by Carly Spade
The anguish in his voice pulled at my heart. “Apology accepted.”
We continued to float across the floor, weaving through other couples.
“You’ve done this before,” I said, smiling.
“I reckon I’ve been to a few balls in my time, yes. They’re normally not so—” He paused, looking around with a grimace. “Bright.”
“How else would you see your dance partner?”
He kept my gaze. “You’d be surprised what can be accomplished by candlelight.”
Stomach Whoosh.
He pushed on my hip, spinning me outward, keeping his grip on my hand. “You really don’t believe I’m who I say I am, do you?” He twirled me back in, and I tripped on my dress, falling against him.
“Can you blame me? It’s a pretty outrageous claim.” I trailed my gaze from his chest up to his face, eyeing the light beard over his chin.
“Just remember when you reach that epiphany,” he dipped his face closer to mine. “I told you the truth from the very beginning.”
My eyes fluttered, lashes hitting the mask. He was serious, deadly serious.
He tightened his grip around my waist, my chest pressing into his ribs, and glided across the floor again. “That dress suits you.”
“Think so? Sara said cranberry is my color.”
“Funny. I would call that color more—” He dipped me, our eyes locking from behind the shields of our masks. “Pomegranate.”
My heart thumped against my chest. His face was so close to mine; I could feel his breath against my lips. He yanked me back to standing.
“I quite like pomegranates.” I gulped.
“Do you?” A fire roared in his eyes. “I’ll have to remember that.”
My lips parted, and I sucked in a breath through my nose. Persephone.
He dropped his mouth to my ear, whispering. “Don’t worry. If I ever chose to pursue you, I’d do it the old-fashioned way, darlin’.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening, my heartbeat feeling like a jackhammer inside my chest. When he leaned back, his eyes bore into mine. A swirl of black fog started to float around us.
“They must’ve really pumped up those machines,” I said.
The fog wrapped itself around my legs, cascading over my body. No one else on the dance floor batted an eyelash. How much champagne did I drink?
“What color fog do these machines normally produce?” He asked.
I furrowed my brow. “Gray-ish?”
“Hm.” He dipped me.
Hm? Hm, what?
He searched my face, his eyes brightening. “You’re not afraid of me.”
My brow creased. “Afraid of you? No. Why?”
The fog cascaded back down, gradually disappearing.
He stood me upright. “Everyone fears me.”
“Do they have a reason to?” I concentrated on what I could of his face from behind his mask.
His gaze dropped to the floor, not answering. He took my hands and draped them on his shoulders. His arms wrapped around my waist, and we swayed.
“You say we choose our paths toward good and evil. What do you see when you look at me, Stephanie?”
I gazed up at him, watching those beautiful pastel shreds of light trying to squeeze past the shadows. “Hurt. You’ve been hurt deeply, but yearn to feel free again.”
He pulled me closer, my chest pressing against him. His cheek rested against the side of my head. “You’re quite perceptive. But I can’t be free. Not in the way I want.”
I peeled away to look at him. “Why?”
“If I were to explain, it’d be wasted on deaf ears.” His eyes glinted behind his mask. “For whatever reason, I want nothing more than for you to believe, and it frustrates me.” His lips thinned.
My heart fluttered. Was he telling the truth? No. It wasn’t possible.
The song faded to a close, and we stepped away from each other, but he didn’t let go of my hand. After bowing, he placed a kiss against my knuckles. I blinked, and he was gone. The crowd danced and twirled around me, smiling and laughing. The urge to find him coursed through my veins. I pushed myself into the sea of people, forgetting I was claustrophobic. I needed to see him. Mirages of his face would appear, but once I thought I’d reached him, he’d fade away. I backed myself into a corner, wondering if I’d officially gone insane, chasing after nothing. The feeling of the mysterious smoke fog coiling around me like a caress burnt itself into my skin.
“Was that Hades you were dancing with?” Sara asked.
Hades. God of the Underworld. How could I believe it? I couldn’t. Gods didn’t exist, let alone show up at a resort on vacation and dance at a masquerade ball. He even knew lines from Dirty Dancing.
“Yes,” I clipped, absently dragging a finger across the exposed skin of my collar bone.
Her eyes dropped to my hand, practically groping myself, and I dropped it to my side.
“That good, huh?” She asked.
Guy walked up with two drinks in hand, looking between us.
She narrowed her eyes at me, staring into space. “Guy, I’m going to dance with Steph for a few minutes.”
“And I will gladly watch,” Guy said.
Sara pursed her lips together. “Real mature.”
She tugged my arm, but it took several tries before I let her pull me to the center of the floor. She gripped my shoulders, shaking me.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Steph.”
I nodded, swaying back and forth with her, offbeat with the music. The first encounters with Hades kept replaying in my head. Wife of a thousand years? A divider of souls?
I locked eyes with her. “Earlier, did you see this swirly black smoke on the dancefloor?”
“No?” The skin between her eyes creased.
“I think Hades did it.”
“I’ll tell you what’s happening,” she said, poking my shoulder. “He’s dragging you into his delusions. And you’re diving right in because you want to help him. What good is it going to do if you’re both stranded with no life jacket? Someone needs to stay in the boat.”
I snorted. Hades would most certainly be the one in the boat. “Quite the analogy.”
“Did you like that?”
“I do want to help him. But I’m just not sure how.”
“I’m going to have to talk with this guy. I’ve interrogated plenty of people who tried to manipulate me. If he’s trying that on you—I’ll break one of his ribs.”
“I don’t think he’s trying to manipulate me. Why would he have tried to push me away?”
A man with dark hair, a dark beard, and a metallic gold mask stepped up to Sara, tapping her on the shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”
Sara folded her arms. “I do, actually. We’re in the middle of an important conversation.”
“Oh, are you? My mistake.” The man pushed a fingertip against her forehead.
Her arms fell slack at her sides, and she shrugged. “On second thought, be my guest.”
My hands went numb, watching Sara walk off like a zombie. I moved to follow her, but his arm slipped around my waist, pinning me against him.
“I’ll scream,” I said, trying to pull away, but his grip tightened, holding me captive.
His pearly grin spread wide, eyes beaming with mischief even behind the guise of his mask.
He dipped his lips to my ear, and I grimaced. “My brother has taken quite the liking to you.”
Jesus. I knew I recognized that slimy grin.
“How would you know? Judging from the last time I saw you two together, he doesn’t seem to like you very much.”
He chuckled, the whiskers from his beard scraping against my cheek. “I don’t need him to like me.”
“Is there a point to all of this?”
“I need you to make sure he’s happy.”
“I don’t need to do anything.”
He smiled against my chin. “You’ve no idea the forces you’ve become intertwined with, Stephanie.�
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I forced my head back, peering up at him. “Are you threatening me?”
“That’s for you to decide.”
He backed away, letting the dozens of dancing bodies swallow him like quicksand until he disappeared. The hair on my arms stood at attention like after an electric shock. I wrapped my arms around myself, looking for Hades one last time amongst the slew of guests. The room was far from empty, but strangely, without him there, it felt hollow.
Considering the night I’d had, sipping fruity drinks by the pool was the last thing on my mind. I convinced Sara I felt under the weather from too much champagne. Between the mind games of swirling smoke, the disappearing act, and Jesus’ cryptic threat, I needed a distraction. Today was for me.
The resort’s computer lab was a short walk from our room. I found a station in a hidden corner and patched myself through to my work computer back home. Forcing my brain back into work-mode was my only real form of distraction. I expected Sara to walk around the corner at any given moment, scolding me. I looked for her so many times one might think I was hacking the NSA database.
I went to work, scrolling through the gallery of images with the processing finished with the new software. Satisfied Sara wasn’t going to sneak up on me I slipped one of my earbuds in. (I Just) Died in Your Arms by Cutting Crew fueled my endless mouse clicking.
Several hours flew by, and I was unable to find any new evidence. Backed into a corner—again. I rubbed my eyes. If there were any hope of continuing my investigation, I’d need caffeine and vitamin B injected into my veins, stat.
“I may be no expert at relaxin’, but this doesn’t seem like a good way to go about doing it,” Hades muttered behind me.
I jumped. “How did you find me?”
“I could tell you, but you wouldn’t believe me anyway.” His tone dropped an octave.
He peered at me like he had last night from across the room, and my heart raced. “Your brother stopped by to see me last night.”
“What?” He growled.
“He’s an asshole, by the way.”
“On that, we can agree. What did he say?”
To lie or not to lie. “He said I needed to make you happy. Almost sounded like a threat.”
He crossed the room. “He won’t hurt you. I won’t let him.”
“Hurt me? Who are you guys? Are you with the mafia or something? Just tell me. Maybe I can help you.” I stood. The earbud popped from my ear.
His eyes searched mine, and his lips parted as if to speak. After a beat, he said, “Will you go somewhere with me?”
“Depends on what you had in mind?”
If he said a guided tour of the Underworld, I was out of here.
“There’s an old temple not too far from here. I’d like to show it to ya.”
Considering the beach, pool, and alcohol was all I’d experienced in Greece thus far, I loved the idea. “Alright.” I grabbed the mouse. “Let me just finish up here.”
He leaned forward, eyeing the monitor. “What are you doing?”
“Work I shouldn’t be doing, but can’t seem to stop thinking about. I’m a digital forensics examiner.”
“Digital forensics? Oh, how times have changed,” he scratched his chin.
I snickered. “Who are you kidding?”
“Why can’t you stop thinking about it?”
I sighed, shutting down the computer. “It’s an old murder case. The suspect committed suicide, which left a lot of things unanswered. Because there wasn’t enough evidence, he was never convicted. You can imagine the pain it’s caused the families of the victims.”
“A murderer who committed suicide? We could—have a chat with him?” He said it so matter-of-fact I couldn’t help but laugh.
I slapped his shoulder. “Very funny.”
He stared at me, not finding me funny.
Sara walked past and did a double-take. She marched in, glaring daggers into Hades’ skull. “What are you doing in here?”
Lie. You can do this. Just…lie. I opened my mouth to answer but snapped it shut when no words followed.
Hades stepped forward. “I’m takin’ her on a tour. Considering I’m horrible with technology, I asked her to help me book a boat ride online. Ain’t that right, Stephanie?”
When I didn’t answer, he nudged me.
I forced a smile and snapped my attention to Sara. “Yes! Yes, absolutely. And online, that’s right.”
Sara looked between us before standing toe to toe with Hades. “Let me make this perfectly clear. That woman is like a sister to me. If you hurt her, I’ll permanently damage something of yours and make it look like an accident.” She poked his chest.
After glaring at her finger, he took her hand, keeping her gaze, and lowered it. “Noted.”
She stared at him for a moment and shook her head like clearing cobwebs. “Glad we’re on the same page.” She slid her sunglasses on.
Hades held out his hand. “Darlin’?”
Sara grabbed my elbow. “Don’t let him take you anywhere that’s not public and watch for signs like I taught you.”
“Thank you. I’ll be fine, promise.” I patted her hand.
A part of me, a very small part, wanted to believe I hadn’t dreamt up everything. I loved Sara, but I couldn’t talk to her about it. It sounded crazy, even to me. I needed proof.
“So, where are you taking me?” I asked.
“A small island off the coastline.”
Off the coastline? That didn’t sound very public.
“Uh, how far off the coastline?”
He whipped around to face me and folded his arms over his chest. I tried not to get distracted by the tautness of his bicep. “Tell me, what do you think the role of the god of the Underworld is?”
I gulped. “I always assumed he was like the devil.”
He leaned forward, bits of his hair falling over his eyes. “Not even close. And if you’re worried about something happenin’ to ya during our little excursion, you can rest assured there’ll be plenty of tourists on the island.” He turned back around and continued walking.
How could I be wrong? Hades was in control of the bad people and chose their punishments accordingly. How was that not like the job bestowed on Lucifer himself? I trotted to his side and tugged on his shirt sleeve.
“Are you going to tell me where I’m wrong with that comparison, or let me guess?”
“When you’re ready, I’ll tell you.”
He led us to a ticket booth. A sign with a cartoon boat and the words “Roundtrip Rides” in both English and Greek hung from the window. He dug in his back pocket, removing a black leather wallet. When he opened it, hundreds of Euros sprouted out, and I tried not to stare. He slid several to the attendant, giving an absent nod as he handed him two tickets.
“What makes you think I’m not ready to hear it now?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t believe.”
“Are you Santa Claus now?”
“Oh? Don’t believe he’s real, either?” He graced me with a small smirk.
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t patronize me.”
We walked across a wooden dock, leading to a small white boat with two levels. The attendant greeted him in Greek, and the two had a quick conversation I couldn’t understand. Hades stepped up, holding his hand out to me. I stared, knowing there was a grand possibility of me getting sick.
“How long is this ride?” I asked.
“Twenty minutes. Why?”
I fidgeted with the hem of my shorts. “I get seasick.”
“I’ll put in a word for calm seas. Will that help?”
“Oh, is one of your supposed powers persuasion?” I snorted as he helped me into the boat. I waved a hand at the water like Obi-Wan Kenobi. “You will be calm for the duration of the trip.”
He looked off in the distance. “Something like that.”
I followed him to the second level; the wind whipping through my hair. When the boat shoved off, Hades leaned on the r
ailing, closing his eyes. The sun shone brightly in the sky.
It was hard not to ogle him with how serene he looked. “You don’t get out much, do you?”
“No. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been able to let the sun warm my cheeks. Or smell sea spray.” He opened his eyes, and his jaw clenched.
Greek mythology rolled through my head. Brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, gained control of Olympus and the seas while Hades received the Underworld. I tapped the railing. “Demanding job?”
The wind tousled his hair in the most majestic of ways. “Very.”
He said everything with such conviction. My rational brain said this was crazy, but he had a way of making crazy sound convincing.
“You don’t get vacation days?”
He looked at the water. “It’s not that simple.”
“Then how’d you manage this one?”
“Very rarely, with catastrophic occurrences, I’m granted—a break.”
Blood rushed to my ears. “To keep you—happy.”
I didn’t look at him, my eyes fixed on fish leaping from the water.
He turned to face me, leaning on the railing with one elbow. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Do you work for your brother?”
“Partners.”
Why were all his answers cryptic enough to reel me right back in?
“How’s your stomach?” He asked.
I pressed a hand over my abdomen. “I feel—fine. I haven’t felt the boat rock at all. How is that possible?”
“The—” A corner of his mouth twitched. “—captain and I are on good terms.”
“I don’t care how good of a captain he is; it still doesn’t explain how the water doesn’t make the boat bob up and down. Even a little.”
“Fine. You want the truth?”
He stared at me, waiting for an answer. A small squeak escaped my throat, but no words followed. The boat slowed down, pulling to a rickety dock leading to a tiny island.
“We’re here,” he grumbled.
I guess my silence wasn’t the answer he was looking for.
Every few planks were missing on the dock, and I took baby steps across. Hades strode over it without a care in the world. He didn’t so much as look down. The sight of the boat pulling away, leaving us stranded on the island, made a knot form in my stomach. Sara was going to kill me. No, she’d kill Hades first, then me.
