Unhinged

by Chani Lynn Feener

  “But they don’t actually die, do they?” She recalled what he’d said about the death of a soul resulting in the person completely disappearing.

  “No. They pass out momentarily and awake to experience the pain all over again.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “It’s deserving,” he told her.

  And there was the reminder that he wasn’t all good. Or even all bad for that matter. As the Lord of the Dead, she supposed it made sense for him to be neutral. Didn’t make seeing this any less unsettling, but still.

  “I can see why you saved this one for last,” she said, trying to tear her gaze away from the woman. She wondered who she’d betrayed in order to end up here, but didn’t ask.

  “It was a tossup between this and the Phlegethon. That one leads straight into the depths of Tartarus. Why do you think we passed by it so quickly?”

  Torture had always seemed so horrible to her; the idea of hurting another human being that way…She didn’t think she was capable of that, no matter what sins they’d done to deserve it. That just wasn’t who she was.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything,” she pulled his coat tighter around her thin frame, “but I think I’m ready leave now.”

  He offered his hand once more and cocked his head to the opposite side of the river than they’d come. “I’ll lead us back.”

  “To where?” she asked, but dropped her palm into his anyway.

  “There’s more to see in the Underworld than just the rivers, Spencer. Lots more. You haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. Both my brothers live here, you know. Thayer and Hypnos have their own areas and their own palaces. You’ll understand that I don’t plan on taking you to visit either of them any time soon.”

  “We’re in agreement on that one,” she said as he helped her onto the bank of the river.

  This side appeared the same as the other, with the frozen ground; however it widened into a forest thick with black trees covered in cerulean blue leaves of all shapes and sizes. There didn’t really seem to be a method to the madness of them at all.

  “These aren’t the same as ones I’ve seen before.” She ran her hand cautiously over the bark of the nearest tree, frowning when it looked like she’d been drawing with charcoal when she pulled back. She rubbed it off against her thigh, glad that it didn’t stain her skin at least. Or worse.

  “There isn’t only one type of tree in the mortal world,” he said with a chuckle. “Why would there be only one here?”

  “Guess I just assumed.”

  “Well you know what they say about that.”

  “It makes an ass out of you and me,” she rolled her eyes as they made their way deeper into the forest. “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Actually, it just makes an ass out of you. You’re the one who got it wrong.” He laughed when she playfully punched him on the arm, spinning to tug her faster through the trees. He picked up the pace until they were racing between the trunks and the branches, the whole world becoming a blur of blue and black.

  For a moment then it looked like the world spun, everything twisting clockwise around her so that she lost her breath and felt a quick shot of fear mixed with wonder. The feeling only lasted a few seconds before everything settled once more and she was left standing in a courtyard so enthralling she was awed into silence.

  In a daze, she made her way down the five stone steps that led into the center of the courtyard. On every side silver stone walls towered some twenty feet high, creating a circle within. The ground was cobblestone, and through the cracked tiny blades of grass poked out. Five large trees stood ten feet apart from one another, also circling the center.

  The first tree had orange leaves, the second blue, the third purple, the fourth a deep pink, and the fifth a blinding yellow. Their base color was all black, and she could plainly see their roots digging into the ground, holding them in place beneath the stone.

  There was a single fountain in the very center made of the same black marble his castle was. The carving of a woman was in the middle, hands held out at her sides. Crystal clear water spilled from her palms and into the fountain.

  When the warm breeze blew past, it brought with it the slight hint of vanilla, and the only sounds came from the trickling water.

  “What is this place?” she whispered, irrationally afraid to break the peaceful air of the courtyard.

  “I come here to think,” he told her. He began walking the other way, so that they both ended up going around opposite sides of the fountain. “It’s private, sacred. Few have seen it before.”

  Spencer felt honored to be one of them, yet she couldn’t help motioning up towards the statue. “Was she one of them?”

  He dropped his gaze. “Yes. I brought her here centuries ago. I thought she was worthy of it then. I know better now. It’s why I guard it so carefully. We need to watch who we let get close enough to know us.”

  “So why did you bring me here?” They met at the end of the fountain and she paused in front of him, searching his face for any telling signs. If this place was so special to him, why would he bother bringing someone that was only a passing interest to him?

  “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I just wanted to share it with you. I felt…compelled to. Do you like it?”

  She glanced around again, the smile quickly tugging at her lips. “I love it. It’s amazing, Hadrian. Probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.” Beauty seemed to be a common theme with him. “And the trees?” she pointed to the one with yellow leaves. “Do they stand for something?”

  “They stand for everything,” he said. “There’s one for every river that flows through the Underworld. One for each of the five major elements. One for the beginning, the end, and the past, present, and future. And—as Thayer was always fond of saying—one for every head between Cerberus and Othrus, which is his hellhound.”

  “He has one too? What about Hypnos?”

  “He dreamed up the hydra for good measure,” he waved her off. “Being the God of Sleep has its perks.”

  “What happened to her?” Spencer couldn’t help but point out the statue again. She hated the tiny stab of jealousy the thought of them together invoked in her, a feeling she had absolutely no right to have.

  He pulled away. “She’s gone, that’s all that matters. We should be getting back; I’ve kept you longer than originally planned. It seems we’re making up for those lost days after all. It’s a good thing Ferris left your body behind this trip. Your parents would have seen you sleeping in bed before heading off to work. They won’t know you missed school.”

  “I missed another day of school?!” she groaned. “How am I supposed to explain it this time? This was only supposed to be for the nights.”

  “We had time to make up,” he shrugged. “Now we don’t because I took care of it. Besides, it’s not like you were complaining about being here a moment ago. You’d rather be here than up there and we both know it. Aren’t you the one who claimed at the start of this that there was nothing for you in the mortal world?”

  She shifted on her feet. She had said that, hadn’t she? She’d been selfish before, so hell-bent on getting Micah back that she hadn’t seen that her friends were hurting around her too. That they needed her. And while her parents weren’t around very often, they loved her, and she loved them.

  Still…he wasn’t wrong. Down here with him she felt like she had clarity. She knew where she stood and in many ways, she knew who she was again.

  “What’s the point in going there now if I’m only going to have to come straight back in a few hours?” she asked, barely believing the words coming from her lips. She didn’t, however, refute them, letting them hang in the air between them while she waited for a response.

  At first he blinked down at her in surprise, and then his grin broadened, turned wicked, and a light gleamed behind his eyes that had electricity sparking all over her body.

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “Best to ju
st stay here until tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Spencer swung down the stairs with a lightness to her step that she hadn’t felt in forever. She came up short, letting out a laugh when she almost bulldozed right into her father.

  “Oops, sorry dad.”

  She’d just woken up and despite her mind having been in the Underworld, her body felt refreshed and well-rested. Even Micah’s absence hadn’t been enough to put a damper on her mood.

  Her gaze traveled over to the windows that flanked the front door. Hadrian had fixed that somehow as well. One minute they’d been completely destroyed by Brodie and the next there wasn’t a scratch on them. Her parents had never known.

  “What’s the rush, honey?” Mr. Perry asked. In his right hand he held the newspaper, and in his left a cup of steaming coffee. “You don’t have to be at school for another hour.”

  “Just woke up on the right side of the bed, I guess,” she told him. “Anything awesome planned for work today?”

  He set the paper down on the side table by the door, always eager to talk about his work with her.

  She felt a little guilty about having been so cut off lately. She really should have been trying harder to pay attention to him and her mom. They ate dinner whenever they were home for it, which only amounted to about three nights a week; but even then she was usually more aloof than she meant to be. With a silent promise to try harder, she leaned against the banister.

  “Actually, I moved my lesson plan around in order for us to cover the Greeks sooner because of that talk we had,” he said excitedly. “We’ve been going over the pantheon, most notably focusing on the three most powerful: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. They also happen to be brothers.”

  She bit her tongue, just barely resisting the urge to correct him.

  “Zeus is the God of the Skies, also known as the King of the Gods. Poseidon is the God of the Seas, and Hades—”

  “God of the Underworld,” she couldn’t help but fill in.

  He nodded sheepishly. “Yes, right. Sorry, I forgot you already know this. Anyway, we’ve recently finished with Zeus and we’re going to cover Poseidon next. But one of my students—I’ve mentioned him before to you, the trouble maker?—is pretty insistent that we discuss Hades next.”

  She couldn’t blame him, he was the most interesting god to her as well. There was just so much mythology based around him, so much rich history, even if half of it was incorrect.

  “That’s good that he’s become more enthused,” she said. “I’m glad he’s not giving you a hard time still.”

  “Oh, he is,” her dad disagreed. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s still being a royal pain, but I’ve come to actually enjoy our heated debates. He has some strange takes on the myths; a fresh view that I haven’t come across before. He comes up with different translations, or situations, for the mythology that I wouldn’t have come up with myself. Of course, he could just be doing it to screw with the class, but I truly believe Thayer—”

  All of the color drained from her face and her body coiled like a tightened spring. She had to have heard him wrong. There was no way… There could be another guy with the same name. It wasn’t common, sure, but it wasn’t like no one else on the planet had it either.

  Her father, who’d continued on, noticed her discomfort and paused. Frowning he reached out to feel her forehead. “Are you alright, honey?” he asked. “You look a little green.”

  She gulped and tried to give a flip chuckle. She had to be better at covering up her emotions. She couldn’t let on that there was something seriously wrong. She didn’t want him involved. Though apparently the God of Death didn’t feel the same way. If he hurt her dad…

  “Just hungry,” she lied. “Tell me more about this student. Did you say his name was Thayer?”

  “Yes,” he didn’t appear to believe her about the hunger thing, but he let it go. “He’s a transfer student I think I heard. This is his first semester. I’ve asked around and none of the other professors have him. It seems he saves all his back talk for me.”

  He had no idea.

  “Anyway, you should go eat something. And, Spence? If you’re not feeling well during the day, give me or your mom a call, alright? We’ll come and get you.”

  “I have my car, dad,” she reminded. “I don’t have to pull you away from classes.”

  “You’re my daughter,” he pressed a kiss to her forehead before grabbing up the paper and heading up the stairs, “there’s nothing more important than you, kiddo.”

  She gave him her best smile, struggling to keep her mind on the nice things he’d just said, and not the fact that a god hell-bent on ruining her chances of getting Micah back, was attending her father’s mythology class.

  The second he disappeared from sight, she raced into the kitchen to grab her keys and scrambled out the door. She needed to get to school.

  She needed to find Hadrian.

  Chapter 27:

  The chatter in Mr. Kemmer’s class was deafening when she walked in, a mixture of words and phrases her brain couldn’t process. There was only one thing on her mind, and it wasn’t whether or not Brodie and Becca had hooked up last weekend.

  She scanned the room, starting with the back corner he frequented. She almost growled in frustration when she saw he wasn’t here.

  He didn’t follow a set schedule; sometimes he was early and sometimes he came just before the bell rang. Hell, sometimes he didn’t show at all. Today couldn’t be one of those days though, not when she needed to talk to him about this. What if her dad was with Thayer right now?

  Simultaneously yanking her cell out of her pocket—who cared if the teacher saw it at this point—and turning, she let out a whoosh of breath when she came face to face with a solid wall. No, not a wall. Her eyes scanned up, landing on cobalt blue ones with a sense of relief so intense it was a wonder she remained on her feet.

  At her look, he quirked a brow, but before he could speak she snatched his wrist and pulled him out the door. She’d already stormed them halfway down the hall, before he forced her to an abrupt halt.

  “Spencer, what’s wrong?” he asked. A group of students walked by and he sent them an annoyed glare, before twisting the two of them so that her back came against a grouping of lockers and his body blocked her from all other’s view. “Are you gonna puke or something? You look a little—”

  “Green,” she cut him off, “yeah, I know.” She forced herself to take a deep calming breath, settling some of her nerves. Lifting her hands to his arms, she squeezed, clinging to him. The feel of the hard curves of his biceps and the heat that drifted from his skin to hers had the rest of her panic ebbing enough for her to focus.

  “We need to get to Howling University, in Bijou.” She tried to move him towards the doors again, but it was like his legs were rooted into the ground.

  “That town’s a forty-five minute drive away,” he reminded her. “Why do we need to go there? Spencer, settle down and fill me in. I can’t help you unless I know what I’m supposed to protect you from.”

  “I just found out your psycho brother has been posing as a student in one of my dad’s classes!” She cursed when a group of kids paused at her outburst. Waving them off with a heated gesture, she turned back to him. “We need to get there and confront him before he does something to my dad. We have to go.”

  Hadrian seemed deep in thought then, a sharp V shape forming between his dark brows. Finally he nodded his head, and without another word, took her hand and led them out to the parking lot. He took the keys from her front pocket, ignoring her gasp as two of his fingers delved into the material, and slid into the driver’s side.

  Not having any other choice, she took the passenger’s seat and barely got the seat belt to click by the time he was speeding them out onto the street.

  “You know the way, right?” she asked, clinging to the door handle as they breezed by a speed limit sign that had the numbers thirty printed on it. They were going seventy easy.

/>   “I know the way to everything,” he grated, taking a sharp left turn that had her half way out of her seat before the car righted itself again. “Comes with being a god.”

  “Why can’t you just flash us there?” she asked, impatient and worried.

  “And explain to your father that you got there…how? What if we need to convince him to leave? We can’t say we walked there, Spencer.”

  “What do you think he wants with my dad?” She braced herself for the answer, afraid that it would end up being something similar to what’d been done to Syd or Sarah.

  “Probably nothing,” he said. “There’s only one thing he has that Thayer wants, and it isn’t something he can force from him in the middle of a college campus. This is more than likely just another game.”

  “My dad’s a mythology professor,” she pointed out. “Half of the crap he knows about you guys isn’t even correct! What could your brother want?”

  His mouth thinned into a straight line, and he quickly glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes before he looked back at the road. “You.”

  She slumped back against the seat when he confirmed what she’d already known. This was all her fault. Everything that had happened since Micah’s death—since her death—was all because of her.

  “Why is he doing this?” She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “You already know the answer to that.”

  “All of this on account of Micah? That’s ridiculous! So he snuck out of the Underworld? Big whoop! Ok, I get that it never happens, but why can’t he just leave us alone?! It’s not like Micah being here is hurting anybody!”

  “Actually,” he disagreed in a tight voice, “it is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and Micah are holding open the gate,” he explained. “It’s not just that he slips through every once in a while. The door has come completely unhinged, which means that any spirit strong enough to make its way past Cerberus and to the gateway can get out. That spirit that attacked you? It’s one of the ones who escaped.”