Page 55 of Until the End of Ever (To the Cruel Gods #2)

KLEOS

I 'd traveled to New York on my eighteenth birthday, Silver in tow, and we visited the Met, ate our weight in hot dogs and pizza, before riding to the top of the Empire State Building like good tourists.

I'd been wrong when I guessed the statues were as tall as a skyscraper. They stood at least three times higher, made entirely of solid gold.

The little bag at the bottom of my pocket felt ridiculous at this point. Had Cassius even ever seen this place?

Through the statues stood a platform, and right in front, one single golden throne, which would have been imposing if not for the great golden guardians.

Beyond the throne, there was nothing but light on the right, and an unending darkness on the left.

And upon the golden chair, legs thrown over the arm, sat the opposite of what I would have pictured.

I thought we might see an old man, possibly half canine on top, and certainly commanding.

Instead, there was a woman, unfairly gorgeous, dressed in gold and white, set off against her flawless umber skin.

She looked around Lucky's age. Her green eyes zeroed in on us, and she tilted her head, intrigued.

Great. Now the gold and the bag of seeds were useless. This was not Osiris. Was it?

I cleared my throat. "Apologies for the interruption, ma'am?—"

The woman sighed, holding her hand up.

"Earthlings, hm? And live ones at that." Her accent was like nothing I'd ever heard, smooth as chocolate. "Well, what do you want? Bring someone back? Divine intervention? A midnight sun, perhaps?"

She listed those like they were common occurrences.

"Erm…actually, this." I pointed to the scales in the center of the round platform. "We need to borrow it. Temporarily? I'm prepared to pay, to negotiate..."

"Just that, huh? And I suppose the billions of souls awaiting judgement should continue to wait?"

I bit my lip. "Someone's about to be condemned to death unjustly. The one thing I could think of that would exonerate him?—"

"Look, you clearly don't care," Lucky interrupted me.

I glanced at her, frowning. She had a point; the divinity on the throne looked bored, already done with me, her decision made. But I had to try.

"So, how much?" the oceanid continued.

Did she truly think bribery would work?

"If you were completely opposed, you would have just called some monsters to dispatch us. So tell us what it'll take to borrow the scales for a day."

The girl held Lucky's stare, then laughed.

"All right, you're entertaining. For that alone, I'll give you a chance." A wicked grin curved her lips. "I can either let you take the scales for a day, kid, or I can remove the curse that has taken your entire family—that will take your life before you turn twenty-five, too. What will it be?"

I stared in disbelief. A curse? And a curse that would kill Lucky, too? It wasn't fair to ask her to trade her life for Lucian's.

"The scales," Lucky immediately replied, without a single moment of hesitation.

"Hm, then I suppose that man must deserve the sacrifice." Sounding just as bored, the woman stood. "Very well. I'll have to come along to ensure they're not misused, and bring them back."

She waved, and the scales before me shrank from the size of a grown man to a small box she covered with the cape she'd been wearing moment ago. The box levitated to Lucky's hand. Almost instantly, another scale appeared right where the first set had laid.

We gaped at her, and she just shrugged. "We have spares."

The woman strutted like she was the star of a catwalk.

I hesitated, and opted to leave both the seeds and the pouch of gold by the throne, before following after her.

As she passed the two golden statues, I watch her clothes morph, still gold and white but a blend of Silver's and Lucky’s: jeans, and a boatneck cardigan.

"Daddy," she called out, "I'm taking a break."

And the next moment, darkness engulfed us.