Wrath of Hades (23 page)

“Is there something that can be done?” asked Raven.

“Do you know if the arrow was dipped in Claire’s blood?”

“Does that make a difference?” Raven bit her bottom lip.

“Yes, it does.”

Raven closed her eyes and sighed.

“I take it the arrow was dipped in her blood.”

“It was,” said Raven.

“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t just his words. Eros sounded like he was truly sorry.

“So that’s it?” Raven sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Nothing can be done?”

“It has to run its course. It could take months. It could take years Or it’s possible he will remain this way forever. There’s nothing I can do for him.” Eros sat down in a chair next to her. “But there is something I can do for you.”

Raven looked at him. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or to scream. “What can you do for me?” she asked in a soft voice.

“I can make you forget about Ethan.”

Raven closed her eyes and tried to breathe. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop them. “I don’t want to forget,” she whispered.

Eros nodded. “I understand. But the offer stands.” He stood up and looked in the quiver. “There are two arrows missing. Do you know what happened to the second one?”

Raven wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “Yeah, I know what happened to the other one.” She looked up at Eros. “I gave Hades a dose of his own medicine.”

Eros blinked then broke out laughing. “You did what?”

“Hades has a new obsession and it isn’t Persephone.”

Eros shook his head. “Demeter will be ecstatic to hear that. Just remember, Raven Weir, Guardian of Atlantis, if you ever want to forget, just call.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “That is my private number.” He left the room.

Raven looked at the ca
rd. All that was on it was a red heart with a telephone number in the center. She tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans. The idea of forgetting Ethan was not acceptable. She would just have to live with her decision and with what was happening to Ethan.

“Do you want some hot chocolate?” asked Ari.

Raven put a smile on her face. “Just give me a few minutes to get cleaned up.”  Raven left the girls in the kitchen and went up to her bedroom. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and stared at herself in the mirror as she waited for it to get hot.

Thirty minutes later, Raven came out of the bathroom dressed in her pajamas. She looked down at the silver ring on her finger. Slowly she took it off and put it in a small jewelry box on the dresser. She looked around the room for her journal,
before she remembered it was upstairs in the attic.

The attic was quiet and a little bit on the cold side when Raven walked into it. She flipped the switch and suddenly the room was flooded with light. “Definitely have to get some heat up here,” she grumbled.

Raven stopped in front of the sea painting and just stared at it. She shook her head and sighed. She went over to the pillows she always sat and picked up her journal and pen off the floor. She paused for a second, wondering if she should take her dad’s journal down with her too, but changed her mind. She had too much to write in her journal—too many things on her mind.

The sound of water splashing onto the wooden floors caused Raven to turn around.

Before she could scream
, a hand wrapped around her mouth and another around her waist.

Raven’s journal fell to the floor. The pen rolled out of it, stopping about six inches from the book.  Salt water splashed again, leaving the journal and pen in a huge puddle of water.

The attic room was empty.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Annie Rachel Cole currently lives in Texas with her husband, son, and two cats who think they run the place. She likes reading, writing, and playing Texas Hold’em poker (she is part of a local league), and occasionally she competes in BBQ competitions with her husband. Their team name is Outcast Cookers. She also teaches at a local junior high.

She likes include: a wide variety of music, Star Trek (She has a signed picture of Patrick Stewart on her desk.), NASCAR (A friend recently gave her a signed picture of Tony Stewart.), Grimm (TV series), winter (where she lives in Texas, snow is a rarity), the holiday season (She loves Halloween through Christmas.), coffee and hot tea (both with cream and sweetener), pizza (no anchovies though), puzzles, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, and JK Rowling.

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