Page 62 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

“Apparently,” I replied with a shrug. I wasn’t too sure where we were up to with the connections we shared, but I guess ‘with them’ was an apt way of putting it. I had fallen into their laps pretty much so yeah, until we defined it, I was ‘with them’.

“I’m glad. They’ve been the four of them for so long, it’s nice to see the Fates hand them something good. Wanna grab a drink?”

I looked to the door my guys were behind and had a sudden panic about leaving them. I hadn’t really been anywhere without them and that thought stirred something uncomfortable in my chest.

“We won’t go far. Hades’ study is just across the hall, and he has a great selection of drinks.” She pointed to a door about ten feet away and that made me feel a bit better. That I wasn’t going too far. I wasn’t sure why the thought had made me panic that much.

“Okay,” I finally said and followed her into the opulent study.

“I’m Roux by the way,” she said as she walked to the cupboard on the far wall. It was all mahogany and glass and probably looked better suited to some study from the 19th century than to one befitting a modern-day king. The whole room looked like it was in a time capsule, deep leather chairs, dark wooden desk, and large oil paintings hung on the walls. It was all very fancy and hideous.

“I’m Raevyn.”

“Love the hair.” Roux handed me a glass of amber liquid and a familiar scent wafted under my nose.

“Is this ambrosia?”

Roux’s eyebrows reached her hairline. “You’ve had it before?”

“Yes. I met someone and he shared it with me.” His image flickered in my mind, but I struggled to pinpoint exactly what he looked like. I knew it had something to do with the guys being summoned by Hades, but it was like a memory dissolved by time. I twirled the ring around my finger. It was warm to the touch and I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d got it. It was black and it had been made to look like feathers entwined in a band. Somehow I knew it was his. I just wish I could remember his name. I’d have to ask Corvus when I returned home. He said he’d help me and I felt like I’d been neglecting him with everything else going on.

“You okay?” Roux asked, a frown over her green eyes.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” I don’t know why I felt like I could be honest with her, but there was an openness and a warmth about her that soothed something in me. Like she was a kindred spirit. Out of place.

“Want to talk about it? I know this place can be a lot, and from what the Revenants said about you when I saw them last, you kind of fell into the Underworld with a bit of a bang.”

I huffed a laugh and took a small sip of the ambrosia. “You could say that again.”

“Come on, let’s sit down and you can tell me all about it.”

So I did. I told her everything, from the moment my grandmother killed me, to waking up here, to pulling Hawk from the Depths and the incident with Nissa, to the mystery guy who’d been talking to me in my mind.

“And you have no idea who this mystery guy is?” Roux asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Nope. I’m sure he told me his name, but I can’t remember.” I wished that I could, but the more I tried to remember, the more he seemed to fade.

“Maybe he’ll come back in your dreams, and you can ask him.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I landed in the Underworld with no memory at all,” Roux said, a weird sort of grin on her elfin face.

“Really?”

“Yep,” she said with a nod. “Thane – the Grim Reaper – found me and kind of took me under his wing. Now he’s gone missing and I’ve become the Grim Reaper. Which is not fun. At all. I’ve got a Metus Demon investigating everything and he’s a real jizzstain.”

I snorted. “Jizzstain?”

She grinned. “Yep. Sexy as fuck though.”

My mind tried to conjure up the image of the mystery guy again. He’d been sexy, in a rugged sort of way. All dark hair and vivid eyes. A sigh escaped my lips. Would I ever have a normal day?

She fixed me with a narrow stare. “What is it? You look worried.”

“It’s just I feel like I’m massively out of my depth. With everything. The last time I saw my grandmother I felt the same weak little girl that she always made me feel. Even with all this supposed power at my fingertips, I was useless. I can’t help but feel the power made a mistake in choosing me.” Oh Gods, I was going to cry. I really was pathetic.

“Now you listen to me, Raevyn.” She grabbed my hands in a tight grip. “The fact that you’re still here is testament to how strong you are. You are powerful, I can feel it and I bet you know how to use that power. It feels so tightly woven into the very fabric of your core, that I bet it’s instinctual.” She placed her hand over my heart and closed her eyes. “It thrums through your veins. The power didn’t choose you, Raevyn. It was always there.”

---