Enemies(75)

“Hades?” Hera asked. “He got it in his mind that humanity was unworthy of continued life. So he went from town to town, drawing out the souls of everyone he met. He was on a mission to walk the earth until he had killed every-damned-body on it.”

I took a step closer to the statues. I wanted to reach out, to run my hand over the smooth marble of the surface, but the signs made it obvious that I shouldn’t. I could almost taste my desire to connect with these figures from the past, but for what reason I didn’t even know. “Why?”

“Because a mob killed his eldest granddaughter in Troy,” Hera replied. “What was her name?” She paused, her fingers on her chin. “Hell if I can even remember; it was so long ago. Anyway, the girl stole something while she was out of her mother and father’s sight. Harmless enough, right? She was twelve or so, took some trinket not thinking anyone would notice. But she got caught, and the stallkeeper grabbed her, and he and another man held onto her until they died.” Hera watched me carefully, waiting for my reaction.

A tingle ran over my scalp with the slow understanding. “Persephone was a Persephone-type.”

Hera smiled. “Indeed.”

“And Hades could steal souls,” I said, almost whispering. I looked back to the statues, and this time my hand did reach out and touch the base of his leg, felt the smooth marble beneath my fingertips.

“Some of their children came out as Persephones,” Hera said. “I didn’t think any of them came out like Hades. Most of them came out different, hybridized, as it were, with his power, but restrained and mixed with the limitations of hers. You had to be able to touch directly to the flesh to be able to use it, rather than work at it from a distance, as he could. They had quite a few children, you know, over the next thousand or so years.” She smiled lightly. “They weren’t very welcome among our kind. Shunned, really, by all but a few. Some had children with humans, some bred within their own ranks. Not many of our kind were as brave as Janus, marrying one. Some got killed by mobs like the one that killed his little girl. Some were wiped out by Zeus after Hades died,” Hera said darkly. “A large majority of them, actually. Now there are only three succubi left that we know of, and only two confirmed incubi.”

“You said you didn’t think anyone came out like Hades.” I looked up at the statue of my forebear.

“I didn’t think they did,” she replied. “Apparently I was wrong. We all were. Because it’s beginning to look a hell of a lot like there’s a Hades-type out there working for Century.” She glanced up at the statue. “And if that’s the case, let me tell you something—there’s only one type of meta that is immune to that power and therefore only one that can kill him.” She smiled at me again, but this time it was grim, and there was no joy in it. “Would you care to guess what type that is?”





Chapter 28




“So you need me to stop a Hades,” I whispered. Then, louder, “Why not just use James Fries?”

“What?” Hera asked, puzzled.

“If Omega needed me to stop a Hades,” I said, “why not just use Fries? He’s already on their payroll.”

“Because stopping this Hades is not what we were after you for,” came a voice from behind me. I spun to find Reed and Breandan already turned, facing the source of the voice, hands raised and ready to throw bad luck and wind at him.

Janus stood behind me, Eleanor, Kat and Karthik with him, arrayed in a rough pentagon with Janus at the head, his arms folded in front of him, crumpling the neat lines of his suit. “I am not looking for a fight,” he said, offering open hands in our direction.

“You may get one anyway,” Reed said, his face twisted in anger.

“Reed,” Kat said, soothing, drawing his attention. Her hair was curled in a way she’d never done it while she was at the Directorate, and she wore a suit with a skirt. She looked older, more professional, and for the first time she seemed like a century-old presence and not a kid playing teenage games. “There’s no need. We’re not here to hurt you or anyone. We just want to talk to Sienna—and you.”

“I’m listening,” Hera said, interjecting herself into the mix. She gently brushed past me, her hand resting on my arm for a moment longer than necessary as she passed, in a reassuring way. She placed a hand on Reed’s shoulder, and I saw him lower his a second later. “What do you have to say, Janus? Care to pick up my story of Hades where I left off and fill in the details of your personal experiences with the matter?”