“Siren,” Eryn bellowed. “You’re under arrest for the murder of a god.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“The goddamn Fates,” Ryder muttered under his breath.
I glanced around, absorbing every escape route. The last year of hiding had taught me to make sure I knew where every exit was at all times.
Trapped in the middle of the road on a mountain that shouldn’t even exist, there weren’t many options. But an alley to my left faded into gray obscurity that could be helpful.
“Settle, Ivy,” Nix cooed gently. The gloating lilt to his deep baritone voice curdled my blood. “There’s nowhere for you to go. And we need to speak with you. I’m sure everything can be explained easily and to our satisfaction.”
I met his dark eyes and registered the victorious glint to his sinister expression. There was no reasoning that would make it okay to kill a god. Not even an evil one. Whatever I said would condemn me.
Nix continued, “And if you can’t explain the situation to our liking, I’m sure we’ll find an acceptable way to punish you.”
Ryder’s body pressed against mine, his chest to my back, shaking with rage. I could feel his determination, the unrelenting drive he felt to get me out of here alive. Nix would not win this way.
I held Nix’s gaze and with confidence I did not feel said, “I’m not sure my explanation will be to your liking, Nix, but I think the rest of the Pantheon will see that I am without fault.”
“And the musician?” Hera asked with a dark eyebrow raised.
“Neither of us killed Hades,” Ryder growled. “You need to question Persephone and Medusa.”
Hera’s face flinched with visible surprise, “Since they both reside in the Underworld, that will be rather impossible.”
Shit.
“Come,” she beckoned with the authority that only the queen of the gods could command. “It seems we need to be tedious and hold a trial.”
Ryder nodded subtly and I gathered my remaining courage and followed Hera toward the temple. Hermes fell into step next to me and although he didn’t speak, I could feel his disapproval of our actions.
Shame twisted with anxiety inside of me. If we had gone straight to him could he have helped? Would he have been able to get my mother back without striking a deal with the Fates?
I couldn’t decide if we could trust him or not, but my indecision might be the death of me.
Inside the windy, open pavilion, Hera took her seat on her throne with regal grace that scraped at my nerves. Her narrowed eyes glittered with arrogant disapproval and her lithe arms crossed over her chest in a pose that declared her judgment before either of us had spoken.
“Such shocking behavior from you, Siren. Need I remind you that you are a guest in my kingdom?” She raised that one eyebrow again, daring me to disagree.
“I remember,” I replied. I aimed for cool indifference, but I landed somewhere between breathless from fear and trembling from anger.
“And yet you tromp about with your self-righteous morality, trying to kill each of us?”
“No,” I hissed immediately. “I never intended to kill anyone. Ididn’tkill anyone. What happened with Hades? That was… He attacked us! We defended ourselves. Neither Ryder nor I thought we had the ability to kill him.”
“You don’t,” Nix boomed from somewhere behind me.
Gods and goddesses surrounded us as a volatile, angry jury that would decide our fate. I kept my attention on Hera. For some reason she was easier to hold eye contact with than any of the other amoral gods.
“Tell us what happened.” Hera waved her hand lazily at us. “Start from the beginning.”
“Go on, Red,” Ryder encouraged.
I took a steadying breath and ignored the riot of nerves jumping through my blood. I hadn’t really been afraid of the repercussions of Hades’ death until this moment. I didn’t realize they would know so immediately or that they would hold us to our actions.
I thought I was here to kill Nix! If it was such a problem to end the life of a god, what did that mean for Nix?
What did that mean for me?
