Page 53 of Reaper's Reward

My boots against his sternum barely made him flinch. Fenrir had been feeding. He’d grown stronger since we’d seen him last. I realized that he’d been playing with us today. He’d come to talk me into joining him once more, and I hadn’t bought it.

Who did he think I was? A monster like him? Maybe I had the potential to be one, but I had the strength of will to hold it back. I wouldn’t give in like he did. I had no reason to let anger and hatred take me over the way it controlled him.

I would not become him.

There wasn’t much time left. Addie struggled to hold onto the two chains that she’d bound around Fenrir. Already, she ground her teeth together from the effort. She looked as though she might break at any moment. I didn’t want her to suffer any more, not if I could help it.

In the house, I heard a shuffling. I could hear the click of a shotgun bolt being loaded. I would have laughed at my uncle’s tenacity if I hadn’t been so afraid for the lives of my loved ones. Aunt Kelly argued with him, both their voices muffled behind the closed door.

I had barely a moment to act. Addie and I locked eyes. Hers widened with shock, realization probably hitting her. Most of the time, I kept my thoughts from my face. This time, I let her know my next move and how sorry I was that I had to do it.

She opened her mouth, probably to yell at me. I didn’t give her a chance. I released Fenrir’s fist and moved to shove Addie off his back. Regret soured my stomach when she went flying back, but both the beast and I knew that this was how it needed to happen.

My beast made a silent promise. When I returned, I would give her all the love I had left in me. She would be my only concern from this day forward, if only to make up for what I had to do today.

Behind me, I opened a portal. Memories of Hel’s prison flashed through my mind. I could recall the cells with roots grown over their doors so that the prisoners could never escape. It was there that I flung us. Fenrir tried to dig in his heels, but a gunshot went off behind the demigod.

The shotgun blast slammed Fenrir in the back and pushed him off balance just enough for me to twist and shove Fenrir into the portal. Addie cried for me to make my own escape, but I knew that there was no way Fenrir would go into this portal alone.

I had to go with him.

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