The assassin pushed Croak aside and hugged Terena.
Cassandra came up to the women and enfolded them as best she could but she was not as tall as them.
“What the hells happened in there?” Croak asked, swallowing hard and asking again when his voice cracked.
Melanos thundered toward them on his horse, his eyes wild as he leaped off and stalked toward them. Arms out he yelled, “What’s happened? The?—”
“We need to go! Now!” Cassandra said, pulling Terena toward the stables.
“Wait,” Ren said and pushed the seer away. She ran to Rydon with Melanos hot on her heels. “I need you to go to Lethe. Please go. Go get Sonah and meet us in Metilai.”
“I’m going with you,” Melanos said, his narrowed eyes on Rydon. “Bethana’s there with Sonah.”
“No!” Croak cried out. “Ren, no! We can’t keep fucking splitting up! We need to stay together. Please!”
“It’ll be the first place he looks!” Ren shouted, and Croak hung his head, his fingers threaded atop his hair. “Even if they follow him there, it’s much easier for Rydon and Sonah to get away than if we were all there. From what just happened, I don’t think Hermes will get over my mouthing off to him anytime soon. No, we need to separate to save everyone. Meet us in Metilai. At the?—”
“Wait!” Orry’s eyes darted around as he found himself the center of attention. His cheeks turned ruddy and he swallowed as he turned to Terena. “If my rooms remained untouched since my departure, it would be the safest place to meet up.”
“And if someone else is staying there now?” Croak snorted.
“We’re wasting time!” Rydon cried out with a slash of his hand. “Meet us at the Boar’s Head Inn on Chivanos. It’s a mile or so from the White Palace. The innkeep’s a friend.”
“Done.”
They all scrambled to leave. Croak had never saddled Cerberus faster in his life. He growled when Orry couldn’t get his saddle fitted and pushed his friend aside so he could finish the job. Mounted and ready to go, Croak looked back as Rydon started down the path.
“Rydon!” Terena called out, her face streaked with dirt and tears. She wiped at the blood crusted on her nostrils and gave him a wan smile.
“Thank you.”
“Thank me when we’re all together again,” the mercenary said. He nodded at all of them and turned, heading for Lethe Monastery and Sonah.
Daris stumbled forward.The men had released him when all the light disappeared, leaving them surrounded by a black void. As soon as he was free, he swung his blade behind him, grinning when he hit someone. He moved away, about to call out for Terena when he heard Croak calling for her.
Swinging around, Daris swore under his breath. He couldn’t see a thing, not even his hand in front of him. All around, the room had descended into chaos with men crying out and screams echoing. There were growls and barking coming from all sides, as if a pack of dogs had been let loose in the hall.
He kept his sword up and moved his left hand in an arc. Terena called out to her brother and Daris moved toward her voice. Her voice cut off and his heart stopped.
What just happened? Was Ren hurt?
Before he spiraled further, the dark dissipated and the survivors swung their heads around, looking at each other and at the carnage.
Daris took a halting step forward, his head swiveling wildly when he realized Terena was gone. Hermes let out a roar that shook the ground.
“Where is she? Find her!”
Hermes grabbed a sword from the ground near one of the bodies of his men and ran for the doors. Daris was still trying to figure out what had happened. He took note of the other missing people.
Terena’s friends were gone, too.
Daris ran after Hermes. He was still lethargic after Hermes had failed to make him immortal, but he shook it off. Shuddering, he recalled the pain as Hermes’s power raced through his flesh. Yet, nothing happened. He felt no different, despite the agony that had seized his organs.
The god had been frustrated, eventually saying it must not have worked because Daris was still eudaemon. Daris didn’t know how Hermes had known it hadn’t worked. The god had ranted about his powers being weakened. He’d mumbled something about not being himself, of something twisting his thoughts and the fact that he couldn’t make Daris’s immortality permanent enraged Hermes further.
There was no time to worry about the god’s wrath. The look in Hermes’s eyes when he’d left the hall just now made Daris run faster.
“Terena!”
