“I admit I haven’t paid close attention in the past.”
What? “Then why…” Forget it. He’s already answered that equally vaguely. “I’m a planner. I’ll do better if I know what to expect.”
“They will likely be themed around the god or goddess’s virtue and their particular powers.”
Which reminds me… “What virtue will I be associated with?”
Hades cocks one brow at me. “Do you find me virtuous, then?”
Okay, I guess that answers that question.
“What else?” I ask.
He thinks for a minute. “Some will be things like solving puzzles.”
Hmmm…puzzles…depends on the kind, but okay.
“I’ve seen some that are like solving a mystery or rescuing an innocent in peril.”
Cool. Cool. Cool. So far, not so bad.
“A few obstacle courses.”
I wasn’t the best at that during training, but I wasn’t the worst, either.
“And some will be like the labors,” he tacks on.
So I was right about that? “Like fighting hydras and holding up the world for Atlas. Catching a giant boar. Those kinds of labors?” My voice rises as I talk. I’m doing a lot of that today.
He shrugs.
“Gods don’t die,” I point out, anger creeping into my voice, “and demigods are hard to kill.”
“What’s your point?”
The anger bubbles hotter, spiking my blood. “Mortals can’t respawn or use another life or just restart the damned game.” I pick up a pillow off the couch and hurl it at him.
It hits him right in the face before dropping to the floor. He stares at it like he’s never seen a pillow before, then slowly lifts his gaze to mine. I’m expecting smoldering fury, but he only looks confounded.
It’s probably been never since anyone pitched a pillow at Hades. “You’re an ass, just like the rest of them.”
His eyebrows lift, and then his expression and voice soften ever so slightly. “You’ll be fine, Lyra. I will stay by your side through it all.”
He’s not allowed to interfere, which means I’ll be guaranteed an audience at my death. Splendid.
“You’re unbelievable.” I snarl the words.
His smile turns teasing. “You finally noticed?”
Oh. My. Gods. I’m going to kill him if I don’t leave now.
Taking my tiara with me, I cross the living room in the direction of my bedroom, muttering every colorful expletive I learned in the Order along the way.
I’m halfway there when I hear a sinfully amused chuckle. Of course Hades could laugh in the face of certain death. Too bad it’s my looming demise he finds so humorous.
20
What Are You Doing Here?
Pledges are taught to sleep with one eye open.
Not literally. But we do sleep lightly—one of the first and longest lessons, which takes years of being interrupted and surprised at all hours until we develop reflexes that alert us to every possible threat. As for me, I also guard all incoming loot, since I don’t have a roommate and there’s extra space, so it’s a habit I had no choice but to continue to practice.
Not that I’m getting much rest, given what happens tomorrow, but when I suddenly wake in the dead of night, I don’t question it.
Something’s wrong.
I don’t open my eyes. I don’t want whoever is in this room with me to know I’m wise to them. Pretending to roll over in my sleep, my back to the door, I wait, every sense tuned to the slightest change.
I really wish I had a weapon on me.
My tension reaches screaming pitch, and that’s when a hand clamps down on my mouth. I immediately start thrashing, but an arm squeezes around me and twists me so I’m face-to-face with them.
Which is when I recognize a certain thin, white scar at the corner of his mouth. I jerk my gaze up to find Boone Runar staring back at me with dark eyes.
“Damn it, Lyra,” he whispers. “Calm down or you’ll wake him.”
