Page 20 of Invoking Ruin

“You think Nemesis won’t see through such an obvious deception?” I glance around, taking in the scene once more. Could I have done this? Certainly. It wouldn’t have even been too difficult, though my powers work better on one person at a time.

Momus had to have pushed them all to this madness together, as a group.

“Come now, niece,” Momus says, with all the condescension of speaking to a small child. “You should know better than to think highly of Nemesis’ investigative skill. Of course she’ll take the easy way out. She’s hunting you. Nothing will distract her from that.” He paused. “In a way, it is entirely your fault. These people died because you were sloppy and led me right here. If you’d been more careful, I would have murdered someone else, somewhere else.”

He’s laying it all at my feet, of course. Blame is such a powerful manipulator. His powers don’t work on me, though. It’s hard to feel the sting of criticism when your entire domain is in bad decisions.

Momus doesn’t need powers to have the upper hand. Just the facts of the matter. Even his screwed-up version of them.

I slipped up somewhere, and now mortals are dead in a very loud, very messy scene sure to attract all the wrong kinds of attention.

“What do you want?” I ask, eager to get this over with. Otherwise, he will drag his gloating out for hours, time I do not have. “You went through a great deal of effort to get my attention. I know how you hate mortals and gods alike.”

Momus presses a hand to his chest, feigning injury. “I’m hurt, niece. What makes you think I want anything from you?”

I roll my eyes. “Thousands of years of experience.”

“And to think, you were my favorite of Eris’ spawn. You really are lacking in charm lately. No wonder you’re no longer the favored child.”

As though I ever was the favorite. Lethe may think that, but she’s wrong. None of us are Eris’ favorite, because she never cared about us to begin with.

“Some time today, uncle.” I’m losing patience, and he knows it, but all of my usual desire to play games is worn thin while Sandro bleeds. “Those mortal police are not going to wait forever. They’re going to realize everyone is dead instead of taken hostage and storm the place.”

“Yes, yes, that would be inconvenient, wouldn’t it.” He waves an arm, as though the mortals are little more than ants. Perhaps they are, but they’re ants who cannot see the giants they share the earth with. They’re not going to be intimidated until it’s too late. “I want the knife, niece. Give it up, and I’ll let you and your little toy run free.”

I freeze. The stupid knife. Three times it’s come up to hound me, in one day. I’d expected Nyx to ask for it. Expected the Moirai to taunt me over it. But this?

What could Momus possibly want with that cursed knife?

“Why would you even want it? It does you no good,” I ask him. “Did Nyx send you?

Momus pushes off the table. A sword appears in his hand I hadn’t noticed before. I bite back a growl.

“You don’t need to worry about the reasoning. You only need to worry about what I’ll do to your pretty toy if you don’t give it up.”

He waves the sword to make his point. A redundant gesture. I already know what he means. What’s at stake.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Sandro—Dionysus—is an Olympian. Even gods can’t murder one of that cohort without consequences. “You think I have it bad? If you kill him, they’ll chain you up like Prometheus and send eagles to eat your liver.” I’d also come and cut off his dick every night, but I keep that threat to myself.

“Whether or not I risk that fate is up to you,” he says. “Make the right choice.”

I grind my teeth, mind spinning. I don’t have the knife. I don’t have time to get it. If he figures that out, will he kill Sandro? He couldn’t. The god is his only leverage.

Incredibly effective leverage. Nyx hadn’t exactly been wrong about me.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

Momus knows it, too.

I need to do something. Find some way out of this before the mortals decide to barge in, or worse, Sandro wakes up.

Behind Momus, a groan breaks the silence. “Vita?”

Fuck.

Chapter six

Dionysus (Sandro)

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