Page 143 of The Unseen Hour

“Did we need your help to get into Charon’s home?” I asked her.

She laughed.

“Now you’re getting it! No. You never did. Orion could have taken you at any time. The Ether is his as well. He just has to learn to influence it, and he has plenty of time. I’m more than happy to support the new god of the Ether, under my guidance, of course.”

“No! He doesn’t want to go!”

Orion was frozen at my side, silent as the graves around us. He probably had a hundred years of memories playing through his mind, all in a potentially new light.

“Stop being unreasonable! We had a deal. I got you back, and you’re both alive. And I’ll tell you how to track down the person responsible for your father, as promised. But Orion will go.”

She reached for him, and I snapped.

“You can’t have him. He is mine!”

Lightning shot between us, and I screamed, fully expecting to burn. I slammed my eyes shut, and when I opened them, I saw Death was wide-eyed, her jaw hanging open.

“How did you manage that?”

I looked down, realizing the smoke was rising from my hand. I’d done it.

She beamed.

“Even more powerful than I’d hoped! Perhaps being in Charon’s realm has been helpful to you. Oh, yes, this is wonderful. After this whole debacle, I’d already decided that keeping my descendant closer would be the best thing. Orion will return to the Ether, and you will come with me, to my realm.”

“She will not!” Orion yelled, breaking his silence.

The temperature dropped again, and I looked around for Charon, but there was only Death, smirking.

“And you as well, little Shade. My, my. It is a momentous day. Charon was always adept at adjusting the temperature. You’ve been doing it for months, without noticing, although normally you are making it warmer for my precious descendant.”

I stared at Orion. He was able to ward off the Ether’s cold because of his blood? That’s how he’d kept me warm?

“I will be going, goddess. My sniveling descendant will be coming with me.” Odos grabbed Bellamy by his collar, dragging him away.

Bellamy Bonds? Odos was a god worshiped in Tang, and Bellamy’s family was from there, but I couldn’t imagine the whimpering, slimy man as Odos’s descendant.

And he’d imprisoned Orion. On Odos’s orders. Another god with plans we hadn’t been aware of and motivations I trusted as little as I had the others.

The two of them vanished in the wind.

“Now then, it’s time to get going,” Death urged. “I think you’ll enjoy my realm. And once we’re there, we can figure out the best way to unseat the rest of these gods. Charon was right in that at least. They’re all useless. None of them are doing their duty as intended. Together we’ll replace them and start again.”

“You really do want to be the last one standing.”

She nodded.

“I certainly do. No better individual for the job.”

There was no way to best her. We’d only defeated the hour because she was on our side. All I could hope to do was delay her.

“You once said that a hundred years was nothing to a god. Did you mean that?”

“Of course. Human lifespans are sad, paltry things. I do plan to pay a bit more attention in future. Charon only kept his little hour secret for so long because I don’t deign to check in on Rayus so often. Something I’ll remedy, I assure you.”

“We don’t need a hundred years. We only need one. I want to track down the person who killed my father, and I want to say a proper goodbye to the rest of my family. My brother Thomas is probably traveling again, so it may take a while to reach him. Orion has to settle things with his estate. He’s been missing for a hundred years. It’ll take time. When those things are done, then we’ll leave.”

Death laughed.