My Ex From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #1)

Like father, like son-of-a-bitch (Part 3)

"Subdue her," Hannah corrected. "Still ixnay on the killing of humans."

Cassie paled. I patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, Cassie. You and I are freak sisters. We have to stick together."

She nodded her head thoughtfully. "We do."

"If you really want someone to kill, my vote is Kyrillos." Apparently, Theo was still very very angry over the loss of his chain.

"Explain something to me," I said to him. "I get that it's wrong to steal and he absolutely should not have taken what was yours. But you acted as if it was a big manipulation."

For a second Theo looked as if he wanted to rip me a new one for even asking the question, then he sighed. "I keep forgetting. You really don't remember. It's like this—"

"That's my cue to go," Cassie said, rising. "I want to put this all behind me, not learn more."

"Don't think you can," Theo said gently. "It's not going to turn off."

She shrugged. "A well deserved rest then. I'm going upstairs to see if my roommate Jessica remembers me again. My life is going to take a bit of straightening out." With a final thank you, she left.

"Back to the chain—" Theo began.

"It was personal to you. Because of what Zeus did with it," Hannah offered.

"Yes, but—"

"And the fact that you're still here, using it instead of it using you, is proof that you won that battle," I finished proudly.

"Whose story is this?" he asked.

We gave him meek looks begging forgiveness. It worked not at all, but he did explain what he meant.

"It's like this. Everything you said may be true, but this isn't about me. It's about what that asshole is using my chain for. You know Hades was poisoned, right?"

We nodded.

"He's vulnerable right now. More so than ever before. Now, think about it. If you were Kai and you hated your dad and you came across a magic chain that could bind him up, allowing you to say, stuff him in a magically enclosed cave, what would you do?"

"Steal it," Hannah groaned.

"Right," Theo continued. "And his accomplice would appear to be ... ?"

"Ah," Hannah replied.

Theo gave a tight smile.

Despite the fairly conclusive evidence, I really didn't want it to be true. Was everything Kai told me a lie? "But why stick around? Why not just steal the chain beforehand?"

"He couldn't take it from me. The chain and I are, pardon the pun, bound to each other. My willingly turning it over to the dragon changed that."

"And of course, Kai would know." Hannah shot me a sympathetic look. "Sorry, honey, but it looks like he really did betray you."

"He left me to die." I couldn't get my head around that. "I mean, even if I did sort of understand why he took the chain, he still needs me for his grand plan."

"But he doesn't," Theo pointed out gently. "Kai gets rid of Hades, he's in charge. He doesn't want world domination. Earth doesn't matter. It's like I told you, he was raised to care about the Underworld. And once he rules it, with all its minions, he'll either take on Zeus himself or just be happy with what he's got."

"He never cared much about Zeus," I murmured. "That was me." I stood up jerkily. "I'vegottago," I mumbled, fleeing in a rush.

Drama queening, I know. But be fair. Kai and Persephone had had this grand romance. They (we?) defied everything to be together; I'm not talking feuding families, but all-out war. For whatever reason, I still felt remnants of Persephone's feelings for him, coupled with my own. Whatever those were.