be a voice for the monsters here and because it could bring me an alliance with Hell. That is the only reason you aren’t locked in a cell for your insolence,” Hades snapped, storming off.
River waited until he slammed the door and tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Does he always get that pissed when he knows he’s wrong?”
“Don’t push him, my pet. Just because he can’t hurt you now don’t mean this situation is not tense, and he may snap.”
Hades came stomping back in.
“Demos was supposed to fight tonight. I don’t suppose he’s got a time frame for returning?”
Oh, shit. It had to be Demos tonight. Why couldn’t it have been me? They always opened a door that I could swim into the fighting ring to fight, and let’s face it, no monster could go up against a Kraken. I had every right to be arrogant about this.
River had the good sense to look a little nervous now.
“He said three nights. He won’t be back tonight.”
“Well, this was your big idea. How exactly do you plan to solve this?”
How exactly were we going to solve this? I’d volunteer as tribute if it got us out of this mess. I mean, I could eat again. Monsters weren’t nearly as satisfying as evil men, but if it meant Demeter didn’t know we were onto her, I could fit in dessert.
“I’ll do it,” Pavlina said.
Of course, she would. Pavlina was always hungry.
“Okay, so this is what we will do. You’ll tell Demeter you’ve got someone down here treating the monsters. I said Demos wasn’t up to fighting today. She’ll probably come to see me, but she’ll see the glamour, and she’ll think I’m human. She won’t think I’m a threat. She’ll just think I’m some meddling human who is concerned about Demos. I can play it off.”
Pavlina let out a massive hiss, Kimon growled, and I squirted water across the room. Cerberus started howling. There was no fucking way she was playing anything off with Demeter. She knew we were about to argue too because she held up her hand.
“It’s probably the only way. You all know I’m right.”
“She is right because all of you were fucking stupid. You all know they could choose any one of you at any moment. The only way we will be able to explain Demos’s absence is a meddling human. I can play it off too. Now, who will fight in his place?”
“Me!” Pavlina and I said at the same time.
“Pavlina and Tryphon both want to,” River said.
“Let Pavlina do it. She’ll be up against the harpy that broke up with her.”
“Aello was a bitch about it too,” Pavlina growled.
“Well, that’s settled then. Pavlina fights tonight, and I’ll expect no more plotting behind my back. Call me when Demos gets back. I expect a full report.”
I had a feeling River had a lot more plots up her sleeve.
Chapter 29
Pavlina
S
omething must have changed if Hades knew who the fight would be against. I had a feeling Demeter planned on Aello because she wanted to pit a harpy against a phoenix. She wanted to see if Aello could kill Demos for good. Demeter didn’t know much about the goings-on in the Underworld to realize we had a past. She was probably running her mouth about how Aello would kill Demos, and Hades was listening like always. He tried to warn us when he could, so we knew if we were going against friend or foe.
I had plenty of friends, but I also had my fair share of foes. Aello was definitely a foe. She cheated on me with a water nymph then tried to play it like it was my fault. I had a healthy sexual appetite and had no complaints before. I took her out all the time and bought her flowers and all that romantic shit. She claimed I didn’t love her enough. Fucking attention whore.
Still, I may have volunteered, and I had no problem eating Aello, but I still didn’t like River coming to the attention of Demeter. This could play out two ways. Demeter could think she was a harmless human and never show up at the jail, or she could want to check her out for herself and see how she got Hades to back down.
I wondered what Goddess tasted like. If she tried to hurt River or any of my friends, I’d wrap that bitch up in a web so fast, her head would spin. Then, I’d bite her head off. Let’s see