Chapter 40 #2
Rydon watched the interaction between the god and the shifter.
He didn’t know either well enough to know what they’d do next, but whatever happened, he was ready to spirit Sonah away.
He’d throw her over his shoulder if he had to.
Rydon knew Daris would assist as best he could, although he worried there was something going on between him and Hermes that wouldn’t allow him to hurt the god.
Not for the first time, Rydon wondered how the two had met in the first place.
“Sonah.” Hermes looked over at her. Rydon tensed. “Do you vouch for this man?”
“What? Yes? Aye.” Sonah frowned and looked between the two. “Aye.”
Hermes nodded. He crooked his finger and after a moment’s hesitation, Leander followed. The two huddled together. Hermes was whispering something to Leander no one was close enough to hear.
“Be ready to run,” Rydon said near Sonah’s ear. “Back exit. Melanos and Bethana are already out there.”
Sonah nodded.
“Daris. Go fetch Melanos. I don’t know why he thinks I do not know he’s here.
” Hermes turned and grinned at everyone in the room.
“And that, my dear gentlemen and, of course, my beautiful niece, is the end of tonight’s entertainment.
But keep an ear out for our next production. I call it, ‘The Fall of a Small Man’.”
Hermes grinned and clapped his hands before abruptly striding down the center aisle between the tables. Rydon watched him walk away with a few of his men and Captain Soros trailing behind.
“What the fuck was all that about?” Daris asked as he came over. Rydon shrugged.
He turned back to Sonah, offering his arm for her to take. As soon as she did, she pitched forward and emptied her stomach.
Sonah paced her room. It may have been a cowardly move on her part, but she did not wish to watch Hermes swan about as if he was the king of the realm. She’d decided during his conversation with Leander that she did not like the god.
A knock sounded at her door. Before Sonah could call out, the door creaked open and she gasped as Bethana snuck inside.
“Wha—”
“Shh,” the nymph cautioned, bringing a finger to her lips as she closed the door. Moving quickly, she grasped Sonah’s hands. “We have a plan to sneak you out.”
“But I can’t leave!” Sonah whispered loudly, growling when Bethana shushed her again. “What about Leander? Hermes is acting crazy enough to actually kill him!”
Bethana waved her hand as if it was a ludicrous thought.
“He won’t. Hermes won’t do anything that will push you further away.
You and your sister are too important. Listen to me.
Rydon is waiting by the spring near the olive grove.
Melanos and I spoke and he’s going to stay behind with Hermes. I will come with you.”
Sonah shook her head even though she wanted to do exactly as Bethana was saying. “I don’t know…”
Bethana gripped her hands harder. “Would you rather stay here with Hermes or would you rather go to your sister?”
“What about the others? What about Daris? And Leander! He’s—”
“Hermes has your wolf by the short hairs,” Bethana sniped and Sonah scrunched her face in confusion. What did that even mean?
“Hermes is trying to control your sister by holding on to you,” the nymph continued. She dropped Sonah’s hands and strode past her, gathering Sonah’s meager belongings.
Before long, Bethana had gathered everything into a bag and shoved it in Sonah’s arms. “We need to leave here while Melanos and the commander are distracting Hermes. They will be fine here. Neither of them can die, so I doubt Hermes will exert himself too much in trying.”
“He could still hurt them,” Sonah mumbled as she followed after Bethana on wooden legs. The nymph opened the door and, after peeking out into the corridor, motioned for Sonah to follow.
They snuck down the hall and the steps leading behind the refectory through the courtyard. Sonah glanced behind her. Before she could turn her head back around, she smacked into Bethana.
“Ow!”
Rubbing at her nose, she glanced up to find the nymph frozen in place, staring up with her mouth opened.
“And where are you two little mice scurrying off to?”
Daris’s mood could not sour further. He stood in the wide courtyard beside Melanos, his hand on the pommel of his sword in a hold so tight his hand cramped. Trying to regulate his breathing, he stared out at Sonah’s dawning horror.
“You know,” Hermes went on with a wag of his finger as he gave Sonah a fiendish grin. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get away from me. But that can’t be!”
Hermes spread his arms and looked around at his men, all of whom were grinning or chuckling at the women as they huddled close together. Bethana tried to move in front of Sonah but the little goddess was having none of it.
“Aye, I was trying to get out of here,” Sonah called out, her voice shaking but loud as she lifted her chin. Glaring at the god, she fisted her hands at her sides. “I’m going to find my sister. And you will do nothing to stop me.”
A few of the men made sounds of amusement as Hermes’s grin turned feral. His eyes darkened. “Oh, little mouse. I think you underestimate what I will do.”
Daris shifted and glanced at Jason. His lieutenant was staring at Sonah with impotent rage. They all knew what was about to happen and none of them could do a thing about it.
Hermes glared at Sonah for a few charged seconds before the young shifter was brought forth. Bloodied and barely able to stand, he was dragged before Hermes by Scar and another one of his men named Theo.
Sonah’s face lost all color and she darted forward, screeching Leander’s name. Bethana grabbed her arm and held her back as Sonah raged at Hermes, tears streaming as she yelled unintelligible words at the god.
“You did this,” Hermes said, his eyes wide as he held up his hands. “I had a feeling you and your friends were planning something foolish and, since I can’t kill your eudaemon, the poor shifter drew the short straw.”
Sonah glanced over at Jason before looking away quickly. Daris exhaled, grateful Sonah at least had the sense not to bring any scrutiny on someone else she cared for.
Snatching her arm out of Bethana’s grip, Sonah swiped at the tears on her cheeks and set her lips in a sneer. “You are an unbelievable coward.”
A few gasps sounded around them that were quickly stifled as Hermes’s face turned red. But the goddess did not back down.
“No wonder you lost the war.”
Dead silence greeted her words which fell heavily in the air around them. Daris’s heart thudded wildly, his chest full of pride at the young woman’s bravery.
“Watch yourself,” Hermes snarled, edging closer to the wolf shifter on the ground. He bent and snatched at Leander’s hair and lifted the man’s face to Sonah. “Or I will kill him right now.”
“What will you use as leverage then, I wonder,” Sonah spat, her eyes manic as she glared back at Hermes. She didn’t spare a glance at the shifter.
Hermes did not respond and a moment later, Sonah’s smile turned wicked.
“You know,” Sonah said in a soft voice, although still loud in the stunned silence. “I thought you’d be more powerful. You’re a god, thousands of years old and yet… you’re threatening me with the death of this boy.”
Daris dared a glance at Melanos, who was grinning at Sonah.
Hermes did not reply, but his face betrayed him. Daris looked between the two and noticed a flash of panic before it disappeared from Hermes’s face, so fast Daris must’ve imagined it.
Sonah took a step closer. “You’re the only Olympian in this realm,” Sonah continued, narrowing her eyes. “You’ve been here awhile, I think. But chose to stay in the north until Terena found you.”
Still, Hermes said nothing, fuming in silence as he glared back at Sonah.
“Even now that you’ve found us…” She cocked her head, shifting her eyes to the ground. When she looked back up at the god, she frowned. “You’re not as powerful as you were before, are you?”
Daris noted the subtle shift in the air around them as Hermes’s soldiers looked at one another. Hermes looked as if his eyes were about to burst from his head. Melanos’s grin widened.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Sonah asked in a voice more thoughtful than inquiring. “You can’t use your powers, not like before, am I right?”
“You are killing him with every word out of your mouth, Sonah,” Hermes growled.
“Aye,” she said, her eyes turning sad. “I believe you. I don’t want you to hurt him, so you have me. For now.”
Sonah sighed, and for a moment looked older than her years as she glanced behind her at Bethana. When she turned back, her eyes found Daris, and she gave him a tight smile.
“But the others are to leave to help Terena in Metilai,” she added.
“No,” Hermes ground out, his grip tightening on the shifter.
“Do you know how negotiations work?” Sonah sneered, stepping closer to the god. “At the very least, let Leander go.”
Hermes dropped his hold on the shifter, who fell over onto his hands. Sonah moved to his side with a glare at the god.
“I will never forget this,” Sonah whispered up at him, and Daris wasn’t sure if it was gratitude for Hermes releasing Leander or a promise of retribution to come.