And that brings me back to Hades. The king of the underworld. I came to experience Olympus, and now I’m standing before the gods who rule it.
Curiosity tugs at me, until Hades raises his hand and touches my cheek.
No, not touching.
He curls his fingers around the edge of my mask and rips. The ties break easily, the gold falling away from my face. My lips part, and I automatically lift my hand to my face. My cheeks are hot. Embarrassment and fear wind under my skin, grappling to be the primary emotion.
He drops the mask and crushes it under his foot, then leans forward. “Do you know who we are?”
I shiver at the roughness in his tone. “I can guess.”
He smiles. It’s not a happy one—it’s a tempt me to do worse smile. The kind you give to your adversaries, not your friends. “What did you see?”
“N-nothing.” I step back.
He comes forward, staying right in front of me. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Please,” I whisper. “I won’t say anything.”
“About nothing?” He tilts his head. “What would you say if you didn’t see anything?”
“I’m sorry.” My throat constricts, and I keep backing away. I drop my heels but keep my clutch close. I shouldn’t have come here. I should’ve stayed in my apartment and made friends in daylight. Or waited until I started work next week, befriended a coworker.
Stupid.
“She’s going to run,” the third says.
I glance over Hades’ shoulder at the red-masked man.
“Let her.” This from Apollo. There’s a knife in his hand, and blood on his skin. He was the one to stab the other man. To kill him.
Their stares are too intense—and they’re right. I want to run. I want to sprint as far away from here as possible. I tremble and hold firm.
Until Hades breaks his stare and glances back at Olympus.
My self-control snaps, and I spin away from them. I sprint back down the hill. But instead of angling for the road, I dodge between cars and head for the woods.
Not the best decision to go barefoot, but I can’t stay in the open. I’m not in the best shape, and I’m breathing heavily by the time I make it past the last row of cars.
For a moment, I wonder if they’re going to let me go. Then a howl breaks open the night. It’s very clearly a human voice. One of the three declaring the hunt? Full-body chills break out down my spine, and I push myself faster.
In my head, I can hear them running after me. Their laughter and pounding footsteps. It might be my imagination, though, because the only thing I can really hear is my ragged breathing.
I’m the prey they’re after.
There’s an opening in the tree line. A trail that becomes clearer the closer I get. I run for it while my heart threatens to explode out of my chest.
The forest swallows me in darkness. The trail is almost impossible to see. The trees block out all of the moonlight, and rocks dig into the bottoms of my feet. I wince when something sharp jabs the soft arch.
I fumble for my phone’s flashlight, turning it on just as another howl sounds. I flinch.
My phone falls from my grip, the bright light arcing through the air. It lands light-down on the path, and I scramble on my hands and knees to find it. Panic rises in me, constricting my throat, and I brush away fallen leaves and pine needles frantically. My fingers land on the smooth glass screen, and I check it quickly. Undamaged.
I climb to my feet. The woods have fallen silent. No more howls, no footsteps. The silence is almost worse, because I have no idea where they are. If they’re still coming after me, or if they have me right where they want me. I struggle to catch my breath, to calm my heartbeat and ease the tightness in my lungs.
But I need to keep moving. I shine it down the path and scream.
Hades strides toward me.
I backpedal and trip over something, falling hard on my ass. I ignore the spike of pain up my spine and crawl backward. “Please don’t—”
I hit legs.
Hands grab my upper arms and hoist me up, and my courage flees. The pain in my foot is overshadowed by fear and adrenaline. My phone’s flashlight shines up, illuminating the trees that seem to tip toward us.
Hades stops just in front of it. It gives him a sinister look with his mask firmly in place. And I feel strangely vulnerable without mine.
He tilts his head, then crouches and lifts my forgotten clutch.
I risk a glance over my shoulder. The red-masked man holds me close. He grins, leaning in and running his nose up the shell of my ear. Goosebumps break out all over.
“Kora Sinclair.”
I flinch against my captor’s grip.
Hades flashes my ID at me, then resumes scanning it. “Why are you here?”
“I came to see—”
“Why are you in my city, Kora Sinclair?” His eyes narrow, and his lips press into a thin line. He stalks forward and appraises me under a more critical eye. “Dressed as you are. In a hand-me-down dress and plastic mask. Did you know what you were walking into?”
I get the impression that he usually only has to ask a question once, and people snap to obey him. And with the red-masked man right at my back—and Apollo god only knows where—I should be one of those people.
But my weakness has always been that I don’t give up when I should, so I stay silent. Besides, the dress wasn’t that cheap. I set my jaw.
The red-masked man chuckles. “I like her. Maybe we should keep her.”
Keep me?
Hades shakes his head once and comes closer. He tugs on a lock of my dark hair. “Tell me.”
I stare past him. I’ve never been so glad to have changed my appearance before I left home. Because if he’s memorizing what I look like… this isn’t the real version of me. It’s just another layer I’ve created to protect myself.
But then he pulls harder, and I wince.
“A scholarship to SFU.” I hate that I admit it to him, caving just because he’s touching me. Or maybe I give in for another reason. Survival instinct finally, finally kicking in. “A full ride for next year.”
“Listen to me very closely.” He twists my hair around his fingers, forcing my head to tilt. The pressure on my scalp is on the verge of painful. “You made a mistake by coming here. And we don’t give second chances. So you’re going to leave Sterling Falls, because there’s nothing left for you here.”
He releases me and slides my ID into his front pocket. The ID that has my name, my parents’ home address. The parts of my identity that I can’t change overnight: height, weight. Birthday. Eye color.
My stomach rolls again, and I bite my tongue. The copper taste of blood fills my mouth, and my nausea worsens.
“I’m going to hold on to this.” Hades smirks. “Just in case you decide to tell anyone about what you saw. Either way… no one will believe you. As of this moment, Kora Sinclair doesn’t exist.”
The red-masked man at my back releases me. Hades steps past me, and my knees give out. I hit the ground and stare at the light on my phone. Their footsteps recede, until it’s just me in the woods.
His ominous words ring in my ears.
Kora Sinclair doesn’t exist.
Part of me wants to believe it’s a joke. That their reach can’t possibly be that long. But they killed a man without flinching. He has my ID. My name. He knows I’m here for school.