“Wait what? Kill me?” He says wide eyed.
“Sweetheart you can’t kill him.” My mum says slowly.
“Hades doesn’t know that, does he? Once he sees Alistair in what looks like mortal danger we can strike a bargain. His sons safe return for Dad and the pack being freed!” I pause with a huge expectant smile on my face. Neither of them says anything. “Come on its a good idea!” I assure.
Alistair is the first to speak. “You might be onto something there but you’re talking about bluffing the devil. Something very few have managed to do.” He smirks.
I turn to my mum wide eyed and hopeful.
“Your so much like Carter.” She shakes her head. “Your plan worked before who knows it might work again.” She laughs.
Chapter 12
We spend the next few hours planning and talking everything over. I dig out some snacks and bottles of water from our car for mum and me. It’s not much but it’ll have to do. Alistair doesn’t show any inclination of being hungry of thirsty. I assume he just doesn't need to eat. He stays pretty silent the whole time, whist my mum and I go over possible solutions to problems that might come up. At this point he doesn’t really have many options and he knows it. He’s in no better position than my dad right now. I definitely feel a bit of poetic justice about that.
“This seems like a pretty solid plan but I don’t think simply having Alistair pinned to the tree is going to cut it.” Mum furrows her brow.
“So, what do you suggest?” I ask.
“Well… we have a lot of reason to want Alistair seriously hurt. Dead even. Hades needs to see that we’re not messing around. He needs to believe we will follow through with our threat. There can be no doubt in his mind that this is a bluff.” She says severely.
The severity of what she’s meaning fills me with dread. Simply holding a knife to his throat isn’t going to be convincing enough. I look up at Alistair and he’s looking at me as if that fact was obvious.
He raises a brow. “You're finally going to get the blood shed you’ve been waiting for. You better enjoy it because I can guarantee, you won’t get another chance.”
I know I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt him. To make him rue the day he ever came close to my family. Now that he’s offered up to me on a silver platter, I don’t want it. Despite what he’s done. Its Hades I want to punish not Alistair. Alistair has been a pawn in Hades games, I think. Maybe it’s this stupid bond we have. No, it definitely is. I don’t want to hurt him.
I look up at Mum gravely.
“Can’t you do it?”
She shakes her head.
“I’m not strong enough. You will need to do what must be done this time baby.”
I take a deep breath as I nod. I need to remember that this is what I want. Alistair will be out of my life and I will finally meet my Dad. Things will be the way they should be. Except one thing is still leaving me uneasy.
I stand up and face Alistair.
“Why are you being so helpful? Yesterday you were hunting us and now you’re helping us. I don’t think this change of heart has anything to do with us being fated.” I say sternly.
He watches me and doesn’t break eye contact.
“If going along with this plan gets me out of this.” He pulls at his restraints. “I’m all in.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Then a thought springs to mind. I open my mind and I can feel an instant connection to his. Immediately I force my way in. Exploding through his mental walls and into his psyche. I don’t see images but I feel pain and frustration. Lonesomeness, emptiness, anger. Even hatred. Above all so much insecurity and aggravation. The feeling of not being in control. Degraded. I get swallowed into the intensity of his emotions. Mere seconds pass of this torture before I’m barricaded out.
“STOP!”
I’m thrown out and stumble as I look up at him. The echo of his emotions is harrowing. We’re both breathing deeply. He glares at me wounded.
“Get enough from that, did you? Satisfied?” He says void of emotion.
I study him. I’m still shaken but I try to hide it. I need to stay strong if I’m to do what must be done. I turn without replying. Honestly, I just don’t know what to say. I wasn’t expecting that. On the outside he’s cocky and confident but on the inside he’s… almost broken. It doesn’t make sense.
I push it from my mind to focus on the task at hand. So much is riding on me to make this convincing. I can’t fuck this up.
I take out Alistair’s phone. It’s heavy with trepidation. I can’t show an ounce of fear to Hades. I really wish I’d paid more attention in drama class. Alistair’s words echo in my head.‘bluffing the devil.’It seems an impossible task but I’ve got to do it. For my Dad. For his pack. I remember Alistair’s memory of their cells. Displayed like animals at a zoo for him and his fathers’ enjoyment. Tortured for information. Anger rises in my chest, filling me with resolve. I will free them. I dread to think ofthe dark places I will need to go too to achieve that, but I will do it. I focus on the terrible things Alistair has done to try and make this easier.
