I suck in a breath.
My hands are shaking at my sides, but I feel bigger, stronger than I’ve ever felt before. As if I grew ten feet and transformed into Hercules.
The leaves blanket the Dark Wood floor as far as I can see. And as if time has sped up, they curl into themselves, brittle and brown and dead.
All of the aches and pains in my bones vanish.
My head is clearer.
My steps are light.
“You were planning to keep me around to make it easier to win,” I say and bend down next to Haven. “How about instead I make it easy for you to lose?”
I rip the bracelet from Haven’s wrist and take Ely’s too for good measure.
I don’t know what kind of magic just tore out of me but I’m not about to question it. Maybe Hades’s gift worked after all.
Whatever it is, I’m going to pretend like I meant to do exactly that.
Because now there’s fear burning in Haven’s gaze and I like how that makes me feel.
Unstoppable.
“What was it you said to me at the Choosing Ceremony? Oh right,” I say, because he still can’t move and so answering is impossible, “by this time tomorrow, Haven Knightfall, no one will remember your name.”
And then I’m off, sprinting into the woods, determined more than ever to win this fucking trial and show Haven—and my true father—just how strong I can be.
Chapter 18
I don’t encounter another descendant as I make my way to the end of the Dark Wood and the oak tree. I run at least another mile before the trees start to recover from my outburst of power.
When I reach the giant oak tree, I’m the fifth to enter the safe zone. It’s marked off on each corner by a wrought iron torch. The flames cast a wide circle of dancing golden light.
As I step through the perimeter with three bracelets on my wrist, Pearce crosses his arms over his chest and frowns at me. “You made it? Before Haven did?”
Not gonna lie, hearing him acknowledge that in front of the other descendants, highlighting where I’d clearly excelled over Haven, makes my chest burn with pride.
I hold up my arm. The bracelets slide down my wrist and clang together. “And Haven has even less of a chance of making it to the next trial without this,” I boast.
One of the twins, Kal I think, lets his mouth drop open in shock. There’re leaves in his dark hair like he had to wrestle someone among the fallen foliage. I don’t see his twin in the safe zone. “One of those is Haven’s bracelet?” he asks.
“Bullshit,” Pearce says. He reaches out and tries to snag the silver band from me, but I snatch away my wrist before he can. “You’re lying!”
Footsteps shuffle through the forest behind us.
We all turn to the trail.
The light from the torches makes the darkness of the Wood beyond even thicker, and it’s hard to see who’s approaching until they’re just feet away.
“There you are,” Pearce says. “The fuck took you so long?”
It’s Haven. Theo is with him, his mouth set in a grim line.
When Haven stops at the perimeter, Theo stops with him.
The first thing I notice is that Haven’s wrist is still naked.
He’s lost.
He’s going to lose.
I set my hands to my hips and level my shoulders feeling like it might just be possible now to win the whole damn thing.
Who’s the pawn now?!
With a slow, deliberate turn, Haven looks at me standing on the periphery now, unsure of his next move. There’s a smugness to his face that shouldn’t be there. Not for someone who's clearly losing.
I bested Haven.
He knows it.
I know it.
And now he doesn’t have a bracelet.
But...he smiles at me.
What does he have to be happy about?
The flicker of flame light plays across the sharp planes of his face making him look somehow more beautiful. He reminds me of the two-stories-tall god statues that circle the square in the heart of Olympus. Every angle perfect and precise. His presence larger than life.
Before coming here, I believed that Haven was the kind of descendant who’s been raised on decadence. I believed that he was shallow and that whatever power he had was just as deep. That the other descendants bowed to him like a parent might bow to the mewling whine of a baby.
But now…
Still staring at me, Haven holds out his hand.
Theo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. And then he removes his bracelet from his wrist and places it in the palm of Haven’s hand.
Now I realize just how wrong I was.
Haven isn’t easily supplanted like a pompous ass might be.
Haven’s power is greater, more pervasive.
He is the power. A force that can’t be fought, much like the wind or rain.
Theo giving over his bracelet—his entire life and everything he’s known—is proof of that.
I step forward, suddenly blind with anger and a little dizzy with envy.
“That isn’t fair!” I shout.
Haven gives me a look that’s gratingly pleased and I realize my reaction has given him exactly what he wants.
He slips the bracelet over his wrist and steps through the torch line.
He takes two steps to me, grabs me by the throat and runs me back against the oak tree.
The bark bites through my overshirt. Pain burns down my neck as Haven presses his fingers against the bruise Ely already gave me.
“Do you know who I am, Hearthtender?” His mouth is close, so damn close, I can hear the gritting of his teeth. “I’m Haven Fucking Knightfall and I will win this trial and I will assume my rightful place in Hades’s elite. And if you, or anyone else gets in my way, I will make sure that your fate is worse than the mortal streets. I will not just wipe your memory from divine minds” —his grip tightens and the bruise blooms with pain— “I will wipe your very existence from the earth you tread.”
When he lets me go, I double over, rubbing at my raw throat.
Everyone is silent.
I’m a spectacle that they don’t want to risk missing.
Every time I think I’m getting ahead, Haven reminds me of who I am and where I came from.
I can’t best his brutality or his cruelty. I can’t fight the force of him. I can’t become a predator like him. He was born that way. I’ve only just arrived.
But maybe...maybe I’ve been going about it all wrong and maybe Haven was right. Maybe I need to be weak in order to be strong.
I’ve been trying to meet Haven at his match. Playing his game on his board. It’s a game that I don’t entirely understand the rules of. I need to be more subtle about my own moves. I need to start playing my own game.
I stand upright and gingerly clutch at my neck, as if I can rub the rawness away. There are tears in my eyes. Mostly from the pain, but instead of hiding the tears, I let them run down my face.
“You’re right,” I say. I close my eyes, forcing out more tears. “I’m just...I’m scared.”
When I open my eyes again, Haven is staring at me with a look that’s unreadable. The boys behind him are still watching. The torches snap as the wind shifts. Dry leaves skitter into the clearing.
For the briefest of moments, Haven frowns, caught off guard by my admission and my submission.
For the briefest of moments, I’m sure that what I see on his face is no longer angry and vengeful—it’s sympathetic.
And there...there is my in.
The way to take out Haven Knightfall is to make him believe I’m exactly who he thinks I am.
A weak, stupid girl.
Chapter 19
When I get back to my room, I find a parcel on the bed tied tight with twine. There’s a letter with it.
I tear into it hungrily, immediately recognizing the looping script on the outside of the envelope that reads, My Dearest Ana.
If you’re reading this, you’v
e won your first trial. I am so very proud of you. Please accept this gift as a symbol of our commendation. Sura has been working on it day and night.
I must admit, I was worried when the box chose your name. Only the Fates know the road you are to travel, but I suspect your future will be worthy of an epic ballad and I look forward to the day that I will hear it sung.
Your Mother Goddess,
Hestia
When I reach the end of the letter, tears blot out the ink.
Hestia was always a kind mother goddess, but it isn’t in the gods’ nature to be overly involved with their descendants, or their orphans in Hestia’s case. I saw her for ceremonies and festivals. On infrequent occasions, she would treat one of us orphans to a journey across the outlying lands to bless the houses of the farmers. And every now and then, she’d come to the house for a special dinner and would converse with us older orphans by the fire afterward.
But never, in all my years at her house, has she ever said she was proud of me.
Never has she told me she sees great things for my future.
It means more than she can know.
I set the letter aside and untie the parcel. There’s a dress folded inside. I take it by the shoulders and hold it up. It’s made of fine silk the color of the blackest night. It’s buttery between my fingers. It’ll be the perfect dress to wear for tonight.
I’m to report to Hades’s Hall just before dusk for the departure ceremony and then immediately after will attend a celebration for all descendants from all God Houses.
I finally get to see Clea! Though she wasn’t chosen, I imagine Hestia will extend an invitation for her.
For the rest of the day, I doze in bed. My body is still fighting the new schedule and I find I still want to be awake in the daytime despite the constant exhaustion.
When I summon enough energy to get up, it’s mid-afternoon and knowing most of the boys like to keep even later hours, I hurry to the bathroom and shower as quickly as I can.
Back in my room, while my hair dries, I dust rouge on my cheeks and run pomegranate paint over my lips. While the curling iron Clea gifted me for last Festivus warms by the fire, I braid two small, delicate braids into my hair and then join them at the back with a pin I found in my wardrobe. At the center is Cerberus. It feels bold to wear Hades’s House symbol when he hasn’t even claimed me, but I don’t care. I won my first trial!
When the iron is ready, I wrap chunks of hair around it creating large curls that hang around my face.
When I’m finished, I slip into the dark dress and appraise myself in the full-length mirror. The dress flows over my body like it’s made of the water of the River Styx.
I look like Ana Hearthtender, but also like a revered descendant of Hades.
Like night and shadow and glory.
I made it through my first trial and I nearly beat Haven at it too.
“Thank you, Sura,” I say to my reflection hoping she can feel my gratitude all the way over here in the shadow side of Mt. Olympus.
Just as Apollo’s chariot descends below the horizon, I enter Hades’s Hall. It looks like I’m nearly the last to arrive again, but I’m beginning to like being fashionably late. And when Haven’s eyes land on me across the great room, I’m even more pleased.
His gaze drinks me in. From the silk of my slippers to the dress hugging my curves, to the braid crowning my head.
There’s a look on his face that reminds me of the malefactors chained to rocks of the northwestern shore. The look of a starving man.
My skin goes to goosebumps and I have to repress the shiver that wants to race up my spine.
He doesn’t look so bad himself in a black suit that’s tailored to precision to skim his broad shoulders and the rise and dip of his biceps. His hair is just slightly wet, like he took a shower not long ago. From across the room, his amber eye seems to glow in the dim.
There are two clear groups standing on the dais and I know which side I’m on.
The departing descendants stand on the right and those who’ll move on stand on the left. I hurry to join the latter just as Nereus and Hades enter through the arched double doors behind the dais.
Professor Monstrat and a few other house members I don’t know well enough to know their names stand off to the side.
Monstrat looks like he wants to cry or scream.
Ely didn’t make it.
And there’s still dried blood crusted along the side of his face.
Along with Ely stand Theo, Orrin, and another descendant I never bothered to learn the name of.
They all wear grim expressions.
They’re about to lose everything.
And we’re about to lose the memory of them.
It isn’t until this moment that I realize just how horrible this whole thing is. I know virtually nothing about the mortal world, other than what I’ve learned through studies and books. It’s the gods who pay visit to the mortals. Not usually descendants. Or at least not many of us. It isn’t forbidden, but Mt. Olympus is far superior to the mortal realm. We’ve always had everything we’ve ever needed here.
What’ll Ely do over there? And Theo? Why did he voluntarily give up his bracelet?
Why would anyone choose to lose?
Nereus stands at the head of our line, those of us who are to advance. Hades walks in front of those who’ve lost and regards them with a look that’s disparaging.
“You’ve failed me and this house.”
They all keep their eyes trained straight ahead as the God of the Underworld faces them.
“You were chosen for greatness and you were unable to rise to it.” He stops when he reaches Theo. “And some of you sacrificed yourselves for reasons we will never understand.”
Down the line, I sense Haven fidgeting and when I chance a look at him, I see his head is bowed and his eyes are squeezed shut.
Does he feel bad?
No. That can’t be possible. I doubt Haven feels bad about anything he’s said or done. Including this—stealing Theo’s spot so he could live another day.
Except...there’s this weird knotting in my chest like I want to console Haven. Like I want to take his hand in mine and squeeze to let him know that it’ll be alright.
I must be delirious.
Because no way in hell do I feel bad for him. He stole from Theo. Bullied him into giving up. Plain and simple.
“Whatever your Fated journey is from here on out,” Hades says, “it won’t be walked beneath my roof or on the soil of Olympus. You’ll depart from my house and enter through the gate to the mortal realm and never return. Say your goodbyes. They’ll be your last.”
He turns away and disappears through the arched doors.
Pearce and Kal walk over to the others. They do that guy hug—half hug, half handshake.
Kal is saying goodbye to his twin, but his face is as emotionless as if he’s saying goodbye to the milkman.
Haven doesn’t move.
I step closer to him. The urge to console him is still firmly rooted in my heart, but I shove it away and instead say, “I hope Theo survives in the mortal realm.”
Haven grits his teeth. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“Of course, we’ll never know because we won’t even remember he existed.”
A low grumble sounds in the base of Haven’s throat.
Theo comes over to us. “Farewell, brother,” he says.
For a split second, I think Haven will ignore him, but then he breaks and wraps Theo in a hug.
“Be well,” Haven says.
“I will.” Theo pulls away and pats Haven on the shoulder. “Win this for me.”
I snort. “You could have won, Theo, if you didn’t sacrifice yourself.”
Theo frowns and starts to answer when Haven jumps in. “He never would have won. I gave him the easy way out.”
“You forced him into exile. He has no idea what he’s gotten himself into! The mortal realm is no place for a divine—”
“
Ana,” Theo says, “it’s alright. I—”
“He made a choice!” Haven’s voice rises as he turns to face me. “I didn’t force him into anything!”
“You’re just a bully. You’ve always been a bully. You and every Knightfall before you. You think you’re so much better than the rest of us that we shouldn’t even try? Bullshit.”
I realize I’m losing control of myself. That just a few hours ago, I’d promised myself I’d play the game and appear weak. Instead I’m making a stand when I should be keeping my mouth shut.
Haven laughs. “I don’t need the might of the Knightfall name.” I feel a skittering up my leg. Then another on my hand. When I look down there’s a black spider climbing up my arm. I yelp and shake it away.
I try to talk myself out of the illusion, try to gain control of it like Max said I could, but I’m caught off guard by it and the more spiders I bat away, the more that appear.
“Enough!” Nereus’s voice booms through the room.
The spiders disappear.
Everyone goes still.
Fury burns in Nereus’s expression. “Your bickering is childish and tiresome. Grow up, the both of you.”
Haven shoots me an accusatory look. One that says, See what you’ve done now?
“It’s time for the remaining to attend the celebration, and the rest to depart.”
With one last look at Theo, Haven nods his head and then leaves for the waiting carriage.
I go to follow him when Theo grabs me by the wrist. “Ana, wait.”
I stop.
“Haven didn’t force me to give up my bracelet.”
For a moment, I’m unsure if I heard him right. “What do you mean?”
“I asked him to let me lose in the first round.”
“Why would you do that?”
His expression turns sheepish and I swear a blush blooms on his cheeks. “For love, I suppose, as cliché as it sounds.”
“Love of Haven?” Gods, is no one immune?
“No.” Theo laughs and shakes his head. His dark curls shift in the light. “The love of a mortal girl. I can be with her now, Ana. Haven gave me that because we’re friends and I’ll forever be in his debt because of it.”
Hades Descendants (The Games of the Gods Book 1) Page 9