Widening my feet, I bent my knees just slightly, waiting for Lysander to do the same.
"Kaira!" Elandra called for me, making me turn in her direction. Her lips were tilted in a smirk I could now recognize very well, and I already knew I wouldn't like what would come out of her mouth. "You're not a monster, darling girl, but if the other Gods get their hands on you, you will become one. And if Zeus takes a hold of you, everything you know, and everyone you know, would be destroyed by your hand alone."
"You're lying!"
"Am I?" She came closer. "You were born to be a killer. You were born to be a God Slayer, Kaira. Your mother fled because the prophecy didn't just speak of the child that would walkamong the shadows. It also spoke of the child that would kill a God."
No, she was wrong.
"It spoke of the child that would either set us all free or destroy us all, so which one would you rather be? The savior or the villain?"
I shook my head, refocusing on Lysander who no longer wore the smile on his face. "I'll prove to you that I am neither one of those things."
"To free the island, Kaira, a God must die. An Ancient one. One of the first ones."
"No," I bit out.
"Yes!" she thundered, her voice echoing around us. "A God must die, destroyed by the heir of Death. You're the only thing that could kill a God, Kaira. The only one that could end the terror Zeus had been spreading over these people. Over these poor creatures."
My eyes stayed focused on Lysander, and I would've missed the movement had I not been watching him closely. But I did. This time I did.
He sprinted toward me, aiming for my stomach, but I moved aside. With a speed that shouldn't be possible, he appeared behind me, throwing me down on the ground. I hit the ground hard, losing my breath.
"Think about it, Kaira. Think which Gods are the Ancient ones!" But I couldn't think. I could barely fucking breathe. "Think, Kaira!"
"Zeus," I wheezed, pulling myself up. "Poseidon." I rushed toward Lysander when I stood up, slamming into his middle and sending him down to the ground now. "And," I stammered, finally realizing, "Hades." My voice was a whisper carried by the wind surrounding us. "No."
"Yes, Kaira. Hades is one of the Ancients. Hades is one of those whose blood would be able to set us all free."
Lysander threw me off of him, making me stagger on my feet as we both straightened up.
"I would never kill him."
"You wouldn't," Lysander said, "but Zeus and Hera are capable of making you do what they want you to." He slammed his fist into the side of my face. "They're able to control people. They're able to control immortals."
"No." I blocked his next attack, ignoring the ringing in my ears. "I wouldn't kill him." My heart clenched painfully just thinking of destroying him. Of killing him. "I am not a killer."
"You're not a killer yet." He landed another jab, just to the left side of my head. "But you wouldn't be able to control yourself. You wouldn't be able to control any of your actions."
A roar erupted from me as I landed punch after punch into his plexus, my fists slamming into the wall of muscle. "No!"
"If you don't learn how to control yourself," he pushed me back, "you're a danger to us all. You're a danger to him, to me, to Elandra, to your aunt—every single being on this island."
"I wouldn't hurt him," I breathed out. "I couldn't."
I couldn't even imagine it. But Lysander didn't wait for me to catch my breath. He didn't wait for me to stop thinking about the possibility of killing Hades.
He ended up standing behind me, wrapping his arm around my neck. "Just imagine, Kaira," he murmured against my ear. "Him, standing in front of you, powerless, beaten up. Completely at your mercy, waiting for the execution you would never be able to stop. Just imagine," he added, squeezing tighter, "you killing the man that would give his life for you. A God that no longer wants to live. Just imagine, your own hands spilling the blood of an Ancient that never wanted to be a part of this game. Just imagine?—"
But he didn't need to say anything more, I could imagine it. I could see it.
The lack of light in those green eyes.
The lack of shadows surrounding him as he begged me for mercy, for me to stop. As he begged me to remember. I could see it as clear as day, my own hands wrapped around his throat and squeezing until nothing but a corpse laid in front of me, staring at me with a million questions and so much sorrow.
I didn't fucking have to imagine.
My vision turned red. The edges darkened, until the only thing I could see, the only thing I could feel, was the fury coursing through my veins. Just like yesterday when I attacked Hades.
