Hunter: Crossroads

Chapter 19

Cain covered me like a blanket; his legs fenced me in with his chest firmly behind me as we sat to the side on the stairs. His arms folded over my stomach as he leaned over me, his head on my shoulder. From here, his body is blocking Deimos and we're on the other side of the hall which makes me feel bad for avoiding what is easily one of many elephants in the room right now. I'm pretty sure that's why he had put us here, and while the tears had stopped, the hurt remained.

"This was a timed strike. They gave us enough space to think about what happened on the mountain, and not enough time to prepare for next time. The fact they had the shield was not a coincidence." Cain seemed to think outlook, and shifting slightly to look at him he continued. "They know who we all are, the mountains were just a test to see exactly what they were up against, and since their powers alone were not enough to stop all of us for long, they found something that would. How did you do it?"

His foot nudged the shield that remained beside us. No one else would touch, or be willing to risk looking at it but thanks to my apparent immunity Kara put me in charge of it.

"I wouldn't have known if you hadn't taken me to Chrysaor."

"Did Medusa tell you something?" He didn't sound suspicious, just curious.

"She told both of us when I brought up the turn to stone thing. We weren't a threat to her, so she never had to add us to her collection." I sighed. "Thankfully that little hunch paid off, otherwise I hope you would have found a nice spot in the garden for me."

"We'd been on the attack, so its instinct was to defend itself."

"Pretty much. I kept my sword away and tried not to think murderous thoughts. You really think I wanted to get up close and chatty with those things like that?" He kissed my cheek.

"Sometimes it's hard to tell. You were amazing."

"It wasn't enough."

"We survived thanks to you, and we hurt them. I'd be surprised if we saw all three again."

I leaned into him, wanting nothing more than to just close my eyes and take a nap, but instead, Kara's voice was getting louder and louder. The regrouping of the Powers was always going to be a headache, I didn't think it would turn into an actual one, but here we were.

"Why are we even listening to you? If not for the girl, and the return of our King, our losses would be far greater!" Ares roared back at her, and Cain tensed, shifting his position slightly as if to shield me even more from the reality away from our little space together.

"He is not our King," Apollo super helpfully argued as he stood, slamming his hand down onto the table. "How did he even get out of the Underworld?"

All eyes turned to Hades who just sat there looking bored. It was something I also wanted to know that we hadn't got around to talking about yet, and right now I wasn't sure where Apollo was going with this.

"I dared him to try. I haven't made any offers like that since Orpheus, and we know how that turned out," Hades shrugged, as Artemis made a sad 'oh' sound at the mention. "I owe no explanations. Do any of you question or challenge my authority and the decisions I make for my kingdom?"

There was a big emphasis put on the word my kingdom, and the sudden chill in the room which followed had Apollo sitting back down quietly. Even Ares avoided looking at Hades now.

"An oath was made on the river Styx," Kara said, calmer now and I didn't get the importance of that but they all seemed to look our way and nod. "The days of the Dark King have ended. I owe him my life, and to clear the debt, I accept his return. If Hades deemed it to be so while keeping the balance of our two worlds in check, there is no further discussion required."