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Chapter 20
Apollo
Aloud knock reverberated through my skull, calling to me, waking me, but darkness cloaked my vision. Where was I?
The banging continued. Louder and louder, and with each passing moment, the panic coiling around my chest tightened.
I searched deep within me and drew on my power, unleashing the brightest light inside, the magic crawling down my arms. In a heartbeat, the shadows around me dissolved, and I stared up at the white ceiling as I lay on the floor behind my couch.
What the fuck? I hadn’t been drinking, and the last thing I remembered was coming home for a shower before I visited Elyse.
I got to my feet, fists clenched, and scanned my living room. No one there. Had I passed out?
Another round of knocking, and it came from my front door.
I scratched my head and crossed the room before opening it.
Hades stood there. He hadn’t just materialized inside my place, but maybe that was a good thing. I wouldn’t have asked questions if he had; I would have simply knocked his block off when I woke up from whatever nightmare I’d had, assuming he was to blame.
He wasn’t my favorite person right now. Elyse told me what Persephone had told her. But I didn’t care—he was a dick, and I didn’t like him. The rest of us were teaming up together to help Elyse take on X, but Hades was too fucking selfish to do anything other than watch out for himself.
Sure, the guy had gone through some stupid heartache. But we’d all had our hearts broken. Some of us more than others. And you didn’t see us doing stupid things, did you? Everyone else seemed to be managing their difficulties and ugly pasts in a healthy way.
But Hades had to be the one looking for attention by acting out. He was like a millennia-old child.
“What?” I snapped when he gave me a sheepish look from the doorstep. “I can’t imagine you’re here for a friendly little visit.”
He breathed deeply. “I thought I’d let you know that Elyse died.”
“What?” I asked, my tone of voice very different this time, and ice pierced my chest. I didn’t feel her fighting X. “Are you fucking with me?”
Hades shook his head. “Believe what you like about me, but I thought I’d tell you.”
I grabbed him by the throat. “What game are you playing?”
He smiled at me, despite my death grip. Of course, I couldn’t do him any real harm. But, by Zeus, I wanted to.
“What happened?” I inquired when Hades didn’t answer me. I still held his neck, even though I couldn’t hurt him. And Hades didn’t struggle too much to escape from my grip.
“It was an accident, indirectly caused by X attacking her, believe it or not,” he choked out. “But no matter how it happened, this was her second-to-last death. You know what it means.”
I let go but not without shoving him backward. “Of course I know what it means,” I snapped. “When? Where is she?”
“Oh, yesterday. I spend most of Sunday, all night, and this morning by her side. She’s probably still out as it should take her a few days to wake up,” he said. “So, I wanted to let you know since you’ll probably want to be with her. Especially considering none of you seemed to come to her rescue when she fought X.” He snarled the words.
“Wait! Isn’t today Sunday?” I asked. “And are you blaming this on me?”
He glared at me as if I were an idiot, his brows raising, his head tilted slightly. “It’s Monday.”
I ran a hand down my face, convinced it was just Sunday. I remembered waking up cloaked in darkness. But I’d lost a full day and hadn’t sensed Elyse fighting with X. I always did in the past.
“Fuck!” I gave Hades a fast run down of my guesstimation. “That asshole trapped me so I couldn’t help Elyse. Want to the bet he did the same to Poseidon and Ares? Of course, he didn’t touch you, because he’s part of you.” My voice darkened, and my nails bit into my palms as I curled my hands into fists because I was going to kill X.
Elyse had been dead since yesterday, and none of us knew about it and we couldn’t help her. Anger very quickly replaced my shock, and my fist shot out, landing on Hades’s jaw.
“You released X, and now he’s going to kill Elyse.”
His head jerked to the side, but he turned his face to me again almost immediately—as if he wanted me to do it again, like he was daring me to do more. But I wasn’t in the mood to fight him. If I could kill him, I probably would have.
