Prisoner

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Aww, isn't that just precious?"

I stiffened at the sound of Cyrus's voice and tightened my grip on River, squeezing my eyes shut. I could feel my breath struggling to escape the closing of my throat as panic infected every fiber of my being. There was rage at my reaction, but it didn't stop the trembling. I couldn't believe I was just standing here, shaking like a fucking baby and on the verge of tears. I could feel the sting on the backs of my eyes. Now I couldn't tell if I was scared or angry, just that I needed to hang onto River, who tightened his arms around me in response to my tension.

"Ignore him," River ordered me, making me peer up at him as he stared at me firmly, "His existence will be short. If he's down here, Hades will make quick work of him." I blinked for a moment as that thought settled in and I loosened my grip to look around River at Cyrus.

The guy was bleeding from his mouth profusely from River's kick to the jaw and judging from his lisp, one of his fangs had broken off. He was breathing raggedly, but there was a delight in his eyes that made my skin crawl.

"Why does Hades have you here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. River tightened his grip on me, but he didn't scold me. He just put his arms around me, mostly like he was going to protect me if Cyrus said or did anything.

"Because we're such good friends," Cyrus sneered, making me tense. His smartmouth was starting to piss me off, and thank fuck the fear was starting to subside as my anger surged. I let go of River to step around him and River caught my arm, pulling me back by his side.

"Four, don't encourage him," River ordered.

"I want to know why Hades has him here," I said to River, who frowned, and I turned back to Cyrus, "He's asking you for information on the Mother, isn't he?" Cyrus smirked.

"What're you gonna do? Kill me to protect the Mother? Or have you forgotten your duties? Your loyalties?" He challenged. I narrowed my eyes and approached him. River stuck very close behind me, like he was ready to lash out if Cyrus did anything, but Cyrus just kept that bloody grin on his face as I walked up to him so I was looking down at him on his knees.

"No," I said, making Cyrus raise an eyebrow, "I have not forgotten my loyalties." River frowned, glancing at me. I reached out and grabbed Cyrus by a handful of hair, snapping his head back and making him hiss at me with his broken fangs.

"Because my loyalty has always been and always will be to myself," I said, making Cyrus narrow his eyes and bare his fangs, "So do me a fucking favor, big guy. When you see the Mother in Tartarus, tell her to shove her authoritarian leadership right up her crusty cunt and fucking rot." Without another word, I felt my nails extend into claws and Cyrus froze for a second, startled by the sensation.

"What the fuck--"

"Bye bye, daddy," I jerked hard once and Cyrus's head ripped clean off his shoulders and came off in my claws. Blood exploded like a busted pipe in the air, splattering across River and I. I let my claws return to nails and dropped Cyrus's head to the floor where it rolled across the room into the shadows, leaving a squirting trail of blood behind it and a single broken fang that slid across the floor to my feet. Cyrus's body stayed up on its knees for a second or two, squirting blood in the air, before it toppled over on the side to spill blood across the floor. I stared at his corpse, at the gruesome spray of blood all over the place. I could feel it dripping down my cheeks, down the front of my sweatshirt.

"I hope that was satisfying," a voice said, making me jump and jerk my head up. River spun around too, putting his arm out in front of me immediately like he was prepared to face Hades himself. Which he had to be, because it was Hades who stepped out of the shadows, holding Cyrus's head in his hand. He bounced it on the floor like a fucking basketball, caught it again, then turned it so Cyrus's empty yellow eyes were staring up at the ceiling and his mouth was cranked open to reveal his fangless rows of teeth. I stiffened.