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“Maybe you have.”
He raised his eyebrows. “My mom told me they sacrificed people before they were locked away. No doubt one could have escaped. They say he’s mad. Everyone’s saying it.”
“Yes, but—” She looked at me over the two tables between us. “Can we help you?” she asked with a pinched frown.
“Oh, no. Sorry.” I averted my gaze. I took a seat at the table, looking at the sandwiches placed in front of me, but I no longer felt hungry. I forced myself to eat, if only for the energy to keep going, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what that man had said. They had guessed a god. Fortunately, they were only rumors, but those could be dangerous. We were trying to avoid the gods being hunted, but whether it was Aziel or Raiden killing families, they were going to get themselves killed—or at least imprisoned again.
We’d been walking for three hours by the time we reached a house in the middle of nowhere. It stood decadent with a sprawling garden, shiny gates, and a long, winding driveaway. It couldn’t have looked more out of place to the forest if it tried. We were close to the main road, so it explained why it was here, but whoever lived there had made an effort to be out of the way.
“We will make camp soon.” Maddox walked ahead of us, using a handkerchief to dab at the sweat on his forehead.
Naomi ran her hand through her hair, heaving as she climbed over thick roots and the slight hill winding around the house and its grounds.
“We need to go farther in.” Maddox pulled his map and compass out again. He turned on the spot and nodded. “This way.”
The shadowed canopy above us was dotted with stars. Maddox had brought a dark object and had manipulated it to create a line of protection around us, which was temporary but effective. Naomi used her magic to create an illusion around us to any who might approach this area, so they would only see trees, making us invisible. I should have felt safe in our bubble, but something didn’t feel right.
A scream sounded in the distance. It was faint, and if it weren’t for the dead silence of the night, I would have missed it. I sat upright, then heard another scream.
Maddox turned onto his side, snorted, and continued to snore. Naomi slept peacefully on her stomach. I looked around, my fingers gripped into the mud around the blanket I slept on.
The next sound set every fiber of my being on fire: a loud growl, one I recognized. I’d heard it when Freya had broken into the mansion and Raiden had fought her, the same one I’d heard when Thalia died and he took off Lucius’s head.
I closed my eyes. If it was him, Maddox and Naomi would without a doubt report him, and they’d be right to. They were doing all this so the gods wouldn’t be hunted, but if Raiden was killing, they wouldn’t care. If he was murdering people, then he was a monster, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake them.
Maddox was right. I must’ve had a death wish. I was definitely an idiot.
I stepped outside of the protection of our small camp and into the night, then took off in the direction of the house we’d seen earlier, the only source of people anywhere close. It had to be where the screams had come from.
Branches whipped my arms and hands, grappling through the dark like fingers. In the distance, a wolf howled from somewhere in the mountains. Glancing up at the bright crescent moon, I paused to catch my breath. “Please don’t be Raiden,” I whispered to the sky as another scream sounded. I unsheathed my dagger and grabbed my pistol from my belt before taking off again.
I tiptoed around the side of the building, keeping my back against the wall. The door had been ripped off. As I walked, glass crunched under my boots. To my right was a broken window. Carefully, holding my breath, I edged my way through the door. Splattered blood dotted the beige walls and grand staircase. A man, whose heart was no longer in his chest, was propped against a doorway. Hesitantly, I stepped forward through the doorway and into a large ballroom. My mouth dropped.
Bodies were everywhere. Some were intact, many in shreds. A party must have gone horribly wrong. At least they were all adults. I placed my hand against my chest, feeling my racing heart, and then I found him. Raiden’s tortured gaze found mine from across the bloodied room.
“Don’t come closer.”
“What did you do?” I looked over the dead bodies and the blood. Gods, there was so much blood. I blinked twice. This couldn’t be. Aziel. I’d sworn it was him. Not Raiden. “Why?”
Fury spilled into his chiseled features. “I said leave.” His anger guided each venom-laced word. “Why don’t you ever listen? I said get out.”
A tear threatened to break through my façade. His glossed eyes averted mine. My lips parted slightly. Everything screamed at me to run. Between us, a pool of blood glistened under the reflected diamonds on the chandelier above, a reminder of what he was capable of: how he could easily tear my heart from my chest and I wouldn’t stand a chance. But he hadn’t. He never had laid a finger on me. I’d always enjoyed gambling, but now I was betting my life by not leaving. In my darkest hour, he’d come for me. He was in this mess because he’d come to save me from Freya and instead fallen into a trap. I couldn’t leave him after that.
“Raiden.” I closed the distance between us. Tears filled my eyes. Had he really broken, snapped because of Thalia? “This isn’t you.” I reached out to touch him, but he flinched back.
“I said don’t.”
Tears hazed my vision. “They’re going to hunt you for this.” I swallowed thickly. “You should hear what people have been saying. That you’re mad.” I couldn’t look at the bodies for a second longer. “The local people. They’ve seen you. One said he thinks these killings are the work of a god.” Bile bit up my throat. “I know there’s a reason for this. I get why Alexander died. He was with Freya, protecting her, but what about the others?”
He turned his back toward me. “Because I’m a monster.”
“Bullshit.” I shook my head. “You didn’t hurt us when you could have. You protected me against Freya. You said yourself you wouldn’t hurt innocents to get what you want.” My stomach twisted as I shook away the image of the dead in my peripheral vision. “You came for me when I needed you. So I’m not leaving you.”
He punched the wall, and I jumped back. “I said get out.” He turned to face me. “Like the rumors said, I’m mad.” His eyes widened. “Insane. Dangerous. Heed the warning, and get the fuck out of here.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “From where I’m standing, you look like only your normal crazy to me.”
He clenched his fists against the wall, his knuckles whitening under specks of blood. Under his breath, an unmistakable sob escaped. His breath hitched, but he caught himself before he broke.
