Furious

Chapter Thirty-One

Was she trying to out-shock me? It was working. I pushed myself off the floor. Lindsay hadn't moved, hadn't relaxed in the slightest.

She didn't elaborate on her profound statement. I know she was waiting for me to ask. I gave in.

"Don't leave me hanging!"

Lindsay's face split into a wicked grin. "How badly to you want to know?"

I was fairly certain that it was poison in my system and it might very well kill me by slowly choking off my brain until it couldn't tell my body how to function at all. I think badly pretty much covers it. "Tell me."

"It's the reason that you've been able to bring out the Fury on occasion, to bring out the aspect of the Fury in transformation. What he's been putting in those bars is the thing that's wiped your memories, the most human part of you." She started to laugh as she spoke. "It's the thing that gave you the power to kill a god, albeit a weakened one, if that's what indeed happened—which I still don't believe, by the way.

"It's me. My blood, my Fury essence is suffocating your humanity."

There was no coming back from this point. How do you even respond to that? It made me feel like a vampire. A dirty, clueless, stupid vampire.

The worst part was that I had eaten them continually for days. Days. I wanted to puke.

"Why?" I squeaked out. "Why would he do that? Why would you?"

"Because believe it or not, I want you to succeed. I don't want to die in this war," she said seriously, "and I don't think we can win. I will be there to pull Hades from the field to safety when the time comes."

So all this time she had been pushing me, aggravating me to make me a better Fury? It sounded like the purest blend of bullshit.

The room stayed silent for a while. I had nothing to say to Lindsay, who fed me her blood in hopes of turning me into a monster. Gregory was far from my favorite person—though I admit that I trusted him more than I trusted Lindsay, in that moment and in every moment. I knew that if push came to shove, Gregory would barbeque Lindsay before he would hurt me.

They kept me in the dark as much as they possibly could but I like to think that, given the choice, all of my Underworld companions would choose me over Lindsay.

"Hades and all of the gods, past and present, are weakened by the disappearance of the Nectar." Gregory finally filled the silence, perhaps spurred by Lindsay's prediction of our chances. "They are all increasingly worried with each passing day that the ambrosia is not returned. The Nectar of the Gods is what gives them life. Without it, they will die true deaths. They are old and have lived far too long to be granted painless, easy passage into the next life."

According to Hector, Hades had slipped away peacefully, so for once Gregory was wrong. I didn't care enough to gloat.

"And so because you don't think we, the army of Hades, can win this war, you are willing to let me take the Fury's position at the head of the troops. How noble of you," I mused out loud, not really addressing anyone specifically. Noble, like the gods were acting noble in trying to restore the Nectar to its rightful place in the clouds. To their credit, I would do the same; I would rather be remembered for my valiant attempt to find the Nectar than my complacency in waiting to die for lack of it. "Hector knows who stole it. He says he doesn't know where it is, but he knows who stole the Nectar from Olympus."

The door opened at that moment. I looked up to see Alex push her way into the room, carrying a bundle under her arm, dark and leathery, and four pairs of boots tied together over her shoulder. "Of course he knows; we all know who stole it."