Page 80 of The Games Gods Play
“First your thief-not-friend,” he says. “Now one of the champions. Falling at your feet.”
Falling at my feet? My laugh is edged in bitterness. He knows about my curse. “Are you being deliberately cruel because I didn’t consult with you about Zai?”
If looks could skewer, I’d be bleeding. “It’s possible the curse isn’t what you think. They seem to like you well enough.”
“They do not.”
“You’re willfully naive if you don’t see it.”
“And you’re hallucinating if you do. One is only an ally. The other told me to my face that we’re just friends. No one is falling at my feet. It is not possible, and you know it.”
Actually, the person who comes closest to disproving my curse is Hades. With that kiss last night. Although lust and love are two very different things—which I saw all too often back home. I’d not really understood others’ interest in one without the other, but as I stare at Hades’ full bottom lip, I’m starting to get it. On paper, my crush on Boone isn’t gone, but he’s never spun me out of control like Hades. It’s the difference between a cozy fire in a potbellied stove and burning down the entire house.
“Let’s circle back to your ally,” Hades says, thankfully oblivious to my thoughts.
The hard stare he levels on me would have most quaking in their boots. I just pinch the bridge of my nose. “What about Zai? We have an agreement.”
If possible, Hades goes even harder, eyes like flint. “And you believed him?”
Now he’s calling me gullible and careless. I raise my chin. “I do now.” Mostly.
Hades gets even quieter. “You can’t trust him.” But his control breaks over the next three snarled words. “Damn it, Lyra.”
I don’t mind being yelled at, but sworn at? No. I raise one eyebrow, crossing my arms. “You want to rethink your tone?”
Hades stalks across the space between us, and I swear smoke is lifting off of him in black tendrils. “No, I don’t want to rethink my fucking tone.”
He doesn’t stop coming, but despite the twisting nerves in my belly telling me I might have gone too far, I refuse to back up like a coward. I have to deliberately plant my feet to keep from running, though.
He jerks to a halt a mere foot from me, radiating a thousand nuances of frustration. “You will be the death of me, Lyra Keres.”
“Why?” I ask. His lips flatten, and I raise my hands. “It’s an honest question. Allying with Zai worked today. It worked.”
“You got lucky.”
I snort. “I picked the right ally, Hades. And growing up the way I did, I know what to look for. Thieves are, by nature and training, untrustworthy, backstabbing, and conniving. So just because I didn’t run this decision by your committee of dictatorness doesn’t mean I wasn’t smart about it.”
Hades stares at me, jaw working like he’s trying to figure out how to deal with me. Which I’m guessing doesn’t happen often to him. When he finally speaks, it’s softer. “Lyra, I swear if you don’t take this seriously—”
“If Zai hadn’t figured out the answer in time, then I’d have climbed down.” Hopefully without mishap. Which reminds me. “The others—”
“All made it safely down the worst part of the mountain. They’re still walking the rest of the way. And the one champion who fell survived.”
I blow out a breath of relief. “Amir.”
“Can’t be healed, since he’s not a Mind virtue, but is being looked at.”
I nod. “That’s good—”
He grunts. “Your stubborn insistence on saving everyone around you—”
“Maybe not Dex,” I mutter out the side of my mouth.
“What?”
What does he mean, what? Hasn’t he been paying attention? “Dex Soto. Athena’s champion. Took a swipe at me with my own relic. Tried to kill me on the road into town yesterday—”
“He did what?” His voice descends to something fiery.
