"Anyone else? I can do this all day," I said, and my voice thundered through the room. The assembled gods winced.
I strode up to the dais. Smiled sweetly up at Ares. "Boo," I whispered, and he jumped as if I’d slapped him. I laughed, and I knew well how cold and evil it sounded. My power soared within me, augmented by what I'd gained from the Nether.
"Please, don't kill me," Dionysus begged. "It was his idea," he said, pointing at Ares, who looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Oh. I'm not going to kill you," I said, my voice still at a thunderous volume, enhanced by the power of the Nether. "Not when you can be of use."
Chapter Eight
I waved my hand, and Dionysus went hurtling through the air out of his pretender's throne. He crashed into the stone wall opposite where the gods were chained, and he fell limply to the floor.
"Though by the time this is all over, you'll wish I'd had enough mercy to end you."
It was right about then when the immortals in the room started to freak the hell out.
Not that I could blame them, really.
The Guardians I hadn't killed, the ones freed by Ares and Dionysus, tried to run. As much as I wanted to destroy them, I really wanted them to spend eternity being punished. I forced the thought into their minds to kneel, and they stopped where they were and did it. One of them even started to plead with me.
Cute.
The demons swarmed into the room, started rounding up the Guardians, the spirit daemons who'd been allied with Ares and Dionysus. I'd let my mother and aunt deal with them, too.
Ares and Dionysus tried to run.
Such a couple of badasses, when I was chained and helpless.
"Stay," I thundered, forcing the order into their minds, and they obeyed. Everyone else in the room froze as well, but that had nothing to do with me.
Well… it did. But not the same way.
"Who has the key for the chains?" I asked, gesturing at the gods who were chained against the wall.
"Ares does, my Lady," one of the demon guards answered.
"Give it to the demon. Now." I said, and my voice still thundered. Ares hesitated. "Or I will take it from you," I said, saying each word slowly, deliberately, almost daring him to defy me.
He flinched, dug the key out of his pocket, and handed it to the guard, who handed it to me. I glanced over at Ares and Dionysus again. "Don't move," I ordered, and they both froze.
I approached the captives. Walked up to Zeus, specifically, at the end of the chained row of immortals. "And how did you end up in this situation, Uncle? I thought you promised him a throne."
Zeus looked up at me, a mixture of fear, hatred, and gratitude flowing from him. "I saw that my sons were out of control. While my brother and I fight, we both understand that there is a balance to our existence. My sons were going too far, and I was too stubborn to see it. By the time I smartened up, Dionysus had already decided that I was unfit to lead as well."
"I will free you," I said to him and Hera. "But there is a price."
They both looked up at me and nodded.
"The war ends. Now."
"Yes, Mollis," Zeus said, and it clearly pained him to give in to my demands.
"And I get a piece of your mind, so I know if you ever decide to betray me."
Zeus stared at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, his face turning red. Hera answered for him. "Yes, Mollis." Zeus turned to look at his wife, and she glared at him. "Don't be a fool, Zeus."
Zeus just glared sullenly at me. "Very well," he finally said.
I stepped back, looked at the assembled gods. "That is the price of your freedom. It is the price of access to my realm. A piece of your mind, your soul, bonded to me. I will know if you intend to betray me or harm anyone who matters to me. I will know where you are. You will answer to me."
I glanced toward my parents. My father was staring at me. Tisiphone smiled. "I'll need a word with my parents before I free the rest of you," I said. I could feel my power wavering a bit. I needed to get away for a few minutes and recharge. Holding the enchantment to make myself look together was harder than I'd thought.
I knelt down next to Tisiphone, then Hades, and unlocked their chains. Can Megaera be trusted? I asked my mother.
Yes. She can be trusted, daughter.
I nodded, unchained my aunt as well. "Watch over them, please," I told her, and she put a fist to her chest, the same way my imps and demons did. Then she stood in the center of the room, where she was able to see all the captives, both those who had been on Dionysus' and Ares' side, and those they'd taken prisoner. She knew, as I did, that none of them could be trusted.
Not yet, anyway.
"To your office, father?" I said quietly, and he nodded, then he bowed to me, and my mother did the same.
My parents aren't perfect. Not by a long shot. But they knew what I needed most just then, and their show of obedience sent exactly the message it needed to: I called the shots.
I glanced at Ares and Dionysus, then at two of the demon guards. I nodded toward the shackles my parents had left, and the demon guards saluted me and dragged the two gods over to them, secured them against the wall.
"We will be right back," I said. Then I glanced at my parents and we left the room, headed across the hall to my father's study. I closed the door behind us, and the enchantment fell as my power wavered.
Tisiphone let out an audible gasp, and I felt Hades' rage flow over me.
Tisiphone put her hand over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears at the state I was in now that the enchantment had fallen. "Mollis?" she whispered, staring at me.
"I'm really, really unkillable," I said, the only explanation I could give without losing my mind.
"Ares," my father growled, and then he stormed from the room. A few moments later, I heard screams from the throne room. Ares, becoming more garbled and pain-filled the longer it went on. I knew, from my connection to Hades, that he'd had the guards unlock Ares. He was quite enjoying beating the living hell out of the God of War.
Like father, like daughter.
My mother was watching me, the silence only interrupted by the occasional scream from Ares. "Tell me," she whispered.
"I've been beheaded, stabbed, had my skull split, been gutted, burned, strangled, suffocated, dismembered. I've been buried, and come alive only to die again and again in my grave," I finished, astonished by how emotionless I was able to sound. Tears rolled down my mother's face. Sadness, terror, rage, love, guilt all flowed through her.
"Precious girl," she whispered, and then she came to me and folded me into her arms, holding me tightly. "I am so sorry. I am so grateful you're back with us."
"I need you and dad to have my back in this," I said. "You need to show the other immortals that things have to be different now."
Hades entered the room as I finished speaking, and I stepped back from Tisiphone, glanced up at him. His fists were bloody. Splatters of blood flecked his face, his arms.
"You will have anything and everything you need from us, daughter," Hades growled, bowing to me.
"Did you leave anything for me?" Tisiphone asked him, and he smiled.
"Of course. I left you Dionysus."
Then it was my mother's turn to leave the room. I understood that this was something they needed. They both blamed themselves for my existence and the shit I'd gone through because of who I was born to. They felt helpless, and that was not a feeling they were especially accustomed to. They really didn't like it, and rage was their only outlet. My father and I stood watching each other as we listened to Dionysus scream and beg my mother for mercy.
"That's a foolish thing to beg a Fury for," Hades murmured. I nodded in agreement.
After a while, Dionysus's screams faded, and Tisiphone came back. Hades looked her up and down.
"How do you stay so clean when you do that?" Hades asked her.
"Furies don't need to touch a being to hurt them," I reminded him, and my mo
ther nodded.
"I was in his mind," she said softly. "I saw… I saw what they did to you, my darling girl. If I could have killed him, I would have."
"But you will do it," Hades said, looking at me. "They don't have long."
I shook my head. "No. I won't kill them."
"You meant that?" Hades asked in disbelief.
"I did. They will live eternally, trapped, and I will use their life force to strengthen me."
"You can do that?" Tisiphone asked, a mixture of pride and fear coming from her.
"I can," I said simply.
Hades was studying me. "You are different," he said.
"I'm sure dying and resurrecting a few dozen times would do that," Tisiphone said.
"That's not what I mean. I mean… you feel different."
"You feel like the Nether," Tisiphone said, after going very still and studying me.
"Because I am the Nether," I said. "At least, part of me is." I didn't really feel like going into it, and, for the moment, I think maybe my parents were too freaked out to hear it anyway. "Anyway. I'm going to do this. And I'm going to get home. But I'm going to make damn sure that the risk of one of the immortals hurting my world is as close to nonexistent as possible before I create a new gateway. Things will not be the same."
Hades was about to say something, hesitated, shook his head. He took a deep breath. "The gods will answer to someone. This should be entertaining," Hades said, smiling, though he was sad, too.
"They will. Those are my terms," I answered.
"Then it will be so," Tisiphone said. I nodded. My power had rebuilt itself during the short break, and Ares' and Dionysus' fear and pain at the hands of my parents had strengthened me. I glanced at each of them, meeting their eyes. Then I focused, and brought the enchantment up again.
"I need a bath so bad right now," I muttered once it was back, and they both nodded. I felt relief from both of them, now that my true state was disguised.
If there was ever an overarching theme of my existence, that was it, wasn't it? Please don't show us who you really are. You're too freaking bizarre to deal with.
Except for Brennan. I felt some peace settle over me, thinking of him, then I set my features into the stern gaze of someone who was meant to rule.
I left my father's study, my parents following behind me. When I entered the throne room, fear hit me, and it was sweet. Ares and Dionysus were chained to the wall again, both bloody and still in agony.
All right, then. My parents were pretty decent at messing people up.
I glanced around at the rest of the immortals, paced back and forth in front of them, met their eyes as I passed. "Here are the terms of your freedom. You will be linked mentally to me. There will be no place to hide. There will be no secrets from me, and your lives are no longer solely your own. You want freedom? That's the cost. Take it or leave it."
My parents and aunt stood a few feet behind where I was pacing, hands clasped behind their backs, backs straight, like soldiers at attention. My gaze fell on Ares and Dionysus. "Except for you two. You're fucked." They both flinched back from my gaze.
"I accept your terms, niece," Megaera said, and I met her eyes. She came and knelt before me, put a fist to her heart, head bowed. "I am yours." I made my way into her mind, which she opened to me immediately. I made the connection to her, took a piece of her soul, just as I had with Hades.
"It will be so," I murmured. "Thank you. Rise." She did, and met my eyes, and smiled.
It is good to have you back, my darling girl, she said in my mind, and I nodded, then gestured toward the immortals, and she nodded and started unlocking their chains, one by one.
And it began. Artemis and Asclepias each came to me, knelt as I bonded them to me. Apollo, Persephone, Demeter, and Hestia followed. Persephone acknowledged me with a glare, but knelt and didn't fight when I bonded to her.
After them, a god I didn't know walked up to me, knelt before me, head bowed, dark hair falling over equally dark eyes.
"I don't know you," I said quietly to him.
"Hephaestus," he said, looking up at me. "It's good to meet you, finally." His voice was a deep rumble. He didn't speak loudly. Didn't need to.
I just looked at him. Well, that was a different attitude, anyway. Hephaestus was kind of what you'd expect a god worshiped by blacksmiths to be: big, burly, barrel-chested. Jet-black hair and eyebrows, dark eyes. He looked like the kind of man who worked hard, a fisherman or a steelworker or something were the best comparisons I could make from my own world. Which I guess fit, considering. I tried recalled from what little mythology I remembered (stupid, huh? Not to have learned more..) that Hephaestus' limp was due to a birth defect, which had caused Zeus so much embarrassment, this fact that one of his children could possibly be defective, that he'd banished Hephaestus from the Aether. Which only added to my opinion that Zeus was a major asshole, and not to be trusted no matter what he said to me. The limp had done nothing to make Hephaestus seem less powerful, though the myths I'd read had said he was the brunt of the gods' jokes because of his "deformity."
Further evidence that the immortals are a bunch of bastards: even a "deformed" god could have been a model or something in my realm. Bunch of shallow idiots.
I entered Hephaestus' mind, which he'd opened completely to me. I did my best to ignore his thoughts, memories as I made the bond to him. I'd forgotten he was Aphrodite's husband. I kind of pitied him. She was not my favorite being. Stuck up, haughty.
And I had a feeling she probably didn't like me much, either.
Once the bond was made, I told Hephaestus to rise, and he did. He nodded once, bowed, then joined the other gods. Aphrodite followed her husband, glaring at me and refusing to speak, but opening her mind nonetheless. Then Hera knelt to me.
Finally, the only ones sitting against the wall were Zeus, Ares, Dionysus, and another god I hadn't met before. Megaera freed him next, and he came to me.
"Poseidon?" I guessed, and he nodded. He had a flowing red beard, long red hair. He was built like an Olympic swimmer, which made sense, considering. "Nice to meet you," I said.
"Likewise," he said gruffly. "You strive to protect the mortal realm."
"Of course."
"I may return there once the gateway is opened to us again?"
"As long as you behave yourself, yes," I said.
"I have no quarrel with you," he said. "Do what you must. I miss my oceans." He knelt before me as all the others had, and I connected his mind to mine. When it was done, he joined the rest of the freed gods.
Which left Zeus. I told my aunt to leave him. I wanted to make a few things clear first.
I went to the Lord of the Aether, sat in front of him on the stone floor. He watched me suspiciously. He was angry. Enraged, actually. Afraid.
"Gods were not meant to be ruled," he said, glaring at the others.
"Maybe not," I agreed, "but this is the only option you have. I have no intention of messing with your way of life the way you messed with mine."
He watched me, and I let that sink in.
"You want to stay and rule the Aether? Then do it. My rules are pretty easy. I own part of you, so you can't betray me or the ones I care for. You do not fuck with the mortal realm. And in return, you get your life and your freedom. Simple, really. And, maybe you'll even get a little more out of the bargain."
"What, more?" he asked, trying not to seem interested.
"Wouldn't it feel good to be worshiped again?" I asked softly. I knew the other gods could hear. The energy in the room intensified, as if everyone was holding his or her breath. "To be relevant? To be something more than a bunch of stories in a dusty old book?"
"What are you saying?" he asked, some of his anger receding now.
Gods were so fucking easy.
"You've undoubtedly caused a mess in my realm," I told him, and, by proxy, the rest of the gods. "We all know your war spilled over into my world. And that, because of its connection to me, Detroit probably to
ok the brunt of your bullshit," I said, and he nodded in confirmation. I wasn't really sure how it worked. Something about my energy, faith in me or whatever being strong in my area, so any bad things manifested by the gods' war in their realm would become physical in that area of my world. Hades had tried to explain it to me once.
"So I can guess that things are bad back home. And I know that, because I can still feel them praying to me," I said softly. "The mess is probably too much for even me to handle. And I have more than a few things I need to take care of when I return home. What do you say to walking among the mortals again?" I asked him. "Help them. Serve them. They deserve that."
"You love them," Zeus said, staring at me in disbelief.
"Of course. And so should you. Because they're strong, and weak, and complicated, and, for the most part, pretty goddamned decent. I think you'd be good for them, and they'd be good for you."
"I… we're not as strong there," Zeus said, though it was evident he was just posturing now. He was practically salivating at the idea of being relevant again.
"Does it matter? You're strong enough to be of use. And it's not like anything there can kill you. Except me, of course," I said.
"Are you threatening me?" Zeus asked.
"I don't need to resort to threats when I have facts on my side," I said. He sat, silent, and I knew it was mostly his pride he battled now.
I watched him patiently, waiting for a decision either way.
"And if I don't accept your terms? Will you kill me?"
"I won't kill you. But I think you'd maybe prefer death," I told him.
"Well. At least you're honest," he said grudgingly.
"I try to be. You could do a lot of good, Zeus. You had the sense to try to stop Ares and Dionysus. You know right from wrong, and you aren't so lost to your own ego that you can't be reasoned with."
"His ego is plenty large enough," Hades muttered, and I sensed irritation from Zeus.
"Look who's talking," Zeus said. Then he turned back to me. "You have a deal. I accept your terms, godslayer."
"I only slay those who deserve it," I said as I unlocked his chains. "Don't cross me, and we won't have any problems, Uncle."
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