Page 36 of Monster Song
I felt dirty pulling on armor with Demeter’s crest on the breastplate, but at least it would cover my markings. I hated putting that fucking leash on Demos’s collar, but I did it knowing we were about to rid the Underworld of some nasty people.
We marched through the tunnels until we met Stheno. I knew she wouldn’t be without her sisters. They were both decked out like guards. Hades couldn’t reverse Medusa’s curse, but he could alter it so she could have her human form back and not turn every single person who looked at her into stone.
We were almost there. There were two more guards at the gate that needed to die, and it needed to be done quickly and quietly so the gates would be open for the rest of the monsters to spill through.
I always thought Medusa’s curse was unwarranted and unfair, but it came in handy tonight. She turned them to stone with a little flash of snakes and a cheeky wink. The Gorgon sisters were a bit twisted, and you never wanted to fuck with them. I was glad Pavlina had shady friends because we needed them on our side for this to work, and they usually hated outsiders.
“Have I mentioned how much I love you?” Pavlina said.
“If one of my sisters dies, I will kill everyone in the Underworld, even you.”
Before Pavlina could even reply, the announcer started his speech. Don’t ask me where Demeter found this guy. Back when the fighting arena was still active, they gave these flowery speeches about the champions. This guy right here spoke dull words to a dumb crowd. It bored me every time he announced me, and tonight was no better.
Pavlina and I led Demos out and took guard position by the gate. The Gorgon sisters did the same with Stheno. Demos took to the skies, and Stheno stalked to the center. Everyone betting on these fights knew Demos could be killed, but would always rise from the ashes. It took a special kind of monster to even get close to kill him, so he was always a crowd favorite. Plus, his phoenix was just pretty, and humans liked shiny, beautiful things.
The crowd was straight up rude to Stheno because before any of this happened, she had probably been offensive to every single person in this arena at least once. Still, I hated it when they threw fruit, and they had already started because they didn’t like her.
They did their usual circling. This was normal, and the crowd was used to it. We didn’t have to fake this part of the fight. The crowd all thought this was building tension before someone attacked, but really, it was just getting up the courage to attack a friend and trying not to vomit.
Still, a shitty situation could be turned into our favor. As long as Stheno could control her temper while they booed her and threw fruit, we had time to get the monsters from the pit up, and we could buy time for River, Solron, and Kimon to rescue Persephone. I felt like I would vomit because this was a well-crafted plan, and asking a Gorgon to control her temper was like asking it not to rain when Poseidon was being pissy about something.
Demos was monitoring the gate as he circled the sky. I could hear no one over the roars and taunts of the crowd, not even if you were right next to each other. Barbatos would be the one giving the signal, and I was a little shocked he would be in the arena with us. I would have thought he would have gone with River.
I felt heat at my back. I turned, and Barbatos had a green flame dancing in his hand. That was the signal, but we couldn’t move just yet. Stheno raised her spear like she intended to throw it at Demos. She knew. Demos circled the crowd. This was it.
Demos dipped low over the crowd and erupted into flame. Stheno spun and heaved her spear right at Demeter’s box. Monsters started spilling out the gate and attacking the crowd. There was blood everywhere. I was snapping necks with my tentacles.
I had no idea why I noticed one man strolling casually to the center of the area in all the chaos. Barbatos looked like he was on an evening stroll. I stopped what I was doing and watched. He stopped at the center and turned to face Demeter’s box. He brought his fingers to his lips and let out this loud whistle.
Demeter’s box completely exploded in green flame, and that damned dog jumped from the explosion. She landed on all four paws and trotted over to Barbatos. He crouched down and scratched her on the head like she was a pet and couldn’t melt metal with that fire of hers.
I was close enough to hear him over the screams of the dying crowd.
“Go play, Lis.”
Lis went bounding off to eat people and burn them. I lost track of her. I really hoped River was to safety because I knew that explosion wouldn’t kill Demeter. She hadn’t come out to try to stop us. That meant she had gone back to her temple. I desperately wanted to be with River.
So did Demos, and Barbatos must have said something to Lis. Between the two of them, they set the entire arena on fire. Barbatos opened a portal and yelled over all the screaming.
“To the temple! Let’s kill that bitch for good!”
Yes, lets. And I needed to make sure River was safe.
Chapter 20
River
T
here was a pop of light, and Hades appeared next to us. He took one look at Persephone lying on the ground and let out an anguished cry. He saw Keti and Irida with us, and blue sparks started flying from his fingers. He was in a rage and would kill them, even if they were now on our side.
It was probably stupid, but I jumped between them. Cerberus had my back like always. So, I was now standing between Hades and two soldiers, and Cerberus was now standing between Hades and me.
“She’s just drugged!” I cried. “Keti and Irida helped us, and they even told us what Demeter had in the IV. I’m not familiar with Moonflower, but they said she would wake up soon. I checked her vitals, and she’s alive. She’s just asleep.”
“She speaks the truth,” Kimon said. “Persephone lives, and her heart beats strong. You just need to get her somewhere safe until this is over.”
“You come with us, Kimon. I’ll bring her to the chateau, and I need you to watch over her. I need to come back here and end this. No one drugs my wife. Demeter will die for everything she’s done here,” Hades growled.
