Betrayer (Hidden Book 7)

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  I paced, and let myself be surrounded by it.

  Mollis reappeared moments later with a “pop,” something held behind her back. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she brought it out, a somewhat shy look on her face, and in that moment she reminded me of a child presenting something of great importance to someone she loved. I smiled at her, and then my eyes lit on what she was holding out to me.

  “That is Hades’,” I said softly.

  “I want you to have it.” She held it out more, insisting that I take it. I could not move, surprised by the emotions that overwhelmed me. She was holding Hades’ sword, the very same one he had wielded for thousands of years, the one he held in the enormous monument Hephaestus had created. Its black blade gleamed, and the power of the Nether, the old Nether, radiated from it. The pommel held a deep black gem, and the crosspiece ended in deadly-looking points.

  I raised my eyes to Mollis’s. “I cannot accept this.”

  “E. He respected you. He trusted you, when he trusted very few. And I love and trust you, and I know he would have wanted you to have this.” I hesitated a while longer, and she pushed it toward me again. “Take the damn sword, E.”

  “You do not want me to use this against you later,” I said, my gaze going back to the blade, even as a new ache in mourning for the god I had so revered washed over me.

  “No. But I still want you to have it,” she said softly, reading my emotions as she always did. “In my grief, and my mom’s grief, I never once thought about how much losing Hades affected you. And I’m sorry for that. He cared for you. I hope you know that.”

  I nodded, and slowly reached out and grasped the handle of the sword. It felt cold, as it should, being a creation of the Nether.

  “It should work against souls and undead, right?” Molly asked.

  Without taking my eyes from the sword, I gave another small nod.

  She gave a small laugh. “Then use it well. He would have loved seeing the damage you could cause with that.”

  “I do not feel deserving of wielding this blade, demon girl. Someday, perhaps I will.”

  “Then on that day, take it up and make your enemies pay. But keep it now, anyway. He would have wanted it that way.”

  “Very well. There are no adequate words of thanks for this, my friend,” I said, meeting her eyes.

  “Just try not to hurt me too badly later, okay?” she said, and I rolled my eyes. She gave me a small, tired grin then. “After school, by the twisty slide. You and me, Guardian.”

  I lifted my hands in a “what in the Nether are you talking about?” gesture. She confused me. Often.

  She shook her head and gave a snort of a laugh. “Never mind. You didn’t have the public school experience, clearly.”

  “Obviously.” Then I smiled at her. “This evening, I will come to the Netherwoods and you will be enraged to find me there. Words will be exchanged, and we will fight. I will leave it to you and your imps to ensure that as many immortals are present as possible. Particularly Megaera, but any others you can get there as well.”

  She nodded. “We’ll take care of it. I’ll see you later then, E.”

  “All right.” I began to close my eyes, preparing to rematerialize back to my apartment.

  “Hey, E.”

  “Hm?” I asked, opening my eyes again.

  “Just so you know when we’re kicking one another’s asses later, I love you.”

  I smiled. “I know you do. And I love you too, demon girl.” With that, I closed my eyes again and focused on my apartment. I needed a shower, and a nap. And then I needed to prepare.

  What does one wear when fighting her best friend?

  Chapter Nine

  I walked into the Netherwoods, which felt strange after so long away. I stalked along the black gravel path, the castle where the Goddess of Death ruled looming, dark and menacing, ahead of me. In the distance was the monument to Hades. As usual, Persephone was beside it, kneeling, head bowed, a tiny figure dwarfed even more by the sheer size of Hades’ memorial. Demons patrolled around the castle, and I could see several immortals, including Mollis, sitting in the courtyard where we had held Hades’ funeral what felt like mere moments ago.

  “Hey, you’re not supposed to be here,” a hulking greenish-gray demon called upon seeing me. I just sneered at him, determined to stay in character. I was a former friend, coming to confront the woman who I believed had wronged me. I kept walking, and soon other demon guards were heading toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the assembled gods looking my way. Many were there. Mollis had done a good job of gathering them all. Hephaestus and Meaghan, Gaia, Demeter, Asclepius, Hestia, Megaera, Tisiphone, and even a few lesser gods were now looking at me. Nain stood beside Mollis.

  Mollis said something, holding her hand out as if telling them all to say put. I strode toward where she was, drawing closer to the palace. She waved her hand at the demon guards who were surrounding me, and they fell back. Not far, but far enough to give us room.

  “I told you before,” Mollis said as she stalked forward, “you are unwelcome here. I don’t have any room for liars in my life.” Her voice was cold, harsh, and it made me glad I was not actually on her bad side.

  “So you say. I never had my say, my Queen,” I said derisively. “And I have no time for the temper tantrums of the likes of you.”

  She crossed her arms. “I’m giving you three seconds to get the hell out of here, Guardian.”

  “I would suggest something you can do with your three seconds, child,” I hissed, and she launched herself at me then, hitting out.

  Sparring. We are sparring, I reminded myself.

  I ducked away from her, kicked out, and she danced out of the way, then came back almost impossibly fast with another punch aimed at my stomach. I pivoted, and landed a decent punch to her right side. I heard an “oof” of breath escape her, and then she was kicking me. I fell back, then sprung up quickly again.

  Behind her, I could see some of the gods coming forward toward us.

  “Stay the fuck back,” Mollis snarled at them before launching herself at me again.

  I made a mental note to myself: do not ever actually anger Mollis. When she hits, she hits with the power and rage of two powerful immortals. And I knew she was holding back.

  I ducked another hit, kicked her, hard, in the stomach, and she fell back. I did not waste the opportunity, leaping on top of her. We grappled, the two of us wrestling on the sharp gravel of the path, each of us trying to gain the upper hand.

  I got a knee up, connecting hard with Mollis’s stomach. It was enough to get out from under her. I sprang up, drew my dagger.

  “Eunomia, no!” I heard Hephaestus shout.

  Mollis just laughed and drew her sword from its scabbard. Instantly, black flames began licking their way along the blade.

  “You do not deserve that sword,” I snarled. “Foolish godling. You have no idea what to do with the power you have. You turn away those you should be embracing, because of your own stupid pride.”

  “So says the betraying bitch,” Mollis hissed.

  She got into a stance as if she was about to strike, and I used that moment to throw my dagger, hard and fast, at her sword hand. It hit her just right, the handle striking her knuckles in such a way that her hand flexed, and the sword fell from her stunned grip, its flames sizzling then flickering out.

  “Like I said: you do not deserve that weapon,” I said, and then she launched herself at me.

  “Betraying, lying, backstabbing Guardian,” she shouted. She landed a decent hit to my stomach.

  I’m sorry. She said in my thoughts, and I had to suppress a laugh.

  “You’re just angry with me for that time I fucked your husband,” I taunted, and she snarled, growled, and hit me again, this time a punch to the kidneys, though I could see that she was biting her lip as if trying not to laugh.

  Ooh, that was a good one. You are very good at this bitchy thing, she said in my mind.

  I p
unched then.

  “Yeah, and then you started up with Brennan. What is up with that, anyway? You like my leftovers?” she said aloud. Actually, you just have really good fucking taste, she added in my mind, and then it was my turn to bite back a laugh.

  “Perhaps if you did not leave so many leftovers behind,” I said aloud. “Are you going to continue sleeping your way through Nain’s team, or are you done now?” She fell against me. It looked like we were grappling, when in truth she was smothering her laughter against my shoulder.

  Such a bitch, she said admiringly in my mind. We’re gonna wrap this up. I’m gong to hit you. Stay down, like I hurt you. Then I’m going to tell you to go.

  I grunted, which I hoped she would take as my assent.

  She kicked out, catching me hard in the stomach, and then she punched, giving my jaw a fairly brutal uppercut.

  I fell back, groaning.

  I stayed down.

  She retrieved her sword, held it, its flames flickering above me.

  “I should end you,” she sneered. “The only thing saving you is the history we had together. Get the fuck out of my realm and do not ever come back. You won’t get another chance to walk away.”

  With that, she stalked away.

  I pulled myself up slowly, wiping blood away from my mouth where I’d bitten my lip. Four demons surrounded me, ready to escort me out. I could see the immortals watching.

  I bent and picked up my dagger, sheathed it.

  “I can find my own way out, thanks,” I said to the demons. And then I focused and reappeared in my apartment.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Quinn asked in greeting. I glanced toward the small table and chairs near the window in my living room. Quinn, Erin, and Cathleen were there, playing cards in hand.

  “It is not important,” I said, waving him off. “Are you rested up?”

  “We are,” he answered.

  “Good. We have souls and undead to track.” I headed into the bathroom to change and get myself cleaned up. My phone was in my pocket, and it buzzed.

  As I guessed, it was Brennan. I sighed before hitting the button to answer. Word spread fast, apparently.

  “What the hell is this I hear about Molly fighting you?” he demanded. “Are you okay?”

  “I am fine. Be silent and listen.” I told him in a low voice out what had happened, about our ploy, as I changed and wiped my face with a washcloth.

  Once I was finished, there were a few moments of silence from his end. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, and I was relieved that he had the sense to remember himself, just in case anyone was listening on his end. “I’m on patrol duty tonight. Can I see you soon? Tomorrow night? Dinner?”

  “I should work,” I began to argue. He hung up on me, and I stared at my phone in disbelief. Then it vibrated in my hand, showing a message from Brennan.

  You just got back. She called you back here for a reason. You can’t be approached by whoever it is if you take off right away.

  He had made a good choice in going with text rather than speaking the words out loud. It would have been annoying to have gone through being Mollis’s punching bag only to have someone overhear us discussing the farce.

  I grimaced. He was right. In my desire to go after more souls, I had forgotten that I still had a part to play in Detroit. Another message appeared.

  It’s easiest to do that if you get out in public some. Get seen, so whoever it is knows you’re around.

  I shook my head and typed in a response. You are willing to use just about anything to your advantage, aren’t you?

  After a moment, his answer appeared. Absolutely. I’ll be there at eight tomorrow. Want to try out that new fancy restaurant Rayna opened?

  I sighed. Typed again: Lovely. See you then.

  I shook my head and put my phone on the counter. I shrugged out of my jacket.

  In spite of myself, I was more than a little excited to see him again. It had been too long, and the prospect of touching him, kissing him again was too tempting to ignore. And while I fully intended to do nothing more than sleep, within moments I had another text, this time from Rayna, asking me to meet her for dinner. With a sigh, I accepted, then headed into my bedroom to change.

  This whole “being seen” thing was causing me to be more sociable than I usually liked.

  * * *

  I leaned back in my seat, waiting for Rayna to arrive. Why I had allowed this ridiculous outing was beyond me.

  That wasn’t the entire truth, I thought to myself. The fact was, I quite liked the woman who was the leader of the region’s vampires. Shanti looked up to her, and in the time I had gotten to know her, I could see that the amount of respect she received had definitely been earned. And yes. Brennan had had a point: I would have to be seen if I wanted to be approached by our betrayer.

  As I sat, I looked around. I was sitting at a small table on a patio outside a sushi restaurant in Grosse Pointe. Soft jazz music filtered from the speakers mounted on the outer wall of the small brick building, and the tables around mine were all packed, conversation and laughter surrounding me. My mind wandered and I had to keep pulling it back every time it wandered to a certain shifter I was trying not to think about.

  “Are you waiting for anyone?” a familiar voice asked to my left. I looked up into the achingly beautiful face of Persephone, her long curtain of fiery hair still visible beneath the black veil she continued to wear.

  “Persephone,” I said in greeting. “I am, but she seems to be running late. Would you like to sit?”

  She nodded, and sat in the wrought-iron chair opposite me. The waiter came to take her order, and she waved him off.

  “You were the last person I expected to see here,” I said to her after a few awkward moments. Persephone, despite all the hundreds of years she’d spent as Hades’ wife, was not ever anyone that I had much contact with. She chose to keep to herself, so, while she was always at Hades’ side, it mostly felt as if the other beings of the Nether weren’t even there, invisible to her, somehow.

  “I was out wandering. That flower shop down the block is quite nice, actually,” she said. Then she gave a wry smile. “You expected me to be at my husb— at Hades’ monument,” she said, correcting herself in mid sentence.

  “It is where you usually seem to be. I have considered coming to speak with you, but I do not want to intrude.”

  She gave a small nod. “Thank you for that.” She took a breath. “We each have our own way of working through things. This is mine.”

  I stirred my drink listlessly. “How are you holding up?”

  She shrugged, a move that, when she made it, looked elegant and refined. It was very easy to see how the god of death had fallen for this woman, despite the love he had for Tisiphone.

  “Well enough. I never truly realized before all of this how horrible I am at letting go of things.”

  I did not know how to respond to that. She was watching me, then gave a tiny nod. “Even as isolated as I am from the rest of you, I have heard whispers that you and Hades’ daughter have parted ways. And that fight earlier today was… honestly you are lucky you walked away from that alive, Guardian.”

  I shrugged. “She has a temper, and a great dislike for lying.”

  She nodded again. “You know, as does everyone, that I do not have much love for Mollis. Perhaps I am petty. Either way, I have to say that she seems like a complete fool for cutting ties to you over this. You did your job, a much harder job than anyone could have guessed, from what my mother has said. How you can put up with Mollis and her high horse is beyond me.”

  “Well, I am not currently putting up with her at all,” I said with a shrug.

  “But if she called today, even after what happened earlier, you would come. It is in your nature,” she said, watching me appraisingly.

  I, for one, was really beginning to tire of the assumption that because I am a Guardian, I am also essentially the equivalent of a well-trained and very loyal guard
dog.

  “We have all changed much since being cut off from the Aether and Nether. And the Guardians were never entirely what everyone believed us to be.”

  She sat, still watching me, an impassive look on her face. And then she smiled, just a little. “You always were the least conforming of your kind.”

  “You are just noticing this?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

  She laughed, and at the sound, which was rich and warm and full of an underlying seductiveness, made men at other tables turned to look at her. She had that effect on people. “No. I have always known it. Hades noticed it long ago. He could never tell any of the Guardians apart, except for you. I daresay he liked that about you, if for no other reason than that he enjoyed knowing which of you he was speaking to when you talked.”

  I smiled, remembering the few, but always interesting, discussions I had had with the Lord of the Nether over the millennia.

  I noticed that she had what appeared to be a black piece of paper in her hand. She held her hand out, apparently aware that I had observed it. It was not paper, but a single black flower petal, dried, almost shriveled.

  “Is that from the Netherwoods?” I asked her, and she nodded.

  “Did you know that my mother and Gaia each created a variety of flower that only grows at the base of Hades’ monument?” she asked quietly, eyes on the petal.

  “I had heard that,” I answered.

  “They said I should do the same, that it would help me heal.” As she spoke, I felt the prickling sensation of immortal power, and, as I watched, the shriveled petal swelled, becoming glossy, with a deep luster that reminded me of dark satin. And, more, over the span of a few seconds, an entire pitch-black bloom, complete with silver-thorned stem, formed in her hand.