Page 59 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

“I wanted to be allowed to wear trousers, ride my horse, and choose my own husband. Not fight with gods!” I yelled, far too overwhelmed to censor myself. “Bloody ghosts!”

Descended from gods of death. Both of us. And deities on separate sides of a potential war. Charon had told Death that this wasn’t over. The gears in my head ground to a stop, and whatever powered my heart protested, pain shooting through me that was so real I clutched my chest.

“What happens now?”

Death tilted her head, and it was eerie seeing eyes so like my own observing me in such a way.

“Now? Charon will be imprisoned. Just like Epiphany, the only other deity to ever attempt a stunt like this. We’ll stick him in what you all call the ‘lost country’ for a few centuries, until we forget him or he learns some manners.

And until then, the Ether needs a god. There are no more Shades, of course, but someone has to do Charon’s job. Balance of nature and all that.”

“No. He’s not going back!” I threw my arms out, shielding Orion as if I could fight her off. “And we can’t help you, anyway! We aren’t deities.”

Death scowled.

“Haven’t you been listening? You haven’t mastered our abilities, but you have so much potential. You could learn. Just because you haven’t yet done something doesn’t mean you can’t. I’m sure you’ve figured that out.”

Did that mean? Orion’s connection to the Ether. His ability to get into Charon’s home with me. The way he influenced the Shades.

“Did we need your help to get into Charon’s home?” I asked her.

She laughed.

“Now you’re getting it! No. You never did. Orion could have taken you at any time. The Ether is his as well. He just has to learn to influence it, and he has plenty of time. I’m more than happy to support the new god of the Ether, under my guidance, of course.”

“No! He doesn’t want to go!”

Orion was frozen at my side, silent as the graves around us. He probably had a hundred years of memories playing through his mind, all in a potentially new light.

“Stop being unreasonable! We had a deal. I got you back, and you’re both alive. And I’ll tell you how to track down the person responsible for your father, as promised. But Orion will go.”

She reached for him, and I snapped.

“You can’t have him. He is mine !”

Lightning shot between us, and I screamed, fully expecting to burn. I slammed my eyes shut, and when I opened them, I saw Death was wide-eyed, her jaw hanging open.

“How did you manage that?”

I looked down, realizing the smoke was rising from my hand. I’d done it.

She beamed.

“Even more powerful than I’d hoped! Perhaps being in Charon’s realm has been helpful to you. Oh, yes, this is wonderful. After this whole debacle, I’d already decided that keeping my descendant closer would be the best thing. Orion will return to the Ether, and you will come with me, to my realm.”

“She will not!” Orion yelled, breaking his silence.

The temperature dropped again, and I looked around for Charon, but there was only Death, smirking.

“And you as well, little Shade. My, my. It is a momentous day. Charon was always adept at adjusting the temperature. You’ve been doing it for months, without noticing, although normally you are making it warmer for my precious descendant.”

I stared at Orion. He was able to ward off the Ether’s cold because of his blood? That’s how he’d kept me warm?

“I will be going, goddess. My sniveling descendant will be coming with me.” Odos grabbed Bellamy by his collar, dragging him away.

Bellamy Bonds? Odos was a god worshiped in Tang, and Bellamy’s family was from there, but I couldn’t imagine the whimpering, slimy man as Odos’s descendant.

And he’d imprisoned Orion. On Odos’s orders. Another god with plans we hadn’t been aware of and motivations I trusted as little as I had the others.

The two of them vanished in the wind.

“Now then, it’s time to get going,” Death urged.

“I think you’ll enjoy my realm. And once we’re there, we can figure out the best way to unseat the rest of these gods.

Charon was right in that at least. They’re all useless.

None of them are doing their duty as intended.

Together we’ll replace them and start again. ”

“You really do want to be the last one standing.”

She nodded.

“I certainly do. No better individual for the job.”

There was no way to best her. We’d only defeated the hour because she was on our side. All I could hope to do was delay her.

“You once said that a hundred years was nothing to a god. Did you mean that?”

“Of course. Human lifespans are sad, paltry things. I do plan to pay a bit more attention in future. Charon only kept his little hour secret for so long because I don’t deign to check in on Rayus so often. Something I’ll remedy, I assure you.”

“We don’t need a hundred years. We only need one.

I want to track down the person who killed my father, and I want to say a proper goodbye to the rest of my family.

My brother Thomas is probably traveling again, so it may take a while to reach him.

Orion has to settle things with his estate.

He’s been missing for a hundred years. It’ll take time.

When those things are done, then we’ll leave. ”

Death laughed.

“Bargaining with Death? You have no leverage. What would I get out of this?”

“A willing pupil instead of one who is trying to fight you. Assurances that the Ether will not try to defy you or your realm again.”

She tapped her chin.

“You amuse me, little human. Or should I say, small descendant. And you would be willing to let Orion go? He is returned to the Ether, and you go with me?”

“Yes. If you give us this year.”

“A wise choice. Power is superior to love in every way. You have a year. Not a day longer. And here is the information I promised regarding your father.” She handed me a folded slip of paper that appeared in her hand.

“We will meet in this spot, and you will come willingly, or face the consequences.”

Her expression turned vicious just before lightning struck her, and we were left alone in the graveyard.

I clutched the paper and collapsed. Orion caught me.

“Remember what I said, Starlight. Nothing will keep me from you. Not even Death. I will find a way,” he assured me.

He brushed a stray hair away from my forehead.

“We stopped the Unseen Hour. We have saved Rayus. We’ll avenge your father, and we will solve this problem, together.”

Charon was defeated, but had promised vengeance.

Death had given us a reprieve, but it had come with a threat.

Odos and Bellamy might well cause trouble of their own.

I didn’t even know enough about Day and Grim to guess their motives.

There was only one individual who knew what it was like to face down the other deities.

“Whoever harmed my father will pay, yes, but I already have plans for how we’re going to stop Death.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. We’re going to the lost country, and we’re going to free a trapped god.”