Page 30 of Taming Winter

"Let him go!" she choked out. "You monster! You don't understand, I need him!"

Rage lanced across Hades’s lovely features. I held out a hand to stop her from burning the woman alive. "Brit, he lied to you. Apollo was never going to help your sister. He was going to kill you. Don't you feel it? The cough you had earlier is gone, right? It's because we've restrained his powers. Otherwise, you'd be dead by morning. That monster—” I pointed to Apollo's hunched form within our car “—didn’t give a shit about you."

Her eyes widened, and she stilled while digesting my words. An ember of hope built within my icy chest. Maybe she would understand, and she could still save herself. Unfortunately, that hope went out when her expression hardened. She shook her head as if ridding herself of the turmoil my words caused. "You're lying! You're a traitor to your country—a violent rebel set on killing all of us! I will end you!"

My soul fell and stuttered into utter darkness. I should've known better, and really, I did. She had lived her entire life believing in a system designed to chew her up and spit her out. To admit it was all a lie was to admit her entire life was a lie. Few people had the wherewithal to do so. I sighed. "You were a good soldier, Brit."

I pulled my gun and shot her in the forehead at point-blank range. It was a painless death, better than Apollo would've afforded her. I holstered my weapon, and she slumped to the ground. "Unfortunately, you picked the wrong side."

I didn't feel guilty about her untimely end. Her death was the fault of the system that created her, I was just the sorry sap that pulled the final trigger. I turned away from her lifeless form. "Let's go home."

Hades and I sat across from Apollo, with Lamia's head peeking out of the small driver's window next to him. Hades tipped her head to Lamia. "Is it done?"

She nodded. "I have sent the footage to Hermes himself and shared it to every phone in a thirty-mile radius. It should be major news by morning."

Hades smiled, her shoulders relaxing. "Good."

Her attention returned to Apollo. "Well, with that done, do you want to admit what your plan was?"

"And why would I do that?" Apollo snarled.

She shrugged. "Lighter souls fare better in the Underworld. Perhaps removing the weight of dishonesty from your shoulders would help you receive a lighter sentence."

He spat at her, but I threw my arm in front of her face to block the attack. I let out a low growl and wiped the saliva on my pants. "Fucking do it again and you'll eat another bullet. Answer her question."

"Fuck you, dog,” he snapped. Splotches of red marred his incredulous expression, oddly similar to a splattered tomato.

Over the headrest, Lamia buried a small blade in his throat. She giggled as golden blood coated her fingers, the sound blending into a symphony with his gargled gasps. Dany giggled from her side. "Answer Her Majesty," Lamia said, her voice light.

Silence spanned the space. Apollo was struggling to sit upright from his wounds staining his seat gold, their healing slowed by the chains wrapping his wrists. Finally, he let out a ragged sigh, gold trickling from his cracked lips. "It is like you said. Church attendance has been low. There has been growing discontent among the civilians, especially in the outlying zones. The lack of your presence has given people a confidence that Zeus wanted to squash."

He laughed then, the sound descending into harrowing coughs that sprayed a fine mist of gilded gore over the interior. "You helped him accomplish his goal," he added, waving to the destruction outside our windows. "They'll be fucking terrified of you now."

She scowled, following his gaze out the window. We were approaching the border with Zone 3, though the barbed-wire wall that typically bordered the two zones was blasted open, the edges of the metal singed and warped.

I spoke then, brushing my hand over Hades’s thigh in a show of solidarity. "Let them be terrified. Hades can rise to power and use that fear against her brother. Zeus won't know what fucking hit him."

A devilish grin warped Hades’s pretty features, and she straightened. “The tides of Olympiara are changing, and a new immortal will take the seat of power."

Apollo laughed again, heaving against the blade still jutting from his throat. He settled against the seat and allowed his head to fall back. His eyes shuttered closed. "Oh dear, sweet Hades. Zeus is always three steps ahead of you. No one can stop him."

"We will, and we will not stop until the entirety of Olympiara is ash." Hades turned her attention to me, and I was consumed by her emerald gaze. "What do you think?"

A cruel satisfaction, jagged from years of abuse, grew in my chest. Olympiara had always been a cesspool of corruption and evil, led by the most corrupt of them all. Yes, Zeus would fall, and we would see a new leadership emerge from the ashes.

"I will follow you for eternity, Hades."

EPILOGUE

Hades fell asleep with her head cradled in Thane's lap. In the quiet, broken by Apollo's occasional soft whimpers of agony, Thane turned on the small television that tucked away into the roof. Hades had released Apollo's confession to all Olympiara, and Thane couldn't wait to hear the ensuing chaos.

The Tattle's logo blazed across the screen. The camera panned to Hermes sitting behind a plain white desk. Thane grimaced. He hated the man, and his arrogant smile and sequined suit only made that hatred fester.

"Good evening Olympiaraaaaa!" Hermes shouted. He paused to dazzle the audience with his shimmering white smile. "Hermes here to bring you the tattle and tale from the River Styx to the rolling hills of the West. You know The Tattle is the only place to get your news!"

It was a playful note, but truth resonated with the immortal's words. The Tattle was the only place to get information within Olympiara. Another glittering, veneered smile, and Hermes began again. "Has chaos consumed Olympiara? One god's indiscretions may prove to turn everything on its head and reveal the dark underbelly beneath our glittering city. I warn viewers, this video may disturb some."

A screen flickered to life, but instead of a dark hospital room and a bedraggled Apollo, flames consumed the television. It was a horrifying video of wraiths turned poltergeists, bringing wrath and destruction upon Zone 3.