Page 197 of The Games Gods Play
What a slimy, unhelpful, crappy emotion to have to deal with.
I don’t like it. I won’t do it.
Whatever I thought he and I were or could be in my most secret of hearts is over. Any love I could have felt for him is a corpse at the bottom of a frozen lake.
I get to my feet, and both Charon and Cerberus follow suit, standing slightly behind me as I face Hades.
“Was I wrong?” I ask calmly.
“What?” Hades’ voice is a growl of warning.
I could get used to this kind of frostiness. Like nothing can penetrate my heart now. Not love, not anger, not hurt…definitely not him.
“She put their heads on spikes,” I say. “She put Boone’s head on a spike. And she smiled as her champion killed Meike after she’d already won. She did something to Dex to make him like that. She is a monster.”
“Damn it, Lyra!” he snarls. “She is, but you called her that twice. With the entire immortal world watching. You think she isn’t going to take retribution?”
I huff an uncaring laugh. “She can Medusa me, for all I care. At least then I can turn assholes like you to stone with a single glance.”
Hades rears back, eyes flaring with shock before they narrow sharply. “Leave us,” he commands Charon and Cerberus.
Neither of them move.
In fact, both of them look to me. I’m still watching Hades, so I see when that registers. I catch the moment he realizes that his only two friends in this world are protecting me…from him.
And I see what it does to him. The way he absorbs the hit almost physically before slowly pulling his shoulders back, spine straightening, face going as blank as I feel, smoke swirling around him like a moat of protection.
“I’ll be okay,” I say to them quietly.
Neither is happy about it, but they go, disappearing from the mountain, leaving me alone with Hades.
I don’t wait for him to take the lead. He doesn’t get to do that anymore.
“I know,” I tell him.
Black brows snap down. “Know what?”
“That Persephone is still alive. Is that why you need to become King of the Gods?”
His features go slowly stony as if I just petrified him with a glance, a word.
I was right. It’s true. It’s all true.
Hades takes a step. “Lyra—”
“Don’t.” I slowly move back, still so calm it doesn’t feel real. Nothing feels real. I’m pretty sure the pain is coming after I thaw. “You don’t want to come anywhere near me right now.”
He stops.
“Was that what last night was about? Boosting my confidence or something to try to get me to win? You feel nothing for me. I’m just a tool.”
“I—”
“That wasn’t a question.” I don’t want to hear that it’s true, and I won’t believe him if he says it’s not.
I take another slow, careful step back, even though he doesn’t move. “I thought I could see you. The real you. But it was all a calculation.”
I stare at him, still so unfeeling. And he stares right back.
