The Golden Rule (Tempting the Fates, Book 2)

Chapter 26

"What the fuck?" I reached out and grabbed onto Hades' arm. He pulled me into his side and we surveyed the grove. Nothing visible.

The tremors beneath our feet were growing stronger by the second. A deep, low rumble started below us. 

"Up the tree!" Hades shouted, shuttering us up the nearest tree.

We were eighty or a hundred feet above the ground, staring down at the spot where were had been standing. The tree was shaking with the ground, and I threw my arms around the largest branch I could reach. Hades' arms went around me and around the same branch, locking me into place.

I looked everywhere but saw nothing. "What do you think-?"

"The other bull." Hades answered my question before I could even finish asking.

Shit. I had been so focused on finding a weakness and defeating the rocket bull that I'd failed to remember that there were two of them.

"Underground." I grunted, the pieces of the mystery locking into place in my brain. "Now they have us matched on every turf."

"They've got you matched on every turf." He sighed, his breath hot against the back of my neck. "I feel so useless."

I didn't want to do this alone. I wanted to fight by his side, where I felt strongest. I didn't want to be vulnerable and afraid, but I was. Hades' powers didn't work against the bull, and it wasn't fair of me to keep him in danger the way I was.

Because as I'd learned lately, immortal didn't mean unkillable.

"I need you to something important for me." I spoke with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. The tree shook harder, and I dug my fingernails into the bark of the tree as I clung to it.

"Anything." He replied.

My heart sunk at his eagerness. He really would do anything for me, and that's why I had to think of him and his safety.

"I want you to get out of here. Find somewhere safe, away from this fight. You're going to get killed if you keep trying to intervene."

I felt him pull away from me, but I knew he wasn't following orders. His conscience would never allow him to leave me alone in this. He was far too good a god, far too good a husband to truly abandon me when I needed him.

"You're going to get yourself killed without me!" He growled.

"I will if I'm worried about you the entire time!" I countered, my voice short with nerves. I let the muscles of my arms relax and I craned my neck to look at him.

The tree swayed, and Hades grabbed ahold of it to keep himself up. I looked down to the ground, and my eyes bulged at the sight below.

The ground was ripping open beneath us. Terror seeped into me as I recalled the dream I'd had where Hades had fallen into the chasm that had formed at our feet. The grass split like a bread roll tearing in two, and I forced myself not to vomit up the contents of my stomach.

This isn't like my dream...

Dirt spilled forth from the crack in the earth like blood pouring from a wound. More mechanical whirring filled the air around us, growing loud enough to once again overtake any quiet that had inhabited the beautiful land.

And just as the tree's roots were ripped from their slumber and we began to fall backward toward the ground, another monstrous bull exploded out in a spray of dark earthy shrapnel.

This bull looked almost identical to its brother, but instead of a rocket on its flank, there was a large metallic auger protruding from its snout. It was razor sharp and looked like it could turn me into tomorrow's recycling in a matter of moments.