21. Hades
Hades
I was a stupid, stupid god.
How could I have trusted Hermes? How could I have trusted anyone?
I should have known it was a trap, but…
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter as long as Sandro was dead.
I would do anything to save him. Anything. Even fall into a foolish trap.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t…” I told him, his ethereal image fading out faster than I could speak. “Save you.”
And like that, he was gone.
He was still around. He was still visible to everyone else. But not me.
I was no longer god of the dead. I had no power to see him.
It was dark without him. It was darker than dark. And as the previous lord of darkness, I knew what I was talking about.
“Sandro,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I let you down.”
I lifted a hand in front of me, where he had been only moments ago, but my fingers met no resistance. That didn’t stop the hairs on my arm from rising.
“I hope you can forgive me.”
“My lord—” Thanatos said, and I snapped around.
“You dare address me after everything you two have done?” The heat that overtook me was unfamiliar, but the anger that triggered it was not.
“We’re sorry, my lord. We thought?—”
“You thought you’d ambush your master and take everything he’s got. That’s what you thought.”
Hypnos shook his head and opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak.
“Shut up. Both of you.” I conjured my Sais, and their cool steel soothed a little of the pain but not enough to feel whole again. “It’s your fault Sandro’s dead. Prepare to die!”
I launched at the twins with everything I had. It wasn’t much, but I no longer cared. If I at least took those bastards down, I’d have accomplished something good. I’d have taken some revenge.
I pulled my arms back and attacked. The brothers stepped back. I stumbled.
A sharpness tore at my shoulder. I’d gone and managed to get myself scraped by my very own weapons. How pathetic was I? I looked at the two idiots who had cost me everything and growled. If I was going down, I was taking them with me.
I made another attempt to attack them, to inflict any sort of pain, but all I did was lose my balance and collapse on the floor.
Before I could get back up and try again, a hand came down on my shoulder. It felt ten times heavier than it actually was. The fight with Hermes, giving up my powers, losing any sort of hope of saving Sandro? They had all inflicted much more pain on me than my self-inflicted, superfluous scratch, but naturally, it was that scratch that singed my body and made me wince. A wince I somehow turned into a growl that let Thanatos know he should back off.
He didn’t.
“You have every right to be angry, my lord. But…Hermes tricked us too. He lied. He said he only wanted to teach you a lesson. He said he wanted to free us all of our eternal duties. He never said he wanted you both dead,” Thanatos said.
“That’s right, my lord. We wouldn’t have helped him if we knew?—”
“If you knew what? That he was going to betray you? The only reason you’re still here is because he dumped you.”
I needed to rest. As long as I even had left to rest.
Or maybe I should just give up now and let the Wraiths come for me like they’d come for him.
Oh, Sandro, my dear. I failed you. I’m a terrible mate.
“You’re wrong, Hades!” Hypnos shouted. “That’s what’s wrong with you. That’s why we went along with Hermes’ plan. Because we thought it was what you needed to realize that you’re not the only one suffering. We’ve suffered too.”
“You two are scum. Get out of my sight. Before I find a way to kill you both.” My muscles screamed at me. I’d never felt my muscles so strongly before, but I was feeling them now.
I was feeling everything now. All kinds of things. And I hated them all.
“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to take care of you,” Thanatos said.
“I don’t want anything from you.” I pulled away from his reach but to no avail. I could barely move my body.
“Maybe you don’t, but we’re still going to take care of you,” Thanatos insisted.
“I’d rather you protect him,” I said. They knew who I meant. I didn’t need to spell it out. Then again, they were unholy fools, so perhaps I did.
I looked behind me at the empty spot where Sandro had been and choked back another growl.
“Him. Sandro. You’ve got to protect Sandro.”
My words came out slurred, barely audible. My eyes were getting heavier by the moment.
What a poor excuse of a god I was.
Not only had I not been able to save my soulmate, I’d managed to kill myself in the process too.
Was I the god of stupidity after all?
“We will,” Hypnos said. “But first…” He waved his hand over me.
My ears popped, and I couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Then, my limbs went numb. I collapsed in front of my subjects like a limp marionette.
And last, my eyes filled with more darkness.
“It’s time to sleep.” His words weren’t so much heard as they were felt.
The fucker had put me to sleep.
How much more embarrassment and failure could the god of the Underworld take?