“Yes. They won’t be able to—”
We all heard a big boom before the line went dead.
I glanced at Zotera and wished she had the ability to portal like Hades and Megan. But even if she did, I doubted she would leave me to help Zayn.
“Zayn’s smart,” Oanen said. “He can evade Council Enforcers like they’re nothing. He’ll be able to handle Adira.”
Adira and a mob of bomb-wielding children of the gods, though? I wasn’t so sure. Zotera and Megan had barely been enough to fight them off. How would one druid deal with them?
More than anything, I missed Hades just then. If he were there, they wouldn’t have attacked the house like they had. Or, if they had, they wouldn’t have done it for very long.
Almost twenty minutes later, Megan appeared just as suddenly as she’d disappeared. Clothed, thankfully. But she looked as angry as Hades on a no-touchy day.
“She took the memory potion,” Megan said, staying right where she was, which was by the kitchen sink.
“Rewind,” Eliana said. “We need more context.”
“Hades called me back to Hell to heal me.” She glanced at Oanen. “I’m one hundred percent good as new.”
Oanen nodded. She frowned and watched him for a second. When he didn’t say anything, she continued.
“Well, when Hades finished, he said Zayn needed my help and sent me there. I appeared in front of Zayn’s house in his very human neighborhood that looked like a damn warzone. Adira and her people were there, throwing grenades and stuff at his house.”
I could feel the surge of heat radiating from Megan from where I sat.
“She knew what she was doing. She opened a portal. A rush of people came out. The wickedness of that group overwhelmed me.” She glanced at Oanen. “You know how I get. I couldn’t even think of Adira with them there. So, I forced a confession from the two closest and took them to Hell.”
“It never takes long, but by the time I got back, the front door was blown open. Something I’ve never seen before had Elizabeth in its arms and bolted out the door with her, launching itself into the night.” She slowly shook her head. “No wickedness. None whatsoever. But it radiated death and menace.”
“A dragon?” Oanen asked.
“No. It had huge grey wings–nothing like a dragon’s–and it had a human body while flying. Like I said, nothing like I’ve seen before. Anyway, I thought about going after Elizabeth until I felt the wickedness in the house. I followed the last two to where Zayn was trying to fight Thanatos and Adira.”
Megan looked down at her feet, which were slowly scorching my new kitchen floor.
“He was slowly losing, obviously. And if I wouldn’t have—”
She let out a frustrated breath. “As I grabbed the final two wicked souls, I saw Adira grab a vial from Zayn’s workbench. When I returned to the house, Zayn was there alone. The tracking spells were destroyed, and the memory spell is gone.”
The room fell to silence.
“Breaking the tracking spells makes sense,” I said. “They don’t want to be found. But why take the memory spell?”
“Exactly,” Megan said, looking at me with concern. “Until we find Adira or Thanatos, don’t try to say Hades’ name. No matter what happens, don’t.”
Zotera’s warning that Hades’ memories could be dangerous to me rang in my mind as I slowly nodded in agreement.
Oanen stood and went to Megan. “We can’t change the past. Let go of your anger so you can hug me.”
She gave him a funny look. “Where’s the lecture?”
“For what?”
“For taking off without you again.”
“You can’t exactly help that, can you.”
She leaned around him and looked at the rest of us.
