Chapter 45 #2
“I think I have a way.”
Startled, they all took a step back as Sonah ducked out from Daris’s tent.
Sonah strutted toward the first part of her plan: Hermes.
The god was inside his tent, the largest in the encampment.
He’d left her alone for most of the journey to Metilai, although she caught him more than once staring at her.
She wondered if he was still upset over her defiance at Lethe, but the way he looked at her was more frustrated confusion than annoyance.
Sonah squared her shoulders as she approached, the two soldiers posted outside eyeing her warily. She’d not voluntarily been in Hermes’s presence before, and Rydon had worried her sudden interest would instantly alert him to her hidden agenda.
While it was a worry, it wasn’t what preoccupied Sonah right then as she gave both of the guards a tight smile and asked to enter.
“What are you doing?”
Sonah winced. Turning, she pasted a smile on her face she hoped wasn’t as sickly-looking as she felt.
“Leander.” Sonah greeted the shifter, her eyes searching his face. She wanted to reach out to touch his beautiful face now bruised and swollen from the beating he’d received from Hermes’s men at Lethe.
The shifter, however, stared down at her with hard eyes and a strange look she didn’t understand. Averting her gaze, Sonah looked to the guard beside them who watched with a frown.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“What am I doing here?” Leander motioned with his chin. “What are you doing here? If Hermes has asked to see you, I’m coming with you.”
“No.” Sonah cut off her objection, swallowing past the urge to stomp her foot. Her eye twitched as she looked up into Leander’s green eyes. Those beautiful orbs were now surrounded by swollen lids and the right one had blood on most of the white of his eye.
Leander crossed his arms and moved closer.
Sonah refused to step back.
Opening her mouth to tell him to leave, Sonah was preempted by Hermes’s bellow for her to enter.
“I hear you out there, niece.”
Sonah rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. Leander was looking at her with such determination, she balled her hands to fists and turned, her movements jerky as she slapped the tent flap aside and entered. She didn’t hold it for Leander.
Hermes was seated at a large desk which was oddly out of place. How the hells had he brought it with? Sonah didn’t recall a wagon cart in their convoy.
As she glanced around the spacious tent, she noted the gilded candelabra stands and a bed—a bed!—with gorgeous velvet blankets that looked black but as she neared saw were a deep ruby.
“Leave us,” Hermes said to the two men who flanked him. When she turned to face him, he was eyeing Leander pointedly.
Leander lifted his chin and stared back at Hermes. Clasping his hands in front of him, his face set, he remained silent.
“Aye, Leander,” Sonah said, cringing as her voice sounded an octave too high to her ears. Modulating her voice, she added, “I wish to speak with Hermes alone.”
Leander’s eyes snapped to her and she tried not to cringe at the mess they’d made of his face. He shook his head.
“I will not leave you alone.” He turned back to Hermes. “I heard what you did to her sister, lord. My… patron would not like it if I failed her.”
Sonah blinked. What?
A thunderous expression flashed across Hermes’s handsome features before he smiled at Leander.
Shifting his intense gaze to Sonah, Hermes motioned with an elegant hand for her to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Sonah hoped Leander wouldn’t fuck this up for her.
“I want an escort into the city,” she started. Leander swiveled his head to her, about to object. “I want Rydon and Daris to accompany me—”
“Let me stop you right there,” Hermes said in a bored tone. “First, you’re not going anywhere near the city until we’ve secured it with our victory. Which will be very soon. Second, Daris is not going anywhere. He’s mortal now and—”
Sonah gasped. “What? How? When?”
“Oh, right!” Hermes chuckled, slapping his hands on the desk as he rose. “I forgot! Happy Nameday, niece.”
Nonplussed, Sonah gawked at the god. “Huh?”
“Aye, not as exciting a day for you as it is for your sister, but still! You’re eighteen now, how does it feel?”
The blood leached from her body. “What?”
Hermes waved a hand as he tutted. “I know, I know. Your time will come, though! Today, Terena is immortal and, with her powers, we’ll soon take the city.”
“And… and… Daris?”
Hermes’s lips twisted and a flash of ire raced across his eyes before he lowered his gaze. He came around the desk and leaned against the front, crossing his ankles.
“Daris is no longer a eudaemon. So, I don’t want him going into the city ahead of the fighting. I still have some… work to do with him.”
“Well,” Sonah spluttered, her mind racing as her plan fell apart. Cursing under her breath, she squared her shoulders and looked up at the god. “You—you make him immortal then! Now!”
Red tinged the god’s cheeks and he pushed away from the desk.
“Leave us,” he snarled at Leander. This time, Sonah nodded at him and, thankfully, he left without a word of protest.
Hermes stared at her a moment before shoving a hand through his hair. His dishevelment was uncharacteristic and she frowned at the rare glimpse of vulnerability from this powerful being.
“As you so eloquently put it earlier, my dear niece, my powers are limited. I don’t know why, so don’t ask.
I suspect it has to do with you and Terena but I’m not sure.
I’ve spoken with Melanos as well, back at Lethe, and he confirmed he’s similarly afflicted.
Although, he hasn’t been feeling as… murderous as I have of late. ”
Sonah gaped at him. “So, what’s that mean? What—how do we fix it? We need to fix it! We can’t start a war with the emp—”
“We will deal with it later,” Hermes snapped.
“Your sister’s powers should be enough. Whatever it is, it’s not affecting her.
I was with her in Olympia for a month before we came south.
She was powerful then. Far stronger than a god before ascension.
Terena will win Metilai for us, and we will figure out the rest when the time comes. ”
“I need to go.”
Hermes frowned at her but Sonah wasted no time, turning and lunging through the tent before Hermes could respond.
She felt him shadowing her steps and she raced ahead, weaving her way through the warriors and their tents, her heart in her throat threatening to choke her as she fought the sobs rearing their ill-timed heads.