The Dragon

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"Wait, what the actual fuck."

I placed my coffee on the little napkin on the table before looking up slowly to see all of the Cousins staring at me, and Lumen.

It had taken hours for me to convince her to talk to the Cousins about the situation. She was fiercely loyal to Five, clearly, and wanted to keep their relationship a secret, but she also recognized she couldn't do this on her own; couldn't hide it on her own, couldn't save the artificials on her own. We needed help. And while we both agreed keeping this from Hades was in our best interest, we couldn't keep it from the Cousins, at the very least. Especially Seven, given everything he'd gone through and the fact that he was the one who had declared war on the Mother to begin with.

Of course, the reactions were mixed.

"Okay, let me see if I got this," Daphne May said, holding her hands up before placing them slowly on the table, "You both basically fell in love with artificials, who are working with this evil Mother person to destroy the Hades clan. Said artificials have both attempted to kidnap Hadrian for reasons we don't even know, both of them failed, and neither of them seem interested in trying again, because, again, they're in love with you both. And we're not telling Hades because Hades could interrogate them quite uncomfortably. Did I get that right?"

"That sums it up," Lumen said softly.

"When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous," I muttered. Daphne May gave me a droll stare, folding her arms over her chest. Wren sighed, reaching up to rake a hand through his hair before placing it on the table sternly.

"This is stupid," he said at last, "Tell Hades. For all we know, they could both be lying and using you."

"He's not."

"She's not." Lumen and I spoke in unison, then glanced at each other. We knew how bad it sounded, but it was the truth. If it was all a trick, why hadn't they kidnapped me by now? Why hadn't they tried harder to take me back to the Mother? Clearly their feelings for both Lumen and I were getting in the way. Besides, the Cousins knew damn well I wanted to keep this on the downlow from Hades. It was more than just Hades interrogating them, torturing them. It was about the fact that Hades would once again go into panic mode and lock me up somewhere far away with no one else, but my family for probably more than a year this time. I probably wouldn't even be able to see the Cousins, because I hadn't been able to last time.

"We are not telling Hades," I said firmly, watching Wren sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose, "The last thing we need is Hades panicking. Besides, it's time we solved something on our own. I can't count how many times we've run to Hades for help, or one of our parents."

"Because we need their help and we should ask for it when we need it?" Wren offered dryly.

"No, I think they've got a point," Amenti murmured, "Don't get me wrong; I love Hades. He's incredibly powerful and a good asset to have... when you're facing the end of the universe. But right now, we're not facing that. We're facing another type of problem."

"No, I'm pretty sure she wants to destroy the universe," Wren deadpanned. Holly shook her head.

"No way. It sounds like she wants to destroy Hades and his family, which by default, includes all of us. She sounds like a cranky bitch taking out her anger on other people, by using other people, and that is incredibly unfair," she explained, earning a nod from Amenti.

"We want to do this on our own," I said firmly, "Without Hades's help, without the help of our parents. It's our problem, not theirs."

"I'd say it's Hades's problem if it's his damn sister who's the bad guy," Wren muttered.