Hades arches a brow, seemingly stunned by my audacity to speak directly to him.
Well, fuck him. I refuse to be known as “this reaper” or “that reaper.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name is Thea,” I say, hefting my chin in the air and emulating a confidence I don’t truly feel.
“Thea.” His mouth twists downwards in what appears to be distaste, his hands clenching on the armrests of the chair. “How…cute.”
He uses that term as if it’s synonymous with disgusting—which for him, it probably is.
“Did you know me? Before I went missing, I mean?” I venture tentatively, unable to hold his gaze for longer than a second or two at a time.
He really is one of the most powerful gods, isn’t he? I didn’t feel this way around Athena or Aphrodite. I wasn’t drowning in their power.
“Of course I did.” His fingers resume their impatient tapping. “I…created you, after all.”
“You created me?” I ask, blinking.
Hades scoffs. “Of course I did. I created every reaper that has walked this earth, every one that currently does, and I’ll continue to create them long after you expire.”
A muscle in his jaw twitches, and he turns away momentarily, seemingly lost in thought.
When he returns his attention to me, the coldness in his gaze siphons the breath from my lungs. “Now tell me…where were you?”
“As if you don’t know,” Krystian snaps, seemingly unable to help himself.
That big mouth is going to get him killed one of these days.
Hades slowly flicks his eyes in Krystian’s direction. “If you accuse me of harming the reaper one more time, I will skin you alive,” he threatens.
Krystian bares his teeth but wisely keeps quiet.
Thank fuck. I really, really don’t think I’ll be capable of killing a god—but if he harms one of my guys, I’ll certainly try.
“What do you remember before you got…taken?” Hades asks, studying me intently.
“Nothing,” I confess.
My very first memory was waking up in that room, with the inherent knowledge that my one job in life was to reap souls. It was never strange to me that I arrived with the ability to read, write, and communicate. I just thought those were…perks of the job, so to speak.
“What about you four?” Hades asks, swiveling his head to address my guys.
“What?” Zaid’s frown deepens.
“What do you mean?” Everett demands.
Hades waves a hand flippantly in the air, appearing bored with this entire conversation, his eyes languorous and his lips firm.
“I take it that means you four remember nothing,” he says, reclining in his throne.
“They weren’t a part of my life until a few days ago,” I tell Hades, wondering if I should explain the entire situation to him.
It’s not as if I trust him, but at the same time…I don’t believe he was behind my disappearance. He’s difficult to read, but I swear that was genuine surprise in his eyes when we confronted him. And for a man as ancient and icy as Hades to be surprised, even for a second…
He didn’t know about me.
“So none of you remember,” Hades murmurs, sounding confused.
