see the way I’m glaring at Hades because he intervenes. “Your wife would be upset if we left early,” he says. “I know you like to keep her happy. Us being here is doing that right now.”
Hades glowers at Death. He shakes his head. “A drink and a snack, and then you’re leaving. I can make your life hell.”
I notice that Death doesn’t say anything.
Hades takes our drink requests. It’s surreal. I ask for a whiskey because it’s been one hell of a day. Tri wants a beer. Death asks for a frozen margarita. Hades rolls his eyes and mumbles something about a cocktail being a drink for a pussy, but heads to the bar, which is outside next to the biggest swimming pool I’ve ever seen. It has water spouting from all angles. Like a fountain and a pool all in one. There are more roses and lavender.
“How did you know Gaire had found us?” I ask Death.
“What the fuck was that?” Tri asks, looking unusually freaked out. “I didn’t even see him coming.” He’s talking about Gaire. He touches his eye. “One minute we were… I don’t even remember what we were doing. I remember being fine and then waking up on the lawn outside a castle with the mother of all headaches. Are you sure you’re okay? That fucker flayed you like a fish.” His eyes are on my chest.
It’s throbbing a little. “Hardly flayed me. I’m fine. It’ll heal soon enough. I can’t believe he used a silver blade on me…and that invisibility bullshit.”
“Invisibility?” Tri is frowning hard.
“Gaire can make himself invisible,” Death says.
“That’s a separate power to being able to teleport?” Tri asks.
“I told you he has the ability,” I deadpan.
“You did?” Tri frowns. He obviously took a harder knock than I thought.
“It’s separate from teleporting.” Death nods his head.
“Okay, so Gaire’s fast as fuck. Can hit like a freight train. Then there’s his powers of teleportation and invisi-fucking-bility. What am I missing?” Tri runs a hand through his hair. His left eye is now slightly open. It’s a nasty shade of purple.
“You missed the fact that he’s quite comfortable slicing opponents open with a silver sword,” I say. It’s an unspoken agreement among non-humans to stay away from silver. We tend to avoid weapons in general. It’s an unspoken rule. A gentleman’s agreement between non-humans. Gaire is no gentleman. It’s safe to say he’s a bastard of the first order.
“Gaire doesn’t follow any rules,” Death says. “He plays dirty. He has a win-at-all-cost mentality. He gets a kick out of torturing and belittling any who come up against him. That’s why Hades loves him so much.”
“What are we going to do now?” I say. “We can’t hang out in Hades’ castle indefinitely. How did you know we were getting our asses handed to us?” I ask Death again.
“I was keeping tabs on you. I had to, in order to intervene. I overheard some of your conversation. Nia is right; she needs to lessen the bond between herself and Gaire.”
“There has to be another alternative to sex,” I throw back.
“I offered her as much sex as she wants,” Tri says.
Death ignores Trident. “Gaire is a Huntsman. He hunts souls for a living. His skills are finely honed. His skill, together with his powers, make him almost unbeatable.” He looks towards the bar outside, where Hades is working the blender to make the margarita. I get the distinct impression he asked for that particular drink on purpose. “There are only two people I know of who stand a chance against him.”
“Two?” I say. This is news to me. I’m wracking my brain as I try to think of who the other person could be.
“Yes,” Death says. “Two.”
“Based on my conversation with Nia, I am one of the two,” I say.
Death nods. “You would need to unleash your power. All of it, and all at once.”
I push out a breath. “I can’t go there. That’s not going to happen. We need to find this other person.”
“It is understandable that you would feel that way.” Tri is serious for once. “No one would blame you after what happened.” He gives me a nod of understanding.
If Death knows my sordid past, he doesn’t say. Instead, he smiles. “The other person is Nia.”
I frown. Then again, she did say something along these lines. I didn’t actually think she could take him out.
“Don’t look so shocked. Nia trained under Gaire. Went with him on hunts. She knows him inside and out.