ignore. And of course, every time I asked Hades or Freyja to throw me a bone, they stayed completely silent.
Whatever was about to play out, the gods had no interest in interfering. And normally that would have been fine. I did well enough before they came around. But it was the urgency, the understated panic in Daren’s voice saying, she’ll die if you don’t, that scared me more than anything. I’d sacrifice anything—a limb, my sight, my sanity, even my life, for the peace of mind of knowing that Mari would be okay.
When faced with a difficult decision, I always had some inkling of what to do. Sometimes I had to ride to clear my head, or just observe in silence what my instincts were trying to tell me. But the correct action was always there, always made clear once I stripped away all the distractions.
This time? I just felt like a compass needle spinning madly, pulled equally in all directions.
Governor Vance entered the room then, trailed by Josh, bringing my shattered focus back to the meeting at hand. Hades rolled to his belly, stubby tail wagging and puppy eyes on point at the two men who just entered.
“Oh my—shit.” Josh startled at the sight of him. “I always forget how big your dog is, Reaper.”
“He’s friendly,” I said with an incline of my head. “You can pet him.”
“Maybe later.” He gave Hades a wide berth, circling around to the opposite end of the table.
“Come on now, Josh. You’re making the poor beast sad.” Vance put on a brave face, but I could see his nervousness as he bent down to lightly stroke Hades’ head. He got a more vigorous tail-wagging and lick of his fingers for his effort.
“He knows who his allies are.” I smirked.
“Smart,” Vance praised, scratching him more boldly before glancing up at me. “Is it true he runs alongside your bike for hundreds of miles?”
“Dobermans are athletic dogs. They have good endurance,” I answered casually before returning my focus to the maps. “Shall we get started?”
“Please.” Vance took his seat next to Josh, folding his hands while he waited for me to begin.
“We’ve decided on three main points that would provide enough cover for scouts around General Tash’s territory.” I pointed to the markers on the map. “Because there’s a lot of flat ground between here and there, we are recommending sending them through these valleys and canyons. It’ll add time to the mission but will prevent them from being seen. T-Bone and Gunner will send their trained birds to assist as well.
“What exactly do these birds do?” Josh peered over his glasses, his hand paused in his note-taking.
“They’ve been trained to give certain signals if they see certain movements or groupings of people,” I said coolly. “We’ll teach all the signals to the scouts.”
“And what about Blakeworth?” Vance’s eyes narrowed at the territory a few hundred miles north.
“It’ll be easier to get into, because their focus is on flashing how rich they are, not military tactics.” My dad took over, stepping up next to me. “They’ll be more alert since Kyrie’s rescue, but our scouts heading there can use the same strategy as the Sons did. It’ll be as simple as dressing like one of their elite and faking documents.”
“You’re sure that’ll work a second time?” Vance sounded skeptical.
“They’ll be checking at every entry-point into the city, but they’re an extremely superficial people,” Dad said with more than a hint of sneer. “As long as our guys look and act entitled enough, they should get away with it. It’s those who appear to be poorer that they’re going to take a closer look at.”
The door opened and I caught a flash of Eduardo’s camo uniform in my peripheral vision. My dad beckoned him over as I continued with the presentation. “Now, we should carry out these missions roughly two weeks apar—”
His life is yours to take.
The once-comfortable room temperature dropped to an icy chill, making every hair on my body stand up. Stunned, I looked at Hades. The dog’s whole body was tensed with alertness, his nose pointed directly at my dad’s young recruit.
The god had awoken.
“What?” I whispered, fear and confusion locking up my limbs.
Reap what has been sown. His life is yours to take.
“Ah, Reaper?” Vance and Josh peered at me, the puzzlement on their faces a clear indication they didn’t feel the cold heaviness of this god’s command. “Are you alright?”
My gaze shifted to Eduardo, the skinny teenager staring back at me