“Hermes is struggling. I think this may be harder for him than any of us so far. He hears the prayers of the travelers who have been lost. It’s taking a toll on him.” Hades glances over his shoulder and waves over someone I can’t see.
Hermes steps into view and a gasp explodes out of me. He has dark circles around his eyes and his face is gaunt like a human who hasn’t eaten in a while. What is going on? He shouldn’t have physical reactions to this. None of the others did.
“Hermes, what? How?” I splutter.
“I don’t know. I think I’m ceasing to be because I can’t fulfill my roles in the world.” Hermes sighs.
No, we can’t let that happen. Hermes has been one of our greatest allies from the beginning. We need him.
“We’ll fix this. Once you have your caduceus back, everything will fix itself,” I swear.
“There are so many lost travelers the standing stones aren’t powerful enough to put them back on course. They haven’t been powered up by sacrifices or prayers in millennia. I don’t know what to do. They’re crying out to be saved all the time and I can’t take much more.”
“There was an incident with Adrian or we would already be on our way to stop this. Hold on for as long as you can, please.” Tears well behind my eyes.
“I’ll try, but remember what I told you. There is a high probability, especially now that it’s escalated, that you will get lost somewhere. It will be difficult to come back from. Be on your guard,” Hermes warns.
“We will be on our guard.” I nod.
“Take care of your girl, Jayden,” Hermes says. “We’re not the only ones who need her. The world needs her most of all.”
Hermes backs away from Hades and out of view before I can say anything else. This revelation makes the tick of the clock in my head more ominous than before. I hate seeing him suffer when he’s been so kind to me in the past.
If I surrender to Hera, will it save him and everyone else? I glance at Jayden but what I see when he glares at me burns in my blood. Determination. He already knows where my mind has spiraled. Determination. His body language says it all, the way he wraps himself around me and the corded muscles of his arms flexing as he pins me to his chest.
“Thank you for the call, Dad, but I need to have a chat with my mate on why sacrificing herself to Hera is a bad idea,” Jayden says, growling.
“What?” Hades gasps. “What are you talking about, son?”
“The queen wants Beth to surrender herself for execution or she will destroy the caduceus. After seeing the effect this is having on the messenger god, she’s second-guessing her decision not to do that.”
Hades frowns as he stares at me in abject horror. Was that the part he was confused about or the part where Jayden called me mate? Jayden clearly thinks it’s the former.
“You must not give in to the queen’s demands. The reason she even expressed the demand shows how scared she is of losing this war,” Hades says. “If she thought she had a shot of winning and crushing you, she wouldn’t give you an out to stop this. What she did was to save face with Zeus once she inevitably loses again.”
“But Hermes. What if we don’t make it in time?” I shake my head. I can’t be the reason why Hermes ceases to exist or the queen wins this war.
“Dad, we need to go. Thank you for your confidence but Beth won’t listen to reason when it comes to protecting her friends.” Jayden waves a hand and the mist clears.
“That was rude, Jayden,” I say.
Jayden grips my ass and stands from the couch as soon as his father is gone. His anger is obvious in the glare he shoots me.
“To my dad or my mate who wants to leave me?” he growls.
“You were rude to your dad when you cleared the mist, and seriously, if me dying can save everyone from pain and death, shouldn’t I do that?” I whisper.
“No. You shouldn’t do that because my dad is right. The queen would never offer such a thing if she thought she could beat you. She’s playing to your humanity. She has none. Don’t do it.” He grips my ass tighter.
“What happens when people die, Jayden? What happens if our friends get hurt or die and I could have done something to stop it?” I bury my face in the crook of his neck as I finally allow the hot tears to fall.
“You can’t, though. She’s trying to take you out of the equation so she will win the war.” Jayden kisses my forehead. “Do you realize how badly the academy will fall apart without you? We will lose when she goes against her deal with you.”
I glance up and tears form in his eyes. As the first tear falls, he turns his head away from me so I can’t see the pain in his eyes.
“Don’t hide from me,” I choke out.
“I’m not hiding from you, my love. I just can’t bear to see you cry like this. I hate seeing you with this insurmountable weight on your shoulders. You take the responsibility of all our lives on yourself and it’s not your responsibility to save us from everything.”
