Broken: Hidden Book Two (26 page)

“So they’ll kill me. If you’ve done the things I suspect you have, them killing me is worth it, as long as I get to kill you first.”

He laughed again. “Silly girl. This is so much bigger than you.”

God, I wanted to kill him. Just on principle. Hades stood next to me, arms crossed, staring daggers at Hermes. Rage rolled off of him, reminding me that though he was a god, he was THE demon. I’d thought I’d felt demonic rage before. It was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. My aunt arrived, and stared at me, with my sword at Hermes’ neck, then came and stood across from me, drawing her own sword.

Which she then pointed at me.

“Lower the sword, Mollis,” Alecto said quietly.

I stared at her. Hades was looking from me to Alecto, then back again, clearly as confused as I was. “Fury?” he said.

“Withdraw the sword, Mollis,” Alecto repeated, and I lowered my sword, staring at her.

“Now, be a good girl and do away with Hades, will you?” Hermes asked, standing up and straightening his robes. Then he went and stood next to my aunt, putting a hand on her hip. I gaped. “Quickly now. Wouldn’t want your mother and auntie to walk in on this.”

“I’m not going to kill Hades,” I said. I could feel Hades’ rage, his confusion.

“It’s really quite simple,” Alecto said, continuing to hold her sword on me. “Either you kill him, or we kill you and then destroy the lovely shifter we’ve captured. After I have a bit of fun with him, maybe.”

I stared at her. Sensed for my connection to Brennan.

Fuck.

He was close. Way too close. My connection to him when I was in the Nether was usually pulled thin; there, but just barely. And now...I hadn't noticed in the stupidity with Hermes.

I could barely breathe.
Hades.

“I have always wanted a panther rug, though,” she said, smiling. “Maybe we’ll kill him anyway.”

This makes no sense. Keep them talking.

“Of course you will. The same way you helped kill my husband,” I said. They both smiled at me.

“Oh, no, darling. That was all you. Don’t fool yourself.”

“Astaroth,” I said.

“Oh, Astaroth was a fool. He was mine, but he was a failure,” Hermes said. I tried thinking at my mother, and I couldn’t reach her.

Alecto laughed. “She’s not close enough to hear you. She’s off, chasing down mortals.”

I could have screamed. Forced myself to calm down. “Is he still alive?” I finally asked, trying to buy time.

“He is. If you behave, he’ll go home.”

“And what about me?”

“Well. Either the gods will hunt you down and kill you for the crime of deicide. As powerful as you are, you are ultimately nothing more than a mortal, after all. Or, we’ll manage to keep you hidden away until we have use of you again. One or the other,” Hermes said, grinning.

“I’d tell them you made me do it,” I said, still stalling.

Hermes laughed. “As if they’d believe you. Who are they going to believe? Me, a god. One of them, who they’ve known for eons? Especially if a Fury backs up my version of the story?”

“Or you? An abomination, something that should never have been. Someone who maybe, just maybe, wanted a bit of power for herself. It’s a lovely story, really, and I’d spin it beautifully. About how you believed you deserved a place among the gods, about how you saw yourself as a better judge of souls than Hades, and how I stood here in fear of my life and watched you murder him, and how poor Alecto arrived just in time to see you do it, but too late to save Hades. How she subdued you, just in time.”

“Persephone and the servants are all here,” I said.

Hermes just grinned. “Dionysus is keeping his mother busy for us. As for the servants… it’s not as if a few demons really pose any threat to me. Should one happen to hear too much…” he just smiled again and shrugged.

“You won’t get away with it, Hermes,” Hades said. “Tisiphone…”

“Will be the next being to die. Right after you,” Hermes said, still smiling.

“And she’ll deserve it, too,” Alecto sniffed. ”For bringing this abomination into the world.”

“I am so tired of you guys calling me that,” I muttered. I sat, and they all watched me. I tried reaching my mother again, to no avail.
What the actual fuck, Hades?
All I got from my father was anger and confusion in response.

“What is your game, Hermes?” Hades said after a while. “You are a bastard, but this is a bit much even for you.”

“My Lord Hades,” Hermes said with a sneer. “This isn’t about me, or her, or even you. I am here in the service of another. A favor granted, which, I’ll admit, I am happy to give.”

“Who?” Hades demanded.

Hermes just grinned, refusing to answer. I worked at his mind, but trying to force your way into a god’s mind is nearly impossible, and I was rewarded with a pounding headache for my efforts. He watched me. “So many pieces in this game, little Fury,” he murmured. “We are like the Hydra. Destroy one of us, and another will take its place.”

“Why?”

“Because we tire of wasting away in the Aether and Nether like relics,” a strong, cold female voice said, and I stood again, glanced toward the door to see a tall woman with short black hair walking through. She was dressed in armor, head to toe, and her eyes glowed blood red. “Because while Zeus and Hades’ rules have kept humanity safe,” she said with a sneer, “they have also made humanity forget us.”

“Enyo,” Hermes said pleasantly, giving her a small nod.

“Messenger. You may go now,” she said.

“Oh, I want to see how this all plays out,” Hermes said pleasantly, returning to his seat.

“Do it, abomination. I tire of waiting,” Enyo said, standing a few feet away from me. “And you and I have a date in the Aether.”

I was screwed either way, I realized. They had no intention of letting me die here. They would use me. They needed me. Enyo had tipped her hand. But I had two options for the time being: Kill my father, and trust that they’d keep their word and let Brennan live. Not to mention that Hades’ death would be a bad thing, for reasons I could only begin to comprehend. Or, try to overpower, and possibly kill, two gods and a Fury, and pray that I could not only survive it, but also stay free and alive long enough to find Brennan and take out whoever they had guarding him before it was too late. If I succeeded, I was dead. Killing a god would mean an immediate death sentence for me, no matter what they’d done to push me to it.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll do it,” I said softly. “You swear you’ll let Brennan go?”

My aunt and Hermes smiled. “We swear. The Guardians have been instructed to free him the moment they feel Hades die.” My stomach rolled. The Guardians. E and her sisters. “Get this over with,” Hermes said.

“Yes, yes. We promise. Do it.” Enyo said, impatience, worry clear in her voice. She put her hand on the pommel of her sword, red gaze tracking my every move.

I nodded and raised my sword, meeting Hades' steadfast, angry gaze.

There is one lesson I should have learned sooner:

Never, ever trust a god.

Chapter Eighteen

Hades got ready to fight me. I saw it; the way his body tensed, his posture changed. I met his blazing white gaze, held it. I raised my sword, flames leaping between us.

Duck, pops,
I thought at him.

I started to swing, toward him. Felt elation, excitement from Enyo, beside me. Hades ducked just in time, and my sword went through where he should have been, and I kept swinging, toward Enyo, the long, thin blade of my sword sizzling, flames leaping.

Like I said: Never, ever trust a god. Or the child of one.

Her head hit the floor before she even realized what was happening. Hades leapt for Hermes, tackling him to the floor. He landed a good punch right in Hermes’ pointy little nose, and I felt satisfaction from him. Demon god.

I turned to my aunt, who raised her own flaming sword toward me. My father was keeping Hermes out of it so I could concentrate on the threat I could more easily dispense with. Couldn’t hurt to have some help, though.

ELSOLOTH and demons of the Nether. You are needed,
I thought, with as much force as I could. Not all of them were telepaths, of course. But there had to be at least a few among them.

My aunt and I circled each other. Rage flowed from her, hot, sticky. Fear. I fed on it.

The fear of a Fury. Oh, hell yes.

I smiled, and swung, and she ducked back just in time, hissing at me. “He’s dead, you know,” she snarled. “The only thing keeping him alive was your obedience.”

I tried not to think about it. I just had to get to him before she or Hermes could send word to the Guardians.

Backstabbing bitches. I got angrier the more I thought about it. Eunomia and her sisters. Lies. My entire fucking life was lies. And then I felt it: pain. Brennan's pain, through our connection. It built, unrelenting, and I tried to stay calm in the face of it. I had no chance of saving him if I lost my mind now.

I swung again, in an absolute rage fueled by my mate's pain, and caught Alecto’s arm, heard her flesh sizzle, and she screamed.

We come, my Lady,
a thought came to me, loud and clear. Demon.

Much appreciated,
I thought at the demons who answered.
Find the shifter the Guardians are holding.

My aunt and I continued circling each other. I tried to focus despite the pain coming through my bond with Brennan. I tripped once over Enyo’s body, and Alecto nearly took my arm off, but I kicked out and tripped her, and she stumbled away. I jumped up, leaped toward her, and our swords came together in a fiery, sizzling glare of pure bluish white light. In the background, I heard the door of Hades’ office crash open, and the room soon swarmed with demons. They roared a single word, a battle cry:
Mollis!
and surrounded Hades and Hermes.

I felt my aunt panic. More fear for me to feed on. I was ready to burst with my power, in the same room with Alecto and her fear, Hades and his anger, and the energy and anger provided by all of the demons now filling the room at my call. My sword burned brighter in my hands, dwarfing Alecto’s, bathing the room in eerie light. She was staring at the blades as she swept mine aside again.

“Don’t feel bad. Size isn’t everything, I hear,” I said, swinging at her and catching her shoulder. She screamed in pain and anger. “Though that hasn’t been my experience.”

She tried now to take flight, and I pulled her down by the ankle, yanked her to the ground and punched her in the face. My fighting style never has been pretty.

I was about to hit her again when I felt a presence enter the room.

My raised fist started trembling. My heart raced.

No way. Not possible. Someone was just fucking messing with me now.

I put my hand around Alecto’s throat in an iron grip, keeping her down, barely noticing the way she struggled against me. My gaze jumped around the room, barely taking in the chaos surrounding me. Where?

The part of my soul that had felt empty for the last year flared back to life.

I scanned the chaos in the room, and my gaze landed on a demon. Huge. Over seven feet tall, easily. Hulking. Reddish-black skin that absorbed the light around him. Glowing blood-red eyes.

I could barely breathe.

Later, Molls. Kick her ass first.
A voice in my mind I thought I’d never hear again. My breathing escalated, my body trembled. My pulse raced, and I badly wanted someone to hit me, just to prove I wasn’t hallucinating.
Don’t lose your shit now. Fight.

They have Brennan.
Focus on the most important thing. Try to focus on concrete shit. Because thinking about anything else right now is impossible.

Not anymore. Eunomia got him out, right after she freed me. He’s safe.

How?

Later, Molls. Let’s take care of this first.

I made myself focus. Alecto shoved at me, freed her sword hand from my grip and I had to jump back to avoid her blade. We began our deadly dance again, though Alecto was weakening, blood pouring from her thigh, her arm, and her shoulder. She would heal, but not as quickly as she needed to, facing another Fury.

“Abomination,” she hissed.

“Liar,” I growled. “I know which of the two I’d rather be, bitch.” She swung at me, and I deflected easily. “How does it feel to sell your family out? He doesn’t give a damn about you, you know.”

She snarled and swung again, and it gave me the opening I wanted. My blade swept up and across. Instead of meeting her blade this time, though, the flames of my sword met flesh, and her arm was severed at the elbow as I swept the blade upward. Her lower arm and sword fell together, and she screamed. I put the point of my sword to her throat.

“Kneel,” I said, kicking her arm and the sword away. Without her energy suffusing it, the blade disappeared completely; just the hilt rested in her severed hand.

She knelt, angry, in complete agony. Her body would be focusing on healing now; no strength to fight me. “I don’t care about him. All I wanted was to see the stain upon my family eliminated. Your existence is a filth upon us all,” she hissed.

I glanced across the room. Hades had made quick work of Hermes, who was now kneeling, face bloodied from the fight. The demons guarded him, on alert for any new threats to me or Hades. The beautiful thing was, Hermes was in a lot of pain, and it seemed to feed every demon in the room. Including me.