Page 45 of Can you take it?

“I’m talking to Mendax. He’s a fucker,” I said to Walter, which made him chuckle, and that also made Mendax chuckle. Walter perked up immediately. Mendax’s chuckling slowed.

‘So have you taken over the Seelie castle or not? ‘I asked, returning to the conversation at hand.

‘We’ve built them a new place. It’s nice. Really nice,’ he stated.

I felt the honesty surge through the bond, and I had no choice but to trust that he would keep her out of harm’s way.

‘Tarani is my family now too,’ Mendax said as if sensing my worry. ‘I won’t let any harm come to her.’

For a moment, things were quiet. My emotions were everywhere. I was filled with missing my sister, Cal, even Mendax. All the while, my eyes were stuck on a woman with brown and pink hair.

‘What’s that?’ Mendax asked.

‘What’s what?’ I said.

‘What’s that feeling? Who are you thinking about right now?’ There was an edge to his voice. ‘Anna, Cal’s sister.’

‘Oh,’ Mendax said. ‘Interesting.’

‘She’s defusing a situation right now with Bexley. Do you know him?’

‘Bexley,’ Mendax said. I could feel him rifling through his memories. ‘No. Back to Caly’s sister. I thought she was evil. That’s all I’ve heard about for the last two nights. Did you give her the pendant yet?’

‘No, not yet. She’s a fucking Artemi and I watched her kill insects.’

‘Really?’ Mendax said, perking up.

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he would just love to have another evil friend. ‘She insists that she only stunned them and she is currently talking a deranged man off a cliff.’

‘Why is there a deranged man on a cliff?’ Mendax asked.

‘No, a hypothetical cliff. She’s dangerous and powerful. I can feel it. She’s Kaohs’s daughter, for Sun’s sake. She wants to take over the whole Underworld.’

‘So what?’ Mendax said.

‘What do you mean, so what?’

‘Give her the pendant and go to the Elysian Fields. You’ve done your part. It’s not your responsibility anymore.’

I grunted again. ‘I know, I just—it feels wrong.’

‘ It’s her powers,’ Mendax reasoned.

I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead into my palm. ‘She’s interested in what I have to say, and she asks questions no one else asks me. And she makes me feel… I don’t know,’ I trailed off.

‘I see,’ said Mendax.

‘I don’t care what she does. I don’t even want her here. They followed me into the tiers. I just want to get away from her. The Fates wanted her in Moirai. She hates Zef apparently. I thought she hated Cal at first too.’

‘And you don’t think that’s the case now?’ Mendax asked. A protective surge coursed through the bond that I appreciated.

‘No, I don’t think she’s going to hurt Cal. She really wanted to see her.’

‘What does Anna want?’ Mendax asked, catching me completely off guard. Since when did he ever care about women’s feelings or what they wanted? I had been right—these two really had helped each other grow.

‘Anna wants to take over, letting Kaohs retire. Which, how does a god even retire anyway?’ I grumbled.

Mendax was quiet for a minute. ‘That’s really honorable of her,’ he said at last. Because Kaohs had been a long-standing friend of Mendax, it seemed that this action now put Anna in his favor.’ Kaohs has been wanting to be done for a long time.’