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Arden glances at his expensive watch before looking up again. “Every hex lasts for only a certain amount of time. It’s a necessary limitation for obvious reasons. The timer is proportional to what the curse is asking the cosmos to do for it. Weather and fortune hexes can last up to months at a time. But those involving biological creatures, like animals and human beings, are shorter out of necessity.”
“How much shorter?”
“Well, not just a few minutes,” Arden states. “If demons could trap someone anytime they wanted but undo the curse after just a few snaps… You can likely imagine the chaos that would overtake the realms.”
Maximus nods. “Every conflict from bar fights to border wars would be bedlam.”
“That’s only in one realm,” Arden says. “But I don’t have time to show-and-tell you the colorful glory of a Fifth Circle barge battle.”
Maximus folds his arms and tilts his head. “Yet what does any of this have to do with what’s happened? And why Kell as the target?”
“It’s my fault.” I start kicking up leaves, unable to stop myself from pacing. If ever there’s been a valid reason for it, it’s now. “However you split the details—how it happened, where it happened, why it happened—all of it circles back to what I did.”
“You couldn’t have predicted an iota of this.” Maximus moves fast, suddenly blocking my beeline between the trees. He’s so adamant, I barely have a moment to process his hands raising to my face. Then his palms pressing tenderly at my cheeks. “Kara. In no logical reality, even the one that Hades is so fond of twisting for his whims, could you have known this would happen.”
Arden laughs haughtily. “A little respect? His Godship Hades does not havewhims.”
Maximus retaliates with an expression that’s far from genteel. “You don’t want me to go there with you, Prieto. Especially not now, but really not ever.”
I surrender to half a breath of relief when Arden seems to back down, going for the arrogant sweater-cuff-adjustment thing again.
“Let’s move on. I’ve come with some actionable items.”
There’s a rough sound from the base of Maximus’s throat. “You couldn’t have led with that?”
“Admittedly, the whole matter has been…kilometers past bizarre.” It’s as close as he’ll likely swoop toward vulnerability, which he counters by straightening his spine. “So I’ve been trying to piece it together. I’ve been owed a large number of favors between here and Dis. They’ve come in handy.”
“You can get Kell and Jaden free?”
It’s breathy and tearful, perfectly matching my rush forward—until I run into the brick wall of his ongoing scowl.
“A million favors couldn’t work that special magic, little sister.”
The zap of mental revelation is all my own doing, as facts stack on each other like perfect ice cubes.
That special magic…
Geographically…some challenges…
Your sweet siblings…
My breath catches. I release it on a strangled choke. “Oh my God. They actually took her to Rerek’s, didn’t they? Is she with Jaden?”
Arden already confirms that with his heightened tension. “Hades took advantage of Rerek’s weakness for all it was worth. Forcing Kell’s proximity meant a new and extended hex, ensuring that Jaden would go nowhere. Unsurprisingly, Rerek’s plans for wooing and winning over Jaden probably didn’t go as planned. Especially if he was off cracking open freeways and toppling theHollywoodsign.”
I frown. “Or if he was figuring out the meaning ofwooingat all.”
He winces, as if hating to agree with me so fast. “Point is, the plan went through. Seems like everyone just went along for the ride in approving Hades’s call, no matter how they feel about Rerek’s brown-nosing.”
I shake my head. My brain is still struggling to assemble his bombshell. “This is outrageous. Jaden and Kell…they didn’t ask for any of this. Why punish my family formyactions?”
Arden jogs a brow. “Are you sincerely asking that about a god who sanctioned the Romanov execution? The Three-Generation Rule in old Asia?Anyethnic cleansing throughout history?”
“And there’s the existential hole we don’tneed right now.” Maximus moves forward. “Back to facts. When did all of this even go down? We left the mansion only two nights ago. At that time, Kell was upstairs in her bedroom. We saw no sign of any trouble.”
“Of course not. That would’ve been too soon, despite how fast Rerek got this favor granted,” Arden says. “We think the decree was issued early yesterday morning. Your mother checked on Kell around noon and found her gone.”
Maximus’s jaw hardens so completely, it’s battling the trees for stubborn texture. “So what’s the full deal about the expiration on a holding hex? How long do we have to wait Rerek out?”
