive about the banishment. Usually he likes to flay the sins of his enemies for all to see.”
Hades was still scowling, but I could tell the gears were turning in his mind. “What you’re talking about would be the biggest scandal of the millennia.”
“And if it’s true, imagine how convenient that would be,” I said pointedly.
“Convenient?” asked Kore. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Hades said, shooting me a warning look.
“No,” she said, standing between us even though she turned to face me. I’d clearly been isolated as the weaker link in the chain. “That meant something and I want to know what it was.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I gave Hades an apologetic glance. “She’s on our side one way or another, Hades. With the bond, she doesn’t have a choice.”
“On your side?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked between us, appraising. It was a damn good thing she wasn’t telepathic because she already seemed capable enough of reading minds. “For what?”
“A coup,” I answered. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You know damn well you can’t kill me, and she can’t do anything that would put our lives at risk without killing herself.”
Hades was still fuming, but he looked away in defeat.
“What are you talking about?” Kore demanded. “What kind of c
oup?” Her eyes widened as the realization set in and she turned back to Hades. “Against your father?”
He looked at me and I could practically hear his voice. Now see what you’ve done?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“Why would I?” Hades challenged. “You’re my intended, and Demeter’s brat no less. Your mother is just another fawning goddess who’d kill for the chance to do his bidding.”
“You don’t know shit about my mother,” she hissed. “And you say her name again, you’ll be swallowing your teeth.”
He rolled his eyes, even though I could tell from her clenched fists she was dangerously close to making good on that threat. At least the vines weren’t out yet. Small wonders.
“Let’s say what Ares told you is true,” Hades began, drawing his words out slowly like he was speaking to a child. “Your mother must have known something, and yet she agreed to sell you off to the man who banished your father.”
Kore fell silent and I could tell from the stunned look on her face it was the first time such a thought had occurred to her. Denial had a way of clouding even the sharpest of minds. Usually when Hades unleashed his sharp tongue on one of our victims, I felt nothing other than the odd glimmer of amusement, but the anger that roiled in my gut on her behalf was as new as it was unsettling.
“Alright, I think that’s enough for one day,” I interjected. “We’re all tired, and the more alert we are, the better we’ll be able to deal with all this shit tomorrow.”
For a moment, neither of them responded. They just remained locked in a staring contest that was dripping with equal parts hate and lust I doubted they even knew was there. The one seemed to feed off the other. Finally, they parted ways and while Kore threw back the covers, Hades made a point of dropping dramatically onto the sofa by the window.
I sighed, walking over to the other side of the bed to settle in for what promised to be a long night. Why was I always surrounded by idiots?
Chapter 5
