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“I find myself moved by your theatrics, Philotes. I have decided not to sacrifice your mother’s soul.”
I blew out a shaky breath of relief, and Ma’s rigid posture relaxed slightly.
“Oh, that’s great news!” Bullet whispered excitedly, ghost shoulder bumping against mine again.
“Instead, I’ll throw your father’s soul into the Phlegethon,” Hades finished, watching me for a reaction.
Bullet sighed quietly next to me, audibly disappointed and I couldn’t help but snort. “Sure, throw him in. We don’t even know the guy. Right, Ma?”
“Well, technically I do, but I thought I’d better keep it to myself since you were always so sensitive for a Philotes daimon. You might find the idea that you were conceived while he was cheating on his pregnant wife… distasteful.”
I blinked at her. “Yeah, for sure throw that guy in the flames.”
Hades gestured at the door. “Done. Find your own way out. Don’t let go of his hand, Oneiroi. The underworld is not meant for mortals. For this part, at least, he needs you more than you need him.”
That’s it? That was all the instruction we got?
Ma gave me a wan smile. “This is how it goes when you bargain with gods, a lesson I’m sure you’ll learn quickly.”
She crossed the small space between us, and while Hades huffed impatiently, it seemed as though he was going to give us a moment to say goodbye.
“Don’t screw up, okay?” Ma asked solemnly.
I laughed unexpectedly. “That sounds more like the mother I know. I was worried the underworld had made you soft.”
“Perhaps a little. I am very lazy here, you know. I spend most of my time gossiping.”
“That’s good. That sounds nice, actually. You deserve a break, Ma. You worked hard.”
“I did, didn’t I?” She gave me a small half-smile. “I’ll see you again someday, when you are old and tired and ready for your rest in the underworld. Until then, you have a job to do. Go. Beg Charon for passage to the upperworld if you have to, or see if you can convince Thanatos to take you back.”
“Love you, Ma. I’ll see you in a few years. Don’t cause too much trouble down here in the meantime.”
She didn’t say it back, but she never had, so I wasn’t surprised. For a daimon of her generation, she was unusual—a more engaged parent than most and slightly more empathetic, butlovewas still a concept she struggled with. But that was okay. I’d always had enough love in me for the both of us.
“Come on, Bullet. Let’s find a way out of here. It’s time to get you home.” I reached for his hand, and he set his light, not-quite-solid palm on mine. “Don’t let go, I don’t want to get stuck down here.”
“You trust me to keep you safe?” Bullet asked, bewildered and awestruck in equal measure. Like I was giving him a gift so overwhelmingly generous that he didn’t know how to respond.
“Yeah, man, I do. With or without your memories, there are very few people I trust more in this world or any other to have my back than you. And when we get back to the upperworld, it’s going to be my turn to haveyourback while we figure out how to get to the others. Deal?”
Bullet blew out a shaky breath, though the movement seemed more driven by muscle memory than an actual need to breathe.
“Deal.”
Chapter 29
Thewaitwasterrifying.How long did it take to get to Tartarus anyway? Ares had been strutting around, as confident as can be, observing the Spartoi like they were his own personal army and proclaiming loudly that there was no way Tartarus would let Gaia go free.
But he’d also been turning a plastic water bottle over in his hands for the past five minutes, scrunching it loudly in his fist, and staring like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Basically, his judgment was questionable at best.
“You should rest,” Grace murmured, resting a palm on my back. “You and Wild both. You’re exhausted.”
“You know I can’t sit this out, Gracie,” I said grimly, looking at the pile of bodies laying on the grass. Grace had been diligently preparing them for the pyre the gods had built, working alongside Persephone, who had suddenly appeared from the underworld to reunite with her mother. “Maybe it’s not very daimonic of me, but I want to give these agathos their due. The way they died…”
I swallowed thickly, and Grace pressed into my side, trembling despite her best attempts to keep it together.
“I saw Atropos cut threads of life right in front of me.” I shook my head slightly, remembering the horrible creak of the plateau cracking and collapsing; the sounds of the screams and the crash of the rocks would haunt me for the rest of my days. “I just keep envisioning taking those shears to a giant swathe of web, slicing away at those lives in one fell swoop.”
