“The souls couldn’t get reaped?” I ask.
“They got reaped,” Hades corrects, confusing me further. “But they didn’t end up here.”
Ice travels down my spine. “What happened to them?”
“They just…disappeared. Ceased to exist.” Hades’s voice is glacial, his eyes tight. “After that, I sent my reapers out on a few more test runs. It was all the same. So…I forced the reapers to stop.”
“To stop reaping souls?” Everett sounds horrified, and I can’t blame him.
If that’s the case, then there are millions of souls currently wandering the earth, confused and lost and desperate. I wouldn’t be surprised if the humans experienced an increase in hauntings and poltergeist attacks.
“What else was there to do?” Hades explodes, grabbing his coffee cup and throwing it at the wall. It shatters, black liquid raining down like rivulets of tar. “I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”
His shoulders shake as he struggles to get his emotions under control.
Persephone rubs his back soothingly.
It seems to help because he takes a deep breath, his fingers flexing around the edge of the table, and then he slowly reclines back in his seat.
We all watch him warily, realizing he’s a faulty bomb seconds from exploding. None of us want to be in range when he detonates.
“You said the power of the souls transferred to another god or goddess, correct?” Hades says, his voice significantly calmer than it was seconds earlier.
“That’s what we believe,” I say hesitantly.
The last thing I want to do is set Hades off again.
“We need to get the power back into the Underworld,” Hades continues. “It’s the only way to save all of the souls—both here and on earth.”
“How do you suppose we do that?” Everett demands, his jaw clenching.
Hades levels the shifter with a cold, unreadable look. “Figure it the fuck out.”
“Hades!” Persephone admonishes, swatting at his shoulder. “Don’t be an ass.”
I imagine she’s the only person alive—or dead—who can get away with talking to him like that. If I tried, he'd cut me into tiny pieces and feed me to Cerberus.
“We’ll figure it out,” I rush to reassure him, desperate to appease his volatile temper. “Athena’s helping us. She will know what to do.”
“Athena…” Hades’s lips firm. “Yes. She’s intelligent. If anyone has a solution, it’ll be her.”
Relieved that the dangerous god’s temper tantrum is apparently over, I ask the question that’s been gnawing at me.
“The souls trapped in the dagger…the ones without any power… Is there a way to free them?” I ask tentatively, lowering my hand to my hip.
Something akin to sympathy flashes in Hades’s eyes. Sympathy…or pity. I can’t tell which. Either way, the sight has a lump manifesting in my throat.
“Only the power of a god can free them now.Allof the power. There are too many for even my magic to work,” he tells me.
“I don’t understand. You said that it takes the power of a god?—”
“In this case,” Hades interrupts me. “I’m speaking of the life force of a god. The power of a god’s soul.” He must see the shock on my face because his lips twitch upwards microscopically. “Yes, gods’ souls hold immense power too. And you’ll need that level of power to free the souls in that dagger.”
“So even if we restore the Underworld’s power…” I swallow.
“The souls in the dagger will still be trapped. I’m sorry, child. There’s nothing we can do for them.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
