Chapter Fifteen
Roux
She knew. The Guild knew.
Fuck.
“How did you—”
“How did I know?” Lazarra cut in with a laugh. “Honey, I run the Guild. I have spies everywhere.”
Okay, that was both awesome and terrifying. “But we only talked about the idea yesterday.”
The Head of the Guild arched an eyebrow. “And I knew that yesterday, hence why you’re here today. I want to know what you know. I will also close the investigation against Thanatos, and he can be reinstated as the Grim Reaper.”
“That’s generous of you,” I said as I crossed my arms.
“Well, I do have a copy of Atticus’ report on Thane and the missing souls, and I have a snippet of your conversation from yesterday. It’s quite clear that the God of Death is not responsible for the missing souls.”
“Or other supes,” Avery chimed in. “We’re aware of all the missing people. Ghosts, witches and vampires.”
“So what are you doing about it?” Rafe asked, his voice a low growl.
“Investigating, obviously,” Jefferson scoffed with an eye roll.
“What my charming friend here means,” Daire chuckled, “is that we have people looking into it. Several investigators, actually.”
Lazarra pointed at us all. “So tell me what you know, or I’ll have the lot of you rotting in the Pits before you can bat a pretty eye.”
Rafe turned to grin at me and batted his eyelashes. “She thinks our eyes are pretty.”
“Fucking hell,” Lazarra muttered under her breath.
I glanced at the twins, communicating my question through our bond. The pair of them shared a silent look, and then both nodded. They thought we could trust them. I turned to Thane and Atticus, and both of them looked back at me with a ‘what-other-choice-do-we-have’ kind of look.
I wasn’t sure if we could trust them; I’d only just met them, but Lazarra seemed to have stuck her neck out in the past for Atticus, and the others didn’t give me traitor vibes. I took a deep breath and told the Guild everything, because let’s be honest, we needed all the help we could get.
“Well, hot damn, girl,” Avery cheered whilst clapping her fingers. “You got down and dirty with Hades.”
Jefferson hit Avery with a flat look. “That is not what she said.”
Avery grinned like a kid in a candy shop. “Pfft, you can see it in her face. She totally glanced past that, and why else would he be wearing a plain tee and sweatpants?”
I blanched. “I didn’t tell you that.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, sorry. You projected that picture loud and clear. Normally, I don’t go looking around people’s heads, but I didn’t need to with that image.”
“Huh?”
Avery chuckled. “I have a mild telepathy ability. Comes in useful when detecting lies.”
“And images for your wank bank, apparently,” I sassed, but I was mildly impressed. It was rare to meet a shifter who could read minds. I leant across the table and lowered my voice. “But seriously, how amazing were those grey sweatpants?”
“Fucking fire.” Avery kissed the tips of her fingers in a chef’s kiss. “I am jealous, girl, and sweet Gods—”
“Enough,” Jefferson said before shuddering. “We don’t need to know. This isn’t a social gathering.”
“Oh, lighten up, Jeffrey baby,” Avery crooned.
“Don’t call me that,” he snapped.
There was definitely something going on between those two, and if there wasn’t, there should be.
Those two were cute together. I’m not completely sure how a relationship with a ghost would work, with ghosts not being solid all the time, but I had heard stories of some ghosts having wonderful relationships with the living, so it must work.
Maybe they put all their energy into making their dick solid so they could have sex?
But they didn’t have any blood, so how did they get an erection?
“What on earth are you thinking about, kitten?” Atticus whispered by my ear as Jefferson and Avery continued to squabble.
“Why?”
He leaned closer, and his lips brushed my earlobe. “Because you look like you’re constipated and turned on at the same time.”
A snort flew out my nose so fast that it turned into a sputtering cough. Atticus, the asshole, laughed at me, and everyone else in the room stared at me like I’d grown another head.
“Are you alright?” Thane asked, his brows pinched in concern.
“Yep,” I replied, slamming my fist on my chest to dislodge the air bubble I was choking on. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Daire said as he leaned towards me over the table.
“Honestly, I’m good,” I finally managed to say without coughing up a lung.
I shot Atticus a death stare, then turned back to Lazarra.
“Look, I’m grateful that you’ve closed the investigation on Thane, really I am, but what are you going to do about the God Killer or the person creating it? Is it even possible?”
“Roux, we have access to the world's most important texts, artefacts and more, and we have no known source stating that the God Killer could, or does, exist.” Lazarra said, and my heart dropped. “Except one.”
Rory opened another file—seriously, where was he pulling these from?—and pulled out a high-resolution image of a scrap of paper. It was literally a fragment, with nothing on it but a few words.
I pulled the image closer towards me. “What is this?”
Lazarra sank back into her chair and crossed one leg over the other. “We believe that this is all that remains of the diary of the mortal who tried to create the God Killer for Hera during her last rebellion against Zeus.”
“Who was he?” Thane asked as he leaned closer.
“Who said it was a ‘he’?” Avery said, a smug grin on her face.
“You know, I don’t really remember much from back then,” Thane said, his voice soft and his eyes glazed as if he were trying to recall a memory.
“I rarely left the Underworld, and I wasn’t interested in the Olympians.
I heard about Hera’s little rebellion, of course, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.
Maybe I should have? I might know a bit more about this whole thing. ”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” I said to Thane. “We can figure it out together.”
He nodded but it was half-hearted, and his eyes glazed over as he lost himself to memories. Knowing Thane, he’d be wandering in that cavernous mind of his for a while.
“Does he always do that?” Avery asked as she waved her hand in front of his face.
“Yep. Sometimes he gets lost in there for days,” I said as I returned my attention to the scrap of paper. “Is this in the Infernal Tongue?”
“It is,” Rory replied. “Can you read it, or do you need a translation?”
“I can read it. I just need a minute.” Infernal Tongue wasn’t spoken anymore apart from the gatekeeper demons in Tartarus.
The language used to be spoken by all people in the Underworld, but as the world evolved and supernaturals started to mix with humans, we adopted their language, and now the Infernal Tongue is a dying language.
It hadn’t really been spoken for millennia.
The patterns and shapes shifted as I watched them, deciphering into something readable.
Reapers were equipped with the ability to speak any language because we went all over the world collecting souls.
How awkward would it be if you had to try and play charades with someone to tell them they were dead?
A whisper on the breeze came through my window saying the key to killing the All Powerful was a drop of night blood, an essence of life, a wisp of death and…
“And what?” I looked up at Rory to find his green eyes watching me like a hawk.
He shrugged his shoulders carelessly. “We don’t know. There is no other remaining part of the text. The mortal’s house was destroyed by one of Zeus’ thunderbolts, and this is all that remains.”
Was it me, or was that too much of a coincidence? “Seems fishy.”
“It’s all we have,” Jefferson said, folding his arms and leaning back.
I huffed a breath. “I’m just saying that it seems a bit convenient that this was the only scrap left after Zeus destroyed her house. Was there anything else left?”
“Roux is right,” Rafe said as he reached over to tangle his fingers around mine, his touch instantly soothing. “This makes it seem like someone is goading you.”
“Maybe it’s the Fates?” Avery added cheerfully. “Maybe they placed it there for us to find because they knew we would need it at this very moment.”
The Fates’ brand on my arm prickled with heat as if they were listening in to our conversation. Maybe the perky shifter was right. Perhaps this was the Fates steering us in a particular direction.
I was starting to understand why Hades disliked the Fates so much. They weren’t supposed to interfere, merely observe, but had they planned this moment from all the way back then?
For fuck’s sake, I was going to be spouting conspiracy theories next. “Whether it is Fate or not, we should probably look at it with a pinch of salt.”
“Agreed,” Rayne growled, his fingers tapping away on his thigh.
“Well, what do you suggest?” Lazarra asked with a wave of her hand.
“Me and the guys have been tasked with retrieving the creatures we freed from the Vault. We will just conveniently start looking in the places where people have gone missing or where the vampires were found drained.” I cast a glance at the men by my side, and they all nodded in agreement.
Jefferson quirked an eyebrow. “And what makes you think you’ll find answers when we haven’t?”
I scoffed and stood up from my chair. “With all due respect, your investigators aren’t us.”
Lazarra stood up, buttoning her sharp tailored jacket. “Fine, but I will ask one of the Guild Council to act as a Liaison.” She cocked her head and pursed her lips. “You can have Daire. He needs more diplomatic experience.”
The incubus’ eyebrows shot to his hairline. “Do I?”
Lazarra hit him with a flat look. “Do I need to remind you of the disaster that occurred the last time you were topside?”
A blush bloomed across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. “No, Lazarra. You do not.”
Colour me intrigued. I wonder what that story was all about. “Fine, we will get him settled in the mansion with us. Do you need time to pack?”
Daire shook his head. “I have a go bag with me at all times.”
“We all do,” Avery piped up. “Never know where we might be heading next. It’s one of the things I love about this job.”
“Of course you do,” Jefferson grumbled, but Avery just continued to smile.
I wish I had that kind of sunshine rolling around in my soul.
That happy-go-lucky vibe that made people around you instantly feel better because they were soaking up the goodness that you just radiated.
I was someone with only memories from the past ten years, and before that I could have been anyone.
Maybe I had been someone with a sunny disposition.
Or maybe I’d been a loner, or just average.
Not too good, but not too bad either. Would I ever know who I’d been, or would I always be Roux the Reaper and nothing more?
“Well, this has been fun and all, but we have some places to investigate,” I drawled as I pushed my chair back under the table.
Everyone else followed suit, packing up and starting to clear up.
“Don’t forget about all the creatures we need to find,” Rafe added as he wrapped an arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze.
Rayne came to stand at my other side, his hand circling around the back of my neck. “Or the Games we have to prepare for.”
“Urgh, don’t remind me about that.” The last thing I wanted to think about was the Games of the Gods, where I was probably going to get myself and my Hounds killed in a particularly gruesome but crowd-pleasing way.
Lazarra looked over the twins and me with a curious glance but said nothing. I still needed to have a little word about changing the law about Reapers and Hellhounds with Hades. I wasn’t sure it would get me anywhere, but all campaigns for change had to start somewhere.
“Thank you all for your time,” Lazarra said as she walked towards the door. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you all. If there’s anything I can help with, do give me a call.”
She handed me a business card, and Rory did the same before exiting, the scent of a sea breeze following him out of the door.
“Call me,” Avery said as she also handed me a business card, and Jefferson just rolled his eyes at her. The pair of them left squabbling, and Gods, they were going to make a cute couple.
The only Guild member left was Daire. His striking sapphire blue eyes were fixed on me, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was under a microscope.
There was no warmth in the way he was looking at me, which was at odds with the seductive, playful gaze he’d had earlier. Then he blinked, and it was gone.
Weird…
I’d be keeping an eye on that incubus while he was with us. I got the distinct feeling that there was more to him than met the eye.
“Shall we go home?” Thane asked as he held the door open for us.
“Absolutely. There’s just one thing I need to do first.” I pulled Thane’s scythe out of the shadows and held it out to him. It was time to hand it back. I didn’t know how I knew that; it was just instinctual. A feeling that I didn’t need it anymore and that it was in the wrong place now.
Thane looked at it warily. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Yes, it doesn’t need me anymore.”
The God of Death took the massive scythe from my hand, and I felt the power of it seep from my bones, travelling along my arms until it passed through my fingers and back to Thane. There was a ripple of magic through the air, tugging at my hair and clothes as Thane finally took back his scythe.
He hummed softly, a sigh of contentment leaving him as he pulled the scythe back into his shadows. “Thank you.”
I cupped his jaw and smiled. “You’re very welcome, Thane.”
His sky blue eyes held mine for a moment longer as he leaned into my touch, his expression warm and soft.
There was a flutter of something travelling through my bond with Atticus, and I turned to look at him.
He was watching the two of us with a curious expression, and I wondered what he was thinking.
“If you wouldn’t mind taking me wherever it is we’re going, I’d appreciate it,” Daire said, his voice a little strained as he adjusted himself in his trousers. “There’s enough sexual tension in here to feed me for days.”
I dropped my hand and stepped back from Thane. “Sorry.”
Thane went to speak but stopped himself, scowled, and then turned on his heel and walked out of his office.
What the hell was that about?