Page 86 of As Darkness Fall
“A charade,” Hades said, his eyes flickering darkly. “An act that I am sorry to have pulled over you. Though it cost me much, it was necessary.”
I listened to what Hades was saying, but I still wasn’t anywhere closer to figuring out what the hell he was talking about.
“What are you saying?” Aaron asked quietly.
“Your payment,” Hades said, “of your debt to me. It allowed me to defeat them. Momentarily, at least.”
As he spoke, his eyes darted to the left. I glanced, working carefully not to give away my surprise or any reaction at all to what I saw. Sitting there on a shelf, amid a number of other items, was the Idol of Amunlea. The entire reason we were here. And it was just sitting on a shelf.
I swallowed my nervousness, yanking my gaze away before I gave anything away. I hoped.
“They’ll be back,” Hades said with a tired sigh, continuing as though we had spoken.
I wondered how lucid he was.
“They always are. They’re never gone for long. A century, maybe two, at best, is all I’ve bought myself. I will have to ensure it is enough.”
Enough for what, I almost asked.
“What happened?” Vir asked, voicing the question all of us were wondering. “Who did this to you, my brother?”
Hades stared at Vir for a long time. I braced myself, thinking that perhaps the god was angry at the way Vir had addressed him. Yet, they were both gods. It wasn’t that outlandish.
But then, Hades surprised us all. He didn’t lash out. Instead, his head rolled back, and he began to laugh. And laugh.
The four of us standing audience to the god of the Underworld exchanged uneasy glances as the laughter went on and on. I’m pretty sure that answered my earlier question about how lucid and sane Hades was.
“I’m sorry,” the god said, raising one hand weakly. “You must think me out of my mind from that response. I promise you, the brain works just fine. It is simply the innocent irony of your question, that is all.”
Vir shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course not,” Hades said. “He has deceived every one of you, I believe.”
“Who?” Vir pressed.
“Your brother.”
I blinked. “What? Which one?” I asked, my mouth moving before my brain could catch up. “He has a couple, you see.”
It wasn’t Hades who responded. The god of the Underworld didn’t even look my way, not bothering to acknowledge that I’d spoken.
“Irr,” Vir said quietly. “You mean Irr.”
The shifter god of death, and Hades? At war? I didn’t understand.
Hades simply stared at Vir.
“But Irr is dead,” Vir said. “I watched him die in battle.”
“If only that were the case,” Hades said tiredly.
“I’m confused,” I said out loud, interrupting the two gods. “Anyone else?”
Five sets of eyes turned in my direction.
Hades, a powerful demon, a shifter god, Aaron, and whatever the fuck Fred was. All of them stared at me.
“Uh, sorry,” I said, trying not to crumple under the combined power of those looks. “Ignorant mortal here. Just ignore me.”
