062 The Deal With The Devil

Kitty's sudden outburst caught Erebus's attention.

She was the only one who heard his phone call with Menoetius after they got Emma back. She KNEW it wasn't Curtis!

Erebus immediately got her plan.

They needed Curtis as a distraction to throw off the mole, who was definitely one of his Dim Patronus, now that Winnie and Curtis were both proved innocent.

He came over to Kitty's place with a furious look.

"What?! I'm your prince! Don't you dare--" Curtis couldn't even finish his sentence before Erebus grabbed his collar and choked his sentence in half.

"I--" Curtis raised his fist but Erebus lifted him a bit and pushed him so Curtis fell backwards and had to held on to the hand on his collar to breath while being basically dragged out of the room.

"Metis, go ahead and start the meeting, I'll take the trash out." Erebus's eyes fixed on the door as he threw out the order, "Menoetius, you know what to do."

Menoetius was the only one in the Dim Patronus that knew Erebus was looking for a mole.

Kitty had her back towards them, not talking. Emma was in her arms, pulling Kitty's fog blue lock.

"I'll have your heart!" Curtis growled at Erebus once he got his freedom back.

"Thanks for your help." Erebus put his hands in his pocket, watching Curtis catching his breath.

"W-what?!" Curtis strangled that sentence and stopped his fist in mid-air. He understood that he was just a distraction.

"Fine, but did you have to drag me out of there? You did that on purpose, didn't you?!" Curtis complained.

"A little bit." Erebus laughed out loud, not at all feeling sorry.

"You bastard!" Curtis yelled, "I won't forget this!"

"I expect so. Now," Erebus paused, "Would you like to work together?"

Curtis snorted at that proposal.

"I think the Queen is behind this, you want her for your mom's 'crime', don't you?" Erebus didn't seem to be offended by his reaction.

"What's in it for you?" Curtis said, "Why should I trust you? Maybe you are sent by that evil witch to spy on me."

Erebus didn't hurry into explaining himself.

"That's a very interesting choice of words," Erebus laughed, "'evil witch'. You know, don't you?"

"..."

"Where DID you get that little 'prophecy' of yours? From her, maybe?" Erebus said.

"No!" Curtis, "I have got witches in my pocket. It has nothing to do with her!"

"Okay." Erebus simply said. He hadn't got evidence that it was the new queen that leaked the prophecy, so he didn't want to mention that to Curtis.

That question was enough to make Curtis look into it himself.

"What is it that you want from this!" Curtis demanded, "I won't trust you without a good reason."

"I want you to stay away from Kitty, at least until she turns 18." Erebus took his hands out of his pocket. He was all serious now.

"No." Curtis rejected without much hesitation, "You can be old school all you want yourself. You don't get to intervene me."

"It's not about being old school. It's a line we DO NOT cross." Erebus said, "She's still a kid, and--"

"She is my future wife!" Curtis shouted, "I know what you are doing here. You just want to keep her to yourself!"

"I won't be anything either." Erebus said, "She deserve to be looked after until she can make her own decision, and that will be after her 18th birthday."

"..."

"Or are you that insecure about your prophecy?" Erebus smirked.

"Don't you try that trick with me!" Curtis said, annoyed that Erebus's words worked on him, "It doesn't work on me!"

"Whatever you say. Do we have a deal or not?" Erebus shrugged.

"We are only working on the same thing; we are NOT working together!" Curtis said with his teeth cliched, "I won't hesitate to throw you under the bus or into whatever horrible fate if I need to."

"I'm not expecting anything less." Erebus held out his hand.

The young prince took Erebus's hand for a brief second before he snorted again and stormed away. Erebus paused for a second and headed back to the office too.

There was a meeting waiting for him.

His face was even darker than when he was dealing with the spoiled little prince, because the question he had to ask himself was:

Who betrayed him?

It was his Dim Patronus! The people who went through fire and storm with him; the people have died and lived for him! How could he suspect that of any of them?!

But he had to. Even for the rest of the team who WERE loyal to him he had to...

Could it be Pallas, the successor that he had been considering secretly with the eyes for the big picture? He HAD been outside for long, but was that enough of a reason to doubt his loyalty?

Or Tartarus, his MOST loyal fighter that had been with him his whole life? He WAS always sullen and dark, but were those feature for disloyalty?

Metis? His dutiful housekeeper that had been tending all his possible needs with nearly no error. She hadn't mark anyone, which was a bit late, but was that really an issue?

Hephaistos? His butler that had been at the bar for nearly all his life. He was NOT a talker, but did that mean there were secrets lying under the silence?

Menoetius? His cute, young wolf that's curious about everything, yet loyal as the sunflower to the center of its universe. He couldn't even think of a reason why Menoetius would do that.

Iapetus? The always cool, calm thinker with no hobby other than a good puzzle. Maybe human emotion was too huge a puzzle to him to take betrayal as horrible?

Astraios? The sexy woman who was like a bright star, always laughing and always humorous. Could her caprice be the reason why she was in search for a new master?

Ares? The natural born warrior who knew nothing but a good fight? Could that simpleness be why he was tricked into another path?

And the charming Dionysus, the bright Oceanus, the lovely Theia? No one could even fit the dark shadow of a traitor.

Or, could it be, the cold, hard hearted Themis? Who was more rational than men; who had affection on him but were always rejected; who never laughs and never close with any of them; who had an issue with Kitty?

Erebus sighed as he pushed open the floor, and there was Themis, standing in the middle of the room, facing Kitty.

Kitty smirked: "So THAT'S what Metis meant by 'EVERYONE'."

EVERYONE fell in to silence.