Page 131 of A Touch of Chaos

Dionysus could not speak, and the man smirked.

“I thought you should know the face of the man who took your life.”

Dionysus took two great breaths, hoping he might clear his mind enough to summon his magic, but then the demigod stiffened as something struck the side of his head. He crumpled to reveal Ariadne. She was holding a bronze statue, which she slammed down on the man’s head again before leaving it and coming to his side.

“You have to get up,” she said, her eyes gleaming with just as much determination as the command in her voice.

He nodded and gritted his teeth hard as he sat up and got shakily to his feet. Ariadne anchored one of her arms around his waist. They staggered down the hall and stairs, into the basement, where he collapsed despite Ariadne’s attempts to keep him on his feet.

She fell with him but quickly got up and began pulling on his arm. “You have to get up! Dionysus! Get up!”

“Ari,” he said, his voice barely audible.

Her eyes began to water.

“I can get help! Just tell me what to do!”

But they were interrupted by pounding on the steps, and when Dionysus turned his head, he saw that the demigod had risen, his face covered in blood but healed. Instead of running, Ariadne turned fully toward him,intent on fighting, but despite her capabilities, there was no way she could win.

That thought brought with it a sense of hysteria, a stirring in the pit of his stomach that rang of madness. He latched on to that, fueled it as his magic roared to life, and with it, he reached for Ariadne and Phaedra and the baby and teleported. In the process, everything went dark.

CHAPTER XXVI

PERSEPHONE

Persephone woke with a start.

She did not know what had roused her, but a deep sense of unease clung to her. She pushed up from where she lay against Hades, a hand on his chest, eyes scanning the room, but nothing was there. Still, the feeling did not ebb. She sat up farther, and she was followed by Hades, his face etched with concern.

“What is that?” she asked.

She could not really describe the feeling except to say that it felt like the air within their realm had become a physical weight, composed of nothing but sorrow. As they breathed, it filled their lungs.

“It’s Thanatos,” Hades said. He threw off the blankets and left the bed.

Persephone followed, pulling on her robe, when she noticed Hades hesitate. She knew exactly what he wanted to say—stay here. His eyes were already pleading with her, but the words never left his mouth. Instead, hecalled on his magic, clothing himself in dark robes, and held his hand out.

The frustration that had been building inside her turned into a dizzying warmth. She had been ready to argue, had already thought of the things she would say to explain why she was coming with him, but suddenly, she did not need any of those words, and it felt like maybe he was finally starting to understand that there was a time and place for his protectiveness.

Besides, there was nothing he could say that would keep her in this room—not after what she had already faced within their realm.

They teleported and found Thanatos on the bank of the River Styx. He was sobbing and on his knees, clutching the hem of Hypnos’s robes.

Charon was only a few steps away, his boat docked at the pier behind him. He was holding his oar like a staff. He stared at Thanatos and his brother, his expression almost blank, as if he could not quite comprehend the scene in front of him.

Persephone was not even sure what she was witnessing.

“Oh great,” said Hypnos as they arrived. “Now we have an audience. Don’t you have any respect for the dead and those who mourn them?”

The dead?

“This cannot be,” said Thanatos.

“Do not mourn for me, Brother,” Hypnos said. “This changes very little for me. I was already a prisoner of this hellhole. Now I am just a dead one.”

Hypnos helped Thanatos to his feet.

It was almost disconcerting to see Thanatos soaggrieved, but she could not blame him. The last thing the God of Death had ever expected was that he would one day welcome his own immortal brother to his realm as a soul in the afterlife.

---