Page 173 of The Games Gods Play
I half laugh but can’t help pulling a face. “Yes, all. Even Dex. There’s a reason.” I clasp my hands in my lap to keep from fiddling. “We don’t have much time, so I’ll lay it out for you plainly. All right?”
They nod.
I glance behind them toward the stairs, then start talking rapid-fire. I tell them about Boone. About how Hades can make him a god, but only if I win and he becomes king.
“Why are you telling us?” Zai asks slowly, strategic mind at work. I can see in his eyes that he’s already tracking where I’m headed.
There’s a bit of a distance between us now. All of us. Not palpable or bad, just…there. I’m not sure if it’s because they survived three more Labors without me, or something else.
“Because I’m going to propose something to the entire group of champions, but you are my closest allies. So, I wanted to tell you first.”
Movement on the stairs has me glancing over them again. The five of us get to our feet as first Jackie and then the others all make their way up to where we are.
No Hades. No Charon. No other gods or goddesses.
Just us.
85
A Gambit
As they arrive, most of the champions look around in open-mouthed wonder, and I smile as I give them a chance to take in these surroundings. Okay, yes, their reactions are even better than I imagined. It feels almost like this is my home and I’m proud to show it off.
Blast and brimstone, Lyra. Get a grip and get started.
“Thank you for coming,” I say.
“What the fuck is this about, Keres?” Dex demands.
I guess his blessing of foreknowledge only applies to the Labors. Although he was right when he told Boone that he may not be winning but he’s still here.
“Please sit down. I promise I’ll tell you everything. After that, you can return to Olympus regardless.”
“Regardless of what?” Jackie is the one to ask slowly, searching my face not in suspicion but concern.
We all sit, some more reluctantly than others. I nudge Zai. “Congratulations, by the way.”
He shoots me a smile that’s just a little bit lacking.
“What was the constellation Hera made?” I ask.
They all look to Dae, who tips his head back like he can see the stars here. He can’t—or not the same stars, though I pick out shapes in the bright spots that glow on the ceiling—so he slowly lowers his gaze. “It’s called halmeoni,” he says. That isn’t English, and I don’t think it’s Greek. I raise my brows in question.
“Grandmother,” he says quietly. “In Korean.”
For him? My throat closes around an ache. Maybe Hera wasn’t quite as hard-hearted about that as she seemed.
Dae meets my gaze, and in his eyes, I can see an understanding. A mutual sort of wound. We both lost the people we love most. “Maybe she’ll give you one for Boone, too,” he says. He even smiles a little, kindness there in his eyes. “She could call it the thief.”
I smile back, dropping my gaze to my hands, which are now tangled in my lap. “I think he’d love that.”
I glance around at the others. “Where’s…” I almost don’t want to ask. “Samuel?”
Meike takes my hand. “What did they tell you?”
I look from face to face. “They told me about each game and who won. And about…Neve. She died in the Fields of Forgetting?”
“That’s one way to put it,” Dex mutters darkly.
