{"id":3016,"date":"2016-10-19T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2016-10-18T19:21:16","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T23:21:16","slug":"forty-two-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3016","title":{"rendered":"Forty-two – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not here,\u201d Thom said, his expression blank, belying the sudden increase in his heartrate, the sudden drop of his stomach past his boots to about six feet underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lies,\u201d the flag-bearer hissed. \u201cYou can feel her the same as I, uncle. You can sense them both as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

A flicker of something\u2014rage, annoyance, perhaps both\u2014flickered through Pluton\u2019s eyes. He didn\u2019t move, just stood silent and still for a moment until his companion fell silent. Thom watched them, scarcely daring to breathe.<\/p>\n

Shit. What the hell is this?<\/em><\/p>\n

He felt sick but forced himself to maintain his cool, expressionless mask.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t give an inch. Something tells me the two behind him will take a mile.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are not here,\u201d Pluton said slowly, \u201cthen where have they gone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDamned if I know,\u201d Thom said, slowly crossing his arms, being certain not to make any sudden movements that might somehow spook them\u2014especially the man and the woman behind Pluton. The woman\u2019s eyes narrowed at Thom as if she didn\u2019t believe him and the man openly scoffed, though silently, as if Pluton\u2019s iron control didn\u2019t quite<\/em> go far enough toward frightening him into good behavior.<\/p>\n

Who <\/em>are these bastards?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou might well be,\u201d Pluton warned, his voice still mild, though Thom could sense the promise underlying his tone. This was not a man you crossed lightly.<\/p>\n

Too bad it seems like we\u2019re already on opposite sides of this. There\u2019s no way I\u2019d give him Matt\u2014maybe Hecate, but not Matt.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you want them, anyway?\u201d Thom asked. The question was a risk, but it was one he felt like he had to take\u2014anything to keep their new apparent enemy talking, anything to buy time. \u201cWhat the hell did she do to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you not hear?\u201d the flag-bearer snapped. \u201cShe belongs to us. We want her back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a person, not a thing,\u201d Thom answered even as Pluton spun to face the flag-bearer. A chill permeated the air, one distinctly centered on Pluton.<\/p>\n

It was the chill of the grave and it sent a shiver worming its way down Thom\u2019s spine and through his veins.<\/p>\n

Wait…<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh.<\/em> Oh. Oh shit…<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps a little too late, Thom realized he was facing a lord of the dead\u2014perhaps at the peril of his very soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] \u201cThey\u2019re not here,\u201d Thom said, his expression blank, belying the sudden increase in his heartrate, the sudden drop of his stomach past his boots to about six feet underground. \u201cHe lies,\u201d the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,224,14],"tags":[231,150,171,170,230,149,148,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-3016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-42","category-story","tag-aietes","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hera","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-ME","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3017,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}