“I didn’t fail. I am king here. You best remember that.”
“But you won’t be for long, will you?” I try to grab the side of the altar to use it to push myself up. I am too drained of strength and fall back to my knees. “You succeeded your father and became king because you had technically fulfilled your quest. But there are those in the Court who question your eligibility. And then there’s the matter of your deal with Joe not being enough. That’s where I came into play. Your deal with Joe will give you Daphne’s soul. Is it supposed to come to you immediately when she dies—bypassing Elysium or the Wastelands, where it would get lost forever? But the problem is, you need her heart, too. Which means you need her alive—and no living person can cross through Persephone’s Gate unless she does it willingly. Which meant you needed a Champion to finish this for you. You needed her to be brought back as a Boon. Rowan was your first choice—he’s always been your favorite—but you got nervous. You decided to consult the Oracle and got the shock of your life when she chose me.”
“You’re proving right now you weren’t up to the task, as I thought.”
“I’m proving I’m not your little puppet. You think I care if you remain king? Call in the Court right now. I’ll tell them to their faces that you should be overthrown.”
“You think you know some things, but you don’t know the half of it, nursling. I’m the one holding this realm together. I’m the only one who has any reason around here. Yes, there are Heirs who want me ousted, and, yes, your fulfilling your quest is the only thing stopping them from taking over. But my remaining as king is the only thing that is stopping your precious human realm and all those humans you love from being destroyed!”
“What do you mean?”
“As you should know, the Pits fill the space between our realm and the Overrealm. But what you aren’t privy to is the knowledge that the locks on Pandora’s Pithos are starting to fail, and my authority is the only thing keeping some of the Heirs from ripping through the walls of the Pits in order to use it as a bridge out of the Underrealm—setting all the Keres loose on both our realm and the mortal world in the process. There are Heirs who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the Kronolithe in order to reignite the war with the Skylords. They’re sick of being locked away. They think the Underlords should rule everything. I’m the one who believes in the order of the realms. I’m the one who wants to keep the stalemate in place—and if I need to sacrifice one little Cypher to find the Kronolithe in order to remain in control, then so be it!”
“You’re lying,” I say.
Garrick had told me the locks on the Pit are failing. I know it is a possibility the Keres can get out on their own—but the possibility that the Court would let them out on purpose is something I can’t believe.
Haden. Daphne’s voice echoes in my mind, giving me the strength to keep talking back to Ren. “You want the Kronolithe so you can become a god. You want to be Hades, not just use his title.” The idea of my father as an all-powerful, immortal deity makes me quake where I kneel.
“It’s an added perk, yes. But believe me, I as your god is a much better option than the alternative.” Ren forms a new bolt of lightning in his hand. It rumbles and cracks as it surges with power. “What is that human saying? ‘Third time’s a charm’? Or, no, maybe I’m looking for ‘Three strikes, you’re out.’ I am guessing your soul can’t take a third blast without breaking the link to your body. So this is it, boy. You make the vow to bring her to me and I will make you my son once more, my eldest son—my heir—or refuse and it’s good night, sweet prince, for you.”
Sarah’s words about my destiny come to me then. You have two paths before you now, young Haden.… One will lead to the honor you have craved since you were a child, while the other will lead to the end of Lord Haden, prince of the Underrealm.
I don’t know why destiny chose me for this. I don’t know why I would be given more than one path. But the Oracle had said that I would decide which path is which by the choices I make—and that the first choice would be upon me soon.
“What is it going to be?” Ren asks, a great sphere of lightning encircling his hand—aimed at me.
I can feel my soul wavering. It can’t survive that kind of blast.
“You realize that if the Heirs get their way,” Ren says, “she’ll die, along with all your precious friends. You give her to me, and maybe I’ll let you have whatever is left of her after I get the Key.”
Haden! I hear my name again. This time, it sounds like Daphne and Dax together.
Thoughts of Daphne fill my mind. The sound of her voice when she sings. The touch of her skin as I held her hand as she slept. The way she didn’t mock me when I cried. The way she makes me feel human. That mean right hook of hers …