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"I wasn't." And almost on cue, Little Iron came flapping its wings before perching on my shoulder.
"Your pet?" At my wary nod, Hadrian's lips softened briefly with a smile. "I can already tell he and Cerberus will get on famously."
His words gave me hope, and I allowed myself a tentative smile. "So I can keep him then?"
"I don't see why not."
"I was worried you'd think it's inappropriate," I confessed, "since Little Iron's the one..."
Wait a minute.
If Little Iron was now with me, then who was making sure...
My gaze flew up to Hadrian in panic. "Mira—-"
"Will not trouble anyone again." The Lord of the Underworld's voice was mild again. Too, too mild, and a spurt of fear made my heart skip a beat as I followed Hadrian's gaze.
Hadrian's men stood on guard next to Mira's body, which was still on the ground. Although she had stopped bleeding, and her throat appeared fully healed, there was still no chance for her to escape.
A portion of the ground had turned itself into packed soil, and it was now moving over Mira's body. At the rate the soil was moving, Mira could be completely buried in an hour, and the reason for this was...her.
She was staring down at Mira's body, arms on her sides, but with her fingers moving and fluttering against her dress. At first it seemed like nothing, but when I looked closer, I realized that the flutter of her fingers matched the pattern in which the packed soil was moving over Mira's body.
Although she had her back to me, something about her was familiar—-
The dress!
That was the Gorgon's dress. That was Sssusssan. Or at least I thought it was her until the woman started to turn, and I saw that she wasn't wearing any sunglasses—-
Oh my God!
I crossed my arms over my eyes like a vampire avoiding direct sunlight.
But nothing happened, and all I heard was Hadrian's chuckle.
Huh?
I slowly peeked between my fingers.
What the—-
My arms dropped limply to my sides, and I found myself gaping.
I had never seen this woman before.
Never.
And yet that dress...I couldn't be mistaken about that dress.
And her smirk...it looked so familiar.
And her eyes...
I looked up at Hadrian, and my heart sank.
Oh no.
"You have the same eyes," I said dumbly, and my unease grew when said eyes gleamed with amusement. Oh no. That could only mean one thing, and I looked at him in dismay. "Another cousin?"
"No, my love." And now Hadrian was smirking, too. "I think she's what you called...my grandmother?"
Chapter Twelve
There was once a fake Gorgon, a god, a LOTUS, and a centaur with a bump on his head...
It made a rather nice start for a joke, didn't it?
And maybe one day, I'd find something funny to smile and laugh about that moment.
One day.
But not for a while.
Because even though weeks had passed, I was still grieving the priestess' death. Her name was Maya. I knew that now, and I would never forget it. I mustn't, if I was serious about being the LOTUS the Underworld deserved.
As for Mira and her evil plans...
MIRA HAD BEEN A YOUNG and impressionable sixteen-year-old girl when Persephone first came into the Underworld. She had taken to the goddess right away, and Hadrian's ex, delighted at having such a devoted fan, molded the girl in her likeness. Thus, the girl had become just as cold and cruel, and most terrible of all, Mira was as zealously convinced as Persephone that the pantheon must reclaim dominion over the human realm.
Hadrian and Persephone's divorce made the crazy loyal Mira determined to avenge her mentor, and I told the others of how Hadrian's cousin was no different from other evil masterminds, with their inability to shut up in their moments of perceived victory.
While dragging me around the woods like a human toy wagon, Mira had spoken of an "it" that she intended to get away with, on the day Hadrian and I inadvertently foiled her plans for escape.
A thorough investigation had eventually revealed Mira using a spell at the In Between to smuggle out a box, but whatever it contained, and who it was given to...time would only tell.
As with any immortal found guilty of crime, a transfer to an undisclosed relation in Tartarus was arranged for Mira, and it was while a female warden was performing a standard body check that we found the missing SR-41 vial...tucked between the scoops of Mira's heavily-padded bra.
I wish I could say I was kidding.
But I'm not.
Mira had used one of the oldest tricks in the book and played all of us for fools. And while stupidity, just like misery, often loved company, I'd rather have been the only idiot in the room in this case. Because if it were just me, then maybe Maya might still be alive.
If only.
It was just one of the mistakes that I'd have to live with for eternity, and the fact that SR-41 did turn out to be an effective cloaking agent was poor consolation. Cheiron had tested it in his own lab and confirmed Mira's results. But since an antidote had already cured Zeus of his madness, we had collectively decided it was best that none of us remembered there was a way to make ourselves invisible to Zeus' thunderbolts. For this, we then drank a special concoction that had several drops of water from Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, and come tomorrow we wouldn't even know SR-41 had ever existed.
