Page 115 of Chaos
“What are you talking about?”
“The horsewomen. It was the same for them.”
When neither Grim nor I responded, Hades blinked and sat forward again, this time resting his forearms against the table and clasping his hands. “Seems like we got to one of those parts you don’t know. Which is surprising, seeing as how you were instrumental in one of their games.”
“Continue,” I drawled, attempting nonchalance while my insides were squirming.
“Do you remember when we saved you four from Hel?” Hades asked.
Grim nodded.
“That woman who was with you? She’s mine.”
“Persephone?” Grim asked, his surprise palpable.
“Reincarnated,” he confirmed. “Her name is Dahlia. She’s Hel’s daughter. The other men with me that night are also hers. We’re actually the third such group brought together because ofthe horsewomen’s games. All three groups have a child of one of the horsewomen at the center. And I’ve come to learn that you all are the fourth. So if you haven’t found your partner, you need to be on the lookout for her.”
Grim and I were careful not to give anything away, neither of us so much as looking at each other.
“So... you’re telling us Death had a child?” I asked, heart in my throat.
“Yes. And so did War. Pestilence...” Hades flicked his eyes to me.
“Yes.” I hated how tight my voice was.
“She had two.”
I swayed in my seat, realizing that this was what she’d referred to when she said she had plans for our son. “Pan is part of this?”
Hades nodded. “From the way they tell the story, he’s one of the only reasons they succeeded. He sacrificed his horns to save the others. Gabriel rewarded him with a second chance.”
I didn’t know what to do with that information. It was all I could do to breathe around the two-hundred-ton weight sitting atop my chest.
“And you think we’re destined to find whom? Famine’s daughter?” Grim asked.
I stiffened and pulled away from my thoughts of Pan as understanding dawned. That was why Merri was so powerful. She wasn’t only a succubus. She was the daughter of Famine.
“That’s the conclusion we’ve come to. You need to find her and keep her safe. Since Famine technically never got her round, your group may not find its way together as naturally as the rest of us did. It’s really hard to know, but one thing we’re certain of is that all four groups are going to need to come together if we want to stop this thing. Our army against his.”
“So the rest of you are all working together?” Grim’s tone was dubious at best. Hades didn’t work with anyone. It was why he’d been sent to manage the underworld.
“Yes. My wife is pregnant. I can’t afford to let my ego get in the way of ensuring our child has a world to grow up in.”
I recognized his confession for what it actually was, a way of establishing trust. He was trusting us with something crucial, hoping we would do the same.
Too bad for him I wasn’t about to risk Merri’s safety. Not even for the one person we might call friend.
“And you want us to join your merry little band, is that it?” The temptation to do so, if only to come face-to-face with Pan, was enormous. From everything Hades had said, I could only assume Odette no longer needed him for some nefarious purpose. But that also meant that she had no reason to protect him, so my interference might even be more damning now than it would have been in the past. The possibility was enough to stop temptation in its tracks. I couldn’t be the reason his life was robbed from him after he’d fought so hard for it. I would not be the reason she killed him.
“Well, yeah. You’re in this whether you want to be or not. Fate hand selected you.”
“Fate or Famine?” I asked.
“Aren’t they one and the same at this point?”
Grim stood, his expression stoic and unreadable. “I’d say it was good to see you, but I don’t like to lie. Hades, best of luck. We will be in touch.”
He jerked his chin at me, a silent order to come with him. Part of me wanted to stay and pump Hades for information about Pan, but I also knew we needed to go. This was even bigger than we’d thought, and the implications from all we’d learned only made everything more complex.
