“What happened?” I asked.
“It just . . . slipped away.” Hades locked stares with me. “I had it, but then something pulled it out of my grasp. What could have done that?”
“You're asking me? You know more than I do about the god world, especially souls. What doyouthink happened?”
Hades' eyes blazed. “I think someone just stole my soul!”
Chapter Seven
“Who could have taken it?” Persephone asked.
We were back at the palace, sitting around a fireplace with a marble mantle of carved vines and flowers. The fire blazed—Hades's doing. It seemed to soothe him. He sat closest to the flames, staring into them. The rest of us munched on the sandwiches and fruit Hades had served for lunch. Deme had finished her lunch several minutes earlier, and Cerberus had taken her to play in the garden. So we could speak freely.
“We know who took it,” Hades growled.
“But how? With keys, a power source, and a magic condenser?” Sephy looked around at the rest of us. “I don't see how those three things could make them strong enough to steal a soul from the Greek God of the Underworld.”
“They may have taken more items that we don't know of. Even if they haven't, the keys open the gates to another underworld. They may possess enough power to draw souls to them.” I set my plate aside. “But why? Why would they want souls? Where would they even put them?”
“Zey must be death god,” Kirill said.
“No, they're not. I would have sensed that.” I paused. “Although they have the power of the Yamadutas.”
“And control of Naraka,” Kirill said. “Zat's vere he vould put souls.”
“Naraka!” I shot to my feet. “Why didn't we think of that sooner?”
“Because Naraka was where we almost died,” Re reminded me. “Us and all our friends.”
Everyone went quiet.
“Yes, but the trickster saved you. It was Katila who nearly killed you, and he's dead.”
“But the game has changed, starlight.” Viper looked at the others. “I don't think we should go back.”
“If they are in Naraka, Ty will be with them. We have to try.” I pulled out my cellphone.
“Wait, La-la.” Re stood up and put a hand on the phone. “We need to discuss this.”
“Yes, we will. With Fenrir.”
Kirill muttered a Russian curse.
“Fenrir will want to go. There's no question.” Viper got up too. “He's a father. It's his duty. But you need to make this decision for him. I don't think we should tell him. Naraka is too powerful for us. Even Torrent was useless against it, and we all know what he can do.”
“It was Katila controlling Naraka, not the territory itself. And Torrent has never used that magic before. He wasn't prepared.” I faced off with Re and Viper
“So, you want to bring Torrent with you to unmake the trickster?” Re asked. “In front of Ty?”
I sighed. “No, just for protection. Hopefully, it won't come to that. Either way, I need to go to see if new souls are arriving.”
“That won't prove anything.” Hades got up. “I need to go with you. Only I can recognize the souls that are mine.” He frowned at my phone a second before it buzzed.
I looked from the phone to Hades. “How did you do that?”
“I've opened my senses fully. I felt the energy come through.”
“Damn.” I opened the text. Then looked up at Hades. “It's Jesus. They haven't been receiving any souls in Heaven either. Not until now. A soul has just arrived. He wants me to take a look at it.”
