Until We Break by Scott Kinkade Read Free Book Online

of jet-black gore piled atop his mother’s blood on the floor.
     
    A voice echoed inside his head: Are you satisfied, little upstart? It wasn’t Zagreus; it was sweet like honey rather than boisterous and cocky.
     
    “Who are you?” he roared. “Show yourself! Are you the one who sent the refghasts here?”
     
    I most certainly am. They are my children, in a manner of speaking. I apologize for not using my mouth, but you see, I despise unnecessary noises. If only the entire world could be as quiet as Gehenna…
     
    Ev spun around, trying to find the voice’s source. “Shut up! You killed my mother! Come out and face me!”
     
    As you wish. A black hole appeared in the wall to Ev’s left. Out of it emerged a figure similar to the refghasts with an inky black body and no face, except his proportions and limbs were decidedly human.
     
    “Are you Hades?”
     
    Yes .
     
    “Then you’re the one I’m going to kill.”
     
    In an instant, Ev cleared the distance between them, his gauntlets out, and punched Hades in what should have been his solar plexus. However, it was like hitting gelatin; his fist got stuck in Hades’ chest, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get it out.
     
    It is foolish to punch a doorway, upstart.
     
    “Unh! Doorway?”
     
    Yes. I am not simply a person, I am an entire realm. What you see before you is little more than the entrance to said realm. Nevertheless, being the gracious host that I am, I invite you to visit. Do not worry; your stay will be brief .
     
    A strange force began sucking Ev’s arm into Hades’ body or doorway or whatever the yur it was. He fought against it, but it was useless; before long, his entire body went in.
     
    Ev Bannen was gone from this world.
     
    * * *
     
    The Academy faculty watched the Morovian news report with grim interest in the faculty lounge. The nervous anchors had cut to their helicopter which currently hovered over Upton. It was a grisly scene of death, with thousands of bodies littering the streets, the result of who-knew-what.
     
    “Isn’t that Ev’s hometown?” Freya said.
     
    Brandon nodded. “Yeah. Upton born and raised.”
     
    “And he disappeared earlier today?” Aphrodite said.
     
    “Yeah,” he replied. “Just took off during class.”
     
    Freya furrowed her brow. “You think he knew what was going on and went to go help?”
          
    “Probably. Someone—most likely his mother—must have reached him with her prayers. I’m guessing he didn’t want to involve any of his friends, so he didn’t tell them.”
          
    The helicopter camera panned upward to reveal a great cloud of smoke coming down over the town. “Lots of smoke,” Bethos noted.
          
    Atlas nodded. “And dead bodies everywhere.”
          
    They knew exactly what it meant. “Zagreus,” Brandon growled.
          
    “That means this is an attack by Zero Grade,” Bethos said.
          
    “Poor Ev,” Freya said. “If Zagreus is there, then Hades can’t be far. If Ev meets up with him, he’s dead.”
          
    Atlas held his bald head high. “Bannen can handle himself. I made sure of that.”
          
    Freya slammed her palms down on the table and leapt to her feet. “But this is the Flawless Few we’re talking about! Ev’s still just a student. He doesn’t stand a chance against them. Even if he were a full-fledged god, he might not be able to win.”
          
    “There is no guarantee Hades will make an appearance,” Dian Cecht said.
          
    “There’s no guarantee he won’t ,” she shot back.
          
    Suddenly the broadcast went to static and was shortly replaced by a dark blue screen with text:
     
    We are Zero Grade
    Upton is ours now
    More cities will fall
    Bow to us or be destroyed
     
    Brandon got up. “Where are you going?” Bethos asked him.
          
    “Where do you think? To save Ev!”
     
    The president shook his head. “You